The twelve months which followed were very delight ful, for independently of the positive honour and éclat they produced, I had the Mayoralty in prospectu (having attained my aldermanic gown by an immense majority the preceding year), and as I used during the sessions to sit in my box at the Old Bailey, with my bag at my back and my bouquet on my book, my thoughts were wholly devoted to one object of contemplation ; culprits stood trembling to hear the verdict of jury, and I regarded them not; convicts knelt to receive the fatal fiat of the recorder, and I heeded not their suffer. ings, as I watched the Lord Mayor seated in the centre of the bench, with the sword of justice stuck up in a goblet over his head-there, thought I, if I live two years, shall I sit-however, even as it was, it was very agreeable. When executions, the chief drawbacks to my delight, happened, I found, after a little seasoning, I took the thing coolly, and enjoyed my toast and tea after the patients were turned off, just as if nothing had happened; for, in my time, we hanged at eight and breakfasted at a quarter after, so that without much hurry we were able to finish our muffins just in time for the cutting down at nine. I had to go to the House of Commons with a petition, and to Court with an address-trying situations for one of the Scroppseshowever, the want of state in parliament, and the very little attention paid to us by the members, put me quite at my ease at Westminster; while the gracious urbanity of our accomplished Monarch on his throne made me equally comfortable at Saint-James's. Still I was but a secondary person-the chief of bailiffs and principal Jack Ketch; there was a step to gain—and, as I often mentioned in confidence to Mrs. Scropps, I was sure my heart would never be still until I had reached the pinnacle.

Behold at length the time arrived !-Guildhall crowded to excess-the hustings thronged-the alder men retire-they return-their choice is announced to the people-it has fallen upon John Ebenezer Scropps, Esq. Alderman and spectacle maker-a sudden shout is heard-" Scropps for ever!" resounds-the whole assembly seems to vanish from my sight-I come

forward-am invested with the chain-I bow-make a speech- tumble over the train of the Recorder, and tread upon the tenderest toe of Mr. Deputy Pod--leave the hall in ecstasy, and drive home to Mrs. Scropps in a state of mind bordering upon insanity.

The days wore on, each one seemed as long as a week, until at length the eighth of November arrived, and then did it seem certain that I should be Lord Mayor-I was sworn in the civic insignia were delivered to me-I returned them to the proper officersmy chaplain was near me-the esquires of my household were behind me-the thing was done-never shall I forget the tingling sensation I felt in my car when I was first called "My Lord"-I even doubted if it were addressed to me, and hesitated to answer-but it was so the reign of splendor had begun, and after going through the accustomed ceremonies, I got home and retired to bed early, in order to be fresh for the fatigues of the ensuing day.

Sleep I did not-how was it to be expected ?-some part of the night I was in conversation with Mr. Scropps upon the different arrangements; settling about the girls, their places at the banquet, and their partners at the ball; the wind down the chimney sounded like the

shouts of the people; the cocks crowings in the mews at the back of the house I took for trumpets sounding my approach; and the ordinary incidental noises in the family I fancied the popguns at Stangate, announcing my disembarkation at Westminster-thus I tossed and tumbled until the long wished-for day dawned, and I jumped up anxionsly to realize the visions of the night. I was not long at my toilet-I was soon shaved and dressed-but just as I was settling myself comfortably into my beautiful brown broadcloth inexpressibles, crack went something, and I discovered that a seam had ripped half a foot long. Had it been consistent with the dignity of a Lord Mayor to swear, I should, I believe, at that moment, have anathematized the offending tailor; as it was, what was to be done?—I heard trumpets in earnest, carriages drawing up and setting down! sheriffs, and chaplains, mace bearers, train bearers, sword bearers, water bailiffs, remembrancers, Mr. Common Hunt, the Town clerk, and the deputy town clerk, all bustling about-the bells ringing and I late, with a hole in my inexpressibles! There was but one remedy-my wife's maid, kind, intelligent creature, civil and obliging, and ready to turn her hand to any thing, came to my aid, and in less than fifteen minutes her activity, exerted in the midst of the confusion, repaired the injury, and turned me out fit to be seen by the whole corporation of London.

When I was dressed, I tapped at Mrs. Scropp's door, went in, and asked her if she thought I should do; the dear soul, after settling my point lace frill (which she had been good enough to pick off her own petticoat on purpose) and putting my bag straight, gave me the sweetest salute imaginable.

