record, that in July Lord Hood carried the gallant Nelson to court, to whom His Majesty was particularly attentive; especially as he had been honoured with the personal friendship of the Duke of Clarence, then Prince William.

On the eighth of May the royal family met with a second affliction, in the death of Prince Octavius, which struck deep in their domestic happiness; but in the winter their majesties entered warmly into the public enthusiasm then excited by the inimitable Siddons; and in the course of that winter she performed by royal command. Their majesties thenceforward paid her much attention; and her talent in reading dramatic works having reached the royal ears, she was frequently invited to Buckingham House and Windsor for that purpose.

The system of misrepresentation at that period, in regard to the royal manners and conduct, was even at work upon a subject so simple as this; we therefore feel it incumbent to sketch, from Mrs. Delany's admirable correspondence, the real etiquette of one of these occasions, which took place towards the close of this winter.

That venerable lady having been invited to Buckingham House, along with the Duchess of Portland, to hear Mrs. Siddons read the Provoked Husband, she obeyed, and was delighted with the manners and conduct of that highly gifted and estimable actress.

The King, Queen, and greatest part of the royal family, received their visitors in the great drawingroom, where there were two rows of chairs placed the length of the room. The front row, in the iniddle of which sat their majesties, was occupied by the family, and behind them sat the female guests, the gentlemen standing between them and the wall. Mrs. Siddons, of course, read standing, but with the convenience of a desk, on which were lights; from whence she delivered extracts from the comedy, together with Katharine's speech in Henry the Eighth; and during her performance was allowed three pauses, of half an hour each, for retirement into the next apartment, where refreshments were placed.

This etiquette alone observed, every thing else was easy and familiar; and on her retiring, their majesties detained the company for some time, to talk over the amusements of the evening.

1784.

It was on the twenty-third of March that the extraordinary circumstance took place of the lord chancellor's house in Great Ormond Street being broken open, and the great seal of England, and nothing else, stolen from a drawer in the writingtable of his lordship's study. Such an event, so uncommon, and so critical, occasioned much spe

culation: for it was known only on the preceding afternoon that parliament was to be dissolved; and it was mooted by all parties whether the seals were or were not necessary to give effect to that dissolution.

It must be acknowledged that it caused considerable consternation even in the cabinet; but the King put an end speedily to all speculation, by instantly issuing an order under his own sign manual for the preparation of a new great seal; yet even for that he waited not, giving notice to the house of a prorogation on the twenty-fourth, which was followed by a proclamation of dissolution on the ensuing day, though the new seal was not ready for several days after.

On the twenty-seventh of March His Majesty's most gracious pardon, and a reward of two hundred pounds, were offered by proclamation for the discovery of the thief; but, though a notorious personage of that profession was soon after apprehended, and charged with the robbery, yet sufficient evidence being wanting to prosecute to conviction, it was found necessary to discharge him.

The grand festival, in commemoration of Handel, at Westminster Abbey, began on the twenty-sixth of May. It is scarcely possible in any adequate terms to describe the grandeur of that spectacle, the like of which, so grand, so beautiful, and offering to the eye a feast so rich and perfect, had never