The Stamp Act will be remembered as long as the globe lasts.  But, at the time, it attracted much less notice in this country than another Act which is now almost utterly forgotten.  The King fell ill, and was thought to be in a dangerous state.  His complaint, we believe, was the same which, at a later period, repeatedly incapacitated him for the performance of his regal functions.  The heir-apparent was only two years old.  It was clearly proper to make provision for the administration of the Government, in case of a minority.  The discussions on this point brought the quarrel between the Court and the ministry to a crisis.  The King wished to be intrusted with the power of naming a regent by will.  The ministers feared, or affected to fear, that, if this power were conceded to him, he would name the Princess Mother, nay, possibly the Earl of Bute.  They, therefore, insisted on introducing into the bill words confining the King’s choice to the royal family.  Having thus excluded Bute, they urged the King to let them, in the most marked manner, exclude the Princess Dowager also.  They assured him that the House of Commons would undoubtedly strike her name out, and by this threat they wrung from him a reluctant assent.  In a few days, it appeared that the representations by which they had induced the King to put this gross and public affront on his mother were unfounded.  The friends of the Princess in the House of Commons moved that her name should be inserted.  The ministers could not decently attack the parent of their master.  They hoped that the Opposition would come to their help, and put on them a force to which they would gladly have yielded.  But the majority of the Opposition, though hating the Princess, hated Grenville more, beheld his embarrassment with delight, and would do nothing to extricate him from it.  The Princess’s name was accordingly placed in the list of persons qualified to hold the regency.

The King’s resentment was now it the height.  The present evil seemed to him more intolerable than any other.  Even the junta of Whig grandees could not treat him worse than he had been treated by his present ministers.  In his distress, he poured out his whole heart to his uncle, the Duke of Cumberland.  The Duke was not a man to be loved; but he was eminently a man to be trusted.  He had an intrepid temper, a strong understanding, and a high sense of honour and duty.  As a general, he belonged to a remarkable class of captains, captains we mean, whose fate it has been to lose almost all the battles which they have fought, and yet to be reputed stout and skilful soldiers.  Such captains were Coligny and William the Third.  We might, perhaps, add Marshal Soult to the list.  The bravery of the Duke of Cumberland was such as distinguished him even among the princes of his brave house.  The indifference with which he rode about amidst musket balls and cannon balls was not the highest proof of his fortitude.  Hopeless maladies, horrible surgical operations, far from unmanning