"I wish your Lordship health and happines," said she "Sally," said I," your Ladyship is an angel ;" and so, having kissed each of my daughters, who were in progress of dressing, I descended the stairs, to begin the auspicious day in which I reached the apex of my greatness. Never shall I forget the bows—the civilities the congratulations-Sheriffs bending before me-the Recorder smiling-the Common Serjeant at my feet the pageant was intoxicating; and when, after having breafasted, I stepped into that glazed and gilded house upon wheels, called the state coach, and saw my sword bearer pop himself into one of the boots, with the sword of state in his hand, I was lost in ecstasy, I threw myself back upon the seat of the vehicle with all imaginable dignity, but not without damage, for in the midst of my ease and elegance I snapped off the cut steel hilt of my sword, by accidentally bumping the whole weight of my body right, or rather wrong, directly upon the top of it.

But what was a sword hilt or a bruise to me? I was the Lord Mayor-the greatest man of the greatest city of the greatest nation in the world. The people realized my anticipations, and "Bravo, Scropps!" and "Scropps for ever!" again resounded, as we proceeded slowly and majestically towards the river, though a fog which prevented our being advantageously seen, and which got down the throat of the sword bearer, who coughed incessantly during our progress, much to my annoyance, not to speak of the ungraceful movements which his convulsive barkings gave to the red velvet scabbard of the official glave as it stuck out of the window of the coach.

We embarked in my barge; a new scene of splendour awaited me, guns, shouts, music, flags, banners, in short, every thing that fancy could paint or a water bailiff provide; there, in the gilded bark, was prepared a cold collation-I ate, but tasted nothing-fowls, patés, tongue, game, beef, ham, all had the same flavour; champagne, hock, and Madeira were all alike to me-Lord Mayor was all I saw, all I heard, all I swallowed; every thing was pervaded by the one captivating word, and the repeated appeal to "my Lordship" was sweeter than nectar.

At Westminster, having been presented and received. I desired-I-John Ebenezer Scropps of Coventry-I desired the Recorder to invite the Judges to dine with me-I-who remember when two of the oldest and most innocent of the twelve, came the circuit, trembling at the sight of them, and believing them some extraordinary creatures upon whom all the hair and fur I saw, grew naturally-1, not only to ask these formidable beings to dine with me, but, as if I thought it beneath my dignity to do so in my proper person, deputing a judge of my own to do it for me; I never shall forget their bows in return-Chinese mandarins on a chimney-piece are fools to them.

Then came the return-we landed once more in the scene of my dignity-at the corner of Fleet Street we found the Lady Mayoress waiting for the processionthere she was-Sally Scropps (her maiden name was Snob)-there was my own Sally, with a plume of feathers that half filled the coach, and Jenny and Maria and young Sally, all with their backs to my horses, which were pawing the mud and snorting and smoking like steam engines, with nostrils like safety valves, and four of my footmen hanging behind the coach, like bees in a swarm. There had not been so much ribbon in my family since my poor father's failure at Coventry-and yet how often, over and over again, although he had been dead more than twenty years, did 1, during that morning, in the midst of my splendour, think of him, and wish that he could see me in my greatness-Yes, even in the midst of my triumph I seemed to defer to my good kind parent-in heaven as I hope and trust-as if I were anxious for his judgment and his opinion as to how I should perform the arduous and manifold duties of the day.

Up Ludgate Hill we moved the fog grew thicker and thicker-but then the beautiful women at the windows-those up high could only see my knees and the paste buckles in my shoes; every now and then, I bowed condescendingly to people I had never seen before, in order to show my courtesy and my chain and collar, which I had discovered during the morning shone the better for being shaken.

At length we reached Guildhall-as I crossed the beautiful building, lighted splendidly, and filled with well dressed company, and heard the deafening shouts which rent the fane as I entered it, I really was overcome-I retired to a private room-refreshed my dress, rubbed up my chain, which the damp had tarnished, and prepared to receive my guests. They came, and— shall I ever forget it ?-dinner was announced; the bands played "O the roast beef of old England." Onwards we went, a Prince of the blood, of the blood royal of my country, led out my Sally-my own Sally -the Lady Mayoress the Lord High Chancellor handed out young Sally-I saw it done-I thought I

should have choked; the Prime Minister took Maria; the Lord Privy Seal gave his arm to Jenny; and my wife's mother, Mrs. Snob, was honoured by the protection of the Right Honourable the Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench.-Oh, if my poor father could but have seen that!

