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 t 
 
 \ 
 
 \
 
 THE 
 
 LIFE 
 
 OP 
 
 FIELD-MARSHAL HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS, EDWARD, 
 
 DUKE OF KENT.
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED BY RICHARD CLAY, 
 JIKEAI) STREET HILL.
 
 , 
 
 ', EDWARD,
 
 
 
 H I S ROYAL HIGHNESS 
 
 , ID) HIKE I? M 
 
 THE REV. E R S K I N E N E 
 
 ALE. 
 
 B 
 
 
 O IS" B O I 
 
 RICHARD BENTLEY, 
 M D C C C L.
 
 THE 
 
 LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 FIELD -MARSHAL HIS EOYAL HIGHNESS, EDWAED, 
 
 DUKE OF KENT, 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM HIS CORRESPONDENCE, 
 AND ORIGINAL LETTERS NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED. 
 
 ERSKINE NEALE, M.A. 
 
 RECTOR OF KIRTON, 
 
 AND CHAPLAIN TO EARLS HUNTINGDON AND SPENOFR. 
 
 AUTHOR OF " THE CLOSING SCENE ; " " THE LIFE-BOOK OF A LABOURER ; 
 
 "THE BISHOP'S DAUGHTER," ETC 
 
 " I hate to eat the bread of idleness. I am supported by my country ; and 
 I am anxious to dedicate my whole powers to my country." The Duke's 
 public Declaration. 
 
 LONDON: 
 RICHARD BENTLEY, 
 
 NEW BURLINGTON STREET. 
 
 1850.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 IT would form an amusing chapter to the reader, 
 the reverse, decidedly, to the writer, if an enume- 
 ration were given of the various obstacles which rose 
 up in rapid succession, to impede the progress of this 
 Memoir. 
 
 His Royal Highness was a voluminous writer ; and 
 though very many of his private letters were, on his 
 demise, most properly surrendered to the Duchess,* 
 a large number is still extant, and in very diversified 
 custody. Several of these I have been so fortunate 
 as to see, but their possessors, generally speaking, 
 were unwilling that they should be transcribed, that 
 their tenor should be even partially divulged, or that 
 
 * A large packet of documents of this description was trans- 
 mitted to Her Royal Highness, shortly after the Duke's decease, 
 by his confidential chaplain, and intimate friend, Dr. Rudge. 
 
 / * 
 
 2066269
 
 VI PREFACE. 
 
 any abstract should be made of their contents. A 
 brief and hasty perusal, was, in many cases, all that 
 could be accorded me. 
 
 Nor were hindrances of another kind wanting. 
 Persons who affected to be conversant with the chro- 
 nicles of the past abounded in dissuasives. " You will 
 find," cried they, "such cruelty when you come to 
 deal with his government of Nova Scotia, such a 
 merciless use of the lash, and such a string of execu- 
 tions, when you approach the mutiny scene at Gibral- 
 tar, as wUl compel you to abandon your task, and 
 cause you to regret your temerity in commencing it." 
 
 Others hinted that a Life of the Duke could not be 
 written, it would be far too hazardous under exist- 
 ing circumstances. 
 
 Another but let us have his own words. None 
 possessed greater facilities than himself for arriving at 
 a sound conclusion relative to the Duke's career. 
 
 " The history of the Duke's military life is so inter- 
 woven with difficulties, that some time yet must elapse 
 before it can be done justice to. It would be unjust
 
 PREFACE. vii 
 
 to deal with it partially ; and the more so as documents 
 exist on which it can be impartially treated, and to 
 his honour and credit . . . 
 
 " It must be some years, if even then, before many 
 details could be laid before the public, that it is due 
 to the Duke's memory should be known." 
 
 Why, then, did I persevere ? 
 
 1. Because all my military correspondents, with 
 one exception, urged me to proceed. All expressed 
 their earnest wish to see the Duke's military career 
 traced out ; and some explanation given of that 
 strange event, the mutiny at Gibraltar; and its still 
 stranger issue, the Duke's recall after thoroughly 
 suppressing it. 
 
 2. Next, because, after waiting for some years in 
 the anxious hope that a far more able writer would 
 undertake the task, I thought it desirable that some 
 effort, however faint and feeble, should be made to 
 do justice to his memory, before the generation co- 
 temporary with the Duke had wholly passed away. 
 
 3. Another motive urged me. In early life I had 
 seen a good deal of Dr. Maton. I had heard him
 
 Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 often allude to the Duke to his habits, his pecu- 
 liarities, his singular kindness of heart and boundless 
 consideration for the. unfortunate. I had heard him 
 characterize the Duke as the " most princely-minded 
 man " whom he had ever known, and deeply regret 
 his undeserved embarrassments. 
 
 4. Some grateful and personal recollections were 
 busy within me. My father had had the distinction 
 conferred on him of being appointed, in 1819, one 
 of His Royal Highness's Physicians Extraordinary. 
 In consequence of unforeseen circumstances, the 
 honour was mine of waiting upon His Royal High- 
 ness at Kensington Palace, with certain medical 
 credentials among them a very kind and strongly- 
 worded letter from our unvarying friend, Dr. Maton. 
 I shall ever retain the most indelible recollection 
 of the Duke's courtesy and kindness during that 
 memorable interview ; of the interest with which he 
 drew forth, and the cordiality with which he listened 
 to, my statement of my father's ill-requited public 
 services; of the tact with which he grasped the 
 various features of Dr. Neale's enterprise his bring- 
 ing, at the hazard of his life, most important de- 
 spatches to England, from the British Embassy at 
 Constantinople, his immediate predecessor IN SUCH
 
 PREFACE. ix 
 
 SERVICE having been, MURDERED, and no party appear- 
 ing particularly willing to undergo the risk and 
 then, the hazard having been braved and the service 
 fully and faithfully rendered, the unworthy requital 
 of his never receiving nor his widow to this hour 
 the honorarium of 500/., almost invariably bestowed 
 upon individuals trusted in such emergencies, and 
 successful. 
 
 I think I hear him now saying to me, holding Dr. 
 Maton's letter in his hand, and with his peculiarly 
 winning and gracious smile " Presuming your state- 
 ment to be correct, that your father was the bearer 
 of these despatches ; that he was so at the instance of 
 the British Ambassador ; that he brought them safely 
 to England and delivered them to Mr. Fox ; that his 
 predecessor was murdered; and that there was no 
 slight risk run by himself; my impression is, (if these 
 statements be facts,) that he fully deserves the cus- 
 tomary gratuity, and that it ought not to be withheld. 
 I will make some immediate inquiries on this point ; 
 and, if possible, aid you. Meanwhile, this is my 
 counsel. Never," said he with a smile, " withdraw 
 your claim : never cease urging it, and never com- 
 promise it."
 
 X PREFACE. 
 
 Such, to make a clean breast of it, gentle 
 reader, were my motives ; whether their issue deserve 
 encouragement must be matter for your own 
 decision. 
 
 So far as the Duke's Government of Nova Scotia 
 is concerned, the following letter from that deservedly 
 popular ruler and daring soldier, Sir John Harvey, 
 merits close attention. I am delighted to have such 
 a document wherewith to grace my pages : 
 
 " Government House, Halifax, 
 October 4th, 1849. 
 
 " REVEREND SIR, I was duly favoured with your com- 
 munication of the 10th ult., and have had pleasure in 
 causing the legislative records of this colony to be searched 
 for the documents relative to the late Duke of Kent, 
 referred to therein ; and I have the gratification of here- 
 with transmitting to you the most full and satisfactory 
 evidence with respect, not only to the unanimous vote of 
 the sum of five hundred guineas for the purchase of a Star 
 of the order of the Garter (of brilliants), but of several 
 addresses to His Royal Highness, expressive of the high 
 estimation in which the Duke's character was held, not 
 only by the Legislature, but by the people of this province. 
 
 " To these testimonials I have the pleasure to add 
 a letter which has been addressed to me, at my own sug- 
 gestion, by the venerable and highly respected Chief Jus- 
 tice of this province, who served under the Duke while at 
 Halifax, as a Captain in His Royal Highness's own regi- 
 ment 7th Royal Fusileers ; and I can further gftate, that
 
 PREFACE. xi 
 
 during the whole period of my connexion with the British 
 North American Colonies nearly forty years I have never 
 heard the Duke of Kent spoken of otherwise than in terms of 
 affectionate and grateful respect ; ESPECIALLY IN NOVA 
 
 SCOTIA, WHERE HE WAS BEST KNOWN. 
 
 t( I have the honour to remain, 
 " Reverend Sir, 
 
 " Your very obedient Servant, 
 
 " J. HARVEY, 
 
 " Reverend Erskine Nettle, " Licutenant-General and 
 
 Kirton Rectory." Lieutenant-Oovernor of Nova Scotia." 
 
 With reference to the Duke's peculiar and family 
 trials, let a man of high rank be heard : 
 
 " Brighton, July 1st, 1848. 
 
 " SIR, Your letters of the 5th and 14th reached me 
 here. I hope that no trifling difficulties will deter you from 
 prosecuting your task of combining, in a biographical form, 
 the principal events in the life of the Duke of Kent. 
 
 " I cannot give you the assistance you ask, and / should 
 like to render. A few of his letters are in my possession ; 
 but, in looking them over, I find they refer to matters so 
 entirely private, that I should not feel myself justified in 
 consenting to their publication, even in a restricted and 
 mutilated form. A single sentence will describe him 
 He was a military reformer attempted to remedy certain 
 gross evils which required immediate correction, and met 
 with no support either from within or from without, from 
 his family or from his officers. Jealousy, in a certain high 
 quarter, to which I cannot for obvious reasons more parti- 
 cularly allude, swamped him. Now, to do this ill-used
 
 Xll PREFACE. 
 
 man justice, you must not shrink from telling certain un- 
 palatable truths. You must speak out, and say 
 
 " You will also be unjust to his memory unless you 
 notice his occasional sternness of look, but invariable soft- 
 ness of heart. Paint him as a thorough soldier sharp to 
 severity on parade ; kind to a fault, off. You must advert 
 also to the fascination of his manner as a host ; and to the 
 grace and address with which he did the honours of his 
 own table. 
 
 "You must notice his horror of excess in soldier and 
 civilian ; his hatred of gambling ; his love of simple 
 pleasures ; his habits of early rising ; his partiality to 
 exercise in the open air ; his punctuality ; the value he 
 placed on time ; his preference of simple food ; in all which 
 points he greatly resembled my dear old master, George 
 the Third. 
 
 "You should state, moreover, that the sense of his 
 Avrongs was present to him even up to the very last year 
 of his life. The mention of Gibraltar grated on his feel- 
 ings and any allusion, however incidental, to antecedent 
 events there, chafed and roused him. 
 
 :e And if your aim be impartiality, you must hint that 
 George the Third, exemplary monarch as he was, always 
 had his eyes marvellously open to the Duke's faults ; and 
 that Queen Charlotte, who never would see the Regent's 
 errors, nor admit as excessive the lavish expenditure of 
 that costly personage, regarded Edward's wants as e mon- 
 strous' and himself as a paragon of 'imprudence and 
 extravagance.' 
 
 " The sums which Her Majesty privately bestowed on 
 the Prince of Wales surpass belief; while from Prince 
 Edward she resolutely withheld her resources. 
 
 " Moreover, Sir, you will be false to your sacred calling 
 if you depict the Duke other than a benevolent, chad-
 
 PREFACE. Xlll 
 
 table, forgiving man who had much to forget and much 
 to pardon in others, and who conscientiously did both. 
 
 " My advanced years, and increasing disinclination to 
 writing, prevent my adding more than that I am, with best 
 wishes, 
 
 " Yours faithfully, 
 
 * * # # 
 "Jtev. E.Neale." 
 
 "P.S. A political Pamphlet, entitled 'The Rival 
 Princes,' contains some curious details as to the treatment 
 of the Duke at the Horse Guards. My copy (if you 
 wish it) is at your service. The interlineations and 
 unqualified contradictions in certain pages are in the Duke's 
 handwriting. But you will find enough of truth to repay 
 perusal." 
 
 With respect to the outbreak at Gibraltar, fully 
 treated of in a succeeding page, it ought in fairness to 
 be stated, that half of the 2d battalion of the Royals, 
 which mutinied, was composed of Irish, and of drafts 
 from other corps, which, as all my military readers 
 will be well aware, are invariably the worst men. 
 The wonder was, during the first hour of the emeu-te, 
 how, after the Duke's" judicious arrangements about 
 the wine-houses, they could have succeeded in getting 
 supplies of liquor in such quantities. This feeling,
 
 XIV PREFACE. 
 
 however, was dispelled on the trial (Dec. 29th, 1802) 
 of eight of the rioters of the 25th regiment. It 
 then came out that the wine-sellers whose houses 
 had been closed the most ill-conducted houses 
 were advisedly selected by the Duke for suppression 
 gratuitously supplied many of the men of the 25th 
 regiment with buckets of wine in as great quantity 
 as they could drink, with the design of infuriating 
 them against the Duke, creating an outbreak, and 
 during its prevalence surprising the Governor into 
 a promise of re-opening all the wine-houses as the 
 means of restoring quiet. 
 
 The "string of executions-" only amounted to three ! 
 On the 3d of January, 1803, at eight o'clock in the 
 morning, three of the ringleaders belonging to the 
 25th regiment Pastoret, Teighman, and Reilly 
 were shot on the grand parade, in the presence of the 
 whole garrison under arms. 
 
 If the Duke erred, it was, as some military men 
 strongly contended, on the score of lenity. But, as 
 good old Bishop Hall says, " We do no whit savour of 
 heaven, if we have not learned to return good for evil."
 
 PREFACE. XV 
 
 It but remains that I should thank those who have 
 aided me in my task.* 
 
 I have to offer my heartfelt acknowledgments to the 
 Rev. Dr. Rudge, Rector of Hawkchurch, long the 
 Duke's confidential friend and chaplain, from whom I 
 have derived much valuable information. 
 
 I am also greatly indebted to the Rev. Dr. Collyer, 
 who enjoyed twelve years of uninterrupted intimacy 
 with His Royal Highness, and to whose memoir of the 
 Prince I have without scruple applied. 
 
 My cordial and respectful thanks are due to His 
 Excellency Sir John Harvey, Governor of Nova Scotia, 
 to the venerable Chief Justice Halliburton, and to 
 Mr. Adolphus, from whose valuable collection of rare 
 pamphlets I have derived considerable guidance. 
 
 My obligations are not slight to the Rev. Mr. 
 Watson, minister of Stirling, for the trouble he so 
 
 * May 1 seize this opportunity of naming a little periodical, 
 "Notes and Queries," as a most desirable mode of intercom- 
 munication for literary men ?
 
 XVI PREFACE. 
 
 kindly took to ascertain that important fact in the 
 Duke's life, his ORIGINATING regimental schools ; to 
 Lieutenant- Colonel Mullen, late of the Royals ; and to 
 Major Edward Boyd, His Royal Highness's protege 
 and godson, a distinction he may well be proud of : 
 one who remembers vividly the kindness shown him 
 by his early patron, and affectionately cherishes his 
 memory. 
 
 One remark more, and I take my leave. 
 
 The considerate reader must look at the OBJECT of 
 the volume rather than at its execution. As for the 
 rest to use the words of Sydney Smith 
 
 " I mention these things because men who DO good 
 things are so much more valuable than those who say 
 loise ones ; because the order of human excellence is 
 so often inverted ; and great talents considered as an 
 excuse for the absence of obscure virtues." 
 
 KIETON RECTORY, 
 March \5th, 1850.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Birth Childhood Early love of Truth Displeases the 
 King Dr. Fisher, Bishop of Salisbury His affectionate 
 regard for the Duke's Memory 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Sojourn in Germany Baron Wangenheim The pitiful 
 Allowance doled out to the Prince The German Soldier 
 a slave 9 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Geneva Thraldom Commencement of the Prince's pecu- 
 niary Difficulties Sudden Journey to England Harsh 
 treatment from the King Brief Interview and Farewell 13 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Gibraltar Prince Edward's Popularity there The Enter- 
 tainment given in his honour 23 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Active Service The West Indies The Prince's Gallantry 
 in action Highly commended by the Commander-in- 
 Chief Receives the Thanks of Parliament 32 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 In command Halifax Judge Halliburton's personal Recol- 
 lections of the Prince Touching Anecdote of His Royal 
 Highness Gaming; and the rescued Officer ... .41
 
 XV111 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Diplomatists and their Promises Mr. Pitt Lord Sidmouth 
 His Lordship's peculiar and convenient Memory The 
 Government of Gibraltar offered 77 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The Mutiny at Gibraltar Treachery of the Officers Con- 
 spiracy against the Duke 87 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Duke's Life in peril Who were instrumental in pre- 
 serving it Letters Lord Melbourne A trait of his 
 official career The Queen's intentions relative to the Son 
 of Major Connor 110 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 The Recall from Gibraltar 123 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 Money Matters 134 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 Caroline, Princess of Wales 144 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 The Duke makes over half his income to trustees Touching 
 Letter to the King An ineffectual Appeal Communica- 
 tion from the Duke of York , . , . 104 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Consultation with Sir Samuel Romilly Major Dodd Sir 
 Samuel's Decision Colonel Wardle's Resolutions against 
 the Duke of York The Debates in the House of Com- 
 mons The Duke of Kent's line of conduct on the occasion 
 The Intrigues falsely imputed to him His Speech in 
 the House of Lords ; .... 172
 
 CONTENTS. XIX 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Sellis His attempt to assassinate the Duke of Cumberland 
 The subject selected as the basis of a Lecture to a class of 
 
 surgical pupils Mr. C , the well-known Surgeon 
 
 The Duke of Kent's displeasure His mode of showing 
 
 it His strong Comparison .187 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 His Political Course as a Peer of Parliament Votes on the 
 Regency Restrictions on the Roman-Catholie Emancipa- 
 tion Bill His Delicacy and devoted Obedience to the pre- 
 sumed wishes of his Royal Father His adherence to the 
 Bible Society, considered as a grievance by the then Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury 197 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 A peep at the Duke in Private Life 204 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Fresh Difficulties and further Sacrifices The Duke's private 
 Letter to the Prince Regent Lord Liverpool's Reply 
 Letter to Lord Sidmouth His Lordship's gutta percha 
 Memory His Injustice to the Duke His Royal Highness 
 presides at " the Literary Fund" Dinner His Speech 
 Meeting for the relief of the Distressed Artisan Lord 
 Cochrane Address to the Duke from certain supporters 
 of Charitable Institutions Speech at the Festival of 
 St. Patrick 21G 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 His Marriage The hold over popular opinion eventually 
 obtained by the Duchess 234 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Amorbach Return to England Birth of the Princess Vic- 
 toria The line of conduct adopted by the Prince Regent 
 The Duke's feelings as a Father His earnest Piety 
 Scene at Kensington Palace 265
 
 XX CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Duke's endeavour to dispose of his Property at Castle- 
 Hill by Lottery Frustrated by Ministers Lord Castle- 
 reagh's candid construction of Mr. Hume's motives . . 273 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Takes the Chair for the last time at the Annual Meeting of 
 the British and Foreign School Society His Speech on 
 the occasion Departure for Sidmouth Remarkable ex- 
 pression in one of the Duke's Letters relative to the 
 infant Princess Her narrow Escape from serious injury 
 Letter from the Duke about the School at Amorbach . . 286 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 The Duke's last Illness Death The Peace and Tranquillity 
 of his expiring moments Dr. Maton Interview with the 
 Prince Regent The Duke's Funeral His Will His 
 re-assertion in it of his just but evaded Claims Homage 
 paid to his Memory in the Houses of Parliament . . . 294 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 His Character The Founder of Regimental Schools His 
 Kindness to the old soldier Prince Leopold His short 
 but remarkable Speech at a Public Meeting The Duke's 
 Forbearance as Colonel of the Regiment Letter from 
 Rev. Dr. Rudge, the Duke's Domestic Chaplain The 
 Duke and the young Ensign His painful Susceptibility 
 on the subject of Gibraltar The buried Queue ! Scene 
 with the Duke Letter to Mr. Ayton Kind feeling to- 
 wards the Press, and Political Writers Letter to Mr. 
 Crawfurd Letter to Dr. Collyer His Habits His Pecu- 
 liarities His Punctuality Concluding Reflections . . 305 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS . ....... 337
 
 THE LIFE 
 
 OP 
 
 FIELD MARSHAL, HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS, EDWARD, 
 
 DUKE OF KENT. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 BIRTH CHILDHOOD EARLY LOVE OF TRUTH DISPLEASES THE 
 
 KIXG DR. FISHER, BISHOP OF SALISBURY HIS AFFECTIONATE 
 
 REGARD FOR THE DUKE's MEMORY. 
 
 17671785. 
 
 DR. ARNOLD, in his touching addresses to the young 
 under his care, how vividly are those addresses 
 remembered, and how marvellous and abiding the 
 influence which they exercise ! maintained that 
 " Every life has its lesson." " The great and good 
 Father above," he was accustomed to say, " is con- 
 tinually teaching his erring children. Animate and 
 inanimate nature woods, waters, fields, flowers 
 the shell from the caves of ocean, and the fossil from 
 the stone quarry, all bear tidings of Him. But man 
 He teaches more prominently and emphatically by the
 
 2 THE LIFE OF 
 
 failures, successes, temptations, trials, and disappoint- 
 ments of his fellow. Every life bears some great moral 
 lesson. And the more elevated the station of the 
 actor, and the more chequered the life, the more 
 varied is the lesson and the more weighty is the 
 moral which that life conveys/' 
 
 It is in the spirit of these observations that I 
 address myself to the task of giving some detailed 
 account of that just and kind-hearted man the late 
 Duke of Kent : a task arduous and delicate in itself, 
 and embarrassed by difficulties which will readily occur 
 to a reflecting reader. 
 
 His indulgence and favourable construction I am 
 sure I shall receive. 
 
 If, as the Life progresses, I should moralize too 
 often, or mix up with its incidents topics of graver 
 moment, perhaps that will be held pardonable in one 
 whose calling demands from him that all he says or 
 does should have a reference to man's higher and 
 nobler destiny the bearing of the present upon the 
 future and his daily preparation for immortality. 
 
 EDWARD AUGUSTUS, fourth son of George the Third 
 by his consort the Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburgh 
 Stretlitz, was born at Buckingham House, at noon, on 
 the 2d of November, 1767. 
 
 The event is thus briefly recorded in the public 
 prints of the day. 
 
 " This day, about noon, the Queen was happily 
 delivered of a Prince. Her Royal Highness the 
 Princess Dowager of Wales, his Grace the Archbishop
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 3 
 
 of Canterbury, several Lords of His Majesty's most 
 honourable Privy Council, and the Ladies of Her Ma- 
 jesty's Bed-chamber, were present." 
 
 " My arrival was somewhat mal-a-propos " the 
 Duke was more than once heard to say to one who 
 possessed much of his confidence, and who was a 
 frequent guest at Kensington,* "the month was 
 gloomy, November ; the Court was enveloped in 
 gloom, for it was a season of mourning; one of my 
 uncles, a great favourite with my father, was then 
 lying dead in his coffin ; his funeral, in fact, took 
 place some twenty-four hours after my birth. Some- 
 times the thought has crossed me, whether my inop- 
 portune appearance was not ominous of the life of 
 gloom and struggle which awaited me." 
 
 He was christened, on the 30th of the same month, 
 at St. James's Palace, by Dr. Terrick, then Bishop of 
 London. f The name of Edward was given to him 
 by George the Third's express desire, in memory of 
 the monarch's eldest brother, Edward, Duke of York, 
 whose remains were carried to their last resting-place, 
 in Westminster Abbey, the very day following the 
 young Prince's birth. 
 
 The sponsors at the royal baptism were the here- 
 ditary Prince of Brunswick proxy, Lord Hertford ; 
 Prince Charles of Mecklenburgh Stretlitz proxy, 
 
 * Rev. Henry White, formerly Minister of All Hallows, Bark- 
 ing, and one of His Royal Highness's Chaplains. 
 
 t Dr. Seeker, Archbishop of Canterbury, was at that time con- 
 fined by illness to his palace. 
 
 B -2
 
 4 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Lord Huntingdon; and her Serene Highness, the 
 Landgravine of Hesse Cassel proxy, the Duchess 
 of Hamilton. 
 
 The Duke's childhood, as that of princes generally, 
 may be passed over as affording little scope for obser- 
 vation ; but, at an early period of life, he was placed 
 under the care of an earnest and judicious instructor, 
 Mr. Fisher, subsequently Canon of Windsor, and suc- 
 cessively Bishop of Exeter and Salisbury. 
 
 For this appointment as tutor, he is understood to 
 have been indebted to the good offices of Dr. Hurd. 
 The attachment of the reigning monarch to the 
 venerable and learned Bishop of Worcester is matter 
 of history. The King wrote to him frequently and 
 confidentially ; disclosed to him his domestic sorrows ; 
 sought consolation at his hands in the hour of bereave- 
 ment ; and had resolved on placing the Queen and his 
 youthful family in the Bishop's palace at Worcester, 
 as a place of refuge, in the event of the threatened 
 invasion by Buonaparte being carried into effect. The 
 letters which passed between the monarch and the 
 prelate, from their unreserved interchange of senti- 
 ment, from their tone, ease, and frank details, re- 
 semble letters between intimate friends of the same, 
 or nearly the same grade in society, rather than those 
 likely to be exchanged between a sovereign and a 
 subject. In some of them George the Third asks for 
 the " good Bishop's advice and opinion." In others 
 he announces that he has acted on his suggestions ; 
 and in all of them the King evidently regards his
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 5 
 
 correspondent as a man gifted with no ordinary 
 powers of judgment and discrimination. 
 
 At an early period of his career, Mr. Fisher was 
 fortunate enough to have attracted the Bishop's notice ; 
 was by him introduced to the favourable consideration 
 of the King; and became Prince Edward's tutor. 
 How faithfully he fulfilled his trust, how strong and 
 enduring the attachment entertained towards him by 
 his pupil, may be gathered from several of the Duke's 
 letters which I have had an opportunity of perusing. 
 On the other hand, the affectionate feelings of un- 
 dying attachment cherished by the Bishop for his royal 
 pupil may be inferred from the following anecdote, 
 which I am happy to place on record, from personal 
 observation. 
 
 The year was 1824; the Bishop was then residing 
 in Lower Seymour Street ; and the season that im- 
 mediately preceding his Spring ordination. The 
 Bishop was far advanced in years ; harassed by a 
 perpetual and irritating cough ; seemed feeble and 
 dispirited ; and apparently unequal to taking any 
 share in the conversation which was passing around 
 him. There he sat, a tranquil and benevolent-looking 
 old man ; and if ever gentle, and courteous, and kindly 
 expression of eye rightly indicated the mild and tole- 
 rant spirit which reigned within, it was in the person 
 of John Fisher, Bishop of Salisbury. 
 
 The conversation took a wide range : touched, 
 among other matters, upon art Constable, the painter, 
 was present ; glanced at and traversed a vast variety
 
 6 THE LIFE OF 
 
 of topics. The prelate lent but a listless ear. On a 
 sudden an elderly clergyman observed that he had 
 that morning seen the little Princess Victoria, during 
 her drive ; had been close to her for some moments ; 
 and had much to say about this fortunate rencontre. 
 The Bishop's attention was instantly roused : his 
 eye kindled ; he turned eagerly towards the speaker, 
 and asked question after question ; how the little 
 Princess looked whether she seemed cheerful whom 
 she resembled was her likeness to the late Duke so 
 marked as many of his friends delighted to represent 
 it ? Each query received minute reply. The Bishop 
 clenched the last answer with the fervent exclamation, 
 " May the little Princess resemble her father in cha- 
 racter, but not in destiny !" 
 
 " The former," said one of the guests, " your Lord- 
 ship is said to have had no small share in forming." 
 
 " That recollection is most agreeable to me, particu- 
 larly now that he is gone. Noble fellow ! I escorted 
 him over my cathedral a few weeks before his death 
 little imagining his decease was so near, or that I 
 should be the survivor. I may well be proud of him. 
 A prince with whom a love of truth was paramount 
 to every other consideration ; a prince whom nothing 
 could induce to dissemble ; even in childhood it was 
 the same. At Kew Palace there was a time-piece, 
 highly prized by George the Third : it was a clumsy 
 affair ; there was nothing particular in its construc- 
 tion, or ingenious about its movement. The only 
 attraction it possessed arose from its historical associ-
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 7 
 
 ations. It had belonged, if my memory rightly serves 
 me, to the youthful Duke of Gloucester, son of Queen 
 Anne. One morning the pedestal of this relic was 
 found vacant, and the time-piece itself lying on the 
 ground, a wreck. It had been battered by some 
 heavy instrument, and lay shivered in fragments. 
 Repair was hopeless. The dial was damaged irrepa- 
 rably. The King's displeasure was not light ; and 
 immediate inquiries were instituted. They issued in 
 no satisfactory result : the culprit could not even be 
 guessed at ; no one had witnessed the disaster ; no one 
 could explain its occurrence. After many hours had 
 elapsed, by mere chance a question was put to Prince 
 Edward. ' I did it,' was the instant and unhesitating 
 reply. ' But,' said one party, anxious to screen the 
 intrepid boy," I suspected, from a little tremor in the 
 voice, that it was the Bishop himself, " ' your Royal 
 Highness did it by accident?' 'No; I did it inten- 
 tionally.' ' But your Royal Highness regrets what 
 you have done ?' 'No; not at all.' 'Not sorry?' 
 ' No ; I may be sorry for it to-morrow, but I certainly 
 am not sorry for it now.' It was impossible to get 
 over this avowal. The Prince was punished, AND NOT 
 SLIGHTLY." The Bishop paused, and then added, in 
 a low but emphatic tone, " WJten was it OTHERWISE, 
 in childhood or manhood? WHEN, and where ?" 
 
 Mrs. Fisher interposed. The tenderest and most 
 vigilant of nurses, she saw at a glance the invalid's 
 emotion, and was most desirous to terminate it; her wish 
 was to stem the tide of these reminiscences at once.
 
 8 THE LIFE OF 
 
 " The anecdote is complete, is it not, Bishop?" 
 " Not quite ! The boy was father to the man. In 
 this trait of character lies the secret of many of the 
 after sorrows of his life. With him truth was omni- 
 potent. He could not dissemble. Were those, who 
 in a measure controlled his destiny, able justly to 
 estimate his character ? Could they appreciate it ? 
 Did they ? I fear not." 
 
 This anecdote, which on retiring from the Bishop's 
 table I at once and fully committed to paper, im- 
 pressed me strongly. I remembered the Duke, I had 
 ample reason so to do. I had been honoured by an 
 interview with him at Kensington Palace in 1819, 
 and bore in grateful remembrance the kindly counsel 
 he then gave me. My father had held the distinguished 
 appointment of one of his Physicians Extraordinary ; 
 and, furthermore, His Royal Highness had alluded in 
 the most feeling manner to my father's services and 
 claims on Government, and had said he " considered 
 his (my father's) case a very hard one, and one that 
 merited the most generous construction at the Foreign 
 Office." As A SON was it likely that such a remark 
 from such lips would be lightly heeded or soon for- 
 gotten ?
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 TUB SOJOURN IN GERMANY BARON WANGENHEIM THE PITIFUL 
 
 ALLOWANCE DOLED OUT TO THE PRINCE THE GERMAN SOLDIER 
 
 A SLAVE. 
 
 17851786. 
 
 THE profession of arms that of his own free choice, 
 and that to which, despite of ill-usage and unjust 
 censure, he was till death devotedly attached was 
 adopted by the Prince in February, 1785. In that 
 month, being then in his eighteenth year, he was sent 
 to Luneburg, then forming a part of the Electorate of 
 Hanover, there to prosecute his military studies. 
 Here he first served as a cadet. It was an unhappy 
 selection in every point of view. Luneburg itself is a 
 wretched, poverty-stricken, gloomy town. The province 
 which surrounds it, and of which it is the capital, is a 
 vast plain of sand, interrupted here and there by deep 
 moors and forests of pine. Wide-spreading and ague- 
 breeding marshes; long, straight, deep, and dreary 
 looking dykes, kept up at an enormous expense, to pro- 
 tect it from the inundations of the Elbe, form its prin- 
 cipal and repulsive features. The Duke appears to have 
 viewed the place, the people, the professional duties 
 demanded from him, the military chief under whose 
 charge he was placed, and who was his arbitrary and 
 inflexible governor, with unmitigated disgust. Some
 
 10 THE LIFE OF 
 
 rough memoranda drawn up at this period by the 
 youthful soldier himself memoranda which I have 
 been permitted to glance at bear out this conclusion. 
 There was no community of feeling between His 
 Royal Highness and his military superior. The latter 
 he regarded and describes as " a mercenary tyrant," 
 looking only to the allowance of 1000/. granted him 
 (Prince Edward) by " Farmer George," and bent on 
 appropriating to himself (the Governor) every shilling 
 he could squeeze out of it. " Farmer George " 
 meaning, I presume, the King. In another place the 
 Prince complains bitterly that though the stipulated 
 allowance, 1000/. per annum, was avowedly for his 
 use and benefit, " one guinea and a half per week, 
 sometimes melted down by military forfeits to twenty- 
 two shillings, was alt that found its way into his purse 
 for his personal expenses of every kind. This he calls 
 in another place "open robbery." 
 
 Meanwhile his military duties were enforced with 
 unrelenting severity. No pause, no respite was 
 granted. His feelings were galled and his spirits 
 depressed by unintermitting attention to the wearying 
 and mechanical details of parade and drill drill and 
 parade. What wonder that his heart sickened 
 at his position and his duties ! 
 
 After a year's residence at Luneburg, the Prince 
 was removed to Hanover, where apartments were pro- 
 vided for him in one of the royal palaces. 
 
 " It is a change of scene," was his remark to a 
 friend, with whom he was accustomed to dwell on the
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 11 
 
 strange passages of his early life, " but with it came 
 no remedy of existing evils. The same niggardly 
 allowance was dealt out ; the same system of espionage 
 was carried on ; my letters were intercepted ; several 
 never reached the King ; he was displeased at my 
 apparently undutiful silence ; false representations 
 were made to him respecting my conduct ; 1 was 
 described to him as recklessly extravagant. I had 
 the means of being so, undoubtedly, on a guinea and a 
 half a-week ! Much of the estrangement between my 
 royal parent and myself much of the sorrow of my 
 after life, may be ascribed to that most unwise and 
 most uncalled for sojourn in the electorate." 
 
 True ! but this summary, sweeping as it is, does 
 not fully embrace the harvest of evil which thence 
 arose. 
 
 In Germany, the soldier is not a man, but a 
 machine ; not a living, moving, breathing being, with 
 hopes, desires, aspirations, and opinions of his own, but 
 an automaton. He belongs, soul and body, to the State. 
 He has no liberty of action no choice no opinions 
 no bias of his own. His creed is summed up in one 
 word "obedience;" and his deity is his command- 
 ing officer. He must believe as his commanding 
 officer believes ; and deny as his commanding officer 
 denies. His very soul is in the keeping of his general. 
 His life is one never-ending parade. He marks the 
 successive stages of existence by drills. He is not a 
 thinking, but a mechanical being. Thews and sinews 
 to be sure has he : but each and all subordinate to
 
 12 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the motions of the fugleman. A man he is not, but 
 a puppet. 
 
 Such the British soldier never can become. To 
 attempt to make him succumb to the minutiae at- 
 tendant on the discipline of the German trooper, 
 would be to ensure mutiny in the ranks. Admit 
 this, and much that is contradictory in the Duke's 
 career becomes at once intelligible. Do not Prince 
 Edward's early education in Germany, and the notions 
 he there imbibed of military discipline, account for 
 the unpopularity which, for a time, rested on his 
 name among the British soldiery ? Bui who was to 
 blame ? And the lesson is it not at hand and indis- 
 putable ? The British Prince must be trained and 
 nurtured on British ground. 
 
 Foreign maxims and foreign manners and foreign 
 watchwords, sit ill on him who is a denizen of a free 
 state, surrounded by free institutions, and maintained 
 by a free people. To despotism in any guise, the 
 Constitution of England is fatal. If the slave as soon 
 as he leaps on its shores is free ; so on its soil no 
 autocrat can thrive. 
 
 " Power and liberty," aptly remarks Saville, " are 
 like heat and moisture : where they are well mixed, 
 every thing prospers ; where they are single, they are 
 destructive"
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 13 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 GENEVA THRALDOM COMMENCEMENT OF THE PRINCE'S PECUNIARY 
 DIFFICULTIES SUDDEN JOURNEY TO ENGLAND HARSH TREAT- 
 MENT FROM THE KING THE BRIEF INTERVIEW AND FAREWELL. 
 
 17861789. 
 
 BUT the sojourn at Luneburg and Hanover was not 
 wholly overshadowed with gloom. It was lit up with 
 a passing ray of promotion. Amid his harassing and 
 interminable drills the Prince learnt that on the 30th 
 of May, 1786, he had been gazetted Colonel in the 
 army by brevet. On the 3d of the following month 
 he was elected Knight of the Garter. Luneburg and 
 Hanover* were at last left in the distance. In Octo- 
 ber, 1787, the domicile of His Royal Highness was, 
 by the King's command, transferred to Geneva : 
 
 * Connected with his residence at the latter place, there is an 
 anecdote, often repeated by himself, so brusque and characteristic, 
 that its omission would be an injustice. It is best told in his own 
 words : " Being placed as a cadet at Hanover, the regiment on 
 duty was discharged in the usual form ; but the general com- 
 manding happened to forget to dismiss me, which was always 
 accompanied with a distinct and peculiar ceremony. On this, 
 I continued in a very uneasy position, and was actually forgotten 
 for four hours, when at length the commanding officer rode up 
 and apologized. I should have remained, but for this, at my 
 post, until I had fainted with fatigue."
 
 14 THE LIFE OF 
 
 a welcome and most agreeable change. At Geneva 
 he had the opportunity of making the acquaintance 
 of several young English noblemen of the same 
 age as himself. The charms of companionship there 
 awaited him. The worth of youthful friendship 
 was proffered to him. In the situation of the city 
 itself there was much to interest him. Nowhere 
 does nature appear more lovely or attractive than 
 on the shores of Leman's lake. And marvellously 
 fair is the city which is mirrored in its crystal waters. 
 But the fable of Tantalus must often have been 
 recalled to the royal sojourner's recollection, by 
 his anomalous and trying position. His circum- 
 stances were painfully circumscribed. To the eldest 
 son of many an unpretending country gentleman 
 was meted out a far more liberal allowance than 
 to a princs of the blood. Although the sum paid 
 to the baron to maintain his royal pupil's esta- 
 blishment was now 6000/. per annum, the allowance 
 for pocket-money to the party most deeply interested 
 remained unaltered. It was still doled out after the 
 rate of one guinea and half per week; and it is 
 no exaggeration to say, that surrounded as the youth- 
 ful soldier must have been, by associates far inferior to 
 him in rank, but infinitely superior to him in point of 
 command of money, his straitened allowance could 
 not have been other than the source of daily and 
 hourly mortifications. 
 
 Incredible as the fact may seem, it nevertheless 
 admits of proof, that till the prince came to reside at
 
 THE DUKE OF KLNT. 15 
 
 Geneva Jte had not been master of any equipage, or 
 even the possessor of a horse! 
 
 No community of feeling could exist between him- 
 self and the baron. He had a governor instead of a 
 tutor ; a rigid master instead of a kind companion ; a 
 morose narrow-minded dictator instead of an amiable 
 and friendly adviser. This man received the whole 
 sum of money allotted for the Prince's maintenance, 
 and the main study- of his life was to retain it. 
 
 The results of this niggardly and wretched policy 
 are clearly stated in the detail of His Royal High- 
 ness's case, published but a short time before his 
 death by his express authority.* 
 
 " From not having any of those indulgences allowed 
 him which other young Englishmen of his own age, 
 with whom he was living, enjoyed, and who were the 
 sons of private gentlemen, the duke incurred debts by 
 borrowing money to procure them." 
 
 Those debts were a burden to him during the re- 
 mainder of Itis life. 
 
 In truth, the inadequacy of his income, for many 
 years, to support him in the style of living which, as 
 a prince, he was called upon to adopt, was a perpetual 
 and unmerited source of discomfort and disquiet. 
 
 Some letters written by His Royal Highness about 
 this period, and which I have seen, sustain the painful 
 impression too vividly entertained throughout life by 
 the Prince, that of all George the Third's sons, he 
 was the one to whose welfare the reigning monarch 
 * Appendix B.
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 was the most indifferent. One document in particular, 
 which I have been permitted to read carefully dated 
 Geneva, June 8th, 1788 curiously corroborates this 
 assertion. 
 
 After some observations about Geneva, its beauty, 
 its climate, and his satisfaction at learning that the 
 King wished him to remain there till the end of the 
 ensuing winter, he begs permission to keep two horses, 
 which number he will never exceed, " if that be the 
 King's pleasure ; but I have so seldom found a gracious 
 answer to any of the little trifling requests that I have 
 made him, that I am now very shy of asking, without 
 being very certain of success. Wangenheim* assures me 
 he had reported to the King my exact conformance." 
 
 Other annoyances, too, at Geneva were not wanting, 
 of another, but not less galling description. 
 
 The valet placed about his person was a man of the 
 name of Rhymers. This person, from various circum- 
 stances foremost among them the superciliousness of 
 his manner, and the pertinacious vigilance with which 
 he scanned every movement of the Prince became 
 personally obnoxious to his master. He requested 
 Rhymers' removal. The demand nothing surely very 
 unreasonable was demurred to. Here lay the diffi- 
 culty. Rhymers' occupation was to observe. He was 
 charged with the strict surveillance of the Prince's 
 movements ; was useful to Baron Wangenheim ; and 
 the Baron was unwilling that his tool should retire. 
 He writesf the letter is curious, both in diction 
 
 * His Governor. t The date, Geneva, June 8, 1788.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 17 
 
 and intent most earnestly to General Grenville, then 
 much in the King's confidence, touching the fortunes 
 of this obnoxious menial Rhymers. He states the 
 Prince's wish to be rid of him, and his (the Baron's) 
 anxiety that he should remain. He entreats General 
 Grenville to write to the Prince, that on no account 
 could he, General Grenville, mention it to the King, 
 Rhymers having been His Majesty's choice. 
 
 But even on this point, the kind-heartedness of the 
 young Prince peeps out. 
 
 Much as he desired Rhymers' absence, he earnestly 
 deprecated his ruin. And while in a letter to General 
 Grenville, he presses anxiously for the valet's removal, 
 "hopes the General will take care to cause his dis- 
 missal without ruining the man for life." 
 
 He was then in his nineteenth year ; but the 
 humane consideration of the youth was only matured 
 into the benevolent feeling of the man. His retainers 
 at Kensington had all grown grey in his service. On 
 his marriage with the Duchess, in 1818, his porter 
 had lived with him twenty-eight years ! 
 
 Wearied out by the petty and perpetual espionage 
 to which he was subjected ; thwarted on most occa- 
 sions, right or wrong, by the Baron ; chafed by the 
 ever-recurring annoyances arising from the position 
 he had to maintain, and the stinted allowance assigned 
 him, the Duke resolved on visiting England. Written 
 remonstrances he found were unavailing. A personal 
 appeal might be more successful. He was now of age, 
 and entitled to an impartial hearing.
 
 18 THE LIFE OF 
 
 In January, 1790, the young Prince made his 
 appearance in London. So unexpected was his arrival, 
 that neither the King nor any member of the royal 
 family had the slightest knowledge of his intention 
 to quit Geneva. He reached town in the night and 
 took up his quarters at an hotel in King Street, 
 St. James's. Thence intimation of his arrival was con- 
 veyed to the Prince of Wales, who immediately paid 
 him a visit and brought him to Carlton House. Here 
 the brothers were joined by the Duke of York, by 
 whom intelligence of the event was communicated 
 to the King. His Majesty's displeasure was extreme 
 and unappeasable. To every extenuating circum- 
 stance suggested in Prince Edward's favour by his 
 brothers and it is well known that on this occasion 
 their conduct was most disinterested and affectionate 
 the King replied, " Edward has quitted his post with- 
 out leave ; he is now in England without my cogni- 
 zance or consent. His presence here is an act of the 
 most daring and deliberate disobedience : and you call 
 on me to sanction it !" 
 
 To induce the King to take a more indulgent view 
 of the subject, neither entreaties nor arguments were 
 wanting. In vain. His Majesty's mind was made 
 up. He had come to a decision. And that decision 
 was irrevocable. 
 
 if, after his long exile abroad, the young Prince had 
 cherished hopes of remaining some short time in the 
 bosom of his family, of cultivating his early friend- 
 ships, and gaining an intimate knowledge, by personal
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 19 
 
 survey, of the land which gave him birth those hopes 
 were doomed to very sudden extinction. 
 
 A sojourn in England of ten days was all that was 
 permitted him ! 
 
 Before the termination of that brief interval, His 
 Royal Highness received peremptory orders to embark 
 for Gibraltar at the short notice of twenty-four 
 hours. He was at the same time given to under- 
 stand that this mandate was a mark of royal dis- 
 pleasure. 
 
 Another view of the transaction is presented from 
 a party whose MS. was submitted to the inspection 
 and correction of the illustrious personage most 
 deeply concerned : 
 
 " The Duke arrived suddenly and unexpectedly in 
 London. After so long an absence, nature and duty 
 urged him to present himself to the King and his 
 relations. Justice and necessity also required him to 
 call the King's attention to his pecuniary wants. 
 During a tedious and cruel space of thirteen days, he 
 sought every opportunity to see the King, but in vain. 
 On the 13th day, he received an official paper, sealed. 
 His heart now fluttered with the joy of meeting his 
 royal parent and his mother ; he opened it with the 
 utmost impatience, and read with sorrow a peremptory 
 order to embark for Gibraltar within twenty-four 
 hours. On the night before his departure, he was 
 admitted to the King's presence for five minutes, to 
 say ' hail! and farewell!' On the 1st of February, 
 1790, he quitted England with the insignificant sum 
 
 c 2
 
 20 THE LIFE OF 
 
 of 500/., which had been advanced to Brigadier- 
 General then Captain Crawford. 
 
 " It is scarcely possible to exaggerate the chagrin, 
 anxiety, and grief, which would be the companions of 
 his sad voyage to Gibraltar. It is not easy to realize 
 the affliction of a most affectionate son who, after an 
 absence of nearly six years, could obtain but ONE 
 interview with his parent for jive minutes and then 
 only as t a prelude to another arid protracted sepa- 
 ration." 
 
 These feelings, too, would be aggravated by the 
 reflection that he had not had either opportunity or 
 possibility of laying open those embarrassments which 
 had been forced upon him, or of supplicating the 
 King to grant him the necessary outfit and establish- 
 ment for his new station. He could derive no conso- 
 lation from his present circumstances, and he was 
 ignorant of the future. He did not receive with his 
 orders one single sentence to soothe, to cheer, or to 
 satisfy him as to what his stated allowance would be 
 when he should arrive at his destination ! Such was 
 the reception and such the treatment measured out to 
 the Duke of Kent. In such a state of anguish, uncer- 
 tainty and anxiety, he was commanded to quit England. 
 
 Now, when one recalls the numerous escapades of 
 his elder brother, the Prince of Wales the debts 
 which that expensive gentleman contracted, and which 
 were again and again defrayed by the nation the 
 messages which, in rather rapid succession, came down 
 to Parliament, relative to the pecuniary difficulties,
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 21 
 
 perplexities, arid embarrassments of the first gentleman 
 in Europe the manner in which he more than once 
 contravened the royal authority and was forgiven 
 hard measure seems to have been dealt out to the 
 youthful Edward. 
 
 If as there are ample grounds for believing his 
 journey to England was prompted mainly by his 
 ardent desire to provide for his pecuniary engagements, 
 and personally to represent his position to the King, 
 his departure from Geneva without previous permis- 
 sion, resolves itself into a somewhat venial offence. 
 The good old King might surely have forgiven it. In 
 truth, from the simplicity of his own tastes and mode 
 of life, from the circumstance of his early accession 
 to the throne, and from the fact of his never having 
 been himself placed in situations similar to that of Jiis 
 sons, the reigning monarch was of all men the most 
 incompetent judge as to what the wants of a young 
 prince really were. Peace to his venerated memory ! 
 A nation justly loved and honoured him. But he was 
 somewhat too stern and inexorable a judge, where 
 the conduct of his fourth and ablest son was con- 
 cerned. 
 
 It is fatal policy in a family, be it that of a sove- 
 reign or a subject, for parents to have favourites. 
 An inevitable harvest of discord and jealousy must 
 arise from the plan of passing over lightly the vices of 
 one child, and marking with stern severity the errors 
 in judgment of another. That is sure to be a dis- 
 united household where one son, from grace of person
 
 22 THE LIFE OF 
 
 or glozing tongue, is made the favourite ; and 
 another, from his frank demeanour, inability to 
 flatter, and undissembled love of truth, is made the 
 scapegoat. 
 
