WE address our readers in our present number, on no common events-Our excellent and venerable Sovereign, George III, full of years and of honours, amid the blessings and the love of a grateful people has descended to the graye :-and of the man under whom three generations have been governed in holiness and wisdom, in prosperity and in glory, all has passed away but the immortal remembrance of his virtues. Scarcely had the bell rung its knell for the son, when it was again called into action for a father and a King!--two years have but just gone by, and four generations, in one family, have sunk into the tomb! These are visitations that make men think and tremble. They force the most unreflecting to bestow, at least a transient thought, upon what awaits themselves. * It is no common loss we deplore,-no ordinary calamity that has thus filled the "Fire-sides" of Englishmen with mourning, Universal is that mourning-For all of us, except the very old, were born beneath the sceptre of George III-His name and image have identified themselves with our earliest remembrance, and made part of our happiest associations. The reign now terminated has been the longest, * His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent.---See Domestic Chronicle, in our present number. F-VOL. I. the most prosperous, and the most glorious of any recorded in our annals, perhaps of any in the history of the world; nor do the private and domestic virtues of our lamented King, less embalm his memory in our affections, then do the splendour and renown of the achievements of his reign demand our admiration. While his late Majesty was yet amongst us, though his mind was shrouded in darkness, we had the consolation of reflecting that he still lived; and we were not without the hope, fondly indulged, that a returning glimpse of reason might have intervened between his great misfortune and his dissolution— allowing him an interval in which to behold the success and glory which have marked the evening of his reign to receive the affectionate enthusiasm with which he would have been greeted by his family and his people. He is no more; but his memory shall not perish-That feeling of reverence and of love, which survived his intellectual death, will expand rather than wither, under the awful visitation which has snatched him from our prayers. Those virtues which adorned his earthly course, will be not less regretted by succeeding generations, than they were revered and blessed by the millions who felt their living influence. The love of his people followed him through sunshine and through storm. It guarded him in danger, fought for him in battle, shielded him against disaffection and faithful even when he had lost the power of recognizing fidelity, it attended him to his retirement, hallowed the scene of his mental alienation, and now sheds heart-sprung tears upon his honoured remains. Memoir of His Late Majesty, GEORGE THE THIRD. "CHASTE, pious, steadfast, merciful, and just, A life unblemish'd, and a death unpain'd; In goodness, greatness, years, his reign exceeds GEORGE III. the second child of Frederick, Prince of Wales, son of George II, and of Augusta, Princess of Saxe-Gotha, was born in Norfolk House, St, James's square, the 24th of May, 1738; which since the alteration of the style, has become the 4th of June. His constitution was sound and vigorous, though he came into the world at the term of seven months. The conscientious strictness in morals, and the uniform impressions of piety, which he ever so strikenly displayed, are the best proofs, that in the most essential points, the cultitation of his mind had not been neglected. The Princess of Wales, his mother, communicated to a friend the following character of the young Prince, at the age of 17. She said, that "he "was shy and backward; not a wild, dissipated boy, "but good-natured and cheerful, with a serious cast 66 upon the whole. That he was not quick, but with "those he was acquainted with, applicable and intelligent." The remarkable purity of the young Prince's mind and conduct is to be attributed, not only to his good natural disposition, but to the affectionate solicitude of his mother, to preserve him from the contagion of bad example. He was brought up in great privacy, as far as regarded a familiar acquaintance with the prevailing manners of the young nobility; and the prejudices which George II entertained against the Princess Dowager, effectually excluded his grandson from the splendours and allurements of a Court. George III having recently completed his 22d year, ascended the Throne on the 25th of October, 1760, The death of George II was unexpected. The young King was somewhat embarrassed by the novelty of his situation; but the good sense and modesty of his character were manifested on several occasions; he became highly popular throughout the nation, though party-spirit at the commencement of his reign, was unusually violent. His speech from the Throne contained many noble and patriotic passages, "Born and "educated" said the King, "in this country, I glory "in the name of Briton, and the peculiar happiness "of my life will ever consist in promoting the wel"fare of a people whose loyalty and warm affection to "me I consider as the greatest and most permanent "security of my Throne; and I doubt not but their steadiness in those principles will equal the firmness invariable resolution to adhere to and strengthen this excellent Constitution in Church and State; "and to maintain the toleration inviolable. The civil "and religious rights of my loving subjects are equally "dear to me with the most valuable prorogatives of my "Crown; and as the surest foundation of the whole, "and as the best means to draw down the Divine fa"vour on my reign, it is my fixed purpose to counte"nance and encourage the practice of true religion "and virtue." From these sentiments, his Majesty through the whole course of his long and glorious reign, never in a single instance departed. On the 9th of December his Majesty first exercised his legislative વડ of my authority by assenting to a law (Stat. 1, Geo. III. c. 1.) by which he accepted, for the support of the Civil List, a fixed sum of £800,000, a year, in lieu of taxes, which at present would produce much more than double that amount. We pass over the splendid details of the Coronation, to notice the following facts, which are strikingly illustrative of his late Majesty's habitual piety. On this occasion, when he received the sacrament, he advised with the Archbishop if it were not proper to take off his Crown during the solemnity. His Grace hesitated. The King immediately removed it, and placed it beside him, until that part of the ceremony was concluded. On the same night, when he retired to rest, he composed a solemn prayer, imploring a blessing on his future reign, which was seen on his table the next morning. His Majesty very soon evinced that his consideration to preserve the welfare of his people, by constitutional principles and actions, were not confined to professions. Within six months after his accession to the Throne, he recommended the famous alteration of the Law, by which the Judges were rendered independent of the Crown. Of the importance of this measure we cannot better speak than in the words of Blackstone :-- 66 "By the noble improvements of the law, in the sta"tute of 1 Geo. III, c. 23, enacted at the earnest recommendation of the King himself from the Throne, "the Judges are continued in their offices during their "good behaviour, notwithstanding any demise of the "Crown (which was formerly held immediately to "vacate their seats), and their full salaries are abso"lutely secured to them during the continuance of "their commissions; his Majesty having been pleased "to declare that he looked upon the independence "and uprightness of the Judges as essential to the |