and on the 12th August, 1762, his late majesty, George IV., was born.

Agreeably to the state etiquette, which has always been observed on the accouchement of the queen of England, ever since the birth of the son, or pretended son of James II., the great officers of state are always summoned to attend the birth of a royal infant; and, on this occasion, there were present, the Princess Dowager of Wales, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Duke of Devonshire, the Duke of Rutland; the Lords Hardwicke, Huntingdon, Talbot, Halifax, Bute, Masham, and Cantalupe, and all the ladies of the bed-chamber and the maids of honour. The whole party assembled in a room adjoining to that of the Queen, having the door open leading into it-the Lords arranging themselves at the greatest possible distance the Ladies having no other restriction placed upon them, than to preserve a solemn silence, the accomplishment of which was a task of almost insuperable difficulty. Delicacy had, in those days, so far the ascendancy, that the obstetrical art was principally practised by females, and, on this occasion, the Queen was delivered by Mrs. Stephen, Dr. Hunter being in attendance amongst the ladies of the bed-chamber and maids of honour, in case of his professional assistance being required.

Her Majesty was delivered exactly at twenty-four minutes after seven o'clock, P. M., having been in labour above two hours. A messenger was immediately despatched to the king with the pleasing intelligence, and so delighted was his Majesty with the news, that he presented the bearer of it with 5001.

The privy council assembled with all possible despatch, and it was ordered that a form of prayer for the Queen's safe delivery should be prepared by his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, to be used within the Bills of Mortality on the following Sunday, and throughout the King's dominions the Sunday after it had been received by the respective

ministers.

Nothing can mark more strongly the character of the age, than the periodical publications that were put forth on this occasion, The Queen refused all medical assistance from

the other sex, and was attended by a Mrs. Stephen. The obstetric science was then but faintly understood amongst us, for Dr. Denman, the celebrated father of the present common-sergeant of London, had not written his famous work on midwifery; and reference was always made to the ancients from Aristotle to Galen, and from him to the doctors of the Sorbonne. Hence the press had teemed with numerous speculations or rather prophecies upon her Majesty, some not very delicate; and whilst a few denied her being enceinte, others entered into peripherical phenomena, and pretended to predict the sex and future destinies of the child. Mrs. Draper, who was the royal nurse, had published a pamphlet upon the subject; but such matter would not be tolerated amongst us at present, and we must submiss such subjects as features of an age gone by. Slander was mixed up with these publications; and when the Queen appeared at the installation of the Garter, at St. George's Hall, Windsor Castle, four weeks after her accouchement, several violent articles were written upon the indelicacy of so early an appearance; whilst she, on the other hand, was defended by her friends, upon the plea of the customs of her country being different from those of England. A man who then ruled London, with respect to opinion, as powerfully as the king himself, the Rev. Mr. Simpson, preached against the Queen's indelicacy; but he was answered in a pamphlet by the Rev. Dr. Vandergucht, who cited all that could be found upon the subject from the Bible: and although any quotation of that description was then omnipotent, still the doctor's Dutch name was mistaken by the vulgar for German-he was considered as a partisan of the Germans, and met with very severe usage from the populace.

The birth of the Prince diffused a general joy throughout the nation, and congratulatory addresses were voted to their Majesties by both Houses of Parliament, by the city of London, the two Universities, and the other great bodies corporate of the kingdom. We shall not, however, occupy our pages with the transcription of any of these addresses, for considered as mere matters of form they are unworthy of notice, and as the vehicles of the most fulsome adulation and bombastic

panegyric, they are deservedly the objects of ridicule and contempt.

We cannot, however, refrain from inserting a most excellent one from the Quakers, which was presented to his Majesty on the 1st of October, and read by Dr. Fothergill, as follows:

To George the Third, King of Great Britain and the

dominions thereunto belonging.

The humble address of Protestant subjects, the people called Quakers.

The satisfaction we feel in every event that adds to the happiness of our sovereign, prompts us to request admittance to the throne, on the present interesting occasion.

The birth of a Prince, the safety of the Queen, and thy own domestic felicity increased, call for our thankfulness to the Supreme Dispenser of every blessing; and to the King our dutiful and unfeigned congratulations.

In the Prince of Wales we behold another pledge of the security of those inestimable privileges, which we have enjoyed under the monarchs of thy illustrious house-kings, distinguished by their justice, their clemency, and regard to the prosperity of their people; a happy presage that, under their descendants, our civil and religious liberties will devolve, in their full extent, to succeeding generations.