 Sensible, though homely, is the Norwegian proverb : 
 " In the parent nest the old bird's wings should screen 
 and shelter ALL ALIKE ! "
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 23 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 GIBRALTAR PRINCE EDWARB's POPULARITY THERE THE ENTER- 
 TAINMENT GIVEN IN HIS HONOUR. 
 
 17901791. 
 
 ONE of the first results attendant on this appointment, 
 and abrupt departure to Gibraltar, was an immediate 
 and heavy addition to the Prince's difficulties. 
 
 None concerned themselves either to provide for 
 him an outfit, or to furnish him with the means of 
 providing an adequate one for himself. 
 
 The sagacity of the worldly wise is wondrous. 
 They are duly careful to herd with the fortunate, and 
 to shun the unsuccessful. The Prince was under the 
 ban of the Court. Any connexion with his fortunes 
 was therefore undesirable. The safest policy was to 
 allow him to shift for himself. 
 
 He was thus compelled to provide his first outfit 
 for house-keeping at an enormous expense, from being 
 obliged to purchase it in a colony rather than in the 
 mother country, he never having been before possessed 
 of a single article for that purpose of any sort or 
 description. 
 
 One satisfaction he possessed he was rid of the 
 Baron. Governor Wangcnheim could fret and worry
 
 24 THE LIFE OF 
 
 him no more. He was placed under the tutelage of 
 another and far more generous and manly spirit. 
 Colonel Symes was deputed by General O'Hara 
 in command at Gibraltar to take the Prince under 
 his especial superintendence. Letters from the Colonel 
 are still in existence, attesting how faithfully, yet 
 kindly, this responsible trust was fulfilled. 
 
 In a communication, bearing date Gibraltar, May 
 20, 1790, Colonel Symes thus alludes to his landing 
 at Gibraltar, " found the Prince well, though 
 not too well pleased with his situation here on my 
 arrival." Pecuniary matters are then adverted to ; 
 and relief is sought for the Prince, by begging that 
 some bills drawn on Coutts to the Prince's credit may 
 be accepted by the Keeper of the Privy Purse at 
 home. Another letter from the Colonel, dated Gibral- 
 tar, May 21, dwells in detail on the Prince's difficul- 
 ties, and states that His Royal Highness has written 
 to the King, requesting to be enabled to discharge the 
 debts now increased. He (Colonel Symes) thinks it 
 would be equally wise and liberal to grant the Prince's 
 request, and extricate him from his embarrassments. 
 A most important admission follows : " The Prince's 
 general conduct has been perfectly to the satisfaction of 
 General O'Hara, and has met THE APPROBATION OF 
 
 THE WHOLE GARRISON." 
 
 Ill another letter, dated Gibraltar, Nov. 28, 1790, 
 in allusion to his royal charge, the Colonel writes, the 
 removal of Prince Edward " will be a real misfortune ; 
 and I should hold myself unworthy the confidence
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 25 
 
 with which I have been honoured, if I did not declare 
 that whatever advantage the Prince may, and I trust 
 in future will, derive from his instruction and resi- 
 dence here to General O'Hara he will have been 
 indebted for it." 
 
 These allusions derive importance from subsequent 
 events, and the conclusions drawn by certain parties 
 at home to the Prince's injury. He, enthusiastically 
 attached from boyhood to the profession of arms, 
 entered with delight on the discharge of his military 
 duties at Gibraltar, having been appointed Colonel of 
 the 7th regiment of foot, or Royal Fusileers, vacant by 
 the removal of the Hon. Major- General Gordon to the 
 71st regiment. The Fusileers at that time formed a 
 part of the garrison under General O'Hara. The ideas 
 of military discipline which the Prince had imbibed 
 during his early and ill-advised sojourn in Germany 
 were now fully carried out. He then was impressed 
 with the conviction he abandoned it in after life 
 that the most strict and rigid discipline could alone 
 form the soldier. Perhaps he then attached too great 
 importance to trifles. This may be affirmed with 
 greater certainty, viz. that he was himself too good a 
 soldier and too benevolent a man to be severe for the 
 mere sake of showing his authority. But his notions 
 of discipline rendered him unpopular with the men. 
 Representations relative to the dissatisfaction prevalent 
 in the Fusileers were made at home ; and the result 
 was that His Royal Highness was ordered to embark 
 with his regiment for America.
 
 26 THE LIFE OF 
 
 But that same determination of character and un- 
 flinching discipline which rendered him unpopular 
 with his troops, obtained for him a high degree of 
 respect from military men as a commander. 
 
 The following account gives us some idea of the 
 regard in which he was held by his brother officers. 
 It is from the pen of a British officer, and is taken 
 from one of the accredited journals of the day. 
 
 " Gibraltar, June 3d, 1791. 
 
 " I promised you an account of anything remark- 
 able that occurred in this fortress. I now redeem my 
 pledge. The very evening of my arrival in H.M.S. 
 ^Resistance, in company with H.M.S. Ulysses, Gibraltar 
 presented a scene new not only in this part of 
 Europe, but rarely witnessed even in the most popu- 
 lous cities. I allude to the fete given on that evening 
 to His Royal Highness Prince Edward, on his departure 
 for Canada. The account is drawn up by Captain 
 Fyers, of the Royal Engineers, well known to many 
 military men in England for his services in America. 
 He was the projector of that part of the entertainment 
 given in the ruinous barrack, which was fitted up by 
 him after his own design. 
 
 "The entertainment cost 1,800 dollars, or about 
 250/. sterling; and the expense of converting the 
 ruinous barrack into a supper-room amounted to 800 
 dollars, or about 1 1 2/. sterling ; both together causing 
 an outlay of only two guineas to each officer, an 
 offering made with the utmost alacrity upon this occa-
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 27 
 
 sion, where the object was to testify their respect and 
 attachment to their Sovereign and his family, in the 
 person of their royal guest, as well as their esteem and 
 regard for His Royal Highness himself, their comrade 
 and fellow-soldier." 
 
 " Gibraltar, May 30. 
 
 "In a corner of Europe so remote from England as 
 this, we are strangely puzzled for the unfavourable 
 representations said to have been circulated there 
 relative to His Royal Highness Prince Edward; we, 
 however, know that these rumours can only find credit 
 amongst those who are strangers to his character. 
 His conduct, whilst here, has been most meritorious ; 
 and, were we to inquire what young man in Gibraltar 
 has shown himself to be the most attentive and 
 diligent in the discharge of his public duties, as well 
 as the most regular and temperate in his private hours, 
 the answer must be ' Prince Edward.' That he pos- 
 sesses the art of conciliating the affections of his 
 brother-officers, was proved by the compliment paid 
 him previous to his departure for Canada. They had 
 resolved, as a mark of their attachment to, and respect 
 for, His Royal Highness, to give him a ball and sup- 
 per ; for the conducting of which each corps deputed 
 an officer. The Hotel de V Europe being fixed on for 
 the place, a temporary communication was contrived 
 between that and the ruins of an adjacent barrack, 
 which was admirably fitted up for the supper- room, at 
 the expense of the subscribers. The ball-room, in
 
 28 THE LIFE OF 
 
 itself an extremely handsome apartment, was decorated 
 with the colours of no less than ten regiments, and was 
 crowded with company a little after eight o'clock. It 
 was a happy coincidence that the ships destined to carry 
 the Prince and his regiment to Quebec, arrived, with 
 a considerable number of officers from England, on 
 the very day appointed for this entertainment. The 
 whole of the officers of the British navy and army 
 here, those of the Dutch and Portuguese squadrons, 
 and all the ladies in the place, were present. The 
 various costumes, the gay uniforms of the different 
 regiments, and the attire of the belles, made up 
 altogether a very brilliant assembly. His Excellency the 
 Governor, accompanied by all the field-officers, waited 
 on His Royal Highness at his quarters, attended him to 
 the hotel, and forming a guard of honour round him, 
 entered the ball-room at half-past eight. The dancing 
 continued till twelve, when the Prince and Sir Robert 
 Boyd, preceded by the managers, and followed by the 
 rest of the company, repaired to the supper-room ; 
 and the astonishment then visible in each countenance 
 at the unexpected magnificence of the spectacle, was 
 general and almost laughable. A select band of 
 fifty musicians played a grand march as the royal 
 guest moved on towards a canopy of state, at the 
 upper end of the apartment. The room, decorated 
 with extreme good taste, was 110 feet long, 27 feet 
 wide, and 24 feet high : the company descended from 
 a . flight of steps 9 feet wide, under a lofty arch, 
 into the room; by which means, at one glance the
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 29 
 
 whole array of the supper-tables was brought into view. 
 These were calculated to accommodate 240 persons. 
 Another supper-room was elsewhere. The canopy 
 under which the Prince sat was cleverly con- 
 structed, and covered with pink silk and silver orna- 
 ments. On the top was the figure of Fame, holding 
 in her left hand a St. George's ensign, which reached 
 to the roof of the room. On the back of the seat was 
 placed the Prince's coronet, large, and properly gilded; 
 over which, and immediately beneath the canopy, was 
 an illuminated representation of the rising sun. The 
 niches on each side of the canopy were filled, the one 
 by Minerva, in an attitude of inviting the Prince's 
 attention to Fame above him ; the other by Victory 
 preparing a laurel crown. When the guests were 
 seated, the room presented a very motley, but brilliant 
 gathering. The supper was costly, and had more, 
 both of abundance and variety, than this seemingly 
 inhospitable rock might be supposed capable of 
 affording. 
 
 ' Earth, sea, and air, 
 Were this day ransack'd for their bill of fare.' GAY. 
 
 " Although Ceres and Bacchus poured forth their 
 stores in abundance, yet Prudence presided ; for, per- 
 haps, there scarcely ever was an instance of such a 
 number of young men being collected, with a pre- 
 determination of conviviality, who passed a night with 
 so much decorum ; nor of so large a company being 
 assembled where every individual was pleased and 
 happy. The festivity of the scene was considerably
 
 30 THE LIFE OF 
 
 heightened by vocal and instrumental music, extremely 
 well performed; among the former was the accom- 
 panying song, written upon the occasion, and admir- 
 ably given by one of the singing-boys belonging to 
 the Queen's regiment of foot. One feeling seemed to 
 animate the whole company, the only contest being 
 who should do most honour to the illustrious guest, 
 and display most both their personal regard for him, 
 and their affectionate and zealous attachment to his 
 royal father and family. 
 
 " On the 13th of May, Sir Robert Boyd gave out the 
 following acknowledgment from his Royal Highness 
 in general orders : 
 
 " ' His Royal Highness Prince Edward having re- 
 quested of Sir Robert Boyd to express, in the fullest 
 manner possible, his Royal Highness's warmest thanks 
 to the whole of the officers of this garrison who gave 
 him the fete of the llth instant ; Sir Robert Boyd, in 
 compliance with the Prince's wishes, has thought 
 proper, by putting it in Public Orders, to assure him- 
 self of every officer being acquainted how flattering to 
 his Royal Highness this mark of their attachment to 
 him has been, and how sincerely he wishes them all 
 to be acquainted with it.' ' 
 
 Song sung at the Entertainment given by the Officers of the Gar- 
 rison of Gibraltar to His Royal Highness Prince Edward, 
 May 11, 1791. 
 
 " Ascending CalpS's stately brow, 
 
 We see sweet flow'rs spontaneous grow ; 
 As these their mingling scents disclose, 
 The rocky steeps their horror lose :
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 31 
 
 Regaled, we turn our eyes to view 
 The distant landscape's purple hue, 
 The liquid plain's transparent bound, 
 And scenes for warlike deeds renown'd. 
 
 War's rugged paths have also flow'rs 
 Gay mirth, and song, and festive hours ; 
 And from the steep ascent to fame, 
 The prospect of a glorious name. 
 
 See, o'er yon western mountain's shade, 
 The evening's blushing radiance fade ! 
 So fades our joy round Calpe's brow, 
 For Royal EDWARD leaves us now I 
 'Twos he who taught us how to bear 
 The soldier's toil, the leader's care ; 
 Yet cheer' d fatigue with festive hours, 
 And strew 1 d war's rugged path with flow'rs. 
 
 Ye breezes, safely waft him o'er, 
 To brave the cold Canadian shore ! 
 To spread afar his rising fame, 
 And make his own a glorious name !"
 
 32 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ACTIVE SERVICE THE WEST INDIES THE PRINCE'S GALLANTRY IN 
 
 ACTION HIGHLY COMMENDED BY THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF 
 RECEIVES THE THANKS OF PARLIAMENT. 
 
 17911794. 
 
 THE change from the gaiety and good fellowship of 
 Gibraltar to the confinement and monotony of ship- 
 board might not be agreeable ; but nevertheless had 
 to be undergone. In May, 1791, the Prince and his 
 regiment were enduring the miseries of a floating prison 
 bound for Quebec. Again was he made to wince 
 under the petty but torturing annoyances inseparable 
 from the paltry pecuniary arrangements made for him, 
 and the position he was compelled to maintain. 
 
 No regular allowance had been assigned him at 
 Gibraltar. During his fifteen months' residence in 
 that expensive domicile, his debts had undergone 
 a sensible increase : arising partly from the necessity 
 of providing his outfit there instead of in England ; 
 partly from the inadequacy of his income to meet the 
 many claims made upon him as Colonel of a regiment 
 on foreign service ; and partly from the ever-recurring 
 appeals to his generosity and compassion addressed to 
 him as a prince of the blood appeals to which he
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 33 
 
 could never bring himself to return a discouraging 
 answer. Add to this, lie was grossly misled with 
 regard to his allowance. An income of 6,000/. per 
 annum had been assigned him when he was several 
 years younger ; and on the continuance of this sum at 
 least he felt he might with certainty calculate. No 
 intimation was given him to the contrary. Not 
 a syllable was whispered to undeceive him : but after 
 he had been eighteen months at Gibraltar he learned 
 to his infinite chagrin that his allowance had been 
 fixed at 5,000/. per annum, and that any modification 
 of that arrangement was impracticable. 
 
 His trials were peculiar. The sum of 6,000/. had been 
 paid to Baron Wangenheim at Geneva for the expenses 
 of His Royal Highness's establishment at Geneva, 
 where he had no public character to maintain, where 
 his position was that of semi-pupil, semi-traveller, 
 where he was under the complete control of his governor, 
 and could be expected to keep up no state and give 
 no entertainments. At Gibraltar, the Prince, with 
 a definite public position to maintain, with private 
 and professional claims upon him on all sides, was 
 expected to manage with one thousand less! If ever 
 king's son had reason to complain of a thorough want 
 of consideration systematically manifested towards him 
 in the outset of life, Prince Edward was he. 
 
 But the soundness of his principles and the integrity 
 of his character were at once developed by this bitter 
 disappointment. He forthwith commenced arrange- 
 ments for satisfying his creditors as far as he had the 
 
 D
 
 34 THE LIFE OF 
 
 power so to do, by giving bonds to them for sums 
 amounting in the whole to 20,000/., payable at the 
 expiration of seven years. 
 
 He decided on this course under the impression 
 an impression which the precedents of his brothers the 
 Dukes of York and Clarence fully justified that long 
 before the arrival of that period he should obtain his 
 parliamentary establishment, and from it be enabled 
 to cancel these bonds, the interest of which was in the 
 meanwhile to be paid quarterly a stipulation faith- 
 fully carried out, but which ran away with one-fifth of 
 his income. 
 
 The debt incurred at Gibraltar the King subse- 
 quently undertook to discharge. The promise was 
 never fulfilled. 
 
 Finding his position as a prince and a field-officer 
 utterly incompatible with his limited means, and that his 
 difficulties were daily on the increase, anxious more- 
 over to be engaged in active service, he received, at his 
 own request, in December, 1793, an appointment to 
 serve under Sir Charles Grey, who was then engaged 
 in the reduction of the French West India Islands. 
 
 To lessen, though he could not cancel, his debts, he 
 was under the necessity of selling everything he had 
 at Gibraltar, and of purchasing anew at Quebec the 
 articles he required for his establishment. That this 
 would be done under the greatest disadvantage, so far 
 from home, and when every article had to be bought 
 on credit at an enormous price, is self-evident. The 
 sacrifice was costly, but most cheerfully made.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 35 
 
 The Prince quitted Gibraltar with an equipment 
 much less than that of a field-officer of a regi- 
 ment ! 
 
 At the time His Royal Highness received the order to 
 join Sir Charles Grey, all communication by water was 
 cut off. The navigation by the St. Lawrence had 
 been closed. And the ferment, created in the minds 
 of the Americans from the captures made by British 
 cruisers of their merchantmen, rendered it extremely 
 hazardous for the Prince to attempt joining Sir 
 Charles by passing through the United States. 
 
 These difficulties, however, were not sufficient to 
 da)iip the ardour of the Soldier. Immediately on 
 receiving the order, January, 1794, and before J/is 
 instructions could be made public, His Royal Highness 
 quitted Quebec for the purpose of travelling through 
 the United States, and embarking at Boston. So 
 extremely perilous was the Prince's journey at this 
 season, that in crossing Lake Champlain on the ice, 
 two of the sledges conveying His Royal Highness's 
 equipage broke in and were totally lost. Fortunately 
 soon after his arrival at Boston a sailing packet carrying 
 eight guns and forty men came into harbour, in which 
 packet His Royal Highness instantly started for the 
 West Indies. In the course of the voyage the vessel 
 was more than once chased by privateers, which there 
 was every reason to believe belonged to the enemy. 
 Prince Edward, however, reached the army in safety, 
 and was most cordially welcomed by Sir Charles and 
 his staff. 
 
 D2
 
 36 THE LIFE OF 
 
 The expedition which the Prince had orders to 
 join, had been so far successful in the reduction of 
 Martinique, before his arrival, on the 4th of March, 
 1794, as to have subjected the whole island to the 
 British arms, with the exception of the two important 
 stations at Fort Royal and Fort Bourbon. An 
 honourable post was immediately assigned him ; and 
 in the first despatch of Sir Charles Grey, from the 
 invaded island, he is described as " commanding at 
 Camp la Coste, with great spirit and activity." 
 
 During the progress of this campaign, his daring 
 bravery procured him the general admiration of his 
 companions in arms. He headed the flank division at 
 the storming of several strong and important forts in 
 Martinique and Guadaloupe ; and so brilliant were its 
 exploits, that " The Flank Corps " became a standing 
 toast, as well at the admiral's table, as at that of the 
 commander-in-chief. 
 
 From Martinique the Prince proceeded to St. Lucia, 
 where the same gallant spirit led him to expose him- 
 self to so much personal danger, as to draw upon him 
 a flattering rebuke from his commander-in-chief, whilst 
 it raised -him in the estimation of his brother officers, 
 and obtained for him an extraordinary degree of 
 popularity among the soldiers. Sir Charles Grey 
 upon this occasion wrote home to His Majesty, com- 
 municating to him the gallant conduct of his son ; but 
 at the same time representing that he conceived his 
 
 * Appendix C.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 37 
 
 life to be in great danger, unless he was restrained 
 from exposing it as he had done. He here com- 
 manded the battalion of grenadiers, which disem- 
 barked at Marigot des Roseaux, under the immediate 
 direction of Vice-Admiral Sir John Jervis, (afterwards 
 Earl St. Vincent,) the naval commander of the expe- 
 dition co-operated with the division of Major- General 
 Dundas, in the attack of Morne Fortunee, conducting 
 themselves in that affair in so exemplary a manner, 
 under the immediate command of His Royal Highness, 
 as to entitle them to particular notice in the despatch 
 of the commander-in-chief. When their daring leader 
 had himself hoisted the British colours on this post, its 
 name was changed into " Fort Charlotte," in honour 
 of his royal mother ; and the conquest of the entire 
 island was soon after accomplished, without the loss 
 of a single man, though the troops were exposed to a 
 heavy fire from the enemy's batteries and works. 
 
 At the capture of Guadaloupe, in the following 
 month of April, the Prince led on the first division, 
 consisting of the first and second battalions of grena- 
 diers, and 100 of the naval battalion, to the attack of 
 the post on Morne Marcot ; which was performed 
 with such exactitude, spirit, and ability, "as," in the 
 language of Sir Charles Grey, " to do the officer who 
 commanded it, and every officer and soldier under him. 
 more honour than he could find words to convey an 
 adequate idea of, or to express the high sense which 
 he entertained of their extraordinary merit on the 
 occasion."
 
 38 THE LIFE OF 
 
 On the 20th of May, 1794, a vote passed the House 
 of Commons, without a dissentient voice, directing the 
 Speaker to convey to His Royal Highness, and to the 
 several other officers of the army under the command 
 of Sir Charles Grey, the thanks of the House for their 
 gallant conduct and meritorious exertions in the West 
 Indies. A similar vote of thanks was as unanimously 
 passed in the Lords, upon the same day, and ordered 
 to be signified by the Lord Chancellor to the Corn- 
 mander-in-chief of the army which had thus honourably 
 distinguished itself. On the 18th of January in the 
 following year, the same honour was conferred upon 
 him by a unanimous vote of the Irish House of Com- 
 mons. Upon this last named incident it may be 
 advisable to dwell, and remark distinctly, that with 
 reference to the glorious trophy of being honoured 
 with the thanks of Parliament, the Duke of Kent was 
 the only member of the Royal Family who received 
 that enviable distinction for ACTUAL SERVICES rendered 
 in the field. 
 
 His privations are sufficiently indicated by the 
 fact, that when he arrived at Martinique he was 
 destitute of all but the clothes upon his person. 
 
 His bravery formed the subject of a special repre- 
 sentation to the King by the General commanding 
 in chief. 
 
 Where danger was greatest the Duke of Kent was 
 to be found. 
 
 Where the battle raged with the fiercest fury His 
 Roaly Highness was sure to be present.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 39 
 
 HE never loitered five or ten miles in rear of the 
 conflict, nor arrived a day too late to perform his duty ! 
 
 He led every man to his post ; AND NEVER DESERTED 
 HIS OWN. 
 
 On reaching this point in the life of the Prince con- 
 siderable insight is given into the amount of injustice 
 and neglect perseveringly heaped upon him. How 
 happened it that at this period when his services were 
 fresh in the recollection of the country, and when 
 opposition would have been vain, some proposal for 
 his benefit was not submitted to Parliament ? A more 
 favourable opportunity could scarcely have presented 
 itself for creating him a peer, and obtaining for him, 
 unopposed, his parliamentary provision. 
 
 His position was unassailable. 
 
 His military chief, Sir Charles Grey, had made 
 special mention to the King of his gallantry and 
 good conduct. With the troops he was a favourite. 
 To them his daring bravery was an irresistible recom- 
 mendation. Youth could not be urged against him, 
 for he had reached the manly age of twenty-seven. 
 Nor could a proposal for his parliamentary allowance 
 be open to the charge of "favouritism," or "undue 
 preference," since his eldest brother, the Duke of 
 York, obtained his provision from the country at 
 the age of ticc/ity-one, and the Duke of Clarence 
 at the age of twenty-four. To the latter, indeed, 
 had been granted in addition, no less than 1G,000/.* 
 
 * lOjOOOZ. for the formation of an establishment for his outset 
 in life ; and in the year 17%, pecuniary assistance to the amount 
 of 6,000?.
 
 40 THE LIFE OF 
 
 of the public money. These " facts and figures" prove 
 the extraordinary injustice meted out to Prince Edward. 
 The daring commander, the popular soldier, the 
 obedient and actively employed son, was left to bear, 
 as best he might, the degradation and annoyance 
 inseparable from inadequate income and increasing 
 embarrassments. Not an effort was made for his 
 release. Even definite promises were forgotten. The 
 Gibraltar debt still pressed heavily on his burdened 
 resources ; though the King himself had pledged his 
 royal word he would defray it. 
 
 Whence this insensibility to his position ? Whence 
 this indifference to his interests ? The obstacle ? 
 What was its nature ? And with whom did it rest ? 
 
 Was it that there existed an idea that his principles 
 were in advance of those of his family? Was it 
 that he was suspected of being friendly to liberal 
 policy, and enlightened views of government? Or 
 can the startling expression in one of his most melan- 
 choly letters a letter written evidently when writhing 
 under wounded feelings a letter which I am per- 
 mitted to allude to, not transcribe have its founda- 
 tion in fact, not in fancy ? " The West Indies ! 
 The wish entertained about me, in certain quarters, 
 when serving there, was that I might fall." 
 
 'Tis a painful problem. Best, perhaps, that the 
 solution should never be given.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 41 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 IN COMMAND HALIFAX JUDGE HALLIBURTON's PERSONAL RECOL- 
 LECTIONS OP THE PRINCE TOUCHING ANECDOTE OF HIS ROYAL 
 
 HIGHNESS GAMING ; AND THE RESCUED OFFICER. 
 
 17951799. 
 
 THE campaign of 1794 having been brought to a 
 close, His Royal Highness received orders to return 
 to North America. Being there placed upon the staff, 
 the expense of a fourth outfit became inevitable. Of 
 this, as of his three preceding equipments, he was left 
 to bear the cost. His previous expenses in the West 
 Indies had necessarily been very heavy. He had been 
 obliged to keep a table for himself and staff in a 
 locality where the necessaries of life, at all times 
 costly, reached, during an invasion and a state of 
 active warfare, a famine price. That his debts should, 
 under these circumstances, rapidly accumulate, can be 
 no matter of surprise. 
 
 Other sources of serious annoyance were not want- 
 ing. Equipment after equipment was lost. Of some 
 the cost was two, of the last, ten thousand pounds. 
 Shipwreck, capture by enemies' cruisers, plunder by 
 the sailors of a hostile power, were evils with which, 
 in rapid succession, he had to combat. 
 
 Placed in a tabular form, it will at once be seen how 
 much, under the head of losses, the Prince had to try his
 
 42 THE LIFE OF 
 
 temper and depress his energies. With truth it may 
 be said, that " such a combination of distressful and 
 desolating events would have benumbed the faculties 
 of some men, and driven others to despair." 
 
 EQUIPMENTS. 
 
 The First. January 1 790, on occasion of his being 
 ordered to Gibraltar at forty-eight hours' notice ; such 
 equipment having to be provided, in consequence of 
 such brief notice, at Gibraltar (and at Gibraltar prices}, 
 instead of in London ; a necessity which unquestion- 
 ably trebled the cost of the outfit. 
 
 The Second. May 1791, at Quebec, on his being 
 removed from Gibraltar to Canada; compelled, in 
 order to defray his debts at Gibraltar, to sell his 
 equipment there., and obliged, by obvious necessity, to 
 purchase, on credit, a fresh equipment in Canada. 
 
 The TJiird. Dec. 1793, on his being appointed to 
 the expedition engaged in the reduction of the French 
 West India Islands : obliged to dispose of his exist- 
 ing equipment, partly because too heavy for marching 
 order, partly that he might be able to satisfy the most 
 pressing of his North-American creditors, and partly 
 that he might possess the means of furnishing himself 
 with a lighter equipment : this was done ; and, un- 
 happily, lost in crossing Lake Champlain upon the 
 ice. The third equipment being thus summarily dis- 
 posed of, a stinted and temporary supply of necessaries 
 was procured at Boston, which accompanied His Royal 
 Highness to the West Indies j but the campaign there
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 43 
 
 being closed, and the Prince ordered to return to 
 North America with a staff appointment 
 
 A Fourth, in 1794, became necessary, which was 
 ordered from England to replace that lost in Lake 
 Champlain. This its cost was 2,000/. was sent out 
 in the Antelope. This vessel was captured by a 
 squadron of French frigates ; and the outfit became, 
 as a matter of course, the spoil of the captors. 
 
 A Fifth (1795), was indispensable, and shipped 
 accordingly on board the Ta/ikcrviHe. This vessel, 
 like the Antelope, was captured by the enemy; and 
 another loss of 2,000/. was sustained. Being raised 
 to the grade of Lieutenant-General and made Com- 
 mander of the forces at Halifax, his elevation in rank 
 induced the Prince to order from England 
 
 A Sixth equipment, which, being shipped on board 
 the Recovery transport, had the misfortune to fall 
 with her into the hands of the enemy. The total 
 loss sustained thus far, for equipments alone, was 
 not less than 10,0007. But being raised (May 1799) 
 to the rank of General in the army, and appointed 
 Commander-in-Chief of the forces in British North 
 America, he ventured upon ordering from England 
 
 A Seventh equipment. This more costly than any 
 of its predecessors, its value amounting to 11,000/.* 
 was most injudiciously and thoughtlessly sent out as 
 
 * Besides these equipments, he lost in the Francis transport 
 a valuable library of upwards of 5,000 volumes ; a large assort- 
 ment of maps and plans collected on the continent ; and a good 
 stock of wine.
 
 44 THE LIFE OF 
 
 late as the month of October, and wrecked upon 
 Table Island. Every soul on board perished ; and 
 the ocean swallowed her and her whole cargo. 
 
 The extraordinary combination of untoward circum- 
 stances, thus summarily enumerated, may be pro- 
 nounced, in the military life of one and the self-same 
 individual, to be without precedent or parallel. One 
 would despair of fixing belief, if the long course of 
 calamities here stated were not capable of proof. 
 Their tendency was inevitable to involve the Prince 
 still further in debt. The result could it be other- 
 wise ? was this : His Royal Highness quitted North 
 America far more seriously embarrassed than when he 
 reached it. 
 
 The former event unexpected circumstances served 
 to hasten. 
 
 In October, 1798, the Prince had the misfortune to 
 meet with an accident from his horse falling with him 
 in the streets of Halifax, in bringing him home from 
 a field-day of the garrison. For the benefit of surgical 
 advice he returned to England ; and in the following 
 year, in consequence of a message sent down to the 
 House of Commons by the King,* a bill was passed, 
 and received the Royal Assent,f granting him his first 
 parliamentary income of 12,000/. per annum. He had 
 then reached his thirty-second year. His next brother, 
 the Duke of Cumberland, though four years younger, 
 received his parliamentary grant to the same amount 
 the self-same day ! 
 
 * March 1. f March 21 -
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 45 
 
 There never was an act of greater injustice, nor 
 a proposition which, having for its ostensible object 
 the permanent benefit of one of the King's family, in- 
 volved a greater amount of ingratitude for his past 
 services, and indifference for the difficulties with which 
 it was well known he was encumbered. 
 
 It requires but the operation of a very simple rule 
 in arithmetic to show, that by the postponement of his 
 parliamentary allowance the country was, on every 
 principle of equity, the Duke's debtor to the amount 
 of 48,000/. Either this was the case, or his younger 
 brother, Prince Ernest, had received his parliamentary 
 provision four years too soon, and was therefore a 
 debtor to the country in the like sum. 
 
 Equally difficult would it be to assign a valid reason 
 why such a broad and marked distinction should be 
 made among the King's sons that some should re- 
 ceive their parliamentary establishment at the age 
 of twenty-one, and others at the age of thirty-two. 
 
 But a shrewd guess can be hazarded why of all the 
 King's sons Prince Edward's claims were purposely 
 and invidiously kept in abeyance. 
 
 His political views were in advance of those main- 
 tained by his family. He was known to be one of the 
 friends of the people a lover of constitutional liberty 
 no bigot in his religion and liberal and tolerant in 
 the view he took of the creed of others. 
 
 Such a man more especially, if to talents as a 
 speaker and great activity of disposition, he added 
 unvarying firmness and independence of character
 
 46 THE LIFE OF 
 
 ministers would be reluctant to place in the House of 
 Lords. There he would be too formidable a foe. 
 And from their knowledge of Prince Edward's prin- 
 ciples and bearing, an ally, they were well convinced, 
 they should never find him. Hence the protracted 
 and painful neglect he was doomed to experience. It 
 could not have arisen from accident : it was too con- 
 tinuous, decided, and marked. 
 
 Prince William Henry had in his twenty-fourth 
 year been created Duke of Clarence and St. Andrew ; 
 but Prince Edward was far advanced towards his 
 thirty-third year, when, on St. George's Day, 1799, he 
 was raised to the dignity of Duke of Kent and 
 Strathearne in Great Britain, and Earl of Dublin in 
 Ireland. 
 
 On the 7th of May in the same year, 3799, he took 
 his seat in the House of Lords; on the 10th of the 
 same month he was promoted to the rank of General 
 in the army ; and on the 17th was appointed successor 
 to General Prescott, as Commander-in-Chief of the 
 forces in British North America. Thither he pro- 
 ceeded in July ; and from Government, on this occa- 
 sion, he experienced more liberality than he had ever 
 before met with at their hands. They presented him 
 with 2,000/. towards an outfit. It is true their 
 bounty proved abortive, for the equipment it helped 
 to furnish perished in the waters ; but this was the 
 first instance of consideration the first act of recogni- 
 tion of his losses or services which he met with at 
 their hands.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 47 
 
 His administration of the government of British 
 North America lasted not long, for in the autumn 
 a very severe bilious attack, followed by symptoms of 
 confirmed lassitude and debility, rendered it necessary 
 that he should obtain leave of absence and return to 
 England. 
 
 But the duration of his government had been suffi- 
 ciently extended to endear him to all classes. The people 
 were delighted with his accessibility, his dignified but 
 easy manners, his uniform and kindly courtesy; the 
 poor hailed him a compassionate and most generous 
 benefactor ; the military were proud of him as a 
 thorough soldier ; while his singular aptitude for busi- 
 ness, his regularity, punctuality, and prompt discharge 
 of all his official duties, won for him the unqualified 
 approbation of the Executive Assembly. 
 
 Those who have met in the course of their reading, 
 and who has not? the oft-repeated calumny, that 
 " he was unqualified to rule," should heed the insight 
 given into the Duke's character by the accompanying 
 official documents. 
 
 They attest the affectionate regard in which the 
 people whom he governed held him. They are evi- 
 dence of the estimate they formed of him as a man as 
 well as a prince of his worth in his private as well 
 as public capacity. Comment on such documents 
 were absurd. 
 
 The first address was voted him in June, 1798, 
 a few months previous to the accident which com- 
 pelled him to return temporarily to England.
 
 48 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Extracts from the Journals of the Home of Assembly 
 of Nova Scotia for 1798 and 1799. 
 
 " June 30, 1798. On motion of Mr. Uniacke, 
 
 " Resolved, That an humble address be presented 
 to His Royal Highness Prince Edward, to beg that he 
 will be pleased to accept from the province of Nova 
 Scotia a Star, as a testimony of the high respect which 
 the province has for His Royal Highness's person, as 
 well as the grateful sense it entertains of the very 
 essential services which His Royal Highness has ren- 
 dered to this province. 
 
 " Resolved, That the Treasurer of the province be 
 authorized to pay into the hands of a joint Committee 
 of His Majesty's Council and this House, to be ap- 
 pointed for that purpose, the sum of five hundred 
 guineas, to enable them to purchase, with the appro- 
 bation of his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, a 
 Star suitable for a personage of His Royal Highness's 
 exalted station ; which Star his Excellency the Lieu- 
 tenant-Governor, and the said Committee, are hereby 
 authorized to present to His Royal Highness in the 
 name and on the behalf of this province, 
 
 ".Resolved, That the foregoing Resolutions be sent 
 to His Majesty's Council for their concurrence, and 
 that His Majesty's Council be requested to join with 
 this House in the Address to His Royal Highness. 
 
 "Resolved, That a Committee be appointed for 
 the purpose of preparing a suitable Address to His 
 Royal Highness ; and that the same, when agreed to by
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 49 
 
 the House, be sent for approbation to His Majesty's 
 Council. 
 
 " Resolved, That the before-mentioned Committee 
 wait on his Excellency the Lieutenant- Governor to 
 present him with a copy of the foregoing Resolutions, 
 and humbly to beg that his Excellency will be pleased, 
 at the head of both branches of the Legislature, to 
 present to His Royal Highness the humble Address of 
 the province of Nova Scotia." 
 
 A MESSAGE FROM THE COUNCIL. 
 
 " The Council having read and considered the 
 several Resolutions of the House of Assembly, relative 
 to the grant of the sum of five hundred guineas to be 
 laid out in the purchase of a Star for His Royal 
 Highness, and of the sense which the Legislature 
 entertains of the many essential benefits which the 
 province has derived from him, it was thereupon re- 
 solved that the Council do UNANIMOUSLY concur with 
 the House of Assembly in their Resolutions." 
 
 "July 2, 1798. Mr. Wallace reported from the 
 Committee of His Majesty's Council that they had, 
 pursuant to the order of the House, waited on his 
 Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, and delivered to 
 him a copy of the said Resolutions ; that his Excel- 
 lency was pleased to express his entire approbation of 
 the subject-matter thereof, and that his Excellency also 
 assured the Committee he would most cheerfully concur 
 
 E
 
 50 THE LIFE OF 
 
 in any measures that might be necessary to carry into 
 effect the wishes of His Majesty's Council and this 
 House on the occasion." 
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 " To Lieutenant-General His Royal Highness Prince 
 Edward, commanding His Majesty's forces in the 
 province of Nova Scotia, the Islands of St. John, Cape 
 Breton and Newfoundland, Knight of the most noble 
 Order of the Garter, and of the most illustrious Order 
 of St. Patrick, &c. &c. &c. 
 
 " The Address of Sir John Went worth, Bart., LL.D., 
 Lieutenant-Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and 
 over His Majesty's province of Nova Scotia and its 
 dependencies, and of His Majesty's Council and House 
 of Assembly, in their legislative capacities now con- 
 vened at Halifax. 
 
 " The Lieutenant-Governor, Council, and Assembly, 
 inthe name and behalf of the province of Nova Scotia, 
 humbly beg leave to approach your Royal Highness, 
 to repeat the unfeigned assurance of their inviolable 
 fidelity, attachment, and affection to the sacred person 
 of our beloved Sovereign, his family and govern- 
 ment. 
 
 " His Majesty's paternal solicitude for the safety 
 and happiness of his subjects in this province, is 
 particularly manifested by his committing the care of 
 protecting and defending them to your Royal Highness 
 in so critical a conjuncture as the present.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 51 
 
 " Your Royal Higlmess's military talents and 
 eminent abilities, invariably directed to the good 
 order and the honour of His Majesty's crown and 
 government, have secured to us the advantages of peace 
 in the midst of a war which has desolated a large 
 proportion of the rest of the world. 
 
 " THE ESSENTIAL SERVICES lohich your Royal 
 Highness has rendered to this province will be remem- 
 bered with gratitude by us, and cannot fail to interest 
 His Majesty's subjects most sincerely in your future 
 glory and happiness ; and while we take pleasure in 
 doing justice to your Royal Higlmess's exemplary 
 conduct and virtues, we shall rejoice in the satisfaction 
 they will afford to our good and gracious Sovereign, 
 whose piety, justice, wisdom, and magnanimity, have 
 riveted to his throne the hearts and affections of all 
 his people. 
 
 " In the hope that your Royal Highness would be 
 induced to receive from the province some mark of its 
 gratitude and affection, the Legislature has unani- 
 mously appointed a Committee, with instructions to 
 provide and present a Star, which they humbly request 
 you will be pleased to accept, as a testimony of the 
 attachment they have to your Royal Highness, and 
 of the sense they entertain of the signal benefits which 
 the province has derived from your unremitted zeal 
 and attention to preserve the quiet and security of the 
 country, and the comfort of its inhabitants, by the 
 vigilance, discipline, and order maintained over His 
 Majesty's troops under your Royal Highness's imme- 
 diate command." 
 
 E -2
 
 5.2 THE LIFE OF 
 
 " A message from His Majesty's Council, acquaint- 
 ing the House that the Council had agreed to the joint 
 Address to His Royal Highness Prince Edward, as 
 sent up by this House. 
 
 " July 6, 1849. A message from his Excellency 
 the Lieutenant- Governor by Mr. Secretary Wentworth. 
 
 " Mr. SPEAKER, I am commanded by His Excel- 
 lency to acquaint this House, that His Excellency 
 having communicated to His Royal Highness Prince 
 Edward the subject of the joint address of the Legis- 
 lature to His Royal Highness, with a request to know 
 his pleasure, when he would be attended by the 
 Legislature with the same, His Royal Highness had 
 appointed to-morrow at one of the clock, at Govern- 
 ment House." 
 
 .". The joint address of the Legislature of Nova Scotia 
 having been presented to His Royal Highness Prince 
 Edward, Mr. Speaker reported, that His Royal High- 
 ness was pleased to give this answer : 
 
 " I feel infinite satisfaction in expressing to your 
 Excellency, to the Members of His Majesty's Council, 
 and to the Gentlemen of the House of Assembly of 
 this province, my grateful thanks for the distinguished 
 and flattering mark of your attachment and good-will 
 which is so handsomely conveyed in your address. 
 
 " Nothing could afford me higher gratification than 
 to receive so unequivocal a proof of your approbation 
 of my conduct during the time His Majesty has been 
 pleased to honour me with the command of his troops
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. ."j.'j 
 
 iii this province. My utmost endeavours have always 
 been exerted to obtain your good-will, by pursuing 
 that line of conduct which I thought would be most 
 acceptable to the King, and most beneficial to his 
 service, as well as best calculated for the protection of 
 the province. To have succeeded therefore in this 
 object, of which circumstance your address of to-day 
 affords me so honourable a testimony, is the more 
 gratifying to my feelings, as I flatter myself when His 
 Majesty is informed of it, he will not hear it with 
 indifference. 
 
 " After having said this much, it will be almost 
 needless to add, how ready and how happy I shall be 
 to accept of the present you intend me, which I shall 
 ever esteem and highly prize, as the mark of your 
 attachment to my person, and of your acknowledg- 
 ment of my feeble exertions for your security and 
 protection. 
 
 " Permit me to take leave of you, Gentlemen, by 
 expressing towards all my best wishes, both for your 
 individual happiness and the general welfare of the 
 province at large." 
 
 " A message from the Council, informing the House 
 that the Honourables Henry Newton, John Halliburton, 
 and Benning Wentworth were a Committee to join 
 the Committee of the House, to purchase a Star to be 
 presented to Prince Edward. 
 
 "June 15, 1799. That in obedience to former 
 resolutions, and to the subsequent orders thereupon,
 
 54 THE LIFE OF 
 
 dated 6th July, 1798, the Committee received from 
 the treasurer of the province the sum of five hundred 
 guineas, voted for that purpose, which they invested 
 in a government bill of exchange, and remitted in the 
 month of August unto Messrs. Ransom & Co., London, 
 bankers, with a request that they would cause to be 
 made a diamond Star of the Order of the Garter, and 
 executed in the best and most elegant manner that the 
 sum would admit of, exclusive of any contingent 
 expense. 
 
 "That His Royal Highness having sailed for 
 England in the month of October following, the Com- 
 mittee directed Messrs. Ransom to deliver the Star 
 when completed into the hands of Charles Mary 
 Wentworth and Lawrence Hartshorne, Esquires, then 
 in London, to be by them presented, in the name and 
 behalf of this province, to His Royal Highness. That 
 in the month of January last the said Charles Mary 
 Wentworth and Lawrence Hartshorne, Esquires, having 
 obtained an audience for the purpose, did present the 
 Star to His Royal Highness Prince Edward, at Saint 
 James's, in the manner recommended to them by His 
 Excellency Sir John Wentworth and the Committee, as 
 will appear by the annexed documents. 
 
 " TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCE EDWARD. 
 
 " Sir, His Excellency Sir John Wentworth, and 
 the Committee appointed by His Majesty's Council and 
 by the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia, have con-
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 55 
 
 ferred on us the honour of presenting to your Royal 
 Highness the Star voted at the last session in general 
 assembly, as a memorial of the respect and esteem 
 they entertain for your Royal Highness's character 
 and conduct during your residence in that province. 
 Permit us to say, we feel ourselves peculiarly honoured 
 in this opportunity of approaching your Royal High- 
 ness, and in addition to the duty prescribed, to offer 
 our sincere and heartfelt congratulations upon your 
 Royal Highness's safe arrival in your native country, 
 your return to the arms of our beloved Sovereign, your 
 royal father and family, and at an auspicious hour 
 most glorious for our King and country. 
 
 " Knowing, as we do, your Royal Highness's zeal 
 for both, we cannot help expressing our joy upon the 
 occasion, and our anxious hope, that the medical 
 assistance your Royal Highness has received in this 
 country, will soon restore you to perfect health. We 
 have the honour to be, with the greatest respect, your 
 Royal Highness's most dutiful and most devoted 
 servants, 
 
 " CHARLES MARY WENTWOIITII, 
 LAWRENCE HARTSHORNE." 
 
 HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS'S ANSWER. 
 
 " GENTLEMEN, I request you will express to Sir 
 John Wentworth, and the members of His Majesty's 
 Council, as well as of the House of Assembly of Nova 
 Scotia, my warmest thanks for the gift of the Star,
 
 50 THE LIFE OF 
 
 with which you have this day presented me, as a 
 token of their friendship and good-will towards me. 
 The flattering manner in which this mark of esteem 
 was voted cannot fail to enhance the value of the 
 present. Be pleased to accept personally for your- 
 selves, Gentlemen, of niy particular acknowledgments 
 for the handsome and obliging manner in which you 
 have executed the commission committed to your 
 charge ; and I hope you will be persuaded that a 
 friendly remembrance of the persons from whose 
 hands I received it will never be separated from the 
 recollection of the peculiar distinction conferred on 
 me by the province to which you belong. 
 
 " EDWARD." 
 
 The next Address had its origin in the return of tho 
 Prince to Nova Scotia as Commander-in-Chief of all 
 the forces in British North America. 
 
 " At a Council holden at Halifax, on Tuesday, the 
 10th September, 1799, present, 
 
 His EXCELLENCY THE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR, 
 
 SIR J. WENTWORTH, 
 THE HON. THE CHIEF JUSTICE, 
 H. NEWTON, 
 A. BRYMER, 
 T. COCHRANE, 
 J. HALLIBURTON, 
 B. WENTWORTH, 
 JAMES BRENTON,
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 57 
 
 His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor proposed to 
 the Board the propriety of addressing His Royal 
 Highness the Duke of Kent upon his return to this 
 province. 
 
 " The Council agreed to the same ; and Mr. 
 Newton, Mr. Brymer, Mr. Secretary, and Mr. Brenton 
 were appointed a Committee to prepare such Address." 
 
 " At a Council holden at Halifax, on Thursday, 
 the 12th September, 1799; present, 
 
 His EXCELLENCY SIR J. WENTWORTH, BART. 
 
 &c. &c. &c. 
 
 The Honourable Benning Wentworth reported from 
 the Committee appointed the day before yesterday to 
 prepare an Address to His Royal Highness the Duke 
 of Kent, that they had drawn up an Address, pursuant 
 to the direction of the Council, which being read and 
 agreed to, was ordered to be engrossed ; viz. 
 
 " To General, His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent 
 and Strathern, Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty's 
 forces in British North America, &c. &c. &c. 
 The Address of His Excellency Sir John Wentworth, 
 Baronet, Lieutenant-Governor of His Majesty's Pro- 
 vince of Nova Scotia and its dependencies, and of 
 His Majesty's Council for the same. 
 
 " The Lieutenant-Governor and Council of Nova 
 Scotia beg leave to approach your Royal Highness 
 with unfeigned congratulations on your return to this 
 favoured country to exercise the military command,
 
 5.8 . THE LIFE OF 
 
 and to protect the loyal and extensive provinces of 
 British America, distinguished by your Royal High- 
 ness's former residence. 
 
 " In the liveliest terms of gratitude we render 
 thanks to that Being who guides all events, for the 
 restoration of your Royal Highness's health, so pecu- 
 liarly interesting to the people of this country. 
 
 " At a period of innovation and anarchy in other 
 parts, we are anxious to come forward, with one 
 heart and voice, to offer testimonies of inviolable 
 attachment to the King's person, family, and go- 
 vernment. 
 
 " The times demand this public declaration ; and 
 we wish dutifully to cast our weight into the scale of 
 order and obedience, so beneficial to the good of man- 
 kind, and so necessary to the tranquillity of the world. 
 
 " We rejoice in the recent and decisive victories 
 gained by His Majesty's fleets and the armies of his 
 allies, whose brave commanders, by their professional 
 skill and undaunted courage, under Divine Provi- 
 dence, have added safety and honour to their country. 
 
 " And finally, Sir, we beg leave to express our 
 heartfelt gratitude to our gracious Sovereign, for ap- 
 pointing your Royal Highness to this command, and 
 which we sincerely hope may redound as much to 
 your Royal Highness's honour and glory, as it will 
 reflect lustre on His Majesty's North American 
 
 dominions. 
 
 (Signed) " J. WENTVVORTH. 
 " COUNCIL CHAMBER, 
 Sept. 19, 1799."
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 59 
 
 ANSWER. 
 
