HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



267 



inflicted only on criminals. There 

 is something in this procedure, 

 which, after all the calculations of 

 a crafty, narrow policy, appears 

 to be odious, immoral, and inhu- 

 man. The ruler of France was 

 so sensible of this, that his demi- 

 official newspaper, the Monitear, 

 was employed to weaken the im- 

 pression naturally made by such 

 barbarous attacks on human in- 

 dustry and genius, by shewingthat 

 they were common, on the part of 

 England. And certainly the Mo- 

 niteur made it clearly out that, in 

 matters of finance and revenue in 

 France, there was no regulation 

 so severe as to be without multi- 

 plied examples in the revenue laws 

 of England. Divers English laws 

 for the burning of French manu- 

 factures, and smuggled tobacco 

 and tea, are cited ; and one passed 

 in the nineteenth year of the reign 

 of George the Second, making the 

 importation of any article prohibit- 

 ed felony ; whether the importa- 

 tion should be clandestine or open. 

 The British parliament, which 

 lay under prorogation, assembled 

 on thefirstof November; on which 

 day a proclamation was issued, by 

 the king in council, stating it to 

 be his majesty's pleasure that it 

 should be further prorogued. This 

 proclamation, which was not of 

 itself sufficient for the prorogation 

 of parliament, was to be followed, 

 of course, by the usual commis- 



sion, signed by the king, and read 

 int he House of Lords, by com- 

 missioners appointed for that pur- 

 pose. Buc the roya! sign manual 

 was not to be obtained. The pa- 

 rental and tender heart of the 

 king was wrung with inexpressi- 

 ble grief and anguish, at the pro- 

 tracted sufferings wh'ch terminated 

 November the 2nd, in the death of 

 his youngest and favourite daugh- 

 ter, the princess Amelia. His 

 whole soul was absorbed in the 

 sufferings and fate of his amiable 

 daughter who had always return- 

 ed his parental affection with ex- 

 quisite sensibility and duty. He 

 could not think or speak of any 

 thing else. The powers of his un- 

 derstanding were impaired; and 

 the mental malady, under which 

 he had laboured in 1788, returned. 

 Committees were appointed by 

 both Houses of parliament for the 

 examination of physicians, who 

 were examined accordingly, on 

 the state of his majesty's health. 

 In this, and in other necessary 

 points, they were guided in their 

 proceedings by the precedent of 

 1788. On the 20th of Decem- 

 ber, the House of Commons passed 

 a bill appointing his royal high- 

 ness the prince of Wales, Regent 

 of thekingdom, under certain limi- 

 tations, during the indisposition of 

 his majesty. On the 28th, the 

 Lords acceded to this resolution of 

 the Commons. 



