: ་་་་་ arrived in Naples, some persons of distinction were naturally led to pay their respects to her; several called on her that morning, but she was accessible to none. It was in a short time observed, that Bergami became more haughty; that he took upon himself an air of greater importance, which grew as the intercourse with her Majesty proceeded. A few days after the time to which he had called the attention of their Lordships, her Majesty gave a masked ball, to the person at that time filling the Neapolitan throne, and at a house belonging to the King of Naples. On this occasion her Ma jesty first took the character of a Neapolitan peasant, but after a time returned to the house at which she had attired herself (not that where she resided,) and withdrew to a room for the purpose of changing her dress. To the surprise of her attendants, instead of being accompanied for this purpose by the females who usually assisted her, the courier Bergami was sent for to withdraw with the Queen, to assist her in changing her dress. It seemed also to have been the intention of her Majesty, to appear in another characterthat of the Genius of History and she was to be accompanied by a gentleman. He (the Attorney-General) was instructed to state, that the dress she wore upon this occasion, (or rather the want of it in part) was extremely indecent and disgusting; but the material fact was this-that change of dress took place in the presence, and with the assistance of the courier Bergami, and no other person.-Another character she assumed was that of a Turkish peasant: and this menial Bergami in a corresponding dress, actually accompanied the Queen to this entertainment. It appeared, however, that Bergami did not remain long at this ball. He returned home apparently dissatisfied with something that had occurred. Her Majesty came home soon after, and endeavoured to prevail on him to go back to the ball, but he declined going. She then went back by herself: but, after remaining only a short time, her Majesty, much disappointed, returned to her house, the apartments of which had been arranged as he had already described. It was observed by those who attended on her, that she and Bergami always rose at the same hour in the morning, and it would be also proved that her Majesty was in the habit of breakfasting with this courier in a particular apartment, completely secluded from all the rest of the family. Their Lordships would recollect that this man, while thus honoured, was still a courier. There was a terrace in front of the house on which her Majesty was often seen walking accompanied by this man, walking occasionally arm in arm with the courier. During her Majesty's stay in Naples this person received an injury by a kick from a horse, and this was one of the circumstances which tended to show the influence he had acquired over his Royal Mistress. He had obtained such an ascendancy, that he had it in his power to introduce into the house a servant to wait upon himself.-This man slept in a room close to that allotted to Bergami; and during the time he was in attendance, he observed her Majesty two or three different times advancing, after all the other domestics were retired to rest, with great care and caution from her own apartment to Bergami's room. Into that room she entered, and each time remained in it for a considerable period; and he had further to state, that on one occasion, after she had entered, a sound was heard, which convinced the person who observed this proceeding that her Majesty and Bergami were kissing each other. Her Majesty remained in Naples from November to March, and it would be proved that during the whole of that period the kind of intimacy he had described as existing between her Majesty and Bergami continued to increase. It certainly was not his wish to found any argument on statements which rested merely on public rumour, but he could not help alluding to one remarkable circumstance, and leaving it, connected with the others, for their Lordship's consideration. It was certainly singular, that on leaving Naples her Majesty was abandoned by the greater part of her English suite.Mr. St. Ledger, it was true, quitted her before; he left her at Bruns◄ wick, and he therefore admitted that no inference could be drawn from his case. But on her Majesty's departure from Naples, Lady Charlotte Lindsay, and Lady Elizabeth Forbes were left behind: No, he begged pardon, Lady C. Lindsay did not leave the Queen until they were at Leghorn, in March 1815. At Naples, however, Lady Forbes, Sir Wm. Gell, the Hon. Mr. Craven, and Captain Este certainly did separate from her. Thus, of the seven persons who composed her Majesty's suite when she left this country, no less than four left her in Naples. There might be, and perhaps would be, in another part of the proceedings, assigned on the part of these persons, reasons for this act which had nothing to do with the conduct of the Queen; but he could not help thinking it extremely singular that he should at this particular time have lost so large a portion of the suite that accompanied her on her departure from England. During her Majesty's residence at Naples another circumstance took place to which it was his duty to call their Lordship's attention. A masquerade was held at a Theatre called, he believed, the Theatre of St. Charles. To this entertainment