the very highest scarcely as a blemish. The proficiency of our lords and ladies is duly attested by the valuable works which they have produced, and by the number who stand at the very head of our literature. With respect to the latter, also, we are happy to understand that this qualification has not been found to interfere either with their agreeableness in society, or with the regulations of domestic economy. After all, however, the most important revolution, and that which seems pregnant with the greatest changes, consists in the extension of knowledge in quite a different direction-in the diffusion of its elements among that humbler and more numerous class, who were formerly supposed to be shut out entirely from the pale of intellectual existence-destined to be the mere hewers of wood and drawers of water for the more fortunate part of their species. In Scotland, indeed, for more than a century, the valuable institution of parish schools had diffused, at least through all its rural districts, benefits which were universally acknowledged. But in England, and the rest of the empire, the first principles of education could be obtained only at a higher price than the labouring class had the means, or at least the inclination, to afford. The English labourer, even when receiving ample wages, remained usually sunk in fat contented ignorance, and did not even care to collect that scanty measure of knowledge which circumstances would have allowed. He fell into that stupified and benumbed state to which the labouring class is liable in a commercial state of society; when the division of labour, reducing the occupation of every individual to a narrow mechanical routine, withdraws all daily demands upon his intellect. In this respect, the most marked change In closing this hasty survey, it is impossible not to remark, that Britain, at the end of the reign of George III., occupied a more conspicuous place in the system of Europe, and of the world in general, than at any former period of her history. She held that which France had taken since the reign of Lewis XIV., and which Spain had held before-as the centre of power and civilization-the model upon which other nations seek to form themselves-the hinge round which all the great changes in the world revolve. How long she may retain this proud pre-eminence, so dearly purchased, while so great a ferment prevails in the world, and revolutions are every where afloat, cannot be too confidently predicted. It can only be said, that there is no present appearance of rivalry to it among any other European power or people; and that it may probably be expected to last till Europe itself be eclipsed by the mighty empires rising beyond the Atlantic. The question now arises, amid these great changes which marked the fate of Britain during this reign, what the Monarch himself was, and what influence he exercised? It must first be admitted, that there can be no room for ascribing to George III. that energy and originality of mind which could enable him, like Lewis XIV., or Charles V., to stamp his own character on the age. In the great events which took place in Britain, or which she effected in the nations around, it never could be said that the Monarch himself gave the main impulse. But the fact is, that this is a quality under the want of which the nation has in no degree suffered; and which it is neither desirable nor desired that a British King should display. That principle, the necessary basis of a limited monarchy, which imposes upon ministers all the responsibility of public measures, vests in them the actual direction of these measures, and establishes the King rather as an ornament and central support of the political system, than an active member of it. To do well the honours of his situation to exhibit the virtues of private life-to make dignity, moral purity, and respect for religion, leading features in his external deportment, without forbidding austerity, to guard the gaieties of a court from degenerating into licentiousness ;these, which in an absolute prince are only secondary qualities, become of the first value in the head of a limited monarchy. The eminent degree in which they were displayed by our late venerable Sovereign, has extorted universal applause. In regard to public measures, the King gave some striking proofs of willingness to remain in his place as a member of a constitutional monarchy; and even where obvious expediency dictated, to extend the powers of those branches which were independent of himself. This appeared conspicuously in the measure recommended by himself from the throne, within six months after his accession, of rendering the office of judge independent of the executive. The nation was thus indebted to the spontaneous act of its King, for the most important accession to public liberty which the constitution has received since the Revolution. Lord North was accustomed to say, "The King would live on bread and water to preserve the constitution of his country. He would sacrifice his life to maintain it inviolate."