At the entrance of the chapel, the royal body was received by the Dean and Prebendaries, attended by the Choir, who fell in immediately before Blanc Coursier King of Arms, bearing the crown of Hanover, and the procession moved into the choir, where the royal body was placed on a platform, and the crowns and cushions laid thereon.

His Royal Highness the Duke of York, the chief mourner, was seated on a chair at the head of the corpse, and the supporters on either side.

The princes of the blood-royal were seated near the chief

mourner.

The Lord Chamberlain of His Majesty's Household took his place at the feet of the corpse; and the supporters of the pall and of the canopy arranged themselves on each side of the royal body.

The service was commenced by the Dean of Windsor. It was about nine o'clock when the first part of the procession entered the south aisle, and the whole had not taken their seats within the chapel until ten o'clock. The anthem of❝ Hear my Prayer" was sung by Masters Marshall and Deering, in a superior style; and the celebrated Funeral Anthem, by Handel, upon the death of Queen Caroline, was sung by Messrs. Knyvett, Sale, Vaughan, and Masters Marshall and Deering.

Sir Isaac Heard then proclaimed the style and titles of His Majesty, and the royal body was lowered into the vault about half after ten o'clock.

The ceremonial terminated about eleven o'clock, and as the royal dukes were departing with the other members of the procession, a "Solemn Voluntary" was performed.

His Royal Highness the Duke of York appeared most sensibly affected. There was a settled melancholy in the countenance of Prince Leopold, which naturally heightened the interest His Royal Highness's presence uniformly inspires. The Dukes of Clarence, Sussex, and Gloucester, evinced considerable agitation of feeling, in which the whole of the spectators appeared

We cannot better elucidate this long but, we trust, not uninteresting memoir, than by one or two extracts from a late work *, by John Nicholls, Esq. ex-member for Tregony; a gentleman whose conversation-talents are unrivalled; whose eloquence and ability in parliament were displayed on a variety of important occasions; whose integrity is undoubted; and who, to the politeness of an accomplished gentleman in private life, adds all the vigour, ability, and impartiality of an historian:

"The nation hailed with pleasure the accession of a Prince born in the country; they persuaded themselves that the interests of England would no longer be sacrificed to the interests of Hanover; and much advantage of this circumstance was taken in the first speech of the young King to Parliament. "Born and educated in this country, I glory in the name of Briton:" the old Earl of Hardwicke, the Ex-chancellor, censured this expression, saying that it was an insult to the memory of the late King; but the nation was pleased with the expression. The young King (for he was at that time little more than twenty-two years of age) was of a good person, sober, temperate, of domestic habits, addicted to no vice, swayed by no passion—what had not the nation to expect from such a character? There was another circumstance which much increased his popularity: during the reigns of George I. and George II. a considerable part of the nation had been, as it were, proscribed, under the name of Tories. The imputation against these men was, that they were attached to the family of Stuart: probably some of them were attached to that family; but very many were included under the denomination of Tories, solely because they had disapproved of the corrupt and feeble administrations of Sir Robert Walpole and the Pelhams. It was soon remarked, that the Pelham party did not possess the partiality of George III. in the same manner as

« Recollections and Reflections, personal and political, as connected with Public Affairs, during the reign of George III. By John Nicholls, Esq., Member of the House of Commons, in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Eighteenth Par liaments of Great Britain." 1 vol. 8vo. Ridgeway. 1820.

they had possessed that of George II.; and the Tories saw with pleasure the removal of that proscription by which they had been so long oppressed. In one word, the nation was intoxicated with loyalty. But those who approached the Court more nearly, perceived circumstances which filled them with apprehensions.

