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of the London mail. I was on the Exchange when it approached: the sound of the horn seemed to strike terror into every soul. A great crowd was collected, who then instantly rushed round the mail, inquiring of the guard if the news were true? He replied, 'Both are dead.'-'BOTH are dead,' was reverberated by the crowd, and the flash spread like lightning. Dejection marked every countenance; and, I think it is not too much to say, that tears gushed into every eye.'

Then came the wail of sorrow from a whole nation in bereavement: and the bulletins of a forgotten anguish appeared, as others have appeared this melancholy winter :

"CLAREMONT, Nov. 7. "The Prince Leopold has had a bad "night, but is more composed this "morning."

"CLAREMONT, Nov. 8. "The Prince has had some sleep in "the night, and is as well as can be expected this morning."

"CLAREMONT, Nov. 9. "The Prince Leopold had a calm night, and is, this morning, rather "better than yesterday."

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On the twelfth, however, it was announced that His Serene Highness's indisposition hourly increased, that he refused consolation, and suffered no one to approach him. He passed all his time absorbed in thought, and seemed absent to everything, except such objects as recalled to memory his departed consort. The most inconsiderable articles once possessed by her were endeared to him by recollection. The bonnet and cloak, which she wore in their last excursion, were kept constantly before his eyes. They were hung by her hands upon a screen in the sitting parlour, and there they remained; the prince positively forbidding any person whatever either to remove or even to touch them. Her watch still hung where she herself had placed it, while yet time was measured to her by earthly computation.

The savage and heathen ceremony of embalming, which was performed on the princess's body, greatly shocked and agitated the widowed husband, and was severely commented on by a portion of the press.

The time of the funeral was then fixed: the day "announced for the interment was one of most solemn and devout observance, not only throughout the vast Metropolis, and amongst all sects and denominations of Christians, but throughout the whole realm of Britain.

"No awful ceremony of this kind, on the demise of any of our rulers, or of any branches of their illustrious families, was ever, we believe, marked by so general and unequivocal a testimony of unfeigned sorrow and regret. The parochial churches and the different chapels, both of the Establishment and of Dissenters, covered their pulpits, desks, and galleries, with the emblems of mourning. The shops were shut, ordinary business suspended, and most private houses had their window shutters entirely closed. All that custom ordains as the signs of external sorrow, prevailed in the public streets, in the parks, and in the most retired and obscure parts of the Metropolis. Among the inferior classes, there were few who could find the means of procuring any black, that did not do so. The charity children wore signs of mourning. The Courts of Law, the Custom House, the Public Offices, the. Royal Exchange, &c., were closed. Orders were sent to all the dockyards, to prohibit the usual transaction of business. British vessels, and those of all other nations, hoisted their colours only half-mast high; and on the river Thames, and at the different sea-ports, minute-guns were fired all night. Even the gambling-houses, which were at that time a disgrace to our nobility and to the national legislature, thought it necessary to suspend their debasing work on the day of the funeral of the Princess Charlotte: the master of one of the most famous of these infamous houses of ruinous resort, issuing the following order:

"Gentlemen are informed, that, in consequence of this being the day appointed for the burial of Her Royal Highness the Princess Charlotte, as a proper mark of respect to her beloved memory, play will not begin till to-morrow at ten o'clock.'

"The tolling of the great bell of St. Paul's, accompanied by the bells of all the other churches, excited much feeling in the evening, among the mourning crowds assembled on Blackfriarsbridge; the solemn effect being increased by the stillness of the river, and by the soft clearness of the moonlight. At the gay watering-places baths, libraries, and shops were shut, and the promenades deserted. Ships of all nations, American, French, Russian, Danish, Swedish, &c. joined in paying the last tribute of respect to departed greatness, by having their flags in mourning. In the evening, at the hour when it was understood the body of our lamented Princess would be consigned to the everlasting silence of the tomb, minute guns were fired from the piers. The silence and beauty of the night, broken only by that sound and the distant roll of the waves breaking on the shore, added sublimity, if possible, to the solemnity of the occasion.

