pact with great exactness, to the admiration of all Europe. This being so new and extraordinary an act, was reported to Achmet, emperor of the Turks, who, on hearing it, expressed great surprise, and said, "It was well worth the trouble to undertake a journey on purpose, to be an eye-witness of such wonderful unanimity." The seven brothers having drawn lots who should marry, it fell to George the sixth brother, who immediately entered the married state, and continued the line. The four elder succeeded each other, but the three younger died before it came to their turn to reign. electoral dignity, but his principal felicity consisted in his marriage with the princess Sophia, daughter of Frederick, elector Palatine, and Elizabeth, only daughter of James I., king of England, which happy alliance proved the means of confirming the crown of these realms to his posterity. He died in 1698, and was succeeded by his elder son George Lewis, who, on the death of Queen Anne, in 1714, by virtue of several acts of parliament to secure the crown in the protestant line, ascended the throne of Great Britain. He died at Osnaburg, June 11, (O.S.), 1727, and was succeeded by his only son George II. George proved a most valiant prince, and behaved with great bravery, in the wars of Ger- George II. was married at Hanover, August many, under his elder brother. He married 22, 1705, to Wilhelmina Carolina, daughter of Ann Eleanor, daughter of Lewis, Landgrave of John Frederick, Marquis of Brandenburg AnsHesse-Darmstadt, by whom he had four sons, pach, by Eleanor Erdmuth Louisa, his second Christian Lewis, who succeeded his uncle Fre-wife, daughter to John George, duke of Saxe derick; George William, the former duke of Eisenach. She was crowned with his majesty Zell. He was one of the most accomplished October 11, 1737, and had issue four sons and and valiant princes in all Europe. King William | five daughters. First; Frederick Lewis, the III. entertained the greatest friendship and regard for him, and honoured him with the most noble order of the garter. He left issue only one daughter, Sophia Dorothy, who married his nephew George Lewis, elector of Brunswick Lunenburg, afterwards king of Great Britain. John Frederick, third son of George, died without male issue. Ernest Augustus was the younger son. George, the father of them, died in 1641. Ernest Augustus was only twelve years of age at the decease of his father. He discovered an early propensity to learning, which was considerably improved by travelling into Holland, France, Spain, Italy, and over the greater part of England. He laid the foundation for the grandeur which is at this time enjoyed by his illustrious descendants. In the year 1692, on account of his superior merit, he obtained the father of our late revered monarch, born January 20, 1706. Second; Anne, princess of Rouge, born October 22, 1709. Third; Amelia Sophia, born May 30, 1711. Fourth; Carolina Elizabeth, born May 30, 1713. Fifth; William Augustus, duke of Cumberland, born April 15, 1721. Sixth; Mary, born February 22, 1723. Seventh; Louisa, born December 7, 1724. A prince dead-born, November 9, 1716. George William, duke of Gloucester, born November 2, 1717, who died February 6, 1718. When we consider how much we are indebted to the Protestant succession in his Majesty's royal family, we cannot be too anxious for the support of that royal dignity, and the propagation of the royal blood. George II. ascended the throne accompanied with the pleasing prospect, that no chance existed of a failure in the Protestant line. The royal progeny became the children of the people, and by George II. we | missioned to transmit to him a faithful report received a race of princes, formed under his immediate care, and succeeding in his right to be the guardians of our Constitution. When he ascended the throne, seven of his children were living to secure the succession in his line. He beheld two princes, his sons, the favourites of his people, and the securities of his throne, and five princesses, from whom a large accession of strength to the Protestant cause might be naturally supposed to emanate. The dispositions of George II. were by no means of a conciliating or forgiving nature, and the youthful follies of the prince of Wales often exposed him to the severe animadversions of his royal parent. The prince had been often importuned to select a princess from one of the reigning families of Germany, who might be considered worthy to share with him the throne of England. But whether it arose from a secret attachment, or a dislike to the matrimonial state, all proposals of marriage were rejected; and, this obstinacy on the part of the prince, served to alienate the affections of his royal parent, and sowed the seeds for that extraordinary behaviour which in a short time displayed itself. of the qualifications, mental and personal, of the different princes of the German houses, with whom an alliance with his elder daughter might be considered desirable. The princess royal was, however, not destined to be the bride of a German prince, for her hand was demanded in marriage by the prince of Orange; and this alliance was considered to be attended with so many private and political advantages, that a treaty was immediately entered into, and, on the 8th of May 1733, the intended marriage was communicated by his majesty to both houses of parliament, in the following message: GEORGE, R. His majesty having received from the prince of Orange, proposals for a treaty of marriage between the princess royal and the said prince; and his majesty having been pleased favourably to accept the instances made by the prince; his highness has sent over a minister instructed and authorized with full powers to treat of, and conclude the articles of marriage: his majesty has therefore thought it proper to communicate this important affair to this house; and, as he makes no doubt but this marriage will be to the general satisfaction of all his good subjects, he promises himself the concurrence and assistance of this house, in enabling him to give such a por tion to his eldest daughter, as