most extraordinary thing of all, however, was the persuasion which prevailed in Her Majesty's thoughts almost to the very last that she should yet recover, and once more have the satisfaction of seeing the King. This was the cord which kept its firm hold upon life, when every hour gave fresh indications of dissolution. Amidst convulsive pangs, and the difficulty of finding rest, in a frame worn out by disease, the mind continually pointed in one direction, though the object of attraction was in a state of desolation and darkness. As long as this hope tended to cheer the spirits, it met with no discouragement; but when, from certain gangrenous appearances, it became evident that the last scene was near at hand, Her Majesty received the respectful suggestion that it would be proper to delay no longer the final settlement of her temporal affairs. This was only the day before her death; but though at first somewhat shocked by the intimation, she betrayed no symptoms of impatience. On the contrary, she immediately dictated her will to General Taylor; and having signed and delivered the instrument in due form, she calmly resigned herself to the approaching event. In the afternoon she sunk into a lethargic state; and so little was any immediate change expected, that at six o'clock Sir Henry Halford's carriage was ordered to convey him on his usual visit to Windsor. Scarcely, however, had the carriage drawn up to the door, when Her Majesty manifested such an increase of perturbation, as induced him to delay his departure; and soon afterwards the journey was put off for the night. Letters were in consequence despatched to the Prince Regent, who, accompanied by the Duke of York, arrived at the palace about ten o'clock, and after a short interview with the physicians, their royal highnesses, with the princesses, went into the sick chamber to see their august parent, who, however, was unconscious of their presence. From that hour till midnight the symptoms of the disorder developed themselves in such alarming succession, that the Regent determined to spend the night at Kew, which design he abandoned on finding that an abatement of suffering had taken place; and he returned with his brother to town. They had not been long gone before a fresh attack came on; and throughout the remainder of the night the Queen was almost in continual agony; the physicians, with Mr. Brande, remaining in the anti-chamber, and the princesses in the room with their parent, till the morning was far advanced.

"At half-past nine, on Tuesday the seventeenth, the bulletin was forwarded to town in the customary manner; but the bearer had not left the palace more than three quarters of an hour, when Her Majesty became so much worse, that a second messenger was hastened to Carlton House, to request the immediate attendance of the Prince. Couriers were also sent off to the Archbishop of Canterbury, and several other persons whose presence was desirable; and every thing plainly indicated the immediate approach of the last awful crisis.

"The Prince Regent and the Duke of York reached the palace a little after twelve o'clock; and immediately on their arrival Sir Henry Halford announced to them and their illustrious sisters the speedy termination of all their affectionate cares, which operated very powerfully upon their feelings, though for several weeks they had been fully pre

pared for the catastrophe. Their royal highnesses then moved into the chamber of death, and surrounded the bed on which their venerable parent lay reclined; soon after which she became conscious of their presence, held out her hand to the Prince, and while in the act of grasping his, and smiling upon them all, exactly at twenty minutes past one, without a sigh or a struggle, she breathed her last, thus experiencing, after the most arduous trials and perilous conflicts, at the end of her course,

"A death-like sleep,

A gentle wafting to immortal life." (P. 585-589.)

If such a person was unpopular in life and in death, one is naturally induced to inquire, how is popularity to be procured. We wish the practical answer were not contained in the events now passing before us. The melancholy truth is this-that none but a worker of mischief can be popular. Not a single ingredient which goes towards the composition of a virtuous man or woman is necessary to form a part of the title to vulgar popularity; not a debt need be paid, not a duty performed, not a charity practised; let but the throne and altar be treated with sufficient contempt; calumny, falsehood, and derision, be unsparingly thrown on all that religion has enshrined, reason approved, authority established, and experience confirmed. Even royalty itself may become popular in a state of apostacy from its dignity and its character: it has only to place itself at the farthest remove from the model exhibited by the Queen of George the Third to become, under the reign of George the Fourth, the deluded instrument of a party provoked by disappointment to an ungenerous and profligate opposition, and the idol of an abused multitude, who suffer their understandings to be confounded, their senses cheated, and their hearts transformed, by persons whom we should be glad it were necessary to designate and describe. No honest man in the country can doubt to whom the character belongs.

With respect to the book of Dr. Watkins, we cannot praise its execution, but we have suggested its apology at the beginning of our article. English queens make no prominent figure in English history; constitutionally they cannot do it; the sphere of their ostensible agency is too well settled. The life of a good queen must indeed yield less variety of event than the life of any ordinary British lady; it is of necessity monotonously regular. It may display, indeed, the mother, the wife, and the mistress of the family, in all the perfection of their various and comprehensive relations; and in a queen the value of each of these excellencies is incalculably increased by the consideration of their consequences; all that belongs to accomplishment and intellectual grace is also properly hers

piety, benignity, and charity have their full exercise in her character and function, and majesty throws a soft umbrage over the whole, making the view more lovely, as in the scenery of nature, by a certain sacredness and retirement in its aspect. But if the life of a queen is, in England, to be rendered politically conspicuous, and historically prominent, it must be by starting out of her sphere, and occupying a place not assigned her by the constitution, or by violating her holy and loyal engagements, and disturbing the harmony, peace, and proprieties of public and social organization.

ART. VIII.—A View of the Agriculture, Manufactures, Statistics, and State of Society, of Germany, and Parts of Holland and France. Taken during a Journey through those Countries in 1819. By William Jacob, Esq. F. R. S. 4to. pp. 454. Murray. London, 1820.

