can scarcely point out the site where they stood a few more years and the fantastic erections of Virginia Water will be razed to the ground, and the pencil of the artist alone will tell that ever they existed. Kings are great in their authority—but that authority is bestowed upon them by some freak of Nature, who when she made them kings, gave them what belongs to kings, by virtue of their legitimacy; but the deeds of kings are on the records of history, and by them will they be applauded of reprobated by posterity. We cannot be accused of being the panegyrists of royalty; -but in the spirit of impartiality we must admit that ever and anon some action springs forth, which throws a redeeming shade over many previous errors, and, perhaps, there is no one which imparts a greater lustre to the character of George IV. as the patron of genius, than his munificent gift towards the erection of a monument to the memory of James Watt. The incident may appear at the first view as trifling in itself; but a meeting called for the purpose of the erection of a monument to a great benefactor of the human race, is worthy of the most civilized nations. Such meetings should be held forth as examples to other countries, to awaken amongst those who approach nearest to civilization a generous emulation of true glory and just gratitude. Such meetings impart a new value to the discoveries and the productions of genius; they excite youthful talents to redouble their efforts in order to produce works that may be useful to their country, and worthy, in their turn, of immortality. It was on Friday the 18th of June, 1824, that a public meeting was held, at which the Earl of Liverpool presided, supported by such men as Brougham, Mackintosh, and Wilberforce, for the purpose of entering into a subscription to defray the expenses of the erection of a monument to the memory of the father of the steam-engine. The first words uttered by the prime minister of the British empire, surrounded by the most distinguished personages of the government and the country, either by their learning or their eloquence, were to announce that the meeting was called for the purpose of offering a public tribute of gratitude and respect to the memory of the best and most extraordinary man to whom the country In had ever given birth. We confess that such an eulogium is rather exaggerated, especially in a country that has produced a Newton, for we can speak from personal experience that, in society, James Watt was a most repellent character, and appeared to treat every man with contempt and indifference who could not converse on pistons, cylinders, and boilers. other respects, the speech of Lord Liverpool was such as might have been expected from so great and enlightened a mind; and he concluded his speech by observing, that his Majesty George IV. had charged him to inform the meeting, that his Majesty was deeply sensible of the services that had been rendered to Great Britain by him, 'to whose memory we are about, as I informed you at first, to offer the tribute of our respect and gratitude. His Majesty is anxiously desirous of having his name placed at the head of the proposed subscription for the sum of five hundred pounds.' Let the parasites of the king look at this picture, and then at that which, in the plenitude of their folly and their ignorance, they have attempted to draw of him. The sovereign of a country, which reckons at present more than 100,000,000 of subjects, confers an additional grandeur upon his empire by making amends for a long forgetfulness, and with a true dignity of mind, conferring such honour on the productive labours of one of the modest children of industry. This example is worthy to serve as a model to the honours that the sovereigns of other nations may, perhaps, hereafter offer to the memory of those of their subjects, who have enjoyed no other social distinctions than the benefits they have conferred by their genius upon society. But after all, England as a country is a paradox; noble and great in some things mean and insignificant in others: where, after all, is the monument of Watt? The ashes of Garrick the actor, who conferred no lasting benefit upon his country, are deposited within the sacred walls of Westminster; while the ashes of Watt, the great benefactor of his race, are committed to an obscure corner of some unknown churchyard. It must be admitted that his Majesty's subscription to the erection of a monument to Watt is not the only instance on record of his munificence to the sons of genius; for, to the charitable institutions and societies established for the relief of the distressed part of the community, he was a constant and liberal patron. The establishment of the Literary Fund for the purpose of affording assistance to the indigent literati, may, in some measure, be traced to the high patronage which his Majesty always afforded it; nor was he ever tardy in dispensing his benevolence to deserving individuals who, by their genius or their virtues, were deserving of his gracious favours. To the promotion of the arts and sciences he was a zealous and steady friend; although, at the same time, this eulogium must in some measure be qualified, as his attention was principally directed to those branches of the arts which come rather under the denomination of the ornamental than the useful. It was those objects which please the eye that appeared to engross his preference; and the gaudy and showy were encouraged, whilst the substantial and the simple were rejected. His mind, in matters of this kind, was most singularly constituted; he could amuse himself like a child with a toy, and on a sudden a conception appeared to spring in it, of a stupendous and gigantic nature, characteristic of the existence of the most aspiring genius, and the highest degree of cultivated intellect: an infant one moment, a giant the next. To a superficial observer, he appeared a character fitted to excite the interest of all who approached him, and the philosopher, in the deeper study of his properties and faculties, would have placed him in the rank of those extraordinary men who have rendered themselves conspicuous by the eccentricity of their actions. The country, at the commencement of the year 1825, presented a high degree of internal prosperity. The Parliament was opened by commission on the 3rd of February, and two important points of the speech became the immediate subjects of discussion-these were the recognition of the South American States separated from Spain, and the affairs of Ireland. An association had been formed for the avowed purposes of agitation and self-defence by influential Catholics, to oppose themselves to those combinations of power and wealth known by the name of Orange Lodges. The ministry, with strict im VOL. II. 3 A |