And future times, I hope, will see -Indeed! I wish to serve this land, After the play, the following exquisite lines were spoken by master Nugent to prince George, in their respective characters of Cato and Portius. CATO to PORTIUS. While I, exalted by my prince's grace, In borrow'd pomp assume old Cato's place, Or whether, prompted by a kindred flame, And nature's gifts, by liberal care refin'd, Thy sons shall combat near their prince's side, Cheer'd by his smiles, and honour'd by his choice, The first time that his royal highness appeared at the theatre as prince of Wales, a remarkable occurrence took place, and which drew the whole attention of the audience towards him. In the entertainment there was a dove-house represented, which was attacked by a ruffian, with an intent to destroy the emblems of innocence: the doves being frightened, flew about in disorder, one fell on the stage, and another taking two or three turns, flew into the prince's box, and fell down by his side. The whole audience testified their. enjoyment of this singular occurrence, by loud clapping. The prince expressed a wish to keep the dove, but it was restored to the owners by his attendants. The DIARY of George Bubb Doddington, which, however, was not published until 1784, contains a grand display of political intrigue which took place at the British court from 1749 to 1761, and the interest which it excites is not a little increased by the description which it gives of the manner in which the parents of his late majesty were accustomed to spend their time. We have heard much in our days of the frivolity which attends the actions of princes, and the blood-hounds of party have been immediately let loose to bellow their supposed infamy to the world, but the princes and princesses of those earlier times considered it by no means derogatory to their dignity to at tend fairs, and to visit gipsies and conjurers, "On the 8th of March 1749, the prince ordered the earl of Middlesex to send Mr. Ralph to me, offering the full return of his favour to me, and to put the principal direction of his affairs into my hands. "11th. Resigned my office of treasurer of the navy, but continued to act to the 3d of May, until a successor was appointed. 66 July 18th. Had often the honour of supping with the prince and princess, and spending the day with them at Kew. Made treasurer of the chambers, 2,000l. per annum. Promised on the word and honour of a prince, on his coming to the crown, the seals of the southern province and a peerage, and kissed hands by way of acceptance. My friends to be provided for. Mr. Furnese, the treasurer; Sir Francis Dashwood, treasurer of the navy, or cofferer; Mr. Henly, solicitor-general. Lord Talbot I was to settle with when I saw him in Dorsetshire. and his late majesty was generally included in | tracts will show the intriguing spirit of the their parties. We will not stop here to inquire times:whether the amusements of his royal parents were calculated to instil into the mind of the future monarch of these realms, that sense of dignity and of character which ought ever to be the inseparable attendants upon royalty; on the contrary, whether the tricks and devices of conjurers, or the ridiculous prognostications of fortune-tellers, or the vulgar and depraved conversation of gipsies, were not likely at his early age to diffuse a baneful contamination over his mind, and to fill it with those superstitious ideas, which operate as a check upon the growth of every species of mental illumination. It is, however, apparent, that when his late majesty ascended the throne, he had not forgotten the companion of his youthful amusements, for, on the 13th of April 1761, not more than six months after his accession, he created G. B. Doddington, baron of Melcombe Regis; he was appointed clerk of the pells in Ireland, which at his death went into the family of lord Holland, and was afterwards disposed of by Mr. Fox to Mr. Jenkinson. Mr. Doddington was in many respects a wary but an able politician, yet, prompted by vanity and ambition, he made one false step in deserting the service of his majesty George the Second, for the expectation of leading the councils of the prince of Wales. This turned out a vain hope, the courtiers about the prince considering him as an intruder, would hold no friendly communication with him, and the two years he remained in that court, was a continual scene of bickering, quarrelling, and intrigue. His Diary is, however, so far interesting and valuable, as it exposes the secret machinery which was set to work in order to establish the ministry which misled the councils of his late majesty on his "19th. Promised Mr. Ralph, that he should be my secretary, if I lived to have the seals. "October 16th. Went to Cliefden to their royal highnesses. Prince "20th. We all went to Auborn fair. George was in our coach. He solicited his mother to purchase a large drum for him. Be not anxious about such a trifle,' said his royal mother, the drums of your nation will soon be heard all over Europe.' Went into a fortune-teller's booth, but one of the royal servants shewing himself at the door, we were recognised, and the whole art of the fortune-teller appeared to have deserted him. " November 12th. At Carlton-House, settled all the steps to be taken on the demise of the king. I undertook to find 2 or 