the present distress in which the queen and I are involved, had you not the further incitement of a sincere attachment to us both. The little object we are deploring was known to you, and consequently his merits; therefore you will not be surprised that the blow is strong. We both call on the sole assistant to those in distress, the dictates of religion. I have proposed to the queen, and she approves of it, that I should desire you to come on Saturday, and bring Mr. Fisher' with you; that, on Sunday, in my chapel in the castle, we may have the comfort of hearing you preach, and receiving from your hands the holy communion. I think this a very proper time for renewing the baptismal vow; and, though greatly grieved, I feel true submission to the decrees of Providence, and great thankfulness for having enjoyed for four years that dear infant.

"Windsor, May 6, 1783."

"GEORGE R.

"The king and queen," writes Hannah More, "have suffered infinitely from the loss of the sweet little prince, who was the darling of their

'The Rev. John Fisher, Canon of Windsor, was for some time preceptor of the king's fourth son, Edward, Duke of Kent, and afterward of the Princess Charlotte of Wales. In 1803 he was elevated to the bishopric of Exeter, and in 1807 was translated to the see of Salisbury. He died in May, 1825. Madame D'Arblay speaks of him as being "in very high and very deserved favour with all the royal family."

hearts. I was charmed with an expression of the

king's: Many people,' said he, 'would regret child, since they were

they ever had so sweet a forced to part with him.

That is not my case. having graciously al

I am thankful to God for lowed me to enjoy such a creature for four years.'" Yet the grief of the king and queen is said to have been excessive.

It used to be related by the late Lady Charlotte Finch, governess to the younger children of George the Third,' that on the occasions when her duty obliged her to call up the king in the night, during the illnesses of any of his children, she had often been surprised at his not immediately noticing her summons. In due time, however, she discovered

'Lady Charlotte Fermor, daughter of Thomas, first Earl of Pomfret, was born February 14, 1725, and married, in 1746, the Hon. William Finch, by whom she became the mother of George, ninth Earl of Winchelsea and fourth Earl of Nottingham. "As soon as the Prince of Wales [George the Fourth] was born," writes her accomplished acquaintance, Miss Cornelia Knight," she took her station by his cradle, on being appointed governess to the royal infant and his future brothers and sisters. She had continued in the exercise of that duty till they were all grown up, and never was any one in a similar employment more sincerely or more justly esteemed and beloved. Her judgment was clear and her manners perfect. I have always thought it equally honourable to her royal pupils and to herself, that, however differing in pursuits and disposition, they were all warmly attached to Lady Charlotte Finch. It might be truly said of her that she was 'formed to make virtue amiable.'" Lady Charlotte died July 11, 1813, in her eighty-ninth year, having been a widow forty-seven years. "She was," writes Walpole, "an accomplished and most estimable person."

the cause.

The king, before quitting his apartment, was in the habit of offering up his prayers, not merely for the recovery of his child, but for resignation and support for himself, and for wisdom to guide him so as to act for the best.

On the 7th of August, 1783, the queen gave birth to her fifteenth and last child, the Princess Amelia, who subsequently succeeded Prince Octavius as the darling child of her father.

CHAPTER IX.

State of Public Affairs- Rodney's Naval Victories - Relief of Gibraltar - "Armed Neutrality" of the Great Powers of Europe - First Appearance in Parliament of William Pitt, R. B. Sheridan, and William Wilberforce - General Admiration of Pitt's Eloquence Charles Fox, His Position, and His Associates Naval Operations against the Dutch Rodney's Capture of the Island of St. Eustatia - Events in America Surrender of Charleston to the British Battles of Camden and Catawba Fords - Treasonable Correspondence of the American General Arnold with Major André Tragical Fate of Major André - Indecisive Military Operations Surrender of the British Forces under Lord Cornwallis to General Washington at Yorktown.

WHEN we last turned from the subject of politics to glance over the personal and domestic history of George the Third, black clouds were threatening the destinies of England. In addition to the contest which she was waging with her North American colonies, she was not only at war both with France and Spain, but hostilities with Holland were also imminent. Ireland was bordering on rebellion. The ancient naval glory of England seemed threatening to take its flight for ever. American privateers rode listlessly at anchor at the mouth of the Frith of Forth. England, as

has usually been her lot at the commencement of a deadly struggle, had shown herself only half armed and half prepared to encounter her foes. Happily, from this state of humiliation she was about to be raised by the genius and valour of an illustrious Englishman, whose story forms an interesting episode in the annals of those times.

Admiral Sir George Brydges Rodney, afterward Lord Rodney, was born on the 19th of February, 1718, and consequently, when, on the 1st of October, 1779, he was appointed naval commander-in-chief on the Leeward Island Station, he was in his sixty-second year. In the war with France which terminated in 1762, he had distinguished himself as a most able and gallant officer, since which period he had devoted much of his time and thoughts in devising projects for destroying or disabling the fleets of the enemies of his country. Unfortunately, the expenses entailed upon him by a numerous family, as well as the exercise of a too generous hospitality, and, it is said, the allurements of the gaming-table, had involved him in pecuniary difficulties, which rendered it much more convenient, if not safer, for him, to reside in France than in England. In Paris, however, where he took up his abode, not only did his striking person, his fascinating manners, and agreeable and enlightened conversation, lead to his society being courted by the most fashionable and most fastidious, but, in the highest