where she received several wounds, but contrived to conceal her sex, until she was stripped to be punished for some misdemeanor: she had been admitted into the Brighton Workhouse, but she did not feel easy in such a situation, and preferred to follow her humble employment, aided by a small allowance from the parish. The Prince Regent commanded half-a-guinea weekly to be paid to her as long as she lives, and that as much inore should be added as her wants may require. It would be impossible to detail the innumerable instances of similar beneficence which have marked His Royal Highness's residence at the Pavilion ; but it would be unpardonable to omit, that he very lately ordered five hundred stone of beef, at one time, to be distributed among the neighbouring poor. While Mr. Dykes, the Messenger, was on his journey with dispatches addressed to Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, advices were received that Her Royal Highness, on the first of September, gave a grand Ball at her residence of Pesaro, where all the Nobility, and persons of distinction in the neighbourhood, attended; and that on the fourth of November, the first day of the Princess Charlotte's labour, her Royal Mother gave another fête, with the addition of a comic ballet, in which she herself danced the principal character. On the 26th of November, the King's Messenger found her Royal Highness at Milan, and communicated the deplorable news of the death of her beloved Daughter; which so shocked her, that she fainted away several times successively. On the sixth of December, Her Royal Highness's beautiful villa of Este, on the lake of Como, where she formerly resided, was stated to be on sale, with all its de pendencies: and the most important communication which has since been received, is, that the Princess has finally resolved never more to revisit England. On the 27th of November, a Court of Common Council was held in the Guildhall of the city of London, at which a resolution was unanimously passed, expressive of the deep sorrow of the Court at the afflicting event of the death of the Princess Charlotte, which has deprived the nation of its brightest ornament and future hope; but that they duly appreciated the motive, that of not harassing the feelings of the surviving relatives, which led the Court to abstain from presenting Addresses of Condolence upon the death of any of the Royal Family This, however, did not prevent other Corporate Bodies from presenting such Addresses:indeed, some of them had anticipated this resolution, particularly the Corporation of Kingston-uponThames, which, on the 9th of November, was the first to present an Address of Condolence to Prince Leopold, through the Baron Hardenbrock; from whom their Address, which is as follows, received a most respectful answer: "MY LORD, "The Corporation of Kingston, deeply impressed with feelings of sorrow and regret at the great loss sustained by this Country by the recent calamities at Claremont, and fully sensible of the trying and most painful situation in which His Serene Highness the Prince of Saxe-Cobourg is now placed, most respectfully beg leave to inquire after the state of His Serene Highness's health, to sympathize in his misfortunes, and to unite their hopes and wishes with those of the country at large, that His Serene Highness will be enabled to yield, with fortitude and resignation, to the awful visitation of Providence, and that His Serene Highness may yet live to enjoy many years of health and happiness, in the merited esteem and respect of a nation endeared to him by the strongest ties of affection. It would extend this volume beyond all reasonable limits, were only a tenth part of the Addresses of Condolence presented to the Prince Regent and to Prince Leopold to be inserted; but as it would be unpardonable to pass them by wholly unnoticed, the following are subjoined as specimens of the whole: To His Royal Highness the Prince Regent. We, His Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars, of the University of Oxford, lament that the peculiar circumstances of the present melancholy occasion, preclude us from availing ourselves of the accustomed and honourable distinction of personal access to the Throne, which we have enjoyed under the favour of His Majesty and his Royal predecessors. But we humbly entreat that we may be permitted to submit, in this manner, (as best suited to the feelings of your Royal Highness, under so heavy a calamity,) the dutiful expression of our heartfelt grief on the death of a Princess, who was alike endeared to us by her personal virtues, and by the relation in which she stood to your Royal Highness. It is impossible that we should not, under all circumstances, mourn over the loss of