MR. JACOB'S title-page excites expectations, which his work does not quite satisfy. Traversing hastily a part of Holland, he passed by Munster, Hanover, Brunswick, and Magdeburgh, to Berlin. Thence he pent his course towards Dresden; and returned by the great central road of Germany through Leipzig and Frankfort to Mentz. From Mentz he hastened straight to Paris, and from Paris to London. When a traveller professes to describe a country, we do not expect that he shall have traversed it in all possible directions, but we do expect that he shall have visited all the important points. If this is requisite where the writer confines himself to one single kingdom, it becomes still more necessary when his subject comprehends many independent sovereignties. Now, Mr. Jacob, though he professes to give a view of the state of Germany, has not visited any of the Austrian territories. He has seen nothing of Bavaria, nothing of Wirtemberg, nothing of Baden, nothing of Mecklenburg. His route led him to none of those cities in the interior of Germany, as Nurmberg, Augsburg, Wurzburg, Bamberg, from which, after the lapse of the dark ages, civilization and industry were diffused through the empire. The banks of the Rhine are crowded with interesting cities, as Spire, Worms, Cologne, &c. distinguished as the scenes of many of the most important events of modern history, and all exhibiting a very peculiar character. Of these none, except Mentz, were visited by our traveller. He saw but little of Hesse

Cassel and Hesse Darmstadt, and the capital of neither. In short, he went out by the straight road to Berlin, and returned by the straight road from Dresden. These two routes are the best known, and the former is one of the least interesting in Germany.

It is only to admonish readers, not to censure the author, that we mention these circumstances. To state precisely what a traveller has seen is necessary, in order to prevent others from allowing more weight to his authority than it deserves; but it ought not to be considered as involving matter of accusation against him for not having seen more. Far from blaming Mr. Jacob, we think that he has gone over as much ground, and written as many pages in as little time, as could reasonably be expected from any man. For though his journey is stated in the title-page to have been made in 1819, we must not imagine that the whole year, or the greater part of it, was employed in travelling. He gives no dates in his book; but it appears that autumn was begun ere he left England, and was scarcely ended when he returned. A period of, probably, not quite three months is surely a very moderate allowance of time for examining "the agriculture, manufactures, statistics, and state of society of Germany and parts of France and Holland."

Mr. Jacob's book professes to treat of the agriculture, manufactures, statistics, and state of society of the countries visited. On the first topic he is abundantly copious. Let a man travel -as fast as he will, he can always observe whether it is wheat or rye, potatoes or turnips, that are growing by the side of the road; whether the crops are plentiful or scanty; whether a plough is drawn by two horses or four. If he chooses to avail himself of his tongue and his ears, as well as of his eyes, he may dive into much more profound learning. A few questions, for instance, will procure him the requisite information concerning the rotation of crops, and the mode of feeding sheep and cows. Accordingly Mr. Jacob treats at great length of these and similar topics; but not having the good fortune to be deeply versed in the mysteries of agricultural dillettanti, we cannot judge of the soundness of his opinions. On manufactures, the information he gives is scanty; seldom amounting to more than a specification of the different articles that are made in this or that place, accompanied sometimes with an estimate of the quantity of each. Such particulars are easily learned: in general, it is not necessary for them than to the common guide-books of the country: but, like every thing else that is obtained with little labour, they are not of much value. He who pretends to give a view of the manufactures of a foreign country, should direct his

to go

farther

attention to the processes followed, to the ingredients and machines employed, to the quality of the articles, and to the circumstances by which their quality is affected. In every manufacture there is a long succession of steps, and none of these ought he to neglect. He must trace them all in due order Such a task, as it requires much patient observation, much reflection, and many laborious comparisons, demands also much time. It is therefore impossible that it could be performed by one who travels with the speed of Mr. Jacob.

Of statistics we shall say little; because the statistical part of a traveller's book is, in general, mere compilation. It might be written without quitting London; nothing more is necessary than to select from the most approved authors. In Germany, statistical writers abound to a degree, of which we, with all the luxury of our county histories, can form no idea. The nation is partial to books of travels; and as few of their authors wander beyond the limits of their native tongue, these books usually treat of some district of Germany. Mr. Jacob could, therefore, experience little difficulty in executing this part of his task.

The state of society is the last of the themes comprised within our author's plan. But on this interesting subject his book is extremely meagre. It could not well be otherwise. To give a picture of the society of a country, a man must have known many individuals intimately: he must have seen the mode in which they act and think under a great variety of circumstances: he must have observed the nature of their social connexions, and the forms and ends of their social meetings. All this requires penetration, time, and a considerable knowledge of the language and literature of the country. We do not doubt Mr. Jacob's penetration: but we have some hesitation with respect to his knowledge of the German language and literature; and we are sure, that the time he spent on his object was far short of that which would have been necessary for its decent accomplishment. Mr. Jacob does not appear to have remained more than nine or ten days at any one place. It was only at Dresden and Berlin that he staid so long; and, at both of these cities, his residence was interrupted by an excursion into the vicinity. Every where else he seems to have halted no longer than was necessary for refreshment and repose. In this way of travelling the acutest man could see but little of the interior of society.

Mr. Jacob passed through Holland by Rotterdam, the Hague, Harlem, Amsterdam, Utrecht, into Westphalia. He has described these cities, and enumerated their curiosities, sometimes at greater length than was necessary. He has like