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tracy of the Republic, and afterwards to the throne of the empire, without any hereditary claims, in the former instance, by force alone, naturally rendered him suspicious; and innumerable spies poisoned the sweets of familiar intercourse amongst his people. Many persons were immured in state prisons upon suspicion, without being brought to trial; and, it is said, that torture was applied in those abodes of misery. Still the general character of his civil government was not cruel, at least, not sanguinary. He possessed a wonderful penetration in discovering, and general impartiality in patronizing talent, wherever it was to be found; and few instances of favouritism are recorded in his selection of agents.

As a man, Napoleon Buonaparte was gloomy, sullen, and vindictive; subject to violent bursts of passion, which frequently betrayed him into acts of outrage and oppression. He was, however, a staunch friend, of which the devoted attachment of Count Bertrand, and other of his followers, is a decided proof; but the bane of his character was its perfect isolation. He appeared to live almost entirely for himself. In short, in his character there is somewhat to be commended, much to be admired, more to be condemned, and all to be wondered at.

"He left the name at which the world grew pale,
To point a moral, or adorn a tale."

220

No. II.

HER LATE MAJESTY QUEEN CAROLINE.

IN presenting to the public a memoir of the late Queen, we have endeavoured as much as possible to avoid the intrusion of any opinions of our own as to the proceedings which have of late occupied so large a share of public attention, and out of which so much bitter political hostility would seem to have arisen. Should it, however, be argued, agreeably with a wellknown proverb, that "those who are not for are against," and that consequently our silence may sometimes appear to imply disapprobation, we must be content to rest under the full force of such an imputation.

Caroline-Amelia-Elizabeth, afterwards Queen of England, and consort of his present Majesty George the Fourth, was the daughter of Charles-William-Ferdinand, Prince of Brunswick Wolfenbuttle. Her mother was the sister of our late excellent King, and she was consequently first cousin to his present Majesty. She was born on the 17th of May, 1768.

Of the early life and education of this illustrious lady but little authentic information has been recorded. She is represented as having been remarkable at a very tender age for quickness of perception, and the facility with which she acquired those accomplishments inseparable from the exalted station she was destined to occupy in society. In her years of childhood she is said to have developed much of that strength of mind and energy of character for which, in the latter period of her career, she has been so deservedly celebrated.

The court of the Duke of Brunswick, at Wolfenbuttle, at which the young Princess was brought up under the eye of

her mother, happened to be at the period to which we now refer very much frequented by military men from all parts of Europe. The Duke was himself an able tactitian, and delighted in making his court the resort of persons whose characters bore some affinity to his own. His palace was therefore often crowded with those gallant officers, whose military skill and prowess had been made sufficiently manifest in the wars of Europe, to render them deserving of that kind hospitality with which he was ever accustomed to receive all men of high military reputation. To this circumstance, added to the laxity of manners for which continental courts have not seldom been distinguished, may, in some measure, be ascribed that freedom and levity of conduct which has been justly attributed to the subject of the present memoir, as well by her friends as her enemies, and out of which has originated so much of her subsequent unhappiness.

In 1794, at the pressing instance of the late King, negociations were entered into for a marriage between his present Majesty, then Prince of Wales, and the Princess Caroline of Brunswick. These arrangements were concluded on the 20th of December, 1794, and preparations were made for the immediate departure of the Princess from her native city.

Captain Payne, who was appointed commodore, and had hoisted his broad pendant on board the Jupiter of 50 guns, was deputed, with a strong squadron, to convey her Royal Highness to this country. On the 2d of March, 1795, they set sail, and after encountering some tremendous storms, and immense masses of ice, which had nearly proved fatal to four of the vessels, they arrived at Cuxhaven in safety, although in a shattered condition; and on the 28th Captain P. returned with the illustrious passenger, accompanied by her mother and a numerous retinue. About noon she landed from the Augusta yacht, in front of Greenwich Hospital, where she was received by Sir Hugh Palliser, the governor.

Besides her own family and retinue, the Princess was attended on her voyage by the Earl of Malmesbury, Mrs. Harcourt, and several distinguished characters; and, on her arrival

at the British court, she was received with all those demonstrations of respect to which her relative connection with the son and heir to the throne entitled her.

The marriage of the Princess to the Prince of Wales, took place in the Chapel Royal of St. James's Palace, on the 8th of April, 1795, in the presence of the King and Queen of England, and of all the persons of elevated rank in the kingdom. It was solemnized by the then Archbishop of Canterbury. The nation testified its satisfaction at this union by numerous congratulatory addresses.

It may not be irrelavent to mention, that the Prince had, previous to his marriage, incurred debts to the amount of upwards of 600,000l. The subject was brought before Parliament, and the King, in his message to the House, about twenty days after the marriage had taken place, begged that a suitable establishment should forthwith be settled upon the royal pair; suggesting at the same time, that the benefit of any such settlement could not be effectually secured to the Prince until he was relieved from the weighty incumbrances under which he la.boured. Upon this ground, his Royal Highness's annual allowances from the nation were increased from 60,000l. to 125,000l., of which 40,000l. per annum was set apart by the Prince for the liquidation of his debts. A grant of 27,000l. was also allowed him for preparations for the marriage; 28,000l. for jewels, plate, &c.; and a further sum of 26,000l. for furnishing Carlton House.

Royal marriages (observes a respectable modern author) are seldom made in heaven. That an union, resulting from motives of state policy, should be productive of much ardour or affection was not reasonably to be expected; but that a virtuous, honorable, and high-minded woman, in giving her hand to the first gentleman in England, the most accomplished Prince in Europe, should be entitled to indulge the hope of enjoying and imparting happiness was as little to be questioned. Such it might be supposed was the prospect of the august pair five-and-twenty years ago. Unfortunately for the parties themselves, unfortunatety for the hopes and wishes of

the nation, that prospect was never realized. A very short time subsequent to the union of the Prince and Princess of Wales, circumstances arose calculated to disturb their domestic bliss. It will not be our object to speculate upon the probable cause of these dissensions. They might have arisen out of the cabals of those who envied the illustrious stranger the legal claim she had obtained to the affections of her hus band; or they might have originated in impropriety of conduct in one or other of the parties: however this may have been, the differences of the royal pair appear to have been almost coeval with their union.

On the 7th January, 1796, the Princess of Wales was delivered, at Carlton House, of a daughter an heiress to the British empire-the late amiable and ever to be lamented Princess Charlotte of Saxe Cobourg. The royal infant drew her first breath between the hours of one and two in the morning; when there were present, the Duke of Gloucester, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord High Chancellor, the Lord President of his Majesty's Council, the Duke of Leeds, the Lord Chamberlain and Master of the Horse (Earl Jersey) to the Prince of Wales, Lord Thurlow, and the Lords and Ladies of her Royal Highness' Bedchamber. The Great Officers of the State were also in attendance; and the general anxiety on this occasion was met by every possible precaution. Numerous congratulatory addresses were showered in upon the royal pair from all parts of the country. The joy of the nation was lively and sincere. The long period during which the Prince of Wales had remained unmarried, and the disastrous prospect of a broken succession, had led the people of England to look forward to this event with an extraordinary degree of anxiety. Their hopes have at length been cruelly frustrated by the death of the object of their solicitude, when it had arrived at its full maturity. The blight of the early bud would probably have affected them less severely. But these are idle speculations.

The royal baptism was appointed for the 11th February. At half-past four their Majesties and the Princesses went in

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