shall be suitable to the present occasion, and may contribute towards supporting, with honour and dignity, an alliance that will tend so much to the further security of the Protestant succession to the crown of these realms, and to the Protestant in His majesty relinquishing all hopes of effecting a change in the resolution of the prince of Wales, directed his thoughts seriously to the marriage of the other branches of his family. The princess royal was at this time the third interest in Europe. succession to the crown, and the nation there fore felt a sacred interest in her fortunes. A treaty of marriage was entered into with one of the princes of the house of Anspach; but, from political motives, or, more properly speaking, from a more advantageous match presenting itself, it was not carried to a conclusion. It is certain that George II. had his emissaries in the various courts of Europe, who were com 2. voted an address to his Majesty; his answer Both houses met on the following day, and 1 to that from the lords was as follows: MY LORDS, I thank you for this mark of your affection to me and my family: it is a great satisfaction to me to find that the intended marriage between my daughter and the prince of Orange is so agreeable to you. You may be assured, that I shall make the preserva tion of the liberties of my people my chief concern and care. The marriage being determined on, another message was sent by his majesty to parliament, calling upon it to grant a dowry of 80,000l. to the princess royal, which gave rise in the house of lords to one of the most animated debates recorded in the annals of parliament. It arose from the circumstance, that the grant to the princess royal should have been brought before parliament by a separate bill, and not included in a bill which was then passing through the house, granting to his majesty various sums for charitable purposes, amongst which, one was for repairing a dormitory. This gave rise to some rather coarse witticisms; as the dowry to a princess on her marriage, and the repair of a dormitory, had something in their combination which could not fail to excite the ribaldry and sneers of those who were most violent in their opposition to the manner in which the bill had been sent from the commons. Lord Winchelsea happily termed it the hotchpotch bill, and designated it as the last sweepings of the lower house. The duke of Newcastle defended the measure; and, which was by no means an uncommon case on all matters in which his grace interfered, he sharpened the opposition against him, by declaring that the 80,000l. were not to be paid from the public purse, but from money belonging to his majesty from the sale of lands in St. Nevis and Christopher's. Here then the opposition declared was a gross indignity offered to the house; a number of items were huddled in a bill, some of which were to be paid from the public purse, and one from the private property of his majesty. Strong however as were the arguments used by the opposers to the bill as it then stood, it was ultimately carried, and the 80,000l. were granted as the marriage portion of the princess royal. On the arrival of the prince of Orange in England, addresses from various quarters were presented to him, and the Dutch merchants in particular waited upon him in a body, to congratulate their illustrious countryman on his arrival, and his approaching nuptials. A sudden illness which seized him in the Dutch church, protracted the nuptials, and rendered a visit to Bath advisable for the recovery of his health. On Thursday the 14th of March 1734, the marriage was solemnized with the greatest possible splendour. The princess of Orange remained in England until the following November, during which time, her pregnancy was formally announced. It is rather singular, that the same dislike was manifested by the princess of Orange to accompany her prince to Holland, which at a future time was manifested by the late princess Charlotte, and which was one of the causes of the rupture of her alliance with the prince of Orange. It was, indeed, so strong on the part of the princess of Orange, that the prince returned to Holland without her; but as her pregnancy had been announced, and it being contrary to the law of Holland, that a branch of the reigning house of Nassau should be born in a foreign country, the princess at last consented to join her husband, and she arrived at Calais in the month of December, where she was met by the prince, who conducted her with great pomp to the Hague. On this occasion, the king of France with his own hand wrote a most obliging letter to George II., thanking his majesty for the honour done him in allowing the princess royal of Great Britain, to take her passage through part of France; assuring his majesty at the same time of a safe conduct of her royal highness, and of all the honours due to so excellent a princess. A pleasing anecdote, connected with the royal marriage, is related of Mrs. Harris, a Quaker, | riage of the prince of Wales, as the most favourable reports had been transmitted to his majesty of a princess of the house of Saxe Gotha, and he was resolved to have ocular evidence of her qualifications for the future queen of Great Britain. who at that time was celebrated for her skill in needlework. She was introduced to the queen for the purpose of presenting her with two richly wrought caps of extraordinary fineness, designed for the Princess of Orange as part of her child-bed linen. In the seams of that designed for a prince was worked: As Providence to glorious William gave These happy nations, which he came to save; Still may kind Heaven, with royal honours bless His princely race, and send us large increase. Other verses were in the cap designed for a princess. She delivered them with the following address to her majesty May it please the queen. "A faithful subject of thine, and one of those called Quakers, a people who have distinguished themselves by their love to thy family, have been excited by the happy marriage of that amiable princess, thy eldest daughter, with the prince of Orange, to shew that