the measure of the guilt of the offender, and whether the law absolutely demands the life of the criminal, palliat ing the offence by all the arguments worthy a wise and good chief magistrate, and becoming him, who, under Divine Providence, as the ruler of the Nation, is the FOUNTAIN OF MERCY. Yes, sir, nearly two hours have I known the Prince plead thus, in the presence of this minister of justice, for those who had no other counsellor, and his plea enforced by arguments not less just than wise has, in many cases, not been made in vain." The Prince's heart was, perhaps, prompted by due humility to reason thus with his Maker, on these awful occasions : Oh, what are we. That we should sit in judgment, man on man? SOUTHEY. whether the royal patient might with safety venture to the Opera-House, gave his decided negative. The Prince was dissatisfied with the doctor's mandate, and at the same time assured him no exertion on his part would be requisite, as he intended going in a domino. The doctor persisted in his opinion; and added, that he would not answer for the consequence of such imprudence; it might, indeed, even occasion his Royal Highness's death. Upon which the Prince immediately exclaimed, "Beati sunt illi qui moriuntur in domino." Among almost innumerable instances of the fine feeling and discernment of our late beloved Sovereign, may be here related one, which occurred many years ago, while he was Prince of Wales. Being at Brighton, and going rather earlier than usual to visit his stud, he enquired of a groom, "Where is Tom Cross,* is he unwell?—I have missed him for some days?"-" Please Beau Brummel.-The Prince's treat your Royal Highness, he is gone away." ment of Brummel, the celebrated dandy," Gone away? what for?"-" Please will be long remembered by that person, and all who witnessed it. Brummel, in the zenith of his power, was a frequent visitor at Carlton-house, where he was always received with politeness and hospitality. The king of the dandies, intoxicated by the foolish admiration he excited out of doors, and deceived by the general degree of equality which always prevailed at the royal table, forgot himself so far one day after dinner, as to address the Prince Regent familiarly by the name of George, and to desire him "to ring the bell." The Prince, to the astonishment of all present, rose from the table and rung as he was required. The servant appeared. "Mr. Brummel's carriage," said the Prince. The attendant announced it to be in waiting. Brummel, taking the delicate hint, immediately departed, never again to enter the doors of the royal residence. The King, however, forgave the slights offered to the Prince, and Brummel, poor and disgraced, has been, within the last ten months, appointed to the consulship of Caen, at his express command. The following anecdote of the late King includes one of the most happy puns that was ever made, howbeit a somewhat profane one. On the eve of a masquerade given at the King's Theatre, in 1796, the Prince was so seriously indisposed as to require the attendance of Dr. Reynolds, who, upon being asked your Royal Highness" (hesitating), "I Highness spoke to him with a similar charac This name is assumed, but his Royal teristic familiarity of designation. + A superior of the stable department, stedfastly at him for some moments:"Tom, Tom," said the Prince, "what have you been doing? Happy it is for your poor father that he is gone; it would have broken his heart to see you in such a situation. I hope this is your first offence." The youth wept bitterly. Ah, Tom! I am glad to see that you are penitent. Your father was an honest man; I had a great regard for him; so I should have for you, if you were a good lad, for his sake. Now, if I desire Mr. to take you into the stable again, think you, that I may trust you?" Tom wept still more vehemently, implored forgiveness, and promised reformation. "Well, then," said the gracious Prince, " you shall be restored: avoid evil company. Go, and recover your character. Be diligent, be honest, and make me your friend, and-hark ye, Tom-I will take care that no one shall ever taunt you with what is past." The late King and Nelson.