 " To His Excellency Sir John Wentworth, Baronet, 
 Lieutenant-Governor, and to the members of His 
 Majesty's Council. 
 
 " I request that your Excellency and the members 
 of His Majesty's Council will be assured of my grateful 
 acceptance of your congratulations on my return to 
 Nova Scotia, in a situation of so much confidence as 
 that to which His Majesty has been pleased to ap- 
 point me, and in which it will ever be my study to 
 prove myself not unworthy of the trust reposed 
 in me. 
 
 " I am equally sensible of your polite attention in 
 expressing your joy at my recovery from the effects of 
 that accident, which occasioned my return to England 
 last fall. 
 
 " I shall not fail to embrace an opportunity of com- 
 municating to His Majesty, by whom, I am sure, 
 it cannot fail of being received in the most gracious 
 manner, the very loyal manner in which you express 
 your attachment to his person, family, and government. 
 
 " No one can join more cordially than myself in 
 the satisfaction afforded you by the important vic- 
 tories gained by His Majesty's fleets, and the brave 
 armies of his allies, or in acknowledging the high 
 obligations we are under to their brave commanders 
 for the repeated brilliant proofs they have given of 
 their skill and courage.
 
 GO THE LIFE OF 
 
 " Let me conclude, Gentlemen, by adding, how 
 flattered I am at finding that my appointment to the 
 chief command of His Majesty's forces in British 
 North America has given you pleasure, as also how 
 thankful I feel for the hopes you signify that this cir- 
 cumstance will redound to my honour and credit ; and 
 that I trust every one of you will be persuaded that my 
 utmost endeavours will be exerted for the protection 
 of His Majesty's colonies in this part of the world, 
 in the number of which Nova Scotia will ever claim 
 from me a peculiar interest. 
 
 (Signed) " EDWARD, 
 
 " General and Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty's 
 Forces serving in British North America" 
 
 To these succeeds the valedictory Address on His 
 Royal Highness's final surrender of his government, 
 and departure for England. 
 
 " At a Council holden at Halifax, on Wednesday, 
 the 23d July, 1800 ; present, 
 His EXCELLENCY SIR JOHN WENTWORTH, BARONET, 
 
 &c. &c. &c. 
 
 " His Excellency the Lieutenant- Governor men- 
 tioned to the Council the intention of His Royal 
 Highness the Duke of Kent to embark for England in 
 a few days, and suggested the propriety of presenting 
 an Address to His Royal Highness on his departure, 
 which being approved of, the Chief Justice and Mr, 
 Justice Brenton were appointed a Committee to pre
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 01 
 
 pare a draft of such Address, and to report the same 
 to the Board." 
 
 " At a Council holden at Halifax, on Thursday, 
 the 31st of July, 1800; present, 
 
 His EXCELLENCY SIR J, WENTWORTH, BARONET, 
 &c. &c. &c. 
 
 " His Excellency the Lieutenant- Governor, and 
 Council, agreeable to previous resolutions, waited on 
 His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent with the fol- 
 lowing 
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 " To General, His Royal Highness Edward Duke of 
 Kent, Commander-in-Chief of the forces serving in 
 British North America, &c. &c. &c. 
 
 " The Address of the Lieutenant-Governor and 
 Council of Nova Scotia. 
 
 " May it please your Royal Highness, 
 
 " The Lieutenant-Governor, and Council of Nova 
 Scotia, beg leave to express to your Royal Highness 
 their sincere regret that this province is so soon to be 
 deprived of the honour and happiness it has enjoyed 
 by the residence of your Royal Highness in the chief 
 command of His Majesty's forces in this part of his 
 dominions ; sensible that to your Royal Highness's 
 presence may be chiefly attributed the peaceful secu- 
 rity we have experienced during the present war, we 
 cannot but feel how many deprivations must be occa- 
 sioned by your departure.
 
 62 THE LIFE OF 
 
 " To YOUR BENEVOLENCE THE INDIGENT HAVE OWED 
 
 THEIR SUPPORT, the tradesman and mechanic employ- 
 ment, and the industrious of every description the 
 means of reaping the recompense of their skill and 
 diligence. 
 
 " Grateful for these and many other important ad- 
 vantages derived from your Royal Highness, we shall 
 always cherish the recollection of your kind attention 
 to preserve the tranquillity and to promote the pro- 
 sperity of the country, and we indulge the pleasing 
 hope, that your Royal Highness will continue to 
 afford to the province your patronage and regard. 
 
 " We congratulate your Royal Highness on the pro- 
 vidential preservation of our beloved Sovereign from 
 the late horrid attack of an atrocious and diabolical 
 assassin. May the Almighty, in whose hands are the 
 issues of life and death, long preserve his Majesty, a 
 blessing to his august family, and to the whole empire ! 
 
 " Be pleased to accept our best wishes for your future 
 health and happiness, for a prosperous voyage and safe 
 arrival in England : and that, in whatever station your 
 Royal Highness may be placed, you may receive the 
 rewards which your eminent virtues and splendid 
 talents will always merit. 
 
 (Signed) " J. WENT WORTH. 
 
 S. S. BLOWERS, 
 
 President of tlie Connc.ll. 
 
 "COUNCIL CHAMBER," 
 
 Halifax, July 31, 1800."
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 03 
 
 " Answer of His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent, 
 to His Excellency the Lieutenant- Governor, and 
 Council of His Majesty's province of Nova Scotia. 
 
 " I request that your Excellency and the honourable 
 members of His Majesty's Council will be assured that I 
 sensibly feel the regret so obligingly expressed by you 
 on the occasion of my departure from North America. 
 
 " It is with no small degree of pride that I perceive 
 the many beneficial effects which you are so good as 
 to ascribe to my residence amongst you ; but at the 
 same time that I have not vanity enough to flatter 
 myself that my absence will be so severely felt as you 
 have the kindness to intimate, it is a circumstance that 
 I shall always consider as one of the most flattering of 
 my life, that I may be certain of carrying with me 
 your hearty wishes and good opinion, as well as that I 
 have not failed in my endeavours to maintain the tran- 
 quillity and promote the prosperity of your province. 
 
 " I cannot but accept with the truest and most 
 grateful acknowledgments your congratulations on the 
 merciful interposition of Providence for the protec- 
 tion of the King's life ; nor do I. feel less thankful for 
 the warm sentiments of attachment you entertain for 
 his person, and the wishes you offer for the prolonga- 
 tion of a life so invaluable to his family, his dominions, 
 and indeed, I may add, with infinite truth, to the 
 world at large. 
 
 "In return for these sentiments towards \\\< 
 Majesty, and tin- assurances you give me of the in-
 
 64 THE LIFE OF 
 
 terest you will ever take in my welfare and happiness, 
 I trust that you will be convinced that I shall ever 
 look back with a grateful remembrance to that part of 
 my life which has been passed amongst you, and that 
 the prosperity of Nova Scotia and its inhabitants is a 
 circumstance to which I can at no time be indifferent. 
 
 (Signed) " EDWARD." 
 
 For the next document, I must claim the special 
 attention of the reader. It is the testimony of an eye- 
 witness, who happily still survives confided in, beloved, 
 and deservedly honoured, as an accomplished scholar 
 and a most impartial judge. The details he gives are 
 peculiarly interesting, from the light which they throw 
 on His Royal Highness's private character. We grasp 
 marked but opposite traits of disposition the benevo- 
 lence of the man as well as the firmness of the soldier. 
 It is a vivid sketch, and gratefully do I welcome it 
 to my pages. The writer is Judge Halliburton ; further 
 comment the reader would resent as an impertinence. 
 
 " Monday, October 1st, 1849. 
 
 " MY DEAR SIR JOHN, I regret that my profes- 
 sional avocations on Saturday prevented my answering 
 your Excellency's letter (enclosing the Rev. Mr. 
 Neale's) which I received on Eriday. 
 
 " I have some recollection of the vote of five hun- 
 dred guineas by the Provincial Legislature, to provide 
 a Star for his late Royal Highness the Duke of Kent, 
 in token of the high estimation in which he was held
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 65 
 
 ill Nova Scotia ; but as I had no connexion with the 
 Legislature until many years after that time, I can 
 give no accurate information upon the subject. I ap- 
 plied to my friend Mr. Robie, who was for many 
 years Speaker of the House of Assembly, but find 
 he was not a member of that body at the time 
 the vote passed. I fear, therefore, that your Ex- 
 cellency will be confined to such information only as 
 the journals of that day will afford, which will be 
 but bald. 
 
 " I regret this because there were at that time 
 many well-educated men of respectable talents (the 
 relics of our old loyalists, who came hither from 
 the United States) who had seats in the Legislature, 
 whose sentiments upon the subject would pro- 
 bably be both interesting and satisfactory to Mr. 
 Neale. 
 
 " The late Mr. Howe, father of the present Provin- 
 cial Secretary, at one time edited a magazine here, in 
 which the debates of the Assembly upon interesting 
 subjects were frequently inserted, but I doubt whether 
 it had not ceased before the vote passed. 
 
 " His Royal Highness arrived at Halifax in the 
 month of October, 1794, from the West Indies, where 
 he had served as a Major- General, under Sir Charles 
 Grey, in the reduction of Martinique and Guadaloupe. 
 / was one of the subalterns of the guard of honour that 
 received him. 
 
 " Lord Dorchester was at that time Commander-in- 
 Chief of the forces in British America. The head- 
 
 F
 
 06 THE LIFE OF 
 
 quarters were at Quebec ; and His Royal Highness 
 assumed the command of the troops in Nova Scotia. 
 
 " At the time of his arrival, the habits of the gar- 
 rison were very dissipated. The dissipation, indeed, 
 was not confined to the military ; the civil society par- 
 took of it largely. It was no unusual thing to see 
 gentlemen join a company of ladies in a state of in- 
 toxication, which would now be deemed very dis- 
 graceful, but which was then merely laughed at by 
 the ladies themselves. His Royal Highness at once 
 discountenanced such conduct. Among the military 
 he soon put an end to it by parading the troops every 
 morning at five o'clock ; and as he always attended 
 himself, no officer could of course feel it a hardship 
 to do so. The improvement which thus took place 
 among the military, gradually extended to their civil 
 acquaintances ; and His Royal Highness thus became 
 instrumental in improving both. 
 
 " Gambling also prevailed to a great extent ; but His 
 Royal Highness never touched a card ; and as the early 
 parades compelled its former military votaries to retire 
 early to bed, gambling, as well as drinking, fell into 
 disuse. 
 
 "I must mention a circumstance which occurred 
 about this period, which interested many at the time. 
 A very kind-hearted captain of the regiment had been 
 sent to Newfoundland to recruit. He was not well 
 calculated for that service, and in the hands of an 
 artful sergeant, had returned much in arrears to the 
 paymaster. He was an amiable but easy-going man ;
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 67 
 
 and a few days after his return, he dined at a party 
 where cards were introduced in the evening. He had 
 never been in the habit of playing, but was easily pre- 
 vailed upon to join the party ; and by one of those 
 runs of good luck by which the tempter frequently 
 seduces novices, bore off all the money of the even- 
 ing. It was a sum quite sufficient to relieve him from 
 his difficulties. His great luck was the engrossing 
 subject of conversation throughout the following day : 
 ' But of course,' said the losers, ' Macdonald will give 
 us a chance of winning our money back again, when 
 we meet at Esten's on the next Thursday evening.' 
 Everybody knew that Mr. Macdonald would be easily 
 persuaded to do so, and his friends feared that he might 
 become a confirmed gambler. His Royal Highness 
 heard of it ; sent for him ; and after conversing with 
 him, very seriously and kindly, said, ' Mr. Macdonald, 
 you have never been in the habit of playing these 
 gentlemen requested you to play, and if, by complying 
 with their request, you have won their money, it is 
 much better that they should bear the loss, than that 
 you, from a false notion of honour, should run the 
 risk of acquiring a bad habit. I request that you will 
 give me a positive pledge on honour that you will 
 not again play at games of chance.' Macdonald 
 did so. TJie Prince made it public. OF COURSE, after 
 that, no gentleman could solicit Macdonald to 
 play ; and as he was not inclined himself to do so, he 
 escaped the snare in which, had it not been for His 
 Royal Highness's friendly interference, his good luck 
 
 F2
 
 65 THE LIFE OF 
 
 might ultimately have entangled him. Poor, kind- 
 hearted Macdonald ! he fell a victim to the climate in 
 the West Indies, not long afterwards. 
 
 " His Royal Highness's discipline was strict almost 
 to severity. I am sure he acted upon principle ; but 
 I think he was somewhat mistaken in supposing such 
 undeviating exactitude essential to good order. Off the 
 parade, he was the affable prince and polished gentle- 
 man. At his table every one felt at ease ; but while 
 it was evidently his object to make them so, his digni- 
 fied manner precluded the possibility of any liberty 
 being taken by the most forward. 
 
 " I cannot close without mentioning his benevolence 
 to the distressed. A TALE OF WOE ALWAYS INTERESTED 
 HIM DEEPLY : and nothing but gross misconduct could 
 ever induce him to abandon any whom he had once 
 been induced to befriend. I have much pleasure in 
 recalling those recollections of His Royal Highness, 
 under whom I served for several years ; and from 
 whom I received very great kindness. 
 
 " I return Mr. Neale's letter herewith; and have 
 the honour to remain, 
 
 " Your Excellency's obedient Servant, 
 
 " BRENTON HALLIBURTON. 
 " His Excellency Lieut-Gen. Sir John Hervey, K.C.B. 
 
 This account of His Royal Highness's government 
 in British America the most sunny period of His 
 Royal Highness's life may be appropriately closed
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 6 
 
 with the following pendant from the pen of that 
 observant and amusing fellow, Sam Slick. He is a 
 fearless limner ; and spares not his colours. In all his 
 sketches, however droll, there is unfailingly presented 
 a weighty moral, a word of grave and pregnant coun- 
 sel, or a scathing exposure of hollow pretension and 
 political misrule. Sam knew the Prince and loved 
 him. His present mood is graver than his wont; but 
 whether in merry or melancholy vein, Sam is a hard 
 hitter, and " a facer " from him, is " conclusive." 
 
 " At a distance of seven miles from the town is a 
 ruined lodge, built by His Royal Highness the late 
 Duke of Kent, when Comuiander-in-Chief of the forces 
 in this colony, once his favourite summer residence, 
 and the scene of his munificent hospitalities. It is 
 impossible to visit this spot without the most melan- 
 choly feelings. The tottering fence, the prostrate 
 gates, the ruined grottos, the long and winding 
 avenues, cut out of the forest, overgrown by rank 
 grass and occasional shrubs, and the silence and 
 desolation that reign around, all bespeaking a rapid 
 and premature decay, recall to mind the untimely fate 
 of its noble and lamented owner, and tell of fleeting 
 pleasures, and the transitory nature of all earthly 
 things. I stopped at a small inn in the neighbour- 
 hood for the purpose of strolling over it for the last 
 time ere I left the country, and for the indulgence of 
 those moralising musings which at times harmonize 
 with our nerves, and awaken what may be called the 
 pleasurable sensations of melancholy.
 
 70 THE LIFE OF 
 
 " A modern wooden ruin is of itself the least inter- 
 esting, and at the same time the most depressing, 
 object imaginable. The massive structures of anti- 
 quity that are everywhere to be met with in Europe, 
 exhibit the remains of great strength, and though 
 injured and defaced by the slow and almost imper- 
 ceptible agency of time, promise to continue thus 
 mutilated for ages to come. They awaken the images 
 of departed generations, and are sanctified by legend 
 and by tale. But a wooden ruin shows rank and 
 rapid decay, concentrates its interest on one family, or 
 one man, and resembles a mangled corpse, rather than 
 the monument that covers it. It has no historical 
 importance, no ancestral record. It awakens not the 
 imagination. The poet finds no inspiration in it, and 
 the antiquary no interest. It speaks only of death 
 and decay, of recent calamity, and vegetable decom- 
 position. The very air about it is close, dank, and 
 unwholesome. It has no grace, no strength, no 
 beauty, but looks deformed, gross, and repulsive. Even 
 the faded colour of a painted wooden house, the tar- 
 nished gilding of its decorations, the corroded iron of 
 its fastenings, and its crumbling materials, all indicate 
 recent use and temporary habitation. It is but a short 
 time since this mansion was tenanted by its royal 
 master, and in that brief space how great has been the 
 devastation of the elements ! A few years more, and 
 all trace of it will have disappeared for ever. Its very 
 site will soon become a matter of doubt. The forest 
 is fast reclaiming its own, and the lawns and orna-
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 71 
 
 mented gardens, annually sown with seeds scattered 
 by the winds from the surrounding woods, are relaps- 
 ing into a state of nature, and exhibiting in detached 
 patches a young growth of such trees as are common 
 to the country. 
 
 " As I approached the house I noticed that the 
 windows were broken out, or shut up with rough 
 boards to exclude the rain and snow ; the doors sup- 
 ported by wooden props instead of hinges, which hung 
 loosely on the panels ; and that long luxuriant clover 
 grew in the eaves, which had been originally designed 
 to conduct the water from the roof, but becoming 
 choked with dust and decayed leaves, had afforded 
 sufficient food for the nourishment of coarse grasses. 
 The portico, like the house, had been formed of wood, 
 and the flat surface of its top imbibing and retaining 
 moisture, presented a mass of vegetable matter, from 
 which had sprung up a young and vigorous birch-tree, 
 whose strength and freshness seemed to mock the 
 helpless weakness that nourished it.* I had no desire 
 to enter the apartments ; and indeed the aged ranger, 
 whose occupation was to watch over its decay, and to 
 prevent its premature destruction by the plunder of 
 its fixtures and more durable materials, informed me 
 that the floors were unsafe. Altogether the scene was 
 one of a most depressing kind. 
 
 " A small brook, which had by a skilful hand been 
 led over several precipitous descents, performed its 
 
 * This was the case when I was there in 1828; since then 
 porch and tree have both disappeared.
 
 72 THE LIFE OF 
 
 feats alone and unobserved, and seemed to murmur 
 out its complaints, as it hurried over its rocky channel 
 to mingle with the sea ; while the wind, sighing 
 through the umbrageous wood, appeared to assume a 
 louder and more melancholy wail, as it swept through 
 the long vacant passages and deserted saloons, and 
 escaped in plaintive tones from the broken casements. 
 The offices, as well as the ornamental buildings, had 
 shared the same fate as the house. The roofs of all had 
 fallen in, and mouldered into dust ; the doors, sashes, 
 and floors had disappeared ; and the walls only, which 
 were in part built of stone, remained to attest their 
 existence and use. The grounds exhibited similar 
 effects of neglect, in a climate where the living wood 
 grows so rapidly, and the dead decays so soon, as in 
 Nova Scotia. An arbour, which had been constructed 
 of lattice-work, for the support of a flowering vine, 
 had fallen, and was covered with vegetation ; while 
 its roof alone remained, supported aloft by limbs 
 of trees that, growing up near it, had become entangled 
 in its net- work. A Chinese temple, once a favourite 
 retreat of its owner, as if in conscious pride of its pre- 
 ference, had offered a more successful resistance to the 
 weather, and appeared in tolerable preservation ; while 
 one small surviving bell, of the numerous ones that 
 once ornamented it, gave out its solitary and melan- 
 choly tinkling as it waved in the wind. How sad was 
 its mimic knell over pleasures that were fled for ever ! 
 " The contemplation of this deserted house is not 
 without its beneficial effect on the mind ; for it incul-
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 73 
 
 cates humility to the rich, and resignation to the poor. 
 However elevated man may be, there is much in his 
 condition that reminds him of the infirmities of his 
 nature, and reconciles him to the decrees of Providence. 
 ' May it please your Majesty,' said Euclid to his 
 royal pupil, ' there is no regal road to science. You 
 must travel in the same path with others, if you would 
 attain the same end.' These forsaken grounds teach 
 us in similar terms this consolatory truth, that there 
 is no exclusive way to happiness reserved even for 
 those of the most exalted rank. The smiles of fortune 
 are capricious, and sunshine and shade are unequally 
 distributed ; but though the surface of life is thus 
 diversified, the end is uniform to all, and invariably 
 terminates in the grave. 
 
 D 
 
 ' Pallida mors sequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas 
 Reguinque turres.' 
 
 " Ruins, like death, of which they are at once the 
 emblem and the evidence, are apt to lose their effect 
 from their frequency. The mind becomes accustomed 
 to them, and the moral is lost. The picturesque alone 
 remains predominant, and criticism supplies the place 
 of reflection. But this is the only ruin of any extent 
 in Nova Scotia, and the only spot either associated 
 with royalty, or set apart and consecrated to solitude 
 and decay. The stranger pauses at a sight so unusual, 
 and inquires the cause ; he learns with surprise that 
 this place was devoted exclusively to pleasure ; that 
 care and sorrow never entered here ; and that the
 
 74 THE LIFE OF 
 
 voice of mirth and music was alone heard within its 
 gates. It was the temporary abode of a prince, of 
 one, too, had he lived, that would have inherited the 
 first and fairest empire in the world. All that man 
 can give or rank enjoy awaited him ; but an overruling 
 and inscrutable Providence decreed, at the very time 
 when his succession seemed most certain, that the 
 sceptre should pass into the hands of another. This 
 intelligence interests and excites his feelings. He 
 enters, and hears at every step the voice of nature 
 proclaiming the doom that awaits alike the prince and 
 the peasant. The desolation he sees appals him. The 
 swallow nestles in the empty chamber, and the sheep 
 find a noon-day shelter in the banquetting-room, while 
 the ill-omened bat rejoices in the dampness of the 
 mouldering ruins. Everything recalls a recollection 
 of the dead; every spot has its record of the past; 
 every path its footstep ; every tree its legend ; and 
 even the universal silence that reigns here has an 
 awful eloquence that overpowers the heart. Death 
 is written everywhere. Sad and dejected, he turns 
 and seeks some little relic, some small memorial of his 
 deceased prince ; and a solitary, neglected garden - 
 flower, struggling for existence among the rank grasses, 
 presents a fitting type of the brief existence and trans- 
 itory nature of all around him. As he gathers it, 
 he pays the silent but touching tribute of a votive tear 
 to the memory of him who has departed, and leaves 
 the place with a mind softened and subdued, but 
 improved and purified, by what he has seen.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 75 
 
 " The affectionate remembrance we retain of its 
 lamented owner may have added to my regret, and 
 increased the interest I felt in this lonely and peculiar 
 ruin. In the Duke of Kent the Nova Scotians lost 
 a kind patron and generous friend. The loyalty of the 
 people, which, when all America was revolting, re- 
 mained firm and unshaken, and the numerous proofs 
 he received of their attachment to their King and to 
 himself, made an impression upon his mind that was 
 neither effaced nor weakened by time or distance. 
 Should these pages happily meet the eye of a Colonial 
 minister, who has other objects in view than the 
 security of place and the interest of a party, may they 
 remind him of a duty that has never been performed 
 but by the illustrious individual, whose former resi- 
 dence among us gave rise to these reflections ! This 
 work is designed for the cottage, and not for the 
 palace ; and the author has not the presumption even 
 to hope it can ever be honoured by the perusal of his 
 Sovereign. Had he any ground for anticipating such 
 a distinction for it, he would avail himself of this 
 opportunity of mentioning that in addition to the 
 dutiful affection the Nova Scotians have always borne 
 to their Monarch, they feel a more lively interest in, 
 and a more devoted attachment to, the present occu- 
 pant of the throne, from the circumstance of the long 
 and close connexion that subsisted between them and 
 her illustrious parent. He was their patron, bene- 
 factor, and friend. To be a Nova Scotian was of 
 itself a sufficient passport to his notice, and to possess
 
 76 THE LIFE OF 
 
 merit a sufficient guarantee for his favour. Her 
 Majesty reigns, therefore, in this little province in the 
 hearts of her subjects, has a dominion of love inherited 
 from her father. Great as their loss was in being 
 thus deprived of their only protector, her faithful 
 people of Nova Scotia still cling to the hope that 
 Providence has vouchsafed to raise up one more 
 powerful and equally kind in Her Majesty, who, fol- 
 lowing this paternal example, will be graciously pleased 
 to extend to them a patronage that courtiers cannot, 
 and statesmen will not give. While, therefore, as 
 proteges of her royal house, they claim the right to 
 honour and to serve the sovereign of the empire as 
 ' their own Queen,' they flatter themselves Her Majesty, 
 for a similar reason, will condescend to regard them 
 as ' the Queens own' '
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 77 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 DIPLOMATISTS AND THEIR PROMISES MR. PITT LORD SIDMOUTH 
 
 HIS LORDSHIP'S PECULIAR AND CONVENIENT MEMORY THE 
 GOVERNMENT OF GIBRALTAR OFFERED. 
 
 17991800. 
 
 So far as his military reputation was concerned this 
 was the most sunny period in the Duke's chequered 
 life. He had relinquished the government of Nova 
 Scotia with the most unequivocal testimonies of respect 
 from men of all parties. In terms which admitted 
 but of one construction, the provincial Legislature had 
 UNANIMOUSLY proclaimed their sense of the equity and 
 ability of his administration. On the other hand, as a 
 soldier, his dauntless bearing on active service, his 
 personal gallantry, early and admirably displayed by 
 leading a storming party of grenadiers at the attack 
 of one of the strongest fortresses in the West Indies, 
 were fresh in the national memory. He stood well in 
 the public eye popular with the troops commended 
 by the General * under whom he had served and 
 regretted by the loyal and warm-hearted people whose 
 shores he had just quitted. The point of popularity he 
 had now reached was far advanced and fairly won. 
 
 * Sir Charles Grey.
 
 78 THE LIFE OF 
 
 But he was not without sources of daily disquietude. 
 His pecuniary difficulties goaded him to the very 
 quick. They embittered the present ; they tinged 
 with apprehension the future. Then, AS EVER, 
 earnestly desirous to cancel the demand of every 
 creditor, he availed himself of his return to England 
 to press, in person, his claims to remuneration for the 
 repeated losses which he had sustained in his removal 
 from place to place, by order of his Sovereign and in 
 the service of his country. 
 
 It was a strange reception which the servants of the 
 King deemed it their duty to bestow on the modest 
 appeal of their master's son. 
 
 When, in 1799, at the age of nearly thirty-three, 
 the Prince pointed out to Mr. Pitt the singular and 
 invidious delay which had taken place in his case with 
 respect to his parliamentary provision, the unbending 
 Minister in reply assigned this to be the reason 
 why his parliamentary settlement was deferred, viz. 
 that " the Prince having been abroad for so many 
 years on foreign service, his provision had been totally 
 overlooked an omission which was entirely his (Mr. 
 Pitt's) fault ; and for which he took shame to himself: 
 but that so far as pecuniary loss was concerned, His 
 Royal Highness should receive amends." 
 
 A promise uttered with the Minister's habitual 
 sternness of manner, and measured stateliness of 
 phrase : but never fulfilled. 
 
 But it was relied on. 
 
 And when the Minister reiterated that due consi-
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 79 
 
 deration should be had to the circumstance of his 
 having received his parliamentary establishment so 
 much later in life than any of his brothers ; and that 
 if he were not placed on an exact footing with the 
 Duke of Clarence, which would have produced an 
 arrear of eight years, he should enjoy the same advan- 
 tage as the Duke of Cumberland, which MUST ensure 
 an arrear of four, the Prince considered the period 
 of his emancipation from his difficulties close at hand. 
 
 In other words, he was assured that if a grant of 
 96,000/. were not made to him, which was no more 
 than his due, he might confidently reckon on one for 
 4S,000/., which was the least that could possibly be 
 proffered. 
 
 NEITHER SUM was ever awarded! 
 
 Mr. Pitt retired from office, leaving his pledge un- 
 redeemed. Mr. Addington became Premier. To him 
 the Duke's claims were submitted in detail : Mr. 
 Addington promised ; and Mr. Addington eventually 
 passed them by. Of all the Ministers of the Crown 
 to whose sense of honour the Prince appealed, Mr. 
 Addington was the one from whom His Royal High- 
 ness experienced the greatest measure of injustice. 
 
 Mr. Addington 's promises were most positive and 
 unqualified. At a convenient season he repudiated 
 them : forgot, or made a show of forgetting, the 
 assurances he had uttered, and then, as we shall sub- 
 sequently see, impeached the Duke's veracity, the 
 veracity of the Duke of Kent ! a man of whom those 
 most opposed to him in politics, and most averse to
 
 80 THE LIFE OF 
 
 his code of military discipline, did not scruple to affirm 
 that " his fidelity to the lightest and most casual 
 promise, and his uncompromising love of truth, were 
 truly noble." 
 
 A trait or two, en passant, of Lord Sidmouth on 
 those controverted points, his tenacious memory and 
 his fidelity to his plighted word. 
 
 The same opportune failure in recollection, and the 
 same ready disposition, when closely pressed, to im- 
 peach the veracity of others, displayed itself during 
 the progress of his Lordship's negotiations with 
 Mrs. Fry. Whoever has been so highly privileged as 
 to carry out any transaction with, or to have any per- 
 sonal knowledge of, that devoted and self-denying 
 woman, must be well aware that a resolute and un- 
 deviating adherence to veracity was a predominant 
 feature in her saint-like character. Equivocation, 
 embellishment, exaggeration, she abhorred. " Use 
 great plainness of speech," was a maxim she daily 
 exemplified in her intercourse with the lowly and with 
 the great. Singularly guarded in all her statements, 
 she took especial care, in detailing any fact or incident, 
 to divest it of all adventitious colouring, and to repre- 
 sent it in the simple garb of truth. Yet HER ! Lord 
 Sidmouth, when plied with his own assertions, and 
 obliged to adopt one of two courses, pronounced devoid 
 of truth. The horns of a dilemma held him : he had 
 either to admit that his own memory was completely 
 at fault, or to maintain that Mrs. Fry dealt in false- 
 hood. He preferred the latter course. To be sure,
 
 THE DUKE OF KIvNT. 81 
 
 had he adopted the former alternative, his powers of 
 recollection would have been characterised as defective ; 
 arid Skelton, a poor wretched woman under sentence 
 of death for forgery, would have escaped the hangman. 
 This would have been unsatisfactory, for his Lordship 
 had a strange relish for executions. 
 
 Despite of his bland manner, and gentle smile, 
 and subdued intonation of voice, Henry, the first 
 Viscount Sidmouth softly be it spoken was a 
 decided friend to capital punishment. He maintained 
 that the scaffold and the hangman's noose taught a 
 salutary lesson. So he adopted the latter alternative. 
 He hung Skelton ; and pronounced Mrs. Fry a 
 deliberate falsifier. The incident is alluded to some- 
 what prominently in her Life. The facts but a little 
 previous explanation is necessary. 
 
 The period, be it remembered, 1818, might be 
 called the saturnalia of Jack Ketch. The gibbet was 
 in constant requisition. The judge on circuit had ever 
 his black cap ready by his side. The state of the law 
 was in fact so sanguinary, as to prevent the possibility 
 of its own execution. Hundreds, had it been car- 
 ried out, must have been sacrificed for the crime of 
 forgery alone ! To prevent so monstrous a result, 
 " there was a system (happily now a tale of the past) 
 of arranging for such as were not to die, to plead 
 ' Guilty to the minor count.' " * The Bank solicitors, 
 in conjunction with some of the Old Bailey authorities, 
 selected certain individuals for deliverance from death. 
 
 * That of utlerinr/, knowing to be forged. 
 G
 
 82 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Instances there were when " calculating chances/' the 
 accused would decline the proffered boon, and put in 
 the plea of " Not guilty," on the possibility of entirely 
 escaping punishment. 
 
 Harriett Skelton, a person of most prepossessing 
 countenance and previous good character, had, under 
 the influence of a man she loved, passed forged notes. 
 She was ordered for execution. Her case excited the 
 strongest compassion. There were circumstances of 
 extenuation mixed up with her history, which deeply 
 interested many parties ; among others, Mrs. Pry. 
 She, accompanied by the Duke of Gloucester, waited 
 on the Bank Directors, to plead this unfortunate 
 woman's cause ; the Duke having previously made a 
 most earnest application to Lord Sidniouth in her 
 behalf: all in vain. The law took its course : and the 
 ill-fated girl was hanged. 
 
 Mrs. Pry avowed her opinion in decisive terms : 
 Skelton had been MISLED. 
 
 Lord Sidmouth was seriously annoyed, and ex- 
 pressed his annoyance in a manner so distressing to 
 her, that with all her gentleness and forbearance, 
 Mrs. Pry was compelled to acknowledge that she 
 could hold no further direct communication with one 
 who assumed to doubt her VERACITY ! ! unless some 
 explanation was offered. The mooted point related to 
 the power lodged in the Bank of England, with Lord 
 Sidrnouth's concurrence, to select such persons as they 
 considered fit subjects, to plead " Guilty" to the " minor 
 count" and so to escape the extreme penalty of the law.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 83 
 
 Mrs. Fry was never shaken in the belief that Skelton 
 had had the offer so to do, but most unwisely, as it 
 proved, had rejected it, and that through this error in 
 judgment she had paid the forfeit of her life.* 
 
 Here terminated the intercourse between the 
 Quakeress and the Cabinet Minister. Mrs. Fry did 
 not abandon all hope of reconciliation till she had 
 tried what effect a personal interview would have on 
 his Lordship, in removing his impressions as to her 
 want of veracity. Lady Harcourt accompanied her. 
 But his Lordship, with his habitual and incomparable 
 obstinacy, remained true to his previous convictions. 
 He held that Mrs. Fry was a determined falsifier. 
 
 Oh ! will that mistaken and demoralizing system 
 which that true-hearted woman tried so earnestly to 
 uproot her coadjutor, the noble-minded William 
 Allen, himself a confidential friend and valued corre- 
 spondent of the Duke will the system of capital 
 punishment long prevail in this enlightened country ? 
 Does any crime justify man's tampering with the soul 
 abbreviating its opportunity for repentance, and 
 sending it hastily and hurriedly to its last dread 
 account? Will not the hour arrive, when legalized 
 murder shall be unknown in England ? Hasten it, 
 DIVINE FOUNTAIN of Mercy ! THOU who wouldest 
 not that any should perish, but that all should come 
 to repentance. 
 
 It was under the vacillating administration of that 
 feeble-minded, unfeeling, and much overrated-maii, 
 
 * Memoir of the Life of Elizabeth Fry, vol, i. p. 31U. 
 r, -2
 
 84 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Henry Addington, that the Duke of Kent, on the 21st 
 of August, 1801, was removed from the command of 
 the 7th Fusileers to that of the Royals, vacant by the 
 death of Lord Adam Gordon ; and early in the fol- 
 lowing year was tendered an appointment which 
 changed the whole current of his life, and entailed on 
 him years of unmerited obloquy and mental suffering 
 the government of Gibraltar. 
 
 From a very lengthy memorandum which I have 
 seen in the Duke's own handwriting, and evidently 
 corrected by him as late down as December in the 
 year 1818, it appears that the post was offered him, 
 not sought ; that he accepted it with some hesitation ; 
 and only after he "had received the strongest assurances 
 of the fullest support from Government," touching 
 whatever fresh regulations he might find it necessary 
 to issue. 
 
 It would seem that the Premier, in the first of his 
 many interviews with the Duke on the subject, said, 
 " This state of things " alluding to the drunkenness 
 and insubordination then prevalent at Gibraltar 
 " cannot be permitted to endure. It has lasted already 
 too long. It MUST be put down, and your Royal 
 Highness is the man to do it. You may firmly reckon 
 on the fullest measure of support from the Cabinet at 
 home." 
 
 Another stipulation was made, and another pledge 
 given, to which distinct allusion will be requisite here- 
 after. 
 
 Thus much for the promises held out in Downing 
 Street.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 85 
 
 What said the authorities at the Horse Guards ? 
 
 " I consider it my duty " thus wrote the Duke of 
 York, then Commander-in-Chief, date 21st of April, 
 1802 "on your assuming the command of the 
 garrison at Gibraltar, to make your Royal Highness 
 aware that much exertion will be necessary to establish 
 a due degree of discipline AMONG THE TROOPS ; and 
 which, I trust, you will be able gradually to accomplish 
 by a moderate exercise of the power vested in you." 
 
 A broad admission this ! To a military man it would 
 convey but one meaning. 
 
 Another of the Duke of York's instructions to the 
 Duke of Kent ran thus : 
 
 "It is essential that your Royal Highness should 
 be made aware, previous to your assuming the com- 
 mand at Gibraltar, that too great a proportion of the 
 garrison has been usually employed on duties of 
 fatigue ; that, in consequence, discipline has been re- 
 laxed, and drunkenness promoted ; that it will be the 
 did if of your Royal Highness to exact the most minute 
 attention to all His Majesty's regulations for disci- 
 plining, arming, clothing, and appointing of the army, 
 from all of which not the most trifling deviation can 
 be allowed." 
 
 Another inquiry was, however, hazarded by the 
 Prince ere he announced his decision. 
 
 " Now as to the second in command, Barnett, can 
 I depend " 
 
 " Oh ! devoted to you devoted to you " was the 
 reply ; " true as steel rely upon him."
 
 80 THE LIFE OF 
 
 " Devoted to you ! " 
 
 How wisely and how mercifully is the future hidden 
 from us ! 
 
 " Of worshippers, parasites, mercenaries, suitors, and 
 dependents, royalty has a host; of personally attached 
 and disinterested adherents a slender and bashful 
 band. The first resemble the mixed multitude which 
 came out of Egypt ; the last, the handful in the ark 
 truthful, faithful, hopeful, prayerful."
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 87 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE MUTINY AT GIBRALTAR TREACHERY OF THE OFFICERS CON- 
 SPIRACY AGAINST THE DUKE. 
 
 18021803. 
 
 CALP&, had she a voice, could tell some strange 
 tales. She has witnessed some fearful tragedies, and 
 been subject to a variety of fortune. Of the irruption 
 of the Arabs into Spain, A.D. 711, when they landed 
 at the foot of this rock ; of her recapture from the 
 Arabians by Ferdinand, King of Castile, in 1302 ; 
 of their again resuming possession of her in 1333, 
 and being finally driven from her strongholds by 
 Henry IV. in 1462 ; of the struggle for her during 
 the war of the Spanish succession ; and of the defeat 
 endured by the Dons August 4th, 1704, when 
 they were compelled to surrender her to the British 
 Admiral, Rooke, and Prince George of Darmstadt ; 
 of Elliot and the red-hot shot which was poured upon 
 the enemy's floating batteries by the gallant fellows 
 who served under him in the memorable siege of 
 September, 1782 ; of all these the Old Lady, had 
 she vocables, might babble freely and forcibly ; nay 
 more she might hint with pardonable pride, how 
 great a prize she had been deemed by neighbouring
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 monarchs for centuries, and defy the keenest calcu- 
 lator to estimate the lives that had been lost and the 
 treasure that had been lavished for the possession of 
 her rugged charms. 
 
 She might add too, that in her close and narrow 
 streets are congregated nuisances of every kind under 
 heaven ; that there dwell in close contiguity, people 
 of every clime, and kindred, and tongue ; that there 
 lurks debauchery in every guise and form ; that the 
 plague found a resting-place in her filthy alleys, 
 and revelled amid her mixed population during the 
 deadly year of 1804 ; that it is the dearest place on 
 this broad earth to dwell in ; that fraud and specula- 
 tion reign there supreme ; that in the affections of 
 the Jew, Gibraltar is only second to Jerusalem, since 
 on the Rock he can barter, cheat, and pilfer the 
 livelong day ; that the motto most in vogue there 
 the one most favourably received and most cordially 
 acted on is 
 
 " EEM, quocunque naodo HEM !" 
 
 The Old Lady is unique a rock, and yet a garden. 
 " Gibraltar," says an able writer,* " is not the 
 barren rock that has been supposed. Colonel James 
 mentions the names of 310 different trees and plants 
 growing on the promontory. Several kinds of fruit 
 are cultivated ; and the vine and fig flourish in 
 luxuriance. After rains vegetation is richly exuberant. 
 
 * Montgomery Martin's Statistics of the British Colonies.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 89 
 
 The olive, almond, orange, lemon, and indeed every 
 tree planted in a proper spot, thrive on Gibraltar ; in 
 the naval garden in the south are some noble date- 
 trees ; the prickly pear runs wild ; the aloe abounds, 
 and the palmetto was formerly plentiful. Geraniums 
 of almost every species grow in the utmost profusion, 
 and a great variety of wild and uncultivated plants 
 and herbs are found in every part of the mountain. 
 Among the native fruits brought to market, are seven 
 or eight kinds of grapes, figs, oranges, lemons, dam- 
 sons, pomegranates, almonds, apples, peaches, plums, 
 apricots, vulgo ' Kill- Johns' cherries, strawberries, 
 &c. &c. ; and potatoes, cabbages, onions, cucumbers, 
 artichokes, tomatos, peas, kidney-beans, spinach, 
 lettuces, radishes, &c. &c., are produced in abun- 
 dance. During the latter part of the last siege, the 
 quantity of vegetables grown was sufficient for the 
 supply of the garrison, and the quantity of garden 
 ground is now augmented." 
 
 The aspect of Gibraltar at this particular period, 
 with respect to discipline, may best be gathered from 
 the following description by a thoroughly disinterested 
 observer : " Gibraltar is mainly supplied with water 
 from cisterns which are filled by the rain : three or four 
 wells were, however, sinking in the rock to procure 
 this necessary of life. Indeed it (the water) is so 
 bad, and the scarcity is so great, that they (the in- 
 habitants) sometimes pay five reals, near two shillings 
 sterling, for a small keg of better water which they 
 buy from the soldiers.
 
 90 THE LIFE OF 
 
 " If water be scarce, WINE, on the other hand, is in such 
 abundance and so cheap, that in no part of the world 
 exist such repeated scenes of intoxication. It is, in- 
 deed, distressing to see whole bands of soldiers and 
 sailors literally LYING IN THE STREETS in the most de- 
 grading state of inebriety. Drunkenness is no crime in 
 the garrison except in those who are on duty, and 
 every man coming off a working party is ordered to 
 be paid eightpence on the spot, which he immediately 
 proceeds to spend in a kind of bad wine called black 
 strap. Houses for the sale of this pernicious liquor 
 are found at every step, and furnish no small part of 
 the revenue."* 
 
 Those in the slightest degree conversant with mili- 
 tary matters well know that drunkenness is subversive 
 of all discipline. It has been so held by the ablest 
 warriors of our own times. 
 
 The Duke has been heard to say, " Drunkenness is 
 the bane of the soldier ; let that once prevail in a regi- 
 ment, and its efficiency is at an end." 
 
 Sir Charles Napier, in addressing his old corps on 
 his arrival in India to take the chief command, warned 
 the men in most emphatic terms against this vice, as 
 the " sure forerunner of disgrace and death." 
 
 Lord Hill, in calling a commanding officer before 
 him, and reprimanding him smartly with reference to 
 the insubordinate state of his regiment, is well remem- 
 
 * " Walsh's Journal of the late Campaign in Egypt, including 
 Descriptions of that Country, and of Gibraltar." London : 4to. 
 1803.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 91 
 
 bered to have said, " Produce your punishment 
 book, Sir. But I need hardly ask to see it. I know 
 its aspect before I open it. It will be black with 
 entries, ' Black hole' and 'The lash' 'The lash' and 
 'The black hole !' Exactly so. It cannot be otherwise. 
 Wherever drunkenness prevails in a regiment, the 
 punishment book is sure to be crowded with deplora- 
 ble statements. Keep your men sober, Sir, and we 
 shall hear less of you and from you at the Horse 
 Guards." 
 
 Bearing in mind the peculiar aspect of Gibraltar at 
 this particular period, slight surprise will be felt at 
 the events that followed. 
 
 The Duke was appointed to the government on the 
 27th of March, 1802. On the 27th of April he 
 embarked at Falmouth, and reached his destination on 
 the 10th of May. 
 
 From various statements which had been made to 
 him, both at the Horse Guards and by Mr. Addington, 
 he was prepared to find the troops in a most licentious 
 and undisciplined state, and considerable abuses exist- 
 ing in every department of the garrison. But every 
 previous representation made to him in England fell 
 far short of the immorality, insubordination, and 
 laxity of all military rule then exhibited at Gibraltar. 
 
 On the very day the Duke landed on the Rock, he 
 had an immediate opportunity of forming a judgment 
 of the exterior appearance of the troops, as they 
 assembled in review order on the Grand Parade, 
 and afterwards formed a line from thence to the Lieu-
 
 92 THE LIFE OF 
 
 tenant- Governor's quarters, where the Duke at first 
 took up his residence. To describe the slovenliness 
 of their appearance, the total want of uniformity in 
 their dress and appointments, the inaccuracy of their 
 movements, and the unsteadiness of both officers and 
 men, is beyond the power of language. Nor was their 
 state of discipline less obnoxious to censure. The 
 grossest irregularities characterised the bearing of the 
 men when off duty. In the public streets, they might 
 be seen by scores in a state of the most disgraceful 
 intoxication, and altogether so clothed as to resemble 
 a roving horde of lawless plunderers, rather than 
 drilled and organized soldiers. 
 
 Complaints of their unrestrained licentiousness were 
 rife on every side. 
 
 There were instances of the soldiers at noonday 
 having seized females, and carried them behind the 
 bastions to brutalise and violate their persons by force. 
 This was attested on oath. 
 
 Discipline had become a bye-word. Every man 
 did that which was " right in his own eyes." The 
 Duke remained a silent, inactive, and disgusted spec- 
 tator of such scenes for some days. He knew his 
 duty, and although determined to do it, wished pre- 
 viously to ascertain whether the men were absolutely 
 depraved and incorrigible, or whether the officers had 
 been (as was certainly the fact) culpably careless, 
 supine, and inattentive to their duty. His Royal 
 Highness saw with great regret that much reproach 
 was imputable to the latter. Tn the meantime, there
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 93 
 
 did not pass a single day without complaint that the 
 soldiers had committed some outrage on the persons, 
 or depredation on the property, of the inhabitants ; 
 of mutiny towards the non-commissioned officers or 
 of some military crime, such as drunkenness on guard 
 or negligence of sentries on their posts : of minor 
 offences, the number was beyond belief. 
 
 The Duke set about a reform forthwith. To ac- 
 complish it, he cheerfully laboured seventeen Itou.ns 
 a day. His personal efforts and private remonstrances 
 were unwearied. But his was an herculean task ; and 
 he had to grapple with it almost unaided. Unforeseen 
 difficulties arose, and in quarters where opposition was 
 least expected. Peculiar pains had been taken to 
 excite prejudices among the soldiery against His Royal 
 Highness previous to his arrival. All sorts of false- 
 hoods relative to his eagerness to inflict corporal 
 punishment were freely circulated in the ranks. 
 
 A great proportion of the officers afforded culpable 
 opposition to every plan which had for its object the 
 revival of subordination and control ; a course of con- 
 duct the more inexcusable, because the Duke never 
 used a rough expression to an officer, nor refused one 
 an indulgence which it was in his power, with pro- 
 priety, to grant. Add to this, marvellous inactivity 
 and supineness evinced by the second in command, 
 General Barnett, in public, and quiet but unqualified 
 opposition to the Duke exhibited in private. Still His 
 Royal Highness persevered. 
 
 When he first landed on the Rock, there were at 
 least ninety wine and spirit houses ! hot-beds to force
 
 91 THE LIFE OF 
 
 mutiny which, with the cheapness of liquors, gave 
 such opportunities and temptations to the soldiers to 
 drink, that intoxication, and the common effects of it, 
 riot and disorder, rendered some restriction indispen- 
 sable. His Royal Highness therefore reduced those 
 houses from ninety to sixty, and subsequently at a 
 convenient season ordered that they should not exceed 
 forty. 
 
 By so doing, he materially curtailed his own income. 
 But his anxiety to restore discipline, morality and 
 sobriety, superseded all views of personal interest. 
 He therefore cancelled the licences of those who sold 
 wine and spirits in the immediate vicinity both of 
 the barracks and guard-rooms, those who had wine- 
 shops in bye-lanes and obscure places, letting those 
 remain which were in the public streets. But ever 
 humane and thoughtful, he enforced this regulation 
 with commendable consideration and mercy. He did 
 not abolish the practice indiscriminately ; for he took 
 care to distinguish between those who could support 
 themselves without the wine and spirit trade, from 
 those who depended upon it solely for subsistence. 
 
 His kindly feelings were as conspicuous as his 
 sense of duty. 
 
 His next move in the work of reform proved 
 his knowledge of human nature. 
 
 The officers had suffered idleness and drunkenness 
 inseparable companions to pervade the soldiery. 
 
