times indulged in for the amusement of his intimate companions, was very great. The personal appearance of the king when young, was fine, his air was manly and graceful; his countenance open and noble; the proportions of his limbs exquisite. Late in life he grew very corpulent. He was a skilful, fearless, and elegant horseman, and excelled in most exercises that required either dexterity or vigour. We cannot conclude our memoir without presenting the following anecdotes, which are strongly characteristic of the benevolence of George the Fourth. Nearly forty years ago, his late Majesty, then Prince of Wales, was so exceedingly urgent to have 8001. to an hour on such a day, and in such an unusual manner, that the gentleman who furnished the supply had some curiosity to know for what purpose it was obtained. On inquiry, he was informed that the moment the money arrived, the Prince drew on a pair of boots, pulled off his coat and waistcoat, slipped on a plain morning frock, and, turning his hair to the crown of his head, put on a slouched hat, and thus walked out. This intelligence raised still greater curiosity; and, with some trouble, the gentleman discovered the object of the Prince's mysterious visit. An officer of the army had just arrived from America, with a wife and six children, in such low circumstances that, to satisfy some clamorous creditor, he was on the point of selling his commission, which must have been the utter ruin of his family. The Prince by accident overheard an account of the case. sented to his late Majesty as one needing pecuniary assistance; the King desired that one shilling per day should be paid him during his life. A poor orphan child, belonging to one of the dissenting Sunday schools in the city, was also spoken of to his Majesty, as one deserving attention. He instantly desired that she should be supported at his personal expence. We are assured that many similar cases of his late Majesty's regard for his people, irrespective of their religious opinions, might be mentioned to his honour. Another anecdote, which evinces the late Monarch's taste for the fine arts, is thus related. In the Vatican at Rome is a portrait of his late Majesty. The King is at full length, in his coronation robes. It is not a little remarkable, that the only reigning monarch of whom a portrait is to be found in the pontifical residence, should be the only sovereign in Christendom who does not recognise the Pope; the reason of his receiving this honour is, that his Majesty sent the late Pope a series of casts from the Elgin Marbles, to be placed amongst the unrivalled collection of Greek sculpture in the Vatican, and accompanied the present with his own portrait, by Lawrence. The handsome present was as handsomely received: the excellent pontiff, who, like his Majesty, was a generous patron of the arts, placed both the gifts in conspicuous situations, and acknowledged them by the following inscription :— Pius Septimus, Pontifex Maximus, Græcæ Artls in Athenarum Parthenone mirandu Ectyra, To prevent a worthy soldier suffering A Georgio IV, Magnæ Brittanniæ Rege Dono he procured the money, and that no mistake might happen, he resolved to be his own almoner. On asking, at an obscure lodging-house, in a court near Covent Garden, for the lodger, he was shown up to his room, and there found the family in the utmost distress.Shocked at the sight, he not only presented the money, but told the officer to apply to Colonel Lake, living in street, and give some account of himself in future; and then departed, without the family knowing to whom they were obliged. The case of a worthy, but poor Baptist minister, was, sometime since, repre Mrs. Robinson, in her Memoirs, bears the following testimony to the great accomplishments of the king in his youthful days: The graces of his person, the irresistible sweetness of his smile, the tenderness of his melodicus yet manly voice, will be remembered by me till every vision of this changing scene shall be forgotten." accepta, Quo tanti Principis Munificentium The following particulars of the last moments of the King were communicated to the editor of the Morning Herald, by a correspondent at Windsor. "The following particulars are such as I have been able to obtain, and I believe they are the very truth:-His Majesty, was, throughout Friday, becoming hourly more and more exhausted by his cough, and of course his ability to throw off the cause of that cough, by expectoration, was hourly diminishing. In the course of the evening, before nine o'clock, the physicians intimated to their Royal Patient their inability to give him further relief, and their opinion that his last moments were rapidly approaching. To this commu nication his Majesty replied, “ God's will be done!" and in a few moments after, he asked, "Where is Chichester?" The Bishop of Chichester was instantly summoned to the royal chamber, and at his hands the dying Sovereign received the Sacrament. During the administration of this rite his Majesty was much less troubled by the cough than he had been previously, and afterwards it gradually subsided, and towards midnight he sunk into a state of apparently quiet repose, which continued until about three o'clock, when he became rather restless, and feebly expressed a wish to have his head placed in a more elevated position. Previous to this, all the attendants had retired except Sir Matthew Tierney and Sir Wathen Waller; and they instantly attempted to afford his Majesty the relief he had requested; but they had scarcely commenced the attempt when his Majesty suddenly motioned them to desist, and placing both his hands upon his breast, he ejaculated, "Oh! this is not right! -this is death!