It would be tiresome to dwell upon the pleasures of the happy year, thus auspiciously begun, in detail; each month brought its delights, each week its festival; public meetings under the sanction of the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor; concerts and balls under the patronage of the Lady Mayoress; Easter and its dinner, Blue-coat boys and buns; processions here, excursions t here.-Summer came, and then we had swan-hopping up the river, and white-baiting down the river; Yantlet Creek below, the navigation barge above; music, flags, streamers, guns, and company; turtle every day in the week; peas at a pound a pint, and grapes at a guinea a pound; dabbling in rosewater served in gold, not to speak of the loving cup, with M. Common Hunt, in full dress, at my elbow: my dinners were talked of, Ude grew jealous, and I was idolized.

We

The days, which before seemed like weeks, were now turned to minutes: scarcely had I swallowed my break. fast before I was in my justice-room; and before I had mittimused half a dozen paupers for beggary I was called away to luncheon; this barely over, in comes a deputation or a despatch, and so on till dinner, which was barely ended before supper was announced. all became enchanted with the Mansion House; my girls grew graceful by the confidence their high station gave them; Maria refused a good offer because her lover chanced to have an ill sounding name; we had all got settled in our rooms, the establishment had began to know and appreciate us; we had just become in fact easy in our dignity and happy in our position, when lo! and behold! the ninth of November came again-the anniversary of my exaltation, the consummation of my downfall.

Again did we go in state to Guildhall, again were we toasted and addressed, again were we handed in, and led out again, flirted with cabinet ministers and danced with ambassadors, and at two o'clock in the morning drove home from the scene of gaiety to our old residence in Budge Row.-Never in this world did pickled herrings and turpentine smell so powerfully as on that night when we entered the house; and although my wife and the young ones stuck to the drinkables at Guildhall, their natural feelings would have way, and a sort of shuddering disgust seemed to fill their minds on their return home,-the passage looked so narrow -the drawing-rooms looked so small-the staircase seemed so dark-our apartments appeared so low,however, being tired, we all slept well, at least I did, for I was in no humour to talk to Sally, and the only topic I could think upon before I dropped into my slumber, was a calculation of the amount of expense which I had incurred during the just expired year of my greatness.

In the morning we assembled at breakfast,—a note lay on the table, addressed-"Mrs. Scropps, Budge Row." The girls, one after the other, took it up, read the superscription, and laid it down again. A visiter was annouced-a neighbour and kind friend, a man of wealth and importance-what were his first words?— they were the first I had heard from a stranger since my job,-"How are you, Scropps, done up, eh?

Scropps! no obsequiousness, no deference, no respect; no, my lord, I hope your lordship passed an agreeable night-and how is her ladyship and your lordship's amiable daughters ?"-not a bit of it"How's Mrs. S. and the gals ?" This was quite natural, all as it had been, all perhaps as it should bebut how unlike what it was, only one day before! The very servants, who, when amidst the strapping, stall-fed, gold-laced lacqueys of the Mansion House, (transferred with the chairs and tables from one Lord Mayor to another) dared not speak nor look, nor say their lives were their own, strutted about the house, and banged the doors, and talked of their " Missis," as if she had been an apple woman.

So much for domestic miseries ;-I went out-I was shoved about in Cheapside in the most remorseless manner; my right eye had a narrow escape of being poked out by the tray of a brawny butcher's boy, who, when I civilly remonstrated, turned round and said, "Vy, I says, who are you I vonder, as is so particklar about your hysight." I felt an involuntary shudder, to-day, thought 1, I am John Ebezener Scropps-two days ago I was Lord Mayor; and so the rencontre ended, evidently to the advantage of the bristly brute. It was however too much for me-the effect of contrast was too powerful, the change was too sudden—and I determined to go to Brighton for a few weeks to re fresh myself, and be weaned from my dignity.

We went-we drove to the Royal Hotel; in the hall stood one of his Majesty's ministers, one of my former guests, speaking to his lady and daughter: my girls passed close to him, he had handed one of them to dinner the year before, but he appeared entirely to have forgotten her. By and by, when we were going out in a fly to take the air, one of the waiters desired the fly man to pull off, because Sir Something Somebody's carriage could not come up,-it was clear that the name of Scropps had lost its influence.

