Pitt would carry a gold stick before the king. The only time I saw that
minister was under these circumstances. It was the year before he died.
He stood firmly and proudly amongst the crowd for some half-hour till
the king should arrive. The monarch, of course, immediately recognised
him; the contrast in the demeanour of the two personages made a
remarkable impression upon me--and that of the minister first showed me
an example of the perfect self-possession of men of great abilities.
After a year or two of this soil of excitement the king became blind;
and painful was the exhibition of the led horse of the good old man, as
he took his accustomed ride. In a few more years a still heavier
calamity fell upon him--and from that time Windsor Castle became,
comparatively, a mournful place. The terrace was shut up--the ancient
pathway through the park, and under the castle walls, was diverted--and
a somewhat Asiatic state and stillness seemed to usurp the reign of the
old free and familiar intercourse of the sovereign with the people.
* * * * *
NOTES OF A READER.
* * * * *
NAVARINO.
Towards the close of the battle of Navarino, one of our midshipmen, a
promising youth of about fourteen, was struck by a cannon-shot, which
carried off both his legs, and his right-hand, with which the poor
fellow had been grasping his cutlass at that moment.
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