 He has lived with loose observation, both of 
 himself and of others, who does not know that the 
 human mind will too frequently embrace anything,
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 93 
 
 however dangerous or criminal, rather than be without 
 an object ; that he who is idle will soon be vicious ; 
 that a drunkard is not master of himself, nor to be 
 relied upon by others. It therefore became necessary 
 for His Royal Highness to devise some method of 
 employing the men, and thus diminish their opportu- 
 nities of drinking to excess. Occupation would mate- 
 rially conduce to sobriety ; to restoration of discipline ; 
 and to a diminution of the number of crimes and 
 punishments. 
 
 With these views an order was given to establish 
 a roll-call at sunrise a dress parade morning and 
 evening ; care was taken that the men should regularly 
 attend meals ; that after firing the second evening gun 
 a report should be made that they were in barracks. 
 The Duke also instituted regular periods for drill and 
 exercise ; provided for the regiments being off duty in 
 succession, so that the commanding officers might see 
 their men together once every week ; and enforced the 
 system of march, manoeuvre, and exercise, laid down 
 by His Majesty's regulations, to effect a general 
 uniformity throughout the whole garrison. 
 
 But further remedial measures Were requisite ; and 
 in the accompanying general order he struck a decisive 
 blow against the prevailing evil, drunkenness. 
 
 " GENERAL ORDER. No. 146. 
 " It having been judged expedient that every corps 
 should have a regimental canteen, in order to pre- 
 vent soldiers from frequenting wine-houses, which
 
 96 THE LIFE OF 
 
 have ever been the bane of discipline and regularity 
 in this garrison, and to enable them to enjoy them- 
 selves without quitting the barracks, no non-com- 
 missioned officer, drummer, or private whatever, is 
 permitted at any time to enter a wine-house, tavern, 
 or house of any retailer or vender of wine or 
 spirituous liquors : they are required to confine 
 themselves either to the canteen of their own regi- 
 ment, or to three houses licensed to sell malt liquor 
 only, as described in No. 150. The same prohibition 
 is to extend to their purchasing liquor, but from the 
 man who holds the canteen of their own corps, 
 unless it be malt liquor, which they are at liberty to 
 obtain from one of the houses above named. Any 
 disobedience of this order will meet with the most 
 exemplary punishment, as upon the punctual observ- 
 ance of it so much of the regularity and good order 
 of the garrison wholly depends. But in order that 
 inhabitants who hold wine-house licences may be as 
 little as possible affected by this prohibition, every 
 regimental canteen man is strictly forbidden from 
 selling wine or any liquor to any person except the 
 non-commissioned officers and men of the regiment, 
 for whose sole use he is permitted to hold it."* 
 
 * As in the public prints of the day, the mutiny is described 
 as " attributable solely to the cruelty of the Governor, and his 
 perpetual interference with the comforts of the men," it may not 
 be unadvisable to print verbatim (see Illustration D,) His Royal 
 Highness's orders relative to "the canteen," and that which refers to 
 the employment of the troops. To the military reader they will, 
 perhaps, afford matter of interest.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 97 
 
 Meanwhile at the regimental mess of more than 
 one corps, the most insubordinate language was in 
 vogue, and conversation whose freedom bordered on 
 democracy was sported and tolerated. 
 
 Unquestionably the officers had matter of mortal 
 quarrel with the Duke. Their grievances were heavy, 
 their wrongs deep and unexampled. Ample right had 
 they to demand redress. A load of oppression crushed 
 them ! What bitter hardships were the following ! 
 
 " The officers were taken from backgammon to 
 manoeuvre their companies ; from making bar-points, 
 to points of duty ; from entering men, to drilling 
 them; from taking up wooden men, to prevent real 
 men from deserving to be taken up ; they were called 
 from surrounding the hollow square of a billiard table, 
 to learn the formation of one in the field ; they were 
 withdrawn from knocking about red balls, to be taught 
 how to direct hot balls ; from making a cannon, to 
 using one ; they were brought under the cruel neces- 
 sity of substituting the sword and the musket for the 
 mace and queue : there was some difference in the 
 occupations, doubtless ; but it was incumbent on the 
 Governor to point it out ; and it was the duty of the 
 officers to obey him." They submitted with reluc- 
 tance ; deep, manifest, indefensible, and infectious. 
 
 Meanwhile the clamours of those parties whose 
 licences the Duke, to the detriment of his own income, 
 had suppressed, were incessant. They had derived 
 a large profit by selling poison to the troops the term 
 is used advisedly, for the mortality among the military
 
 98 THE LIFE OF 
 
 at the Rock previous to the Duke's arrival was unpa- 
 ralleled and bitter was their animosity towards the 
 apostle of temperance and order. 
 
 To the unscrupulous misrepresentation and inflam- 
 matory language of these men, was added the agency 
 of infamous females, who distributed spirits among 
 the soldiery, to infuriate their minds, and excite them 
 by the most profligate arts to fatal and desperate 
 outbreaks. 
 
 These various agencies could produce but one result. 
 The mutiny at last broke out, and thus : 
 
 " The second battalion of the Royals having made 
 too free with liquor, (in consequence of having their 
 balances paid them,) on the evening of the 24th of 
 December forced open the barrack gates, and seizing 
 their arms, vowed vengeance on the Adjutant, who 
 had ordered that they should not be suffered to go 
 into the town. To this officer, it appears, they had an 
 inveterate hatred; not finding him, they ran to the 
 barracks of the 25th regiment, and endeavoured to 
 persuade that corps to join them. Failing in this 
 attempt, they sent a large party to the 54th regiment, 
 where they were received by the grenadier company of 
 that corps with a pretty smart and galling fire, which 
 wounded five of them. In less than an hour all was 
 quiet, and the next day they appeared so perfectly 
 contrite, that His Royal Highness the Governor, after 
 animadverting forcibly upon the enormity of their 
 conduct, forgave it. But on the 26th of December, 
 the 25th regiment (which had behaved so well on the
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 99 
 
 24th of the month) having now received their balances, 
 and having got drunk, behaved in the same manner as 
 the Royals had done on Christmas-eve. A party of 
 the artillery, in firing upon some of them, who were 
 disorderly and mutinous, unfortunately hit a detach- 
 ment of the Royals, who were approaching to assist 
 the artillery in quelling the mutiny, killed one man, 
 and wounded five ; besides killing two of the 25th 
 regiment. On the 27th of December, thirteen of the 
 ringleaders were taken up in order to be tried for 
 mutiny. The garrison was then perfectly quiet, and 
 a general sentiment of abhorrence for what had passed 
 seemed to prevail. 
 
 " The riotous conduct of the 25th regiment when 
 they got their balances, was brought about by the 
 insinuations of a number of discontented foreigners, 
 who have found a place in its ranks."* 
 
 Another account of the affair runs thus : 
 " A general spirit of insubordination, long smoulder- 
 ing in secret, at length found vent in a mutiny of a 
 most alarming nature, which broke out on Christmas- 
 eve, 1802. The ringleaders they belonged to the 
 Duke's own corps, the Royals expected to be joined 
 by other troops, but were disappointed. By the 
 spirited exertions of Lieutenant-Colonel Ross, who 
 commanded the 54th, the mutiny was crushed in less 
 than three hours after it commenced. No lives were 
 lost, and those who were wounded were but few, and 
 
 * Letter from Gibraltar, dated 27th December, 1802. The 
 foreigners alluded to were chiefly Dutchmen. 
 
 H 2
 
 100 THE LIFE OF 
 
 their hurts not serious ; they belonged to the Royals, 
 and suffered under the fire of the 54th. That regi- 
 ment behaved well on that occasion. The 25th and 
 26th of December arrived during these days the 
 Royals upbraided every man of the 25th whom they 
 met, as a traitor to the cause, for not having joined 
 them on the evening of the 24th. 
 
 " On the night of the 26th, after the men of the 
 25th had had a long and deep carouse, and had well 
 wetted the usual Christmas donation of a shilling per 
 man from the captains of companies, the treatment, 
 which they, the 25th, had experienced throughout the 
 day from the Royals, became the subject of earnest 
 debate, and produced a tumult in the former corps. 
 On a sudden a third part of the regiment terminated 
 all discussion, madly rushed to arms, and immediately 
 attacked the barracks of the Royals. The alarm created 
 by this latter proceeding was great and universal. 
 The orderly part of the garrison scarcely knew what 
 result to expect. Every other corps, however, the Royals 
 nobly setting the example, requested His Royal High- 
 ness to put himself at their head ; and it is but justice 
 to the Royals to state, that they did their duty well o?i 
 that night. By one o'clock in the morning tranquillity 
 was again restored. When the mutiny first broke out 
 in the Royals, nothing but the most pressing solici- 
 tations on the part of Major-General Barnett, of the 
 3d regiment of Guards, the second in command, and 
 some of the senior officers of the garrison, had 
 induced His Royal Highness, contrary to his own
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 101 
 
 convictions, to consider it as expiated for the time 
 being, by the execution done on some of the mutineers 
 by the fire of the 54th regiment. 
 
 " On the present occasion, when a similar attempt 
 was made to persuade him to show similar leniency to 
 the case of the 25th regiment, he felt it a duty 
 incumbent on him firmly to resist it. He therefore 
 caused the ringleaders to be seized, and brought to 
 trial ; but out of ten who were condemned to die 
 three only were executed. By this firm, seasonable, 
 and necessary measure, he extinguished the embers of 
 mutiny, and in the course of a few days had the satis- 
 faction to see good order re-established, and all the 
 troops brought back to a state of the most perfect 
 discipline and obedience. 
 
 " Who were the real ringleaders in the affair is but 
 too clearly established by the following painful docu- 
 ment. It is a melancholy confession, but bears 
 throughout the stern impress of truth. 
 
 " It was made by HENRY SALISBURY, at a time 
 when he was free from all apprehension of punishment, 
 when there could be no motive to invent a falsehood, 
 and when no inducement was held out to persuade 
 him to sign the declaration, in the presence of three 
 gentlemen, now alive, (1804,) two of them officers in 
 the King's service, and the third a surgeon holding 
 a commission under His Majesty. 
 
 " ' Dedham Prison Ship, Medina River, 
 
 Isle of Wight, Nov. 26, 1804. 
 
 " ' Having had time to think on the past events of 
 my life, I conceive it my duty as a soldier, and for the
 
 10.2 THE LIFE OF 
 
 case of my conscience, to make the following con- 
 fession of circumstances that have come within my 
 knowledge : 
 
 " ' 1st. That the mutiny was formed and con- 
 ducted by the officers of the garrison, and that those 
 officers were of the first rank ! 
 
 " ' 2d. That a committee was formed for the pay- 
 ment of those more immediately active; that this 
 committee was held at the " Three Guns Inn," near 
 the main-guard ; that they (the ringleaders) attended 
 this committee, and received money from them. 
 
 " ' 3d. That His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent 
 was to be taken from the guard-parade at the time of 
 divine service, and placed on board one of His Majesty's 
 ships of war, with orders not to return on pain of 
 death, and that His Royal Highness was to embark at 
 the Ragged Staff. 
 
 " ' 4th. That this plan was not put in execution 
 because the committee had learned that the scheme 
 had been made known to His Royal Highness ; and 
 that the signal for seizing His Royal Highness was 
 to have been given by an OFFICER. 
 
 " ' 5th. On inquiry of Francis Fell, Isaac Saville, 
 and Peter Clarke, of the 25th, who were mutineers, 
 for the purpose of making it known who the officers 
 were that formed the committee, they, with a most 
 horrid oath, swore they would never tell ; they also 
 said they were determined to go to the grave with the 
 
 secret ; for whilst was at their back they should 
 
 never want a friend, as he would ever stick close to 
 them.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 103 
 
 " ' Cth. I also declare that they received, after em- 
 barking at Gibraltar, a letter containing money, which 
 letter they burned immediately afterwards. 
 
 " ' 7th. Were I to judge of what they say, talking 
 about the committee, I should suppose that it must 
 have been composed of the following officers, of whom 
 they are constantly talking : of Captain - , and 
 -- , of the Royals, and two officers of the name of 
 - , - . To what I have asserted and signed, 
 I am ready and willing to depose on oath at any time. 
 
 (Signed) " ' HENRY SALISBURY, 
 
 " Late of the 25th Regiment. 
 " 'Read and signed in the presence of 
 Captain, &c. <L'c. &c. etc.' 
 
 ' " 
 
 But will it not be conceded that from the lips of 
 surviving actors in a scene like the foregoing how 
 subordinate soever a part they may have taken in the 
 transaction one may glean much curious detail as 
 to what preceded and followed such a catastrophe ? 
 
 In the course of my researches, I met with an old 
 soldier who had served at Gibraltar during the entire 
 period of the Duke's command there. He gave me 
 his opinion very freely touching that " rare shindy ! " 
 I am by no means sure that the veteran was not one 
 of the mutineers himself ! At all events, he had a 
 very suspicious sympathy with the three men who 
 were executed. He shook his head when their fate 
 was alluded to, and said, " Ah ! I knew them well. 
 They were all three fine fellows. Better soldiers never 
 presented arms. Two of them were Dutchmen,
 
 104 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Pastoret and Teighman, the third, Reilly, was an 
 Irishman a daring dog 1" 
 
 " You say, Sir," continued he, " that it was the men 
 as mutinied. You say very wrong. It wor not. It wor 
 the officers. They mutinied fust. I say they did 
 fust. For I wor a mess waiter : and heerd much of 
 their talk : and bitter agen the Duke it sartainly wor. 
 It soon reached the ranks. It set all wrong there : 
 for it pisoned the minds of the men ; and the head 
 mutineer was General Barnett himself ! No other 
 than he ! That's Gospel truth ; and I'll maintain it 
 to the death. He never let slip the chance of saying 
 something awry agen the Duke's general orders, or 
 the Duke's plans, or the Duke's parades. And didn't 
 I hear General Barnett say, if I ever heerd living man 
 speak upon this wicked earth didn't I hear him 
 say the morning after the row, that ' it was the best 
 tiling that could have happened : now we shall get rid 
 of him ? ' meaning the Duke. The men wor blame- 
 able, no doubt. But who fust set the tub a rolling ? 
 Who fust ? The tails, mayhap, had something to 
 do with it." 
 
 " What tails ? " 
 
 " Pig-tails," was the reply. " The Duke set great 
 store by them ; and was onaccountable nice about 
 them. That and his temperance fairly upset him." 
 
 " The first time I ever heard of temperance being 
 injurious to any man, soldier or civilian." 
 
 " It wor to him," said the old man doggedly " he 
 wor too temperate ; he certainly wor -for a soldier.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 105 
 
 Iss he wor the Father Mathew of his family : they 
 hadn't another in it, I fancy but it didn't do for 
 Gib. Body and soul, Sir, you parson-gentlemen, 
 who live at home in your church-houses you've no 
 idee of what the Rock was at that particular time. 
 Several of the regiments there were just returned from 
 India, flush of money India pay at that time o' day 
 was worth the counting and drink they WOULD have. 
 Wine was to be had at ' Gib ' of all sorts : some 
 very good ; some indifferent ; and some " here the 
 old veteran made an indescribable wry face "was 
 desperate rot-gut stuff ! Curses on them that brewed 
 it ! It shut up many a stout fellow afore his time in 
 his wooden great coat. But there the liquor was, at 
 all prices, easily got, and the men would have it. To 
 be sure " and the old campaigner laughed " things 
 were come to a pretty pass before the Duke jynedl 
 The men were part slovens and part rebels. And as 
 for the women creatures, they could neither stir in the 
 streets, nor rest quiet at their homes, specially at 
 nights, on account of the soldiers being all about on 
 the stroll wicked drunk, and audacious lively. The 
 quiet ones the civilians, and such like, what com- 
 plaints they did make, surely, of what they called 
 ' military licence ! ' However, the Duke soon put all 
 that down. No more larking after he came. He 
 shut up many of the wine-houses ; and all the others 
 he curbed up pretty tightly. But it had nearly cost 
 him his life, that it had." 
 "How?"
 
 106 THE LIFE OF 
 
 " Why, d'ye see, Sir there was a blunder. The 
 men warn't quite unanimous. On Christmas-eve the 
 Royals broke out in mutiny, and went to the quar- 
 ters of the 25th regiment, and expected the men 
 would join them. But they didnt. On the 26th 
 o' December the 25th broke out and went to the 
 Royals, and expected the Royals to join 'em, and 
 then they wouldn't and so the mutiny was crushed. 
 But if, on the first outbreak, on Christmas-eve, both 
 regiments had been unanimous, the Duke would have 
 never seen England again. And yet there wor a deal 
 o' kindness about the Duke too. He never forgot the 
 sick soldier; went to the hospital, saw that justice 
 was done to the poor fellows there ; and would listen 
 patiently to any request a poor devil had to make. 
 But for a soldier, mark you for a soldier he wor 
 he certainly wor too temperate. That's Gospel truth. 
 And I'll die in it." 
 
 Another old veteran, whose acquaintance I had the 
 honour of making some few months afterwards he 
 was a Chelsea pensioner, and had served in the Came- 
 ronians thus delivered himself : 
 
 " The Duke of Kent ! I recollect him right well. 
 He was a very bad man. He would NOT LET us 
 DRINK. He was wuss than any teetotaller going. 
 Much wuss. He said a soldier might do without 
 drink ! An unpossibility ! A rank, sheer, downright 
 unpossibility. And then his hours he was up before 
 the sun ! And the parades he never missed one. 
 There was one word always foremost in his Prayer-book
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 107 
 
 the word DUTY and by that he swore. But he was 
 very near being sent over the Rock for all that. The 
 men said, indeed, that they intended to ship him on 
 board the Active, which was then lying in the bay. 
 But, once in the soldiers' hands, he would never have 
 gone up the side of H. M.'s. sloop Active, or any 
 other sloop. And, by the way, a mischance attended 
 her. Either the day before or the day after the 
 mutiny she was struck with lightning, and severely 
 damaged. But whether ' taut ' or ' crippled,' that 
 was the vessel the mutineers talked of putting the 
 Duke aboard of, with orders never to land upon the 
 Rock no more. The jKuropa battery saved him. Yes, 
 the Royal Artillery regiment did their duty well 
 that day ; and so did ' The King's regiment ;' and 
 so did the 54th. He was noble-looking, was the 
 Duke, Sir noble, noble but had rather too much 
 iron in him. And, Sir, few of his officers stood by 
 him very, very few about the wine-houses particu- 
 larly. In that matter he stood alone, Sir almost, if 
 not altogether alone." 
 
 "And if he did?" said I; "when either evil 
 is to be done, or good neglected, how much better 
 is it to go the right way alone than to * err in 
 company !" 
 
 " So 'tis held, Sir, by gentlemen of your cloth ; 
 red-coats think differently. To be sure, 'twas sur- 
 prising how the deaths in the garrison diminished 
 after many of them wine-shops were shut up. The 
 sick list was wonderfully shortened. Perhaps the
 
 108 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Duke meant us well. But about parades and wine- 
 shops his notions were most cussedly onaccoun table." 
 
 On a calm review of the whole affair at Gibraltar, 
 there seems nothing which the most ardent admirer 
 of the Duke need shrink from contemplating. His 
 administration of the government was marked by no 
 features of cruelty, partiality, vindictiveness, or cupi- 
 dity. A thorough soldier, he paid a fearful penalty 
 to a sense of duty. He found the garrison abandoned 
 to intemperance licentious, insubordinate, unsoldier- 
 like. To remedy these evils was his plain and para- 
 mount duty as a Commander-in-Chief. His mission 
 from England had that special end in view. He 
 effected it, not with the aid, but in spite of the apathy 
 and opposition of his officers. The garrison was in 
 perfect tranquillity, and the troops in real subordi- 
 nation, for three months before he was recalled. 
 
 But this result was achieved, not merely at the cost 
 of his own comfort and quiet, but at heavy pecuniary 
 sacrifice. 
 
 Every wine-shop he suppressed every restraint he 
 placed upon those which he permitted to remain open 
 every check which he imposed upon the sale of 
 spirits within the fortress, AMERCED HIS OWN INCOME. 
 And the ruler, be it remembered, who submitted to 
 this sacrifice was an embarrassed man. He was then 
 oppressed by a load of debt from which he was earn- 
 estly struggling to be freed. He was at that very 
 moment paying the interest of a bonded debt of 
 20,000/. No allowance, moreover, had been granted
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 109 
 
 him for his outfit as governor. That appointment he 
 was told at the Treasury was " so good " that no 
 allowance for outfit was ever given. But its value 
 arose from the fees upon auctions, wine -houses, tavern 
 and spirit licences, practique and quaying fees, of a 
 large proportion of which he was voluntarily stripping 
 himself. To what end ? In order that he might ter- 
 minate the reign of misrule, do away with the painful 
 and constantly recurring court martial,* and save the 
 lives of the soldiery, f 
 
 But he might most easily have maintained his in- 
 come intact this how great a temptation to a man 
 beset with difficulties ! All he need have done was to 
 have been passive : to have passed over some irregu- 
 larities : to have been opportunely blind to others. 
 But PRINCIPLE animated his entire career; and the 
 remark of the great Chatham aptly portrays him : 
 " Beyond question he may safely be called a great 
 man, who, in carrying out the dictates of duty, sys- 
 tematically forgets the claims of self." 
 
 * " Since the Duke of Kent returned, there have been, in any 
 three months that may be fixed upon, more trials by courts mar- 
 tial than there were DURING HIS WHOLE STAY AT GIBBALTAB. No 
 small proof of his superior system." " The Duke's Case stated." 
 
 t It is capable of proof, and may be substantiated by the books 
 in the office of the Commander-in-Chief, that there were fewer 
 deaths in Gibraltar among the troops by at least one-half during 
 His Royal Highness's command, than there had been in the same 
 space of time for many years before or since.
 
 110 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE DUKE'S LIFE IN PERIL WHO WERE INSTRUMENTAL IN PRE- 
 SERVING IT LETTERS LORD MELBOURNE A TRAIT OF HIS 
 
 OFFICIAL CAREER THE QUEEN' tf INTENTIONS RELATIVE TO THE 
 
 SON OF MAJOR CONNOR. 
 
 1803. 
 
 THE mutiny repulsive as are its general features 
 becomes invested with deeper and graver interest, if 
 we believe that part of the scheme involved the assas- 
 sination of the Duke. 
 
 The insurgents, it is true, avowed that if successful 
 they had determined to content themselves with de- 
 priving His Royal Highness of his command, and 
 removing him forcibly from the Rock. But who can 
 assign the limits within which an infuriated and tri- 
 umphant soldiery will be stayed ? 
 
 It is a touching incident in the Duke's career, that 
 his humanity proved his safeguard. During the period 
 of his command the Duke not only attended to the 
 personal cleanliness of his soldiers, but to the bar- 
 racks ; and particularly to the hospitals, where his 
 presence was almost as regularly given as the attend- 
 ance of the medical men. His humanity impelled him 
 to see that the sick were diligently waited on, and he
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. Ill 
 
 gratified his benevolence by knowing that they had 
 every necessary medicine and comfort. 
 
 During one of these visits, a sick soldier, who was 
 sinking rapidly under the inroads of confirmed intem- 
 perance, " contrived to arrest the Duke's attention,* 
 and in a low whisper warned him of the plot, then 
 almost matured, of seizing him on parade and ejecting 
 him from the Rock. The man, when in health, had 
 been one of the most turbulent in the regiment, and 
 among the most active in exciting and encouraging 
 dissatisfaction among his comrades. The Duke's 
 repeated visits to the hospital and unvarying kindness 
 to its inmates subdued him ! " 
 
 So true it is, that " in seeking another's good we 
 find our own ;" so certain that no deed of mercy can 
 be barren of blessing ! The favour of HIM who is 
 ALL-MERCIFUL speeds and prospers it. It will as- 
 suredly bear fruit an hundredfold ; the promise is 
 clear and enduring, " Cast thy bread upon the 
 waters, and thou shalt find it after many days." 
 
 That the Prince himself deemed his life endangered, 
 is a fair inference from his remark to Mrs. Tidy, the 
 wife of an officer of that name, who had served in the 
 Royals, and to whom the Duke was deeply and de- 
 servedly attached. His daughter, Mrs. Ward, thus 
 writes of that eventful period :f 
 
 * " Summary of Events which immediately preceded and fol- 
 lowed the Mutiny at Gibraltar." By a Military Observer. 
 
 t Recollections of " An Old Soldier." By Mrs. Ward. Bentley: 
 1840.
 
 112 THE LIFE OF 
 
 " At the first rumour of the disaffection of the troops, 
 Captain Tidy hastened to the quarters of his own 
 company, in order, if possible, at all events to soothe 
 and quiet those under his command. Upon approach- 
 ing the spot where a number of the mutineers were 
 collected together, he heard one of the men cry out, 
 ' There he is ! d n him kill him ! ' Perfectly satis- 
 fied that he was one of the last men whom the soldiers 
 of the Royals would wish to injure, he called out, 
 ' What for, my men ?' He who had spoken, recog- 
 nising his captain's voice, and seeing his face by the 
 light of the lamp by which he was standing, instantly 
 said, ' Oh, no ! that is Captain Tidy, God bless him ! ' 
 And he passed among them unmolested, while his 
 words made a due impression. 
 
 " The following day he was on guard ; and the 
 Duke of Kent having sent several officers to the quar- 
 ters of the soldiers to pacify them, without success, 
 and being informed where Captain Tidy was, immedi- 
 ately had him relieved. Upon his arrival in his Royal 
 Highness's presence, the Duke at once requested his 
 services. Such was the influence of this very young 
 soldier with the men of his regiment, that they at- 
 tended to his remonstrances, and, respecting his 
 opinion, became in a short time comparatively quiet 
 and peaceable. 
 
 " In later years, when alluding, in conversation with 
 his family, to the mutiny at Gibraltar, we have a clear 
 recollection of the recital he gave of the peril in which 
 the Duke stood during that affair. It would be too
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 113 
 
 much to assert that Colonel Tidy was entirely instru- 
 mental in assisting His Royal Highness to evade the 
 fury and pursuit of the misguided soldiery ; but that he 
 was of essential service to the Prince on this momentous 
 occasion, was evidenced by the Duke's own words, 
 when he, by accident, met my father after the return of 
 the latter from the Greek islands in 1817, when, lay- 
 ing his hand on Colonel Tidy's shoulder, His Royal 
 Highness said to my mother, who stood by, ' Did 
 your husband never tell you that he saved my life ?' " 
 
 The two next letters are interesting from their inci- 
 dental reference to the mutiny, and the insight they 
 give us into the Duke's feelings with reference to his 
 professional prospects : 
 
 " Castle Hill Lodge, Dec. 28, 1803. 
 
 " DEAR CAPTAIN TIDY, I had the pleasure of re- 
 ceiving, on the 14th of last month, your letter of the 
 3 1st of August ; and was made very happy in learning 
 from it that you were in good health, and pleased 
 with the situation in which you were placed. 
 
 " You will easily believe that I was not a little 
 gratified with the accounts 1 received of the very gallant 
 conduct of the 2d battalion (Royal regiment) at the 
 attack of Morne Fortunee, but cannot say I was sur- 
 prised, for I never entertained a doubt of their mettle : 
 characters of the description of which the major part 
 of the corps consists, are generally very full of spirits 
 in the presence of the enemy, although they give a 
 
 i
 
 114 THE LIFE OF 
 
 great deal of trouble to their commanding officer when 
 in quarters. I have, however, had the satisfaction of 
 hearing from Colonel Macdonald, that since they have 
 been at Tobago they have generally behaved them- 
 selves well, so that I should hope they are beginning to 
 lose their Gibraltar ways. I believe the manner in 
 which they distinguished themselves on the occasion 
 above alluded to, has gone a great way towards wiping 
 off the stain they drew upon themselves by the crime 
 they committed this time twelvemonth. I therefore feel 
 particularly anxious that they should, by a continu- 
 ance of regularity and good conduct, confirm the 
 favourable opinion of them which the world have of 
 late seemed willing to adopt. 
 
 " With respect to yourself, nothing would give me 
 greater pleasure than to forward your promotion, as 
 on every account I am most anxious to serve you ; but 
 I find it is a determined point with the Commander- 
 in-Chief, that no officer in the West Indies shall obtain 
 advancement unless through the Commander of the 
 forces there; who, on the other hand, is positively 
 tied down, in all vacancies that offer without purchase, 
 to submit the name of none other than the senior 
 officer of the rank present in the country, without 
 attention whatever to corps or anything else. 
 
 " Should any expedition be determined on against 
 Martinique or Guadaloupe, nothing would afford me 
 greater pleasure than to head it : indeed, if an open- 
 ing is given me, I certainly would volunteer that 
 service ; should my offer be accepted, it may then,
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 115 
 
 perhaps, be in my power to do something for you, and 
 you may rest assured that I should neglect no oppor- 
 tunity that might offer to befriend you, consistent 
 with my promises to those who have long been my 
 followers. 
 
 " 1 shall now only offer you the assurances of my 
 best wishes, and subscribe myself, with sincere regard 
 and esteem, 
 
 " Dear Captain Tidy, ever yours, 
 
 " Most faithfully and truly, 
 
 " EDWARD. 
 
 " Captain Tidy, &c." 
 
 "Kensington Palace, Dec. 22, 1805. 
 " DEAR CAPTAIN TIDY, The departure of my 
 highly esteemed friend, General Bowyer, to take upon 
 himself the command of His Majesty's forces in the 
 West Indies, affords me too good an opportunity of 
 writing to you, not to render me very desirous of 
 availing myself of it, to acknowledge three letters of 
 yours, which I am ashamed to think have lain by me 
 so long unanswered. These are of the 23d of Febru- 
 ary, 19th of April, and 12th of June. Since that 
 period you have lost your worthy General, Sir Wil- 
 liam Myers, and I in him a friend, for whom I enter- 
 tained the warmest regard and esteem. I hope, 
 however, this melancholy event will not prove to be 
 seriously injurious to your interests, for I have recom- 
 mended you strongly to the new Commander, who, 
 I am happy to find, knows you already, and seems 
 
 i 2
 
 110 THE LIFE OF 
 
 well disposed towards you ; whatever he may have it 
 in his power to recommend you for, within the limits 
 of his command, I shall be most ready to afford all 
 the assistance in my power to get confirmed, if you 
 think my interference necessary to that effect. 
 
 " At the time I received your letter of the 19th of 
 April, in which you solicited my sanction for your 
 remaining with Sir William Myers in the event of the 
 first battalion of the Royals coming home, it had been 
 just determined that they should remain, and the 
 skeleton of the second come to Britain in their stead, 
 otherwise the permission you requested would not 
 have been delayed a moment. 
 
 " I received infinite pleasure, some weeks ago, in 
 hearing Sir George Provost, who was so good as to 
 call, speak of the conduct of my second battalion at 
 St. Lucie, and I then learnt what I never knew before, 
 that it was owing to his exertions that the battalion 
 got the post of honour on that occasion which General 
 
 * had with his usual delicacy intended to ex- 
 clude them from. 
 
 " The whole of the officers and men of that bat- 
 talion having now passed into the first, I trust, should 
 that part of the corps be called into action, they will 
 not fail in showing the same spirit. 
 
 ' ' Of the success of our recruiting, I am sorry to have 
 but a very bad report to make you, which is to be attri- 
 buted to two causes ; the one, our having a part of the 
 
 * The names of those of whom the Duke of Kent had just 
 reason to speak disparagingly are purposely omitted.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 1 1 7 
 
 corps in the West Indies, to which the recruits are fear- 
 ful of being drafted ; the other, the injury that has been 
 done to the interests of the corps in North Britain, in 
 consequence of the falsehoods propagated by * * * 
 and their emissaries. However, I trust a time will 
 come when they will be made to repent their conduct. 
 
 " I am sure you will have heard with pleasure of my 
 having declined the Guards upon the death of the 
 Duke of Gloucester, and no less so of my promotion 
 to the rank of Field Marshal, which was the spontane- 
 ous act of the King ; otherwise, no change has taken 
 place in my situation whatsoever. 
 
 " But it is now time to conclude, which I shall do 
 with most hearty good wishes for your health, welfare, 
 and happiness, and the assurance that I ever remain 
 with friendship, esteem, and regard, 
 
 " Dear Captain Tidy, 
 " Yours most faithfully and sincerely, 
 
 " EDWARD. 
 
 " P.S. December 25M. Just as I am going to 
 make this letter up to forward to General Bowyer at 
 Portsmouth, I have the pleasure of receiving yours of 
 the 26th of October, which I therefore now avail 
 myself of the present opportunity to acknowledge. 
 Your communication of the measure adopted by 
 General Beckwith, to carry into effect the turning 
 over the men of my second battalion into my first, is 
 the only information I have had upon that subject, 
 and therefore peculiarly satisfactory. I only hope he
 
 ] 18 THE LIFE OF 
 
 has received a letter I did myself the pleasure of writ- 
 ing to him about three months since, upon the subject 
 of those of the sergeants and band whom I wished to 
 come home, as it would be a heavy disappointment to 
 me should any of these I wish to bring to this country 
 be left behind, or any return whom I was desirous to 
 have turned over to the first battalion. 
 
 " From the manner in which you are so good as to 
 name the circumstance of my remaining Colonel of the 
 Royals, I am highly gratified to find that I have not 
 been mistaken in what I have allowed myself to say in 
 the preceding part of this letter. I am not less flat- 
 tered with the wish you express of being allowed 
 to serve with me, in the event of my being named to 
 a continental command, and you may be assured there 
 is no officer whom I should be more happy to have 
 with me ; but I fear there is but little chance under 
 existing circumstances of so much good fortune falling 
 to my lot, as my being thought of for any command. 
 
 " You who know how matters stand between me and 
 a certain quarter, will understand this icithout my 
 saying more. 
 
 " To Captain Tidy" 
 
 But this popular officer was not the only red-coat 
 who on that eventful evening had the happiness of 
 being instrumental in preserving the Duke's life. 
 A brave young officer named Connor commanded the 
 advanced guard on that occasion, and to his prompti- 
 tude and energy in firing on the mutineers, and com-
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 119 
 
 pelting them to retire to their regiments, has been 
 attributed the saving of the life of the Governor. On 
 various occasions His Royal Highness acknowledged 
 
 V <J 
 
 the services rendered by young Connor as services of 
 no common kind, and in 1811 commanded the annexed 
 assurance of patronage to be addressed to him. 
 
 " His Royal Highness trusts that you will do him 
 the justice to believe that his friendship and regard 
 for your interests will ever make him a ready co- 
 operator in your behalf, whenever it can be done with 
 the least chance of success." 
 
 Letters, not one or two, but many, are in the pos- 
 session of Major Connor's son, the active and exemplary 
 minister of St. Simon's Church, Liverpool, all breath- 
 ing the most cordial attachment to him on the part of 
 the Duke, and exhibiting the untiring efforts of His 
 Royal Highness to serve him. 
 
 In 1831 Major Connor ventured to memorialize the 
 illustrious widow of his former friend in behalf of his 
 only son, then about to take holy orders. 
 
 The reply of the Duchess, in keeping with all her 
 communications to those who seek her aid, was imme- 
 diate, considerate, and kind. 
 
 " I have," wrote her private secretary, " Her Royal 
 Highness's commands to state that Her Royal Highness 
 is always disposed, when in her power, to serve those 
 officers who were protected by the late Duke of Kent. 
 But on this occasion, as it adverts to a distant con- 
 tingency, Her Royal Highness can only sanction your
 
 120 THE LIFE OF 
 
 renewing your request when your son enters the 
 profession for which you design him." 
 
 In 1840, Major Connor having died in the interim, 
 his son the clergyman submitted a memorial to the 
 Queen. 
 
 In it he dwelt on his father's military career ; the 
 service which he was so happy as to render at Gibraltar 
 to Her Majesty's illustrious father ; the cordial recog- 
 nition of that service, and the warm and life-long 
 regard which the late Duke of Kent evinced towards 
 him. He prayed that his father's services might be 
 recognised in his own person. 
 
 Her Majesty's answer was instant and most gra- 
 cious. 
 
 "I am directed to inform you, that Her Majesty 
 was pleased to refer your memorial IMMEDIATELY to 
 Lord Melbourne for his Lordship's consideration." 
 
 Lord Melbourne never could find ten minutes' 
 leisure to see Mr. Connor, and glance over the Duke 
 of Kent's letters ; never could find a small living to 
 bestow on the son of the man whose decision and 
 daring had saved the father of the reigning Sovereign 
 from a misguided and infuriated soldiery. 
 
 Mr. Connor has begged me to give in Ids own words 
 his account of his father's gallant bearing on the night 
 of the mutiny. Let him be heard on a point so 
 deeply interesting to him. 
 
 " It was ordered that the knavish politics of the 
 mutineers should be checked. A young soldier, whose
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 121 
 
 sword was first drawn for the suppression of the Irish 
 rebellion in the year '98, was then in one of the 
 regiments at Gibraltar. He saw the gathering storm, 
 and his ear heard the rnutterings of discontent. He 
 made his report to Colonel Darby of the base purposes 
 of the disaffected. Thus the officers of the garrison 
 were prepared. This young man was selected to 
 command the advanced guard of his regiment. Who 
 more devoted or more faithful could be found for the 
 night of trial ? The mutineers came down in wild 
 disorder to the parade. He marked their approach. 
 He knew the consequence of giving them even the 
 semblance of success. Moreover, it was his conviction 
 that if he suffered them to pass the men under his 
 command, the Duke hearing the tumult would, with 
 the promptitude and energy which ever marked his 
 character, come forth to face the danger. He knew 
 that this was what the mutineers desired. Therefore, 
 on his own responsibility, he called upon his men to 
 show their faithfulness to their King, and their love to 
 the King's son, the gallant Edward. His men responded 
 to the appeal ; their muskets were presented. His 
 next word was, 'Fire!' It was obeyed. In an in- 
 stant the traitors felt that their plans were discovered ; 
 that the spirit of disaffection was not general ; and 
 dragging their wounded companions they retreated 
 to their quarters. It is but right to mention the 
 name of this young soldier 'Connor;'* and the 
 
 * He died in 1837, leaving an only child, who is now Perpe- 
 tual Curate of St. Simon's Church, Liverpool.
 
 122 THE LIFE OF 
 
 sense the Duke entertained of his services may be 
 gathered from the following expressions contained 
 in a letter written by His Royal Highness's com- 
 mand."* 
 
 Mr. Connor, the pastor of a poor but attached flock, 
 may well cherish the name and memory of such a 
 parent ; and dwell with lofty and pardonable pride on 
 the leading incident of a life devoted to the service of 
 his country, and marked by the most reverential 
 recognition of his God. 
 
 * See ante, p. 119.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 123 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE RECALL FROM GIBRALTAR. 
 
 18031804. 
 
 THREE months wore away. Tranquillity was restored 
 to the garrison. The troops were thoroughly sub- 
 ordinate. Courts-martial had become unfrequent. 
 Punishments had ceased to be hideous spectacles of 
 daily occurrence. The hospital was no longer crowded 
 with sick soldiery ; and the writing-table of the 
 Governor no longer laden with letters complaining of 
 the lawlessness of the troops. The reign of order had 
 commenced. It was momentarily shaken by the 
 arrival of news intimating the recall of the Duke of 
 Kent to England. 
 
 The bearer of this intelligence was the Duke's 
 military secretary, Captain Dodd. 
 
 Acting on his own judgment, the Duke had trans- 
 mitted to England by each succeeding mail a precis of 
 events in the order they had arisen. The report was 
 little more than a summary of facts, the Duke pur- 
 posely reserving his comments till the departure of 
 Captain Dodd, who was to convey them to England. 
 Pressing and unavoidable circumstances prevented this 
 officer from leaving Gibraltar till the close of January.
 
 124 THE LIFE OF 
 
 By him the Duke wrote in detail, disclosing in the 
 most frank and candid terms the causes of the out- 
 break, and pointing out the necessity on grounds 
 which could not be controverted of removing the 
 second in command, General Barnett, as well as some 
 commanding officers of regiments who had notoriously 
 neglected their duty. But though His Royal High- 
 ness proved in the clearest manner where the blame 
 rested, and though his reports for nine successive 
 weeks fully satisfied the Government at home that by 
 his firm and unfaltering measures he had thoroughly 
 subdued the turbulent disposition of the troops, his 
 recall was at once and irrevocably decided on by the 
 Comman der-in -Chief. 
 
 It was stated confidently at the time, and never 
 contradicted, that the King was far from being per- 
 suaded of the necessity for this harsh step. And it is 
 notorious that the Prince of Wales denounced it as "a 
 premium for encouraging mutiny a measure at once 
 absurd and unjust." But the Duke of York "insisted" 
 on his brother's recall, and enforced it. 
 
 In consequence of this determination at the Horse 
 Guards, Captain Dodd returned to Gibraltar in the 
 month of March, 1803, carrying out with him instruc- 
 tions for His Royal Highness to return to England, 
 for the purpose of communicating with His Majesty's 
 confidential servants on what had passed in that 
 garrison. The Duke, in order that every possible 
 mortification might be heaped on him, was bidden to 
 resign his trust into the hands of his second in com-
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 125 
 
 mand General Barnett ! ! until the arrival of the 
 new Lieutenant-Governor, Sir Thomas Trigge. The 
 latter part of these instructions the Duke resisted. 
 An innate and imperious sense of justice compelled 
 him to take this course. Instead, therefore, of hand- 
 ing over the garrison to General Barnett, he deter- 
 mined to await patiently the arrival of Sir Thomas, 
 which took place on the 21st of April. Nor did he, 
 and wisely, quit " the Rock " even then. He remained 
 ten days longer, for the purpose of pointing out, in 
 detail, to Sir Thomas, the restored discipline of the 
 garrison. The superseded, but not disgraced, Gover- 
 nor, laid before the future commandant of Gibraltar 
 its then condition so circumstantially, as to enable Sir 
 Thomas to judge of the excellent order in which the 
 Duke handed over the fort to his successor : a truth 
 which the latter not only fully admitted, but faithfully 
 recorded in an enduring document. 
 
 The main fact lies in a small compass. His Royal 
 Highness handed over to Sir Thomas Trigge, troops 
 ic/io could THEN do duty. On the 1st of May, the 
 Duke sailed for England, where he arrived on the 26th. 
 His first care was to address himself to his brother 
 Frederick, the Commander-in-Chief, for the purpose of 
 demanding an immediate investigation into his con- 
 duct. He made it a matter of pressing and earnest 
 request, that, waiving all the privileges of his rank, 
 a court-martial might be forthwith assembled to sit 
 in judgment on his entire course of proceeding at 
 Gibraltar. This he was desirous should be submitted
 
 126 THE LIFE OF 
 
 to the most rigid scrutiny. His suit was negatived. 
 The assembling of a court-martial to " adjudicate upon 
 the propriety or impropriety of the actions of an officer 
 of his rank, was manifestly inexpedient." No such 
 court of inquiry could be granted. He then pleaded 
 for the summoning of any other tribunal, to which the 
 charges whispered, rather than made, against him 
 could be referred. This was negatived. He then 
 demanded permission to return to his government. 
 No ! that must be withheld. 
 
 After months had worn away in weary and fruitless 
 attempts to procure inquiry and redress, he was at 
 length told, on the 13th of September, after he had 
 complained of the affront he had received, by the 
 Zieutenant-GovemoY of Gibraltar's having suspended 
 all his orders lie himself still remaining Governor 
 and having furthermore suffered discipline to relapse 
 into that state of insubordination, licentiousness, and 
 misrule, which he had been professedly sent out to 
 reform, that, to cut the matter short, he, the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief, had taken upon himself to sanction, 
 confirm, and approve all Sir Thomas Trigge's acts and 
 proceedings. 
 
 The more keenly this painful incident is investigated, 
 the more difficult is it to discover on what principle 
 such a rank denial of justice can be extenuated. 
 
 Quelling a mutiny has always been held by military 
 writers, the most arduous task of an able general. It 
 demands four grand requisites : promptitude, judg- 
 ment, coolness, courage. And he who has succeeded
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 127 
 
 in suppressing a military insurrection, has ever been 
 regarded as meriting the lasting approbation of his 
 countrymen. If this conclusion be sound, what epithet 
 is too harsh for those who, after such a signal service 
 so opportunely rendered, could deliberately and de- 
 terminedly blight the professional prospects, and drive 
 into unmerited obscurity, a gallant and chivalrous 
 prince, whose abiding, earnest, and inextinguishable 
 impulse, was to serve his country ? 
 
 There was, however, one member of his family, 
 whose cordial sympathy he possessed, and who gave 
 him every support the heir apparent.* The Prince 
 of Wales took no pains to conceal that he " considered 
 his brother deeply and intolerably injured." His 
 opinion was very promptly and intelligibly expressed. 
 On a particular occasion, when it was known that the 
 assemblage would be large, and a gathering of officers 
 would be present, the Prince of Wales, in the most 
 public manner, accompanied his brother, arm-in-arm, 
 to the parade at the Horse Guards. He did more. 
 The following, if we may credit one of the best in- 
 formed periodicals of the day, was an unexpected and 
 personal remonstrance, of which Mr. Addington was 
 doomed to be a most reluctant and uneasy auditor : 
 
 " You send a man out to control a garrison, all but 
 in a state of open mutiny. You tell him to terminate 
 such a disgraceful state of things. You assure him of 
 
 * The Duke alludes very touchingly to this exhibitioD of 
 fraternal affection, in a letter, written subsequently to his brother, 
 when Regent, in the month of June, 1815.
 
 128 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the unqualified support of Government in his under- 
 taking. He goes out. He finds matters infinitely 
 worse than they were represented. The impending 
 outbreak occurs. He quells it THOROUGHLY. By way 
 of reward you disgrace him ! If you wish to deter an 
 officer from doing his duty, or desire to encourage a 
 mutinous soldier, your tactics are admirable. They 
 cannot fail to attain such a result. Edward may well 
 complain. He were neither officer nor man if he 
 were silent." 
 
 But if rank injustice was dealt out to him at home, 
 those best qualified, from their position and oppor- 
 tunities, to judge of his motives and merits, paid him 
 willing and ample homage abroad. 
 
 That he had won the esteem and confidence of the 
 people of Gibraltar, is established by the following 
 fact. Some time after he had been recalled, and in 
 the teeth of the existing authorities, the inhabitants 
 remitted the sum of 1,000 guineas to Captain Dodd, 
 his military secretary, to purchase a piece of plate as a 
 memento of their attachment to His Royal Highness, 
 and their perfect approbation of his conduct during 
 his government. 
 
 The offering was accepted, and expended in the 
 purchase of a diamond Garter, to correspond with the 
 Star voted him by the legislature. He might well be 
 proud of both insignia ! 
 
 It was no mean triumph to him too, in after years, 
 that many of the men and several of the officers who 
 had condemned his discipline and opposed his mea-
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 129 
 
 sures at Gibraltar, avowed their wish to serve under 
 him again, and their conviction that he was right. 
 One of his schemes also, so long as it was permitted 
 to be in operation, worked well, viz. the brewery, 
 which he suggested, established, and patronised, in 
 the well-founded hope that by the introduction of 
 malt liquors he should diminish among the troops the 
 use of ardent spirits. 
 
 But perhaps the most irrefragable testimony to the 
 value of the Duke's discipline was that given by 
 General Sir William Fawcett, for many years Adjutant- 
 General under the Duke of York as Commander-in- 
 Chief ; an authority which none will suspect of being 
 unduly biassed. 
 
 General Sir William Fawcett declared that he " had 
 received both edification and pleasure in perusing it ; * 
 that no officer in that or any other garrison, who 
 makes the exact and regular performance of all the 
 duties incidental to that situation the primary object 
 of his attention, which he certainly ought to do, can 
 set up any just or well-founded objections against it." 
 
 The General further held, " that the highest praise 
 was due to the Duke of Kent for so enlightened and 
 excellent a system ; the more so because it was a 
 branch of the public service which had been most 
 neglected." 
 
 After this emphatic testimony from a veteran officer, 
 admirably qualified to give an opinion on such a 
 
 * The Duke's " Military Code of Instructions for the Gar- 
 rison at Gibraltar."
 
 130 THE LIFE OF 
 
 subject, it is painful to peruse the following official 
 documents, which indicate but not explain the Duke's 
 recall. 
 
 " Whitehall, March 5, 1803. 
 
 " SIR, The King has commanded me to signify to 
 your Royal Highness His Majesty's pleasure that His 
 Royal Highness the Duke of Kent should return to 
 England immediately, upon the consideration that it 
 might be desirable that the different departments of 
 His Majesty's Government at home should have the 
 advantage of some personal communication with 
 His Royal Highness, upon the recent events in Gib- 
 raltar. 
 
 " It is His Majesty's pleasure that, upon His Royal 
 Highness the Duke of Kent's leaving the garrison of 
 Gibraltar, General Barnett should continue in the com- 
 mand of that garrison until such time as Lieutenant- 
 Go vernor Trigge should arrive there. 
 
 (Signed) " PELHAM. 
 
 " Field Marshal His Royal Highness 
 the Duke of York, &c. <fcc." 
 
