The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1818-11-18 00:00:00

The Biogripher. who, a stranger to the small-
talk of Coon, xits down for the purpose of sketch-
ing the Memoir of a Qseen-Constirt, undertakes
a task more, difficult than may, at first view, he
imagined. His ground-worjt upsst necessarily be
confined—Zinc; bot few of show fire-side anecdotes
which give the best and clearest Insight into private
character, arc likely to reach him ;—yet his readers
will, perhapi, attribute the want of copiosisness
and variety in his narrative, rather to the absence of
diligence and research on his part, than to its true
cause, the paucity of materials. The case is very
different, when the life of a Monarch—pa•ticu-
lady of an English Monarch—is to be written.
The measures of the Ministry whom he r voU ri—
his approbation of particular proceedings, affect-
ing either his own subject., or those of neighbour-
ing Statea—mark, with perfect decision. his political
bias; Whilst the character of bie individuals whom
he collects around him, at periods of relaxation, or
of those whom he occasionally honours by be-
coming their guest, afflands a tolerably fair
criterion by which his moral fetlings may be
estimated. He is, indeed, ais completely before
the public—his actions are so much exposed to
observation and discussion—that little can escape
popular notice. even where concealment may be
thought advisable. The same remark is no less
applicable to Queens-Regnant. Our Mary, Eliza-
beth, and Anne—the second Catharine of Russia—
Maria Theresa, of Hungary, and many others, have
left behind them ample materials for the biographer
and the historian—but, of the Queen-Consort. un-
less indeed where sloe usurps authority, or misfor-
tune pursues her—(instances of which are not very
numerous in our history)—comparatively little can
be known. Her late Majesty was remarkable, almost
to a proverb, from her first arrival in England, for
her attachment to the pleasures of domestic retire-
ment. A character so constituted, like the author,
whose history is to be sought for in his works, pre.
sents no grand and imposing feature, on which the
moralist might speculate, or to whose influence the
politician might trace certain events. the cause of
which he had before vainly attempted to discover.
Her Majesty the PrinceasSophis-Charlotte-Caroline,

of Mecklenburgh-Strelitz, the youngest daughter
of Charles-Lewis, brother to Adolphus Frederick,
third Duke of Mecklenbtargh-Strelitt, by Alber-
tine-Elizabeth, daughter of Ernest-Frederick,
Duke of Satre-Hilbourghaumen, was born on the
16th of May, 1744. Her father, however, though in
the immediate line of inheritance, as his brother
the reigning Doke bad no isswt, and was un-
usarvied, did net soceeed to, tliPqreincipality he
died before his brother, and thus, upon the death
of Frederick, the succession devolved upon his
nephew, Adolphus Frederick the Fourth, brother
to her Majesty. We are not very accurately in-
formed of the reasons which induced the union be-
tween our venerable and afflicted Sovereign, and
the Princess of Mect lenburgh-Strelite. it hard-

ly could have been with any political view—
with any hope of strengthening the English in-
fluence on the Continent—since the territory of the
Dukes of Mecklenburgh was extremely confined—
and, indeed, they had little else to boast of than an
ancient mimes. It is, however, said. that his Ma.
jedy first formed the ides of demanding the hand
of the Pdocess in marriage, in consequence of a
leiter which was generally supposed to have been
addressed by her, about the year 1758, to the King of
Prussia, who had caused contributions to be levied
on her father's territories. We subjoin the letter—
which does infinite credit to the feelings that die.
tated it, and to the taste that was consulted in iti
composition—leaving it to our 'residers to judge whe-
ther it is not more like the production of a matured
understanding, than the offspring of the mind of ti
female, who, at the time, was scarcely fourteen
years of age. The Cause of the appeal was this :
In the latter end of 1757, the King of Prusvais,