[Original]
Waterloo. Another was Coleridge, the poet, whose beautiful compositions are so familiar to us all.
In France, General de Lafayette closed his earthly career. We must honor his memory for the part he took in our war of Independence, and the assistance he rendered the American colonies in throwing off the English yoke. After his return to his native land Lafayette lived quietly, until the revolution of 1830 brought him into prominence again, and he became chief of the Republican party. He was honored with a grand public funeral.
A.D. 1835. Of the various changes that took place in the government from year to year we have scarcely made mention, because they would not be interesting to our readers. It is enough to know that they occurred, and, as some of them were extremely distasteful to the king, he became so ill-humored and low-spirited that it seemed almost impossible for him to rally. Lord John Russell, secretary of the home department at this time, was an object of special odium; but his majesty so thoroughly hated all of his ministers this year that when he was told he ought to give a dinner for the Ascot races, he said, "I cannot give any dinners without inviting the ministers, and I would rather see the devil than any one of them in my house."
The king's ill-feeling towards his ministers would have rendered their position excessively disagreeable if they had considered themselves really his ministers; but they were working, they thought, for the good of the country, and had so little regard for the intellect or judgment of William that they treated him as a cipher. Indeed, his outbursts of temper often led to the belief that he was losing what little mind he had.
At one of his levees he made a disgraceful scene with Lord Torrington, a gentleman of the bed-chamber. A card was handed to Torrington of somebody to be presented. He read the name, and added, "Deputy-governor." "Deputy-governor?" asked the king, angrily, "Deputy-governor of what?"
"I cannot tell, your majesty," replied the gentleman, "as it is not upon the card."