-Oh, God! I am dying!" These were the last, and the only distinct words he uttered after having received the Holy Sacrament; and from this time his dissolution came on so quietly and so gradually, that the physicians had some difficulty in ascertaining precisely at what moment he ceased to exist. In the mean time the Bishop of Chichester, and all the principal members of the royal household, with the pages in immediate attendance, were called in, and, in their presence, without the slightest indication of suffering, his Majesty calmly expired. The principal persons present were the Bishop of Chichester, the physicians, the Marquis Conyngham, Sir Andrew Barnard, Sir William Keppel, Sir William Knighton, Sir Wathen Waller, Lord Strathaven, and Colonel Thornton; and when the physicians had announced that his Majesty had ceased to exist they retired,leaving the pages in attendance to perform the necessary attentions to the royal corpse, under the superintendence of the physicians." We shall now proceed to speak of the life and services of his present most gracious Majesty. WILLIAM HENRY, third son of King George III., was born August the 21st, 1765. He was baptized by the above names in the month of September, and from an early period of his childhood was destined for the sea. The King, his father, is said to have discovered something in Prince William that struck him as peculiarly fitting for naval ser vice. His brothers, the Prince of Wales and Duke of York, were well formed, strong made, but in corporeal strength and constitutional hardihood there was from the first a striking distinction in favour of the younger brother; while he betrayed an early indifference to those refined studies of which they were fond, and in which they excelled him. Early as was the period of his departure to sea, there were much earlier indications of his preparation for the enterprising and perilous service. Aware of the subordinate rank and laborious station he was first to assume, and in which he was to continue the full period allotted to other Midshipmen, he was, notwithstanding, eager for the commencement, and reconciled to the continuance of his arduous undertaking. The first vessel in which he sailed was the Prince George, a 98-gun ship, recently built, and named in honour of his Royal brother, the late King. He was then just 14 years of age, and well fitted by constitution, both of mind and body, for a service to which the progress of the war with America gave unusual importance. In this ship, under the command of Admiral Digby, his Royal Highness bore a part in the great naval engagement between the English and Spanish fleets, commanded by Admiral Rodney and Don Juan de Langara. Before he left the Prince George he was also present at the capture of a French man-of-war and three smaller vessels, forming part of a considerable convoy. In neither of these instances, however, was the action very severe, or the victory doubtful or difficult; his Royal Highness did his duty, but no opportunity was furnished to him or his brave associates for any signal effort of bravery or skill. The wits of the day were rather merry at the expense of the Admiral under whom he served on the occasion of a Spanish man-of-war being captured, which in compliment to the King's son was named "The Prince William." In writing home, the Admiral, mentioning that circumstance, described this resolution to have been adopted in consequence of the Spaniard having had "the honour to be taken" in the presence of his Royal Highness. Such an honour was certainly out of the common way, and might justify Falstaff's exclamation, "What's honour?" The action was deemed one of considerable importance at the time. The Spaniards fought bravely. In one of the poems written to commemorate the lity to the Spanish Government, they victory it was stated Though Laugara bore away, The English flew on wings of fame, He bravely fought his rear. We do not know whether it was in reference to this battle tha the following stanza, in honour of his Royal Highness, was added to the song, "When in war on the ocean," by Mr. Cobb: Happy nation to boast in defence of thy rights, brave, save. Two acts of generous humanity, performed soon after this period, are recorded to the honour of the Prince. The first, which occurred just before the conclusion of the war, is described by a midshipman of the Torbay, in the following letter to his friends : "Port Royal Harbour, April, 1783. "The last time Lord Hood's fleet was here, a Court-Martial was held on Mr. Benjamin Lee, midshipman, for disrespect to a superior officer, at which Lord Hood sat as President. The determination of the Court was fatal to the prisoner, and he was condemned to death. Deeply affected as the whole body of the midshipmen were at the dreadful sentence, they knew not how to obtain a mitigation of it, since Mr. Lee was ordered for execution; while they had not time to make their appeal to the Admiralty, and despaired of success in a petition to Admiral Rowley. However, his Royal Highness generously stepped forth, drew up a petition, to which he was the first to set his name, and solicited the rest of the midshipmen in port to follow his example. He then himself carried the petition to Admiral