—" Born and educated in this country," said he, "I glory in the name of Briton." And he had accordingly shaken off entirely that preference of Hanover, which had been felt as odious in the former monarchs of that race. It could never, indeed, be expected, that, steering through his whole life between opposite parties, and shewing preferences to one or another, he should escape severe strictures on his public career. There are not wanting those who charge upon himself, personally, all the measures of his reign which have had an unfor tunate issue. There was always room for this: because, as a curtain constantly hides the process by which official measures are formed, the respective shares of the King and Ministers are a subject open to whispers and conjectures, and are usually moulded by each party according to their views and prepossessions. He is openly charged with a passion for war. This accusation really appears to us somewhat too bold. What are the facts? George III. came to the throne in the midst of the most splendid and glorious war ever waged by Britain. He came at the age when mankind are most liable to be smitten with the love of military glory. How did he act? From the moment of accession, all his aims were pacific. He sacrificed his minister, in hopes of avoiding an extension of the theatre of hostilities; and he finally made an entire sacrifice of his popularity, by concluding peace sooner, and on worse terms, than the nation fondly expected. What proof could be more decisive of a peculiar reluctance to engage in war? After this, supposing him to have favoured the American contest, (which we shall speak to presently,) can any one suppose him to have driven so valuable a part of his empire into rebellion, and hazarded its loss, rather than not have war in some shape or other? With regard to the revolutionary conflict, supposing it true that it was promoted by the King's personal influence, it was surely a cause which interested, too strongly, all the feelings of royalty, to render it necessary to infer any abstract love of war. But, in fact, we find nothing but bare assertion as to any peculiar interference of the King upon this occasion. Mr Pitt, assuredly, was never suspected of any want of zeal in keeping down the growth of French power, and effecting its humiliation. The standing charge of his enemies is that of rash and imprudent zeal to effect this object; and we never heard it once alleged that it was a system forced upon him, and into which he reluctantly entered. Mr Addington, (Lord Sidmouth,) well known to be a favourite minister of the King, came in on a peace-making basis, and made peace. It has been said, that the King expressed surprise when he heard of the signature of the peace of Amiens; but it is admitted, that he immediately expressed his wish that it might be lasting. With regard to the renewal of the war in 1803, no interference of the King was ever heard of; and the arrogant demands of Buonaparte-the conflict between the periodical presses of France and England-and the ferment it excited in the nation, are quite sufficient to render any further solution superfluous. George III. was much and long charged with favouritism. The guides of his political judgment were said to be, not his ostensible ministers, but private individuals, whose opinions he preferred. The cry of" an influence behind the throne, greater than the throne itself," was re-echoed from Burke to Belsham, and continued to be a standing topic of declamation. We need not assemble facts relative to this charge, since it is entirely given up, even by the severest critics, who now universally admit, that he never had any such private adviser. The charge at present is, that he never paid due regard to any advice, public or private; that his object, from the first, was to be his own minister, and to have his own will in every thing. We are told, that the first lesson instilled into him by his mother, the Dowager Princess of Wales, was, "George, be King;" and that this precept was never forgotten. We are not disinclined to admit, that, under some exaggeration, there may be some truth in this statement; and that the King really had somewhat of a determined will. It is already admitted, that the machine of a limited monarchy works more conveniently when the King quietly leaves the chief direction of affairs to his responsible advisers. But however convenient this may be, would it tend to exalt our opinion of the individual so acting? Would there not be something ignavum in one who contentedly suffered himself to be kept as a state pageant, like the infant Lama of Thibet, mechanically to perform a round of outward ceremonies; and who should willingly view, as an unconcerned spectator, the manner in which his kingdom was administered. That a King, by forming plans, and seeking their accomplishment, should act somewhat as a disturbing force in the revolutions of the political wheel, is an evil which human nature obliges us to expect, in counterpoise of the benefits derived from the regal branch of the constitution. But it would be difficult to adduce instances in which this natural desire to exercise his own will refused to bend to the constitutional barriers which rose against it. No former King of the Hanover dynasty, or since the Revolution, was ever controlled, on so many occasions, by the interference of Parliament; yet though sometimes touched in the very tenderest part, he yielded on almost every occasion, with a tolerable grace. There is, indeed, the striking exception of Mr Pitt's first accession to the Ministry. He certainly was maintained there, for a short time, against a Parliamentary majority; but the circumstances were so peculiar, that even Mr Nichols, a zealous whig, and severe critic on