the pleasing thoughts of it remained with her many days. I have, queen, with my own hands, (though I am more than sixty-four years of age), wrought this linen, which I have taken the liberty to present to thy royal hand. 1 beseech thee suffer thy grand-child to wear it, and may the Almighty, who has made thee mother of many children, make them and their children comforts to thee, and to thy people, so prays thy humble but faithful subject, MARY HARRIS." The worthy Quaker's hopes were however frustrated, for Dr. Douglas, the celebrated accoucheur of that period, and who attended the princess of Orange for several months in Holland, declared, in 1735, that her royal highness was not with child. His majesty granted him a pension of 500l. a year. In the early part of 1737, his majesty visited his German dominions, leaving the queen regent; and although the situation of Hanover was the ostensible cause, yet it was privately The actions of George II. were in many instances marked with a strong degree of eccentricity. Although of a gloomy and morose nature, partaking much of the phlegmatic character of his country, he at times adopted that line of conduct, which not only savoured strongly of Quixotism, but had all the appearance of frivolity, and cunning. In Schmidt's Geschichte der Deutchen, (History of the Germans), the following account is given of the visit of a duke of Cornwall to the court of Saxe-Gotha. This duke of Cornwall was, however, no other personage than George II., who, in order to accomplish his views, and to lull all suspicion ot his actual birth, on account of his aptitude in the German language, so unusual in an Englishman, pretended that family differences had obliged him to take up his abode in Germany, where he had then resided for a considerable length of time. No suspicion whatever was entertained of the royal personage, and during his residence at this court, he lost no opportunity of studying the character of the princess Augusta. The following anecdote is related of him, in the above-mentioned work. He was one evening dancing with the princess Augusta, and in the course of conversation, he inquired if she felt any inclination to visit England. The princess replied, that there was not any country which she had a greater desire to see. Then you shall see it, said his majesty, and I will exact one promise from you, that at the first ball which you grace with your presence in England, you will do me the honour to accept land should demand you. The king of Eng- | tiòn, moral and religious. His first care was, land, by all accounts received of him, said the princess, had rather smoke his pipe, than dance with the most beautiful princess of the empire. The mock duke felt rather disconcerted at this unexpected answer of the princess, and on the following day he took his leave, resolving on his return to propose her in marriage to his son. In the absence of the king, the queen regent, whose influence over the prince of Wales was unbounded, had employed every argument which affection, or state policy could invent, to induce his royal highness to marry, as it would be the principal nieans of healing those family differences which then so unhappily existed between his royal father and himself; and the queen so worked upon the feelings of the prince, whose dispositions were in themselves most amiable, that she in the end obtained his consent to the marriage, which she knew it was the intention of his father to propose to him. On Thursday the 12th of February 1736, the ceremony was performed in the privy council, of proposing to his royal highness the prince of Wales, a marriage with the princess of SaxeGotha; two of the members of that right honourable board carried his majesty's message to his royal highness in his apartment, and his royal highness answered, that he could not be but extremely well pleased with whatever his majesty proposed. In regard to the family of Saxe-Gotha, from which sprang the mother of his late majesty, the following is an authentic memoir : Ernest, surnamed the Pious, was the ninth son of John, duke of Weimar, and was the founder of the house of Saxe-Gotha. On his accession to the government in 1640, he found his country desolated by a long and bloody war, and the people plunged into the grossest ignorance, from the total neglect of all instruc therefore, to reform the church, and to establish schools for the education of the lower classes. He ordered, under severe penalties, that all persons should send their children to these schools, as soon as they were five years of age; and such was the success of his regulations, that it become a common saying, that the boors of Thuringia were better educated than the gentry of other countries. By his command, Seckendorf undertook his voluminous and valuable history of Lutheranism, for which the duke supplied him with manuscript materials and documents. This work, which is written in Latin, furnishes a complete history of the rise and progress of the Reformation in all the countries of Europe. Ernest likewise formed the plan and defrayed the expense of publishing the Bible with notes, composed by as many able protestant writers as there are books in the Old and New Testament, which has always been held in high esteem, under the denomination of the "Weimar Bible.” The duke was particularly solicitous that the cures and schools should be supplied with ministers and masters properly qualified for those situations. He always carried about with him a list of them both, and would visit them familiarly in his journeys. One day, in passing through a village, he entered the minister's house, inspected his library, and perceiving his Bible covered with dust, he put a gold ducat at the beginning of the book of Revelations, unobserved by the divine. The following year he paid another visit to the same priest, and inquired concerning his method of reading the sacred volume. The minister told his highness, that it was his practice to read over the whole Bible once in every four months, together with the critical observations; and, that he spent some hours every day in the 1 |