tranquillity and security benignant and prosperous."

HOLLAND. This year was signalised by the abdication of William I. king of the Netherlands, who, in the month of October, voluntarily laid down the crown, and was succeeded by his eldest son, the prince of Orange, who ascended the throne by the title of William II. This step seems to have been long contemplated by the late monarch, and the real cause, no doubt, was his singular and romantic attachment to the countess d'Oultremont, a Roman Catholic lady. The king had wished to marry her before, and make her his queen, but the opposition to this was so violent on the part of his own family, and the match so distasteful to the nation, that he was compelled to submit to their wishes; and as it was only in a private station that he could gratify his inclination, he determined to resign the crown to his son. At the time when this took place, the king was in his 68th, and the prince of Orange (now William II), in his 49th year. The reasons, however, which were assigned in the royal proclamation of the 7th of October, in which the king announced his abdication, had nothing to do with the softer sentiments which really influenced him. We extract a few paragraphs from this curious document.

"The anxieties and difficulties of the high administration have weighed heavy upon us. We feel this daily more and more, in consequence of the increase of our years, and the perception of the duty imposed on us, henceforth to follow in the conduct of the affairs of the kingdom some other rules than those which before the modifications and additions recently introduced into

the constitution were by it established and prescribed.

"By our proclamation of the 4th of September last, we gave full confirmation to these changes and supplements, and their operation is now about to commence.

"After the most serious reflection, we have considered this the most fitting period for carrying into execution our long-contemplated purpose of passing the remaining days which God may please to grant us in repose and freedom from the cares of government, under the grateful recollection of all the benefits that His kindness and wisdom have conferred upon us.

"A firm, vigorous, manly, and more youthful hand, free from the weight of old age, and unembarrassed by antecedent recollections, will hereafter be required for the administration of the kingdom and the promotion of its happiness and welfare, and under our full impres sion and conviction that the burden of the government would henceforth oppress us, and incapacitate us during the remaining years of our life from devoting due and vigilant attention to the interests of our beloved subjects, we have, after mature deliberation, out of our own entire free will, this day resolved to terminate irrevocably our long reign, and to transfer our royal, grand ducal, and ducal authority to our beloved son, the prince of Orange, who is the lawful inheritor of our royal, grand ducal, and ducal crowns.

"We thank our beloved subjects for the multiplied proofs of confidence and attachment which we have, during our reign, in the fullest measure experienced on their part, and we are convinced that they will receive with love

thing, that I may be able to sign my name to it. You know that I am a man of my word-what I say I promise to keep. I can assure you I have but one object--the happiness and prosperity of the country, and I never had any other. You know the fidelity of the Hanoverian. I have always placed the greatest confidence in the country. Unhappily some bad persons are everywhere met, but the mass is good and honest. I feel as if a stone is taken from myheart by hearing what you say to me. I am now certain that we shall obtain our object."

PRUSSIA. On the 7th of June, Frederick William III., king of Prussia, expired at Berlin, and was succeeded by his son, Frederick William IV., the present monarch. On the 17th of the same month the latter communicated to his subjects two documents, both in the handwriting of his deceased father, and which had been placed in his hands by the late king on the day of his death. The one was headed "my last will," and the other commenced with the words "On you my dear Frederick, the burden of the government now comes They were both dated 1st December, 1827. The "will" breathes the spirit of the most affectionate regard for his family, and alludes to the death of his first wife (the beautiful and gifted Louisa Augusta, princess of Mecklenburg Strelitz, so harshly treated by Napoleon after the battle of Jena), who departed in 1810, in the following terms. "By the same decree of God, I have had to undergo heavy and hard trials, as well as in what personally concerned me, especially when, seventeen years ago, he deprived me of that which was the dearest to me, as by the

events which so heavily afflicted my dear country. But, on the other hand, God (eternal thanks to him for it!) has permitted me to live to witness glorious and happy events. Among the first, I reckon, above all, the struggles gloriously endured in 1813, 1814, and 1815, to which the country owes its restoration." Amongst the latter, the good old king considers the attachment and prosperity of his children, and the affectionate love of his second wife, given him by Providence in his fifth decennium."

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In the accompanying paper, addressed to his son, were general maxims of advice as to the principles on which he shouid endeavour to govern his country. He thus speaks from his grave. "Your principles and feelings are a security to me that you will be a father to your subjects. Beware, however, of the love of innovation, now so general; beware of impracticable theories, so many of which are now in vogue; but, at the same time, beware of an almost equally fatal, obstinate predilection for what is old; for it is only by avoiding these two shoals that really useful changes proceed. The army is now in a remarkably good condition, since its re-organization it has fulfilled my expectations; as in war, so also in peace. May it never lose sight of its high destination, but may the country likewise never forget what it owes to it. Do not neglect to provide for, as far as lies in your power, concord among all the European powers; but, above all, may Prussia, Russia, and Austria, never separate from each other. Their union is to be regarded as the keystone of the great European alliance."

On publishing these two documents, the new king says, in his official communication of them to the minister of state, that he is resolved, with the help of God, to walk in his father's ways. "Let my people pray with me for the preservation of the blessings of

peace, that precious jewel which he gained for us by the sweat of his brow, and cherished with truly parental care. This I know, should that jewel ever be in danger, which God forbid, my people will rise up, like one man, at my call, as his people did at his call."