the precedent of Montrose naturally suggested itself. No such manifest flaw could indeed be discovered; but all the processes, by which the present magistrates had been brought into office, were sifted with the most eager diligence, in hopes of discovering some blemish, which might suffice to annihilate the political existence of themselves and of their set. At length this eager scrutiny was crowned with some share of success. It was found that one or two of the last elected magistrates had no domicile in the burgh; that one had been absent when he ought to have been present, and that one had voted after his functions had legally ceased. Before, however, any legal proceedings could follow upon these premises, it was necessary that a complaint should originate from some members of the council itself; which, constituted as that body was, seemed to present a serious difficulty. In this emergency, however, there started up two patriotic deacons, Laurie and Henderson, who, under the high legal advice of which they had the full command, drew up a petition and complaint, founded on the above facts. The complaint was drawn up in a high tone, being directed against Kincaid Mackenzie, pretended Provost ; James Smith, &c., pretended Baillies: Alex. ander Henderson, pretended dean of guild, &c.; and the whole candidly signed, John Laurie, pretended deacon. The Supreme Court, on this petition being presented, shewed their readiness to do justice to all, by ordering the complainers to have access to such books and documents belonging to the town as could throw light upon the subject.

Inconsidering these measures, which, so far as circumstances admitted, were made general over Scotland, it seems impossible not to be struck with some discrepancy between their character and that of the persons by whom they

were employed. Admitting an extension of the right of suffrage to be a legitimate Whig object, we might yet expect to find Whig ends promoted by Whig means. But how can this appellation be applied to a system by which all the burghs of Scotland were to be disfranchised, and their renewal, and future constitution submitted to the absolute disposal of the crown? The dangers, in fact, of this system, which were sufficiently obvious, were not of a mere possible or theoretical nature. This was the very system successfully employed during the era most perilous to English liberty, for subverting her constitution, and rendering parliament a mere tool of the crown; the system, in opposing which Russel and Sydney had bled. Charles II., at the close of his reign, when he gave himself up entirely to arbitrary counsels, raised against London, and the other corporations, prosecutions exactly similar to those which modern patriots have raised against Edinburgh. He succeeded, and judges, removable at will, even declared the metropolis to have forfeited its charter. A new constitution was quickly bestowed; in virtue of which the crown had an unlimited veto, that is, the sole sway, in the election of the Lord Mayor, who in his turn appointed and displaced all the inferior magistrates. Rapin, the candid Whig, observes here, that though in case of flagrant offences, the corporation might lose its charter; yet, in all cases of minor importance, the court had been satisfied with imposing a fine. "This," says he, "is the practice where justice and the maintenance of the laws and customs of the kingdom are only intended. But, in the present instance, the king's intention was not to maintain justice and the laws, but to take occasion from the breach of some articles of the charter, to seize the liberties of London into his hands. It

may be affirmed,” adds he, "there was no readier or more effectual way to invade at once the liberties of the nation." Still stronger language is used by Hume, the Tory historian, ever prompt to palliate the sins of the Stuarts. He mentions with approbation the arguments urged, "that a corporation as such was incapable of all crime or offence, and that none were answerable for any iniquity, but the persons themselves who committed it; that corporate bodies framed for public good, and calculated for perpetual duration, ought not to be an nihilated for the temporary faults of their members. For these reasons," he says," the judges who condemned the city are inexcusable ;" and afterwards," this last iniquity, which laid the whole constitution at the mercy of the king." Such were the precedents on which the reforming party were now proceeding. We are clearly of opinion, that a renewed application to parliament was the only channel by which they ought to have look

ed, or rationally could look, for an extension of popular privileges.

The present year thus closed, amid the most sanguine hopes of the votaries of reform, whose career of success had been hitherto uninterrupted. Yet there were not wanting circumstances which, to an attentive observer, augured a less favourable turn of affairs. The Crown, upon which they unaccountably rested their hopes, though it might have been inadvertently led into an extension of the privileges of a single burgh, was likely to take the alarm, when it found the whole of Scotland in motion, and an entire change demanded in her representative system. Supposing the Whigs to have attained their favourite object of laying all the Scottish burghs at the feet of the crown, there was slender ground for expecting that this power would be employed in the establishment of Whig ascendency. The measures, however, to which these considerations prompted, did not take place till the following year.

THIS chapter will be almost exclusively occupied by an event of the most gloomy character, which filled the nation with the deepest mourning. The young princess, the only heir in a direct line to the British crown, formed naturally an object of deep interest and solicitude to the British nation. Their welfare was deeply involved in the personal character which she might display; while the stability of the kingdom might materially depend upon the matrimonial connection into which she should enter. From the first she was a favourite of the nation; she was reported to display on all occasions a generous and affectionate disposition; and there was something in her whole demeanour frank, open, and English, which recalled the idea of Elizabeth, and inspired the hopes of a reign equally glorious and popular. The public, indeed, could not at once appreciate those marks of spirit andenergy, which occasionally impelled her beyond that tranquil and passive sphere usually assigned to her sex in that high station. Some disappointment was at first