--The following letter was placed in the hands of Sir John Phillipart by the late Mr. Alexander Davison, to whom it was addressed by his Majesty when Prince of Wales, on the death of Lord Nelson. It offers an excellent specimen of his Majesty's talent for epistolatory correspondence, and of his excellent feelings: "I am extremely obliged to you, my dear sir, for your confidential letter, which I received this morning. You may be well assured, that did it depend upon me, there would not be a wish, a desire of our ever-to-be-lamented and much-loved friend, as well as adored hero, that would not consider as a solemn obligation upon his friends and his country to fulfil; it is a duty they owe his memory and his matchless and unrivalled excellence. Such are my sentiments, and I hope that there is still in this country sufficient honour, virtue, and gratitude, to prompt us to ratify and to carry into effect the last dying request of our Nelson, by that means proving, not only to the whole world, but to future ages, that we were worthy of having such a man belonging to us. It must be needless, my dear sir, to discuss over with you in particular the irreparable loss dear Nelson ever must be, not merely to his friends, but to his country, especially at the present crisis, and during the present most awful contest: his very name was a host in itself Nelson and Victory were one and the same to us, and it carried dismay and terror to the hearts of our enemies. But the subject is too pain ful a one to dwell longer upon. As to myself, all that I can do, either publicly or privately, to testify the reverence, the respect, I entertain for his memory as a hero, and as the greatest public character that ever embellished the page of history, independent of what I can, with the greatest truth, term the enthusiastic attachment I felt for him as a friend, I consider it as my duty to fulfil; and therefore, though I may be prevented from taking that ostensible and prominent situation at his funeral, which I think my birth and high rank entitle me to claim, still nothing shall prevent me, in a private character, following his remains to their last resting place; for though the station and the character may be less ostensible, less prominent, yet the feelings of the heart will not therefore be the less poignant, or the less acute. "I am, my dear sir, "Brighton, "To Alexander Davison, Esq., St. James's-square, London." Michael Kelly.-The Prince allowed Kelly one hundred a year, or rather insisted upon his having a free benefit at the Opera House annually for the remainder of his life, and on each of these occasions the King gave Kelly one hundred pounds. The following anecdote of the King is related by a gentleman of high rank, who accompanied his Majesty on his visit to Ireland. On his way the King called at the seat of the Marquis of Anglesea, at Plas-Newydd, and being very fond of children, he amused himself for some time with those of the noble Marquis. One of them, a little boy of about five years of age, while playing on the King's knee, looked in his face and said, "Mrs. Collins, my nurse, tells me that you are the King; but I do not believe her, for you are not different from any other man-if you are the King, why do not you wear your crown?" His Majesty turned to one of his courtiers, and observed, "There is wisdom in infancythis child can see nothing extraordinary in a King, whilst those about me would almost persuade me that I am something more than a mortal." GOD SAVE THE KING. [The national anthem, thus neatly altered to suit a name of two syllables, was given at the King's Theatre on the evening of the 29th of June ] God save our gracious King Send him victorious, God save the King! O Lord our God arise, And make them fall; Thy choicest gifts in store May he defend our laws, Shield him thou good and great, New blessings bring: TITLES AND OTHER HONORARY DISTINCTIONS BORNE BY HIS LATE MAJESTY. George (Augustus Frederick) IV., of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, Prince of Wales, Duke of Lancaster and Cornwell, Duke of Rothsay in Scotland, King of Hanover, Duke and Prince of Brunswick-Lunenburg, Arch-Treasurer of the Holy Roman Empire, Sovereign Protector of the United States of the Ionian Islands, Viscount Launceston, Earl of Carrick in Ireland, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, and Great Steward of Scotland, Earl of Chester, Captain-General of the Honourable Artillery Company, Marquis of the Isle of Ely, Colonel-inChief of the two Regiments of Life Guards, High Steward of Plymouth, Sovereign of the orders of the Garter, Bath, Thistle, St. Patrick, Hanoverian Guelphic Order, St. Michael and St. George of the Ionian Isles, Visiter of University, Oriel, and Christ Church Colleges, Oxford, and of Trinity College, Cambridge, Knight of the Orders of the Golden Fleece of Spain and Austria, St. Stephen of Hungary, Pedro of Brazils, of St. Espirit of France, of Maria Theresa of Austria, of Charles III. of Spain, of William of the Netherlands, of St. Hubert of Bavaria, of Gustavus Vasa of Sweden; and several others. His Majesty was created Prince of Wales 17th August, 1762; Regent, 5th February, 1811; King of Great Britain, 29th January, 1820. ROYAL CEMETERY AT WINDSOR PREVIOUS to the death of the Princess Amelia, it had been the wish of George the Third to have a burial place for the Royal Family, and after consulting with his surveyor-general, James Wyatt, Esq. and several other architects on the subject, Cardinal