 " His Royal Highness (the Duke of York) having 
 received His Majesty's commands, through Lord 
 Pelham, for your Royal Highness's return to England, 
 to explain in person the circumstances connected with 
 the recent events that have occurred at -Gibraltar, he 
 reserves, until your arrival, making any observations in
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 131 
 
 reply to the several parts of your letters, relative to 
 the mutiny of the 2d battalion of the Royals, and 
 the 25th regiment. 
 
 (Signed) " BROWNRIGG." 
 
 As the preceding letter, containing the order for 
 his recall, was transmitted to him by the Commander- 
 in-Chief, it was natural for His Royal Highness, after 
 his arrival in England, to apply, through the same 
 channel, for the desired personal communication with 
 the different departments of His Majesty's Govern- 
 ment, under pretence of which he had been decoyed 
 from his government. His Royal Highness accord- 
 ingly wrote to the Duke of York, on the 28th of May, 
 6th, 20th, 27th, and 30th of June, applying to him, 
 as the head of his profession, for facilities for obtaining 
 a personal communication with Lord Pelham, and His 
 Majesty's other Ministers, mentioned in his Lordship's 
 letter, in order to give full and explicit information on 
 the " recent events in Gibraltar." On the 30th of 
 June, however, the Duke received a letter from his 
 royal brother, dated the preceding day, enclosing the 
 following one from Lord Pelham : 
 
 " Whitehall, June 20, 1803. 
 
 " SIR, I have received the honour of your Royal 
 Highness's letter of the 23d June, enclosing one from 
 the Duke of Kent, which, in obedience to your Royal 
 Highness's commands, I herewith return. I had laid 
 before the King the former letter from the Duke of 
 
 K 2
 
 132 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Kent, which your Royal Highness transmitted to me ; 
 and as I have not received any commands from His 
 Majesty upon the subject, there is nothing in my de- 
 partment upon which I have to trouble His Royal 
 Highness with any inquiries. 
 
 "lam, Sir, 
 " Your Royal Highness's 
 
 " Most dutiful Servant, 
 
 " PELHAM." 
 
 The Duke bent, for the present, to the force of 
 circumstances. 
 
 Meanwhile, all his regulations lie still continuing 
 Governor underwent the most remarkable relaxation. 
 
 His successor, Sir Thomas Trigge, did not venture 
 at first to permit the soldiers to go publicly to the wine- 
 houses ; but it was winked at. 
 
 General Fox, who succeeded Sir Thomas Trigge, 
 not only permitted the soldiers to go openly to these 
 hot-beds of insubordination and disease, but contrived 
 to get fifty wine-houses opened for their accommo- 
 dation ! 
 
 The result was soon visible. The Rock speedily re- 
 gained its former character. It again presented, gaze 
 where you would, an aspect of brutal debauchery. A 
 high military authority thus speaks of the fortress : 
 
 " The barracks appear very indifferent ; and while 
 millions have been expended for the last twenty years 
 on the fortifications, the barracks have been much neg- 
 lected. This place was always remarkable for drunken-
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 133 
 
 ness; and, from what I can see, IT KEEPS UP ITS 
 
 CHARACTER." * 
 
 But a garrison order of General Fox is an awkward 
 document for those who characterise the Duke's orders 
 as unnecessarily stringent. Its tone is lamentable 
 and degrading. 
 
 Garrison Order of the Lieutenant- Governor, 
 General Fox. 
 
 " Gibraltar, May 28, 1806. 
 
 " No. 1. The Lieutenant-Governor is MUCH SHOCKED! 
 at the SHAMEFUL DRUNKENNESS that has prevailed in 
 the garrison for these last two days, and he has ob- 
 served that this has too often been the case on the 24th 
 of the month. The Lieutenant-Governor cannot allow 
 himself to suppose that British soldiers can be so 
 absurd and unlike men, that they cannot have money 
 in their pockets without making a bad use of it. The 
 Lieutenant-Governor is determined to prevent this in 
 future ; and if it cannot be prevented by other means, 
 great severity, and parades every two or three hours, 
 must be resorted to " ! ! 
 
 Father Time ! father Time ! how signally thy quiet 
 revelations clear the innocent! How mightily does 
 the evidence which thou gradually unrollest silence the 
 calumniator and shame the liar ! Honour to thy 
 truth-revealing progress, thou most resistless of all 
 teachers father Time ! 
 
 * " Voyage to Cadiz and Gibraltar, 1810, 1811." By Lieut.- 
 General Cockburu.
 
 134 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 MONEY MATTEBS. 
 
 18041805. 
 
 ON the return of Mr. Pitt to power, in 1804, the 
 Duke took an early opportunity of renewing his claims 
 for consideration at the hands of the Government. 
 He represented to the First Minister of the Crown his 
 inadequate allowance in the outset of his career, 
 which, added to his unprecedented losses in the 
 public service, had been the cause of all his subse- 
 quent embarrassments. 
 
 Mr. Pitt never wanted sympathy nor generosity. 
 He was a lover of justice, and gave an unqualified 
 assurance that the Duke should be fully remunerated ; 
 observing, that otherwise " it would be a disgrace to 
 the nation," that he would supersede the occasion for 
 another application by taking the first possible oppor- 
 tunity of introducing the subject and arranging the 
 demands. Mr. Pitt added, that much important busi- 
 ness must be got over, and that probably the Duke's 
 concerns could not be thought of until after the close 
 of the session. Under this assurance the Duke was 
 able to satisfy all his creditors ; but the whole session
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 135 
 
 of 1804, and a great part of the subsequent one of 
 1805, having passed without the fulfilment of Mr. 
 Pitt's promise, the Duke of Kent, being very strongly 
 pressed by the old original creditors, whose bonds had 
 become due early in that year, obtained another inter- 
 view with Mr. Pitt in July, when the minister intimated 
 the intention of His Majesty to grant 20,000/. from 
 the droits of the Admiralty to each of his younger sons 
 immediately, which, he said, he hoped would prove 
 a matter of temporary accommodation to the Duke of 
 Kent : but he then positively declared, that it was not 
 in the least to affect the consideration of his peculiar 
 and distinct claims for his losses, or a compensation for 
 the injury he had sustained through the delay he had 
 experienced in receiving his parliamentary establish- 
 ment ; observing, that the grant from the droits of 
 the Admiralty would be a spontaneous present from 
 the King to all his younger sons alike. 
 
 This intimation was forthwith carried out ; and the 
 sum 20,000/. was instantly and faithfully applied 
 by the Duke to cancel the debt originally bonded 
 in 1791. 
 
 Nearly at the same period, the Duke of Kent, in 
 behalf of all the younger brothers of His Royal High- 
 ness (the Duke of York excepted), undertook to 
 represent their situation to Mr. Pitt, and the total 
 inadequacy of a parliamentary allowance of 12,000/. 
 per annum to keep up the appearance expected of 
 them at the time when that allowance was originally
 
 136 THE LIFE OF 
 
 granted, owing to the great depreciation of the cur- 
 rency, and the enormous rise in every article of expen- 
 diture. In consequence of this negotiation, the Duke 
 had repeated interviews with Mr. Pitt in Downing- 
 street, during August, 1805; and at the last the Duke 
 of Kent was authorized by the Minister to inform all 
 his brothers that their parliamentary income would, at 
 the opening of the next session, be raised to 18,000/. 
 per annum, clear of all deduction whatsoever ; that it 
 would be left optional with those of the royal Dukes 
 who had apartments at St. James's Palace to continue 
 to have their tables supplied as before by the Board of 
 Green Cloth from the royal kitchen there, or to receive 
 in common with those who were not resident at St. 
 James's an allowance of 5,000/. each in lieu thereof; 
 while to all residing in any of the royal palaces, the 
 allowance of fuel and lights was to be continued. At 
 the same time, Mr. Pitt again repeated his promise, 
 that the individual claim of the Duke of Kent, as before 
 expressed, should be considered as being exclusive of the 
 general arrangements, observing, that he was fully 
 aware of the hardship of His Royal Highness's situa- 
 tion, and of the difficulties that pressed upon him, 
 and fully admitting the justice of assisting him to get 
 over them. 
 
 These reiterated and confident promises, made by 
 a man who unquestionably had the ability, and appa- 
 rently had the inclination, to perform them, buoyed 
 up His Royal Highness with the hopes of soon sur-
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 137 
 
 mounting all his difficulties, and repeatedly pacified 
 the clamours of his creditors. Mr. Pitt, however, 
 continued to promise, till death suddenly put an end 
 to all possibility of performance on his part, and 
 transferred the Duke to the tender mercies of his 
 successor. 
 
 The Grenville administration was formed ; and its 
 haughty chief, when he proposed to augment the 
 incomes of all the royal brothers to 18,000/. per 
 annum, took care that these allowances were not 
 exempted from the operation of the income tax, 
 which reduced them to 16,200/. Furthermore, no 
 consideration was had in regard to the allowance of 
 table money, which had been especially promised by 
 Mr. Pitt ; and every allowance of fuel and lights from 
 the Lord Steward's department, the continuation of 
 which had been particularly stipulated, \vas taken off; 
 thus creating, in the promise given by Mr. Pitt, and 
 the arrangement carried into effect by Lord Grenville, 
 a difference to the injury of the younger brothers of 
 no less than 6,800/. a-year, besides the loss of the 
 advantage of the free supply of fuel and lights, which 
 may, at the lowest rate, be estimated at 1,2007. per 
 annum. 
 
 From these several causes it was impossible for the 
 Duke of Kent to fulfil those arrangements to his cre- 
 ditors which he had entered into upon t/ic failli of Mr. 
 Pitf 8 promised arrangement ; and which had induced 
 him to assure his creditors that the day of payment 
 was at hand, and that he had no doubt but that in
 
 138 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the year 1806 all their demands would be, if not 
 wholly discharged, at least greatly reduced a result 
 anxiously anticipated but never realized. 
 
 On the 5th of September, 1804, His Royal High- 
 ness was promoted to the rank of Field Marshal. 
 
 With the exception of this solitary cheering ray, the 
 years 1804 and 1805 were overspread with gloom. 
 Hopes of immediate extrication from his difficulties 
 were raised, but to be disappointed. The relief ten- 
 dered by Lord Grenville fell far short of that promised 
 by Mr. Pitt. His Royal Highness was left to the 
 certain and rapid accumulation of debt consequent 
 upon interest accruing upon interest ; * and, though 
 the payment of his debts was the subject uppermost in 
 his thoughts, and the result he was daily striving to 
 compass, that consummation however earnestly and 
 anxiously desired it was never His Royal Highness's 
 happy lot to realize. 
 
 The annexed tabular statements by way of con- 
 trast will throw some light on the Duke's oft re- 
 peated declaration, that " though he never had the 
 presumption to entertain the slightest idea that the 
 country would pay his debts, he yet thought he was 
 entitled to struggle for the recovery of his just claims 
 these, if conceded, would discharge every embarrass- 
 ment lie had in the world." 
 
 * It would be EASY to prove by figures that, up to the time of 
 his decease, the amount of his losses in money bond fide paid on 
 account of his various equipments, captured or wrecked, was, at 
 the least, FIFTY THOUSAND POUNDS !
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 
 
 139 
 
 Comparative Statement of the advantages received by the Dukes of 
 Clarence and Kent from Government between the years 1790 
 and 1814. 
 
 1. The Duke of Clarence en- 
 joyed his Parliamentary income 
 from the age of twenty-four. 
 
 2. The Duke of Clarence, 
 when in difficulties, was re- 
 lieved with 6,OOOJ. from Go- 
 vernment in 1 796, with 15.000J. 
 in 1802, and with 13,OOOJ. in 
 1814. 
 
 3. The Duke of Clarence has, 
 from October 1798 to the pre- 
 sent time, had 2,500^. from the 
 Civil List, annually. 
 
 4. From the year 1789, when 
 the Duke of Clarence had his 
 establishment, until 1806, (at 
 which the tables ceased,) he 
 had the advantage of the King's 
 table at St. James's. 
 
 1. The Duke of Kent only 
 received his at the age of thirty- 
 two. 
 
 2. The Duke of Kent never 
 received any aid but 6,000., of 
 which he returned 1,000. 
 
 3. The Duke of Kent has 
 had no addition whatever from 
 that source. 
 
 4. For the loss of which ad- 
 vantage, the Duke of Kent 
 never had a shilling's compen- 
 sation. 
 
 Comparative Statement of the advantages derived by the Dukes of 
 York and Kent from Government up to the year 1808. 
 
 SUNSHINE. 
 
 The Duke of York received, 
 when he came of age, the in- 
 come, interest, and carefully in- 
 vested savings of the Bishopric 
 of Osnaburgh. 
 
 He had the revenue of the 
 same until he was twenty-three. 
 
 His parliamentary allowance 
 since, which with the income 
 
 SHADOW. 
 
 The Duke of Kent, when he 
 came of age, was in Switzerland, 
 and received for his fortune 
 George the Third's affectionate 
 good wishes, and upright ex- 
 ample. 
 
 His private allowance until 
 he was twenty-three years old, 
 being 811. 18s. per annum. 
 
 On the 1st of February, 1791, 
 he embarked for Gibraltar, with-
 
 140 
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 of the Bishopric of Osnaburgh, 
 he received until he married, 
 namely, six years. 
 
 In 1791, he married ; and 
 his allowance was increased. 
 
 The revenue from the Bishop- 
 ric, to the year 1804, when he 
 effected the transfer of the Bi- 
 shopric to His Majesty, receiv- 
 ing for it 16,0001. per annum. 
 The revenues of the see fell 
 eventually into the grasp of 
 Napoleon; but George the Third 
 scrupulously fulfilled his com- 
 pact with the Duke. 
 
 As Commander-in-Chief, the 
 Duke of York had a salary of 
 10?. per diem, with forage for 
 any number of horses ; he had 
 also regimental emoluments. 
 
 When he went to Holland, 
 he borrowed of the public 
 54,000?.; and His Majesty gave 
 him 20,000?. 
 
 What he received as Warden 
 of the New Forest, Ranger 
 of Cranbourn Chase, Windsor 
 
 out outfit for his passage, furni- 
 ture, or any sort of accommo- 
 dation on his arrival ; as before 
 stated, all was to be effected at 
 his own expense ; he remained 
 there eighteen months, and re- 
 ceived His Majesty's allowance. 
 
 He was obliged to sell all his 
 effects at Gibraltar, at a great 
 loss, on being ordered to Que- 
 bec. 
 
 On his arrival there he gave 
 bonds to his creditors. The in- 
 terest of 20,000?., as already 
 stated, amounted to 1,000?. per 
 annum ; this interest was to be 
 deducted from the allowance 
 granted to his fourth son, by 
 George the Third. 
 
 In December, 1793, he was 
 ordered to the West Indies ; 
 this was a service which com- 
 pelled him to dispose of all his 
 effects and apparel ; what was 
 suitable for Canada was useless 
 in the West Indies. The loss 
 was great, and in addition, his 
 whole field equipage was swal- 
 lowed in Lake Champlain. He 
 served the whole campaign un- 
 der the late Earl Grey, and con- 
 tinued to receive his royal 
 father's allowance. 
 
 He was next made a Major- 
 General, and ordered to Nova 
 Scotia, to take the command of
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 
 
 141 
 
 Forest, is not taken into ac- 
 count ; nor the advantages of a 
 house, &c. in the Stable Yard. 
 As to losses of field equipage, 
 &c. the Duke of York has been 
 so truly fortunate as not to 
 incur any. 
 
 At Dunkirk and in Holland 
 His Royal Highness was on ser- 
 vice. 
 
 that district of North America ; 
 he lost two outfits from Eng- 
 land, by the capture of the An- 
 telope and Tankeroille packets ; 
 remained until 1796, and re- 
 ceived His Majesty's allowance, 
 and his pay as Major-General. 
 
 In 1796, he was promoted 
 to be Lieutenant-General, and 
 was directed to remain as such 
 at Halifax. He desired to have 
 an establishment, and sent an 
 order again to England. The 
 Recovery transport sailed with 
 the necessary outfit, &c. She 
 was captured also ; and he was 
 refused permission to return, to 
 state his losses, &c. and CLAIM 
 remuneration. A calamity COM- 
 PELLED (what both affection 
 and justice should havegranted) 
 a visit to Britain ; his horse 
 fell with him, and he came to 
 England for surgical assistance, 
 in Oct. 1798, having received 
 his royal father's allowance, and 
 staff pay, for two years. 
 
 In April 1799, he obtained 
 his parliamentary establish- 
 ment, which he has received 
 since. 
 
 In 1799, he was ordered to 
 return to America, as Com- 
 mander-in-Chief of His Majes- 
 ty's forces. The embargo on 
 shipping, on account of the 
 Helder expedition, delayed the 
 transport from sailing with the
 
 142 THE LIFE OF 
 
 outfit she was wrecked : and 
 the Diamond transport, which 
 was to convey his small rem- 
 nant of effects to England, was 
 captured ; and though retaken, 
 plundered. 
 
 In 1 800, he returned to Eng- 
 land. 
 
 In 1802, he was appointed 
 Governor of Gibraltar, which 
 appointment he still retains. 
 
 In 1805, he received half- 
 year donation from the droits 
 of the Admiralty, and the re- 
 mainder since. 
 
 In 1805, he received from Mr. 
 Addington, and since through 
 Lord Grenville, 4,OOOJ. 
 
 He is a Colonel of a regi- 
 ment, and Ranger of the home 
 park. 
 
 From the above sources, the 
 Duke of Kent's income has 
 arisen ; and if figures be cor- 
 rect, the Duke of York has re- 
 ceived nearly 1,400,000^. more 
 than the Duke of Kent.* 
 
 The Duke of Kent has had 
 many necessary expenses and 
 losses which were unavoidable ; 
 besides the debts which he 
 could not but contract at Han- 
 over, Luneburgh, and Switzer- 
 land. The precise amount of 
 
 * This contrast, it is proper to remark, was drawn up and 
 published, in 1809, by a decided adherent of the Duke of Kent ; 
 the statement bears marks of partisanship ; but there is truth in 
 most of its averments.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 143 
 
 his losses cannot be stated ; but 
 the following are the occasion 
 of them : 
 
 His outfit to Gibraltar, esta- 
 blishment and furniture there, 
 which have never been reim- 
 bursed to him, though George 
 the Third promised they should. 
 
 Diminution of income, of 
 1,000. per annum, contrary to 
 all human expectation, for one 
 year and a half. 
 
 His outfit to Quebec. 
 
 THE LOSS of his field equip- 
 age on Lake Champlain. 
 
 His loss by the capture of 
 the Antelope packet. 
 
 Same by the capture of the 
 Tanlcerville packet. 
 
 Same by the capture of the 
 Recovery transport. 
 
 Same by the wreck of the 
 transport which conveyed a 
 shipment to the amount of 
 13,000*. 
 
 Same by plunder of the Dia- 
 mond transport.
 
 144 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 CAROLINE, PRINCESS OP WALES. 
 1806. 
 
 IN the year 1806, the Duke's name was mixed up 
 with a transaction which riveted public interest, and 
 can hardly be passed over in any minute account of 
 his life. Its results were anything but agreeable. 
 In dealing with the details submitted to him, he 
 showed sound judgment and good taste ; but formed, 
 alas ! no exception to the fate which visits indiscrimi- 
 nately all umpires who have the misfortune to be ap- 
 pealed to in matrimonial quarrels. The Prince blamed 
 him for " undue reserve," and for " confining to his 
 own bosom reports and charges " which should have 
 been instantly made known at Carlton House. The 
 Princess thought hardly of him, because, after hearing 
 the statements of Sir John Douglas, Lady Douglas, 
 and Sir Sydney Smith, the Duke came, most unwill- 
 ingly, to the conclusion that Her Royal Highness was 
 culpable. This opinion, it will be seen, was shared by 
 no less a personage than the exemplary Sir Samuel 
 Romilly. 
 
 But how high must his reputation have stood for 
 disinterestedness, judgment, and good faith, to whom,
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 145 
 
 when any difficulty arose in the royal family, instant 
 recourse was had for counsel how to meet it 1 In the 
 hour of emergency we see his opinion eagerly sought, 
 and firmly abided by. 
 
 Is an effort to be made for the younger sons of the 
 King; and is their case to be represented to Mr. 
 Pitt ? The Duke is fixed upon to draw up the me- 
 morial, conduct the negotiation, and confer personally 
 with the Premier. Are certain representations to be 
 made to the Board of Green Cloth? The Duke is 
 entreated to undertake the management of the affair ; 
 and assent to, or dissent from the conditions. Is the 
 Princess of Wales harassed by an unruly and ill- 
 conducted domestic ? The Duke's counsel is sought 
 forthwith, and his opinion deemed final with respect 
 to the offending menial. 
 
 Always appealed to, consulted with, and confided 
 in ; but left, nevertheless, to struggle with difficulties, 
 and still succumb to unmerited oppression. 
 
 Early in November, 1806, His Royal Highness the 
 Duke of Sussex, influenced by the gross misrepre- 
 sentations of Lady Douglas, acquainted the Prince of 
 Wales, that Sir John Douglas had communicated to 
 him some circumstances relative to the conduct of his 
 illustrious Consort, which were of the utmost conse- 
 quence to the honour of His Royal Highness, and to 
 the security of the royal succession ; and that Sir John 
 and his lady were ready, if called upon, to make a full 
 disclosure. He added, that the Duke of Kent had 
 been partly made acquainted with the affair a year
 
 140 THE LIFE OF 
 
 before. In consequence of this communication, the 
 Prince requested the Duke of Kent to inform him of 
 the nature of those circumstances, and why he had, 
 for a whole year, kept from his knowledge a matter so 
 interesting to the honour of the royal family. The 
 Duke of Kent, in a written declaration, stated that, 
 about the end of the year 1804, he had received a 
 note from the Princess of Wales, stating she had got 
 into an unpleasant altercation with Sir John and Lady 
 Douglas, about an anonymous letter and a filthy 
 drawing, which they imputed to her, and about which 
 they were making a noise. She requested the Duke 
 of Kent to interfere and prevent its going further. 
 
 His Royal Highness applied to Sir Sidney Smith, 
 and, through him, had an interview with Sir John 
 Douglas, who was greatly enraged, and who seemed 
 convinced that both the anonymous letters and the un- 
 seemly drawing were done by the hand of the Princess ; 
 and that the design was to provoke Sir John Douglas 
 to a duel with his friend, Sir Sidney Smith, if any 
 meaning were to be attached to the gross insinuations 
 flung out respecting the latter and Lady Douglas. 
 The Duke of Kent, however, succeeded in prevailing 
 on Sir John Douglas to abstain from his purpose of 
 commencing a prosecution, or of stirring further in 
 the business, as he was satisfied in his mind of the 
 falsehood of the insinuations, and could not be sure 
 that the fabrications were not some gossiping story 
 in which the Princess had no hand. Sir John, how- 
 ever, spoke with great indignation of the conduct of
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 147 
 
 the Princess ; and promised only that he would abstain 
 from further investigation, but would not give a pro- 
 mise of preserving silence, should he be further an- 
 noyed. The Duke of Kent concluded with stating, 
 that nothing was communicated to him beyond this 
 fracas ; and that, having succeeded in stopping it, he 
 did not think fit to trouble His Royal Highness with a 
 gossiping story, that might be entirely founded on 
 the misapprehension of the offended parties.* 
 
 The Princess, in her celebrated letter to the King, 
 thus alludes to the view taken by the Duke of Kent 
 of her conduct in this particular instance. 
 
 " His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent, as appears 
 by his narrative, was convinced, by Sir Sidney Smith, 
 that these letters came from me. His Royal Highness 
 had been applied to by me, in consequence of my 
 having received a formal note from Sir John, Lady 
 Douglas, and Sir Sidney Smith, requesting an audience 
 immediately ; this was soon after my having desired 
 to see no more of Lady Douglas. I conceived, there- 
 fore, the audience was required for the purpose of 
 remonstrance, and explanation upon this circumstance, 
 and as I was determined not to alter my resolu- 
 tion, nor admit of any discussion upon it, I requested 
 His Royal Highness, who happened to be acquainted 
 with Sir Sidney Smith, to try to prevent my having 
 any further trouble upon the subject. His Royal 
 Highness saw Sir Sidney Smith, and being impressed by 
 him with the belief of Lady Douglas's story, that / was 
 * Memoirs of Her Majesty Queen Caroline. 
 L2
 
 148 THE LIFE OF 
 
 tlie author of these anonymous letters, he did that 
 which naturally became him, under such belief ; he 
 endeavoured, for the peace of your Majesty, and the 
 honour of the royal family, to keep from the know- 
 ledge of the world, what, if it had been true, would 
 have justly reflected such infinite disgrace upon me ; 
 and it seems from the narrative that he procured, 
 through Sir Sidney Smith, Sir John Douglas's assur- 
 ance that he would, under existing circumstances, 
 remain quiet, if left unmolested. ' This result,' His 
 Royal Highness says, ' he communicated to me the 
 following day, and I seemed satisfied with it ;' and 
 undoubtedly, as he only communicated the result to 
 me, I could not be otherwise than satisfied ; for as all 
 I wanted was, not to be obliged to see Sir John and 
 Lady Douglas, and not to be troubled by them any 
 more, the result of His Royal Highness's interference, 
 through Sir Sidney Smith, was to procure me all that 
 I wanted." 
 
 But the Duke was THE MEMBER of ihe royal 
 family to whom, in the hour of adversity, this ill- 
 fated woman clung as a protector and a friend. She 
 thus alludes to his kind offices at a most trying crisis 
 of her life : 
 
 " His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent, on the 7th 
 of June, 1806, announced to me the impending in- 
 quiry. He apprised me of the near approach of two 
 attorneys, claiming to enter my dwelling with a war- 
 rant to take away one-half of my household, for im- 
 mediate examination upon a charge against myself.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. HO 
 
 Of the nature of that charge I was then uninformed. 
 It now appears it was the charge of high treason, 
 committed in the infamous crime of adultery. His 
 Royal Highness will, I am sure, do me the justice to 
 represent to your Majesty, that I betrayed no fear 
 that I manifested no symptoms of conscious guilt 
 that I sought no excuses to prepare or to tutor my 
 servants for the examination which they were to 
 undergo. The only request w r hich I made to His 
 Royal Highness was, that he would have the goodness 
 to remain with me till the servants were gone, that is, 
 might bear witness that I had no conversation with 
 them before they went." 
 
 Sir Samuel Romilly, in his diary, makes direct 
 allusion to this investigation, in which his official 
 position compelled him to take part : 
 
 " Jane 7th, 1806. I attended at Lord Grenville's 
 from between one and two o'clock in the day till half- 
 past eleven at night. The whole of our time, with 
 a short interval for dinner, was spent in examining 
 witnesses. The four Lords of Council had granted an 
 order to bring before them six of the Princess's most 
 confidential servants,* from her house at Blackheath, to 
 be examined. The order was executed without any 
 previous intimation being given to the Princess, or to 
 any of her servants. The Duke of Kent attended, and 
 stated to the Princess that reports very injurious to 
 her reputation had been in circulation : and that His 
 
 * Charlotte Sander, Sicard, Stikeman, Roberts, Frances Lloyd, 
 and Mary Wilson.
 
 ]50 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Majesty had therefore ordered an inquiry to be insti- 
 tuted on the subject. The Princess said that they 
 were welcome to examine all her servants, if they 
 
 thought proper The result of the examination 
 
 was such as left a perfect conviction on my mind, and 
 I believe on the mind of the four Lords, that the boy 
 
 in question is the son of Sophia Austin The 
 
 evidence of all the servants, as to the general conduct 
 of the Princess, was very favourable to Her Royal 
 Highness ; and Lady Douglas's account was con- 
 tradicted in many very important particulars."* 
 
 " July 1st, 1806. Again at Lord Grenville's on 
 the same business, relative to the Princess of Wales. 
 The Prince had put into my hands several original 
 letters of the Princess to himself, and to the Princess 
 Charlotte. I took them with me ; and, upon a com- 
 parison of the hand, no one of the four Lords had 
 any doubt that the anonymous letter, the inscriptions 
 upon the obscene drawings, and the directions upon the 
 envelopes in which the drawings were enclosed, were all 
 of the Princess's own handwriting"^ 
 
 Again is the interference of the kind-hearted Duke 
 claimed by the unhappy Princess, and readily and 
 cheerfully given. 
 
 In her own narrative of her wronsrs we read : 
 
 D 
 
 " Before Mr. Cole lived with the Prince he had 
 lived with the Duke of Devonshire, and I had reason 
 
 * Memoirs of Sir Samuel Romilly, vol. ii. p. 150. 
 t Ibid. p. 157.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 151 
 
 to believe that he carried to Devonshire House all the 
 observations he could make at mine. For these 
 various reasons, just before the Duke of Kent was 
 about to go out of the kingdom, I requested His 
 Royal Highness, who had been good enough to take 
 the trouble of arranging many particulars in my 
 establishment, to make the arrangements with respect 
 to Mr. Cole. These arrangements, it seems, offended 
 him."* 
 
 But though the desolate condition of this deserted 
 wife told upon the Duke's compassionate feelings, and 
 induced him to pay to her demands upon his kind 
 offices and counsel the most prompt and cheerful 
 attention, he was not blind to her defects. 
 
 A long, minute, and very curious letter is in exist- 
 ence, in which he alludes to the " Randolph Letters,"! 
 
 * Cole. 
 
 t A remark or two relative to this " Randolph Correspon- 
 dence," may not be altogether inappropriate. The Princess of 
 Wales, not long after her arrival in this country, entiusted a 
 packet of letters to the Rev. Dr. Randolph, who was about visit- 
 ing Germany. They were addressed to various relatives of Her 
 Royal Highness, residing at different foreign courts ; and the 
 Doctor was charged to see to their delivery. He was formally 
 apprised that they were letters of considerable importance. The 
 Doctor, from some private hindrance, abandoned his intention of 
 going abroad, and returned the packet of letters. But with the most 
 culpable and inconceivable carelessness, Doctor R. never demanded 
 an audience of the Princess to return to her in person her private 
 letters; never sought an interview with any one of her ladies in 
 waiting for that purpose ; never gave himself any personal concern 
 fully and carefully to discharge himself of the trust reposed in him. 
 All he did was to book at the Golden Cross, for Brighton, by coach,
 
 152 THE LIFE OF 
 
 and the feelings of life-long alienation towards the 
 Princess which they caused in certain members of her 
 husband's family. 
 
 He says of them, 
 
 " These letters (most unhappily for the writer) fell 
 into hands for which, most certainly, they were never 
 intended. I have not seen them myself; I never 
 would see them, nor aUow them to come into my 
 possession, (though they have been more than once 
 offered for my inspection,) for various reasons, among 
 them a conviction that their being in existence at all, 
 and certainly in the hands of the parties who held 
 them, was a breach of that honourable confidence 
 which ought to actuate all persons in matters where 
 private correspondence is concerned. But the con- 
 tents of these letters became known (more or less) to 
 every member of the royal family; they were very 
 injudiciously written, and contained reflections upon 
 nearly every relative of the Prince of Wales then at 
 
 as a parcel, the packet containing the Princess's correspondence ; 
 nor did he even acquaint the Princess by letter that he had so done ! 
 Nor did he take any pains to ascertain that this important parcel 
 had reached its destination. After an interval of some length, 
 the Princess wrote to Dr. Randolph to demand the restitution of 
 her letters. A futile request. All trace of them was lost. No- 
 thing was known about them beyond their being booked at 
 Charing Cross. The incautious writer never saw one of them 
 again ! But they were extant, and used against her. By agency 
 never explained, they had passed into the hands of an unscru- 
 pulous foe, were read, divulged, and distorted. The main pro- 
 moter of this deed of treachery, was a woman ! It is a painful 
 narrative ; and its details are a reproach to our common nature.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 153 
 
 the British Court. Some disrespectful allusions were 
 made to the Queen ; but what gave Her Majesty great 
 offence, and what she found the utmost difficulty in 
 forgiving, (if she ever forgave it at all,) were some 
 very unjust and highly inexcusable observations which 
 the Princess of Wales permitted herself to make with 
 reference to her husband's sisters, the Princesses 
 Augusta and Elizabeth. They were unjustifiable letters, 
 which it was hardly possible to reconcile with the 
 rank of the writer, and accounted for much of the 
 aversion with which, in after life, the family of her 
 
 husband regarded her." 
 
 * * * * 
 
 Alas ! " how great a fire a little spark kindleth ;" 
 and how easy is it to find advantages and oppor- 
 tunities where " there is a purpose to accuse"
 
 151 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE DUKE MAKES OVER HALF HIS INCOME TO TRUSTEES TOUCH- 
 ING LETTER TO THE KING AN INEFFECTUAL APPEAL COMMU- 
 NICATION FROM THE DUKE OF YORK. 
 
 18071808. 
 
 MEANWHILE time sped away without bringing the 
 Duke any redress for losses which he had experienced, 
 to the amount as certified by General Wetherall, the 
 comptroller of his household, and borne out by incou- 
 testible documents of no less a sum than 108,200/. 
 
 Every branch of the Government was appealed to 
 for redress, but in vain. Inquiry, reference, arbitra- 
 tion, even a patient hearing was refused. 
 
 So circumstanced, the Duke took a noble and cha- 
 racteristic determination. He resolved to see whether 
 it were not possible to extinguish his debts by the 
 most resolute and unflinching self-denial. To no 
 amount of personal sacrifice was he for that end 
 unwilling to succumb. Acting upon this manly im- 
 pulse, he conveyed, in 1807, one-half of his income to 
 trustees for the express purpose of liquidating his 
 debts ; at the same time reducing his establishment
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 155 
 
 and limiting his arrangements, with the hope of effect- 
 ing his purpose within a certain definite period. 
 
 The year 1808 brought with it augmented and 
 augmenting hostilities abroad, together with the pro- 
 bability of an immediate attack on Gibraltar. This 
 threatening aspect of affairs drew from the Duke the 
 following stirring letter to the King : 
 
 " SIR, Letters received by the mail just arrived 
 from the Mediterranean, having brought the certain 
 information that orders had reached Algesiras from 
 Madrid, immediately to make such preparations in 
 the neighbourhood of Gibraltar, as put beyond a 
 doubt the intention of the enemy to besiege it 
 
 " I could not, under such circumstances, reconcile it 
 to my feelings, were I to delay a moment in not only 
 assuring your Majesty of my readiness instantly to go 
 out there, but in earnestly soliciting your sanction for 
 my resuming the duties attached to the commission 
 I have the honour of holding as Governor of that 
 fortress. To your Majesty, who yourself possess so 
 nice a sense of honour, it is quite unnecessary for me 
 to represent, that on the result of your decision upon 
 this request, which I beg leave in the most dutiful, 
 yet in the strongest manner to press upon your atten- 
 tion, everything most dear to me in life, I mean my 
 character as a man, my professional credit as a soldier, 
 is at stake. 
 
 " I will place these in your Majesty's hands, with 
 no less confidence in your justice as my sovereign,
 
 156 THE LIFE OF 
 
 than in your indulgence as my parent. With every sen- 
 timent of the most devoted attachment, and the most 
 dutiful respect, I have the honour to subscribe myself, 
 
 " Your Majesty's most affectionate Son, 
 
 " And most faithful Servant and Subject, 
 
 " EDWARD." 
 
 This affecting letter received an official answer, as 
 will speedily be seen, from the Duke of York. The 
 King for several days took no notice of it. At last 
 there came a reply from His Majesty brief, cau- 
 tiously worded, but couched in rather affectionate 
 terms approving the zeal and motives of the Duke, 
 but holding out to him no hope that he would, either 
 then, or at any future time, be permitted to return to 
 his government ! 
 
 In the Duke's appeal originated the ensuing 
 spirited correspondence : 
 
 (No. 1.) 
 
 " Kensington Palace, April 23, 1808. 
 
 " MY LORD, Being unwilling to occasion any 
 trouble to the members of His Majesty's Government 
 during the time their close attendance to their duty 
 in parliament left them little leisure to devote other- 
 wise than to the important concerns of the country in 
 their respective departments, I have delayed until the 
 moment of the recess to address your Lordship upon 
 a subject of the most material consequence to myself,
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 157 
 
 inasmuch as it seriously affects my character both as 
 an officer and as a man. 
 
 "The circumstance I allude to will be found by 
 your Lordship on referring to the annexed enclosure, 
 marked A, the same being a copy of a letter from the 
 Commander-in-Chief to me, of the 6th of February 
 last, in the second paragraph of which he is pleased 
 to make use of the following expressions : ' It is at all 
 times a matter of great regret to me to recall to your 
 recollection the unfortunate events which led to your 
 return from that fortress (Gibraltar), which have 
 already, and must ever preclude the confidential ser- 
 vants of the King from advising His Majesty to 
 permit you to resume your situation there.' 
 
 " Before I proceed farther, I conceive it necessary 
 to declare to your Lordship, that until I received the 
 above communication, which, coming from the quarter 
 it does, I cannot but consider as official, I never enter- 
 tained the most distant idea of His Majesty's con- 
 fidential servants having come to a decision respecting 
 me of the nature therein signified, or I should, the 
 moment I had been apprised thereof, have felt it a 
 duty I owed myself to request a communication of the 
 grounds upon which such a resolution was adopted, 
 and which carries with it a sentence of condemnation 
 upon my conduct when in command of the fortress of 
 Gibraltar, which I am conscious I do not merit. The 
 object, therefore, of my present address to your Lord- 
 ship is to demand, as a matter of justice, which I 
 consider myself as having a right to claim of you, as
 
 158 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Secretary of State for that department to which the 
 concerns of Gibraltar more particularly belong, that I 
 may be made acquainted with these statements, which 
 having been laid before His Majesty's Government, 
 have induced the members of it to form that deter- 
 mination relative to me which is expressed in the 
 communication of the Commander-in-Chief, in order 
 that I may have an opportunity of exculpating my 
 character and conduct of whatever charges these may 
 contain to my prejudice, and without which I cannot 
 conceive that such an arbitrary resolution could have 
 been founded. By reference to the annexed copy of an 
 official communication, B,* that occasioned my return 
 to England in 1803, and which was transmitted to me 
 by the Comniander-in-Chief, your Lordship will per- 
 ceive that it was especially expressed by Lord Pelhain, 
 ' as His Majesty's pleasure that I should return to 
 England immediately, upon the consideration that it 
 might be desirable that the different departments of 
 his Government at home should have the advantage of 
 some personal communication with me upon the recent 
 events at Gibraltar.' To obtain this personal commu- 
 nication, became the object of my most anxious wishes, 
 from the moment of my arrival in England ; and I 
 am now in possession of documents which will prove 
 that if my application to that effect was not complied 
 with, it did not arise from any want of exertion on 
 my part to obtain an interview with the different de- 
 
 * The letters marked B and C are not repeated here ; they will 
 be found ante, pp. 130, 131.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 159 
 
 partinents of His Majesty's Government, upon a 
 subject naturally so interesting to my feelings, and so 
 very important to my character. When, therefore, 
 I was informed through the channel of the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief, by the Secretary of State at the 
 head of the department to which Gibraltar then 
 belonged, in his letter of the 28th of June, 1803, of 
 which the enclosed, C,* is a copy, that there was 
 nothing in his department upon which he had occasion 
 to trouble me with any inquiries relative to the events 
 alluded to, although he had himself expressly signified 
 that it was for the purpose of enabling the members 
 of His Majesty's Government to hold communication 
 with me upon the events that had occurred at 
 Gibraltar, that I had been requested to come over; 
 and when in his letter of the 15th July, 1803, of 
 which the enclosure, D, is a copy, the Commander-in- 
 Chief was pleased to state that he was not aware that 
 any department of His Majesty's Civil Government 
 could officially communicate with me upon the subject 
 of Gibraltar, except the Secretary of State for the 
 Home Department ; I trust it will not be thought 
 presumption in me if I drew the inference, that the 
 members who then composed His Majesty's Govern- 
 ment attached no blame to my conduct ; or if I con- 
 sidered my not being called upon then to resume my 
 command, as having no connexion with a censure upon 
 my conduct, but wholly to be ascribed to other causes, 
 to which, from motives of delicacy, I forbear alluding : 
 as such I remained perfectly quiet, until the moment 
 * See ante, p. 131.
 
 JGO THE LIFE OF 
 
 when I felt that my character required I should make 
 an effort to return to my duty. That effort your 
 Lordship will perceive has produced an unequivocal 
 declaration of the sentiments of His Majesty's confi- 
 dential servants towards me, which I can only suppose 
 to have been adopted in consequence of my conduct 
 having been grossly misstated to them. Your Lord- 
 ship will therefore not be surprised at my being 
 anxious to repel these misrepresentations, and of my 
 claiming on the grounds the rights of an Englishman, 
 to be made acquainted, as I before observed, with the 
 nature and extent of the accusation against me, and 
 also of the names of those who dare accuse me ; and 
 that the matter may be fully investigated in whatever 
 manner His Majesty's Ministers may choose to point 
 out ; for it cannot be otherwise than gratifying to me 
 to meet the verdict of any set of men, whose opinions 
 on my conduct shall be formed on the solemn evi- 
 dence and information given by those who witnessed 
 my zeal for the good of His Majesty's service during 
 the period I resided and commanded in my govern- 
 ment. If, however, this right shall be refused me, 
 which I trust in God it may not, I then claim that the 
 assertion already quoted, as made by the Commander- 
 in-Chief, may be retracted, in terms as strong and 
 explicit as those in which it is worded. 
 
 " I remain, &c. &c. 
 
 " EDWARD. 
 
 " The Right Honourable 
 Lord Casllereayk."
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 161 
 
 ENCLOSURE IN THE FOREGOING. A. 
 
 " Horse Guards, Feb. 6, 1808. 
 
 { DEAR EDWARD, I take the earliest opportunity 
 to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of this morn- 
 ing, and am fully sensible of your candour in commu- 
 nicating to me the copy of a letter which you have 
 thought yourself bound to address to His Majesty, 
 requesting leave to return, under the present circum- 
 stances, to Gibraltar. 
 
 "It is at all times a matter of great regret to me to 
 recall to your recollection the unfortunate events which 
 led to your return from that fortress, and which have 
 already, and must EVER preclude the confidential ser- 
 vants of the King from advising His Majesty to permit 
 you to resume your situation there. 
 
 " I had hoped, from the number of ineffectual ap- 
 plications which you have at different times made 
 upon this unlucky subject, that you would have been 
 prevented from renewing them ; and I can only repeat 
 how much I have lamented that no arrangement could 
 be made to relieve you from the embarrassment which 
 you must undoubtedly always labour under, so long 
 as you retain the government of Gibraltar. 
 
 " I am, &c. fec. 
 
 " FREDERICK." 
 
 ENCLOSURE IN THE FIRST LETTER. D. 
 
 " Horse Guards, July 15, 1803. 
 
 S IR , I was yesterday favoured with your Royal 
 Highnesses letter of the 13th instant, from which I am 
 
 M
 
 162 THE LIFE OF 
 
 to understand that, in consequence of Lord Pelharn's 
 letter, of which a copy was sent to your Royal High- 
 ness in mine of the 29th ult., you are no longer 
 desirous of a personal meeting with his Lordship ; 
 but wish that the other departments of His Majesty's 
 Government which may be willing to communicate 
 with you should be pointed out to you. Upon this 
 I can only observe, that I am not myself aware that 
 any department of His Majesty's Civil Government can 
 officially communicate with your Royal Highness upon 
 the subject of Gibraltar, except the Secretary of State 
 for the Home Department ; but should your Royal 
 Highness think otherwise, I can only repeat that 
 I cannot have any objection to your addressing your- 
 self personally to them. 
 
 I am, &c. &c. 
 
 " FREDERICK, 
 
 Commander-in-Chiff" 
 
 (No. 2.) 
 
 " St. James's Square, May 3, 1808. 
 
 " SIR, I have to acknowledge the receipt of your 
 Royal Highness's letter of the 23d ult., and have to 
 entreat your Royal Highness's forgiveness for the 
 unavoidable delay which has taken place in replying 
 thereto. Upon the best consideration F have been 
 able to give the communication with which your Royal 
 Highness has been pleased to honour me, I do not 
 feel myself enabled to enter into any explanation on 
 the subject therein referred to, without its being pre-
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 103 
 
 viotisly submitted to the consideration of His Majesty's 
 confidential servants ; and, as His Majesty's commands 
 have not been signified to authorize such a reference, 
 I humbly conceive the subject cannot, under such 
 circumstances, be brought regularly under their con- 
 sideration. 
 
 " I am, Sir, with the utmost respect and deference, 
 
 " Your Royal Highness's 
 " Most humble and obedient Servant, 
 
 " CASTLEREAGH. 
 
 " His Royal Highness 
 the Duke of Kent.'" 
 
 (No. 3.) 
 
 " Kensington Palace, May 4, 1808. 
 " MY LORD, Having at length, last evening, been 
 favoured with your Lordship's acknowledgment of 
 my letter of the 23d ult., and being unwilling to con- 
 sider it in the light of a subterfuge or evasion to get 
 rid of that explanation which I feel I have a right to 
 demand of His Majesty's confidential servants, sup- 
 posing that resolution regarding me, which is asserted 
 in the Commander-in-Chief's letter of the 6th Feb- 
 ruary last, to have been adopted by them, (of which, 
 as I have before observed, considering the official 
 situation of the person by whom the fact is stated, I 
 can entertain no doubt ;) I have now to request that 
 your Lordship will inform me whether I am to under- 
 stand from your letter to me, that my communication 
 to you has been laid before the King, and that His 
 
 M 2
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Majesty has not been pleased to signify his commands 
 thereupon; or whether it is that your Lordship has 
 not as yet submitted it to His Majesty's gracious con- 
 sideration ; for I feel it essential for my honour and 
 character, not to let the matter rest in its present 
 stage ; and it is necessary that I should receive an 
 explicit answer to this question from your Lordship 
 before I decide which is the next step it may be neces- 
 sary for me to take in the business. 
 
 '" I remain, &c. 
 
 " EDWARD. 
 
 " The Right Honourable 
 Lord Castlereagh" 
 
 (No. 4.) 
 
 " Downing Street, May 5, 1808. 
 
 " SIR, I have to acknowledge the receipt of your 
 Royal Highness's letter of yesterday's date, desiring 
 to be informed whether your Royal Highness's letter 
 of the 23d ult. has been laid before His Majesty. I 
 have to acquaint your Royal Highness, in reply thereto, 
 that I have not submitted that letter to His Majesty, 
 not having understood your Royal Highness to have 
 expressed any wish that it should be submitted ; and 
 that I shall not consider it my duty to do so, unless 
 I receive your Royal Highness's commands to that 
 effect. I am, Sir, 
 
 " Your Royal Highness's 
 " Most obedient and humble Servant, 
 
 " CASTLEREAGH. 
 
 " His Royal Highness 
 
 the Duke of Kent."
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 165 
 
 (No. 5.) 
 
 "Kensington Palace, May 12, 1808. 
 
 " MY LORD, I have to acknowledge your Lord- 
 ship's letter of the 5th instant, to which I should 
 certainly have felt it incumbent upon me to have 
 replied earlier, had I not been desirous to weigh ma- 
 turely the situation in which your Lordship's letter 
 of the 3d has placed me (and which has not been 
 altered by your last communication), before I came 
 to any determination upon it. Having, therefore, 
 now taken the necessary time to form my resolution 
 as to the steps I ought to take thereupon, I have 
 to observe to your Lordship, that when first I ad- 
 dressed you, on the 23d ultimo, I certainly did not 
 conceive that it would be requisite to trouble His 
 Majesty to interfere, in order that I might obtain 
 from his confidential servants that which is the birth- 
 right of every Englishman, I mean the opportunity of 
 clearing myself of that unfavourable representation of 
 my conduct while lately in the command of the fortress 
 of Gibraltar, which I conclude must have reached 
 them, since they have felt themselves warranted in 
 taking a step which conveys the severest possible 
 censure upon my conduct. But since it is your 
 Lordship's opinion that I cannot be made acquainted 
 with those representations which have led to the 
 adoption of the resolution alluded to, without His 
 Majesty's command being signified to that effect,
 
 16(5 THE LIFE OF 
 
 I feel too much confidence in the King's justice and 
 goodness to entertain a moment's hesitation as to the 
 point of having my letter of the 23d ultimo laid be- 
 fore him, accompanied by a humble request, on my 
 part, that he would sanction my being informed of 
 the grounds upon which his ministers had come to 
 the resolution alluded to by the Duke of York, in his 
 letter of the 6th February ; in order that, if this has 
 arisen, as it is natural for me to imagine, from what I 
 consider a misstatement of my conduct, I may have 
 the opportunity given me of proving that it is wholly 
 unfounded. But at the same time that this commu- 
 nication is made to the King, I am sure your Lord- 
 ship will feel that it is but just and fair it should be 
 fully explained to him, that his being troubled with 
 an application of this nature has arisen solely from 
 your Lordship's declaration, that you conceived the 
 subject could not be brought regularly under the 
 deliberation of His Majesty's confidential servants, 
 until His Majesty's commands had been signified to 
 authorize such a reference. 
 
