THE KING.

_Authentic narrative of a plan, (now first made public,) for capturing
Prince William Henry, his present Majesty, during his stay at New York
in 1782; with the original letters of General Washington_.

(_From the Athenæum_.)

It must be remembered that, wild as this project may seem, it was
sanctioned by the cool deliberate judgment of Washington; and it cannot,
therefore, be doubted, that his Royal Highness was, for a time, in a
situation of great though unknown danger. We leave it to our readers to
speculate on the possible consequences, had the plan succeeded.

When his present Majesty William IV. served as a midshipman in the
British navy, he was for some time on the coast of the North American
colonies, then in a state of revolution, and passed the winter of 1782
in the city of New York. He is still borne in lively recollection by
many of the elder inhabitants of that city, as a fine bluff boy of
sixteen: frank, cheery, and affable; and there are anecdotes still told
of his frolicsome pranks on shipboard. Among these, is the story of a
rough, though favourite, nautical joke, which he played off upon a
sailor boy, in cutting down his hammock while asleep. The sturdy sea
urchin resented this invasion of his repose; and, not knowing the
quality of his invader, a regular set-to of fisty-cuffs ensued in the
dark. In this, it is said, the Prince showed great bottom; and equal
generosity on the following morning, when he made the boy a handsome
present of money. His conduct in this boyish affair is said to have
gained him the hearts of all his shipmates.