scribbling verse, and eating suppers with the DellaCruscan sonneteers, she lost the use of her limbs, died in 1800, neglected and poor, at Englefield Green, and was interred at Old Windsor.

The prince of Wales was assuredly warranted in discarding Mrs. Robinson. She could not plead any sacrifice of innocence or good fame; and as to the supposed" ruin of her peace," her memoirs are at issue on that point with the better evidence of her notorious and uninterrupted gaieties after the separation took place. A connection begun in artifice could hardly have ended in an attachment of passion and the heart. But the gallantry of a gentleman, and the common feelings of a man, should have taught the prince of Wales to secure her from distress. Her settlement of 400l. a year, besides being irregularly paid, was, for the most part, intercepted by creditors, whose claims remained unsatisfied; and he who decked her in all the luxury and splendour which wealth could bestow, whilst she possessed youth and charms, left her to struggle with poverty, when she no longer had youth, beauty, or health. This was not generous, but it was natural and consistent. His liberalities, essentially selfish, were conferred for the gratification of his own caprice, and ceased, of course, with the motive which produced them.

THE fashionable season of 1782-3 was proclaimed under the auspices of the prince of Wales and the duchess of Devonshire. It may be said that the higher classes made an equal division of their time between pleasure and politics. A new ball-room was built at the opera house, and called the prince's; the whole interior of the theatre was new modelled, and the boxes were subscribed for on a new system. The performances of the opera were succeeded on Tuesday and Saturday nights by subscription balls, and Thursday nights were devoted to masquerades. None but persons of approved pretensions, in the hierarchy of fashion, were admitted to the balls. The prince of Wales and the duchess of Devonshire opened the first of the series with a minuet, of which "the steps were composed by the inimitable Lepicque, and the music by Giordini." But the masquerades presented a motley assemblage of real as well as assumed character, which bears very instructive testimony to the manners of the age. The mask seems to have been considered a sort of license, and thought to operate

as a talisman against the contagion of indecency and profligacy. Women of the highest rank, and of unblemished names, were mingled with Parisian intrigantes, who had migrated to London, either in the train of the duc de Chartres, or speculating on the prodigality of the prince of Wales, noted courtesans, and men of fashion having their mistresses dangling on their arms. If it be true, as some aver, that the state of morals in high life is still the same, and that vice has but retreated from the public eye within the refuge of her proper sphere, public decency at least is improved.

The duc de Chartres, afterwards the unfortunate duke of Orleans, visited London this winter. He was distinguished, as yet, only by his dissipated habits, and a rage for English fashions. His stud, grooms, liveries, and dress, were English; and he was initiated in the mysteries of Newmarket, at the cost, it was said, of 20,000 guineas. On his return to Paris, he communicated his Anglo-mania to the young nobles of his country, who, with the vivacity of their impulses, soon rushed on to the English freedom of language, and sentiments of independence. A frivolous mode, thus imported in the first instance by the duke, was among the most active causes of the French revolution. But here the mention of his name is relevant only as he was connected with the prince of Wales. He formed, what both called, a friendship with the prince, flattered him, by adopting those particular fashions in dress which he had introduced, and obtained his promise of a visit to Paris in the summer. It appears that the prince

set his heart upon this visit, which, to obviate

objections, he proposed to make incog.; but the king, very properly in this instance, withheld his consent. So earnest, however, was the prince, that the king offered him permission to make a summer tour of England, or visit Hanover, with a liberal allowance for his expenses.

It was remarked, at this period, of the prince of Wales, that, notwithstanding the vortex of gaiety and pleasure in which he passed his life, he appeared at some moments thoughtful and depressed. This may have been the consequence of excited and exhausted spirits; but it was ascribed to the pressure of his debts, both of law and honour, to a large

amount.

The prince's establishment became a matter of consideration some weeks before the completion of his twenty-first year. The moment was particularly unfavourable to him, from the agitation of parties, the fluctuations of the cabinet, and, strange as it may appear, the circumstance of his friends being in power.

Lord Rockingham died in three months after he became minister. His unbending virtue and strong party were little suited to the king's views of government. Lord Rockingham himself was so sensible of the king's dislike, and of the art with which he could disguise it for his purposes*, that it required the most earnest persuasions of Fox, Burke, and the duke of Richmond, to induce his acceptance of office. Lord Shelburne had devoted his life to the studies and acquirements which should

* "Qui nescit dissimulare nescit regnare," was, according to Dr. Watson, bishop of Llandaff, the great maxim of George II!

make him an accomplished politician, — and with success. He had the eagerness and suppleness of ambition; his party was weak in numbers, though not in talent; and the king offered to place him at the head of the government. He acceded now to the tempting offer which he before had the moderation to decline, - and without consulting his colleagues before he took this decisive step. Mr. Fox, Iwith several other friends of lord Rockingham, immediately resigned. The propriety of Mr. Fox's resignation was much canvassed. He vindicated himself on the ground of serious differences of opinion in the cabinet, especially with reference to the acknowledgment of the independence of America. But it is manifest, even from his vindication, that he wanted confidence in lord Shelburne, and wished to have the duke of Portland, lord Rockingham's successor as head of the whigs, appointed prime minister. The Rockingham and Shelburne parties were essentially distinct; and Mr. Fox, without incurring the charge of jealous rivalry or grasping ambition, might naturally decline acting under a minister with whom he had not an entire unison of principles, and whose aspiring temper and talent were likely to make him exert the supremacy of his place.

Lord Shelburne, the friend and pupil of lord Chatham, inherited that nobleman's opposition to the acknowledgment of American independence, but renounced the opinion soon after he became prime minister. A provisional treaty, acknowledging "the freedom, sovereignty, and independence of the Thirteen United States," was signed in No