ATTACKS ON THE KING.

261

came up to his Majesty's relief. Though large rewards were offered for the apprehension of any of the offenders, none appeared, to claim them by information—which shewed clearly that there was not only an organized combination formed, to bring about a revolution; but that it was strongly cemented, and well supported.

Such, indeed, was the impression made upon the public mind by these atrocities, that, when ministers introduced two bills-one for the safety and preservation of his Majesty's person and government against treasonable and seditious practices and attempts," and the other, "for the more effectually preventing seditious meetings and assemblies”—the same were carried through both houses by immense majorities.

Notwithstanding these vigorous measures, fresh attempts against the King and Queen were made on the night of the 1st of February, 1796, on their return from the theatre of Drury Lane. Her Majesty was cut in the face by some sharp missile, thrown into the carriage in Chandos Street; and opposite Carlton House, a large stone fell into the lap of the lady in waiting.

Such, at this period, was the perilous state of Royalty, that, in the language of one of our elder poets, the poorest peasant might have said to his neighbour

"Didst thou but feel

The weighty sorrows which sit on a crown,

Though thou shouldst find one in the streets, Castruccio, Thou wouldst not think it worth the taking up."

262

BIRTH OF THE PRINCESS CHARLOTTE.

CHAPTER V.

A. D. 1796 TO 1798.

On the 7th of January, 1796, the Princess of Wales was delivered of a daughter, at Carlton House-where, on the 11th of the following month, the Royal Infant was baptized, and received the names of Charlotte Augusta; their Majesties standing sponsors in person, and the Duchess of Brunswick, by her representative, the Princess Royal. This star of an illustrious line arose on the verge of a stormy horizon, and amidst the wrecks of regality, scattered in different directions. On the day preceding the birth of the Princess, Charles Philip, Count D'Artois, with a few faithful adherents, landed at Leith, and took up his abode in Holyrood House, the ancient palace of the Scottish kings; but where no prince had resided since Charles Edward, who might be said to have come, like the shadow of royalty, to extinguish for ever the title of an illustrious but unfortunate race. Between the history of the house of Stuart, and that of the house of Bourbon, the resemblance is striking in many respects; but in none more than in their fall. James the Second, when driven from the throne of a long line of ancestors, found an asylum at St. Germains, under the protection of Louis the Fourteenth, then the most powerful monarch in Europe. But, behold the reverse of fortune! Louis the Sixteenth, like Charles Stuart, lost his head on the

DEATH OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE.

263

scaffold; and his brother, after many wanderings, obtained shelter in the once splendid, and now almost dilapidated, palace of Edinburgh-no longer the seat of kings, but the refuge of exiles and fugitives.

Here Charles Philip was soon joined by his son, the Duke de Angoulême; and here the former remained some years in the enjoyment of tranquil repose, till the sudden change of affairs recalled him to France with his family, only to be made again the sport of fortune, and, after tasting the intoxicating cup of grandeur, to be thrown back to his former retreat in the capital of Scotland.

Such are the mutations of human life, to which another instance was added, at this period, in the forced resignation of the crown of Poland by Stanislaus the Second, and the erasure of that country as a nation from the map of Europe.

But Catherine of Russia did not long triumph over the victim whom she had dragged from a throne, first to Grodno, and next to Petersburgh; a conqueror, of resistless power, on the 5th of November, 1796, arrested her when alone within the recess of her palace, unobserved by any attendant, and, after lingering a few hours, but deprived of all sensibility, this extraordinary woman expired.

But we must now bring under review some incidents of domestic history. In the month of March, this year, died two British admirals; of whom a few anecdotes will be found deserving of insertion in this memoir, as illustrative of professional character and national history.

The first of these veterans was the Hon. John Forbes, who died at the advanced age of eighty-two. When the unfortunate Byng was sentenced to die for an error of judgment, Mr. Forbes, who was then a member of the

264

ANECDOTES OF ADMIRAL FORBES.

Admiralty board, refused signing the warrant of execution, for which he assigned his reasons in a letter to the King, but without effect. Admiral Forbes then indignantly gave up his seat, and soon after the whole board was changed.

During the administration of Earl Shelburne, afterwards Marquis of Lansdowne, Admiral Forbes was asked to resign the office of General of Marines, which he had held many years, and which Government wanted for a friend of their own. The admiral was told that he should be no loser by his compliance, as they proposed giving him a pension of three thousand a year, and a peerage, to descend to his daughter. Admiral Forbes sent for answer, that the Generalship of Marines was a military employment, given to him by his Majesty, as a reward for his services-that he thanked God he had never been a burden to his country, which he had served during a long life to the best of his ability-and that he could not condescend to accept a pension, or to bargain for a peerage. He concluded by laying his generalship, together with his rank in the navy, at the feet of the King, entreating him to take both away, if they could forward his service; at the same time assuring his Majesty, he would never prove himself unworthy of the former honours he had received, by ending the remnant of a long life on a pension, or accepting of a peerage obtained by political arrangement. The King applauded the spirit of the admiral, ever after continued him in his military honours, and to the day of his death shewed him strong marks of his regard.

Sir Hugh Palliser, governor of Greenwich Hospital, died, at the age of seventy-five, in rather a remarkable manner. At the beginning of the war of 1756, he received

a wound in the leg, in an action with a French frigate of superior force. About five months before his dissolution, the admiral fell down in his garden; and the wound broke out afresh to such a degree, that all surgical skill proved ineffectual.

In the year 1754, while he commanded the Seahorse, then stationed in Leith roads, a sailor entered on board that ship. This man, being an apprentice, was demanded by his master, but Captain Palliser refused to give him up. On application to Mr. Philip, the judge of the court of admiralty in Scotland, a warrant was sent to bring the man on shore. The captain of the Seahorse, however, ordered the officer to return, saying, he had nothing to do with the laws of Scotland. The judge, then, caused Captain Palliser to be arrested and committed to prison. Next day he was brought into court; and on refusing to submit to its jurisdiction, he was remanded to his former place of confinement. After some consultation, the captain thought proper to yield, and was liberated. When the case was reported to Lord Chancellor Hardwicke, he said, "the judge was a bold man; but he has done what was right."

Captain Palliser thought otherwise; and, knowing how fond the gentry in that part of the kingdom were of claret, which, as the duty was low, they obtained very cheaply, he gave such information to the ministry, that a very considerable addition was made upon all French wines imported into Scotland.

The history of the difference between Keppel and Palliser is too well known to need any observation. Both commanders possessed the reputation of being brave men; and it may be particularly said of Sir Hugh, that he was as humane as he was brave.