--I cannot but mention a tablet which I have seen somewhere in
the chapel of Windsor Castle, put up by the late king to the memory of
a family servant, who had been a faithful attendant of his lamented
daughter, the Princess Amelia. George III. possessed much of the
strong domestic feeling of the old English country gentleman; and it
is an incident curious in monumental history, and creditable to the
human heart, a monarch erecting a monument in honour of the humble
virtues of a menial.]
THE WIDOW.
She was so charitable and pitious
She would weep if that she saw a mous
Caught in a trap, if it were dead or Wed:
Of small hounds had she, that she fed
With rost flesh, milke, and wastel bread,
But sore wept she if any of them were dead,
Or if man smote them with a yard smart.
--CHAUCER.
Notwithstanding the whimsical parade made by Lady Lillycraft on her
arrival, she has none of the petty stateliness that I had imagined;
but, on the contrary, she has a degree of nature and
simple-heartedness, if I may use the phrase, that mingles well with
her old-fashioned manners and harmless ostentation. She dresses in
rich silks, with long waist; she rouges considerably, and her hair,
which is nearly white, is frizzed out, and put up with pins.
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