52 KEW GARDENS 



Burney's case. The cause of the attack was said 

 to be His Majesty's sitting in wet stockings ; 

 but for some time back signs of strangeness had 

 been noted in him, who had enough to disorder 

 his mind in the conduct of his eldest sons, and 

 in his brooding over the loss of the American 

 Colonies. Miss Burney's diary gives a vivid 

 picture of those wretched days at Kew, when no 

 one felt sure what to say, and some, like herself, 

 hardly knew what to think of the rumours that 

 filled the house. The King was noisy and 

 voluble beyond his wont, talking himself hoarse 

 in his assurances that there was not much the 

 matter with him, mingled with complaints that 

 he could not sleep. More than once Miss Burney 

 found the Queen in tears. Charlotte had good 

 reason for anxiety : she must have been aware of 

 the character of a similar attack near the begin- 

 ning of the reign, which had passed off so quickly 

 that it could be hushed up. 



By October 25, George seemed so much 

 better that he moved to Windsor, where his 

 restlessness and weakness grew worse again. 

 He obstinately insisted on going out to hunt 

 as usual in the November weather, yet he had 

 to confess that all at once he had become an 