We secluded ourselves in a private house, where we did nothing but sigh and look at the sea. We had been totally spoiled for our proper sphere, and could not get into a better; the indifference of our inferiors mortified us, and the familiarity of our equals disgusted us, our potentiality was gone, and we were so much degraded that a puppy of a fellow had the impertinence to ask Jenny if she was going to one of the Old Ship balls. "Of course," said the coxcomb, "I don't Almacks, for they are uncommonly

mean the select."

In short, do what we would, go where we might, we were outraged and annoyed, or at least thought ourselves so; and beyond all bitterness was the reflection, that the days of our dignity and delight never might return. There were at Brighton no less than three men who called me Jack, and that, out of flies or in libraries, and one of these, chose occasionally, by way of making himself particularly agreeable, to address me by the familiar appellation of Jacky. At length, and that only three weeks after my fall, an overgrown tallow chandler met us on the Steyne, and stopped our party to observe," as how he thought he owed me for two barrels of coal tar, for doing over his pigstyes." This settled it, we departed from Brighton, and made a tour off the coast; but we never rallied; and business, which must be-minded, drove us before Christmas to Budge Row where we are again settled down.

Maria has grown thin-Sarah has turned methodist -and Jenny, who danced with his Excellency the Portuguese Ambassador, who was called angelic by the Right Honourable the Lord Privy Seal, and who moreover refused a man of fortune because he had an ugly name, is going to be married to Lieutenant Stodge, on the half pay of the Royal Marines-and what then?—I am sure if it were not for the females of my family I should be perfectly at my ease in my pro. per sphere, out of which the course of our civic constitution raised me. It was unpleasant at first: but I have toiled long and laboured hard; I have done my duty, and Providence has blessed my works. If we were discomposed at the sudden change in our situa tion, I it is who was to blame for having aspired to honours which I knew were not to last. However the ambition was not dishonourable, nor did I disgrace the station while I held it and when I see, as in the present year, that station filled by a man of education and talent, of high character and ample fortune, I discover no cause to repent of having been one of his predecessors. Indeed I ought to apologize for making public the weakness by which we were all affected; especially as I have myself already learned to laugh at what we all severely felt at first-the miseries of a SPLENDID ANNUAL.

THE CONVICT SHIP.

Morn on the waters!—and, purple and bright,
Bursts on the billows the flushing of light;
O'er the glad waves, like a child of the sun,
See the tall vessel goes gallantly on;

Full to the breeze she unbosoms her sail,
And her pennon streams onwards, like hope, in the gale;
The winds come around her, in murmur and song
And the surges rejoice, as they bear her along;
See! she looks up to the golden-edged clouds,
And the sailor sings gaily aloft in the shrouds :
Onward she glides, amid ripple and spray,
Over the waters,-away and away!
Bright as the visions of south, ere they part,
Passing away, like a dream of the heart!
Who-as the beautiful pageant sweeps by,
Music around her, and sunshine on high-
Pauses to think amid glitter and glow,
Oh! there be hearts that are breaking below!
Night on the waves !-and the moon is on high,
Hung, like a gem. on the brow of the sky,
Treading its depths in the power of her might,
And turning the clouds, as they pass, to light;
Look to the waters !-asleep on their breast,
Seems not the ship like an island of rest?
Bright and alone on the shadowy main,
Like a heart-cherished home on some desolate plain !
Who-as she smiles in the silvery light,
Spreading her wings on the bosom of night,
Alone on the deep, as the moon in the sky,
A phantom of beauty-could deem, with a sight,
That so lovely a thing is the mansion of sin,
And souls that are smitten lie bursting within ?
Who-as he watches her silently gliding-
Remembers that wave after wave is dividing
Bosoms that sorrow and guilt could not sever,
Hearts which are parted and broken for ever?
Or deems that he watches, afloat on the wave,
The death-bed of hope, or the young spirit's grave?
'Tis thus with our life, while it passes along,
Like a vessel at sea, amid sunshine and song!
Gaily we glide, in the gaze of the world,
With streamers afloat, and with canvass unfurled;
All gladness and glory, to wandering eyes,
Yet chartered by sorrow, freighted with sighs :-
Fading and false is the aspect it wears,

As the smiles we put on, just to cover our tears;
And the withering thoughts which the world cannot know,
Like heart-broken exiles, lie burning below;
Whilst the vessel drives on to that desolate shore,
Where the dreams of our childhood are vanished and o'er !

LITERARY NOTICE.

