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The familiar and impudent servant, Parmeno, was well supported, but why did the Roman servant, who of necessity talks Latin, wear a kerseymere waistcoat, blue coat, and cocked hat, or Cherea appear as an English officer, in the uniform of the present age? Could not the Roman habit be preserved without violating decency?

The Eunuch for its morality is exceptionable. This is not the case with the Andria, Adelphi, and Heautontimorumenos. The epilogue is introduced very neatly. Thraso, at the head of his army, drafted from the kitchen and scullery, previous to his storming the house of Thais, addresses his soldiers in a speech of neat Latin hexameter and pentameter verse. Many jokes against Bonaparte were successfully introduced, which set the learned benches in a roar, and spoke to the feelings of the audience.

Thraso is solicited not to expose his person, lest, meeting with the fate of war, the enemy may redemand their possessions. The verses imply, that the writer had the same idea of Thraso as we have, namely, that he is a blustering bully, a character which will well apply to the First Consul of the French republic.

DOMESTIC EVENTS.

ROYAL CORRESPONDENCE.

No. VII. (COPY.)

LETTER TO THE KING.

SIR---A correspondence has taken place between Mr. Addington and myself, on a subject which deeply involves my honour and character: the answers which I have received from that gentleman; the communication which he has made to the House of Commons, leave me no hope but in an appeal to the justice of your majesty. I make that appeal with confidence, because I feel that you are my natural advocate, and with the sanguine hope that the ears of an affectionate father may still be opened to the supplications of a dutiful son.--I ask to be allowed to display the best energies of my character; to shed the last drop of my blood in support of your majesty's person, crown, and dignity; for this is not a war for empire, glory, or dominions, but for existence. In this contest, the lowest and humblest of your majesty's subjects have been called on. It would therefore little become me, who am the first, and who stand at the very footstool of the throne, to remain a tame, an idle, a lifeless spectator of the mischiefs which threaten us, unconscious of the dangers which surround us, and indifferent to the consequences which may follow. Hanover is lost; England is menaced with invasion; Ireland is in rebellion; Europe is as the foot of France. At such a moment, the Prince of Wales, yiekding to none of your servants in zeal and affection, to none of your subjects in duty, to none of your children in tenderness and affection, presumes to approach you, and again to repeat those offers which he has already made through your Majesty's ministers. A feeling of honest ambition, a sense of what I owe to myself and to my family, and, above all, the fear of sinking in the estimation of that gallant army, which may be the support of your majesty's crown, and my best hope hereafter, command me to persevere, and to assure your majesty, with all humility and respect, that,

conscious of the justice of my claim, no human power can ever induce me to relinquish it. Allow me to say, Sir, that I am bound to adopt this line of conduct by every motive dear to me as a man, and sacred to me as a prince.--Ought I not to come forward in a moment of unexampled difficulty and danger? ought I not to share in the glory of victory, when I have every thing to lose by defeat? The highest places in your majesty's service are filled by the younger branches of the Royal Family; to me alone no place is assigned; I am not thought worthy even to be the junior Major General of your army. If 1 could submit in silent submission to such indignities, I should indeed deserve such treatment, and prove, to the satisfaction of your enemies and my own, that I am incapable of those exertions which my birth, and the circumstances of the times, peculiarly call for. Standing so near the throne, when I am debased, the cause of royalty is wounded. I cannot sink in the public opinion, without the participation of your majesty in my degradation; therefore every motive of pris vate feeling, and of public duty, induce me to implore your majesty to review your decision, and to place me in that situation which my birth, the duties of my station, the example of my predecessors, and the expectations of the people of England entitle me to claim. Should I be disappointed in the hope which I have formed, should this last appeal to the justice of my sovereign, and the affection of my father, fail of success, I shall lament, in silent submission, his determination; but Europe, the world, and posterity, must judge between us.--I have done my duty; my conscience acquits me; my reason tells me that I was perfectly justified in the request which I have made, because no reasonable arguments have ever been adduced in answer to my pretensions: the precedents in our history are in my favour; but if they are not, the times in which we live, and especially the exigencies of the present moment, require us to become an example to our posterity. No other cause of refusal has, or can be assigned, except that it was the will of your majesty; to that will and pleasure I bow with every degree of humility and resignation; but I can never cease to complain of the severity which has been exercised against me, and the injustice which I have suffered, till I cease to exist. I have the honour to subscribe myself, with all possible devotion, your majesty's most dutiful and affectionate son and subject, (Signed) G. P:

Brighthelmstone, August 6, 1803.

