SHERIDAN'S IMPROMPTU forward to the front of the box, put his opera-glass to his eye, and looked round the house without the smallest appearance of alarm or discomposure."1 Lord Salisbury, the Lord Chamberlain, who pressed the King to withdraw to an anteroom, received a similar reply to that addressed to the equerry in the morning: "Sir," said his sovereign, "you discompose me as well as yourself; I shall not stir one step. It so happened that behind the scenes was Richard Brinsley Sheridan. The National Anthem being demanded no fewer than three times during the performance, Sheridan seized a pen and paper and dashed off the following additional stanza : From every latent foe, From the assassin's blow, O'er him Thine arm extend, For Britain's sake defend Our Father, Prince and Friend: The impromptu was delivered by Kelly, and was received with most rapturous approbation. From the moment George heard of this incident his feelings towards Sheridan visibly softened. "The King," wrote Hannah More to one of her sisters, "was wonderfully great and collected through the whole; but when the house continued shouting for an unreasonable length of time, he appeared much affected, sat down, and looked for a minute 1 Reminiscences of Michael Kelly, ii. p. 156, on the ground. When he got home he said to the Queen, As it is all safe, I am not sorry it has happened, for I cannot regret anything that has caused so much affection to be displayed."1 Wraxall in his "Memoirs," speaking of the conduct of the King on this occasion, says: "Few of his subjects would have shown the presence of mind, and attention to everything except himself, which pervaded his whole conduct. His whole anxiety was directed towards the Queen, who, not having entered the box, he apprehended, on hearing of the event, would be overcome by her surprise or emotions." When George bade his family good-night he calmly said, "I am going to bed with a confidence that I shall sleep soundly, and my prayer is, that the poor unhappy prisoner who aimed at my life may rest as quietly as I shall." The would-be assassin turned out to be an ex-soldier named Hadfield, whose insanity was so manifest that he was merely confined. At the first levée held by the King after Hadfield's attempt, the multitude of persons of distinction of every party who came to offer congratulations was unprecedented. Congratulatory addresses were voted by Parliament and by the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. "I was amply compensated," writes Somerville, who had been disappointed of his presentation at Court, "by witnessing a congratulatory address presented to his Majesty on the throne, and hearing his answer, delivered with great dignity, and with sensible emotion when he referred to the danger which he had escaped." 1 Memoirs of Hannah More, vol. iii. pp. 106-7 (3rd edition). NO FEAR OF DEATH Besides the several open attacks, George received during the course of his reign innumerable anonymous letters threatening his life, all of which he treated with uniform indifference. Lord Sandwich once assured Wraxall that he had seen several of them, shown him by the King at Weymouth. While residing there during successive seasons, he was warned not to ride out on particular days on certain roads if he valued his safety. Despite this George never failed to mount his horse and to take the very road indicated in the letter. "I very well know," he said to Sandwich, "that any man who chooses to sacrifice his own life may, whenever he pleases, take away mine, riding out, as I do continually, with a single equerry and a footman. I only hope that whoever may attempt it will not do it in a barbarous or brutal manner."1 Surely it is not surprising that a sovereign such as this had earned the respect of the brave, as he had the esteem and reverence of the wise in his dominions. 1 Wraxall, vol. i. pp. 297–8. CHAPTER XX PITT GOES AND PITT RETURNS THROUGHOUT his reign the government of Ireland had caused George great trouble and anxiety. He was perpetually interfering to prevent the bickerings and jealousies of Irish politicians, next to those of the South American Republics the most factious on the face of the earth. It was a shrewd observation of the King's, when time and experience had taught him a thorough knowledge of mankind, that "he had never known a Scotchman speak ill of another unless he had a motive for it, and that he had never known one Irishman speak well of another except from a similar selfish inducement." George had been one of the first to urge the expediency of a legislative Union between Great Britain and Ireland. He had lived to see that expediency forced upon the minds of statesmen, and the rebellion of 1798 served to hasten the measure. On the 6th May we find him writing to Pitt: "I shall receive the joint address of the two Houses, which will, I trust, effect one of the most useful measures that has been effected during my reignone that will give stability to the whole Empire, and, from the want of industry and capital in Ireland, be |