Diary, Illustrative of the Times of George the Fourth, interspersed with Original Letters from the late Queen Caroline, and from various other distinguished Persons. 2 vols. 8vo. Colbourn.

The lovers of scandal will not be less delighted by the contents of this strange work, than will the stranger to the world of fashion, and the recesses of courts be illuminated and edified. Alas! what a picture of poor human nature, as it is perverted and debased by wealth and power, and the conventialities existing in the circles where these hold their sway, do these volumes place before us." Intrigues, jealousies, heart-burnings, lies, dissimulation, thrive in them as in a hot-bed," and send forth a stream of vice affecting society, more or less, from its highest to its lowest grade. Let those who want to study the moral character of "the nobility," by all means turn over the pages of this Diary; and we promise them revelations, which-whatever may be their present notions of the real meanness of soul by which that mis-named class is characterised,-will by far exceed in sensuality, meanness, and hollow-heartedness, anything which the imagination could suggest. Great is the sensation, of course, which its appearance has caused, and loud the outcry against the recklessness of both author,-authoress, we shoud say,-and publisher.

The character with which we are here presented of the late Queen Caroline will not gratify any party, but in estimating the character of that unfortunate lady, we must not lose sight of the circumstances in which she was placed, and the influence they must necessarily have exercised upon a mind that does not appear to have possessed any great degree of strength. We select a passage or two.

MARRIAGE WITH THE PRINCE OF WALES.

"This day dined at Kensington, en petite comité, no servants but dumb waiters. These dinners are peculiarly agreeable— nothing to impede the flow of soul, whatever there may be of the feast of reason. The princess gave a long detailed account of her marriage, and the circumstances which brought it about. I, you know, was the victim of mammon; the Prince of Wales's debts must be paid, and poor little I's person was the pretence. Parliament would vote supplies for the heir-apparent's marriage: the King would help his little help. A Protestant princess must be found-they fixed upon the Prince's cousin. To tell you God's truth, (a favourite expression) 1 always hated it; but to oblige my father, any thing. But the first moment I saw my futur and Lady J-y together, I knew how it all was, and I said to myself 'Oh, very well!' I took my partie, and so it would have been, if-but, oh, mine God;' she added, throwing up her head, I could be the slave of a man I love; but to one whom I loved not, and who did not love meimpossible, c'est autre chose.

One of the civil things his Royal Highness did just at first was to find fault with my shoes; and as I was very young and lively in those days, I told him to make me a better pair, and bring them to me. I brought letters from all the Princes and Princesses to him from all the petty courts, and I tossed them to him, and said, 'There—that's to prove I am not an impostor.""

"Lady Oxford observed, 'Well, madam, it is the most surprising thing in the world, that the Prince was not desperately in love with your Royal Highness. Not at all,' she replied; in the first place, very few husbands love their wives; and İ confess, the moment one is obliged to marry any person, it is enough tu render them hateful. Had I come over here as a princess with my father, on a visit, as Mr. Pitt once wanted my father to have done, things might have been very different; but what is done cannot be undone.'

"What a delightful court we should have now,' said one of the party, if her Royal Highness was Queen!' 'I never wish to be Queen,' replied the Princess; the Queen's mother is enough for me.'

"Her Royal Highness, as usual, talked of her own situation and her previous life. Judge, said she, what it was to have a drunken husband on one's wedding day, and one who passed the greatest part of his bridal-night under the grate, where he fell, and where I left him. If any body say to me at dis moment will you pass your life over again, or be killed, I would choose death, for you know, a little sooner or later, we must all die; but to live a life of wretchedness twice over,-oh! mine God, no. Well, time went on, and de case was I began to be wid child, and all the wise people say so; but I pitied dem, for I no more believed it dan any thing for a long time at last Charlotte was born. Well, after I lay in-je vous jure 'tis true, upon my honour, upon my soul, 'tis true-I received a message through Lord Cholmondeley, to tell me I never was to have de great honour of inhabiting de same room wid my husband again. 1 said, very well; but, as my memory was short, I begged to have dis polite message in writing from him. I had it, and vas free-I left Carlton-house, and went to CharlOh! how happy I was-everybody blamed me, but I never repented me of dis step. Oh! mine God, what I have suffered-luckily, I had a spirit, or I never should have outlived it.'

ton.

