a letter of thanks addressed to the magistrates and yeomanry of Manchester, for their prompt and spirited conduct. At the following assizes the grand jury threw out the bills charging the yeomanry with murder; but Hunt and his associates, being found guilty of sedition, were sentenced to different periods of imprisonment. Sir Francis Burdett also, who had denounced the conduct of the magistrates and she ministry in very severe terms, in a letter addressed to his constituents, was brought to trial, and found guilty of a libel on his majesty's government. Finally, parliament was assembled in the end of the year, and six restrictive acts passed for the prevention of seditious meetings, for prohibiting training and arming, for checking blasphemous and seditious writings, and to impose a tax on cheap periodical publications.

13. (A. D. 1820.) On the 23d of January, his royal highness the duke of Kent died at Sidmouth, in the 53d year of his age, leaving behind him an only daughter, the princess Victoria Augusta, now the presumptive inheritor of the British throne. On the 29th of the same month, George III. died at Windsor Castle, at the advanced age

Windsor Castle.

of eighty-one, atter a reign of fifty-nine years seven months and three days; the longest and most memorable in the annals of England. We are still too near the times in which this event occurred, and too much swayed by the opinions and prejudices resulting from personal feelings, to draw an impartial character of this venerable sovereign. But whatever diversity of opinion there may be respecting the politics of the monarch, none can deny the virtues of the man;

amiable, merciful, benevolent, he was an affectionate hus oand, a tender father, and a faithful friend; no prouder epi taph needs to be inscribed upon his tomb.*

Questions for Examination.

1. In what manner were the hopes of the people of Europe disap pointed?

2. How did the restored king of Spain behave?

3. What was the state of England after the war?

4. By what circumstances were the hopes of the people raised?

5. What victory was obtained at Algiers ?

6. How did government endeavour to check the progress of sedition ? 7. What fatal event filled the nation with sadness?

8. Did any other remarkable circumstance occur in the royal family? 9. What colonies revolted against the parent state?

0. How was a constitution established in Spain?

1. What unfortunate circumstance took place at Manchester? 2. What were the consequences of this event?

13. What deaths took place in the royal family?

*The following lines form part of a poetic tribute to the memory of George III. from the pen of the Rev. George Croley. Some may con sider them too laudatory; but the world is so accustomed to hearing flat tery poured at the feet of Kings, that it would misunderstand a candid acknowledgement of their virtues, unless made in the grave style of history:

Raise we his monument! what giant pile

Shall honour him to far posterity?
His monument shall be his ocean-isle,
The voice of his redeeming thunders be
His epitaph upon the silver sea.

And million spirits from whose neck he bore

The fetter, and made soul and body free;

And unborn millions, from earth's farthest shore,

Shall bless the Christian King till the last sun is o'er.

For a list of those persons, who, during this long reign, distinguished themselves in the literary, clerical, political, naval, military, or mercantile worlds, we refer the reader to Chapter XI., in which many illustrious names will be found arranged under different heads. Indeed, among so many, it is difficult to draw a line between those without which our work would be incomplete, and those which are necessarily excluded by the want of space.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

GEORGE IV.

Born 1762. Died 1830. Began to reign 1820. Reigned 10 years.

SECTION II.

No, sirs-my regal claim, my rightful crown,
The honour'd title of your sovereign's wife,

No bribe shall e'er induce me to lay down,

Nor force extort it, save but with my life. - Eltham.

1. (A. D. 1820.) THE accession of a monarch, who had been actually in the possession of sovereign power for so many previous years, produced no important political changes. George IV. was publicly proclaimed on the 31st of January in London and Westminster, and matters went on for some time in their ordinary course. On the 23d of February, the metropolis was astounded by intelli gence of a plot being discovered for the assassination of his majesty's ministers. 2. The Cato-street conspiracy. as it was called, from the little street near the Edgeware road, where the conspirators used to assemble, was planned by Thistlewood, who had been before acquitted on a charge of treason, and some other men of desperate fortunes. Their design was to obtain, on some pretence, admission to

lord Harrowby's, when the ministers were assembled at cabinet dinner, and there murder the entire party. 3. But all their plans were betrayed to government by a spy, and a strong body of police, accompanied by a detachment of the guards, burst into their rendezvous at the moment that they were preparing for the execution of their designs. After some resistance, in which Smithers, a police officer, was killed, they were overpowered, and the greater part made prisoners; Thistlewood made his escape, but was subsequently taken at a house in Moorfields. Such was the poverty and misery of these wretched madmen, who proposed to subvert a powerful government, that when they were searched, not even a shilling was found among the whole party. They were soon after brought to trial: Thistlewood and four others were executed, some more transported, and government, satisfied with these examples, gave up the prosecution against the rest. 4. Preparations were now commenced for the coronation of his majesty, when they were suddenly suspended by an event which excited more public interest and more angry feelings than any other that had occurred for a long period. This was the return of queen Caroline to England, and her subsequent trial before the house of lords-matters over which the historian would willingly cast a veil, but which are far too important to be omitted.

5. We have already mentioned the formal separation be tween the prince of Wales and his consort, soon after their marriage; some years after, her conduct was made the subject of a secret investigation, which, after a long and disgusting inquiry, terminated in her acquittal. After being subject to such an indignity, the unfortunate princess quitted England, and spent her time in travelling, especially in visiting the most celebrated spots on the coasts of the Mediterranean. She visited Jerusalem, and several other towns of Palestine, and afterwards took up her residence in that part of Italy which is subject to the Austrian emperor. Reports very injurious to her character began to be circulated, and a secret commission of eminent lawyers was sent out to Milan to investigate their truth.

6. On the king's accession to the throne, the evidence collected by the Milan commission was made the pretext for omitting the queen's name in the liturgy; and at the same time the honours due to her rank were refused by foreign powers. Deeply irritated at these insults, she de

termined to return to England, though aware that her landing would be the signal for the commencement of a rigorous prosecution, and though she had been offered an annuity of fifty thousand pounds on condition of her remaining abroad. 7. She landed at Dover on the 5th of June, and was received with the greatest enthusiasm by the populace. Equal honours were paid to her along the road to the metropolis, and her reception in London was still more gratifying.

8. On the very day of the queen's arrival in London, a message was sent to both houses of parliament, requesting that her conduct should be made the subject of investigation, and that the evidence collected at Milan should be taken into consideration. Some delay was occasioned by an useless effort of the house of commons to effect a compromise: this having failed, "a bill of pains and penalties," to deprive the queen of her rights and dignities, and to divorce her from her husband, was introduced into the lords. 9. The trial soon commenced, and lasted forty-five days, after which the bill was read a second time by a majority of twentyeight; but on the third reading, the ministers could only command a majority of nine, and the bill was therefore abandoned.

10. During these proceedings, the agitation of the public mind knew no bounds; cavalcade after cavalcade was seen proceeding out to Hammersmith, where the queen resided, with addresses containing the warmest expressions of affection for herself, and hatred of her opponents; the press teemed with virulent libels on all who were conspicuous in either party; disunion even reached the domestic circle, and the question of the queen's guilt or innocence was debated furiously in every society and in every family within the British seas. The abandonment of the bill was hailed by the queen's friends as a complete acquittal, and their delight was testified by a pretty general illumination, though it inust be confessed that many who exhibited this outward sign of joy were forced to the display through dread of popular violence.

11. (A. D. 1821.) The heats and animosities produced by the queen's trial continued to rage with unabated fury through the remainder of the life of that unhappy lady; it was even supposed that the rejection of her claim to participate in the coronation would have led to some serious commotion. But that august ceremony was performed without interruption; the queen, indeed, presented herself