her Majesty chose to go in a very extraordinary manner, accompanied not by Lady Charlotte Lindsay, or Lady Elizabeth Forbes, or even by any of the gentle men of her suite, but by the courier Bergami and a femme de chambre of the name of Dumont. The dresses chosen by her Majesty for herself and her companions to appear on this occasion were, as he was instructed, of a description so indecent as to attract the attention of the whole company, and to call forth marks of general disapprobation. Indeed, so strong was the disapprobation, that her Majesty, findingshe was recognized, was under the neces sity of withdrawing with her companions from the entertainment, and returning home. There was also something extraordinary in the manner in which she was conveyed to this theatre. How did she go? Not publicly, in her own carriage, attended by her suite; not from the public door of her residence, but a common fiacre was stationed hehind her house, and she crossed the garden privately, and in the darkness of the night, to this vehicle, which was waiting at the garden-gate. Upon her Majesty's quitting Naples, in the month of March, she proceeded to Rome. She remained, however, с some days at Civita Vecchia, and afterwards embarked for Genoa, leaving in the course of her voyage Lady Charlotte Lindsay at Leghorn. Thus at this period she had no English lady in her suite. At Genoa she was joined by Lady Charlotte Campbell, who remained with her until the May following, and then left her at Milan. The vessel which conveyed her Majesty and her suite was the Clorinda; and he should have observed that on embarking, Bergami still filled the situation of courier, and waited upon her at table during the whole of the voyage to Genoa. When there, it was observed that the intimacy between the Queen and Bergami continued unchanged, and that the freedoms in which he indulged increased. He frequently took the liberty of withdrawing from the menial services it was his duty to perform, and accompanied her Majesty in all her rides and walks about Genoa. He had a bed◄ room as usual near her Majesty's, and here the same observation was made as at Naples, but more frequently, that her Majesty's bed seldom appeared to have been slept in.-There was sometimes an appearance of her bed being pressed down as if on purpose, but in general the servants did not make her Majesty's bed, because it was so little discomposed that they found the trouble quite unnecessary, and seldom did more than smooth down the coverlet. Here she and the courier Bergami breakfasted in the same apartment, in a retired part of the house. He now came to some of the circumstances which peculiarly marked the power this man had obtained over her Majesty. This favourite was a married man. He had a daughter named Victorine; this child he brought to the Queen, and she was taken by her Majesty into her household. His brother had previously been employed in a menial capacity. A person of the name of Fanstina was engaged for the purpose of taking care of this child. This person proved to be one of the sisters of Bergami. His mother had also been taken into the house. Thus it appeared that merely from affection to this man her Majesty had been induced to take upon herself the charge of maintaining his mother, his brother, his sister, and his child. The child was at this time three years old. And who was employed to take care of her? One would have naturally supposed that she would have been committed to the care of her mother and the wife of Bergami. It was natural to think that she was the person best fitted to watch over the health of the infant; but the mother was not received into the house, and the infant was withdrawn from the fostering hand best calculated to attend to its wants. Here, however, it was to be ob served, that though her Majesty knew that Bergami was married, she gave out to those about her that he was not. She stated that the child which she was anxious to take under her royal protection was Bergami's by some illicit connexion. That Bergami was an unmarried man, who had had a child, this surely, was not a recommendation calculated to increase the regard of a mistress for her servant; she, however, made no difficulty on this point, but, as he had stated, received the child into her house. In the month of May, her Majesty removed from Genoa to Milan, leaving Lady Charlotte Campbell behind. She was afterwards joined by this Lady at Milan, who very soon after had quitted the family.-When Lady Charlotte Campbell left her Majesty, no English lady remained in her suite. One would have thought that, considering the high rank which she occupied-considering that she was in the situation of expecting soon to become Queen Consort of this country-one would have thought that she would have been anxious to have had constantly about her person some English Ladies of distinction, or, at least, that she would have looked out for Ladies of similar rank in her native country of Brunswick, or in that part of the Continent in which she resided. But, quite the contrary, she received here into her service and confidence a person whom she had never seen before, a person of vulgar manners and totally uneducated; and (was it credible?) this person was another sister of Bergami's. Such was the power of this man over her, that this person, dignified by the title of Countess