Rowley, and, in the most pressing and urgent manner, begged the life of our unhappy brother; in which he succeeded, and Mr. Lee is reprieved. We all acknowledge our warmest and grateful thanks to our humane, our brave, and worthy Prince, who has so nobly exerted himself in preserving the life of his brother sailor." The war ceased before the period of the Prince's naval apprenticeship expired, and in the year 1783, then a fine midshipman of 18, he visited Cape Francois and the Havannah. It was during this visit that a second instance of his exemplary humanity occurred. Some of his countrymen having broken their parole of honour and oath of fide were in danger of suffering under a sentence of death; when the Governor of Louisiana, Don Galvez, offered, at the intercession of the Prince, to spare and liberate them. The following letter, which his Royal Highness addressed to the Governor soon after, from Jamaica, sufficiently show the delight with which he acquired for his countrymen so welcome a boon : Sir, I want words to express to your Excellency my just sense of your polite letter-of the delicate manner in which you caused it to be deliveredand your generous conduct towards the Their unfortunate in your power. pardon, which you have been pleased to grant on my account, is the most agreeable present you could have offered me, and is strongly characteristic of the bravery and gallantry of the Spanish nation. This instance increases, if possible, my opinion of your Excellency's humanity, which has appeared on so many occasions in the course of the late war. Admiral Rowley is to despatch a vessel to Louisiana for the prisoners. I am convinced they will ever think of your Excellency's clemency with gratitude; and I have sent a copy of your letter to the King, my father, who will be fully sensible of your Excellency's attention to me. I request my compliments to Madame Galvez, and that you will be assured that actions so noble as those of your Excellency will ever be remembered by your's sincerely, WILLIAM P." The introduction of his Royal Highness to Nelson, and his subsequent intimacy with the gallant hero of the Nile, are circumstances of too much interest to be lightly passed over. They first met at Quebec, in the year 1782, when Nelson was in the Albemarle off that station, and whence he was ordered to convoy a fleet of transports to New York. A transient and casual interview created between them a strong attachment; and the Prince deeply regretted the departure of one whom he resolved from that moment to befriend to the utmost of his power. It was not, however, long before they met again. Happily for both, at the close of the war they were appointed to the Leeward Island station, and were sufficiently near each other to allow of their frequently dining together. The Prince had already beheld proofs of Nelson's superior courage and skill, and he had now an opportunity of witnessing the young hero's resolute obedience to orders, amidst circumstances of personal danger, as well as strong temptations to avarice. The law excluded all foreign vessels from trade, or any intercourse with our West India islands; and America being now independent, and as much a foreign nation as any other, Nelson, the senior Captain on the station, ordered all American vessels to quit the islands within 48 hours, on the pain of seizure and prosecution of their owners. Four vessels at Nevis remained, which he ordered to be searched, and, on being found American, they were adjudged legal prizes. The proceeding exposed Nelson to considerable difficulty, but he ultimately triumphed; and though the thanks of Government for protecting its commerce were given to the Admiral of the station, who had, in fact, opposed the measure, Nelson was conscious of having done his duty, and happy in the applause of the disinterested witnesses of it. "Nothing is wanting, Sir,” said Nelson to Prince William Henry, in 1787, in one of his epistles, "to make you the darling of the English nation but truth. Sorry I am to say, much to the contrary has been dispersed." There was no flattery in this, for Nelson was not a sycophant. The letter wherein this passage was found demonstrates with what wisdom, and how nobly, Nelson dealt with the young Prince. One of the officers of his Royal Highness had applied for a Court-martial upon a point in which he most evidently was wrong, but his Royal Highness prevented the trial, which must have been injurious to a valiant and meritorious man.--"Now that you are parted," said Nelson, "pardon me, my Prince, when I presume to recommend that he may stand in your royal favour, as if he had never sailed with you, and that at some future day you will serve him. There only wants this to place your conduct in the highest point of view. None of us are without failings; his was being rather too hasty. But that, put in competition with his being a good officer, will not, I am bold to say, be taken in the scale against him. More able friends than myself your Royal Highness may easily find, and of more consequence in the State; but one more attached and affectionate is not so easily met with. Princes seldom, very seldom, find a disinterested person to communicate to: I do not pretend to be that person; but of this be assured, by a man who, I trust, never did a dishonourable act, that I am interested only that your Royal Highness should be the greatest and best man this country ever produced." When Nelson married Mrs. Nisbet, in