the King, applauds his conduct on the occasion. In the peculiar case, where a coalition of fac tions, equally odious to King and people, has obtained a majority in Parliament, it can scarcely be called an unconstitutional stretch of power to make an appeal to the electors, by the dissolution of that assembly. Indeed we cannot help, by the way, remarking, that the long adherence of the King to a minister of such a lofty, uncompromising, and almost imperious character as Pitt, seems incompatible with that violent and headstrong determination, of which so much has been said. It is understood that they had quarrels ; but on these critical occasions, the King, if we mistake not, was usually obliged to yield. The only measure which was certainly and avowedly his own, and in support of which he shewed his determination to brave every consequence, was one to which he considered himself bound by a religious obligation. Even on this point, however, he had to contend with his Ministers only, and not with Parliament. Nay, the opinion, enlightened or not, of a majority of the nation, was here in his favour. We have now to consider George III. in his private capacity; and here it is allowed, on all hands, that he shone conspicuous. From those vices which are almost inseparable from, and by the world considered venial in, the possessors of exalted rank and unbounded wealth, he was so wholly exempt, that it would be difficult to find a course of domestic life equally meritorious in the most private individual. All the efforts of the royal pair were directed to the support of religious and moral principle throughout the wide sphere of their influence. The effect of this disposition was likely to be the greater, since it was not accompanied with any recluse or forbidding austerity. It was peculiarly important in periods such as we have witnessed, when manners, among the higher ranks, tended towards general dissoluteness, that every thing within the precincts of the court should be kept thus perfectly pure. The King's dutiful affection for a partner possessed rather of solid than engaging qualities, and his strict attention to the education of a numerous progeny, were equally exemplary. At eight in the morning he regularly attended divine service in the royal chapel, when the solemnity of his deportment, and the fervour of his responses, were particularly observed. Yet amid these strong impressions of religion, joined to particular attachment to the Church of England, he was always a friend to toleration. He cordially concurred in the numerous mitigations which took place during his reign of the penal statutes against dissenters, without excepting Roman Catholics. He extended a full pardon to a priest of this persuasion who had been condemned, on an obsolete law, for the saying of mass. His ultimate resistance to the full extension of political privileges of this body, is allowed on all hands to have been founded on the most conscientious scruple. The King's understanding has been a subject of doubt and criticism. It is now generally allowed to have been respectable. He thoroughly understood public business, and paid constant and unremitting attention to it. At Windsor, his usual residence, papers and communications relative to matters of state, were transmitted to him by Ministers early in the morning. He rose at six, and usually dispatched the greater part of them before breakfast. When any thing occurred in the course of the day, an express was sent out, to which he paid immediate attention. Nothing submitted to him was passed over in a hasty or indifferent manner. Every paper examined by him contained marginal notes, marked by reflection and strong sense. Those who were in the habit of conversing with him on business, declared, that his manner then bore no marks of that frivolity which sometimes prevailed in his ordinary discourse. He spoke with dignity and fluency; and shewed himself completely master of every subject which came under consideration. George III. has not been distintinguished either as literary, or a patron of literature. In letters from his mother, the Princess Dowager, preserved in the Diary of Bubb Doddington, he is said to be an honest boy, but not apparently to learn much from his tutors. He grew up, accordingly, with little knowledge of Latin, and less of Greek; though he spoke with fluency several modern languages. Notwithstanding the distinguished exceptions of Johnson and Beattie, the eminent authors who illustrated his reign, depended chiefly for patronage on public favour. Yet there were several important respects in which the King shewed his value for knowledge. He collected, singly, the most extensive library that perhaps ever was accumulated by any one individual. Several gentlemen were continually employed, both at home and abroad, in procuring for him the most valuable works. One of these informed the present writer, that he had instructions to procure only useful books, and editions of sterling value, to the exclusion of those which had only rarity to recommend them. The King's favourite studies were theology, history, and voyages and travels. These accordingly were the branches in which the library was richest. The collection of maps and charts was also particularly extensive. We have been assured, on the above authority, that there was not a better geographer in his dominions than the King himself. He is said, however, |