£8 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1804. 



to whom few looked with confidence 

 for holding them with skill and vi- 

 gour, and none, for a continuance 

 of their situation, which was obvi- 

 ously and hourly drawing to a pe- 

 riod ; — and when, in fine, the affairs 

 of the country, in every possible 

 event, required the utmost exertion 

 and ability of its rulers, to ward off 

 increasing evils, and impending des- 

 truction. 



Under such circumstances, it can- 

 not be wondered at, that gloom and 

 distrust should universally prevail. 

 In the course of the following pages 

 will be seen, what were the senti- 

 ments of the best and wisest in 

 both houses of parliament upon so 

 interesting a subject. Nor can we, 

 in any words of our own, convey 

 to our readers so just a delineation 

 of the real state of the few fads 

 which guided public opinion thereon, 

 as the attacks made upon ministers 

 ■upon this occasion, and their de- 

 fence, will atford. 



Upon the nature of the malady 

 •which afflicted the best of sovereigns 

 and of men, v/e are precluded, by 

 the delicacy of the subjeft, from of- 

 fering the slightest conjecture ; and 

 as there was no parliamentary com- 

 munication upon that head, nothing 

 snificiently authentic remains, to es- 

 tablish any fact respecting it, or to 

 satisfy the solicitude of the public. 

 A more pleasing task remains for 

 DS, which we proceed to execute 

 with the most heartfelt satisfaction; 

 that of detailing the different cir- 



cumstances which gradually dis- 

 pelled the general uneasiness, and 

 induced the universal hope in the 

 perfect and permanent recovery 

 of our virtuous and beloved sove- 

 reign. 



On the 27th of February, twelve 

 days after the notification of- his 

 niajest}''s illness, the first bulletin 

 appeared, which could be said to 

 hold out any prospect of its favour- 

 able or speedy termination ; it an- 

 nounced the opinion of the sub- 

 scribing physicians to be, " that his 

 majesty was still better than he was 

 the day before, and appears to be 

 gradually advancing towards reco- 

 very." Of this tendency, with 

 very little variation, were the com- 

 munications until March the ele- 

 venth, wiien they assumed a more 

 decided tone ; and the last, three 

 days after (the 14th), confidently 

 mentioned " the daily recovery of 

 his majesty." 



The declarations in Parliament of 

 the chancellor of the exchequer, on 

 the 29th of February, that there 

 was '' no nocessary suspension of 

 the royal functions," and of the 

 lord chancellor, on the 14th of 

 March, " that the lords commis- 

 sioners were warranted in express- 

 ing the royal assent to several bills 

 which had already passed through 

 both houses of parliament," tended, 

 in a great measure, to allay the fer- 

 ment in the public mind, and re- 

 store tranquillity to the bosom of an 

 affectionate and loyal people.* 



* No formal communication was made to parliament of his majesty's rccovcrji, 

 as on the occasion of his first illness, consequently tUere were no addresses of con- 

 gratulation on the happy event : and it was considered as sinaular, that a form of 

 prayer, for the restoration of the kinrr's health, in which the hope and prospect of 

 his majesty's recovery is strongly alluded to,, continued in use many weeks after the 

 king was declared, in parliainent, competent to the exercise of his royal functions, 

 ancj, indeed, after a total cnange of administration had taken place : it was, how- 

 ever, changed after the acceptance of office by Mr. Pitt. (Vide the 1st and 2d edit. 

 of the form of prayer, '* Chronicle," p. SDO of this vol.) 



On 