Wolsey's tomb-house was fixed upon for a vault. All his Majesty's suggestions were acted upon, and the vault was soon completed. The Royal Cemetery, which communicates with the Choir of St. George's Chapel, is built of Bath free-stone, in the Gothic style of architecture, and partakes somewhat of the manner of the Egyptian vaults, being 100 feet in length, 30 feet in width, and 14 feet in depth. Along the passage depositories are arranged for the future kings of England. On each side are erected four tiers, divided into eight compartments, making in the whole 72 depositories for the Royal Family and the children of the Royal Blood. We cannot do adequate justice to this magnificent structure, without acquainting our readers with the antiquity of the place. This fine stone edifice is situated at the east end of St. George's Chapel, and was built by Henry VII. as a burial-place for himself and successors; but this prince afterwards altering his purpose, began the more noble structure at Westminster, and this fabric remained neglected until Cardinal Wolsey obtained a grant of it from King Henry VIII. Wolsey, with a profusion of expence unknown to former ages, designed and began here a most sumptuous monument for himself, from whence the building obtained the name of Wolsey's Tomb-house. At the time of the Cardinal's disgrace, the tomb was so far executed that Benedetto, a statuary of Florence, received 4250 ducats for what he had already done, and 3801. 18s. sterling was paid for gilding only half of this sumptuous monument. The Cardinal dying soon after his retirement from court, was privately buried at Leicester, and the monument remained unfinished. In 1646, it became the plunder of the Parliament party, and the statues and figures of exquisite workmanship were sold to carry on the war. King James the Second converted this building into a popish chapel, and mass was publicly performed here. The ceiling was executed by Verris, who is here considered to have excelled his other performances. The walls were finely ornamented and painted; but it soon became neglected, and with the downfall of popery so was it laid in ruins, until the year 1800, when George the Third ordered the windows and external parts to be repaired. The workmen while employed in removing the earth for the alteration of this ancient building, discovered two coffins in a stone recess, about three feet below the surface, the remains of Elizabeth Woodville, Queen of Edward IV.; the other those of George, third son of the said king and queen. In the royal dormitory repose the remains of George the Third and his consort, with several other members of the Royal Family, amongst whom are the Princess Amelia, the Dukes of Kent and York, and the much-loved and deeply lamented daughter of his late Majesty, now about to be consigned to his last resting place. ROYAL PORTRAITS. No. I. (For the Olio.) [IT is not until after we have diligently perused the various chronicles of England, that we are enabled to arrive at a just estimate of the characters of her monarchs. Though these records generally differ from each other, we shall, in the end, find that a faithful account of their acts and lives supersedes the necessity of any summing up by the historian, who, in many instances, is affected by the prejudices of his ancestors, or deceived by those who have written before him. We do not presume to suppose that our own opinion will bias many; but we shall from time to time lay before the reader a short account of the life of each king, from the Conquest upwards, exposing to view their vices and virtues in the most prominent manner, and occasionally offering such remarks as are suggested by the perusal of their separate reigns.] WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. The most prominent feature in the character of this monarch is courage undaunted courage, which was fully shewn, not only in the desperate struggle for the crown at the Battle of Hasfings, but also in the various conflicts with his rebellious vassals in Norman dy. Some of our old historians say that he led a dissolute life in his youth, but his great strength of body and robust constitution in some measure contradict this. Though it does not appear that he was an erudite king, yet he was a great encourager of learning, having invited from Italy Lanfranc Anselm, and other learned individuals. His courtesy and kindness to the clergy won him their goodwill, and to this circumstance the noble character they have drawn of him may be attributed. There is little doubt but his character was tinctured by ferocity, though in some instances he performed acts of generosity worthy of a better man. His conduct towards the family of Harold may be cited as an example. Rarely, indeed, is the throne of an usurper (and such was William) a bed of down; this