Neither the King nor the Queen were able to attend, for the poor old man was moribund. A slight decline of strength had been perceptible to the immediate attendants of the King at the commencement of the year, but it was not till the month of May that the state of his Majesty's health excited any serious apprehensions. On the 17th of that month he held a levee, but, on his return to Windsor Castle, he showed great signs of debility and exhaustion, with oppression of breathing, in consequence of which he had considerable difficulty in ascending the staircase; and when he had reached the corridor was under the necessity of resting on the nearest sofa. He tried to keep up as well as he could, but on June 7th his physicians found him much worse. On June 8th his illness was noticed in the "Court Circular," with a notice that the state entertainment intended to have been given at the castle to the knights of the several orders was indefinitely postponed; indeed, on that day, in obedience to the Queen's wishes, the party staying at the castle dispersed. Day after day he grew worse, with just a little flutter of improvement when the Waterloo memorial flag was presented to him, when he expressed himself as glad to see it, and begged the Duke of Wellington to be told that he desired the Waterloo banquet to be held as usual, and hoped it would be an agreeable dinner. He gradually sunk until June 20th, when the following bulletin was issued:-- "Windsor Castle, Tuesday, June 20. "It has pleased Almighty God to release from his sufferings our most gracious sovereign, King William the Fourth. His Majesty expired this morning at twelve minutes past two o'clock. "MATT. JOHN TIERNEY. "WM. FRED CHAMBERS. "DAVID DAVIES." Death came to him so gently, that some doubt existed as to the precise moment at which he actually did expire. The stroke of death was almost imperceptible. [Illustration: Dresses.] He lay in state on July 7th in the Waterloo Chamber at Windsor Castle, and the public were admitted to see him from ten till four. The next day--or rather on the night of the 8th--he was buried, with all the pomp and the solemnity usual on such occasions, in a vault in St. George's Chapel. [Illustration: Hair dressing.] The dresses for 1837 are two walking-dresses and a ball dress, and also a child's costume, with different fashions of hairdressing. CHAPTER XXIII. Men's dress--Education--School advertisements--The original of Squeers--Girls' schools--Tea as a meal--Food--A foreigner's sketch of an English dinner-party--A high-class dinner--An ideal dinner.