s unintelligible. About a
fortnight before his death, soon after his appetite began to
fail, Taylor had to announce to him his danger. He received the
intelligence with the same coolness he had before shown, but it
was not without difficulty that he admitted the conviction. A few
days after he received the Sacrament, which was administered by
the Bishop of London, in the presence of Sir H. Halford, Taylor,
and the Princess Sophia. He was then very weak, but calm and
collected during the ceremony. When it was over he shook hands
with the men and kissed the Princess. The King saw him the next
day, but he was in a lethargic state nearly the whole time that
he was there. For many days before his death the physicians
thought that every day must close the scene, but such was the
natural strength of his constitution that he evinced a tenacity
of life and maintained a struggle which astonished them all, and
of which they unanimously declared that their practice had never
furnished them with a similar instance. It seems that three years
ago, when he was very unwell, M'Gregor told him that unless he
was more prudent he would certainly be afflicted with dropsy. He
had been subject to spasms, and in consequence of them was averse
to lie down in bed, and to this pernicious habit and that of
sitting for many hours together at table, or at cards, they
attribute the origin, of the complaint which has terminated so
fatally. Had he been a more docile patient, from the amazing
vigour of his constitution he might have looked forward to a very
long life. His sufferings in the course of his illness have been
very great, and almost without cessation. Nothing could exceed
the patience and courage with which he endured them; his serenity
and good humour were never disturbed, and he never uttered a
word or complaint, except occasionally at the length of his
confinement. He not only saw all the visitors who chose to call
upon him, even those with whom he was not in habits of intimacy,
but he transacted the whole of his public business every day, and
every paper was laid before him and every detail gone through as
if he had been in perfect health. This he continued to within a
few days of his death, till his strength was so entirely
exhausted that he lay in a state of almost complete insensibility.
It is remarkable that from the beginning to the end of his
illness I never saw him that he did not tell me that he was a
great deal better, and he ne