"Mr. Pitt cannot be surprised at my being very hurt at the contents of his letter. Indeed he seems to expect it, but I am certain that nothing but the thinking it his duty could have instigated him to give me so severe a blow. I am neither in a situation of mind, nor from inclination, inclined to enter more minutely into every part of his letter; but I am fully ready to answer the material part, namely, that though loving very much my son, and not forgetting how he saved the Republic of Holland in 1798, and that his endeavours to be of service have never abated, and that to the conduct of Austria, the faithlessness of Prussia, and the cowardice of the Dutch, every failure is easily to be accounted for, without laying blame on him who deserved a better fate, I shall certainly now not think it safe for him to continue in the command on the Continent, when every one seems to conspire to render his situation hazardous by either propagating unfounded complaints against him, or giving credit to them.

"No one will believe that I take this step but reluctantly, and the more so since no successor of note is proposed to take the command. Truly I do not see where any one is to be found that can deserve that name now the Duke of Brunswick has declined; and I am certain he will feel the propriety of the resolution he has taken, when he finds that even a son of mine cannot withstand the torrent of abuse."

After this the Duke was recalled to England. Three weeks after his return he was advanced to field-marshal's rank and appointed commander-in

LIFE AGAIN ATTEMPTED

chief of the army. The more shameful troubles which were to overtake him were still far away.

In the course of the ensuing twelvemonth, when the war had sent up the price of provisions and caused serious outbreaks in the kingdom, there were two attempted assassinations of the King. The first happened on the 29th October, when the King was on his way to open Parliament. The crowd in the streets was obviously bent on disorder, and the example of mobs on the other side of the Channel was before them. Cries of "Bread, bread," "Peace, peace!" "Down with Pitt!" together with groans and hisses, rang out all along the route. One of the two Peers sitting with the King sprang up in alarm. "Sit still, my lord," said George quietly; "we must not betray fear whatever happens." As the royal carriage moved slowly on, the mob pressed close upon it. Midway between St. James's Palace and the gates of Carlton House the mob separated the royal carriage from the guards who accompanied the King, pressing so close that many feared to see the King dragged out and sacrificed to their fury. Contemporaries compared this British mob to the French mob who stopped the unhappy Louis XVI. on his road to St. Cloud. "Everything seemed French about them; their cries, their gestures, their principles, and their actions, all plainly indicated the polluted source whence they sprung, and proved that they were not of British origin or growth."

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"I had the misfortune," says Gifford, "to be a spectator of this disgraceful scene. I have seen many mobs in my life, but never did I behold such

an assemblage of ill-looking, desperate wretches as were collected together on the present occasion. And as far as the designs of men can be inferred from their looks, their language and gestures, the designs of this rabble, who so basely dishonoured the name and character of Englishmen, were most treasonable and murderous."

The King reached Whitehall in safety. As the coach was passing through the palace yard the window was perforated by a bullet fired from an air-gun. The bullet proceeded from an empty house. The windows of every other house on the road were filled with spectators. This alone was untenanted.

At St. Stephen's, George ("than whom," says Mr. Hunt, "no braver man lived in his dominions ") ascended the stairs, robed himself, and free from the smallest agitation, read the speech with peculiar correctness, and without a trace of perturbation. Not so his courtiers, who were filled with agitation. In getting into his coach again to return he said, "Well, my lords, one person is proposing this, and another is supposing that, forgetting there is One above us all who disposes of everything, and on Whom alone we depend." As the coach turned the corner it again encountered the mob in great numbers. Loudly vociferating "D-n him, out with him," they charged and took hold of the spokes of the wheels. At that critical moment a member named Bedingfield, who was standing near the wall of the garden waiting for his horses, darted forward to the King's assistance. Several ruffians who had hold of the carriage, and impeded its progress, were felled on the