Long may the Divine Providence preserve a life of so great importance to his royal parents, to these kingdoms, and to posterity; that, formed to piety and virtue, he may live beloved of God and man, and fill at length the British throne with a lustre not inferior to his predecessors.'

The young Prince soon became the object of general solicitude, and for the gratification of the public, it was announced before he was twelve days old, that his Royal Highness was to be seen at St. James's, from one o'clock till three, on drawingroom days. The crowd of ladies, whom this offer tempted to flock to court to see the royal infant, and taste her Majesty's caudle and cake, soon became immense; the daily expense for cake alone was estimated at 40l., and the consumption of wine was greater than could have been expected. All persons of fashion were

admitted to see the Prince, under the following restrictions, viz., that in passing through the apartment they stepped with the greatest caution, and did not offer to touch his Royal HighFor the greater security in this respect, a part of the apartment was latticed off in the Chinese manner, to prevent curious persons from approaching too closely.

ness.

It may be easily conceived that this extraordinary proceeding was visited with the severest censure of the reflecting part of the English people; they discovered in it neither propriety nor utility; on the contrary, they saw that it was attended with a considerable degree of danger to the health of the royal infant, on whom, perhaps, depended the legitimate succession of the Brunswick dynasty. There was also something decidedly antinational in the exhibition; and although custom might have tolerated it in the latitude of Mecklenburg Strelitz, it was not consistent with the habits and prejudices of the English people.

His late Majesty may be said to have come into the world at a most eventful period, when incidents were passing away, or occurring, or nigh at hand, of the greatest importance to the national honour and welfare. The long and prosperous reign of George II. had fixed the House of Hanover in secure possession of the British throne. The welcome accession of George III., the first sovereign of that House born in this country, had crushed every vestige of hope in the few remaining friends of the exiled Stuarts; the multiplied victories of a war, of which the people were, notwithstanding, beginning to complain, had opened the way for honourable and promising negociation, and with the prospect of peace rendered certain, just as the Prince was born, both the character and condition of the country were rapidly improving; an improvement which his birth was admirably adapted to accelerate, since it gave to people of every rank and condition a gratifying assurance of a legitimate succession of the House of Brunswick.

On the fifth day after his birth, his Royal Highness was created Prince of Wales, by letters patent. The first creation of the title of Prince of Wales in the Royal Family of England, occurred in the reign of Edward I. This sovereign, to conciliate the affections of the Welsh, whom he had subdued, removed his Queen Eleanor to Caernarvon Castle, in North

Wales, in which place, on the 25th April, 1284, she was delivered of a son. On this event, the sagacious Edward summoned the Welsh barons, and demanded if they would be willing to subject themselves to a native prince. Happily they consented, and having sworn to yield him obedience, he nominated the royal infant in a subsequent charter, Edward, Prince of Wales, since which auspicious event, the eldest son and heir apparent of the King of England has retained that title. His late Majesty Geo. IV. was the twenty-first prince of the royal family of England who has borne that title.

The mode of conferring the rank of Prince of Wales is by investiture, with a cap-coronet, gold verge and ring, and by issure of letters patent under the Great Seal. Notwithstanding the title of Prince of Wales has often merged in the Crown, it has never yet been bestowed on any but the heir apparent to the crown.

The Prince of Wales is born Duke of Cornwall, and immediately entitled to all the revenue belonging to that Duchy. We shall have occasion hereafter to refer to that circumstance, as it formed the basis of a long dissension between the Prince of Wales and his illustrious father, arising from a well-founded claim, which the former made to all the arrears of revenue which had accumulated during his minority, and to which, as forming a part of his patrimonial inheritance, he considered that he possessed an inalienable right.

The Prince of Wales, as heir apparent to the Crown of Great Britain, is likewise hereditary Steward of Scotland, Duke of Rothsay, Earl of Carrick, and Baron of Renfrew. These were titles conferred by Robert III., King of Scotland, on the Prince, his eldest son, in 1399, and perpetually appropriated to the future Princes of Scotland, as soon as born. Since the accession of James I., they have been continued to the Prince of Wales, in Great Britain. It may be here remarked as a singular circumstance, that the Prince of Wales enjoys no Irish honours. All the junior branches of the royal family are Earls of Ireland; the heir apparent being the only one of his house who does not derive some title of honour from the Sister Island.

The ceremony of christening his Royal Highness was per