300,000l. to go on with, till a new parliament could grant the 1750, February 25th. In the afternoon I met their royal highnesses' by order, at lady Middlesex's, where we were joined by Madame de Munchausen, and Mr. Breton; we went in our own coaches to a fortune-teller's, who was young Des Noyers, disguised, and instructed to surprise Madame de Munchausen, which he effectually did. From the fortune-teller's we went to supper at Carlton-House. "27th and 28th. The prince and princess, prince George, all of us, men, women, and children, walked in the new walk at Kew. "June 28th. Ladies Middlesex and Torrington, lord Bathurst, Mr. Breton and I, waited on their royal highnesses in private coaches to Norwood forest, to see a settlement of gipsies. We returned, and went to Bettesworth the conjurer, in hackney coaches. Not finding him, we went in search of the little Dutchman, but were disappointed, and concluded the particularities of this day by supping with Mrs. Cannon, the princess's midwife. 66 August 8. Went with the princess, prince George, and lady Middlesex, to Camberwell fair. Went to a fortune-teller's. Prince George was told that he would one day be king of England. The fellow knew us. "1751, January 20. Went in private coaches with their royal highnesses, ladies Middlesex, Howe, lord Inchiquin, and Sir Thomas Bootle, to Mr. Glasse's, where we sent for a conjurer. "March 12th. His royal highness died. Conversations with the princess respecting prince George, and the formation of his ministry on the demise of the king. "1753, February 8. In a conversation with the princess dowager of Wales, her royal highness said, in speaking of the ministry (the Pelhams,) that she thought they had a very few friends, and wondered at their not getting more, and that it was their cowardice only that hindered them; that if they talked of the king, she was out of patience, it was as if they should tell her that her George below would not do what was proper for him; that just so the king would make a stutter and bustle, but when told him it must be done from the necessity of his service, he must do it, as George must, when she came down. February 26th. Conversed with the princess respecting prince George. She wished him to be got out of the hands of his present governors, and that if a change in the ministry could be effected, she might perhaps succeed in sending him to the Continent for a time. She did not approve of the company which he kept, but more in a political than personal point of view. "March 3d. In another conversation with the princess on the charge against Mr. Stone and Mr. Murray, (afterwards lord Mansfield) for drinking the Pretender's health, the princess said, she had seen her great fat friend, (the duke) who asked her if she did not think it a very disagreeable affair? That she had answered yes, but that she did not regard it. Mr. Doddington adds, she told me then, that Murray had behaved with spirit, and made an exceeding good speech, and that he had strongly marked, that it was not he, nor Stone that were principally struck at, but that it went home to the ministry. " November 3d. Mr. Ralph told me, that he had made his peace with the ministry by the means of lord Harrington, to whose favour he was recommended by Mr. Garrick; that he was to have 300l. a year, and 2001. immediately down, to repay to those he was engaged with the money they had advanced to him. Mr. Pelham had told me all this before, as also that it was contrary to his opinion, but that his brother was uneasy about it, and therefore he had acquiesced. "1754, May 29th. Went to Kew before eleven o'clock. The princess walked with me till two. Much conversation about the prince George; wished he saw more company-but who of the young people were fit? Wished he had acquaintance older than himself; durst not recommend for fear of offence, while he had governors, &c., and was under immediate inspection, all that they did not direct would be imputed to her. In a year or two he must be thought to have a will of his own, and then he would, she hoped, act accordingly. Expressed great slight and disregard for those in office, and her usual dislike for the king*. We talked of his accumulation of treasure, which she reckoned at 4,000,000l. I did not pretend to guess, but that I computed the accumulation to be from 12 to 15,000,000l. That these things within a moderate degree, perhaps less than a fourth part, could be proved beyond all possibility of denial, and when the case should exist, would be published in controversial pamphlets, if troublesome times should arise, which I hoped in God would never happen. "1755, May 7th. I passed the evening at Leicester-house. The princess was clear that the duke of Newcastle could not stand, as things were. She desired it might be understood, that her house had no communication with Newcastle-house, but not that she said it, because it would be told at St. James's, at which place she desired to avoid all disputes. May 9th. Mr. Pitt came to lord Hillsborough's, where was Mr. Fox, who stepping aside, and Mr. Pitt thinking he was gone, the latter declared to lord Hillsborough, that all connexion between him and Mr. Fox was over, that the ground was altered, that Fox was of the cabinet and regent, and he was left exposed, &c. That he would be second to nobody, and, Mr. Fox rejoining the