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The whigs, certain of coming into power and place, were anxious for an unrestricted regency, because that would have been followed by an unrestricted ministry; by places for life and in reversion; by peerages; and, in short, by an unlimited enjoyment of the loaves and fishes; an enjoyment evidently much coveted by that strange anomalous mixture of old tories, of old and new whigs; of broad bottoms, and of " Prince's friends." The tories, as they were called, though in reality there seems to have been a strange misnomer between the two parties, both in principle and in practice, were on the other head naturally anxious, even beyond mere constitutional propriety, to prevent their opponents from fixing themselves too strongly in their new seats, being well aware, that if left merely to the breadth of their own bottom they would soon topple and fall from their places.

We need not expatiate here upon the political events, immediately subsequent, up to the early part of 1811; upon the disputes amongst the whigs for pre-eminence between the Grey and Grenville parties; upon the judicious conduct of the Regent in retaining his father's ministers because they were the ministers of that father, a measure so pleasing to the great majority of the people of the united empire: it is sufficient to record the political arrangements which related more especially to the royal personage, whose afflictions were the cause of state measures hitherto without a pre

cedent in the history of the realm. We proceed therefore briefly to state that the care of His Majesty's person was entrusted to his royal consort, who was to have the control of the household, with full powers of command in all things, but assisted by a council of the highest characters in the realm. His Majesty's privy purse and private property were also duly arranged and secured by the bill which passed both houses upon this

occasion.

SECTION VIII.

1811-1820.

Illness.-Ceremonial of Regency.-Magnanimous Conduct of the Prince Regent.-Medical and Political Anecdotes.-Death of the Queen.-Royal Demise, &c.

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THE final ceremonial of the regency took place on the fifth of February, 1811, at Carlton-House, with much pomp and courtly etiquette, where the privy council was assembled, when his Royal Highness the Prince Regent took the oath :-" I do solemnly promise and swear that I will be faithful, and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King George :"-after which he took another, to execute his high office agreeable to the act in that case provided, and to administer, according to law, the power and authority vested in him thereby; also, that in all things, to the utmost of his power and ability, he would consult and maintain the safety, honour, and dignity of His Majesty, and the welfare of his people.

His royal highness next made, in a most audible voice, the declaration drawn up by act of parliament in the reign of Charles the Second, entitled "an act for the more effectual preserving the King's person and government, by disabling Papists from sitting in either houses of parliament; which he

also subscribed, giving in at the same time a certificate of his having received the sacrament of the Lord's Supper at the Chapel Royal a few days previous, which was deposited by the keeper of the records in the archives of the nation.

It was observed on this occasion, that the Regent's conduct was dignified in the extreme; and divested of every species of personal or party feeling.

The public hopes of His Majesty's recovery were still very sanguine; even so far as to look forward to his ultimate recovery: for the Queen, and other branches of the family, were in February permitted to visit him; and he had appeared several times on the terrace at Windsor, seemingly in possession of his original composure.

Indeed, the very day after the Prince Regent (the twelfth) had notified to Mr. Perceval his intention of retaining his father's ministers, his royal highness set off for Windsor; and his arrival being notified to the King, he instantly expressed an earnest wish to see the Prince in his apartments, when an interview took place, very affecting in the first instance, but terminating in a manner highly gratifying to both of these illustrious personages. The interview lasted upwards of two hours; and concluded with confirming his royal highness's hopes of the speedy convalescence of his royal parent. In the month of March, such improvements had

taken place in the royal health, that it was no longer considered necessary to issue daily bulletins ; besides which, all the medical attendants were withdrawn from their day attendance, and the pages resumed their accustomed functions about His Majesty's person.

Though in the ensuing month His Majesty had made material progress towards recovery, yet he was still declared by his physicians not to be quite restored to such a state of health as would admit of his resumption of the royal functions. It was said, however, that in a very few weeks that resumption would take place; and some even went so far as to speculate, though evidently without foundation, upon a partial change in the cabinet.

Circumstances in May certainly justified those progressive hopes, for on the twentieth His Majesty was able to take his customary airing on horseback in Windsor Park, and repeated it several times afterwards, though his return to state affairs was very judiciously prolonged: for very shortly afterwards his disorder suddenly took an unfavourable turn, though not to the dissolution of all hope; as his Royal Highness the Prince Regent felt himself bound to lay it down as a principle not to dispose of any place which might become vacant, until some final determination should appear justifiable in regard to the health of the afflicted monarch.

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