-n

"She said no more, but I can never remember all she says. Poor Princess! she was an ill-treated woman, but a very wrong-headed one. Had she remained at Carlton-house, and conducted herself with silent dignity, how different might have been her lot. It is true, as her privy purse, Miss Honce told a person of my acquaintance, she was so insulted whilst there, that every bit of furniture was taken out of the room she dined in except two shabby chairs; and the pearl bracelets, which had been given her by the Prince, were taken from her, to decorate the arms of Lady J-y. Still, had the Princess had the courage which arises from principle, and not that which is merely the offspring of a daring spirit, she would have sat out the storm, and weathered it."

The authoress is a courtier, and is often more shocked at appearances being outraged than propriety violated; for instance, at the very time that she suspected that a criminal intercourse existed between the far-famed Bergami and the late Queen, she, with great simplicity, observes

"I have never yet been able to detect any impropriety of manner, or even familiarity, towards the courier yet, but I live in fear every moment of having the horrid stories confirmed before my eyes. I should far rather go on doubting than convinced of their truth. The rascal-for such I am sure he is in the way of cheating her Royal Highness-is very handsome -I have never hitherto observed anything with regard to him, as I did with the singers. I hope the whole is a lie.

"The princess had evening prayers on Sundays, and some of her English attendants were present. I wish she would attend church; it is a pity she does not, I may say, even for form's sake: it would be a blessing to all that wish her well, that she should mind the outward duties of a Protestant princess.”

The following supplies a complete specimen of the princess's extreme ;—

SINGULARITIES AND HEADSTRONG TEMPERAMENT.

"The princess often does the most extraordinary things, ap. parently for no other purpose than to make her attendants stare. Very frequently she would take one of her ladies along with her, to walk in Kensington Gardens-who are accordingly dressed-[it may be] in a costume very unsuited to the public highway; and, all of a sudden, she will bolt out at one of the smaller gates, and walk all over Bayswater, and along the Pad

dington canal, at the risk of being insulted, or if known, mobbed-enjoying the terror of the unfortunate attendant who may be destined to walk after her. One day, her royal highness inquired at all the doors of Bayswater and its neighbourhood, if there were any houses to be let, and went into many of them, till at last she came to one where some children of a friend of her's (Lord H. F.) were placed for change of air, and she was quite enchanted to be known by them, and to boast of her extraordinary mode of walking over the country."

FURTHER INCIDENTS OF HER EARLY LIFE.

"The princess told one of her friends one day, who repeated it to me, that her life had been an eventful one from her earliest years-that at one period she was to have been married to the uncle of the Queen of Prussia-at another, to the Prince of Orange-at another, to this Queen's brother; the latter she said was a most agreeable man, not at all ugly, and very pleasant in his manners-that she had liked him very much as a friend, but nothing more. Prince George of Darmstadt (I think that was the name she gave the Queen of Prussia's uncle) was a very handsome man, tall, light, yet not too thin, • He turned all de women's heads except mine. I like him very much, but he was very perfide to me-a false perfidious friend. It was he who was the lover of the late Queen of France, and he was the real father of the last Dauphin. Just before I came to this country, I was very unhappy. My father said to me, if I would marry on the continent, he never wished to get rid of me, or to send me away; but if I was determined not to marry, that this situation which presented itself, seemed sent by Providence to my advantage, and he would not suffer me to slight it. So, as a drowning wretch catches at a straw, I caught at this crown and sceptre; but if I had not been miraculously supported. I could not have outlived all I have done: there are moments when one is supernaturally helped.' The princess became very grave after this conversation, and soon retired."

" Mr. R— dined afterwards. During the evening he was not of course allowed to talk with me, but was called to the sofa, and forced to amuse the princess. He was made for this Jaudable purpose to relate a story the most horrid, not fit for the lowest or most immoral society. Lady C. C and Lady G. E, did not know which way to look, and their distress made us look grave, which displeased the princess, and her countenance was immediately overspread with a scowl, which is always very painful to witness. I cannot conceive how any man of taste and feeling could be persuaded by any Royally to utter such things in the hearing of any woman; and I doubt if the ladies should not have risen and left the room,"

THE QUEEN IN 1814.

