think, in the humble and retired situation in which it was then her fate to live, and where she had no relation, no equal, no friend to advise her, were wholly free from offence.

And if, after this horrid statement of Lady Douglas and others, to which her Royal Highness alluded in her letter to the King, as above mentioned, no real crime could be justly brought against her, much less could any imputation of guilt have been the original grounds of the separation that took place immediately after the receipt of the Prince's letter of the 30th of April, already quoted. There is, however, internal evidence in the answer to that letter, that a single month had not elapsed, after the marriage of their Royal Highnesses, before the Prince had made some "tacit insinuations," that he did not altogether like his wife's person or company, and that, in fact, he intended a separation. indeed, was the period of their connubial bliss! and no sooner had the disagreement between the royal pair become known to the public at large, than it was increased, by the impertinent curiosity of some, and the envy and malignity of others, to a degree of intenseness which, in all probability, will never be allowed to subside.

Short,

The late King, on coming to a knowledge of this afflicting circumstance of the separation of his son and daughter-in-law, was very greatly affected. His Majesty had, doubtless, been already apprized, that the union was not likely, for some time at least, to be attended with those pleasing and beneficial re

sults which he, in common with the great bulk of his subjects, had fondly anticipated; and, when matters came to an extremity, he omitted nothing, that would mark his love and affection for his niece and daughter-in-law, without, however, at the same time, taking any step in the business indicative of a spirit of hostility towards the Prince, his Majesty's son. Few men could more justly appreciate the genuine feelings of a parent for a child than the King; hence his Majesty did not fail to employ his influence with the Prince of Wales to induce his Royal Highness, whatever might be his ultimate determination respecting the Princess, to allow the child to remain under the immediate care and guardianship of its mother until, at least, the young Princess should have attained her eighth year. This arrangement, though generally understood to have been made and agreed to at the instance of the late King, was not strictly adhered to; for when the Princess Charlotte was only five or six years old, her mother, it was universally reported at the time, saw her occasionally only.

After her Royal Highness left Carlton House, in which, for some time before, she had lived, in a manner, separately from the Prince, she retired to Charlton, a beautiful village in Kent, in the neighbourhood of Woolwich near the edge of Blackheath; but the appointed residence of the Princess Charlotte was at Shrewsbury House, near Shooter's Hill, about two miles from Charlton.

When, however, her Royal Highness left Carl

ton House, it was intimated to her that her apartments there should undergo a thorough repair, and that she might hereafter return to them. She was accompained to her retirement by Miss Garth, Miss Vernon, Mrs. Harcourt, Mrs. Sander, a native of Brunswick, who came to this country with her Royal Highness as her dresser, and by some other ladies; but her state and style of living were by no means what might be considered as fully adequate to a royal establishment. Yet with these few attendants, and being for a few years almost constantly employed in the care and education of her beloved infant, the Princess, her time passed off smoothly and peaceably. She soon regained her wonted vivacity of spirit; and though in some sense deserted by her royal husband, the King, her venerable father-in-law and uncle, still cherished towards her his wonted paternal affection and regard. But the comparative peace and happiness which were enjoyed by her Royal Highness during her seclusion from the bustle of courts and the constant routine of amusement in the highest circles of fashionable life, were noticed, by the ever-vigilant eye of envy, with no small degree of malevolent keenness. Her Royal Highness, though living thus retired, and spending much the greatest portion of her time in the quiet pursuit of filial and domestic duties, and amongst the few select friends of her household, was nevertheless frequently visited by persons of distinction from town. Some of these "good-natured friends," it is to be feared, came not so much to