The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-07-25
IHACEERAYs LECTURES ON The GEORGES.
GEORGE THE FOURTH.


eellor became possessed Of lock of the defanct
princes hair; and so careful was he respecting
the authenticity of the relict, that Bessy Eldon,
his wife, eat in the room with the young man
from Hamlet's who distributed the ringlets into
separate lockets, which each of the Eldon family
afterwards wore. You know how, when George
~ came to Edinburgh, better man than he
vent on board the royal yacht to welcome the
hing 10 his kingdom of Scotland, seized a goblet
from which his majesty had just drunk, vowed
A should remain for ever ae an heirloom in his
family and clapped the precious glass in his
pocket, and sat down on 1t and broke it when
he cot home. Suppose the good sherif's prize
1nbroken now at Abbottsford, should we not
smile with something like. pity ae we beheld
uY Suppose one Of those lockets of the no.
Popery princes hair offered for sale at Christie's,
o,tot 6brds G duoe sunlnno inuesies? how many
nounds would YOU find for the illustrious duke
Madame Tussaud has got King Georges corona
tion robes; is there any man now alive who
would kiss the hem OF that trumpery? He
sleeps since thirty years: do not any OF you, who
remember him, wonder that you once respected,
and huzza'd, and admired him?
To make a portrait of him at first seemed
matter of small difficulty. There is his coat,
his star, his wig, his countenance simpering
under it; with slate and piece of chalk
could at this desk perform q recognizable like
ness of him. And yet, after reading of him In
scores of volumes, hunting him through old
magazines and newspapers, having him here at
ball. there at a public dinner, there at races,
and so forth, you find you have enothing-nothing
bat a coat, and wig, and a mask smiling below
it-nothing but a great simulacrum. His sire
and grandsires were men. One knows what they
were like; what they would do in given crcum-
stances; that, on occasion, they fought and de-
meaned themselves like tough, good soldiers.
They had friends whom they liked according to
their natures; en- emies whom they hated fercely;
passions, and actions, and individuaities of
their own. The sailor king who came after
tho nt,lr nF VNrlr
big burly, loud, jolly, cursing, courageous
But this George, what was he? / look through
all his life, and recognize but bow and grin.
try and take him to pieces, and find silk stock
ings, paddings, stays, a coat with frogs and a
fur collar star and blue ribbon, pocket
handkerchief prodlgiously scented, one of True
bests nutty-brown wigs reeking with oil, set Of
teeth, and huge black stock, under-waistcoats,
more under-waistcoats, and then nothing. l
know of no sentiment that he ever distinctly
uttered. Documents are published under his
name, but people wrote them; private letters,
but people spelt them. He put great George
p. or George r. at the bottom of the page, and
tancied he had written the paper: some book
sellers clerk, some poor author some man did
the work; saw the spelling; cleaned up the
slovenly sentences, and gave the lax, maudlin
slipslop sort OF consistency. He must have
had an individuality; the dancing master whom
he emulated, nay, surpassed-the wlg-maker
who Curled his toupee for him-the tailor who
cut his coats had that. But about George one
can get at nothing actual. That outside, am
certain, is pad and tailor's work; there may be
something behind, but what? We cannot get at
the character; no doubt never shall. Will men
of the future have nothing better to do than to
unswathe and interpret thai royal old mummyi
/ own / once used to think 1t would be good
sport to pursue him, tasten on him, and pull
him down. But now | am ashamed to mount
and lay good dogs on, TO summon a tull field,
and then to hunt the poor game.
On the 18th of August, 1862, the forty-seventh
anniversary OF the accession OF the House Of
Brunswick 10 the English throne, all the bells
in London pealed in graduation, and announced
that an heir to George III was born. Five days
afterwards the king was pleased to pass letters
patent under the great seal, creating H. r II.
the Prince of Great Britain, Electoral Prince of
Brunswick -Luneburg, Duke of Cornwall and
Rothsay, Earl of Garrick, Baron of Renfrew,
Lord of the Isles, and Great Steward of Scotland,
Prince of Wales, and Earl of Chester.
All the people at his birth thrOnged to see this
lovely child; and behind a gilt CAina screen
railing in st. James Palace, In a cradle sur
rounded by the three princely ostrich feathers,
the royal infant was laid TO delight the eyes OF
the heges. Among the earliest instances Of
homage paid to him, read that "a curious
Indian bow and arrows were sent to the prince
from his fathers faithful subjects in New York;
He was fond of playing with these toys: an old
statesman, orator, and wit of his grandfather's
and great-grandtather's time, never tired of his
business, still eager in his old age to be well at
court, used to play with the little prince, and
fall down dead when the prince shot at him
with his toy bow and arrows, and get up and
fall down dead over and over again, to The in
creased delight of the child. So that he was
Battered from his cradle upwards; and before
his little feet could walk, statesmen and cOur-
tiers were busy kissing them.
There is a pretty picture of the royal infaut-
a beautiful buXom child-asleep in his mothers
lap who turns round and holds finger to her
lip, as if she would bid the courtiers around
respect the baby's slumbers. From that day
until his decease, sixty eight years after, sup
pose there were more pictures taken of that
parsonage than of any human being who ever
was born and died-in every kind OF uniform
and every possible court dress-in long fair
hair, with powder, with and without pigtail-
IN every conceivable cooked hat-in dragon
uniform-in afeld-marshals clothes-in Scotch
kilt and tartans, with dirk and claymore "a
stupendous figure)-in a frogged frock coat
with fur collar and tight breeches and silk
stockings-in wigs OF every color, fair, brown,
and black-in his lannon's coronation robes
hnally, with which performance he was so much
In love that he distributed copies OF the picture
to all the courts and British embassies in Europe,
and to numberless clubs, toWnhalls, and private
friends. l remember as a young man, how
almost every dining-room had his portrait
There is plenty of biographical tattle about
the princes boyhood. Ii is told with what as
tonishing rapidlty he learned all languages
ancient and modern; how he rode beautifully
sang charmingly, and played elegantly on tho
Violoncello. That he was beautiful was patent
to all eyes. He had high spirit; and once
when he had difference with his father burst
into the royal closet and called out "Wukes and
liberty for ever !" He was so clever that he
confounded his very governors in learning; and
one of them, Lord Bruce, having made a false
quantity in quoting Greek, the admirable Young
prince instantly corrected him. Lord Brace
could not remain a governor after this humilia
fion; resigned his Office, and to soothe his feel
inqs' was actually promoted to be an EARL
is Dthe most wonderful reason for promoting
- onh W ms