March, 1787, in the West Indies, the Duke of Clarence, then Prince William Henry, who had come out to the West Indies the preceeding winter, was present, by his own desire, to give away the bride. After passing through the regular duties of midshipman, lieutenant, and captain, his Royal Highness, at the close of the year 1790, received a commission as Rear-Admiral of the Blue, having then been about 18 months a Peer of England, Scotland, and Ireland, by the titles of Duke of Clarence and St. Andrews, and Earl of Munster. He received these distinctions when the peace of the country rendered his active services unnecessary, and when little prospect existed of the early renewal of hostilities with any nation of the world. The revolution had commenced, however, in France, and its rapid and horrid excesses at length provoked Europe to war. The Duke of York was among the first appointed to face the enemy, and it has naturally been asked why his brother of Clarence was not sent forth at the head of some suitable portion of the British navy ?—That such an appointment would have been generally approved, and followed by gratifying manifestations of his heroism and skill, there can be no doubt; but some unknown considerations of policy or duty- - some difficulty springing from rank, etiquette, or age-some reluctance on his part, or objection on the part of those with whom the appointment rested, deprived him of all share of the honour and glory so abundantly showered upon our naval heroes through that long and trying period. On these probable causes of the Duke's long inactivity, the least probable is that which relates wholly to himself. Whatever reluctance he might feel to personal service on the sea at an early part of the war-and even this is by no means probable at a later period he was extremely anxious to be employed. He made repeated and earnest application to the King to be allowed to hoist his flag, and relieve Lord Collingwood, then in a declining state of health, in the command of the Mediterranean fleet. About the same period a letter, addressed to Commodore Owen, appeared in the public papers, which thus describes his solicitude to share the dangers of war and the glories of victory. "When I shall have the honour to hoist my flag, I cannot be cer tain; but I am very much inclined to think that, eventually, I shall have the honour and happiness of commanding those fine fellows whom I saw in the spring, in the Downs and at Portsmouth. My short stay at Admiral Campbell's had impressed me with very favourable ideas of the improved state of the navy; but my residence at Portsmouth has afforded me ample opportunity of examining, and consequently of having a perfect judgment of the high and correct discipline now established in the King's service." As every memoir of Mrs. Jordan, the celebrated actress, has given the particulars of his long acquaintance with her, we may be spared the detail. By her he had a family, to whom he proved a most affectionate parent. It has been said that he unkindly neglected her before his death; but Mrs. Jordan, when this statement was made, answered it by a letter, which was published, stating him to have acted a most kind and liberal part. His Royal Highness was created Duke of Clarence the 20th of May, 1789, married July, 11, 1818, the Princess Adelaide Louisa Theresa, (born August 13, 1792,) daughter of George late Duke of Saxe Meiningen, and by whom he has no issue. On Monday, the 28th instant, the ceremony of proclaiming His Majesty William the Fourth took place. The Heralds and their officers were at the King's Palace at ten o'clock, when the King of Arms read the Proclamation signed at the first Court of His Majesty. The procession then moved off in the following order : A numerous body of Constables A Troop of Life Guards. with their staves of office. A posse of Constables (New Police). The Band of the Horse Guards, in their state uniforms. Eight Marshals on foot. State Band. Kettle Drum. Trumpets. Garter King of Arms, Supported by Serjeants at Arms with their Maces. A Troop of Horse Guards. The Proclamation was read again at Charing-cross; the procession then moved up the Strand towards Templebar; the Bar was shut, and not opened until a Herald knocked at the gate, and demanded admission in the name of our Sovereign Lord King William IV., in order to proclaim his being called to the throne. The gate then was partially opened by one of the City Marshals, who presented the Herald to the Lord Mayor, who was in waiting to receive him within the gate. His Lordship then ordered the gates to be thrown open, and the cavalcade entered. The procession halted at the corner of Chancery-lane, where the King at Arms again made proclamation. The procession then moved on down Fleetstreet, followed by the Lord Mayor and the other City Officers. The ProclaWood-street, and at the end of the mation was again read at the end of Royal Exchange. It is singular that so many of our late Princes have died on Saturday. It would almost seem as if the Revolution had set the example, the Throne having been declared vacant on Saturday, Feb. 16, 1688. William III. died on Saturday, March 8, 1702; Queen Anne on Saturday, Aug. 1, 1714; George I. at two o'clock on Sunday morning, June 11, 1727-i. e. what in common parlance is called Saturday night. George II. died on Saturday, October 25, 1760; Gearge III. on Saturday, January 29, 1820; George IV. on Saturday, June 26, 1830. ROYAL CAUSE AND EFFECT. |