To this pleasant party in this pleasant resort, the Prince of Wales often came--his chief attraction being, not the wit or worth of the party, but the mere beauty of one of the party forming it. This was Miss Bellenden, who, on the other hand, saw nothing in the fair-haired and little prince that could attract her admiration. The prince was never famous for much delicacy either of expression or sentiment, but he could exhibit a species of wit in its way. He had probably been contemplating the engraving of the visit of Jupiter to the nymph Danae in a shower of gold, when he took to pouring the guineas from his purse in Miss Bellenden’s presence. He seemed to her, if we may judge by the comment she made upon his conduct, much more like a villainous little bashaw offering to purchase a Circassian slave; and on one occasion, as he went on counting the glittering coin, she exclaimed, ‘Sir, I cannot bear it; if you count your money any more I will go out of the room.’ She did even better, by marrying the man of her heart, Colonel John Campbell--a step at which the prince, when it came to his knowledge, affected to be extremely indignant; and never forgave her for an offence, which indeed was no offence and required no forgiveness. The prince, like that young Duke of Orleans who thought he would suffer in reputation if he had not a ‘favourite’ in his train, let his regard stop at Mrs. Howard, another of his wife’s bedchamber-women, who was but too happy to receive such regard, and to return it with all required attachment and service. The Princess of Wales, during the reign of her father-in-law, maintained a brilliant court, and presided over a gay round of pleasures. In this career she gained that which she sought after--popularity. What she did from policy, her husband the prince did from taste; and the encouragement and promotion of pleasure were followed by the one as a means to an end, by the other for the sake of the pleasure itself. Every morning there was a drawing-room at the princess’s, and twice a week the same splendid reunion in her apartments, at night. This gave the fashion to a very wide circle; crowded assemblies, balls, masquerades, and ridottos became the ‘rage;’ and from the fatigues incident thereto, the votaries of fashion found relaxation in plays and operas.