"The removal of the bodies of the Princess and the Royal Infant from Claremont was fixed for six o'clock on Tuesday evening, the 18th. At the appointed time, the coffin, containing the corpse of the infant, and the urn, were brought out and placed in a mourning coach; which Sir Robert Gardiner and Colonel Addenbroke entered. The hearse then drove up; and the statecoffin, containing the remains of the Princess, borne by ten men, was brought out and placed within it. Before halfpast six o'clock the procession began to move, preceded by upwards of thirty horsemen, three a-breast, in full mourning; the whole attended by a party of the 10th dragoons. Great numbers of horsemen and pedestrians followed, and the bells of the churches in the towns and villages through which it passed tolled incessantly. The roads were thronged with weeping spectators, and

every house was closed. The funeral procession arrived at Windsor shortly after midnight, at a slow foot-pace, and without flambeaux, or any other lights.

"The corpse of the infant, and the urn, were immediately conveyed to St. George's Chapel, and there received by the Hon. and Rev. Dr. Hobart. The body and the urn were then gradually lowered by a windlass into the royal cemetery; where two of the yeomen descended to receive them. They were deposited temporarily on a shelf, previously to their being placed on the coffin of the Princess. No service took place; and the most awful stillness was preserved throughout. The hearse then proceeded into the front court of the Lower Lodge, where the body of the Princess Charlotte was placed under a canopy prepared for its reception.

"The rooms that the corpse passed through were covered in every part, walls, ceiling, and floor, with black cloth; a a large black velvet pall lay on the coffin, with a broad white border, reaching to the ground. Over the coffin was placed a canopy, with plumes, shadowing the Princess's coronet, and against the wall was a large escutcheon of Her Royal Highness's arms, emblazoned on satin.

"During the whole route from Esher, it had been a fine night, and the moon shone brightly all the way from Claremont till the procession reached the town of Windsor; when, in a most remarkable manner, the sky became overcast, the moon was hidden with clouds, and darkness ensued :—this sudden change visibly affected thousands of spectators, and seemed to spread an additional and unexpected gloom over the scene of sorrow.

"Shortly after eight o'clock, on Wednesday evening, the mournful cavalcade proceeded to the last abode of departed Royalty. When the procession arrived in the choir, a solemn and mournful silence prevailed. The choristers began to chant the solemn service of "I know that my Redeemer liveth:" the canopy followed, moving at a very slow pace under this

was the Royal coffin, enveloped by the magnificent pall, which was supported by four Baronesses. Prince Leopold followed the corpse as chief mourner; his appearance created the utmost interesthe made evident efforts to preserve calmness and fortitude, but frequently burst into a flood of tears. His Serene Highness walked along with unsteady steps, and took the seat provided for him at the head of the coffin. During the whole time of the funeral service, he preserved one fixed but downcast look towards the coffin of his beloved wife; and never once raised his eyes to the congregation. The Royal Dukes, who sat or stood beside him, watched with much solicitude, as if they were afraid he would sink under his affliction. His distress, however, was tolerably subdued till the moment when the coffin was gradually lowered into the grave; at this awful crisis he was alarmingly moved, though by a strong effort he seemed almost to conquer even this emotion.

"The music was the same as is usually performed at public funerals in St. Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey, with the addition of Dr. Blake's favourite anthem, from the 16th Psalm: 'I have set God always before me.' The body being lowered into the vault, and the mourners standing around, the burial service was completed. Sir Isaac Heard, Knight-Garter, Principal King of Arms, then proclaimed the style of Her late Royal Highness in the usual form. In delivering this, Sir Isaac was deeply affected. His voice faltered, and he wept; at that moment there was not, perhaps, a dry eye in the Chapel.

"The melancholy solemnity was terminated about eleven o'clock, but the Chapel and the avenues were not completely cleared until after twelve. The whole town of Windsor was full of bustle and confusion. The carriage-ways were all blocked up with vehicles of every description, and the footpaths were impassable for the multitude of spectators. Prince Leopold was supposed to have returned to Claremont almost immediately after the

mournful ceremonial; but it is certain that, an hour after the other mourners were withdrawn, His Serene Highness was found in the vault of death, weeping over the dear remains of his beloved Charlotte; and that it was only by a friendly violence that he could be removed. When removed from the vault, and requested to pass the rest of the night at Windsor, His Serene Highness declared his determination of immediately setting out for Claremont, saying. 'I must return to-night, or I shall never return!'"

