rl of Bute. They, therefore, insisted on introducing into the bill
words confining the King's choice to the royal family. Having thus
excluded Bute, they urged the King to let them, in the most marked
manner, exclude the Princess Dowager also. They assured him that the
House of Commons would undoubtedly strike her name out, and by this
threat they wrung from him a reluctant assent. In a few days, it
appeared that the representations by which they had induced the King to
put this gross and public affront on his mother were unfounded. The
friends of the Princess in the House of Commons moved that her name
should be inserted. The ministers could not decently attack the parent
of their master. They hoped that the opposition would come to their
help, and put on them a force to which they would gladly have yielded.
But the majority of the opposition, though hating the Princess, hated
Grenville more, beheld his embarrassment with delight, and would do
nothing to extricate him from it. The Princess's name was accordingly
placed in the list of persons qualified to hold the regency.

The King's resentment was now at the height. The present evil seemed to
him more intolerable than any other. Even the junta of Whig grandees
could not treat him worse than he had been treated by his present
ministers. In his distress he poured out his whole heart to his uncle,
the Duke of Cumberland. The Duke was not a man to be loved; but he was
eminently a man to be trusted. He had an intrepid temper, a strong
understanding, and a high sense of honor and duty. As a general, he
belonged to a remarkable class of captains,--captains, we mean, whose
fate it has been to lose almost all the battles which they have fought,
and yet to be reputed stout and skilful soldiers. Such captains were
Coligni and William the Third. We might, perhaps, add Marshal Soult to
the list. The bravery of the Duke of Cumberland was such as
distinguished him even among the princes of his brave house. The
indifference with which he rode about amidst musket balls and cannon
balls was not the highest proof of his fortitude. Hopeless maladies,
horrible surgical operations, far from unmanning him, did not even
discompose him. With courage, he had the virtues which are akin to
courage. He spoke the truth, was open in enmity and friendship, and
upright in all his dealings. But his nature was hard; and what seemed to
him justice was rarely tempered with mercy. He was, therefore, during