was accordingly hinted to him, but in so delicate a manner, as to leave it entirely to his option. Juvenile pursuits at that time suspended all further discourse about it, till, one day, his Royal Highness praising the person and accomplishments of his sister the Princess Mary, before the Duke of Clarence, the Duke observed, she was very like the Princess of Brunswick, whom he had had the honour of knowing and conversing with. The Prince grew more inquisitive upon the subject; and the Duke so satisfied him in all particulars as to afford him the highest gratification.

The affair apparently dropped for that time; but on the morning of a grand gala, at Windsor, he mentioned it to the King, who was delighted with the proposal; and it was instantly communicated to the Queen, who is represented as being equally pleased with the idea of such an union. It was then agreed to keep the matter entirely out of the cabinet, till it was in some train of forwardness; and the first the ministers of state heard of it was an official notice to prepare for the embassy, the forms, the requisitions, &c. After this, presents and marriage favours were prepared for the Princesses, &c. as well as marks of his Royal Highness's remembrance to several persons of both sexes about the court.

The Princess of Brunswick was deemed one of the first performers on the harpsichord among the royal families of Europe, and the Prince of Wales was known to be passionately fond of music.

Much preliminary matter, however, remained to be executed, and some very important arrangements to be made relative to the heavy debts with which his Royal Highness's affairs were at that time em. barrassed, or the connubial life of the royal pair would have commenced under very inauspicious circumstances indeed. The details and discussions on this subject are too interesting to be passed over slightly; but they shall be deferred till we have given the particulars of the marriage of her Royal Highness on her arrival in this country.

When the idea of this marriage contract was first entertained, and, indeed, for some time afterwards, the internal state of the country, as well as its external relations, and its situation with respect to the war with France, would not allow the cabinet time for any other considerations than those which immediately led to measures of security at home, and the most active naval and military operations abroad. On this account the marriage was delayed somewhat longer than it otherwise would have been. The nation, however, was highly pleased with the proposed marriage, as it was generally supposed that the Prince of Wales would not consent to any such union, it being known that he had before rejected all proposals of

that nature.

At length, matters having been finally arranged, active preparations were made for conducting her Serene Highness to this country: the marriage being previously solemnized by proxy on the con

tinent. She embarked at Cuxhaven, on board the Juno, or, as called by some of the public prints of the day, the Jupiter, of 50 guns, Captain Lechmere, on the afternoon of Saturday, March the 28th, 1795. Commodore Payne, Mrs. Harcourt, and Lord Malmesbury, in the same ship; Major Heslop, Colonel Richardson, and Mr. Ross, in the Phaeton frigate, Captain Stopford. On Sunday morning at eight o'clock the ships weighed anchor from Cuxhaven with a fair wind at E.N.E. which continued till Wednesday, when a thick fog came on. They were then only six leagues from Yarmouth; but as it was dangerous to draw near the coast, the ships dropped anchor, and fired fog guns every hour. In this situation they lay through the whole of Thursday. The Princess had hitherto been extremely well, had walked the quarter deck every day, and was uncommonly cheerful; but, what with the fog, and the motion of the vessel at anchor, she became a little incommoded. The morning of Friday was uncommonly fine; and at four o'clock the Juno made the signal to get under weigh. The fleet went under an easy sail, came off Harwich about noon, and passed through the Swin to enter the Thames. About two a very thick fog came on, which obliged the commodore to drop anchor. At four the fog dispersed, and the signal being made to unmoor, the fleet again got under weigh, and about six o'clock dropped anchor at the Nore, being saluted by the Sandwich guard-ship stationed off there.

At nine o'clock on Saturday morning the 4th of April, the ships got under weigh, the tide serving; and, about noon, the Juno anchored off Gravesend. Her Serene Highness slept on board that night.

On Sunday morning, as soon as the tide served, the Princess, accompanied by Mrs. Harcourt, Lord Malmesbury, and Commodore Payne, disembarked from the Juno, and went on board one of the royal yachts; and, soon after 12 o'clock, landed at Greenwich hospital. The Princess was received, on her landing, by Sir Hugh Palliser, the governor, and other officers, who conducted her to the governor's house, where she took tea and coffee.

It has been repeatedly said, and that with no view to the credit and feelings of his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, that he had expressly commissioned Lady Jersey, with whom it was reported, the Prince had, to use a little gallicism, formed amitié, to conduct her Serene Highness to this country. A thousand gossipping stories are related of what her ladyship said and did to the Princess on that memorable occasion; how she dressed and painted, bedizened and bedaubed the Princess, with the insidious and envious motive of rendering her an object of disgust to his Royal Highness. By tales like this the public credulity and curiosity have been trifled with during more than twenty years. The truth is, that Lady Jersey did not arrive at the governor's house at Greenwich till an hour after the Princess had landed, when they both retired into an adjoining room, where the

dress of the Princess was changed, from a muslin gown and blue satin petticoat, with a black beaver hat, and blue and black feathers, for a white satin gown, and a very elegant turban cap of satin, ornamented with white feathers: a plume, in imitation of the Prince of Wales's own crest, studded with brilliants, which, as it played backwards and forwards in the light, produced a most beautiful effect. This magnificent cap, and the rest of the Princess's dress, were a present prepared by order of his Royal Highness, and were carried from town by Lady Jersey, to Greenwich for that

purpose.

A little after two o'clock, her Serene Highness left the governor's house, and got into one of his Majesty's coaches, drawn by six horses. In this coach also were Mrs. Harcourt and Lady Jersey. Another of the King's coaches and six preceded it, in which were Mrs. Harvey Aston, Lord Malmesbury, Lord Clermont, and Colonel Greville. In a third coach, with four horses, were two women servants, whom the Princess brought from Germány: these were the only German attendants she brought from that country.

A party of the Prince of Wales's own regiment of light dragoons, on each side, escorted the Princess's carriage. Besides this escort the road was lined, at short distances, by troops of the heavy dragoons, who were stationed from Greenwich all the way to the Horse Guards. In her way through the immense crowds of people that lined