Deep was the sympathy felt for him. Deep the compassion bestowed on that object of a royal woman's love, summoned from a foreign land by love itself to a destiny as bright as earth could offer; and when from every pulpit in the kingdom came solemn and affectingwords, such as have lately been preached to us, and men and women wept alike for the dead, that Chief Mourner was not forgotten. Eloquently was it shown how the distinctions of rank and wealth vanish in these seasons of overwhelming sorrow, till there rises in the darkness and desolation of human grandeur, that meek angelic visitant, the pity of the poor; and the words then spoken of Prince Leopold may take their place by recent inquiries from lowly lips, howour Queen was bearing her sorrow. "There is not," said the preacher, "a "peasant in our land who is not touched "to the very heart when he thinks of the "unhappy stranger who is now spend"ing his days in grief and his nights "in sleeplessness; as he mourns alone "in his darkened chamber, and refuses "to be comforted; as he turns in vain for "rest to his troubled feelings, and cannot "find it; as he gazes on the memorials of an affection that blessed the brightest, "happiest, shortest year of his existence."

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We have given in appendix, for the curious in such matters, the texts of some of the numberless sermons to which the occasion gave birth: nor were there wanting discourses similar to some that have lately been vehemently criticised, arguing that this Royal death was a visitation on England for National Sin

one of which was boldly published with a titlepage with a black-edged border, "The REAL, or MORAL CAUSE of the Princess Charlotte's Death!"

Lastly came the discussion who should fill the gap; and lists were published of probable and possible successors in their legal order of succession-in which, strange to say, the wife of Jerome Bonaparte and his son Jerome Napoleon stand twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth in a list of 123; and a jealous commentator discussed whether the English people or Parliament would ever suffer any of the family of Bonaparte to ascend the English throne, "even if they had not the young Princes of Brunswick to look to," -and stated the watchful expectation with which the whole nation "looked to the result of the marriage of the Duke of Cambridge with a princess of the house of Hesse Darmstadt."

And then the sorrow lessened-as God has decreed all sorrow shall do, or human hearts would break under their burdensand new marriages were made, and new hopes sprung up-amongst them the brightest and best in the person of our present gracious Monarch; leaving only of that other day of bitter weeping the memory of the purity of a royal home, which men beheld shining beyond the atmosphere of a vicious court, as revellers staggering home from a hot drunken carouse see the cold calm stars looking out of a serene heaven. Those who in piety or philosophy muse on God's mystery in the "taking away from the evil to come," may be struck by the picture of the blind, mad, good old king, unconscious of the sorrow that shook the land he ruled over like an earthquake. But doubly struck must they be with the image hidden, in the death-vault of Windsor, from the frivolous splendour and the fierce warfare of the Regent's court. Princess Charlotte died in November, 1817. In three short years from that time, the mother she had loved, sate vainly braving degradation in presence of the assembled peers of England on her "trial" for a love intrigue with her courier. In three short years the father, who had seen his

only child, and her child, go suddenly down into the grave, unawed and unchanged by that stroke, was spending 238,000l. on the fopperies of his coronation, and paying ten per cent. interest for the loan of additional jewels to make the crown of an hour sufficiently smart for him to wear. The pure young heart that had loved Leopold could not ache for a mother's disgrace. The simple and truly royal mind that found in the tranquil gardens of Claremont enough of beauty and glory

"To lead from nature up to nature's God,"

folly. She died, and all England be

was no longer witness to a father's

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moaned her. She had no "Party" in the State; for party implies division, and the love she inspired was unanimous. The "Star of Brunswick was lamented by Southey (then Poet Laureate), in touching verses; and she was bitterly lamented by a bereaved nation, not then so happy as to foresee that in another Princess of the same royal line, daughter to the Duke of Kent, and in another sider a faithful sense of duty, a ferCoburg, the nation would grow to con

vent love for home ties, and a wise regard for the interests of a loyal people, the familiar and accustomed qualities of their rulers.

APPENDIX.

Texts of the most remarkable discourses preached on the occasion of the Princess Charlotte's death :

In the new Gravel Pit Meeting-House, Hackney :-Isaiah xl. 6, 7, 8.

At the Cathedral Church of Chester:-Job i. 21.

At the Church of Allhallows, Barking Job ix. 12.

At Bishop's Stortford, Herts:-1 Peter i. 24. At Cheltenham :-Rev. i. 18.

At Carlow Church:-John xi. 35.

At the Church of St. Mary-le-bone :—Heb. xiii. 14.

At Limehouse :-Isaiah xxvi. 9.
At Glasgow:-Isaiah xxvi. 9.

At Bethnal Green :-Job xxxiv. 19, 20.
At Colchester :- 1 Sam. iii. 18.

At the Unitarian Chapel, Norfolk Street, Sheffield :-Ezek. xxiv. 16.