 " EDWARD. 
 
 " The Eight Honourable 
 Lord Castlereagli? 
 
 (No. 6.) 
 
 " St. James's Square, May 13, 180S. 
 '' Lord Castlereagh has the honour to acquaint His 
 lloyal Highness the Duke of Kent, that in obedience 
 to His Royal Highness's commands, his letter of the
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 167 
 
 23rd ultimo, together with the subsequent corre- 
 spondence, has been laid before His Majesty." 
 
 (Received by the Duke of Kent on the evening of the lth.) 
 
 (No. 7.) 
 
 " Kensington Palace, May 15, 1808. 
 
 " The Duke of Kent has to acknowledge the receipt 
 of Lord Castlereagh's note, dated the 13th instant, 
 (but which only reached him on the evening of the 
 14th,)^and to thank him for the information it con- 
 tains of his letter of the 23d ultimo to his Lordship, 
 together with the subsequent correspondence which 
 has passed between them, having been laid before the 
 King ; at the same time the Duke has to express his 
 expectation that Lord Castlereagh will favour him 
 with the earliest communication of whatever com- 
 mands His Majesty may be graciously pleased to sig- 
 nify thereupon." 
 
 " The Eight Honourable 
 Lord Castlereagh" 
 
 (No. 8.) 
 
 " St. James's Square, May 16, 1808. 
 " SIR, Having laid before the King, in compliance 
 with your Royal Highnesses desire, your letter of the 
 23d ultimo, together with the subsequent correspond- 
 ence, I am to acquaint your Royal Highness that His 
 Majesty, referring to the answer which he was pleased 
 to return to your Royal Highness on the 9th February
 
 1C8 THE LIFE OF 
 
 last, does not think it necessary to authorize his 
 Ministers to take into their consideration your Royal 
 Highness's present application. 
 
 " I am, Sir, with the utmost deference 
 
 " and respect, 
 " Your Royal Highness's 
 " Most humble and obedient Servant, 
 
 " CASTLEREAGH. 
 
 " For His Royal Highness 
 the Duke of Kent." 
 
 (No. 9.) 
 
 " Kensington Palace, May 17, 1808. 
 " MY LORD, I have to acknowledge the receipt of 
 your Lordship's letter of yesterday, communicating 
 His Majesty's commands respecting the application 
 I made to your Lordship on the 23d ultimo, to which 
 I am fully sensible it is my duty in all humility to 
 submit ; at the same time, I cannot help expressing to 
 your Lordship my conviction, that had the King been 
 made fully acquainted with the nature and extent of 
 it, and that it had no reference whatever to His 
 Majesty's decision of the 9th February, upon the re- 
 quest I made to him in my letter of the 6th of the 
 same month, (of which I never presumed to solicit 
 a reconsideration on his part,) but that it was confined 
 wholly to the resolution adopted by his confidential 
 servants, relative to myself, (in which the King could 
 not have the slightest participation,) which I consider
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 169 
 
 founded on injustice, as it must have been entered 
 into upon a representation of facts to my prejudice, 
 while I had not the opportunity afforded me of ex- 
 plaining my conduct as connected with the event that 
 has occasioned that determination ; he could not, with 
 his well-known upright mind, have withheld from me 
 that justice which is extended to the meanest of his 
 subjects, the right to defend my character against mis- 
 representation. 
 
 " Under this impression, which nothing can remove 
 from my mind, I have no alternative left, but to avail 
 myself of the first opportunity that offers, to do justice 
 to my feelings, and to endeavour to remove from my 
 character that unjust stigma which I conceive attached 
 to it from that resolution of His Majesty's Ministers 
 which was communicated to me by the Commander- 
 in-Chief in his letter of the 6th February last, and 
 which has given rise to the present correspondence. 
 
 " I remain, &c. &c. 
 
 " EDWARD. 
 
 " The Right Honourable 
 Lord Castltreagh." 
 
 With this elaborate and unsuccessful appeal may be 
 said to have terminated the Duke's public life. He 
 appears to have made no further effort to obtain active 
 employment, or to be reinstated in his foreign com- 
 mand. The next twelve years of his life were years 
 passed in privacy, yet were they the most glorious 
 years of his chequered life !
 
 170 THE LIFE OF 
 
 If we believe that our present probationary state 
 derives all its importance from being linked with the 
 mighty and enduring future, if we hold that those 
 deeds alone merit permanent record which harmonize 
 with the spirit and teaching of our Great Master, and 
 tend to diminish the mass of sorrow and suffering 
 which exists in the world, if the conviction be ours 
 that in this life each man has a mission, viz. to lighten 
 the burden of his fellow-pilgrim,* then the closing 
 years of the Duke's life, years of seclusion and self- 
 denial, were the most illustrious of his life. He lived 
 for others,! not himself. His sole object, aim, struggle, 
 was to aid the deserving, the necessitous, the op- 
 pressed. 
 
 It was the triumph of CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLE over 
 wounded feeling. 
 
 A man of ordinary views, or of transitory and 
 vacillating impressions, would have sunk into con- 
 firmed misanthropy and perpetual gloom. Stung 
 with the hollow treachery, and disgusted with the 
 measureless ingratitude j of his fellows, he would 
 have withdrawn himself from his species, and worn 
 away life in sullen and moody contemplation of his 
 
 * Galatians vi. 2. 
 
 t At his death, there were no less than Fifty-three public 
 charities which had been for years promoted by his immediate 
 patronage, or assisted by his able counsel and generous contri- 
 butions. 
 
 | Mr. R, , the Solicitor of His Royal Highness, a man who 
 
 owed every thing to his bounty, suddenly disappeared some years 
 prior to the Duke's decease, carrying off with him a very consi- 
 derable sum, the property of his generous and confiding employer.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 171 
 
 own sorrows. The aspect of his brethren would have 
 been hateful to him. He would either have turtied 
 coldly away from the tale of misery, or would have 
 hailed with complacency the sufferings of others, be- 
 cause he saw in them an approach to, or semblance 
 of, his own. Not so the Duke. He forgot his own 
 calamities in ministering to those of others. He 
 resisted the strongest temptations to pride, preserved 
 his ears open to truth, and was impatient of the voice 
 of flattery. 
 
 Pledges held out to himself had, it is true, been 
 shamelessly and ruthlessly broken. He turned from 
 them to the calm contemplation of that Volume 
 wherein is held a world of promises from a Voice that 
 never lies. 
 
 Granted, that in the rest of his career we miss the 
 daring soldier, the vigilant commander, the lynx-eyed 
 disciplinarian. 
 
 Hut we still find him in the lists. 
 
 He is thenceforth waging a ceaseless war against 
 ignorance, infidelity, and immorality " the great holy 
 war the only war attended with no shrieks from the 
 wounded, no wail from the widow and orphan 
 but a war whose triumphs are bloodless ; whose 
 trophies are subdued and penitent hearts ; whose 
 penalties may be summed up in the light affliction 
 which endureth for a moment ; and whose rewards 
 are immeasurable and eternal." 
 
 Ah ! how true it is, that " he cannot sink who 
 trusts the power of his Master ; he cannot but sink 
 who doubts it !"
 
 172 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 CONSULTATION WITH SIB SAMUEL ROMILLY MAJOR DODD SIR 
 
 SAMUEL'S DECISION COLONEL WARBLE'S RESOLUTIONS AGAINST 
 
 THE DUKE OF YORK THE DEBATES IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 
 
 THE DUKE OJ? KENT'S LINE OF CONDUCT ON THE OCCASION THE 
 INTRIGUES FALSELY IMPUTED TO HIM HIS SPEECH IN THE HOUSE 
 
 OF LORDS. 
 
 18081809. 
 
 JOHN BULL, with all his faults and the worthy 
 gentleman has various short-comings is a doughty 
 lover of justice. He kicks against oppression in 
 every form. He clamours for a fair stand-up fight. 
 A phrase familiar to him, and which he repeats with 
 gusto, is " Even-handed justice." And whether the 
 injured party be a post-office clerk or a prince of the 
 blood, John, if he thinks him wronged, will do his 
 best to "right" him. John, therefore, growled and 
 grumbled hugely when the rejection of the Duke's 
 appeal to the King became public ; and the further 
 astounding information was added that the immov- 
 able opponent to the Duke's return to his government 
 was no less a personage than his own brother, the 
 Commander-in-Chief. " Paper pellets " of some pun- 
 gency were pelted to and fro ; and some of these hit 
 the Duke of York palpably and somewhat sharply.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 173 
 
 To the Duke of Kent's feelings this mode of 
 defence was anything but grateful, and he consulted 
 Sir Samuel Romilly as to the course which it befitted 
 him to take. 
 
 Sir Samuel's Diary records the Duke's views and 
 the advice given. 
 
 " Dec. 28M, 1808. I this day,* by the desire of 
 the Duke of Kent, waited on him at Carlton House. 
 He said that he wished to consult me, not profession- 
 ally, but rather as a friend, on a point on which some 
 difference of opinion existed among those persons 
 whose judgments he most highly valued. A pub- 
 lication had very recently appeared, by a person of 
 the name of McCallum, professing to state the per- 
 secutions which he, the Duke, had experienced at the 
 hands of the Duke of York. It had been thought 
 advisable that he should publish a disavowal of any 
 privity in the publication ; and he put into my hands 
 a paper which had been drawn up for the purpose. 
 All his friends, except his secretary, Major Dodd, 
 advised him to publish it; and he was desirous, in 
 consequence of the Prince of Wales's recommendation, 
 to take my opinion upon it. The paper which he 
 gave me, and which he desired me to take home 
 with me, and to consider at my leisure, was in these 
 words : 
 
 " The Duke of Kent requests the Editor of the 
 Morning Post to give insertion to the following para- 
 graph :- 
 
 * Sir Samuel Romilly's Diary, vol. ii. p. 2G1.
 
 174 THE LIFE OF 
 
 " Kensington Palace, Dec. 24, 1808. 
 
 " Several pamphlets having recently appeared, in 
 which my name has been mentioned with high enco- 
 miums, while those of several members of my family, 
 and of various other individuals, have been noticed in 
 terms of abuse ; and having reason to apprehend, 
 (from the circumstance of several extracts and dates 
 of two correspondences which took place between the 
 members of His Majesty's Government and myself 
 in 1803 and the present year being quoted in dif- 
 ferent parts of them,) that a belief is entertained by 
 persons who are unacquainted with my real senti- 
 ments, that I have sanctioned the publication of 
 them ; I feel it incumbent upon me, for the justifi- 
 cation of my character to the world, (although it is 
 extremely repugnant to my feelings to be obliged 
 thus to obtrude myself on the attention of the public,) 
 to adopt this mode of solemnly and unequivocally 
 declaring that there is not the slightest foundation 
 for so ungenerous a suspicion. At the same time 
 I conceive it right to avow, that / certainly did give 
 free circulation to the whole of the correspondence 
 alluded to, and to the substance of the other, accom- 
 panied by an extract of some of the most striking 
 passages in it, and a memorandum of the dates, 
 amongst my military friends, at the periods when 
 they respectively closed ; that being the only method 
 left me of proving to them and to every officer of the 
 British army, (who having served under me in Nortli 
 America, the West Indies, and the Mediterranean, had
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 175 
 
 witnessed the manner in which I have ever striven 
 to discharge my duty;) first, that I had spared 
 no pains to obtain an investigation of my conduct 
 at Gibraltar, when, after commanding in that fortress 
 for a twelvemonth, I was recalled from my govern- 
 ment, for the avowed purpose of rendering an account 
 of the causes that had led to the mutiny ; and, secondly, 
 that if I was not at my post, (as I felt I ought to be,) 
 it was not for want of my making every possible 
 exertion to return to it. But it never even once 
 entered my thoughts that any part of the correspon- 
 dence might one day or other appear in print : and 
 still less that it would furnish materials either for the 
 public commendation of myself or for the abuse of 
 others. 
 
 " On the contrary, my opinion always has been, 
 that pamphlets of the nature of those alluded to 
 could do no good, while they certainly have a ten- 
 dency to produce much mischief; and, such being 
 my sentiments, I should be the last man living to 
 give a sanction to the publication of them." 
 
 Sir Samuel Romilly proceeds : 
 
 " It required but little consideration to determine 
 against the publication of such a paper. The Duke 
 told me, however, that lie wished me to consider it, 
 maturely ; and if I was against the publishing it, to 
 write him a letter saying that such was my opinion, 
 and shortly to give my reasons in my letter, and 
 to send it to him at Kensington Palace. He desired 
 me too to consider, whether, if ////> /v"/"'r
 
 170 THE LIFE OF 
 
 not proper to be published by him, it might not 
 be right for him to publish some other. He said 
 that he should be governed entirely by my opinion ; 
 and that he wished to have a letter from me to 
 show to those of his family who were urgent with 
 him to publish a disavowal of the Pamphlet. The 
 part of his family ivho were so urgent with him were 
 those luho were most attached to the Duke of York. 
 He begged that in the letter I would not mention the 
 name of Major Dodd.* I took my leave of him, and 
 the next morning sent him a letter in these words : 
 
 " SIR, Your Royal Highness having done me 
 the honour to ask me what I thought of the propriety 
 
 * A sentence or two may not be out of place here, with re- 
 ference to an officer for whom the Duke had the most sincere 
 regard, and whose name appears, on more occasions than one, 
 identified with the Duke's history. 
 
 Sir Hew Dalrymple was sent out by Lord Castlereagh to be 
 Lieutenant-Governor of Gibraltar, at the express wish of the 
 Duke of York. One, among other matters to which Sir Hew's 
 attention was to be specially directed, was to ascertain whether mis- 
 conduct could be imputed to Captain Dodd, who had been Garrison 
 Secretary of that fortress. A strict and searching inquiry was 
 made. Happily, the conduct of that officer was found unim- 
 peachable. As a soldier, he was brave ; as a friend, inalienable ; 
 as a servant, faithful, and incorruptible. 
 
 Lord Gastlereagh's object was defeated. Captain Dodd retained 
 his character, and an unshaken fidelity to the Duke of Kent. 
 The latter was, and continued to be, his only crime. 
 
 Subsequently, Mr. Perceval discovered that the place of Gar- 
 rison Secretary of Gibraltar was a civil one ; and, consequently, 
 at the disposal of His Majesty's Ministers. The Duke, after a 
 hard fight, acquiesced ; Captain Dodd was removed, and Mr. Per- 
 ceval appointed a MILITARY man, Colonel Rutherford.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 177 
 
 of Your Royal Higlmess's authorizing the publication 
 in some of the daily newspapers of the paper which 
 I have now the honour to return enclosed, I have 
 given it the best consideration in my power, and 
 I have read attentively the Pamphlet to which it 
 principally alludes. It appears to me, Sir, after 
 thinking very anxiously on the subject, that it would 
 not be by any means advisable that the paper in 
 question should be published, or, indeed, that your 
 Royal Highness should authorize the publication of 
 any paper that could be written for the purpose of 
 disavowing any knowledge of the Pamphlet. Your 
 Royal Highness by condescending to take notice of 
 the suspicion, that it may have been with your Royal 
 Highness's privity that the Pamphlet has been pub- 
 lished, would give a degree of weight, and importance, 
 and publicity to that suspicion, which I am fully 
 persuaded it has not at this moment obtained. The 
 tone and spirit of the Pamphlet must alone convince 
 every rational man that it has never received any 
 sanction from your Royal Highness ; and no infer- 
 ence to the disadvantage of your Royal Highness 
 can be drawn from the mere circumstance of the 
 writer having had access to the correspondences which 
 took place in 1803, and in the present year; since 
 it is known that your Royal Highness did not 
 make those correspondences matter of secrecy ; and, 
 consequently, it must have been impossible to prevent 
 some copy of them getting into improper hands. If 
 any paragraph upon the subject were to appear under 
 
 N
 
 178 THE LIFE OF 
 
 your Royal Highness's name, it would necessarily 
 have the effect of giving a very extended circulation, 
 and a considerable degree of weight, to an imputation, 
 which, as far as the public is concerned, I really 
 believe, cannot truly be said at present to exist. It 
 seems to ine, Sir, that it must be some very extraor- 
 dinary occasion indeed, that could render it expedient, 
 even for a private individual, and much more for a 
 person of your Royal Highness's exalted rank, to make 
 such an appeal to the public as the paper would 
 amount to, and by that means to expose himself to all 
 the animadversions, inquiries, attacks, and provocations 
 to further explanations, which such appeals seldom fail 
 to produce, and which they may be said, in some 
 degree, always to challenge; and I am most fully 
 convinced that this is not such an occasion. 
 
 " I have the honour to be, &c. &c. &c. 
 
 " S. ROMILLY." 
 
 Dec. 29. 1808. " I have heard nothing since from 
 the Duke ; but I believe he has abstained from pub- 
 lishing anything." 
 
 The transaction to which the next few pages Avill 
 be devoted, the writer would joyfully pass over, did it 
 not form one of a series of events in which the Duke 
 was compelled to take part. It would be rank in- 
 justice to him to suppress all mention of an inquiry 
 which exhibits his magnanimity of character in a most 
 engaging light. The main features of the affair are, 
 therefore, briefly given, not willingly but of necessity,
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 179 
 
 and mainly because they indicate the force of that 
 hidden principle by which, in adversity as in pro- 
 sperity, the Duke of Kent shaped the course of his 
 public life. 
 
 On the 27th of January, 1809, Colonel Wardle, an 
 officer in the militia, brought forward in the Lower 
 House a series of charges against the Commander-in- 
 Chief: he alleged that Mrs. Mary Ann Clarke, a 
 discarded favourite of the Duke, had for years carried 
 on a traffic in Military Commissions, not only with 
 the knowledge, but participation of His Royal High- 
 ness. He concluded with moving for a Committee 
 of Inquiry, which, on the suggestion of the Chan- 
 cellor of the Exchequer, it was determined should 
 be of the whole House. The inquiry forthwith com- 
 menced, and lasted about two months : during its pro- 
 gress numerous witnesses were examined, amongst 
 them Mrs. Clarke herself, and the most extraordinary 
 disclosures ensued. It was proved that this unscrupu- 
 lous woman had exercised material influence not only 
 in military, but also in ecclesiastical promotion. 
 
 On one occasion she had placed her own footman 
 as a commissioned officer in the army. On another 
 she had procured the honour of preaching before the 
 King for a Mr. O'Meara, an Irish clergyman. There 
 Avas hardly a department of the State which her in- 
 fluence had not reached, and the list of aspirants in- 
 serted for a consideration in her book of " parties to be 
 remembered," included persons of almost every station 
 in society. 
 
 N 2
 
 180 THE LIFE OF 
 
 So far Colonel Wardle established his case ; beyond 
 this he failed. He failed in showing that the Duke 
 had derived any pecuniary benefit whatever from the 
 traffickings of his mistress ; but there were some 
 parties still, who found it difficult to believe His Royal 
 Highness altogether guiltless of the minor count in 
 the indictment, viz. that of knowingly suffering her 
 to barter the patronage of his office for the support 
 of herself and her establishment. 
 
 The expenses of that establishment could not have 
 been trifling; its appointments certainly were not 
 merely princely, but regal, an epithet which can scarcely 
 be liable to the charge of exaggeration, since Mr. Whit- 
 bread stated in the House that a service of plate, which 
 Mrs. Clarke purchased of a pawnbroker, originally 
 belonged to a prince of the Bourbon family ! Public 
 attention was entirely engrossed with the inquiry, and 
 the House was never so well attended as during its 
 progress. Many of the members appeared highly- 
 edified by the daring sallies of the self-composed 
 courtesan. She herself was the principal witness in 
 the inquiry. Though the Duke was acquitted of 
 personal corruption by a vote of the Commons, the 
 impression of his culpability was strong among many 
 independent members. The public shared it to no 
 slight extent, and the result was that he found it 
 necessary to resign his employment. This appears to 
 have been considered a sufficient amende ; and the 
 whole business was got rid of on the 20th of March 
 by the motion of Lord Althorp, that the House did
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 181 
 
 not think proper further to prosecute the inquiry after 
 the resignation of His Royal Highness. This was 
 carried by 235 to 112. 
 
 While this inquiry was pending, the Duke of 
 Kent was accused of having secretly aided this attack 
 upon his royal brother. On no more solid foundation 
 did this grave charge rest than this : that an officer 
 who had formerly held the situation of private secretary 
 to the Duke of Kent, had some acquaintance with the 
 principal female performer in this astounding investi- 
 gation ; and hence the hasty inference was drawn, that 
 the Duke of Kent countenanced the charges against his 
 brother. It was only necessary to have the slightest 
 knowledge of the kindly feelings of the Duke of Kent, in 
 order to be convinced that the man who considered the 
 disgrace of any one member of his family as the dis- 
 honour of all, was wholly incapable of the conduct so 
 unjustly and so falsely imputed to him. Although 
 such disgraceful stories only merited contempt, the 
 Duke immediately sent for Lord Harrington, and the 
 following statement was laid before the public : 
 
 QUESTIONS PUT TO CAPTAIN DODD BY HIS ROYAL HIGH- 
 NESS THE DUKE OF KENT, AND THE ANSWERS OP THE 
 FORMER THERETO. JULY 26, 1809. 
 
 " Question. Have I, directly or indirectly, sanc- 
 tioned, advised, or encouraged any attacks upon the 
 Duke of York, to your knowledge ? Answer. Never. 
 T. Dodd.
 
 1S2 THE LIFE OF 
 
 " Question. Have I had, to your knowledge, any 
 acquaintance or communication with Colonel Wardle, 
 or any of the parties concerned in bringing forward 
 the investigation respecting the Duke of York's con- 
 duct, which took place in Parliament, last winter, 
 either directly or indirectly? Answer. I feel con- 
 fident that your Royal Highness has no such know- 
 ledge or acquaintance. T. Dodd. 
 
 " Question. Have I, to your knowledge, ever had 
 any acquaintance with, or knowledge of Mrs. Clarke, 
 or any communication with her, direct or indirect, 
 upon the subject above named, or any other? 
 Answer. I am confident your Royal Highness never 
 had. T. Dodd. 
 
 " Question. Have I ever expressed to you any 
 sentiment, which could induce you to believe that I 
 approved of what was brought forward in Parliament 
 against the Duke of York, or of any proceeding 
 which would tend to his obloquy or disgrace ? 
 Answer. Never ! I have heard your Royal Highness 
 lament the business viva voce, and you made the 
 same communication to me in writing. T. Dodd. 
 
 " Question. Have you ever, to your recollection, ex- 
 pressed yourself, either by words or in writing, either 
 to Colonel Wardle or Mrs. Clarke, or to any other 
 person connected with the investigation of the Duke 
 of York's conduct, in any way that could give them 
 reason to suppose that I approved of the measure, or 
 would countenance those concerned in bringing it for- 
 ward ? Answer. Never ; but I have, on the contrary,
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 183 
 
 expressed myself, that your Royal Highness would 
 Lave a very different feeling. T. Dodd. 
 
 " Question. \Yhat were my expressions on the subject 
 of the pamphlets which appeared, passing censure on 
 the conduct of the Duke of York, and others of my 
 family, and holding up my character to praise and 
 what have been the sentiments which I have uniformly 
 expressed on similar publications, whether in the 
 newspapers or elsewhere ? Answer. I have invariably 
 heard your Royal Highness regret that any person 
 should attempt to do justice to your own character, at 
 the expense of that of the Duke of York, or of any 
 other member of your family. T. Dodd. 
 
 " Question. During the ten years you have been my 
 private secretary, when in the most confidential mo- 
 ments I have given vent to my wounded feelings on 
 professional subjects, did you ever hear me express 
 myself inimical to the Duke of York, or that I enter- 
 tained an expectation of raising myself by his fall ? 
 Ansicer. Never ! on the contrary, I have frequently 
 heard your Royal Highness express yourself very dif- 
 ferently. T. Dodd. 
 
 " The above questions, written in Colonel Vesey's 
 hand, were all dictated by me, EDWARD, in the pre- 
 sence of Lord Harrington." 
 
 Divested of falsehood, the case was this : During 
 the very winter in which the Duke of Kent was repre- 
 sented as being busily engaged in framing machi- 
 nations against his brother, he was confined to the
 
 184 THE LIFE OF 
 
 house, and for the most part to his bed, by an attack 
 of fever and inflammation, not dissimilar to that which 
 ultimately brought him to his grave ; and the first day 
 the invalid was able to quit his chamber, he went down 
 to the House of Lords, and in his place, on the 7th 
 of February, 1809, assured their Lordships that no 
 animosity subsisted between himself and the Duke of 
 York, and that all reports of a contrary nature were 
 unfounded and untrue. So far, he added, was he 
 from thinking that there was anything improper in the 
 conduct of his royal brother, that he was fully per- 
 suaded that all the charges made against him were 
 false, and would be proved to be without foundation. 
 He took upon himself, also, to assure the House that 
 the whole of that illustrious person's family were of 
 the same opinion. 
 
 In order fully to appreciate the magnanimity of this 
 declaration, we must recall the circumstances under 
 which it was uttered. The Duke was then suffering 
 under a wrong, the injustice of which chafed his 
 gallant spirit to his dying hour, and the remembrance 
 of which he carried with him to the grave. He had 
 been, by a most unworthy subterfuge, " decoyed from 
 his government ;" and while the King gave a tardy 
 and reluctant assent to the measure, and the Prince 
 of Wales opposed it as unjust, the Duke of York 
 demanded that he should be superseded, and carried 
 it. Nor was this the full measure of his wrongs. All 
 inquiry into his alleged misconduct was denied. In 
 vain did he demand court martial or a court of
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 185 
 
 inquiry. The Commander-in-Chief declared both to be 
 inexpedient and unnecessary. Nor would he clear his 
 injured brother from unmerited obloquy, by any official 
 declaration of his innocence ; permit him to return to 
 Gibraltar; or, in lieu of such permission, appoint him 
 to some other military command. There was a deter- 
 mined and persevering denial of inquiry and all re- 
 dress. Now, when the Duke of York was assailed in 
 his turn, when a formidable and unscrupulous faction 
 accused him of malversation in his high office, many 
 men in the Duke of Kent's circumstances, and smart- 
 ing under the Duke of Kent's wrongs, would have 
 viewed the onset with complacency. They would 
 have said, " My persecutor's position is reversed ; he 
 is now defendant instead of assailant. Let him 
 judge for himself, whether the torture is light, of un- 
 deserved imputations and unmerited obloquy. Let 
 him baffle his calumniators as best he may ; my part 
 shall be that of a spectator." 
 
 Not so the Duke of Kent. Never did he appear 
 more truly illustrious never did he occupy higher 
 ground, in the opinion of the wise arid good, than 
 when in his place in the House of Lords he stood 
 forth as the defender of his brother, and fearlessly 
 threw in the weight of his character and influence to 
 champion the Commander-in-Chief's innocence. It 
 was a memorable and opportune declaration. It proved 
 that not one particle of pettiness or meanness lurked 
 in that noble nature. It showed that he had learnt 
 and could practise that most difficult of all lessons,
 
 186 THE LIFE OF 
 
 " Overcome evil with good" It showed that his creed 
 was CHRISTIAN, both in deed and in word; that 
 revenge, the infirmity of noble minds, was not his ; 
 but that, under the teaching of the mightiest of all 
 Masters, he had learnt cordially, fully, and from the 
 heart TO FORGIVE !
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 187 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 SELLIS HIS ATTEMPT TO ASSASSINATE THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND 
 
 THE SUBJECT SELECTED AS THE BASIS OF A LECTURE TO A CLASS OF 
 
 SURGICAL PUPILS MR. C , THE WELL-KNOWN SURGEON T1IE 
 
 DUKE OF KENT'S DISPLEASURE HIS MODE OF SHOWING IT HIS 
 STRONG COMPARISON. 
 
 1810. 
 
 THE same feelings animated him when the shaft of 
 calumny was levelled at any member of his illustrious 
 house. He regarded an insult offered to each or 
 either as an insult offered to himself. " We can 
 have," was his remark,* " no separate interests, and 
 no individual eminence ; traduce one, and you injure 
 all ; no member of the reigning family can suffer ALONE 
 in public estimation." 
 
 These feelings were called forth into active exercise 
 by a murderous attempt on the life of one of his 
 younger brothers, and by some extraordinary pro- 
 ceedings consequent on its failure. 
 
 On the 31st of May, 1810, His Royal Highness the 
 Duke of Cumberland, having dined the day before at 
 Greenwich, returned to town in the evening, and went 
 
 * Addressed to the Rev. Henry White, his Chaplain, and 
 much and deservedly in his confidence.
 
 188 THE LIFE OF 
 
 to the concert for the benefit of the Royal Society of 
 Musicians. He returned home about half-past twelve, 
 and went to bed about one. Soon after two o'clock, 
 when His Royal Highness was in a sound sleep, an 
 assassin entered his chamber with a dark ] an thorn, 
 and put out the lamp. One of the Duke's sabres was 
 kept constantly in a drawer in the chamber ; and it 
 was with this weapon, which the assassin either then 
 took out of the drawer, or had previously secured, that 
 the attempt was made. His Royal Highness was 
 awakened by a heavy blow on his head with the sabre, 
 which severed the padding he wore around his head, 
 and inflicted a deep cut. The Duke sprang from the 
 bed while the villain was in the act of repeating the 
 blow, and which he received on his arm, having lifted 
 it for the purpose of protecting his head. Before His 
 Royal Highness could reach the door of his chamber, 
 other blows were made, which inflicted several wounds, 
 and by one of which one of the Duke's fingers was nearly 
 severed from his hand. The Duke having at length 
 been enabled to open the door of his chamber, called 
 out, " Neyle (the name of his English valet), I am mur- 
 dered, I am murdered !" The valet, much alarmed, 
 was proceeding hastily into the bed-room, when the 
 Duke said, " Don't go in ; the murderers are in my 
 bed-room, and they will murder you as they have 
 murdered me." At this moment, Neyle trod on the 
 sabre, which the assassin had thrown down. The 
 Duke desired Neyle not to leave him, as he feared there 
 were others in the room. His Royal Highness, how-
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. ISO 
 
 ever, shortly afterwards proceeded to the porter's room, 
 and Neyle went to awaken Sellis, (a Corsican,) and 
 another of the Duke's valets. There was at this time 
 a general alarm in the house. The door of Sellis's 
 room was locked, and Neyle called out to him, saying, 
 " The Duke is murdered." No answer being given, 
 the door was broke open, and Sellis was found dead 
 in his bed, with his throat cut from ear to ear. It 
 is supposed, that Sellis, conscious of his own guilt, 
 imagined, when the alarm was given at his door, that 
 they were about to take him into custody, and imme- 
 diately cut his throat. His blue coat was found folded 
 up on a chair in one corner of the room, the inside of 
 which was stained with bloody and as he had cut his 
 throat in another part of the room, the blood must 
 have been that of his master. A pair of his slippers 
 were also found in the closet adjoining the Duke's 
 chamber, where he had concealed himself until His 
 Royal Highness was asleep. Mr. Home was imme- 
 diately sent for to the Duke ; who, after a very careful 
 inspection of the wounds, pronounced that none of 
 them were mortal. 
 
 The motives which influenced Sellis to make this 
 atrocious attempt to assassinate his master, it is impos- 
 sible to develop, from his having put a period to his 
 own existence. A report was freely circulated that 
 jealousy was the instigation ; and the circumstance 
 of the Duke having been one of the sponsors for 
 Sellis's last child, was adduced in corroboration of 
 this supposition. It is, however, by no means uncom-
 
 190 THE LIFE OF 
 
 mon for persons of high rank to become sponsors for 
 the children of domestics who have been long in their 
 service ; and this circumstance, in itself, is trivial ; 
 'nor are there apparently solid grounds for believing 
 that jealousy prompted the crime. That Sellis was 
 insane, there is much greater reason for believing ; he 
 having been observed by the other domestics, for 
 about a month previously, to have been absent, distrait, 
 and peculiarly despondent, which induced them to 
 say, frequently, that he was out of his mind. There 
 appears, however, to have been great deliberation of 
 purpose evinced in his scheme of concealing himself in 
 the closet, and watching the opportunity of the Duke 
 being asleep. The only part of his conduct that ap- 
 pears like the act of a madman, is his using the sabre 
 in so extraordinary a manner to effect his purpose. 
 There had been some bickerings, which may serve to 
 show that he acted under the impulse of revenge. 
 Sellis had been in the Duke's service for sixteen or 
 seventeen years, with intervals, during which, in con- 
 sequence of some disagreements, he had quitted it. 
 He was, however, a favourite with the Duke ; and 
 His Royal Highness took him again into his service, 
 and is understood to have behaved very kindly towards 
 him and his family, consisting of a wife and 'four 
 children. There were two other valets, the one a 
 German, and the other an Englishman of the name of 
 Neyle. Some disputes are said to have taken place 
 between Sellis and Neyle, respecting which an appeal 
 was made to the Duke, who decided in favour of the
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 191 
 
 latter. The revengeful disposition of Italians is well 
 known ; but whether the foregoing circumstance 
 worked up the mind of this man to an attempt 
 to revenge himself, or whether a deranged state of 
 mind rendered him the victim of imaginary wrongs, 
 and that thus his insanity was aggravated till it 
 issued in this dreadful catastrophe, is now impos- 
 sible to ascertain. His Royal Highness received six 
 distinct wounds, one upon the forehead, towards the 
 top of the head, another down the cheek, one upon 
 the arm, another, by w 7 hich his little finger was nearly 
 severed from the hand, one upon the front of the 
 body, and another on the thigh, besides several punc- 
 tures in different parts with the point of the sabre. 
 Sellis had not slept in his usual apartment for three 
 nights preceding, but in a dressing-room, where he 
 was found, as above stated. The Duke's sabre, which he 
 used, had been sharpened within a few days previously. 
 Upon the alarm being given in the palace, Lieutenant 
 Buller, with a sergeant and several men, who were 
 on duty in the palace, entered His Royal Highness's 
 apartments, and found the assassin stretched on his 
 bed, with his head nearly severed from his body ; the 
 blood which had issued from him had nearly covered 
 the bed-clothes and furniture. The circumstance 
 soon became known to Mr. Sheridan, who was at 
 Brooks's, and who immediately went to the palace, 
 and soon afterwards to Carlton House, to communicate 
 it to the Prince of Wales. The Prince hurried to the 
 palace early in the morning to visit his royal brother,
 
 192 THE LIFE OF 
 
 and about eight o'clock set off for Windsor, to com- 
 municate to the royal family intelligence of the attack. 
 The Prince of Wales, attended by Mr. Ryder and 
 another gentleman, visited the Duke again at half-past 
 six o'clock. The Duke of York followed soon after. 
 So little suspicion had the Duke of Sellis, that he 
 repeatedly called upon him by name to come to his 
 assistance ; not having the slightest idea that this was 
 the very ruffian who was attacking him. Sellis is 
 stated to have been missing from four o'clock in the 
 afternoon, from which time he is supposed to have 
 been waiting concealed in the closet adjoining the 
 Duke's bed-room, till he thought the opportunity had 
 occurred of effecting his purpose. The razor with 
 which he cut his throat was one which the Duke had 
 given him a few days before. 
 
 CORONER'S INQUEST. 
 
 His Royal Highness was removed to Carlton 
 House about nine the following evening. The bulletin 
 issued by Mr. Home on Friday, stated His Royal 
 Highness to be as well as could be expected under 
 the peculiar circumstances of his case. The inquest 
 was held on the same day, before Mr. Adams, coroner 
 of the Verge, who informed the jury of the attack 
 made upon His Royal Highness, and that there was 
 little doubt but that it was done by the deceased. 
 He stated that the circumstances had been fully in- 
 vestigated by the Privy Council on Thursday, and
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 193 
 
 that the depositions of the numerous witnesses, taken 
 before Mr. Read, should be read to them ; after 
 which, the witnesses would be called, for the purpose 
 of altering, explaining, or enlarging their depositions. 
 The first affidavit that was read was that of His Royal 
 Highness the Duke of Cumberland, which stated, that 
 about half-past two on Thursday morning he received 
 two violent blows and cuts on his head. The first 
 impression upon his mind was, that a bat had got 
 into the room, and was fluttering about his head. He 
 was soon convinced to the contrary, by receiving a 
 third blow. He jumped out of bed, when he received 
 a number of other blows. From the glimmering 
 light, and the motion of the instrument that inflicted 
 the wounds, reflected from a dull lamp in the fire- 
 place, they appeared like flashes of lightning before 
 his eyes. He made for a door near the head of his 
 bed, leading to a small room, to which the assassin 
 followed him, and cut him across his thighs. His 
 Royal Highness not being able to find his alarm-bells, 
 which there is no doubt the villain had concealed, 
 called with a loud voice for Neyle, his valet in waiting, 
 several times, who came to his assistance, and, toge- 
 ther with His Royal Highness, alarmed the house. 
 The testimony of Cornelius Neyle agreed with that of 
 His Royal Highness, with this addition, that after the 
 alarm was given, and the premises searched, they 
 found in a second small adjoining room a pair of 
 slippers with the name of Sellis in them, and a dark 
 lantern. The key of the closet was in the inside of 
 
 o
 
 194 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the lock, and to his knowledge the key had not been 
 in that state for. ten years. He said, in answer to a 
 question put by a juryman, that three years since, the 
 Duke advanced their board-wages from 10s. Qd. per 
 week to 14s., but at the same time took off 3s. Qd. 
 allowed for travelling. Sellis complained of this at 
 the time, but not since. His wife and family resided 
 in apartments allotted them by the Duke. The de- 
 ceased had recently been troubled with a cold, in 
 consequence of which the Duke suffered him to ride 
 inside the carriage to Windsor. He had no doubt 
 that Sellis intended that he (the witness) should be 
 charged with being the murderer, to get him out of 
 the way, owing to a quarrel between them. The jury 
 then proceeded to the Duke's chamber, and found it 
 sprinkled with blood in various parts, and the pic- 
 tures, paintings, &c. full of sabre cuts. From the 
 testimony of various other persons, it appeared that 
 Sellis was so much favoured by his royal master, 
 that he stood godfather to his last child, and prevailed 
 upon the Princess Augusta to be godmother ; since 
 which the Queen and the whole of the royal family 
 had noticed the family. There was no proof whatever 
 of Sellis being insane ; indeed, his concealment in the 
 closet, subsequent retreat, and ultimate death, are 
 strongly opposed to this belief. 
 
 The widow of the deceased was examined. Her 
 appearance and evidence excited the greatest com- 
 passion and interest ; the latter went to prove, that 
 Sellis was a good husband, not embarrassed in his
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 195 
 
 circumstances, and that he had parted with her in his 
 usual way, without giving any suspicion of what he 
 had in contemplation. 
 
 The jury, after sitting four hours, to hear evidence, 
 &c., deliberated about an hour, and then returned a 
 verdict of felo-de-se. He was afterwards buried in 
 the high-road in Scotland-yard. 
 
 As if this occurrence were not sufficiently gloomy, 
 those were not wanting who would add to its horror. 
 
 Mr. C , a surgeon of note, saw Sellis after his 
 
 death, and having examined his wounds, gave it as his 
 opinion, that the cuts on the back of the neck could 
 not have been inflicted by the deceased. Nor was 
 
 Mr. C content with simply giving utterance to 
 
 this monstrous assertion : he had the hardihood to 
 make the subject the basis of a lecture to his pupils, 
 in the course of which he declared, that if Sellis died 
 by his own hand he did not cut and wound the back 
 of his neck. " Sellis," he observed, " had not one 
 but several wounds on the back of his neck. If 
 Sellis had meant his own decollation he must have 
 begun behind his neck, but labour with the razor as 
 he might, it would only hack and hew his flesh ; for 
 no physical strength would be sufficient to terminate 
 the existence of an individual by beheading himself." 
 
 The season the auditory the subject all show 
 singular taste on the part of the anatomist. 
 
 A more mischievous lecture, tending to a most 
 mendacious and flagitious inference, was never de- 
 livered. 
 
 o2
 
 196 THE LIFE OF 
 
 The Duke of Kent heard of this address, and was 
 justifiably indignant at its tenor. That he took care 
 should very speedily reach the ears of the Prince of 
 Wales, in whose household the offender held, strange 
 to say, some appointment. Soon afterwards, meeting 
 the lecturer, whom he had been previously in the 
 habit of greeting with great courtesy, the Duke 
 looked him fairly down, and then rumped him without 
 mercy. 
 
 One remark of his, with reference to this trans- 
 action, is worth preserving. " The invalid, it appears 
 to me, has had two assassins to cope with ; one, 
 who was bent on the destruction of his body ; the 
 other, on the destruction of his character ; of the two, 
 the latter by far the most dastardly." 
 
 Ah ! it were a happy thing if charity could enlarge 
 itself as much as malice.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 197 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 HIS POLITICAL COURSE AS A PEEK OF PARLIAMENT VOTES ON THE 
 
 REGENCY RESTRICTIONS ON THE ROMAN-CATHOLIC EMANCIPA- 
 TION BILL HIS DELICACY AND DEVOTED OBEDIENCE TO THE 
 
 PRESUMED WISHES OF HIS ROYAL FATHER HIS ADHERENCE TO 
 
 THE BIBLE SOCIETY, CONSIDERED AS A GRIEVANCE BY THE THEN 
 ARCHBISHOP OF CANTEEBURY. 
 
 1810. 
 
 WITH the year 1S10 came the Jubilee. The celebra- 
 tion of this rare feature in a monarch's reign was 
 speedily followed by some unforeseen and disas- 
 trous occurrences. 
 
 The Princess Amelia, George the Third's youngest 
 daughter, was greatly beloved by both her parents ; 
 but the affection subsisting between the King and 
 herself assumed an aspect of peculiar interest and im- 
 portance. Her Royal Highness, whose health had 
 long been on the decline, began, towards the com- 
 mencement of 1810, to exhibit symptoms of the most 
 alarming tendency. A lock of her hair, enclosed in 
 a ring, and bearing the word " JRememder" which was 
 presented to His Majesty, a little before her death, is
 
 198 THE LIFE OF 
 
 understood to have been the precursor of a total 
 alienation of reason. 
 
 The Duke saw with inexpressible emotion the sup- 
 pressed agony of the King, and the cruel ravages 
 which affliction was making upon his constitution, 
 augmented by the very firmness of his character. 
 
 " My father" was the Duke's remark to Dr. 
 Collyer, honoured by His Royal Highness with marked 
 and unwavering confidence " my father never im- 
 parts his sorrows to his family. If there be anything 
 to give him pleasure, he never fails to make us all 
 participate in it ; but he reserves the whole weight of 
 his disappointments and of his sufferings to himself. 
 I can see him working up his mind to the highest 
 pitch of endurance, yet he utters no complaints. 
 Dearly as I love my sister, and grieved as I shall be 
 to part from her, I could almost wish the conflict 
 were now closed. I dread a firmness on the part of 
 the King, amidst his evident agony, which I am per- 
 suaded will not give way unless his mental powers 
 fail; these, I confess I fear, will suddenly yield to a 
 pressure no longer to be borne." 
 
 How true was His Royal Highness's augury, is now 
 matter of history; the firmness of the parent sank 
 under the last marks of affection bestowed on him by 
 his dying child ; and with that firmness fled his reason. 
 
 In the animated discussions which took place in
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 199 
 
 the House of Lords relative to the Regency, during 
 the King's mental incapacity, the Duke of Kent 
 cordially co-operated with his brothers. With them 
 he opposed every parliamentary restriction upon the 
 exercise of functions which supported by a most 
 numerous and respectable minority of both Houses 
 they conceived necessarily to devolve, in right of his 
 birth, upon the heir apparent to the Crown, being, as 
 he then was, of full age. We accordingly find his 
 name, with that of the rest of the royal Dukes, in the 
 list of the minority, who, on the 23d December, 
 1810, unsuccessfully opposed the second Resolution, 
 transmitted from the Commons, asserting the right of 
 the two Houses of Parliament to provide for supplying 
 the defect of the personal exercise of the royal autho- 
 rity. He afterwards signed a strong protest against 
 this resolution, to which were also affixed the names 
 of all the royal Dukes, except York and Cambridge, 
 and of two-and-thirty other peers. Again : to Lord 
 Holland's amendment, consisting of a simple request 
 to the Prince of Wales to take upon himself the exer- 
 cise of the powers and authorities of the Crown in the 
 name and on the behalf of the King, during the con- 
 tinuance of His Majesty's illness the Duke of Kent 
 gave his support. His name stands at the head of 
 a minority of 74 peers who voted for this amendment. 
 In Lord Lansdowne's amendment, which gave the
 
 200 THE LIFE OF 
 
 administration of the royal authority to the Prince of 
 Wales, " subject to such limitations and restrictions as 
 shall be made and appointed," which was carried by 
 a majority of 105 against 102 voices, we find the 
 Duke concurring. His name swells the majority. 
 
 This was the most active and the most important 
 period of the Duke of Kent's parliamentary life ; for 
 though he seldom spoke in the senate, we find him 
 twice addressing the House during the eventful 
 session of 1810 11. The first time, on the 5th of 
 January, 1811, when he opposed the admission of 
 proxies on a question of such vital importance as that 
 of supplying the functions of the highest branch of the 
 Legislature ; the second, on the 28th of the same 
 month, when, protesting against all restrictions upon 
 the Regent, he declared his intention of voting for 
 their continuance for six, rather than for twelve 
 months, as the lesser of two most serious evils. 
 
 In the celebrated debate which took place on the 
 1st of July, 1812, on the motion of Marquess Wel- 
 lesley, pledging the House of Peers early to emancipate 
 the Roman Catholics, His Royal Highness declared 
 himself friendly to the measure. He viewed the 
 matter as a question of conciliation ; and avowed his 
 " persuasion that the removal of the Roman-Catholic 
 disabilities was the first general measure by which the 
 amelioration of Ireland could be effected."
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 201 
 
 Disinclined, on various accounts, from taking any 
 prominent part in public affairs during the life-time of 
 his venerated father, and whilst the reins of govern- 
 ment were held in his name by the Heir Apparent to 
 the Throne, we find but one instance upon record of 
 his giving more than his silent vote in the House of 
 Peers. This is the addition of his name to a very long 
 protest, entered on the journals of that House, against 
 the rejection of the claim of General Knollys to the earl- 
 dom of Banbury ; in which he was joined by his illus- 
 trious relatives, the Dukes of Sussex and Gloucester, 
 Lord Erskine, and six other peers. On the 16th of 
 May, 1817, he gave a convincing proof that his views 
 on the Emancipation question were unaltered, by 
 dividing with the minority of 90, against 142, on 
 Lord Donoughmore's motion. That motion went to 
 pledge the House to resolve itself into a Committee of 
 the whole House to consider the Petition of the Irish 
 Roman Catholics, for relief from the disabilities under 
 which they labour. On this occasion his vote was 
 given by proxy. 
 
 Many of the public movements of the Duke of Kent 
 were regulated by family delicacy, of which no human 
 being ever had a nicer sense, and to which no son or 
 brother ever paid more undeviating homage. 
 
 So to conduct all his public measures, while any 
 hope of the restoration of the Sovereign's mental facul-
 
 202 THE LIFE OF 
 
 ties remained, as that his father should not have the 
 mortification of thinking that the restriction which he 
 had seen fit to lay upon his sons NOT decidedly to 
 intermeddle with public affairs had been forgotten or 
 neglected, was the Duke's paramount desire. This 
 occasioned the delay which occurred in his appearance 
 in the chair at the head of our general institutions ; 
 and which did not for this sole and simple reason 
 take place until the close of the year 1812. 
 
 All his countenance of the great efforts in the 
 cause of religion and humanity was previously confined 
 to private support, in obedience to that which he con- 
 ceived to be his father's command that publicity 
 should be avoided. 
 
 The sad events of the year 1812 did away with all 
 motive for further adherence to this reserve. The 
 Duke gave full play to his benevolent impulses. He 
 became Patron of the British and Foreign School 
 Society ; of the Anti-Slavery Society ; of the Society 
 for Promoting Christianity among the Jews ; and in 
 very decided terms gave in his adhesion to the Bible 
 Society. This gave great umbrage to many sincere 
 and earnest Churchmen, and was mentioned to him 
 specifically at Windsor by the then Archbishop of 
 Canterbury. His Grace regarded the British and 
 Foreign School Society as hostile to the Church of 
 England, and the Bible Society as antagonistic to the
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 203 
 
 elder institution, the Society for Promoting Christian 
 Knowledge. He avowed as much to the Duke of 
 Kent, and quoted the passage, " He that is not with 
 us is against us." 
 