"I recollect the expression used to my father by Mr. Pratt, at that time Attorney General, afterwards better known by the name of Lord Camden, within four months after the King's accession: I see already, that this will be a weak and an inglorious reign.' I recollect also the relation which a friend of my father's gave to him of a conversation which he had had with Charles Townshend: 'I said to Charles Townshend, I don't want to know any state secrets, but do tell me what is the character of this young man?' After a pause, Charles Townshend replied, He is very obstinate.' It was also observed that the Princess Dowager of Wales had kept the young Prince from having any confidential intimacy with any person except herself and the Earl of Bute: the pretence for this was the preservation of his morals. In truth, they had blockaded all approach to him. A notion has prevailed, that the Earl of Bute had suggested political opinions to the Princess Dowager; but this was certainly a mistake. In understanding, the Princess Dowager was far superior to the Earl of Bute; in whatever degree of favour he stood with her, he did not suggest, but he received, her opinions and her directions. The late Marquis of Bute told me, that at the King's accession, his father, the Earl of Bute, had no connexion beyond the pale of Leicester House. He added, "I never lived with my father, nor did any of his children.' Could such a

man be fit to be a Minister?

"The Princess Dowager of Wales was a woman of a very sound understanding, and was considered as such by all who had occasion to converse with her. But she had been educated in the Court of her father, the Duke of Saxe Gotha; here she had received her ideas of sovereign power, and she could never

be exercised by a King of Great Britain with different sentiments, and in a manner different from that in which she had seen it exercised at Saxe Gotha.

"Few Englishmen have occasion to see the interior of the Court of a petty German Prince; it may therefore be difficult to bring Englishmen to comprehend the character of such a Court. A petty German Sovereign is not a magistrate; he is rather the proprietor of the soil, and of the inhabitants. His ministers exist by his breath; they are liable to no responsibility except to their master; they fall into insignificance when his favour is removed: he resembles more a Polish or Hungarian Noble, than a British Sovereign. He has an interest that his lands should be well cultivated, and his people not driven from his territory; because, if the lands remained uncultivated, his revenues would be lessened; but he collects all the revenue which he can, consistently with this attention to his interest, and spends it all in vanity or personal gratifications.

"When the Princess of Wales came to the Court of St. James, she found the British Sovereign a very different character from that which she had seen at Saxe Gotha. She found him controlled by his ministers, indulged in petty gratifications, but compelled to submit to their opinions on all important subjects. We cannot be surprised that she was disgusted at this; and it is well known that she ever impressed upon the King from his early years this lesson, George, be King.' And this lesson seems to have influenced the King's conduct through the whole of his life. Extreme apprehension that his ministers or others might encroach upon his power, an earnest wish that he might exercise his power personally, or, in other words, that he might be his own minister, have in a very singular manner marked his conduct during the whole of his reign.

"At his accession, he found the Pelham party in possession of the administration; much strengthened by its alliance with Mr. Secretary Pitt, and popular from his successful conduct of the war. It was perilous to attempt to change such an administration. The late Marquis of Rockingham told

me, that about the end of February 1761, he received a message from the Duke of Newcastle, requesting him to be at Newcastle House that evening. He went there: on his entering the room, the Duke of Newcastle ran up to him and said, We have received a message from the King, of great importance; he wishes that the Earl of Holdernesse may resign the place of Secretary of State for the Northern Department, and receive in lieu of it the Wardenship of the Cinque Ports, and that the Earl of Bute may be appointed Secretary of State for the Northern Department, in the place of the Earl of Holdernesse.' When this subject was discussed, the Earl of Hardwicke strongly recommended that the King's wishes should be complied with without opposition. He said, 'that this was the first instance in which the King had interfered in the nomination of ministers; and that resistance to his wishes might excite an ill-will which they might afterwards regret.' The Marquis of Rockingham told me, that he himself rather objected, and desired them to consider, whether, if they admitted, in February 1761, that the Earl of Bute was fit to be a Secretary of State, they could say in the following year that he was not fit to be a prime-minister? But the Earl of Hardwicke's opinion prevailed, and the Earl of Bute was appointed Secretary of State."

George III. is now no more.

This circumstance authorises us to review his character with the same freedom as we may do that of any of those monarchs who have preceded him. I have already mentioned the character which he displayed at the commencement of his reign; that he was sober - temperate of domestic habits addicted to no vice-swayed by no passion.

"The whole tenour of his life has justified the impression, which was first received of him. Those who approached him formed another opinion of his character; in which, however,