said Mr. Newville.

[Footnote 46: George III. was grandson of George II., and son of
Frederick, Prince of Wales, whose death made his son heir to the
throne. The mother of George III. had plans of her own, and was aided
by the Earl of Bute. There were political parties in church and state;
scheming bishops and intriguing politicians, each striving for his own
advancement, or the advancement of his party. George III. during his
early years had frequent changes of governors and tutors, several of
whom were intense Jacobites, holding reactionary opinions. Being dull
of intellect, his education tended to make him a bigot.]

The glasses were filled, and the health of the king drunk.

"Our king is a right royal sovereign," said Mr. Newville.

"Yes, royal, but stupid now and then," Mr. Dapper responded, to the
amazement of the company, and especially Mrs. Newville. "The fact is,
my dear madam, our king, unfortunately, has the reputation of being
the dullest sovereign in Europe. Perhaps you know there was not much
of him to begin with, as he was only a little pinch of a baby when he
was born, so puny and weak the nurses said he wouldn't stay here long.
He sat in their laps, and was coddled till six years old, when he was
put under that scheming, narrow-minded bigot, Reverend Doctor
Ayscough. And what do you suppose the reverend donkey set him to
doing? Why, learning hymns, written by another reverend gentleman,
Doctor Philip Doddridge. Very good religious hymns, no doubt, but not
quite so attractive as Mother Goose would have been to the little
fellow. After learning a few hymns and a few words in Latin, he was
set to making verses in that language, when he could not read a story
book without spelling half the words."

"How preposterous!" exclaimed Miss Milford.

"Somewhat absurd, I will admit," said Mr. Dapper, bowing. "One
reverend doctor was not sufficient," he continued, "to look after the
education of the prince, and so my Lord Bishop Hayter of Norwich was
associated with Doctor Ayscough. Then the Old Harry was let loose. My
Lord Bishop of Norwich was scheming to be made Archbishop of
Canterbury, and Ayscough wanted to become Bishop of Bristol. Both were
striving to rival little Jack Horner in putting their thumbs into the
pie."

The ladies were amused--excepting Mrs. Newville, who laid down her
knife and fork, folded her hands, and looked earnestly at Mr. Dapper.

"Do you mean to say there is scheming among the r