At Kettering :-Psalm lxxxii. 6, 7. At Kettering:-2 Chron. xxxv. 24, 25. At Bethel Chapel, Deptford :-Jer. ix. 20, 21. At the Old Chapel, Cliff, Lewes, Sussex :Isaiah xl. 6, 7, 8.

At Monkwearmouth :-Matt. xxv. 13.

At the Church of Blandford Forum, Dorsetshire:-Psalm xxxix. 9.

At the Parish Church of Cople, Bedfordshire:-Isaiah xl. 6, 7.

At Aston Sandford, Bucks:-Micah vi. 9.

At Peckham Chapel, Surrey:-Jeremiah viii. 14, 15, 16.

At St. Martin's Church, Leicester :—1 Cor. XV. 53.

Preached before the University of Cambridge-1 Cor. vii. 29, 30.

Preached at Henone Chapel, Peckham, and at Salters' Hall, London :-Lam. v. 14, 15. In the Church of St. Swithin and St. Mary Bothen :-Psalm cxlvi. 3, 4, 5.

At the Baptist Chapel, Bradford, Yorkshire:-Isaiah xxii. 12.

At Acre Lane Chapel, Clapham :-Isaiah xi. 6, 7, 8.

At the Octagon Chapel, Taunton :-1 Thess. v. 2, 3, 4.

At the New Road Meeting House, St. George's-in-the-East :-Jeremiah ix. 21.

In the Church of Bredon, Worcester :Isaiah xxvi. 9.

At the Unitarian Chapel, Hackney :Isaiah xl. 6, 7, 8.

At the Church of Kingstone, Kent :-Isaiah xl. 6, 7, 8.

At New Brentford :-Job xxx. 23.

At the Independent Meeting House, St. Neot's-Jeremiah ix. 21.

At the Church of St. Mary-le-Strand, Westminster :-Matthew xxv. 13.

At the Independent Chapel, Blackburn :— 1 Cor. vii. 29, 30, 31.

At the Gravel-Pit Meeting House, Hackney:-Jeremiah ix. 20, 21.

In the Parish Church of Chiswick, Middlesex-Amos viii. 9, 10.

In the Baptist Meeting House, at Bow, Middlesex :-Lam. ii. 1.

By the Vicar of Cressing and Curate of Risenhall, Essex :—James iv. 13, 14.

At Worship Street, Finsbury Square:Eccles. i. 1, 2.

At Walworth :-Isaiah xl. 6.

At the Baptist Meeting, Egle Street, Senden-Eccles. viii. 8.

In Albion Chapel, Moorgate:-Daniel iv. 35. At the New Meeting House, Birmingham:Jer. xv. 9.

At the Church of Harrow-on-the-Hill :2 Samuel xiv. 14.

At St. George's Church, Hanover Square:1 Samuel xx. 3.

At the Meeting House, Monkwell Street :Psalm xxxix. 5.

At Salters' Hall, London, and at Plaistow, Essex :-Jer. xv. 9.

At Walthamstow, Essex :—2 Samuel i. 27. At the Chapel, near Church Row, Hampstead :-Eccles. xii. 5.

At Baker Street Meeting, Enfield :-Jer.

XV. 9.

At the Parish Church of Newbury :-Gen.

xxx. 1.

At the Old Jewry Chapel in Jewry Street:Jer. ix. 23.

In Wesley Chapel, Meadow Lane, Leeds :1 Tim. vi. 15, 16.

At Fulneck:- Ezekiel vii. 27.

At the Synagogue, Denmark Court, Strand: Eccles. vii. 1, 2.

At the Chapel, Wallingford, Berks:Ezekiel xxiv. 16.

At Hassey-Lane, Leicester :-Jer. xv. 9. By the Rev. M. R. Whish :-Micah vi. 9. At Orange Street Chapel, Leicester Square:Gen. xviii. 25.

At St. Mary's Church, Cambridge:-Psalm cxix. 71.

At the Parish Church of Haughton-le-Skerne, Durham:-Job xxxiv. 18, 19, 20.

In the Parish Church of Clembury, Salop :Eccles. ix. 8.

At the Chapel of the East India College :1 Tim. ii. 1, 2, 3.

At the Old Meeting-House, Birmingham:— Psalm v. 15, 16.

In the Garrison Chapel, Woolwich, and afterwards at Hilsea Barracks:-Psalm xc. 16. At Bishop-Wearmouth :-Jer. iv. 10. Sermon 2nd :-Psalm xc. 11, 12.

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