 The day is past for canvassing the merits or de- 
 merits of the Bible Society. That question is long 
 since settled. But is controversy, under any circum- 
 stances, profitable ? Does that human being exist 
 whose views it has corrected, whose charity it has 
 enlarged, whose spirit it has soothed, whose hopes it 
 has brightened? Are they then hopelessly in error 
 who hold that all those societies with which controversy 
 is a staple article (" The Reformation Society," " The 
 Protestant Association," " The Irish Society," &c.) 
 are labouring in the fires, and spending their strength 
 for nought ? Will all those severe and startling 
 denunciations will all that platform-artillery which at 
 times is brought to bear so sharply upon our Roman- 
 Catholic BRETHREN answer any good or useful pur- 
 pose ? It is clear caustic clever stimulating. But 
 will it disperse the mists of error convert reclaim 
 convince ? 
 
 With the masses of heathens who exist around us 
 
 in our crowded alleys in our densely populated courts 
 
 in the toiling, struggling, heaving metropolis in 
 
 our factories in our mines can that society have 
 
 an erroneous aim which seeks to distribute the Word
 
 204 THE LIFE OF 
 
 of God without note or comment ? A society whose 
 simple aim is to disseminate the Charter of Man's 
 Hopes : THAT BOOK which is, the " treasure of the poor, 
 the solace of the sick, and the support of the dying ; 
 and while other books may amuse and instruct in a 
 leisure hour, it is the peculiar triumph of THAT BOOK 
 to create light in the midst of darkness, to alleviate 
 the sorrow which admits of no other alleviation, to 
 direct a beam of hope to the heart which no other 
 topic of consolation can reach, while guilt, despair, and 
 death vanish at the touch of its holy inspiration."
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 205 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 A PEEP AT THE DUKE IN PRIVATE LIFE. 
 1811. 
 
 " Do you desire," says Southey, " rightly to esti- 
 mate a man's character and temper ? Take a seat at 
 his fireside. You may abide by that opinion which 
 you shall then form of him in that sanctuary of the 
 affections home." 
 
 " Public men in society," wrote that satirical ob- 
 server, Maria Jane Jewsbury, "are more or less 
 actors. They have a role to play, and they fulfil it. 
 They are natural only in their dressing-gown and 
 slippers." 
 
 Not exactly in such costume, but divested of mili- 
 tary state, and disburdened of the shackles of court 
 etiquette, does the Duke appear in the following 
 sketch from the pen of the late Mr. Justice Hardinge. 
 Its fidelity may be depended on. And in gazing 
 upon the portrait -so elaborately worked out, we lose
 
 206 THE LIFE OF 
 
 sight of the Prince in the cordial, kind-hearted, frank, 
 and hospitable man. 
 
 " Melbourne House, Aug. 15, 1811. 
 " MY DEAREST RICHARD, 
 
 " That I may lose no drop from the cup of 
 pleasure, which I enjoyed from seven in the evening 
 of October the first to eleven, and from eight the 
 next morning till eleven before noon, at Castle Hill ; 
 I shall record upon paper, as memory can present 
 them, all the mazes of my enchantment, though the 
 consummation is past. 
 
 " In the afternoon of October the first, and at half- 
 past five, I followed my servant, in undress, and in 
 boots, on foot, a short half-mile from Ealing vicarage 
 to the lodges of the Duke's palace. 
 
 " Between these wings I was received in due form 
 by a porter, in livery, full trimmed and powdered. 
 He opened his iron gates for me, bowed as if I had 
 been the king, and rang the alarum bell as if I had 
 been a hostile invader. I looked as tall, as intrepid, 
 and as affable as I could ; but I am afraid that I was 
 not born for state. 
 
 " The approach to the palace-door is magnificent, 
 graceful, and picturesque ; the line of the road, flanked 
 by a row of lamps, the most brilliant I ever saw, is
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 207 
 
 a gentle serpentine. It commands to the right, 
 through young but thriving plantations, Harrow-on- 
 the-Hill, and carries the eye in a sort of leap to that 
 eminence over the intermediate ground, which is a 
 valley better unseen, for it is very tame. The lodges 
 are quite new, and in Mr. Wyatt's best manner. A 
 second gate flew open to me ; it separates the home- 
 garden from the lawn of entrance. The head-gardener 
 made his appearance, in his best clothes, bowed, rang 
 his bell to the house, and withdrew. 
 
 "When I arrived at the palace-door, my heart went 
 pit-a-pat. The underwriters would not have insured 
 my life at seven minutes' purchase, unless tempted by 
 a most inordinate premium : an aspen leaf in a high 
 wind stood better upon its legs than I stood upon 
 mine ; indeed, I am not sure it was not upon my head 
 instead of my legs. I invoked all the Saints of im- 
 pudence to befriend me I But think of little me ! 
 attended by six footmen ! three of a side ! and received 
 at the head of this guard by the house-steward ! a 
 venerable Frenchman of the old court, and of the last 
 age, who had very much the appearance of a Cabinet 
 Minister. He conducted me with more solemnity 
 than I wished up stairs into my toilette-room ; at the 
 door of it stood the Duke's valet, who took charge of 
 me into the room, bowed, and retired. In this apart- 
 ment I found my own servant.
 
 208 THE LIFE OF 
 
 " The exterior of the house has an elegant and a 
 chaste, as well as a princely air. You can see ' Wyatt 
 fecit' upon every part of the effect. But the interior 
 struck me infinitely more, even in the bird's-eye view 
 of it. I was all astonishment ; but it was accompanied 
 with dismay at the awful silence which reigned, as 
 well as at the unexampled brilliancy of all the colours. 
 There was not one speck to be seen ; everything was 
 exquisite of its kind, in the taste of its outline, pro- 
 portions, and furniture. My dressing-room, in which 
 there was an excellent fire, attached itself to the bed- 
 room, and was laid open to it by a folding-door. 
 These are the Regent's territories whenever he is at 
 Castle Hill. My toilette was apeindre, and there was 
 not anything omitted which could make a youthful 
 Adonis out of an old hermit; but the mirror was 
 honest, and youth is no birth of art. My servant, 
 (who is in general cavalier, keeps me in order, and 
 gives me only two or three jerks with his comb,) half 
 scared at the new and imperial honours of his little 
 master, waited upon me with more deference and 
 assiduity than I had ever before marked in him. He 
 called me once or twice ' My Lord,' as upon the cir- 
 cuit ; and I half expected that he would say, Your 
 Royal Highness. A gentle tap at the door alarmed 
 us both. We opened upon a messenger, who told me 
 in French that His Royal Highness was dressing, but
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 209 
 
 would soon do himself the honour of taking me by 
 the hand. 
 
 " Opening by accident one of the doors in the bed- 
 chamber, painted with traillage in green and gold, I dis- 
 covered in an adjoining closet, a running stream and a 
 fountain. I began to think I was in the fields Elysian. 
 The bed was only to be ascended by a ladder of steps, 
 and they were dressed in flowered velvet. There was a 
 cold bath, and at night hot water for my feet, if they 
 should happen to wish for it. Pen, ink, and paper of 
 all descriptions, made love to me. Books of amuse- 
 ment were dispersed upon the tables like natural 
 flowers. I was in my shirt when His Royal High- 
 ness knocked at my door. Not waiting for my an- 
 swer, he opened the door himself, and gave me a 
 shake of the hand with his royal fist, so cordial, that 
 one of my chalk-stone fingers, had I possessed them, 
 would have begged him, if he had not been the son of 
 a king, to be rather less affectionate in that shape. I 
 hurried on my coat and waistcoat in his presence, and 
 then he walked before me into the library. All the 
 passages and staircases were illuminated with lamps 
 of different colours, just as if a masquerade was in 
 train. I began to think more and more of ' Sly ' in 
 Shakspeare, and said, like him, to myself, ' Am I 
 indeed a lord! ' This library, fitted up in the perfec- 
 tion of taste, is the first room of a magnificent range, 
 
 p
 
 210 THE LIFE OF 
 
 commanding at least a hundred feet. All the con- 
 tiguous apartments in that suite were lighted up and 
 laid open to this apartment. By a contrivance in the 
 management of the light, it seemed as if the distance 
 had no end. 
 
 " The Duke, among other peculiarities of habit, bor- 
 dering upon whim, always recommends the very chair 
 on which you are to sit. I suppose it is a regal usage. 
 He opened a most agreeable and friendly chat, which 
 continued for half an hour tete a tete. So far it was 
 like the manner of the King (when he was himself), 
 that it embraced a variety of topics, and was unre- 
 mitted. He improved at close quarters even upon his 
 pen ; and you know what a pen it is. The manly 
 character of his good sense, and the eloquence of his 
 expression, was striking. But even they were not so 
 enchanting as that grace of manner which distinguishes 
 him. Compared with it, in my honest opinion, Lord 
 Chesterfield, whom I am old enough to have heard 
 and seen, was a dancing master. I found the next 
 morning, at our tete a tete, that he has infinite hu- 
 mour ; and even that of making his countenance sub- 
 serve the character he has to personate. 
 
 " In about an hour, dinner was announced. The 
 Duke led the way. I was placed at the head of the 
 table ; the Duke was on my right. The dinner was 
 exquisite. The soup was of a kind that an epicure
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 211 
 
 would have travelled barefoot three miles in a deep 
 snow to have been in time for it. The famous Du- 
 mourier was accidently mentioned. I said that I 
 loved seeing those whom I admired unseen, upon 
 report alone, and in the mind's view. ' But I shall 
 never see Dumourier,' said I, ' for he is the Lord 
 knows where, (and I cannot run after him,) upon the 
 Continent.' 'Not he,' said the Duke, 'he is in 
 this very island, and he often dines with us here.' 
 I looked, but said nothing ; my look was heard. A 
 third party present asked the Duke if it could not be 
 managed. 'Nothing more practicable,' said he; 'if 
 the Judge will but throw down his glove in the fair 
 spirit of chivalry, Dumourier shall pick it up/ 
 
 " The servants, though I could not reconcile myself 
 to the number of them, were models of atten- 
 tion, of propriety, and of respect ; their apparel gave 
 the impression of clothes perfectly new ; the hair was 
 uncommonly well dressed and powdered. Thereby 
 hangs a tale ! which I cannot have a better opportunity 
 of reporting. I had it from the best authority, that 
 of my own servant, who had it from the souterraine 
 of the establishment, which he had confidentially 
 explored. A hairdresser for all the livery servants 
 constitutes one of the efficient characters in this 
 dramatic arrangement. At a certain hour, every 
 male servant appears before the Duke to show him- 
 
 p2
 
 212 THE LIFE OF 
 
 self perfectly well dressed and clean! Besides this 
 ' law of the Medes' every man has a niche to fill, so 
 that he is never unoccupied, save at his meals, in some 
 duty or another, and is amenable to a sudden visit 
 into the bargain. I can assure you the result is, that 
 in this complicated machine of souls and bodies, the 
 genius of attention, of cleanliness, and of smart ap- 
 pearance, is the order of the day. 
 
 " When the Duke took me the next morning to his 
 master of the horse, instead of dirty coachmen or 
 grooms, they were all as neat as if they never had any- 
 thing to do, or as if they were going to church in state. 
 " The male servants meet in their hall at an unvaried 
 hour, and round this apartment, as in a convent, are 
 little recesses, or cells, with not only beds in them for 
 each, but every accommodation as well as implement 
 for their apparel. Yet all this absolute monarchy of 
 system is consistent with a most obliging manner to 
 the servants on his part, which I attested more than 
 once ; and with attachment, as well as homage to him, 
 attested by the hermit's inquisitor and spy, who gave 
 me this note of his comments: I mean, of course, 
 my own servant. 
 
 " The next morning, I rose at seven. The lawn 
 before me, surrounded by an amphitheatre of planta- 
 tion, was covered by leaves ; for they will fall, even in 
 a garden of state. The head gardener made his
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 213 
 
 appearance, and with him five or six men, who were 
 under his wing. In much less than a quarter of an 
 hour, every dead leaf disappeared ; and the turf 
 became a carpet, after mowing, and after a succession 
 of rollers, iron and stone. 
 
 " After this episode, we are to go back, and are to 
 be at the table again. A very little after dinner the 
 summons came for coffee ; and, as before, he led the 
 way, conducting me to another of the upper apart- 
 ments in the range before described, and which, as it 
 happened, was close to the bed-chamber. They were 
 open to each other. But such a room was that bed- 
 chamber as no Loves and Graces ever thought of 
 showing to a hermit. It was perfectly regal. 
 
 " In the morning, the Duke showed me all his 
 variety of horses and carriages. He pointed out a 
 curricle to me. * I bought that curricle,' said he, 
 ' twenty years ago ; have travelled in it all over the 
 world ; and there it is, firm on its axle. I never was 
 spilt from it but once. It was in Canada, near the 
 Falls of Niagara, over a concealed stump in a wood 
 just cleared.' 
 
 " He afterwards opened himself very much to me 
 in detail, with disclosures in confidence, and political 
 ones too, which interested, as well as enlightened me 
 greatly, but which, as a man of honour, I cannot 
 reveal even to you. He is no gamester. He is no
 
 214 THE LIFE OF 
 
 huntsman. He never goes to Newmarket ; but he 
 loves riding upon the road, a full swing trot of nine 
 miles an hour. 
 
 " I am going to part with him in my narrative ; but 
 not before I have commanded you to love him. 
 
 " In the morning he asked me how I was mounted ; 
 and before I could answer him, he whispered (in a 
 kind of parenthesis) that he ' had for two months been 
 putting a little circuit horse in train for my use of him 
 in spring.' ' It was a pet/ said he, ' of the dear 
 King, who gave it to me ; and you will ride it with 
 more pleasure for both our sakes.' These were not 
 ' goodly words,' like those of Naphtali, or ' the hind 
 let loose ;' for my servant raised the intelligence that 
 such a keepsake WAS intended for me. How charming 
 is the delicacy of conduct like this ! I had once 
 complained, three or four months ago, that my own 
 circuit Bucephalus had kissed the earth with his 
 knees. He condoled with me, half in jest ; but gave 
 me no hint of such a fairy's boon in store for me. 
 
 " But now for the last of these wonders ! I can 
 give you not the faintest image of its effect upon me. 
 It made me absolutely wild. The room in which our 
 breakfast apparatus received us had at the end of it 
 a very ornamental glass -door, with a mist over it, so 
 that nothing was to be seen through it. He poured 
 me out a dish of tea, and placed it before me ; then
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 215 
 
 rose from the table, and opened that glass-door. 
 Somebody (but whom I could not see) was on the 
 other side, for he addressed words to the unseen ; 
 words in German. When he returned, and I had 
 just lifted the cup to my lips, imagine my feelings, 
 when a band of thirty wind-instruments played a 
 march, with a delicacy of tone, as well as precision, 
 for which I have no words equal to the charm of its 
 effect. They were all behind this glass-door, and were 
 like one instrument. The uplifted cup was replaced 
 on the table. I was all ears and entranced; when 
 on a sudden they performed the dirge upon our naval 
 hero. It threw me into a burst of tears. With a 
 heart for which I must ever love him, he took me by 
 the hand, and said, ' TJiose are tears which do none of 
 us any harm ! ' He then made them play all imaginary 
 varieties for a complete hour. He walked me round 
 his place, and parted with me in these words, ' You 
 see that we are not formidable ; do come to us again ! 
 Come soon ; and come very often ! 
 
 " May I not must I not love this man ? 
 
 " GEO. HARDINGE."
 
 216 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 FRESH DIFFICULTIES AND FURTHER SACRIFICES THE DUKE 8 PRI- 
 VATE LETTER TO THE PRINCE REGENT LORD LIVERPOOL'S 
 
 REPLY LETTER TO LORD SIDMOUTH HIS LORDSHIP'S GUTTA 
 
 PERCHA MEMORY HIS INJUSTICE TO THE DUKE HIS ROYAL 
 
 HIGHNESS PRESIDES AT " THE LITERARY FUND" DINNER HIS 
 
 SPEECH MEETING FOR THE RELIEF OF THE DISTRESSED ARTISAN 
 
 LORD COCHRANE ADDRESS TO THE DUKE FROM CERTAIN 
 
 SUPPORTERS OF CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS SPEECH AT THE 
 
 FESTIVAL OF ST. PATRICK. 
 
 THE absconding of the Duke's solicitor, Mr. R , 
 
 with a sum of money which was entrusted to him to 
 make good the insurance on the Duke's life, and 
 for other special purposes, seems to have brought the 
 Prince's pecuniary perplexities to a climax. His resolu- 
 tion was immediately taken, and was characteristic of 
 himself. " His wines were sold, and his plate mort- 
 gaged, to supply the wants of some, and secure the 
 claims of others to whom he stood indebted." 
 
 But before he adopted this alternative, unavoidably 
 galling to the feelings of one so nearly allied to the
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 217 
 
 throne, and yet the glory of his determination far 
 exceeds the disgrace ! he decided on submitting his 
 case and claims, through Mr. Vansittart, to Lord Liver- 
 pool, in the spring of 1814, at which period the Duke 
 had more than one personal interview with that gen- 
 tleman, and besides had the advantage of the interven- 
 tion of Lord Commissioner Adam ; but after being 
 kept in a constant state of suspense until the close 
 of the session of 1814, he had the mortification of 
 learning, through Lord Commissioner Adam, that 
 not only nothing would be done for him by Ministers, 
 but also that they would not sanction an independent 
 member introducing the business into the House of 
 Commons, which the Duke very strongly urged as his 
 wish, being satisfied that the justice of his case, when 
 it came to be fairly known to Parliament, and to be 
 investigated by a committee up stairs, would produce 
 an attention to his pretensions, not for the payment of 
 his debts, of which he never had the presumption to 
 entertain the slightest idea, but for the recovery of his 
 just claims, which would enable him to discharge every 
 embarrassment he had in the world. 
 
 After experiencing this bitter disappointment, the 
 Duke was strongly advised to address a formal memo- 
 rial to the Prince Regent, which he did in the month 
 of January, 1815, accompanying it by the following 
 touching letter to his royal brother. The document
 
 218 THE LIFE OF 
 
 will bear a second, and even third perusal ; and taking 
 into account the rank and close relationship of the 
 parties, is probably one of the most cogent and re- 
 markable appeals which the polished owner of Carlton 
 House ever received and rejected. 
 
 " Kensington Palace, June 13, 1815. 
 " MY DEAR BROTHER, 
 
 " The recollection of those habits of unreserved 
 confidence in which it was my good fortune to 
 live with you in former days, and of the innume- 
 rable marks of friendship and affection which I 
 almost daily received at your hands, added to that 
 warm attachment which I must ever feel for you to 
 the latest hour of my existence, as ever having been 
 my steadiest friend in many of the most trying mo- 
 ments of my life, renders it impossible for me to 
 reconcile it to my feelings, to leave it to your Mi- 
 nisters to be the first to acquaint you with my having 
 addressed through them an official appeal to your jus- 
 tice for relief, at a moment when, overwhelmed with em- 
 barrassments, I could no longer refrain from taking 
 that step. Unwilling to intrude long on your time, at a 
 moment when, I know, it must be irksome to you to 
 be disturbed with business, I will endeavour to be as 
 brief as possible in this letter : I shall, therefore, now
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 219 
 
 go on to state that, being anxious to spare you the an- 
 noyance of being worried with my concerns, I made 
 every possible exertion during last summer, through 
 the medium of our mutual friend Mr. Adam, to place 
 my situation and claims under the eye of Lord Liver- 
 pool and Mr. Vansittart, in such a light, that some 
 mode might be devised to afford me that relief to 
 which I felt I was in justice entitled. To my great 
 disappointment, on the eve of Mr. Adam's last 
 journey to Scotland, he told me finally that he had 
 failed in all his endeavours in my behalf. No other 
 resource was then left to me, as my creditors are 
 beginning to be extremely troublesome, but to 
 address you direct, and to obtain that justice at 
 your hands, which I could not obtain of your Minis- 
 ters, although they have been assured by Mr. Adam 
 of his knowledge of Mr. Pitt having promised me, 
 both prior to his going out of office in 1801, and 
 subsequent to his return in 1804, that very relief 
 which, after a lapse of ten years, I am now compelled 
 to solicit of you. 
 
 " Having thus accounted for the cause of my appli- 
 cation, I have next to explain, that I have addressed 
 one memorial upon my general claim for relief, 
 through Lord Liverpool, and a second upon the par- 
 ticular one of the heavy losses I have sustained as 
 Governor of Gibraltar, from the new regulations
 
 220 THE LIFE OF 
 
 adopted at that place with regard to the fees that 
 were heretofore the source of the Governor's emolu- 
 ment, through Lord Sidmouth, as, if his Lordship is 
 disposed to fulfil what he promised me in 1802, at 
 the time of my going out there, he can at once certify 
 to you that what I apply for on that head strictly 
 corresponds with the assurance I have received from 
 him. In the first of these memorials it has been 
 unavoidable for me to introduce a comparison between 
 the Duke of Clarence and myself; one principal part 
 of my claim resting upon Mr. Pitt's unqualified ad- 
 mission (as is well known to Mr. Adam) of the justice 
 of my being placed in every respect upon an equal 
 footing with him ; and I rely on your knowledge of 
 my character to acquit me of the most distant thought 
 of wishing to draw any inference therefrom invidious 
 to a brother, to whom, from habits of our earliest 
 infancy, I am bound by ties of the warmest affection : 
 I therefore consider it needless to attempt the justifi- 
 cation of a step which, I am sure, will be viewed by 
 you exactly as it is intended by me. It now only 
 remains for me to add, for fear of any error arising, 
 or misconception of my meaning, that if the principle 
 be acceded to of placing me on a footing with the 
 Duke of Clarence, (which I claim, first, as being just 
 and equitable; and, secondly, as having been re- 
 peatedly admitted by Mr. Pitt,) my only wish is to be
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 221 
 
 completely clear from my embarrassments ; and I am 
 perfectly ready to subscribe to any arrangement for 
 their being discharged by any gentleman who may be 
 chosen by yourself or Ministers, without touching a 
 farthing of the money myself, except such balance as 
 shall remain after that object shall have been fully 
 accomplished; and I hope, after saying this, no 
 further proof will be wanted to satisfy you that my 
 motive for making this present appeal is solely that of 
 being honourably exonerated from my debts, and not 
 a mean sordid desire of becoming possessed of a sum 
 of money to be appropriated to any other purpose. 
 Pray forgive me for the length of this letter, the 
 matter of which I found it impossible to comprise in 
 a smaller compass ; and permit me to add one 
 request, which is, that you will judge my claim from 
 your own upright just mind and good heart, as then 
 I cannot doubt of the result being favourable to my 
 interest. 
 
 " With every sentiment of the warmest devotion 
 and attachment, 
 
 " I remain, 
 " My dearest Brother, 
 
 "Your faithful and affectionate 
 
 (Signed) " EDWARD."
 
 222 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Thus coldly and harshly answered by Lord 
 Liverpool : 
 
 Fife House, Feb. 22, 1815. 
 " SIR, 
 
 " I had the honour of receiving at Bath some 
 time ago your Royal Highness's letter of the 12th 
 January, together with the memorial enclosed in it. 
 I took the earliest opportunity, after my return to 
 town, of laying it before the Prince Regent, and have 
 received His Royal Highness's commands to return 
 the following answer : 
 
 " The Prince Regent sincerely regrets that it is 
 not in his power to afford to your Royal Highness the 
 relief which you solicit. The Prince Regent feels 
 it imposible for him to enter into the circum- 
 stances which may have induced His Majesty to settle 
 the period at which the allowance of the different 
 members of the royal family should commence. 
 His Royal Highness does not recollect that he was 
 ever particularly apprised of them, and he can only 
 therefore express his full persuasion that in the ar- 
 rangements so made His Majesty was never actuated 
 
 * 
 
 by any undue partiality. 
 
 " The Prince Regent must, however, observe, that 
 the situation of the younger branches of the royal
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 223 
 
 family was brought under the consideration of 
 Government, and ultimately of Parliament, by Lord 
 Greivlle, in 1806 j that an increase was then made by 
 Parliament to the yearly income of His Majesty's 
 younger sons, with the exception of the Duke of York, 
 of 6,000/. a-year; and that if a consideration was ever 
 to have been had of any difference in their original 
 situation, this was the period at which it might 
 naturally have been brought forward ; and the arrange- 
 ment which then took place, must be regarded as 
 a conclusive bar against antecedent claims, even if any 
 such claims could ever have existed. 
 
 " With respect to the relief which was afforded by 
 the Prince Regent's direction to His Royal Highness 
 the Duke of Clarence out of a fund which, under 
 special circumstances, was at the disposal of the Crown 
 at that time, in consequence of the peculiar situation 
 of His Royal Highness, as the Prince Regent's 
 means must be very limited with respect to any relief 
 of this nature, he could not have conceived that this 
 grant could have furnished any ground for a claim 
 being advanced by any other member of the royal 
 family. 
 
 " Your Royal Highness having, however, rested 
 your case in a great measure on the advantages which 
 the Duke of Clarence has enjoyed, in preference to 
 your Royal Highness, the Prince has directed me to
 
 224 THE LIFE OF 
 
 observe upon this head, that the Duke of Clarence, 
 from his situation, has been incapable of holding 
 either regiment, government, or staff allowance, or in 
 short, any annual income beyond the parliamentary 
 grant, since the period when he was employed in the 
 navy, except his half-pay ; whereas your Royal High- 
 ness has been in the enjoyment for many years of a con- 
 siderable part of the military advantages above stated. 
 "The Prince Regent has already expressed his 
 regret, that he has not the means at his disposal to 
 afford your Royal Highness the relief which you 
 solicit : the income of the Civil List has for some years 
 been acknowledged by Parliament to be unequal to 
 defray the necessary charges which belong to it ; and 
 any application to Parliament for such a purpose as 
 the payment of the debts of any of the younger 
 branches of the royal family, would, as the Prince 
 believes, be wholly unprecedented, and would cer- 
 tainly, under the present circumstances, be highly 
 objectionable. 
 
 " I am, with the utmost respect, 
 
 "Sir, 
 " Your Royal Highness's 
 
 " Most dutiful and 
 most obedient humble Servant, 
 
 " LIVERPOOL."
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 225 
 
 Resolved to shrink from no effort which might issue 
 in his extrication from his difficulties, he addressed 
 a further memorial to the Regent, through Lord 
 Sidmouth, detailing the assurances of support which 
 he had received from Lord Sidmouth, on his assuming 
 the command at Gibraltar, the heavy losses he had 
 sustained by acting on those assurances, and the extent 
 to which fees due pecuniary returns which were fairly 
 his own had been withheld from him. To this 
 memorial was appended the following letter : 
 
 " Kensington Palace, Jan. 12, 1815. 
 
 " MY LORD, 
 
 The accumulated pressure of pecuniary embar- 
 rassments under which I am at this moment most 
 severely, and, I cannot help saying, most unde- 
 servedly suffering, have rendered it an imperative 
 duty upon me, in justice to my creditors, to state 
 respectfully to the Prince Regent, what I considered 
 to be fair claims upon his liberality and justice, and 
 this I have done in the form of a memorial, through 
 the medium of Lord Liverpool ; but as no one can so 
 properly vouch for the fairness of my claim as Go- 
 vernor of Gibraltar as your Lordship, under whose 
 immediate sanction I acted in the adoption of those 
 measures which have so essentially diminished the 
 
 Q
 
 220 THE LIFE OF 
 
 former emoluments of the Governor, and increased the 
 revenue of the Crown, I have omitted that subject in 
 the other memorial, judging it best to enclose to your 
 Lordship my representation to the Prince Regent on 
 my Gibraltar claims, and to request that your Lord- 
 ship will take a favourable opportunity to submit it to 
 His Royal Highness, and to receive his commands 
 thereon. 
 
 " As the changes were made under the fullest assur- 
 ance from your Lordship that I should not be a loser 
 in my just emoluments as Governor by any alteration 
 which, under your Lordship's orders, I should intro- 
 duce in the wine-house licences in the garrison, I trust 
 that you will find no difficulty in placing my memorial 
 in the Regent's hands, and giving it that support 
 which your knowledge of the justice of the case so well 
 warrants you in doing. As I acted in full reliance on 
 your Lordship's assurance, I hope that you will now, 
 in furtherance of the same, use your endeavours to see 
 the fulfilment of that assurance carried into effect, as 
 much in justice to yourself as to me. 
 " I remain, 
 
 " With sentiments of the highest consideration 
 and regard, 
 
 " My dear Lord, 
 " Yours most faithfully and sincerely, 
 
 " EDWARD."
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 227 
 
 Lord Sidmouth's incomprehensible memory so 
 tenacious at one time, so oblivious at another proved 
 an impregnable barrier to the Duke's success. That 
 conscientious statesman, so fond of executions, and 
 such an advocate for capital punishment, could re- 
 collect no assurance, no promise, no conversation he 
 had ever held with the Duke on the subject of Gibraltar. 
 The " habits of a long official life " convinced him 
 that " he could, by no possibility," have given the 
 Duke any intimation whatever of Government support. 
 Under these circumstances the memorial was with- 
 drawn, His Royal Highness determining, and wisely, 
 not to put his word at issue with that of Lord Sid- 
 mouth : but the Duke was " himself so perfectly 
 positive as to the impression made upon his own mind 
 in the interviews he had with Lord Sidmouth prior to 
 his departure for Gibraltar, that he should not hesitate 
 in AFFIRMING ON OATH every fact of what is expressed 
 both in the letter and memorial." 
 
 After these distressing communications the Duke 
 felt that nothing remained but his own personal 
 exertions and unsparing self-denial to enable him to 
 overcome these difficulties. After many conferences 
 with his friends, he resolved to constitute a com- 
 mittee of them, to assign over THREE-FOURTHS of his 
 income into their hands until the complete liquidation 
 of his debts was effected ; to give them complete 
 
 Q2
 
 228 THE LIFE OF 
 
 control over his income; and to limit his own ex- 
 penditure to a sum not exceeding the remaining 
 fourth part thereof, with which he agreed to content 
 himself. This plan was matured by the end of June, 
 1815. At that date the Duke parted with many of 
 his servants, and made reductions to a large extent in 
 every part of his establishment, the admirable results 
 of which were speedily visible ; for by the strenuous 
 exertions and judicious arrangements of his friends 
 more was done in the first twelve months that fol- 
 lowed the general retrenchment than was accomplished 
 in the eight years preceding. 
 
 The Duke hoped to have been able to combine the 
 execution of his plan with remaining in England ; 
 but after giving it a trial of one year, viz. from July 
 1815 to July 1816, he found that it would be quite 
 impossible for him to continue to live at home with- 
 out privations even beyond those to which he had 
 already submitted, and which would be still more 
 painful to his feelings than any he had yet experi- 
 enced. He was, therefore, under the painful necessity 
 of coming to the resolution of becoming an exile. 
 Popular as he was in England, and deeply attached to 
 his country, surrounded by a circle of devoted friends, 
 the prospect of expatriation was one that wrung the 
 feelings; but high principle rendered the measure 
 necessary, and it was submitted to.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 229 
 
 The following letter belongs to this period : 
 
 " Kensington Palace, Feb. 27, 1816. 
 
 " MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 " I duly received, yesterday, your obliging favour, 
 with its accompanying enclosure, and beg to ex- 
 press my acknowledgments for the further trouble 
 you have taken to promote the interests of my 
 brothers and myself. I shall, in the course of the 
 morning, look them over with attention ; and, with 
 your permission, communicate, through our mutual 
 worthy friend, Captain Dodd, the result of my 
 remarks arising therefrom. In the meanwhile, I shall 
 just observe, that although one considerable difficulty 
 is removed from the accomplishment of a general 
 junction of all to obtain the fulfilment of Mr. Pitt's 
 promise, by expunging the Duke of York's case 
 altogether, I nevertheless fear, from the different 
 causes that operate upon the minds of my brothers, 
 that it will be next to impossible to secure their 
 general, or, indeed, individual concurrence, in any 
 step to be taken with Ministers ; so that, after all, 
 I very much apprehend, that without any egotism on 
 my part, I shall be imperatively compelled to confine 
 myself to my own substantive case, and to commit 
 that to the charge of some independent man, to take 
 his choice of introducing it whenever a favourable
 
 230 THE LIFE OF 
 
 opportunity offers, under the hope of exciting in the 
 House that feeling in my behalf, which I have failed 
 in doing in the breasts of the advisers of the Prince 
 Regent. Believe me ever to remain, with the most 
 friendly regard, 
 
 " My dear Sir, 
 
 " Yours faithfully, 
 
 " EDWARD. 
 
 "To Alexander Stephens, Esq. 
 Park House, Middlesex." 
 
 In the spring of this year the Duke gave renewed 
 proof of his cordial sympathy with the sorrows and 
 struggles peculiar to those whose precarious pursuit 
 is literature. 
 
 On " Friday, May 10, 1816, the anniversary 
 festival was held of the Literary Fund ; and His 
 Royal Highness again* presided in the Chair. The 
 occasion was rendered doubly interesting by the 
 impressive manner in which the duties of the Presi- 
 dent were discharged by His Royal Highness ; and 
 
 * His Royal Highness was THE FIRST MEMBER of the Royal 
 Family who honoured the Institution by presiding at its anniver- 
 sary dinner. The Duke took the chair in 1815, and again in 
 1816; and the Institution possesses among its records a most 
 interesting letter, dated April 23, a month before the birth of our 
 Queen, wherein His Royal Highness expresses the warmest regard 
 for the Institution. He had pledged himself to attend the dinner 
 in May, 1820. Alas I
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 231 
 
 the emotion with which the royal Chairman gave 
 ' The King God bless him ! ' followed by a solemn 
 pause of silence, seemed to communicate itself to 
 every bosom." 
 
 " On proposing 'Success to the Literary Fund/ the 
 Royal Duke gave a luminous statement of the origin 
 and purpose of the Institution ; lamented, in most 
 feeling terms, the present afflicted state of the health 
 of the venerable Founder ; and after touching with 
 much taste and judgment on the benefits derived to 
 the community, both in instruction and amusement, 
 from those exertions of literary genius and talent, 
 which frequently failed to procure for the studious 
 author even the common necessaries of life, called upon 
 all who possessed the means to afford this society the 
 power of dispensing more largely its intended assua- 
 sives of distress, in the manner in which its assisting 
 hand is always extended, not as the dole of mere 
 charitable benefaction, but as an act of justice, the 
 reward and acknowledgment of benefits conferred." 
 
 But it was not merely the ill-requited man of genius 
 whom the kind-hearted Prince wished to succour ; he 
 forgot not the toiling and half-famished artisan. 
 
 " A very numerous meeting took place on Monday, 
 July 29, at the City of London Tavern, to take into 
 consideration the very distressed state of the lower 
 classes, and the most effectual means of extending
 
 232 THE LIFE OF 
 
 relief to them. The Duke of York took the chair, 
 supported by the Dukes of Kent and Cambridge. He 
 was accompanied by the Archbishop of Canterbury, 
 the Bishop of London, the Duke of Rutland, Lord 
 Manvers, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Wil- 
 berforce, and other distinguished individuals. The 
 Duke of York with great brevity opened the busi- 
 ness of the meeting. He was followed by the Duke 
 of Kent, who, after a few observations, read the first 
 resolution ' That the sudden transition from a state of 
 extensive warfare to a system of peace has been pro- 
 ductive of a stagnation of employment, and a revulsion 
 of trade, deeply affecting many classes of the com- 
 munity, and causing, in particular districts, many 
 instances of great individual distress.' His Royal 
 Highness's speech, founded upon this resolution, and 
 closely referring to it, was pointed and energetic, and 
 was received with enthusiastic applause ; Mr. Harman 
 seconded the resolution. 
 
 " Lord Cochrane then offered himself to the attention 
 of the meeting. What he desired to impress upon 
 the minds of those whom he had the honour to 
 address was, that the preliminary resolution which had 
 been read by an illustrious Duke was altogether 
 founded in fallacy. The existing distresses could not 
 be truly ascribed to any sudden transition from war 
 to peace. He proceeded at some length to controvert
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 233 
 
 the truth of the position, and diverged into a variety 
 of political remarks, which, whatever weight they 
 might intrinsically possess, were indubitably ill- 
 advised, and un suited to the occasion. Mr. Wilber- 
 force very properly remonstrated with his Lordship. 
 But much clamour was excited, and the object of the 
 meeting in some measure failed. The resolutions, 
 however, were carried." 
 
 Pursuing his plan of retrenchment, in August, 1816, 
 the Duke repaired to the Continent, and settled at 
 Brussels. The house he occupied was one which he 
 rented of an English admiral for 300/. per annum. 
 Here he lived with great privacy, and at inconsiderable 
 expense. From hence he made frequent excursions into 
 Germany for the purpose of visiting several branches 
 of his family ; and it was during one of these that he 
 first saw and admired her who subsequently exercised 
 so happy an influence on the destinies of England 
 the widowed Princess of Leinengen. But though the 
 year 1816 was one of disappointment, mortification, 
 and gloom ; though its autumn saw him an involun- 
 tary exile from his native land ; manifestations, decided 
 and spontaneous, of the affection with which he was 
 regarded by the nation, brightened, with their cheering 
 ray, its painful progress. 
 
 On the 25th of April, the Common Council of the 
 City of London unanimously resolved, that " in consi-
 
 234 THE LIFE OF 
 
 deration of the distinguished manner in which their 
 Royal Highnesses the Dukes of Kent and Sussex have 
 exerted themselves to promote every object of benevo- 
 lence throughout the United Kingdom, and especially 
 within this city ; thereby adding to the lustre of their 
 high birth as the sons of our beloved Sovereign, and 
 meriting in an eminent degree the sincere respect and 
 gratitude of the city of London ; the freedom of the 
 city be presented in a suitable manner to each of their 
 Royal Highnesses." This resolution was carried into 
 effect on the llth of July following ; when the freedom 
 of the city was presented to the Duke of Kent and his 
 royal brother, in gold boxes of exquisite workmanship. 
 The ceremony of presentation took place at Guildhall, 
 and the illustrious Princes afterwards dined with the 
 Lord Mayor and Corporation at the Mansion House. 
 
 In the same year, during the absence of the Duke 
 at Brussels, a meeting was held in the metropolis, and 
 a resolution passed that the natal day of so benevolent 
 a Prince should be annually commemorated. The 
 following address was transmitted to him : 
 
 "Sin, We, the assembled members of various 
 benevolent institutions, honoured with the patronage 
 of your Royal Highness, being desirous of publicly 
 marking our attachment to your person, and our just 
 appreciation of your virtues and talents, beg permis- 
 sion to tender you the sincere tribute of our respect
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 235 
 
 and affection. We are induced, by every social and 
 moral principle, to pay peculiar honour to a dynasty 
 distinguished like that of your illustrious family, for 
 its paternal protection of every interest of knowledge 
 and humanity. What, then, must we not owe to 
 your Royal Highness, for the conspicuous part you 
 have taken in the benign spirit of the House of Bruns- 
 wick, by your unwearied and powerful exertions to 
 render effective those measures which constitute the 
 glory of Great Britain, and which, embracing every 
 class of society at home, providing for the impove- 
 rished, relieving the diseased, and instructing the 
 ignorant, aim at extending their blessings over the 
 whole earth? We are satisfied, that in offering to 
 your Royal Highness the gratitude of our hearts, we 
 are also speaking in the name of our country : and we 
 are proud of an opportunity of expressing in the 
 language of truth, sentiments which are re-echoed 
 among all ranks of the British Empire." 
 
 On the second of November in that year, the first 
 meeting took place ; and the distinguished gathering 
 that assembled to express their gratitude and esteem, 
 was a proud testimony to the many virtues of the 
 prince. It was an assemblage remarkable for includ- 
 ing all parties in politics and persuasions in religion, 
 attracted by the general principle of benevolence, and 
 desirous to testify respect and regard to the Duke.
 
 236 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Among the toasts was the following, received by the 
 assembly with enthusiastic applause," May every 
 royal Duke in Europe qualify himself to the same 
 truly noble return, as His Royal Highness the Duke 
 of Kent, from the great body of his fellow- subjects." 
 
 Nor did his own trials, manifold as they were, divert 
 his attention from the misfortunes of others, or deaden 
 his desire to comfort and succour those on whom the 
 chastening hand of God weighed heavily. 
 
 On taking the chair, at the anniversary of the festival 
 of St. Patrick, His Royal Highness thus spoke : 
 
 " My politics are no secret, nor am I ashamed to 
 avow them. With some experience in the function 
 which I am now executing" (he had presided at 
 seventy-two charity meetings in the course of 1816), 
 " I am not at a loss for witnesses to refer to whether 
 in this, or in any other charity meeting, I ever in- 
 troduced a single sentence of a political tendency. 
 You perceive on each side of me noblemen who 
 differ in their politics, but here unite in cordial har- 
 mony. 
 
 " The comfort which I feel is beyond my powers of 
 expression, at this moment, in congratulating you 
 upon the total banishment from these meetings of all 
 political prejudice and party feeling. True charity is 
 of no particular party, but is the cause of all parties. 
 I am to announce to you, as my successor in this chair
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 237 
 
 for your next festival, the name, and to give the health 
 of, a noble person, Lord Castlereagh, with whose po- 
 litics I have the misfortune to differ on some points ; 
 but to whose signal munificence, and variously proved 
 kindness to this charity, I bear most ardent testimony. 
 My advice is, that the example of this day may be 
 the model for future celebrations that the successive 
 presidents may be alternately selected from the two 
 sides of politics ; and my earnest hope is, that each 
 party will make it their practice to attend the presidency 
 of their political opponents ; so that liberality may be- 
 come the standing fashion of these festivals ; and that 
 the generosity of politicians to the charity may be 
 exceeded only by their generosity to each other. This 
 is the only rivalry which I recommend ; and it is what 
 I shall assuredly support and enforce, both by precept 
 and example, on my return to my country. The rap- 
 ture with which you receive my sentiments " (the royal 
 Duke was frequently interrupted by the acclamations 
 of the company) " is very dear to me ; but that sensa- 
 tion is infinitely heightened by my conviction that it 
 is an auspicious omen for this charity." 
 
 When was judicious counsel more delicately or 
 felicitously proffered ?
 
 238 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 HI8 MARRIAGE THE HOLD OVER POPULAR OPINION EVENTUALLY 
 OBTAINED BY THE DUCHESS. 
 
 1818. 
 
 ON the demise without issue of the Princess Charlotte 
 of Wales, state policy suggested the marriage of the 
 younger branches of the royal family ; and the Duke, 
 at the instigation and earnest advice, it was alleged, 
 of Queen Charlotte, paid his addresses to the sister 
 of Prince Leopold of Saxe Cobourg. It was an 
 auspicious day for England which witnessed the lady's 
 acceptance of his suit. 
 
 This accomplished and popular princess at the age 
 of sixteen had married the then hereditary Prince of 
 Leinengen, a suitor eight and twenty years older than 
 herself, and in no one respect, either of person, manners, 
 qualifications, or habits, suited to her, being entirely 
 devoted to the amusements of the chase, and the sport 
 of a temper singularly irritable and uncertain. Their 
 union lasted twelve years, a period not without its
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 239 
 
 trials, but marked throughout, on the part of the 
 youthful Duchess, by the most guarded and exemplary 
 discharge of her duties towards her aged bridegroom. 
 At the death of the Prince of Leinengen, her two 
 children, a son and a daughter, were confided to her 
 guardianship. The same dignified and irreproachable 
 demeanour which, during her married life, had 
 secured for her general and unqualified respect, cha- 
 racterised her widowhood. This was terminated on 
 the 29th of May, 1818. On that day, at Cobourg, 
 in conformity to the Lutheran rites, she became 
 Duchess of Kent. The marriage was re-solemnized 
 at Kew in July following, according to the ceremonial 
 of the Church of England. The event is thus nar- 
 rated in detail by one of the chroniclers of the passing 
 hour: 
 
 "This day (Monday, July 13th) took place the 
 marriage of the Duke of Clarence with the Princess 
 Adelaide, of Saxe Meiningen, and the re-marriage of 
 the Duke of Kent to the Princess Victoria, of Saxe 
 Cobourg. Fortunately, the Queen's health was so far 
 improved as to permit Her Majesty to be present at 
 the double ceremonial ; for which purpose a temporary 
 altar was fitted up in the Queen's drawing-room, 
 'which looks into Kew Gardens. At four o'clock, the 
 royal parties having arrived, Her Majesty took her 
 seat at the right-hand side of the altar, attended by
 
 240 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the Prince Regent, and was followed by the other 
 members of the reigning family, and the great officers 
 of State. The Duke of Clarence and his intended 
 bride, and the Duke and Duchess of Kent, having 
 taken their respective stations at the altar, the Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury commenced the marriage cere- 
 mony, assisted by the Bishop of London. The brides 
 were given away by the Prince Regent. At the 
 conclusion of the proceedings the Queen retired. At 
 five o'clock the Prince Regent and the remainder of 
 the company sat down to a most sumptuous banquet. 
 Soon after half-past seven o'clock, the Duke and 
 Duchess of Kent left, in Prince Leopold's travelling 
 chariot, for Claremont." 
 
 There is surely a lesson marked, and significant, 
 and ever needful, to be learnt from the chequered 
 career of this exemplary Princess. It tells us, that 
 worth is in itself a party ; and can extort, indepen- 
 dent of extraneous circumstances, the approval of 
 mankind. It is scarcely possible to conceive a more 
 forlorn and isolated position, than that of the Duchess 
 when she became a second time a widow. She was 
 almost a perfect stranger in England. The period of 
 her married life in this country fell short of eighteen 
 months. She had forfeited a considerable portion of 
 her dowry as Princess of Leinengen by her marriage ; 
 and owing to some informality in the Act of Parlia-
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 241 
 
 ment, had to submit to no inconsiderable portion of 
 delay for the first payment of the provision voted her 
 by the British Parliament. Her sole tie to this country 
 was a helpless infant of a few months old. Her sole 
 protector in it, a generous and MOST AFFECTIONATE 
 brother, but himself a foreigner; holding an ano- 
 malous position ; not a peer of Parliament ; linked 
 to no party ; a political cypher ; wielding no official 
 patronage ; and retaining his hold upon the affections 
 of the British people from the melancholy associations 
 of the past, rather than by the bright promise of the 
 future. 
 
 That in this defenceless, dependent, and apparently 
 helpless position, a woman and that woman a 
 stranger should win her way by the force of principle 
 and character, and obtain that hold over the national 
 confidence, as eventually, by the consent of all parties, 
 to be named Regent of this kingdom, in the event 
 of a certain contingency, is another proof among many, 
 that conduct is a party in itself, and that a blameless 
 and irreproachable life can rally round the possessor, 
 adherents devoted, countless, and true. 
 
 It is instructive to trace in the records of the 
 Legislature, the progress of this admirable woman in 
 winning the affection and confidence of the British 
 nation. 
 
 R
 
 242 THE LIFE OF 
 
 HOUSE OF COMMONS. May %lth, 1825. 
 
 On a proposition that a sum not exceeding in the 
 whole 6,000/. be granted to Her Royal Highness the 
 Duchess of Kent for the purpose of making an ade- 
 quate provision for the honourable support and educa- 
 tion of Her Royal Highness the Princess Alexandrina 
 Victoria, Mr. Brougham said, 
 
 " It was impossible for him to conclude this subject 
 without adverting to the great loss which this country 
 had sustained by the death of the lamented Duke of 
 Kent. No man who duly appreciated his talents, his 
 enlightened opinions, and his habits of business, but 
 must regret it as a great national deprivation. His 
 private virtues survived in his illustrious widow, who 
 was most assiduous in doing that which a mother was 
 best fitted to do, namely, superintending the education 
 of the infant Princess." 
 
 HOUSE OF COMMONS. May 30^, 1825. 
 
 Mr. Secretary Canning said, " He particularly wished 
 that mention should not be made of the Duchess 
 of Kent on this occasion ; because he was sure that 
 to be the subject of a discussion would be as painful 
 to her feelings as it would be repugnant to that unob-
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 243 
 
 trusive delicacy which characterised her conduct, and 
 which rendered her an ornament to her exalted 
 station." 
 
 HOUSE OF COMMONS. August 3d, 1831. 
 
 On a further grant of 10,000/. being proposed by 
 Lord Althorpe, 
 
 Colonel Davis thought, " that Her Royal Highness 
 the Duchess of Kent conducted herself in such a man- 
 ner that she was deserving of that love and attachment 
 on the part of the people of England which she had 
 obtained ; and considering the numerous public chari- 
 ties which she contributed to support, he was far 
 from thinking that the grant proposed was too much." 
 
 Mr. (yConnell " believed there was not a second 
 individual in the country who did not feel that the 
 situation of the Duchess of Kent entitled her to this 
 provision. The conduct of Her Royal Highness was 
 an example to the country." 
 