company, Mr. Pitt being heated, said the same and more to him; that if Fox succeeded, and so made way for him, he would not accept the seals of secretary from him, for that would be owning an obligation and superiority, which he would never acknowledge: he would owe nothing but to himself, with much more, in very high language, and very strange discourse. Mr. Fox asked him what would put them upon the same ground, to which Pitt replied, a winter in the cabinet, and a summer's regency. "27th. I was with the princess by her order; we had much conversation both in the morning and evening, in which I think all was said that my memory could suggest to me upon the present state of affairs-the weakness, meanness, cowardice, and baseness of the duke of Newcastle-the probability of a certain event taking place soon, in which case a regency would be immediately appointed, and that the eyes of the nation were directed to her. She signified her entire approbation of all I had said by several short interrogations, and then said that she was, and had long been, much affected with the melancholy prospect of her own and her son's affairs. I told her I thought it absolutely necessary to attempt a settlement, In some points there exists rather a singular coincidence in the early life of our lamented princess Charlotte, and that of our late revered monarch. The former was for some time under the guidance and superintendence of a mother, who certainly left no means untried to instil into the mind of her daughter a dislike not only to her august father, but to those who surrounded him; and, the latter was under the direction and influence of a mother, whose whole aim appeared to be to clog the machinery of the state, and to instil into the mind of her son a hatred of his grandfather. not only for the present, but which might with small play, but that princes should never play small alterations last, when a certain event took, deep, both for the example, and because it place; for it would be a melancholy thing, if under a young king and the pressure of a war, when efficiency and immediate action were required, instead of consulting what was to be done, we must be struggling who should do it. In 1750, prince Frederick William was born on the 13th of May, and was baptized on the 17th of June; on which occasion prince George was sponsor by command of George II. The same month prince George was made a knight of the Garter, his proxy in the procession being lord Inchiquin. In September following, lord Bute kissed hands as lord of the bedchamber to the prince of Wales, lord North remaining as servant to his royal high ness. "On March 20, 1751, Frederick prince of Wales died, and his son, prince George, succeeded to the former title. At this time his sub-governor was the reverend Mr. Stone*,, afterwards primate of Ireland. The princess dowager of Wales appears to have been an extremely domestic character. Her children passed much of their time in her company., At this time the young prince of Wales, prince Edward, and the princess Augusta, were with their mother, and a similar circumstance is noticed, December 21, 1751. did not become them to win great sums.' This excellent lady had great confidence in the good opinion entertained of her by the prince, even at the early age of fourteen; but she seems to have judged his disposition and faculties without any of that vain partiality so often observable in parents. She said, ' he was very honest, but she wished that he was a little more forward, and less childish at his age.' Her royal highness, however, seems to have been rather dissatisfied with the prince's instructors. She said, she really did not know what they taught him; she feared not much-that Mr. Stone told her that when he talked to the prince on the general frame and nature of the English Government and Constitution, he seemed to give a proper attention, and made pertinent remarks-that Stone was a sensible man, and capable of instructing in things as well as in books-that lord Harcourt and the prince agreed very well, but she thought he could not learn much from his lordship-that Mr. Scott was in her opinion a very proper preceptor, but as for the good bishop (Hayter of Norwich), she supposed he was a mighty learned man, but he did not seem to her very proper to convey knowledge to children: he had not that clearness which she thought "The prince of Wales's birth-day (24th of necessary; she did not very well comprehend May, old style) was kept at St. James's, in him herself; his thoughts seemed to be too 1752, with a great attendance of nobility. It is many for his words. That she did not observe mentioned October 9, 1752, that the prince, the prince to take very particularly to any though by no means addicted to gaming, was body about him, but to his brother Edward; fond of a sort of round game called Comet, at and she was very glad of it, for the young which he played with his mother, brother, people of quality were so ill educated, and so sisters, and some nobility of the household. | very vicious, that they frightened her. That The princess dowager said, She liked that the the prince seemed to have a very tender regard prince should now and then amuse himself at for the memory of his father, and that she * This was Andrew Stone, afterwards under secretary of state, and treasurer to the queen. |