"Thursday, the 15th September.-Was informed her Royal Highness the Priucess of Wales was arrived. I was electrifiedwas it with pain or pleasure? Oh that I had wings like a dove.' My poor friend, Lady was called upon to get up a ball directly in honour of her Royal Highness, and was obliged to drive all over the town and country to beat up for recruits, which was not an easy matter; so many of the English travellers wish to avoid knowing her, and somehow the natives had no mind to be troubled with royaly; so that poor Lady was obliged to take many rebuffs, and found it very difficult to get together personages sufficient to make up a ball. At last, however, this great feat was effected, and, thanks to three Germans, who were a host in themselves, the ball took place. But what was my horror when I beheld the poor Princess enter, dressed en Venus, or rather not dressed further than the waist. I was, as she used to say herself, all over shock.' A more injudicious choice of costume could not be adopted; and when she began to waltz the terræ motus was dreadful. Waltz she did, however, the whole night, with pertinacious obstinacy; and amongst others whom she honoured with her hand upon this occasion, was Sismondi. These two large figures turning

round together were quite miraculous. As I really entertained a friendship for the Princess, I was unfeignedly grieved to see her make herself so utterly ridiculous. If this is a commencement only of what she intends to perform in the South, she will indeed lose herself entirely. The next day we were invited to a dinner given by her Royal Highness at Secheron. It might have been very agreeable, but the Princess insisted upon undue homage from two of her attendants, and made herself so ridiculous, that I determined to set off from Germany directly, and not to witness her degradation."

BERGAMI.

"The princess received me in one of her drawing-rooms, opening on the hanging terraces, covered with flowers in full bloom. Her Royal Highness received Lady Charlotte Campbell (who came in soon after me) with open arms, and evident pleasure, and without any flurry. She had no rouge on, wore tidy shoes, was grown rather thinner, and looked altogether uncommonly well. The first person who opened the door to me was the one whom it was impossible to mistake, hearing what is reported; six feet high, a magnificent head of black hair, pale complexien, mustachios which reach from here to London. Such is the Stork. But of course I only appeared to take him for an upper servant."

We can only give another extract or two.—

THE PRINCESS CHARLOTTE IN 1810.

"To-day I had the honour of meeting the Princess Charlotte at her grandmother's. She is very clever, but has at present the manners of a hoyden school girl; she talked all sorts of nonsense to me; she is a fine piece of flesh and blood, but can put on dignity when she chooses, though it seems to sit uneasily upon her. What will be her fate? It is impossible not to feel an interest in any human being upon whom such a weight of responsibility is placed."

THE PRINCESS CHARLOTTE IN 1811.

"To-day I was again one of the guests at Kensington. The Princess Charlotte was there. She is grown excessively, and has all the fulness of a person of five-and-twenty. She is neither graceful nor elegant, yet she has a peculiar air, et tous les prestiges de la royaute et du pouvoir. In spite of the higher powers of reason and justice, these always cast a dazzling lustre, through which it is difficult to see the individuals as they really are. The Princess Charlotte is above the middle height, extremely spread for her age: her. bosom full, but finely shaped; her shoulders large, and her whole person voluptuous, but of a nature to become soon spotled, and without much care and exercise she will shortly lose all beauty in fat and clumsiness. Her skin is white, but not a transparent white-little or no shade in her face-but her features are very fine. Their expression. together with that of her general demeanour, is noble. Her feet are rather smail, and her hands and arms are finely moulded. She has a hesitation in her speech, amounting almost to a stammer-and additional proof, if any were wanting, of her being her father's own child; but in everything she is his very prototype. Her voice is flexible, its tones dulcet, except when she laughs; then it becomes too loud, but is never unmusical. She seems to wish to be admired more as a lovely woman than a queen. Yet she has lost quickness both of fancy and penetration. and would fain reign despotseally, or I am much mistaken. I fear that she is capricious, self-willed, and obstinate. I think she is kind-hearted, clever, and enthusiastic. Her faults have evidently never been checked, nor her virtues fostered. The generous purpose' may have risen in her breast. but it never has been fixed there. How much does every day's experience convince me, that from the crowned head to the labouring peasant, no fine qualities are truly valuable without a fixed principle to bind them together and give them stability.

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"Princess Charlotte has a very great variety of expression in her countenance-a play of features and a force of muscle rarely seen with such soft and shadeless colouring. Her hands and arms are beautiful, but I think her figure is already gone, and will soon be precisely like her mother's. In short, it is the very picture of her, and not in miniature. I could not help analyzing my own sensations during the time I was with her, and thought more of them even than I did of her. Why was I at all flattered, at all more amused, at all more supple to this young princess, than to her who is only the same sort of person