No. VIII.

LETTER FROM THE KING.

MY DEAR SON---Though I applaud your zeal and spirit, of which, I trust, no one can suppose any of my family wanting, yet, considering the repeated declarations I have made of my determination on your former applications to the same purpose, I had flattered myself to have heard no farther on the subject.--Should the implacable enemy so far succeed as to land, you will have an opportunity of shewing your zeal at the head of your regiment; it will be the duty of every man to stand forward on such an occasion, and I shall certainly think it mine to set an example, in defence of every thing that is dear to me, and my people. I ever remain, my dear son, your most affectionate father, (Signed)

GEORGE R.

Windsor, August 7, 1803.

No. IX.

Brighthelmstone, August 23, 1803.

Sir---I have delayed thus long an answer to the letter which your majesty did me the honour to write, from a wish to refer to a former correspondence which took place between us in the year 1798. Those letters were mislaid, and some days elapsed before I could discover them. They have since been found. Allow me, then, Sir, to recal to your recollection the expressions you were gra ciously pleased to use, and which I once before took the liberty of reminding you of, when I solicited foreign service, upon my first coming into the army: they were, Sir, that your majesty did not then see the opportunity for it, but if any thing was to arise at home, I ought to be "first and foremost." There cannot be a stronger expression in the English language, or one more consonant to the feelings which animate my heart. In this I agree most perfectly with your majesty, I ought to be the first and foremost. It is the place which my birth assigns me, which Europe, which the English Nation expect me to fill; and which the former assurances of your majesty might naturally have led me to hope I should occupy. After such a declaration, I could hardly expect to be told that my place was at the head of a regiment of dragoons. I understand from your majesty, that it is your intention, Sir, in pur suance of that noble example which you have ever shewn during the course of your reign, to place yourself at the head of the People of England. My next brother, the Duke of York, commands the army; the younger branches of my family are either generals or lieutenant-generals, and I, who am Prince of Wales, am to remain colonel of dragoons. There is something so humiliating in the contrast, that those who are at a distance would either doubt the reality, or suppose that to be my fault, which is only my misfortune. Who could imagine, that I, who am the oldest colonel in the service, had asked for the rank of a general officer in the army of the king my father, and that it had been refused me? I am sorry, much more than sorry to be obliged to break in upon your leisure, and to trespass thus, a second time, on the attention of your majesty; bnt I have, Sir, an interest in my character, more valuable to me than the throne, and dearer, far dearer to me than life. I am called upon by that interest to persevere, and I pledge myself never to desist, till I receive the satisfaction which the justice of my claim leads me to expect. In these unhappy times, the world, Sir, examines the conduct of princes with a jealous, a scrutinizing, a malignant eye. No man is more aware than I am of the existence of such a disposition, and no man is, therefore, more determined to place himself above all auspicion. In desiring to be placed in a forward situation, I have performed ane duty to the people of England; I must now perform another, and humbly supplicate your majesty to assign those reasons which have induced your majesty to refuse a request, which appears to me, and to the world, so reasonable, and so rational, I must again repeat my concern, that I am obliged to continue a correspondence, which I fear, is not so grateful to your majesty as I could wish! I have examined my own heart; I am convinced of the justice of my case, of the purity of my motives: reason and honour forbid me to yield where no reason is alledged, I am justified in the conclusion that none can be given. In this

candid exposition of the feelings which have agitated and depressed my wounded mind, I hope no expression has escaped me, which can be construed to mean the slightest disrespect to your majesty. I most solemnly disavow any such intention; but the circumstance of the times, the danger of invasion, the appeal 'which has been made to all your subjects, oblige me to recollect what I owe to my own honour, and to my own character, and to state to your majesty, with plainness, truth, and candour, and with all the submission of a subject, and the duty of an affectionate son, the injuries under which I labour, which it is in the power of your majesty alone at one moment to redress. It is with sentiments of the profoundest veneration and respect that I have the honour to subscribe myself your majesty's most dutiful and most affectionate son and subject,

