tears, which could not be restrained for weeks after, and the coolness of the king. The queen was with him when the pistol was fired at him in the theatre, in February, 1796. She was driving with him through the streets when a stone was thrown at them through the carriage window. "It was a smooth flint," says Miss Holroyd, “cut into sharp corners, that was flung. It touched the queen's cheek. The king caught it in his hand, and gave it to Lord Harrington, who was in the carriage, to 'keep for his sake.' The Duchess of Newcastle mentioned this." It was a favourite topic with the scurrilous jesters of the time, that penuriousness and stinginess reigned at the palace. The notorious Peter Pindar indulged in much coarse ridicule of this kind, and certainly presented his Majesty under grotesque forms and conditions. Even the wits of the Rolliad were pleasant on the subject: The poor Schwellenberg and her general greed was a favourite topic with Peter : "Sooner shall Madam Schwellenberg, the jade, Yield up her favourite perquisites of trade, She! who hath got more insolence and pride- It is astonishing that such gross scurrility could be tolerated. One of the boldest of Walcot's productions was a coarse pasquinale called "The Lousiad," founded on an incident which was said to have occurred at one of the royal suppers. It could not be denied, however, that the doctor showed a good deal of fun and satire in his task of ridiculing the court, and particularly the king; and as the public read and laughed, he never relaxed in his efforts. Some green peas had been served to his Majesty, who, looking closely, detected a hair. This discovery caused a perfect commotion in the palace, and serious indignation among the higher powers, and after a solemn investigation, it was actually decreed that all cooks, scullions, and tutti quanti, should have their heads shaved as a qualification for office-an injudicious proceeding which caused much discussion, and was considered to touch the liberty of the subject. Strange to say, the doctor eventually received a pension, which his enemies contended was what he had in view all along. Indeed, these attacks of Peter Pindar seem to have been mainly accountable for the stories that were circulated of the queen's penuriousness and saving ways. we have seen, a more truly liberal lady there could not be. Her hand was always open for distress; but she had the thrift of her country, could not tolerate waste, and wished to have full value for what she laid out. A characteristic story was circulated, which shows how her liberal acts could be distorted. A Weymouth linendraper offered for sale a quantity of calico at a low price -sixpence a yard. The queen learning of the bargain, sent at once and purchased the whole en bloc. A cry was raised that the queen had interfered with the poorer Weymouth folk, and prevented them from getting a "good thing," and the tradesman grumbled because payment was delayed till the other accounts were settled. There was no doubt something injudicious in her purchase, for such comments might have been anticipated; but as it turned out, the larger portion was given away to the poor, though some was reserved for cutting up into chair covers.1 1 The scale of her subscriptions was almost magnificent; £500 a year to a needlework society; £200 a year to a school, &c. Her "standing" list on pensions to servants, charities, &c., was over £5000 a year. CHAPTER XIII. FAMILY TROUBLES-PRINCESS CHARLOTTE. ONE of the most disastrous results of the recurring malady of the king was the change it produced in the relations of members of the royal family to each other. After the long and serious attack of 1789 the illnesses began to return at intervals; and any crisis. or agitation, as the family came to learn, caused intense anxiety, as they knew it was the forerunner of one of his seizures. It may be said, indeed, that from that date the king's reason was permanently unsettled, though he enjoyed long intervals of the kind that were called "lucid." Connected with the affection were the well-known eccentricities of speech and manner, the volubility of talk, the recurring "What? What?" which was so much ridiculed, in ignorance of the unhappy cause, and constant changes of scene. The admirable queen and her excellent daughters had thus the whole current of their pleasing domestic life altered; a weight of anxiety pressed on them, and they watched with feverish interest every sign that could betoken the approach of the fatal malady. By an unfortunate con |