felt, in consequence of her determination to exercise, with regard to an union for life, the natural right of her sex, which the heir of a crown is usu ally supposed to forfeit. In a political point of view, the connection with the Prince of Orange appeared natural and eligible; and nothing was observed in his personal character and qualities, to render him an object of reasonable aversion. When, however, the actual choice was at last announced, it was acquiesced in with entire and general satisfaction. It is now admit. ted, even in a political point of view, to be more expedient than the reject. ed one, since its object could have no interest, and no ambition, that was not purely British. The result entire ly justified the princess's discernment, and fulfilled all the most favourable omens which could be drawn from the circumstances under which the union took place. It appeared equally effec tual in promoting the domestic felicity of this illustrious individual, and in preparing her for the high place to which she was destined. It was un

derstood, that the gentle influence of the husband had sensibly improved her excellent qualities; that it had pruned the exuberances of youthful spirit; and that it had led her into a train of study and reflection, eminently tending to qualify her to be the future Queen of Great Britain. Thus every thing inspired the nation with the highest hopes, and nothing appeared wanting to their satisfaction, except the prospect of an heir to perpetuate this illustrious line. Alas! their wishes seemed on the eve of being gratified, when this hoped for moment led to a result the most deplorable, and which buried in the dust all the hopes which they had been so fondly cherishing.

On the night of the 3d of November, the Princess first felt symptoms of illness, which were soon pronounced to be those of approaching childbirth. Messengers were immediately dispatched for Sir Richard Croft, the most eminent accoucheur in London, and for Dr Baillie, who was supposed to rank first as a general physician. The great officers of state, with the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Bishop of London, required by law as witness to the birth of an heir to the crown, were also speedily in attendance. During the whole of the following day, the labour proceeded slowly, but, it was supposed, favourably. In the course of the following night, as the wished for period was still delayed, Dr Sims was sent for, to be ready to aid Sir Richard Croft with his advice. The greater part of the next day was spent in the same manner; but towards evening the symptoms afforded the promise of a speedy termination; and at half past nine the Princess was delivered of a male child, but still born. Though much exhausted, she appeared otherwise composed and well; and the happiest presages were entertained of her recovery. But in a few hours a dreadful reverse took

VOL. X. PART 11.

place; she became restless and uneasy, and was seized with violent convulsions, which proved speedily fatal. The minor details, as well as the description of the funeral, will be found in the Chronicle, (App. p. 174-8.)

Those who had supposed that the sufferings and discontents of the nation had rooted out, or even sensibly weakened, the former attachment to the race of its kings, were completely undeceived at this sad crisis. Never, during any era of the most devoted loyalty, could stronger emotions be excited and testified. The public grief was universal, deep-felt, and absorbed for a long time every other sentiment. It was not the first time that the nation had seen their favourites consigned to an early tomb; but never had so many affecting circumstances been united as in this sad catastrophe: the present, accordingly, was beyond all former mourning.

Even now, after their tears have flowed and are dry, her memory is still cherished with the most sacred regard. Happier, perhaps, in this one respect, than if she had lived to reign over a race so turbulent, restless, and full of umbrage; when, if her vigorous will had once come into collision with theirs, she might have enjoyed afterwards only a stormy and precarious favour.

The grief of the multitude has a strong tendency to be converted into rage; and in this instance an object was sought, on whom their indignation might be vented. The sufferers were the medical attendants, who were loudly denounced as having omitted remedial measures, which might have saved the illustrious victim. It was even stated as the opinion of many medical men, that so prolonged an illness ought to have been abridged by artificial delivery. Our own knowledge of the obstetrical art is much too limited to allow us to hazard even the most guarded opinion upon such a sub

L

ject. Persons apparently candid have supposed, that such a peculiar pressure of anxiety and responsibility, might paralyze in some degree those exertions which the occasion demanded, and might produce timidity in the adoption of those bold and decisive measures, which would not have been scrupled in an ordinary case. It is certain that Sir Richard's practice was extensively diminished; and the above suspicions seemed to derive new strength from the tragical event of his soon after committing suicide. It may be questioned whether the mental agitation which led to this fatal act was produced by reflection on his own conduct, or merely by the public odium, of which he found himself the object. Nothing material occurred during this year, relative to the rest of the royal family.

The King remained in that state of tranquil non-existence, which rendered him to the nation as though he were not. That he still lived, they were only reminded by the title of Regent applied to the actual administrator of sovereign power, and by a month

ly report of the physicians, which announced that he did not suffer, but that his disorder continued unabated.

The Queen, during this year, was exposed to several attacks of serious, and, in one instance, alarming illness, the forerunners, probably, of that which was destined at no distant period to prove fatal. This state of her Majesty's health afforded probably the reason of that absence from the illness of the Princess Charlotte, which created at the time a good deal of animadversion.

The Princess of Wales, having com. pleted her tour in Barbary and the Le vant, resided during this year at the Lake of Como, Milan, Munich, and other parts of the north of Italy, and south of Germany. During this period, several of the events took place which afterwards became the subject of those ample discussions, into which we shall not now enter. Her Royal Highness is said to have received with deep agitation the tidings of the death of her illustrious daughter, and to have several times fainted away.