Anecdote of Luther.

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ancestor of her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, and had a son, Francis Frederic Anthony, born in 1750, who married Augusta Caroline Sophia, daughter of Henry, the twenty-fourth Count of Reuss d'Abersdorf, and by her had nine children; Ernest Frederic Anthony, born in 1784; Ferdinand George Augustus, in 1785; LEOPOLD GEORGE CHRISTIAN, third son, born in 1790; Maximilian; and five daughters.*

The political convulsion which in 1806 involved the whole north of Germany, was attended with consequences peculiarly calamitous to the House of Coburg. When, in the autumn of that year, the French approached the Saxon frontiers, Duke Francis, who was in very ill health, retired with his consort from Coburg to Saalfield; which town is situated on the other side of the very considerable

*The principality of Coburg is in the very centre of Germany, and on the river Saal, in Franconia. It came to the House of Saxony by marriage, from the ancient Counts of Henneberg. The capital was famous in the early period of the Reformation, as the residence of Martin Luther, who was protected there by the Duke, during the diet of Augsburg, in 1530, that he might always be at the call of the party of Protestant Princes, at the head of which was the Duke of Saxe Coburg. Many of Luther's epistles are dated from Gruboc, the reverse of Coburg; and the Protestant cause has, still met with staunch supporters in that illustrious House.-Previous to the Vienna Treaty, the possessions of this House contained a population of 57,000 souls, with 8 towns and 270 villages and hamlets: and its revenues were equal to 50,000l. sterling.

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Character of the Prince.

range of mountains known by the appellation of the Forest of Thuringia, and forming the barrier o North Germany. Prince Leopold, then but fifteen years old, was the companion and support of his infirm father: for Ferdinand was detained by his duty in Austria, and the truly German spirit of Prince Ernest had carried him to the head-quarters of the King of Prussia, with whom he had been for some years on terms of the closest friendship. The French appeared before Saalfield; the castle was stormed; and the ducal family, which was in it, exposed to all the dangers and horrors of that disastrous battle, which cost Prince Lewis Ferdinand of Prussia his life. This was more than the constitution of Duke Francis, already so much impaired by disease, was capable of supporting; he sunk under the accumulation of misfortunes, and died in the beginning of December, to the profound grief of his family and country, which were left by his decease in a truly disconsolate situation.

To follow Leopold through all the military events of the war, in which he displayed both courage and conduct, is impossible in our limits; we must therefore content ourselves with stating, that in his early youth this Prince manifested an excellent understanding, and a tender and benevolent heart. As he advanced in years, he displayed a strong attachment to literary and scientific pursuits, and even at that time all his actions were marked with dignified

Leopold's early Youth.

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gravity and unusual moderation. His propensity to study was seconded by the efforts of an excellent instructor, and as he remained a stranger to all those dissipations with which persons of his age and rank are commonly indulged, his attainments, so early as his fifteenth year, were very extensive His extraordinary capacity particularly unfolded itself in the study of the languages, history, mathematics, botany, music, and drawing, in which last he has made a proficiency that would be creditable to an artist.

The vicissitudes which he was so early destined to experience, seem only to have contributed to preserve the purity of his morals; and they have certainly had a most powerful influence in the developement of that rare moderation, that ardent ove of justice, and that manly firmness, which are the predominant traits in the character of this Prince.

Necessitated in like manner at so early an age to attend to a variety of diplomatic business, he acquired, partly in this school, and partly in his extensive travels, a thorough knowledge of men in all their bearings; and though his experience had not always been of the most agreeable species, still it was not able to warp the kindness and benevolence of his nature.

In his campaigns, and in the field of battle, where all false greatness disappears, Leopold had given

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Commencement of Affection.

the most undeniable proofs that courage, and a profound sense of religion and liberty, are innate in his soul; and that clear intelligence and unshaken fortitude are his securest possessions. With such

qualities of the head and heart, with a character and principles that so completely harmonize with the feelings, the notions, nay even the prejudices, of the British nation, this illustrious Prince authorized us to anticipate, from his union with the Heiress of the British throne, results equally conducive to the welfare of the nation at large, and to the happiness of that distinguished family, of which, by his auspicious union with the Princess, he became a member: nor can it be matter of surprise, that such a youth should have made an indelible impression on the heart of a generous girl, whose whole soul seemed formed for the admiration, as well as the practice of every public and private virtue. In short, she was captivated with his address and manners; a familiar intercourse improved these first impressions into a warmer sentiment, and love succeeded to esteem. It was the Duke of York who first observed this growing attachment. He communicated it to the Prince Regent, and all these circumstances, as soon as the views of the Dutch connection were finally closed, naturally pointed him out as the fittest person to be selected for a husband to the Heiress of the British throne.

It is now a point of extreme delicacy to enter at

Leopold's honourable Conduct.

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large into those interesting events; we must, therefore, content ourselves with briefly noticing the honourable conduct of his Serene Highness, who, the instant he discovered that his company was agreeable to the Princess, waited upon the Prince Regent, and in the most manly and candid manner stated the circumstances in which he was placed, as delicately as he could. His Highness then added, that " proud as he would be of such an illustrious alliance, he came to take the commands of his Royal Highness to quit the country instantly, if his prosecution of the affair did not meet with the entire and cordial approbation of his Royal High、ness." The answer was what might have been expected from the dictates of a generous and magna nimous breast. The Prince Regent gave his sanction to the continuance of an intercourse which was commenced and carried on upon such honourable principles; and their mutual affection was permitted to mature, during a short period of personal intercourse; after which, Prince Leopold retired to Germany, to await the completion of his high destiny.