272 THE KING. 



application. Had Shakspeare lived in the reign of William the 

 Fourth, he would never have penned the observation in the un- 

 qualified way in which it stands. He would have seen in the 

 person of our present Sovereign an exception to the rule. His 

 head does not lie uneasily. The Crown sits lightly on it. Not 

 that he is indifferent about the welfare of his subjects, far from it, 

 but because he believes that they live under a mild and paternal 

 and enlightened Government, and that, conscious of nothing but 



. the most kindly feelings towards them, he never allows his mind 

 to be haunted for one moment with any suspicion of their loyalty 

 to his person or fidelity to his throne. It is one of the irresisti- 

 ble tendencies of his nature to look on the sunny side of the 

 picture ; in this case his unsuspecting disposition will not be- 

 tray him into any error. The generous confidence he reposes in 

 the friendly feelings of his subjects towards him, is not misplaced. 

 Few monarchs have reigned more in the affections of his subjects 

 than does William the Fourth of England. 



What I have said respecting the opening of the present ses- 

 sion applies in the main to the c»pening of every session when 

 the king is personally present. When he is absent, the opening 

 takes place by commission, the Lord Chancellor, or Lord Keeper 



. of the Great Seal, reading his speech from the Woolsack. 