any member of a Family, to which we are indebted for the preservation of our civil and religious liberties; but that loss is now doubly afflicting, when the visitation is also of a nature to wound your Royal Highness's parental feelings. We do not presume to suggest considerations of duty, or topics of consolation; but we cannot forbear to express the hope, that it will afford relief to your Royal Highness to reflect, that the Hand which has afflicted you, is the Hand of Providence; and that although the illustrious object of our regret has been summoned from this scene of probation too soon for our wishes, and for the happiness of your Royal Highness, she yet was spared until her private virtues had conciliated the love of the whole nation, and until her character was so far developed, as to justify the universal expectation of future greatness. We indulge too the further hope, that it will alleviate the grief of your Royal Highness, to witness the unanimity with which all ranks of our fellow subjects press forward to pay the tribute of their sorrow to the memory of our departed Princess, and to tender, at the same time, the homage of their condolence. And while on this sad occasion we mingle our tears with the tears of the country, permit us to offer the renewed declarations of our attachment to your Royal Highness's Person, Family, and Government, which we acknowledge to be the source of the greatest public and private blessings, and to which we feel ourselves unalterably bound, by every tie of loyalty, affection, and gratitude. Given at our House of Convocation, under our common Seal, this 11th day of December, in the Year of Our Lord 1817. [Transmitted by Lord Grenville, Chancellor of the University, and presented by Viscount Sidmouth.] The Loyal Address of the Mayor, Aldermen, Common Councilmen, and Burgesses, of the Town of CAMBRIDGE. To His Royal Highness George Prince of Wales, Regent of the United Kingdom. Most Gracious Prince; may it please your Royal We, His Majesty's faithful subjects, the Mayor, Aldermen, Common Councilmen, and Burgesses, of the town of CAMBRIDGE, deeply sympathizing in the keen anguish of suffering with which your Royal Highness, Her Majesty the Queen, His Serene Highness Prince Leopold, and all the Royal Family, are overwhelmed, beg leave most respectfully to offer the tribute of our condolence upon the melancholy event, which, occurring at a moment, and under circumstances so peculiarly mournful and heart-rending, has filled both the Palace and the Cottage with lamentation and We hailed the union of Her Royal Highness, your de parted Daughter, as an event most auspicious to the future prosperity and glory of England. We followed her into the tranquil, yet dignified scenes of her domestic life, and beheld in her faithful discharge of every filial and conjugal duty, in her silent unostentatious exercise of every Christian charity, and in her entire devotion to all the sacred obligations of religion, the bright promise of an example, which could not have failed, under the Divine blessing, to have diffused its influence most extensively and powerfully for the happiness of these kingdoms; nor in the contemplation of Her Royal Highness's domestic virtues, did we fail to mark and admire, in the proofs of her ardent attachment to the principles of our Constitution, the surest pledge of her anxiety to maintain the liberties, and promote the welfare, of her future people. But it has pleased God, in his inscrutable wisdom, to blight the prospect in which we had too fondly indulged, and to awaken us, by a signal infliction of his power, to a recollection of our entire dependence upon his mercy. May your Royal Highness, may His Serene Highness, (in whose unbounded devotion of himself to the happiness of his Royal Consort while living, and in whose manly, though heart-broken sorrows and pious resignation to her loss, your Royal Highness, in common with all ranks of His Majesty's subjects, must find an ample source of mournful gratification,) may you both find consolation in this agony of grief, where alone it is to be found; and may we all be enabled to convert this national calamity individually to our moral and religious improvement. Given under our common Seal, this 4th day December, 1817. [Transmitted by the Duke of Rutland, K. G. High Steward of the Borough, and presented by Viscount Sidmouth.] To His Royal Highness George Prince of Wales, Regent of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. May it please your Royal Highness, We, His Majesty's most faithful subjects, the Mayor, Aldermen, Bailiffs, and Common Council, of the Borough of LIVERPOOL, in Special Council assembled, humbly beg leave to offer to your Royal Highness our unfeigned condo 6 |