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MY DEAR BROTHER-By the last night's Gazette, which I have this mo ment received, I perceive that an extensive promotion has taken place in the army, wherein my pretensions are not noticed, a circumstance which, whatever may have happened on other occasions, it is impossible for me to pass by, at this momentous crisis, without observation. My standing in the army, according to the most ordinary routine of promotion, had it been followed up, would have placed me either at the bottom of the list of generals, or at the head of the list of lieutenant-generals. When the younger branches of my family are promoted to the highest military situations, my birth, according to the distinctions usually conferred on it, should have placed me first on that list. I hope you know me too well to imagine that idle inactive rank is in my view; much less is the direction and patronage of the military department an object which suits my place in the state, or my inclinations; but in a moment when the danger of the country is thought by government so urgent as to call forth the energy of every arm in its defence, I cannot but feel myself degraded, both as a prince and a soldier, if I am not allowed to take a forward and distinguished part in the defence of that empire and crown, of the glory, prosperity, and even existence, of that people, in all which mine is the greatest stake. To be told I may display this zeal solely and simply at the head of my regiment is a degrading mockery. If that be the only situation allotted me, I shall certainly do my duty, as others will, but the considerations to which I have already alluded, entitle me to expect, and bind me to require, a situation more correspondent to the dignity of my own character, and to the public expectation. It is for the sake of tendering my 'services in a way more formal and official than I have before pursued, that I address this to you, my dear brother, as the commander in chief, by whose counsels the constitution presumes that the military department is administered. If those who have the honour to advise his majesty on this occasion, shall deem my pretensions, among those of all the royal family, to be the only ones fit to be rejected and disdained, I may at least hope, as a debt of justice and honour, to have it explained, that I am laid by in virtue of that judgment, and not in consequence of any omission or want of energy on my part, &c. &c. &c.

His Royal Highness the Duke of York, &c.

(Signed)

G.P.W.

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No. XI.

Horse Guards, Oct. 6, 1803. DEAREST BROTHER-Nothing but an extraordinary press of business would have prevented me from acknowledging sooner your letter of the 2nd instant, which I received while at Oatlands on Monday evening. I trust that you are too well acquainted with my affection for you, which has existed since our most tender years, not to be assured of the satisfaction I ever have felt, and ever must feel, in forwarding, when in my power, every desire or object of yours; and therefore will believe how much I must regret the impossibily there is, upon the present occasion, of my executing your wishes of laying the representation contained in your letter, before his majesty. Suffer me, my dearest brother, as the only answer that I can properly give you, to recal to your memory what passed upon the same subject soon after his Majesty was graciously pleased to place me at the head of the army; and I have no doubt that, with your usual candour, you will yourself see the absolute necessity of my declining it. In the year 1795, upon a general promotion taking place, at your instance, I delivered a letter from you to his Majesty, urging your pretensions to promotion in the army; to which his Majesty was pleased to answer, that before ever he had appointed you to the command of the 10th Light Dragoons, he had caused it to be fully explained to you what his sentiments were with respect to a Prince of Wales entering into the army, and the public grounds upon which he never could admit of your considering it as a profession, or of your being promoted in the service. And his majesty, at the same time, added his positive commands and injunctions to me never to mention this subject again to him, and to decline being the bearer of any application of the same nature, should it be proposed to me; which message I was of course under the necessity of delivering to you, and have constantly made it the rule of my conduct ever since, and indeed I have ever considered it as one of the greatest proofs of affection towards me, on the part of his Majesty, that he never allowed me to become a party in this business. Having thus stated to you, fairly and candidly, what has passed, I trust you will see that there can be no ground for the apprehension expressed in the latter part of your letter, that any slur can attach to your character as an officer-particularly as I recollect your mentioning to me yourself, on the day on which you received the notification of your appointment to the 10th Light Dragoons, the explanation and condition attached to it by his Majesty; and therefore surely you must be satisfied that your not being advanced in military rank proceeds entirely from his Majesty's sentiments respecting the high rank you hold in the state, and not from any impression unfavourable to you. Believe me ever, with the greatest truth, dearest brother, your most affectionate brother.

(Signed)

His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales.

FREDERICK.

No. XII.

Brighton, Oct. 9, 1803.

MY DEAR BROTHER-I have taken two days to consider the contents of your letter of the 6th instant, in order to be as accurate as possible in my answer,

I- VOL. XVII.

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