monarch's life was embittered by the frequent and violent quarrels of his children, and in his last moments,* those who ought in gratitude to have rendered to him the last decent offices that are due to the dying and the dead, remorselessly left him to expire alone. Even after his death, his mortal remains were treated with indignity; and during the ceremony of their interment in the Abbey of Caen in Normandy, a scene occurred surpassing any incident in the wildest romance. One Fitz Arthur, a man of some note, stood up and forbade the burial." "This very place," said he, "was the floor of my father's house, which this dead duke violently took from him, and here, upon part of my inheritance, founded this church. This ground, therefore, I claim, and forbid that the body of my despoiler be covered with my earth.” The firmness with which this demand was made, obliged the son of the deceased king to compound with Fitz Arthur, who received as a compensation a hundred pounds weight of silver. Again, in the year 1562, when Chastillon took Caen, a party of soldiers forced open the tomb, and, disappointed at not finding the treasure they expected, threw his bones about in derision."So," says Baker, "if we consider his many troubles in life, and after his death, we may well think, that notwithstanding all his greatnesse, a very meane man would hardly be perswaded to change fortunes with him." *He died at Rouen, on Thursday, the 9th of September, 1087, at the age of sixty-four, his horse plunging suddenly, and throwing of an injury he received in consequence of him on the pummel of the saddle. Give to thee, Norman Hunter, to me that art both leefe and deare, The Hop and the Hopton, and all the bounds up and down; Under the earth to hell, above the earth to heaven, From me and mine to thee and thine, As good and as fair as ever they mine were; bit the white wax with my tooth, t between the nobleman, or knight, and the Damoiseau, will be at no loss to conceive the grief of Sir Robert de Malvesyn, as his people pointed out to him the severed head and still bleeding. trunk of the hapless page. Florent was the only son of Sir Robert's brother-in-arms, Sir Edward de Fradley; his widowed mother was recently dead, and from the age of eight he had been trained to knighthood in the manor castle of his father's friend. Before Jagge, Maude and Margery, and my Inseparable from the knight and his two youngest son Henry, For a bow and a broad arrow, His wit was sharp and ready. His speech eloquent. He was rather below the middle stature, but of Herculean strength, for we are told that no man of his size could bend his bow or handle his weapons. This, however, is no doubt an exaggeration. Altogether, it may be said that he was well qualified in every respect to govern the kingdom for which he had so stoutly contested. ALPHA. EFFECT WITHOUT A CAUSE. ON THE NON-APPEARANCE OF MISS. CAWSE AT THE ENGLISH OPERA. For the Olio. daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret,whether in the fight or the forest, the hall or the bower, and well versed in the sciences of religion, love and war, which chivalry delighted to intertwine; none excelled Florent in leaping the trench, launching the spear, or poising the shield; while his gentle birth, his beauty and his gallant spirit had endeared him to all the Malvesyns, but to none so much as the stately knight. "It is well for thy poor mother that she is at rest in her peaceful grave," said Sir Robert, the big tears rolling, over his dark brown cheek, while his people carefully wrapt the head and trunk in a soft mantle" else had this sight stretched her beside thee a passionate lunatic!-But thou shalt be revenged, and that in such a fashion as shall teach this unknightly cavalier of Hansacre, the difference between a murderer of children and him who pre-. serves his inauguration vow-to shed his blood even to its last drop in behalf of his brethren!'" The mournful business was now completed, and the knight returned to his hall, followed by his kinsmen and retainers; the slain being conveyed in reverent guise, accompanied by prolonged and wailful trumpet blasts, to interment at the Priory of Blythburgh various receptacles, previous to their or other churches. The fine old Monastery of St. Giles,. bank of the Blythe, where it flows beautifully situated on the southern through a sequestered valley, was shel-. tered by those woody hills once crowned by the mansion of Sir Hugo, its founder, a worthy knight of King Stephen's reign.. The old castle, however, was a ruin, having long been deserted by his descendants for the broad, sheltered meadows of the Trent. This conventual establishment consisted of monks and nuns, who here spent their blameless: lives amidst everything that could invest the sameness of a monastic house. with cheerfulness and contentment. |