in the former the reader may better compare the editors inference with his own impression. _george the fourth_. endowed by nature with remarkably handsome features, and a form so finely proportioned, that at one period of his life it was deemed almost the best model of manly beauty in existence, george the fourth, during the early part of his manhood, eclipsed the whole of his gay associates in fashion and gallantry, as much by personal attractions, as pre-eminence in birth. byron describes him as having possessed fascination in his very bow; and it is said, that a young peeress, on hearing of the princes attentions to one of her fair friends, exclaimed, i sincerely hope that it may not be my turn next, for to repel him is impossible. towards the middle period of his life, he became so enormously fat, that four life-guardsmen could not, without difficulty, lift him on horseback; but, as he advanced in years, although still corpulent, his inconvenient obesity gradually diminished. he scarcely ever forgot an injury, an affront, or a marked opposition to his personal wishes. the cordiality which had previously subsisted between his majesty and prince leopold, entirely ceased, when the latter volunteered a visit to queen caroline on her return to this country, in 1820: brougham and dentrum, for the zeal with which they had advocated the cause of their royal client, were, during a long period, deemed unworthy of those legal honours to which their high talents and long standing at the bar, justly entitled them: and sir robert wilson was arbitrarily dismissed from the service, for his interference at her majestys funeral. on account of his unpopular reception, by the mob, when he accompanied the allied sovereigns to guildhall, in 1814, he never afterwards honoured the city with his presence; and when rossini rudely declined the repetition of a piece of music, in which the king had taken a conspicuous part, at a court concert, his majesty turned his back on the composer, to whose works, from that moment, he displayed the most unequivocal dislike. but, on the other hand, some cases have been recorded, in which his conduct was unquestionably tolerant and forgiving. he allowed canning, an avowed supporter of the queen, to retain office, without taking any part in the ministerial proceedings against her majesty; and at the last stage of his earthly career, sent the duke of sussex, with whom he had long been at variance, his own ribbon of the order of st. patrick, with an assurance of his most sincere affection. erskine, while attorney-general to the prince, had so offended his royal highness, by accepting a retainer from paine, on a prosecution being instituted against the latter for publishing the rights of man, that his immediate resignation was required. but, sometime afterwards, erskine was desired to attend at carlton house, where the prince received him with great cordiality, and, after avowing his conviction that, in the instance that had separated them, his learned and eloquent friend had acted from the purest motives, he wished to give publicity to his present opinion on the subject, by appointing mr. erskine his chancellor. on one occasion, at the opening of a session of parliament by george the third in person, his royal highness, who was then very much in debt, having gone down to the house of lords in a superb military uniform with diamond epaulettes, major doyle subsequently remarked to him, that his equipage had been much noticed by the mob. one fellow, added the major, prodigiously admired, what he termed the fine things which the prince had upon his shoulders. mighty fine, indeed, replied another; but, mind me, theyll soon be _upon our shoulders_, for all that. ah, you rogue! exclaimed the prince, laughing, thats a hit of your own, i am convinced:but, come, take some wine. he had some inclination for scientific pursuits, and highly respected those who were eminent for mechanical inventions. he contributed largely towards the erection of a monument to the memory of watt. of his medical information, slight as it undoubtedly was, he is said to have been particularly proud. carpue had demonstrated to him the general anatomy of the human body, in his younger days; and for a number of years, the ingenious weiss submitted to his inspection all the new surgical instruments, in one of which the king suggested some valuable improvements. his talents were, undoubtedly, above the level of mediocrity: they have, however, been greatly overrated, on the supposition that several powerfully written documents, put forth under his name, but composed by some of his more highly-gifted friends, were his own productions. his style was, in fact, much beneath his station: it was inelegant, destitute of force, and even occasionally incorrect. he read his speeches well, but not excellently: he possessed no eloquence, although, as a convivial orator, he is said to have been rather successful. at one time, while an associate of sheridan, erskine, fox, &c., he affected, in conversation, to be brilliant, and so far succeeded, as to colloquial liveliness, that during their festive intercourse, according to the witty barristers own admission, he fairly kept up at saddle-skirts even with curran. notwithstanding this compliment, his pretensions to wit appear to have been but slender; the best sayings attributed to him being a set of middling puns, of which the following is a favourable selection:when langdales distillery was plundered, during the riots of 1780, he asked why the proprietor had not defended his property. he did not possess the means to do so, was the reply. not the means of defence! exclaimed the prince, and he a brewera man who has been all his life at _cart_ and _tierce_!sheridan having told him that fox had _cooed_ in vain to miss pulteney, the prince replied, that his friends attempt on the ladys heart was a _coup maoquè_.he once quoted from suetonius, the words, _jure_ caesus videtur, to prove, jestingly, that trial by jury was as old as the time of the first caesar.a newspaper panegyric on fox, apparently from the pen of dr. parr, having been presented to his royal highness, he said that it reminded him of machiavels epitaph, tanto nomini nullum _par_ eulogium.a cavalry officer, at a court ball, hammered the floor with his heels so loudly, that the prince observed, if the war between the mother country and her colonies had not terminated, he might have been sent to america as a republication of the _stamp_ act.while his regiment was in daily expectation of receiving orders for ireland, some one told him, that country quarters in the sister kingdom were so filthy, that the rich uniforms of his corps would soon be lamentably soiled: let the men act as dragoons, then, said his royal highness, and _scour the country_. when horne tooke, on being committed to prison for treason, proposed, while in jail, to give a series of dinners to his friends, the prince remarked, that as an inmate of newgate, he would act more consistently by establishing a _ketch_-club.michael kelly having turned wine-merchant, the prince rather facetiously said, that mick _imported_ his music, and _composed_ his wine! we reluctantly break off here till next week. the topographer brighton as it was. (_concluded from page 90_.) this immunity, however, deprived them of the privileges which the people of the adjacent towns enjoyed; and was probably the true reason, why this town did not obtain a place among those called cinque ports. it lies in their neighbourhood, is more ancient, and was always more considerable than most included in that number. to reduce its consequence still more, the tithes were in this period taken from the incumbent, appropriated to the use of the priory at lewes, and have never since been restored; and a convent of mendicant friars, more burthensome than ten endowed ones of monks, was founded and dedicated to st. bartholomew. struggling under these difficulties, nothing but the reformation could enable the inhabitants of this place to emerge from their wretchedness. and accordingly we find, that, in the happier days of queen elizabeth, their affairs put on a new face. they then applied themselves with vigour to their old employments of fishing, and fitting out vessels for trade; seeking subsistence from their darling element the sea. persecution prevailing at this juncture in many parts of europe, numbers fled to this island as to an asylum, and many settled in this town, bringing with them industry, and an attachment to maritime affairs; or soon learning them here. the number of its inhabitants being thus increased, its trade became proportionably greater: so that in 1579, a record now subsisting says, there are in the said town of brighthelmston of fishing-boats four-score in number, and of able mariners four hundred in number, with ten thousand fishing-nets, besides many other necessaries belonging to their mystery.[3] and the descendants of many of these french, dutch, and spanish families still reside here.[4] [3] it is a melancholy reflection to compare the present state of the fishery with its prosperity in 1579, or in more modern periods