he was
still alive, and was still dear to the hearts of his people. In November
of the preceding year, however, his health underwent a considerable
change, and a general decay of the constitution ensued, which betokened
dissolution. Yet the strong was taken away before the weak. On the 21st
of January the Duke of Kent, after a short illness, died, leaving behind
him an estimable character, a devoted wife, and a princess who now fills
the throne. Eight days after this his royal father expired without a
struggle, in the 82nd year of his age, and, counting the ten years of
the regency, in the 60th year of his reign. Over the last nine years of
his reign a dark and mysterious veil had been drawn. In the periods of
the deepest national solicitude his mind had felt no interest; and in
the hour of the most acute domestic feeling his eye had not been wet
with the tears of affection. All was dark within and without, for both
reason and sight had departed from him. It does not appear, indeed, that
any temporary return of reason allowed him to comprehend and rejoice at
the issue of the momentous struggle in which he left his country when
his malady drove him into retirement.

"Why," said a London mechanic, with tears in his eyes, as he viewed the
festivities and rejoicings in Hyde Park for the peace of Paris,--"Why
is not our good old king well and here to see this sight?" This question
displays the general feeling of the nation for the "good old king."
Although the latter part of his life had been a blank, his people had
never lost sight of him: their interest had not been wearied by his long
seclusion, nor had their love expired in the flood of victories that
distinguished the regency. The least information concerning him was
read with avidity, while the tear of pity and affection rolled down the
cheeks of the reader. When he died, the nation went into mourning; and
the writer of this section of the history well recollects the intense
anxiety displayed by his subjects to catch a sight of his coffin and the
crown that he once wore, when he lay in state. Day after day thousands
upon thousands waited at the gate of royalty to gain admittance; and
many were the tears shed, and many were the sighs heaved from the full
heart, as they paced through the chamber of death. All felt that
they had lost a father. The influence of his virtuous character, in
preserving the nation from the contagion of French principles; the
steady progress wh