These poor

had the condescension to supply the place of a mother. Her own was the child of the state, and, according to the constitution of the country, must not, alas! be educated by herself. children, on the other hand, were boarded by her with honest people in the neighbourhood; she herself not only directed every thing relative to their education and instruction, but sent every day to converse with them, and thus contributed towards the formation of their infant minds. Never while I live shall I forget the charming, the affecting scene which I had the happiness of witnessing, when the princess was pleased to introduce me to her little foster children. We were sitting at table ; the princess and her friends were at breakfast, but I, in the German fashion, was taking my dinner. The children appeared clothed in the cleanest, but at the same time, in the simplest manner, just as the children of country people are in general dressed. They seemed perfectly ignorant of the high rank of their foster mother, or rather not to comprehend it. The sight of a stranger somewhat abashed them ; but their bashfulness soon wore off, and they appeared to be perfectly at home. Their dignified benefactress conversed with them in à lively, jocose, and truly maternal manner. She called to her first one, then another, and another, and among the rest, a little boy, five or six years old, who had a sore upon his face. : Many

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a parent of too delicate nerves, would not have been able to look at her own child in this state, without any unpleasant sensation. Not so the royal mother of these orphans. She called the boy to her, gave him a biscuit, looking at his face to see whether it had got any better, and manifested no repugnance when the grateful infant pressed her hand to his bosom; what this wise, royal instructress said to me on the occasion, is too deeply impressed on my memory to be erased. People find

• fault with me,' said she, 'for not doing more for these children, after I have even taken them under my care: I ought, in their opinion, to provide thein with more elegant and costly clothes, to keep masters of every kind for them ;' that they may once make a figure as persons of refined education. However I only laugh at their censure, for I know what I am about. It is not my intention to raise these children into a rank superior to that in which they are placed ; in that rank I mean them to remain, and to become useful, virtuous and happy members of society. The boys are destined to become expert seamen, and the girles skilful, sensible, industrious honsewives-nothing more. I have them instructed in all that is really serviceable for either of these destinations; but every thing else is totally excluded from the plan of education classes, and have reflected upon it, will be aware of snatching children from the more happy condition of inferior rank, for the purpose of raising them into the former, in despite of providence and natural destination."

“Such was the wise and philanthropic manner in which this admirable princess, in the flower of her age, passed one day after another. Towards evening a very small company, of not more than three or four persons, assembled at her house to dine with her, and fortunately ceremotiy did not oblige her to pay regard in her selection to any other recommendation than merit. It was only on court days, when the royal family assembled, that she went to town or to Windsor, to complete the dignified circle of which she was such a distinguished ornament. To the theatres and other places of amusement of the fashionable world, her royal highness was a stranger. Since she came to England she had only been twice to the play, and that was soon after her arrival. This, which of itself was an extraordinary circumstance, will be considered a great sacrifice by those who know the uncommon love and respect which were cherished by people of all ranks for their future queen, and consequently need not be told that she renounced a triumph as often as she withdrew from public view.

“ She devoted one day in the week to her own daughter, the princess Charlotte, who came to see

her, and spent the day with her. There was nothing to prevent her from enjoying this gratification oftener, for the child was to be brought to her whenever she pleased. For wise reasons, however, she denied herself and her daughter the more frequent repetition of a pleasure of which both of them every day were ardently desirous. If,' said she, 'I were to have the child with me every day, I should be obliged sometimes to speak to ber in a tone of displeasure, and even of severity. She would then have less affection for ine, and what I said to her would make less impression upon her heart. As it is, we remain in some measure new to each other; at each of her visits I have occasion to show her love and tenderness, and the consequence is, that the child is attached to me with all her soul, and not a word I say to her fails of producing the desired effect.'

"I was myself an eye-witness to the truth of this. Such tender attachment and such fervent love, as this child, only seven years old, manifested to her royal mother, was assuredly seldom seen in persons of that rank. Her eyes were necessarily fixed on the beauteous countenance of her tender mother: and what eyes ! Never in a child of her age, have I beheld eyes so expressive; so soft, so penetrating. The first time she cast them on me, she seemed as though she would penetrate my soul. Neither her dress nor her behaviour afforded the

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least room to suspect her high destination: the former was so simple, and the latter so natural and unaffected that a stranger would scarcely take her

, for the beiress of a throne. In every dress, and in every place, however, the attentive observer would easily discover her to be an extraordinary child. The royal artist, her mother has made a model of her, and of several other persons who are dear to her, in clay, and afterwards taken from them plaster casts which are most perfect resemblances. In acquiring that art," this accomplished princess preserved a manner of her own. : Instead of working, as usual, a long time from models, she merely procured instruction in the use of the tools; her fancy then formed from the detached traits of a poem, the representation of an imaginary person, and she began to compose the figure without any copy. The subject of her first essay was the Leonora of Burges's celebrated ballad; her second was the head of an old lord, whose name. I have forgotten; and the third was her daughter the princess Charlotte.

“ This reminds me of another piece of work by the hand of this royal artist, which I had likewise an opportunity of inspecting, and which appeared to me equally beautiful and ingenious. In passing through her work-room (where, besides a choice collection of books and all kinds of implements of the arts, there was a large table covered with papers, writings, drawings, and books) she took the

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