of Oldi, was received into her house as her principal attendant. Thus their Lordships had now under the same roof with her Majesty, two sisters, the mother, the brother, and the child of Bergami; one sister sitting at the table with the Queen as her lady of honor, while the other dined with the ser◄ vants. The brother, who, he believed, was also a courier, the mother, and Bergami, lived at this time with the sister among the servants. This was the state of things in May, 1815. Bergami was anxious that this new lady of honor should not be made known to be his sister; but the fact existed, that this person, called the Countess of Oldi, whom her Majesty had made her companion and placed in the same situation which had been formerly filled by the Ladies Elizabeth Forbes, Charlotte Lindsay, and Charlotte Campbell, was no other than the sister of the courier Bergami? Her Majesty did not continue long at Milan; she set out on a tour to Venice, still accompanied by her courier Bergami, whom she treated with the usual familiarity. In this journey to Venice, which took place in the month of May or of June, 1815, she was accompanied by Mr. Drummond Burrell. Lord GWYDIR here rose, and stated that the Learned Counsel was not correct. Mr. Drummond Burrell had not accompanied the Queen to Venice in the journey alluded to. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL was sorry he had unintentionally misstated the name of the Gentleman who was at this time with the Queen. He ought to have said Mr. W. Burrell, not Mr. Drummond Burrell. He was the only English Gentleman who accompanied her Majesty to Venice. Her Majesty resided at an hotel in Venice. One day after she had dined, during which time Bergami had waited on her at table, she was observed by one of the servants of the hotel to take a gold chain off her neck, and put it on his; this transaction was accompanied by much familiarity and playfulness. Bergami withdrew the chain from his neck, and replaced it on the person of her Majesty. On the return of the Queen to Milan, Mr. W. Burrell quitted her Majesty's service at the villa Villani. It was observed, that in proportion as the English left her Majesty, she became less and less reserved in her intercourse with Bergami. In this villa it was observed that she presented him with a gown of blue silk which she had worn, and which he afterwards wore in the mornings; it was also observed that there as at all other places, his room was very near her's, and that there was a communication between the apartments which might facilitate the passing from one to the other without the notice of the servants. After Mr. Burrell was gone, and there was no longer any English in her Majesty's train, her familiarities with all her servants became greater. She frequently played at games with them. Having left the villa Villani, she visited in August 1815, Mont St. Gothard, still accompanied by Bergami. At Vanues, a very remarkable transaction took place. Her Majesty stopped at an inn in that place, where she dined, and it would appear in evidence that she retired with Bergami to a bed-room, and was there locked up with him for a considerable time. He was still in the character of a courier. After dinner they visited Madona del Monte, where they slept, and next day went to Berromeo. When her Majesty came from Germany she had been at this place, and then the best room which the hotel afforded had been assigned to her. It was naturally to be expected that she would occupy the same room again, and it was at her command; but this room had no communication with any other, and it was therefore worthy of remark, that on this second visit to Berromeo she selected another and very inferior apartment, but which communicated directly with Bergami's room. This conduct was surely very singular. Her Majesty next pro ceeded to Bellenzom, and here the intimacy between her and Bergami continued, and his influence was carried to such a height, that he now sat at table with her. He had never before attempted this publicly, though they had often breakfasted together privately. Did this conduct accord with the dignity becoming a Princess? What entitled this man to such an honour? If his merits justified his promotion, would it not have been more becoming to have raised him to those dignities which he had since obtained, before such marked favour was shown to him? But her Majesty's zeal to reward him was too impatient for delay. Could this, he asked their Lordships, be regarded as mere levity, as a pardonable familiarity resulting from foreign manners, or a natural vivacity of spirits? The next visit was to Lugano, where their Lordships would find decisive evidence that the same adulterous intercourse which had taken place elsewhere was renewed. On their return from this tour the Princess established herself near Como, in a place called Deste. Here, their rooms were divided only by a small cabinet, and were apart from those occupied by the rest of the family. Here too, as on former occasions, they retired at night and rose in the morning about the same time. It was now conceived that appearances would be better preserved if Bergami were raised to a higher rank in the Princess's service, and he was accordingly appointed her chamberlain. After this advancement he always dined at her table, together with her dame d'honneur, the Countess |