 Mr. Watson Taylor said, "Her Royal Highness 
 acted as the members of the royal family in this 
 country had always done : she was the patroness of all 
 charities ; and large portions of her funds went to the 
 relief of the poor, the aged, and the infirm." 
 
 R2
 
 244 THE LIFE OF 
 
 REGENCY BILL. 
 
 HOUSE OF LOIIDS, November 15M, 1830. 
 
 Lord Chancellor LyndJmrst said : " The pro- 
 visions of the measure in question the Regency Bill 
 are of the most simple character. The first ques- 
 tion which your Lordships will naturally ask is whom 
 we propose as the guardian of Her Royal Highness 
 under the circumstances inferred ? I am sure, how- 
 ever, that the answer will at once suggest itself to 
 every mind. It would be quite impossible, that we 
 should recommend any other individual for that high 
 office, than the illustrious Princess, the mother of Her 
 Royal Highness the Princess Victoria. The manner 
 in which Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent 
 has hitherto discharged her duty in the education of 
 her illustrious offspring and I speak upon the sub- 
 ject, not from vague report, but from accurate infor- 
 mation gives us the best ground to hope most 
 favourably of Her Royal Highness's future conduct. 
 Looking at the past, it is evident that we cannot find a 
 better guardian for the time to come" 
 
 HOUSE OF LORDS, Tuesday, December 12th, 1837. 
 
 The Duke of Wellington " thought there could be 
 no difference of opinion on the subject of the Address.* 
 
 * An address, stating their Lordships' readiness to concur in 
 all such measures as might be necessary to increase the income of 
 the Duchess of Kent.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 245 
 
 He was quite certain, that there was no intention in 
 the mind of any noble Lord to throw any obstacle in 
 the way of the Address. When their Lordships con- 
 sidered the conduct of Her Royal Highness from the 
 moment she arrived in this country when they con- 
 sidered the care which she had manifested in the 
 execution of the high duty which was entrusted to her 
 when they considered the important advantage 
 which the country had derived from that care and 
 finally, when they recollected the number of years 
 during which Her Royal Highness was left without 
 any provision whatsoever to meet the expense con- 
 nected with the education of her daughter he was 
 convinced that there was no noble Lord in that 
 House, who could for a moment doubt the expediency 
 of at once voting the Address in answer to Her Ma- 
 jesty's gracious Message." 
 
 Lord Brougham " spoke with great diffidence on 
 this subject. He had not the remotest idea of object- 
 ing to what had been so well expressed by the noble 
 Duke. He felt with their Lordships, and with a 
 large proportion of the nation, if not with the whole 
 nation, the merits, the high merits, of the illustrious 
 personage of whom the noble Duke had spoken. 
 Ever since she arrived in this country, but above all, 
 since she was deprived of the comfort and assistance 
 of her royal husband, she had been placed in LI
 
 246 THE LIFE OF 
 
 peculiar situation, in a situation also of the utmost 
 importance. During that period her conduct had 
 been above all censure it had been out of the reach 
 of censure and beyond all panegyric. Nevertheless, 
 as they were not assembled to pass compliments on 
 any personage, however exalted, they ought (if they 
 did not meet as a mere matter of formality) before 
 they pledged themselves to any increase of income, as 
 necessary, to be satisfied as to the particulars of the 
 case. 5 ' 
 
 HOUSE on 1 COMMONS. Tuesday, December 12M, 1837. 
 
 The Chancellor of the Exchequer " hoped that the 
 proposal which he was about to make would meet 
 with the approbation, not only of the Commons' House 
 of Parliament, but also of the great bulk of the people. 
 He did hope, that the kind feeling which was ex- 
 pressed in Her Majesty's most gracious message, and 
 the consideration which Her Majesty felt for Her 
 Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, would not only 
 extend itself over the country, but that it would be 
 confirmed and strengthened by its union with another 
 sentiment which would influence the House, a feeling 
 not only of respect and attachment to Her Royal 
 Highness on her own account, for her personal cha- 
 racter, but a deep sense of obligation which the House 
 and the country oived to that illustrious Princess for
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 247 
 
 the manner in which she had educated the reigning 
 Queen of England, for the protection which she had 
 cast over her childhood in the trying circumstances in 
 which she was placed, for the sedulous care which she 
 had taken of the education of Her Majesty. These 
 feelings of gratitude would not but be increased from 
 the consciousness which pervaded all classes, that the 
 country was now in the enjoyment of the success 
 attending this excellent training. In order fairly to 
 state the case of the Duchess of Kent, he would allude 
 to the provision which had already been made for Her 
 Royal Highness, to the position in which she had 
 heretofore stood, and in which she then was placed ; 
 and then he would in conclusion explain the proposi- 
 tion which he had to make in conformity with the 
 gracious wish expressed in Her Majesty's message, and 
 to what he believed to be no less the sincere wish of 
 the House. Her Royal Highness's marriage took place 
 in 1818, and it would be recollected by the House, 
 that, previously to that date, serious discussions had 
 taken place relative to the royal marriages, and to the 
 provisions which were to be made for the royal family. 
 The House would also particularly recollect the discus- 
 sions relative to the marriage of His Royal Highness 
 the Duke of Kent. When the message, announcing 
 this event, was received, all parts of that House, 
 members of both sides, the Government of the day, at
 
 248 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the head of which was the Earl of Liverpool, uniting 
 Avith the honourable members who formed the oppo- 
 sition of that day, entertained but one feeling, and 
 expressed but one opinion, relative to the character of 
 the Duke of Kent, and of the sense in which the 
 House appreciated the character of that illustrious 
 Prince. No sooner was the royal message, announcing 
 the marriage, received, than it was at once answered 
 by an Address from that House. On that occasion, a 
 jointure of 6,000/. a-year was voted to Her Royal 
 Highness the Duchess of Kent, and some circum- 
 stances were stated in connexion with Her Roval 
 
 */ 
 
 Highness and of the marriage, to which he would wish 
 particularly to draw the attention of the House. On 
 the 15th of May, 1818, Lord Castlereagh, who was 
 then Secretary for Foreign Affairs, thus expressed 
 himself : ' He was persuaded that the marriage itself 
 must be felt by the Committee to be, in every point of 
 view, highly satisfactory, and that if any consideration 
 were wanting to recommend it, that consideration 
 would be found in the fact that the connexion was not 
 new to this country; but that the illustrious female 
 with whom His Royal Highness was about to ally 
 himself, belonged to a family of whose virtuous and 
 amiable qualities the country had already experienced 
 the most convincing proof. He must say, in justice 
 to this illustrious lady, and it was a feature of her
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 249 
 
 conduct highly creditable to her, and which, he was 
 sure, would recommend her to the respect of the 
 Committee,* that although, when the treaty of 
 marriage was in progress, she felt it her duty not to 
 relinquish the personal guardianship of her children 
 by her former marriage, she did not extend that dis- 
 position to the pecuniary advantages of her widowhood, 
 but that her marriage would deprive her of an income 
 of 3,000/. a-year on that score, and of other smaller 
 pecuniary advantages arising from her guardianship, 
 
 amounting in the whole to about 5, OOO/. a-year 
 
 Until His Royal Highness was thirty-two years of 
 age, he had only 5,000/. a-year allowed him by his 
 royal father, and his emoluments of about 5,000/. 
 a-year from his situation of Commander-in-Chief of 
 the British possessions in North America.' At 
 that time an outfit was proposed for the Duke, 
 but it appeared from the Debates that His Royal 
 Highness declined being the cause of any burthen 
 to the country in that respect, f The jointure of 
 6,000/. was then voted to the Duchess. At the 
 demise of the Duke in 1820, Her Royal Highness 
 had no other income than a jointure of 6,000/. 
 
 * The House was then in Committee. 
 
 f A great and grievous blunder on the part of his Lordship. 
 An expectation of an outfit of l2,000. was held out, but never 
 realized I And that Lord Castlereagh knew well.
 
 250 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Even for some months after the decease of the 
 Duke, in consequence of some defect in the words 
 of the Act ruling a settlement of this income, Her 
 Royal Highness could not receive this scanty provision, 
 and thus she would have been left without one farthing, 
 having given up her own income, but for some private 
 assistance which she obtained. Under the will of the 
 Duke, Her Royal Highness was entitled to much 
 personal property which was bequeathed to her, 
 personal property on the Continent, as well as that 
 which belonged to the Duke in this country. It was 
 well known that His Royal Highness died in embar- 
 rassed circumstances. What, then, was the conduct 
 of the Duchess? She abandoned the claim which she 
 might have sustained under the will, and which was 
 available, and she gave the whole up to the liquidation 
 of the debts of her deceased husband. In taking this 
 course, undoubtedly the best reward which she could 
 receive was the approbation of her own conscience; 
 and he should not have alluded to the fact, but that 
 he felt it to be his duty to communicate it to the 
 House as a part of the case which he had to present 
 to their notice. 
 
 " Her Royal Highness continued from 1820 to 1825, 
 filling the rank which was conferred upon her by her 
 marriage, and in the receipt only of the income of 6,000/. 
 derived from the public. He need only appeal to honour-
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 251 
 
 able members, who would be able to form a judgment 
 from their own expenses, how very inadequate was this 
 sum for the purpose of- maintaining the station which 
 Her Royal Highness held, and of supporting her family 
 establishment. During many successive years Her 
 Royal Highness was only enabled to maintain her 
 position by a contribution which she received from 
 His Majesty the present King of the Belgians. He 
 stated this not merely to the honour and praise of the 
 royal individual to whom he referred, but also in ex- 
 planation of the facts he conceived it to be material 
 in the consideration of the case. It was stated to the 
 House, in the year 1825, by a noble friend of his, 
 Lord Ripon, that the amount of contribution thus 
 made to Her Royal Highness by her brother was 
 3,000/. per annum. He (the Chancellor of the Ex- 
 chequer) was of opinion that the public had better 
 at that period have looked generously into the circum- 
 stances of Her Royal Highness, than to have allowed 
 her to be thus assisted. He had already informed the 
 House that the property to which Her Royal Highness 
 would have been entitled under the Duke of Kent's 
 will, had been given up by her for the benefit of the 
 creditors. She was, therefore, left on the death of her 
 husband without furniture, without outfit, and without 
 any further credit than what her name and position 
 enabled her to obtain. In the year 1825 the matter
 
 252 THE LIFE OF 
 
 was again brought before Parliament. On the 27th 
 of May, in that year, Mr. Canning said : 
 
 " ' In the case of the Duchess of Kent, the parties 
 agreed in the propriety of the grant, and if Govern- 
 ment had anything to answer for, it was for not having 
 proposed it sooner. There could not be a greater 
 compliment to Her Royal Highness, than to state the 
 great unobtrusiveness of her life; and that she had 
 never made herself the object of the public gaze ; but 
 had devoted herself to the education of that child 
 whom the country were called upon to adopt/ .... 
 
 " In further considering the question, he (The Chan- 
 cellor of the Exchequer) would again remind the 
 House of the fact, that the Duchess had received fifty 
 per cent, upon her public income from the Prince 
 Leopold. On that illustrious individual becoming a 
 foreign prince, feeling no doubt that there was an 
 inconsistency in continuing as a sovereign to draw 
 a parliamentary annuity from this country, with that 
 nice sense of honour by which His Majesty was distin- 
 guished, the King of Belgium at once voluntarily gave 
 up the whole of the income which he had received, 
 subject only to the payment of certain small charges, 
 thus abandoning an income of 35,000/. freely granted 
 him by this country, and which was his property as 
 much as any income by the law of the land could be 
 made the property of an individual. By this generous
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 253 
 
 renunciation of his rights, the King of the Belgians 
 had already * effected a saving of 180,0007. to the 
 nation. He had stated these facts of the case rather 
 because he thought it was his duty not to exclude 
 them, than because he could imagine there would be 
 any disinclination on the part of the House to mark, 
 by a support of his resolution, the high sense which 
 every honourable member must feel of the admirable 
 qualities and conduct of the Duchess of Kent. The best 
 proof of the existence and universality of that feeling 
 was the trust which, at the accession of his late Majesty, 
 had been reposed in Her Royal Highness. He alluded 
 to the passing of an Act of Parliament, drawn up with 
 more than common care and attention, and attracting 
 more than ordinary notice, recommended from the 
 other House, introduced by one Government, adopted 
 by another, and agreed to by both, and by the Legisla- 
 ture and the country ; by which all showed their sense 
 of the character of the Duchess of Kent, and their im- 
 plicit reliance upon her conduct. Parliament marked 
 the respect they felt for Her Royal Highness, founded 
 on past services, by voting unanimously, that she 
 should be Regent in the event that her present 
 Majesty should succeed to the throne before she should 
 have attained her majority. The words of the pre- 
 
 1837.
 
 .254 THE LIFE OF 
 
 amble of the Act imported the high respect entertained 
 for Her Royal Highness ; that preamble declared that 
 the enactments which it contained were adopted, in 
 order to secure to the people that civil and religious 
 liberty which had been enjoyed by them during the 
 reigns of his then present, and his late Majesty. A 
 greater tribute than this could not have been paid to 
 Her Royal Highness's character, and it sufficiently 
 proved the high esteem in which she was held, and 
 the confidence which was had in her, in the event of her 
 being called upon to act in the administration of the 
 affairs of the country. It was, therefore, as a tribute 
 of respect to Her Royal Highness, and, he was confi- 
 dent, with the fullest concurrence of the country, that 
 he made a proposition to the House, and that propo- 
 sition was, that a vote of an additional 8,000/. a-year 
 should be passed for Her Royal Highness." 
 
 Mr. Hume " assured the House that no individual 
 felt more grateful than he did for the vast and 
 important services rendered to the country by Her 
 Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent ; and no one in 
 that House desired more sincerely than he did to see 
 her in the full enjoyment of the high gratification she 
 must derive from witnessing the result of her exem- 
 plary conduct towards the illustrious object of her care 
 and devotion. He believed that the right honourable 
 gentleman, in allusion to this portion of the subject.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 255 
 
 had in no respect exaggerated the truth. If they could 
 put a price on gratitude, it was not possible for any 
 individual to be disposed to vote a larger sum on that 
 account than he would ; but he felt opposed to the 
 present vote because he feared that it would place Her 
 Royal Highness in a situation to derive injury rather 
 than benefit from it. It was because he entertained 
 the greatest respect for Her Royal Highness ; it was 
 because he earnestly wished that sJte should continue 
 to enjoy the popularity which she had so honourably 
 earned, that he was unwilling that one farthing of 
 money should be given to her which might injure her 
 in the estimation of the country." 
 
 Sir Robert Peel " should give his assent to the pro- 
 position which had been made by the right honourable 
 gentleman. On all occasions when the Duchess of 
 Kent's conduct had been brought under the consider- 
 ation of Parliament, he had expressed in the strongest 
 terms his sense of the gratitude due to Her Royal 
 Highness for her superintendence of the education of 
 the illustrious Princess, who was the natural object of 
 her care. She had devoted herself in the most exem- 
 plary manner in which a mother could, to that impor- 
 tant national charge. When retirement was best 
 suited to the age of the Princess, she consented cheer- 
 fully to the most rigid seclusion. When the Princess 
 had arrived at a more advanced age, and it became of
 
 256 THE LIFE OF 
 
 importance to introduce her to the society of the lead- 
 ing men of all parties, and likewise to acquaint her in 
 some degree with the manners of the world, there 
 were no bounds to her liberal, but necessarily mode- 
 rate hospitalities. He could conceive that in indulg- 
 ing in that hospitality she might have exceeded the 
 limits which Parliament had prescribed for her ex- 
 penses. He, however, made no inquiry on that 
 
 subject In comparing this provision with 
 
 similar provisions that had been made for others, he 
 found nothing in the amount of the proposal that 
 startled him on account of its extravagance. He gave 
 his cheerful acquiescence to the motion. If he enter- 
 tained any doubt as to its propriety, his respect for 
 the private character of Her Royal Highness, his 
 sense of her public services during the whole course 
 of her education of her royal daughter, would induce 
 him to suppress that doubt, and unite in the hearty 
 concurrence which he hoped would make this vote an 
 almost unanimous one." 
 
 Lord John Russell said, " There was so little ap- 
 pearance of unwillingness on the part of the House 
 to concur in this vote, that he thought it unnecessary 
 to resort to any arguments in its support. As to the 
 time at which the motion was brought forward, it was 
 the opinion of Her Majesty's Government, that while, 
 on the one hand, this was a matter which did not
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 257 
 
 properly form part of the civil list, the civil list com- 
 prehending only the arrangement required for Her 
 Majesty ; on the other hand it would not have been 
 proper to delay it until after the Christmas recess. 
 He did not think that the state of the House was 
 such as to render it improper at this time to bring 
 forward this subject. It was not a question upon 
 which it was likely there would be any opposition of 
 parties ; and it appeared to him that there was a 
 sufficient number of members present to consider the 
 proposition. He did not think they could have 
 chosen a more proper time in order to bring forward 
 the subject than the present. He could certainly say, 
 that the education given by Her Royal Highness the 
 Duchess of Kent to her present Majesty was such, as 
 to entitle her to the gratitude of the people of this 
 country ; because while, on the one hand, she carefully 
 provided that the Princess should not be confined to 
 the society of any one political party ; she did at the 
 same time afford her an opportunity of meeting the 
 most distinguished persons of every division of opinion. 
 He felt, therefore, that the motion proposed was one 
 which ought to be received without any mark of 
 dissatisfaction whatever. He was sure, from the com- 
 munication they had had on the subject of this vote, 
 that it was the wish of Her Royal Highness the 
 Duchess of Kent, that the proposition made to Parlia-
 
 258 
 
 ment should be received with satisfaction. As this 
 was the wish of Her Royal Highness, he trusted it 
 would also be the feeling of the House, because it was 
 only by its being granted with willingness and cheer- 
 fulness, that the grant could be satisfactory to Her 
 Royal Highness ; and he was quite sure, that Her 
 Royal Highness would not be gratified with any 
 proposition which tended in the slightest degree to 
 produce dissatisfaction." 
 
 HOUSE OF COMMONS. Wednesday, Dec. 13M, 1837. 
 
 Mr. Goulburn " did not rise to object to the ad- 
 ditional grant; on the contrary, he concurred in its 
 propriety." 
 
 Mr. Borthwick said, " The grant proceeded not on 
 the ground of either respect or esteem, but upon two 
 other totally distinct grounds. In the first place, the 
 grant was made as a mark of the country's gratitude 
 to the royal and illustrious person who had been 
 named, for the admirable manner in which she had 
 educated the Princess Victoria, and for having placed 
 on the throne of Great Britain, not only the most 
 accomplished, but the most beloved sovereign of 
 Europe. The second ground was, the remembrance 
 which they had of the heavy charge which had been 
 imposed upon Her Royal Highness the Duchess of
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 259 
 
 Kent, and the care, pains, and labour which that 
 royal person had expended on the education which 
 had effected these accomplishments which now 
 adorned their Queen. It was upon these two grounds 
 that he had given his support to the motion of the 
 right honourable gentleman (the Chancellor of the 
 Exchequer). If the grant had been proposed merely 
 as a testimony of their respect and admiration for 
 Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, he would 
 agree that it ought not to be granted. He thought it 
 would be a very bad precedent, to give the public 
 money away merely out of respect or esteem to in- 
 dividuals, because they held exalted situations, and 
 were placed near the throne; but he must say, the 
 case was very different when the grant was made as a 
 mark of the country's gratitude for services so im- 
 portant and so efficiently rendered, as those which Her 
 Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent had performed." 
 
 HOUSE OF COMMONS. Saturday, Dec. ZSd, 1837. 
 
 Sir G. /Sinclair said, " He deeply felt and gratefully 
 acknowledged how much the country was indebted to 
 Her Royal Highness for the unwearied solicitude and 
 sound discretion with which Her Royal Highness had 
 superintended the education of our beloved Queen. 
 Although he might be excused for adding, that he
 
 2GO THE LIFE OF 
 
 trusted there were in the humbler spheres of life hun- 
 dreds of attached and anxious mothers who had 
 attended with as exemplary a faithfulness to the dis- 
 charge of their maternal duties." 
 
 Sir Robert Inglis : " It had not been stated that it 
 had been within the reach of probability that the 
 Duchess of Kent might have been Queen of England. 
 If her husband had lived, she would have been now 
 Queen-Consort ; and this ought not to be forgotten in 
 estimating her actual position relative to their only 
 child, and to the Throne. As it was, she was now 
 the mother of the Queen, a position, certainly, far 
 more prominent, and exposed to a greater scale of ex- 
 penditure, and entitled to more consideration, than 
 that which she recently occupied. He believed that 
 the amount now proposed was not the utmost which 
 was originally proposed for Her Royal Highness ; and 
 that the country was indebted to the disinterestedness 
 of Her Royal Highness for the refusal of a much 
 larger sum in a different shape. There was a prevalent 
 rumour abroad which he believed to be true, but which 
 he did not call upon the noble Lord either to affirm or 
 deny, that a much greater sum had been proposed to 
 Her Royal Highness's acceptance in another shape. 
 There was a report that the payment of His Royal 
 Highness's debts had been offered and had been dis- 
 tinctly refused. He had had no communication with
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 261 
 
 Her Royal Highness, nor did he know anything of her 
 debts, or whether she had any debts, but if such a 
 report were well founded he thought that they were 
 indebted to Her Royal Highness's liberality. He 
 hoped the House would cordially concur in the third 
 reading of the Bill." 
 
 Sir E. Codrington " expressed his full approbation of 
 the grant in question. The people of England would 
 readily pay for services to the country, and he con- 
 sidered Her Royal Highness had rendered most valu- 
 able service by her whole deportment, as also by the 
 manner in which she had educated her illustrious 
 daughter." 
 
 Lord John Russell " opposed the bringing up of the 
 clauses.* One hundred thousand pounds had been 
 granted to the Queen Dowager, and no condition was 
 attached to the grant, either with regard to her resi- 
 dence in this country or in any other respect. As to 
 the Duchess of Kent, he thought that it would be un- 
 becoming to impose any such restrictions as those now 
 proposed to the House. He begged to recall the atten- 
 tion of honourable members to a few circumstances con- 
 nected with Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent. 
 
 * These extraordinary clauses it may be sufficient to say of 
 them, that they were drawn up and introduced by Colonel Sib- 
 thorp, M.P. for Lincoln went the length of imposing certain un- 
 precedented restrictions upon the remarriage and residence of the 
 Duchess.
 
 262 THE LIFE OF 
 
 When upon the death of her husband, and when large 
 debts had been incurred, it was to be remembered that 
 Her Royal Highness had the temptation before her 
 she who had been born and bred a foreigner to go to 
 another country and to reside there during the infancy 
 of the Princess Victoria. The Duchess of Kent, how- 
 ever, preferred her duty to what might be considered 
 her inclination, and determined upon bringing up her 
 daughter here. In 1825, it was proposed by the 
 Ministry of the day to increase the grant to Her Royal 
 Highness ; they did propose it, and to that proposal 
 no condition was attached. If it were ever proper to 
 propose such a condition, that was the proper time for 
 doing it, as the Duchess of Kent then had the care of 
 her daughter, and the main object of the grant was to 
 be applied for that purpose. Parliament showed its 
 confidence in Her Royal Highness, while with respect 
 to another royal person Parliament imposed restric- 
 tions ; but doing this they felt no disposition to impose 
 restrictions upon Her Royal Highness, and the confi- 
 dence then reposed had been proved to be well deserved, 
 and was fully sustained. Besides, as they were aware, 
 the Duchess of Kent having the best preceptors for 
 the Queen, he must mention this fact, which he did 
 not know had been stated before, that when the pre- 
 sent Queen was eleven years of age, not content with
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 203 
 
 what she had done, the Duchess of Kent referred to 
 the Archbishop of Canterbury, to the Bishop of London, 
 and the Bishop of Lincoln, to inquire into the educa- 
 tion bestowed, and to suggest what other course would 
 be the most suited to make her, if it should please 
 Providence that she should be called upon, fit to reign 
 over this country. Another grant had been made by 
 Parliament in 1831; no condition was annexed to that 
 grant ; the same confidence before reposed in Her 
 Royal Highness by Parliament was continued ; and he 
 thought that no one could contradict the assertion that 
 that confidence of Parliament had not been misplaced. 
 Having, then, upon former occasions, made these 
 grants without any restriction, now that they were to 
 express their gratitude for the care that had been 
 bestowed upon the Sovereign, and when they had to 
 consider that Her Royal Highness was now nearer to 
 the Throne than she had been then now when they 
 had to do this, was there not to be the same liberality 
 manifested towards Her Royal Highness when her task 
 had been successfully performed? In such circum- 
 stances, he considered it would be most unbecoming 
 it would be most indecent, if the motion proposed were 
 to be successful, and that restrictions were imposed 
 which could only be regarded as derogatory to the 
 merits of Her Royal Highness."
 
 264 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Mr. Briscoe, " in supporting the Bill, declared, in 
 reply to the honourable and gallant member for Lincoln, 
 that it was his opinion that Her Majesty's Ministers 
 were entitled to the gratitude of the country." 
 
 Clauses negatived Bill passed.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 265 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 AMORBACH RETURN TO ENGLAND BIRTH OF THE PRINCESS VIC- 
 TORIA THE LINE OF CONDUCT ADOPTED BY THE PRINCE REGENT 
 
 THE DUKE'S FEELINGS AS A FATHER HIS EARNEST PIETY 
 
 SCENE AT KENSINGTON PALACE. 
 
 18181819. 
 
 IT is painful to connect with a wedding aught that is 
 other than bright and joyous ; but, faithfully to follow 
 out the career of the Duke, it is imperative to state, that 
 even at the period of his marriage, those who through- 
 out his life had showed such culpable indifference to 
 his claims and comforts, took care to mislead and 
 deceive him. His nuptials, though conducted with 
 every possible regard to economy, had involved him in 
 heavy and unavoidable expenses. To meet these, the 
 Ministry had led him to expect an outfit of 12,000/. ; 
 not one farthing of which was ever granted him. His 
 committee were therefore obliged to make a com- 
 mensurate advance from the funds destined to the 
 liquidation of his debts ; and thus the period of his
 
 260 THE LIFE OF 
 
 deliverance from his encumbrances was still further 
 protracted. 
 
 Under these circumstances His Royal Highness was 
 obliged to persevere in his plan of residing on the con- 
 tinent ; and in conformity with that resolution which 
 was one, not of choice, but of bitter necessity 
 proceeded, in a few weeks after the ceremony of his 
 marriage, to Amorbach, the residence of the Prince of 
 Leinengen, which the Duchess, who was left, by the 
 will of her late husband, guardian of her son (a 
 minor), and regent of the principality during his 
 minority, had occupied as her residence during the 
 period of her widowhood. 
 
 It was pending their Royal Highnesses' retirement 
 at this spot, that the prospect of the Duchess giving 
 an heir to the British Crown, induced His Royal 
 Highness, as an Englishman, to wish to return home 
 to England, in order that his child might draw its first 
 breath upon English ground. 
 
 In a long letter, addressed to Dr. Rudge, dated 
 Amorbach, March 19th, 1819, the Duke says : 
 
 " The interesting situation of the Duchess causes 
 me hourly anxiety ; and you, who so well know my 
 views and feelings, can well appreciate how eagerly 
 desirous I am to hasten our departure for Old England. 
 TJie event is thought likely to occur about the end of 
 next month. My wish is, that it may take place on
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 267 
 
 the 4th of June, as that is the birth-day of my revered 
 father; and that the child, too, like him, may be 
 BRITON-BORN." 
 
 In this patriotic desire the Duchess fully participated. 
 Fresh sacrifices became necessary, in order to enable 
 them to fulfil what was considered by their Royal 
 Highnesses as no less a duty to the royal family and 
 to the country, than to themselves and their expected 
 infant : but so difficult was it found to procure the 
 means for accomplishing this important object, that 
 Her Royal Highness had completed the seventh month 
 of her pregnancy, before, at its most dangerous 
 period, she was enabled to set out towards England. 
 " Being literally prevented," was the expression of her 
 royal husband, " from moving until then, through the 
 want of means to meet the expenses of the journey." 
 
 One can with difficulty imagine a position more try- 
 ing to the feelings of a husband and a prince. In his 
 case such an exigency would appear incredible, were 
 it not supported by incontestible evidence. That it 
 brands with cruelty the memory of other parties : and 
 that written documents, still extant, support the charge, 
 is a fact that defies contradiction. 
 
 The Duke's exigencies were known to the luxurious 
 Sybarite at Carlton House. They were no secret to 
 the Premier, Lord Liverpool. The Regent and his
 
 263 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Minister were fully cognisant of the Duke's intense, 
 restless, and indescribable anxiety to reach England. 
 They were aware of the situation of the Duchess. They 
 knew none better than they that that clear-sighted 
 woman was tremblingly alive to the importance of her 
 child being born in England, close to the seat of 
 government, and under the surveillance, so to speak, of 
 the great officers of State. They knew that both Duke 
 and Duchess deprecated the idea of their child being 
 born abroad ; of its first seeing the light in a retired spot 
 in Germany, and being subjected to the thousand-and- 
 one rumours that might hereafter be raised relative to 
 its identity. Where was the affection of a brother ? 
 where the liberality of a prince ? where the ceaseless 
 jealousy for the honour and interests of his house, 
 which one would suppose would animate the heir 
 apparent to a throne ? They slept. 
 
 Not the slightest effort was made by either Regent 
 or Minister to relieve that noble spirit from the crush- 
 ing anxiety which then oppressed him. No tender of 
 the slightest pecuniary assistance from those in power 
 greeted him. Eirm, devoted, but untitled, and com- 
 paratively speaking humble friends in England, made 
 the requisite remittances, and surmounted the diffi- 
 culty. The eldest brother, the Regent, the virtual 
 head of his house, was, if the slightest reliance is to
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 209 
 
 be placed on written documents, desirous only to sur- 
 round his path with future and fresh perplexities. 
 
 A gentleman whose opportunities for information 
 were great, and whose testimony is above all sus- 
 picion, thus writes me in reference to this momentous 
 period : 
 
 " The Regent, latterly, took great umbrage at the 
 Duke, on two accounts. First, for the facts, for such 
 they are, which he introduced in his memorial to the 
 Government for the payment of his claims for remu- 
 neration for losses, and for fulfilment of the promises 
 made to him by Mr. Pitt. These facts related to the 
 Duke of Clarence, and to the sums of money which 
 His Royal Highness had received from Government. 
 It was foreseen that these statements would give great 
 offence, but the Duke was resolute : and in the me- 
 morial went entire. The next time the Duke met 
 his brother, the Regent, at the Spanish Ambassador's, 
 he shook hands with the Duchess, but took not the 
 slightest notice of the Duke! Another and further 
 ground of offence was his coming from Amorbach, 
 against the express injunction of the Regent, for the 
 confinement of the Duchess. It was intimated to him 
 (if I can find his letter on this subject, I will forward 
 it ; it is preserved) that he would not be well received. 
 This from a brother !"
 
 270 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Providentially, no injury resulted from the Duchess 
 being obliged to travel at so late a period of her preg- 
 nancy, and the journey was accomplished in sufficient 
 time to answer the purposed object. On the 24th of 
 May, 1819, a little Princess made her appearance at 
 Kensington Palace, to be, ere many months passed, 
 fatherless ! and within twenty years from that date, to 
 ascend the throne of England. 
 
 Ah ! could her noble-minded, oppressed, and strug- 
 gling father have foreseen the bright vista of coming 
 
 years but inscrutable wisdom, and infinite mercy, 
 
 veil the future ! 
 
 The joy of the Duke at the birth of his daughter 
 and the safety of the Duchess, was deep, absorbing, 
 and uncontrollable ; and the following trait is too 
 honourable to the Duke's feelings as a husband and 
 father, and too conclusive of his sentiments as a 
 Churchman, to be omitted : 
 
 " Sunday, June 29, 1819. 
 
 " This afternoon Her Royal Highness the Duchess 
 of Kent was PUBLICLY churched, in the parish church 
 of Kensington, by the Bishop of Salisbury. The 
 Duke of Kent led the Duchess to the Communion- 
 table."
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 271 
 
 Take another proof of the depth and earnestness of 
 his devotional feelings. 
 
 " Two or three evenings previous to his visit to 
 Sidmouth," thus writes to me one, whose intercourse 
 with the Duke was constant, " I was at Kensington 
 Palace; and on my rising to take leave the Duke 
 intimated his wish that I should see the infant Princess 
 in her crib ; adding, ' As it may be some time before 
 we meet again, I should like you to see the child, and 
 give her your blessing.' The Duke preceded me into 
 the little Princess's room, and on my closing a short 
 prayer that as she grew in years she might grow in 
 grace, and in favour both with God and man, nothing 
 could exceed the fervour and feeling with which he 
 responded in an emphatic Amen. Then with no 
 slight emotion he continued, ' Don't pray, simply, that 
 her's may be a brilliant career, and exempt from those 
 trials and struggles which have pursued her father; 
 but pray that God's blessing may rest on her, that it 
 may overshadow her, and that in all her coming years 
 she may be GUIDED AND GUARDED by God/ TJiat 
 prayer was offered !" 
 
 HAS IT NOT BEEN HEARD ? Would the great Father 
 of all the families of the earth be deaf to so earnest 
 a petition ? Would he who was ere long to pass into 
 his Maker's presence, and who was now interceding
 
 27.2 THE LIFE OF 
 
 for that babe he was so soon to leave would he pray 
 in vain ? 
 
 Ah, no ! There is an abiding promise to godly 
 parents: "What man is he that feareth the Lord? 
 His soul shall dwell at ease : and his seed shall inherit 
 the earth."
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 273 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE DUKE'S ENDEAVOUR TO DISPOSE OF HIS PROPERTY AT CASTLE 
 
 HILL BY LOTTERY FRUSTRATED BY MINISTERS LORD CASTLE- 
 
 REAGH'S CANDID CONSTRUCTION OF MR. HUME'S MOTIVES. 
 
 1819. 
 
 THE Duke, desirous beyond measure to remain in 
 England, haunted by an ever present consciousness of 
 his debts, and deeply concerned to cancel them, re- 
 solved on disposing of all his property in England, and 
 dividing its proceeds among his creditors. On Castle- 
 bar Hill no expense had been spared. According to 
 the estimate of Denew, one of the most experienced 
 land agents in London, its intrinsic value was no less 
 than fifty-one thousand pounds. 
 
 " Charles Street, Berkeley Square, 
 Aug. 19, 1819. 
 
 " I do hereby certify, that being called upon by the 
 principal creditors of His Royal Highness the Duke of 
 Kent in the year 1815, to appraise the property of 
 
 T
 
 274 THE LIFE OF 
 
 His Royal Highness at Castle Hill, near Baling, con- 
 sisting of the mansion and offices, gardens and 
 pleasure-grounds, together with the fixtures and 
 furniture, according to an inventory thereof; that 
 I surveyed and examined the whole most minutely, and 
 gave it as my opinion that the intrinsic value of the 
 same was fifty-one thousand three hundred pounds. 
 
 And I further declare, that to the best of my judg- 
 
 \ 
 
 ment, an establishment similar to Castle Hill, in 
 which all the materials used, and also the furniture 
 and fixtures, are of the very best description, and 
 wherein every possible convenience and comfort 
 abounds, could not be completed for a less sum than 
 one hundred thousand pounds. 
 
 (Signed) " JAMES DENEW." 
 
 But the depression of the times militated greatly 
 against the advantageous disposal of the property. To 
 sell it then would be to sacrifice it. In order, there- 
 fore, to make the most of his resources for the laudable 
 purpose referred to, he sought permission from the 
 House of Commons to transfer the ownership of Castle- 
 bar Hill to some lucky purchaser by lottery. 
 
 The ensuing debate shows how the House, or 
 rather the Ministry of the day, met the Duke's 
 proposition.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 275 
 
 HOUSE OF COMMONS, June 30M, 1819. 
 
 Mr. Grenfell observed, " that in the votes he read 
 the following : ' Duke of Kent's Lottery Petition 
 for leave to present a petition for a Bill reported 
 leave given.' He wished for some explanation as to 
 the nature of the proposed lottery." 
 
 The Chancellor of the Exchequer "was perfectly 
 ready to state the whole transaction as far as he was 
 acquainted with it. An honourable member had, 
 some time since, applied to him to lay before the 
 Treasury a memorial from the Duke of Kent, for a Bill 
 to enable him to dispose of a great part of his property 
 by lottery. It was then thought that the consent of 
 the Crown was necessary, and the commands of the 
 Prince Regent were therefore taken upon it. His 
 Royal Highness had referred the question to the Lord 
 Chancellor, the First Lord of the Treasury, and the 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer, who had considered the 
 question, whether it would be expedient that any indi- 
 vidual should be allowed so to dispose of his property 
 to pay off debts or encumbrances, and they had 
 determined that to recommend such a Bill to Parlia- 
 ment would be setting a dangerous precedent. They 
 had, therefore, recommended that the royal leave, if it 
 were necessary, should not be granted. This informa- 
 tion he had given to the honourable member who had 
 
 T2
 
 276 THE LIFE OF 
 
 offered the memorial ; and it had been thought most 
 consistent with delicacy to the illustrious personage 
 concerned that the memorial should be returned, and 
 the whole proceeding considered a nullity. Since 
 that time a precedent had been found which warranted 
 the conclusion that the consent and recommendation 
 of the Crown were not necessary. A petition had 
 accordingly been presented to the House, but His 
 Majesty's Government had given no sanction to it." 
 
 Mr. Grenfell said, " that Government had acted in 
 this affair as the country expected of them. A Bill 
 had, he understood, been prepared, and he trusted the 
 House would not allow it to pass without due ex- 
 amination." 
 
 HOUSE OF COMMONS, Friday, July 2d. 
 
 Mr. Alderman Wood brought up the report of the 
 Committee on the Duke of Kent's petition, which 
 stated that the petitioner had not obtained any parlia- 
 mentary allowance till he was thirty-two years of age, 
 and that previously to that time he had been put to 
 considerable expenses and subjected to heavy losses in 
 Canada, and compelled to contract considerable debts, 
 and to raise money by way of annuity ; but that by 
 subjecting himself to the strictest economy, and living 
 in foreign parts, he had reduced his debts to 70,0007.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 277 
 
 That to discharge this sura, he was anxious to dispose 
 of the property of which he was possessed ; that the 
 only part of his property which he was enabled to 
 dispose of was his mansion at Castlebar Hill, and the 
 furniture, which was valued at 50,000/., but which in 
 the present state of the market could not be sold but 
 at a considerable loss. That he was willing, however, 
 to sell his property rather than that the payment of his 
 creditors should be longer delayed, or that his royal 
 consort should be compelled to submit to privations ; 
 as he was desirous that no part of the allowance 
 granted him by Parliament should be expended in 
 foreign parts, and that his daughter, newly born, 
 should be from her earliest years educated in the 
 language and customs of the country. He, therefore, 
 prayed that he might be allowed to dispose of his 
 property by way of lottery. 
 
 Mr. Alderman Wood said, " that in moving to bring 
 in a Bill he should offer a few words. This lottery 
 was not open to the objections to which lotteries in 
 general were liable. The property to be disposed of 
 in this case was of the full value stated in the 
 petition. He was assured from the highest authority 
 that it had cost 120,000/. The gentlemen opposite 
 to him might object to it because the sale of the 
 tickets of the State lottery might be injured ; but he 
 assured them that this would not be the. case ; for
 
 278 THE LIFE OF 
 
 such was the popularity of the Duke of Kent in the 
 city, that the tickets might be said to be already sold. 
 There were persons who would be ready to advance 
 the whole sum on the passing of the Bill. Why did 
 the character of the Duke of Kent stand so high ? 
 Because he had raised dormant charities, and created 
 an immense number of new institutions. He was at 
 the head of every institution connected with poverty 
 and disease, and aided them not by his name only, 
 but by his constant labour and attendance. After 
 detailing the several precedents for a lottery of this 
 kind, the worthy Alderman concluded with moving for 
 leave to bring in a Bill." 
 
 Mr. Grenfell "resisted the proposition, upon the 
 ground that it would create an improper and incon- 
 venient precedent. If the Duke of Kent were 
 authorized by Parliament to dispose of his property by 
 lottery, what was to prevent any private individual 
 from applying to Parliament for an Act to authorize 
 the disposal of Ms private property in a similar 
 manner ? " 
 
 Mr. Hume " hoped the House would give him the 
 opportunity of offering that explanation which the part 
 he had taken enabled him to give, both of the motives 
 which actuated His Royal Highness to take the course 
 he had done, and the measures which had been 
 actually taken. Having enjoyed the friendship of His
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 279 
 
 Royal Highness for ten years, and having been inti- 
 mately acquainted with his public conduct and private 
 affairs, what he should offer as to the transactions of 
 that period, he could pledge himself for, and he should 
 state no prior transactions that could be contravened. 
 On the 10th ultimo, (said Mr. Hume,) I waited on 
 the Chancellor of the Exchequer to inform him that 
 the Duke of Kent had been advised to apply to Par- 
 liament for leave to allow his trustees to dispose of his 
 house and lands at Castlebar Hill by lottery. The 
 Chancellor desired a memorial to be laid before the 
 Treasury by the Duke for their sanction. This was 
 done ; and by order of the Prince Regent, referred to 
 the Lord Chancellor, and others of the Privy Council, 
 who disapproved of the plan, alleging that it would 
 be a most dangerous precedent. A second memorial 
 was presented with the like success, and the Chan- 
 cellor candidly informed the gentlemen who waited on 
 him, that they (the Ministers) would leave the Bill to 
 the House. If the decision had been founded on 
 fact, he should have bowed to the decision ; but he 
 contended that the precedent of the Adelphi lottery, 
 Pickett-street lottery, and Sunderland-bridge lot- 
 tery, were all in point, all to enable trustees to raise 
 money to pay off debts. He would add, that the Pigot 
 diamond had been sold by a lottery granted IQ A PRIVATE 
 SUBJECT. Was it, then, because the Duke of Kent was
 
 280 THE LIFE OF 
 
 THE PETITIONER on this occasion that the House 
 would refuse the request? would they refuse to Jam 
 what had been granted TO OTHERS? The Duke only 
 asked for the lottery to enable him to pay off debts 
 contracted under circumstances which he could neither 
 direct nor control. He was confident the history of 
 the Duke's difficulties was not known, or they would 
 influence gentlemen to think differently of the course 
 now adopted by that illustrious individual. He should, 
 as shortly as possible, put the House in possession of 
 the facts. The Duke in 1785, at the age of eighteen, 
 left England for Hanover, where he joined the Guards, 
 and served with them for two years. He then went 
 to Geneva, where he studied for two years. Whilst 
 abroad he met with his countrymen, whose society he 
 naturally courted, and whose habits he naturally fol- 
 lowed. The Duke was only allowed during those four 
 years two pistoles a-week. He did not intend in any 
 way to reflect on the parental conduct of the King in 
 keeping the Duke at this time so short of money ; but 
 the fact was so. And the consequence that followed 
 may be easily anticipated by every gentleman. The 
 Duke got in debt, and could not do otherwise. At 
 the age of twenty-three, therefore, he had contracted 
 debts to the amount of 20,000/., which he expected to 
 pay oft 7 from the first parliamentary allowance, which 
 he expected to receive at the age of twenty- four. (Mr.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 281 
 
 Hume then gave a brief sketch of the Duke's services, 
 losses, and military sacrifices, bringing them down to 
 the year 1802.) In that year His Majesty appointed 
 the Duke of Kent to the command of Gibraltar, as a 
 reward for his military services, and he joined the 
 garrison accordingly. The Duke was sent out to 
 Gibraltar with special instructions, and he had a diffi- 
 cult duty to perform, to reclaim the troops to habits of 
 sobriety and discipline ; but he did effect the object, 
 though attended with symptoms of mutiny on the 
 part of the troops. By the suppression of the wine- 
 houses, to check the prevailing drunkenness, he reduced 
 the fees of the Governor from 6,000/. to 2,000/. a-year. 
 
 HE HAD BEEN PROMISED BEFORE HE LEFT ENGLAND 
 THAT ANY SACRIFICE OF EMOLUMENT WHICH HE, THE 
 DUKE, MIGHT MAKE, TO ACCOMPLISH THE DISCIPLINE 
 AND SOBRIETY OF THE GARRISON, SHOULD BE MADE UP 
 TO HIM. 
 
 " But THAT HAD NEVER BEEN DONE. During the 
 
 nine years previous to and including the year the 
 Duke commanded at Gibraltar, the average fees re- 
 ceived were 7,000/. a-year ; and the Duke whilst absent 
 was fairly entitled to one-half, or 3,500/. a-year for 
 the sixteen years past. But he has not got one 
 pound, though his share amounts to 56,000/. Now, 
 I would ask, what has become of those fees since the 
 Duke's departure ? Was it unreasonable for the
 
 282 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Duke of Kent to ask from this fund to be placed on the 
 same footing as other governors are placed? Mr. 
 Pitt had promised to take the claims of the Duke 
 into consideration ; but his death, and the indis- 
 position of His Majesty, had prevented anything being 
 done. In 1 81 5 the Duke urged his claims for the arrears 
 of his parliamentary allowance and fees from Gibraltar, 
 but without success ; and seeing no hopes of any aid 
 but from his own resources, he did then nobly and 
 honourably resolve, by economy, to pay off his debts. 
 Of the allowances of every kind which he received, he 
 gave 17,000/. a-year to pay his debts, and lived on 
 7,000/. a-year for the three years that followed, and 
 until his marriage, which altered his establishment. 
 If the Duke of Kent were now placed on the same 
 footing as to parliamentary allowance as the Duke of 
 Clarence, he would have to receive 96,000/. ; or, in 
 other words, 12,000/. for eight years, from the age of 
 twenty-four to thirty-two, when he did not receive 
 any. If he were placed on a footing with the Duke 
 of Sussex, he would receive 29,000/. As all these 
 applications had failed, his own retrenchment has 
 extinguished half of his debt ; but being married, he 
 cannot live on the same reduced establishment as he 
 did before. Having conveyed to trustees the house 
 and grounds of Castlebar Hill, valued at a sum equal 
 to all his remaining debts, he was anxious to have that
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 283 
 
 property sold for the benefit of his creditors ; and as 
 the trustees had not been able to sell it at a fair 
 valuation in the ordinary way of sale, he had been 
 strongly advised to dispose of it by lottery, never 
 doubting that this House would refuse to him what it 
 had granted to others for like purposes. He did not 
 approve of lotteries ; but he considered the present 
 plan as free from almost all the evils incumbent on 
 money prizes." 
 
 Lord Casflereagh opposed the motion. " He was 
 averse to the practice of lotteries for the disposal 
 of private property generally ; and in this particular 
 case he was the more disposed to resist it, because he 
 would not consent to establish a precedent in the 
 person of a member of the royal family. The 
 worthy Alderman had indulged in a panegyric upon 
 the exertions of the royal Duke to promote the interest 
 of public charities. But no judicious friend of His 
 Royal Highness could possibly advert to those exertions 
 with the view of making an appeal to the eleemosynary 
 bounty of the public, to interest their feelings so as to 
 induce them to purchase tickets in the proposed 
 lottery. He was quite at a loss to imagine upon 
 what authority that honourable member had ventured 
 to insinuate that there was any undue partiality in 
 the mind of His Majesty towards any one of his 
 children. He concluded by expressing his conviction
 
 284 THE LIFE OF 
 
 that the best friends of the Duke of Kent would 
 lament much what had been said that night." 
 
 Mr. Forbes " expressed his regret that the case of 
 the Duke of Kent did not meet with more attention 
 from the House. But whatever might be the fate 
 of the motion under discussion, he trusted that the 
 mover and seconder would not fail to bring forward, 
 early in the next Session* some distinct proposition 
 for compensating the Duke for the various losses 
 which he had suffered in the service of his country. 
 The whole of the conduct of this illustrious personage 
 was what became an honest and patriotic Englishman." 
 
 Lord Lowther " hoped the motion would be with- 
 drawn." 
 
 Alderman Wood " disclaimed the idea of bringing 
 forward this measure with any such view as that of 
 rewarding the Duke of Kent for his exertions in the 
 cause of public charity. For those exertions His 
 Royal Highness was entitled to a higher and more 
 dignified reward. This measure had been pressed 
 upon him (Alderman Wood) by others j viz. by the 
 Trustees for liquidating the Duke's debts. He would 
 withdraw the motion." 
 
 Lord Castlereagh assented. 
 
 Motion withdrawn. 
 
 * A period which the illustrious victim of misrepresentation 
 never lived to see.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 285 
 
 So ended this memorable debate. Ministers would 
 neither mete out. to the Duke of Kent common justice ; 
 nor fulfil the promise solemnly made him by Lord 
 Sidmouth ; nor grant him the arrears, fairly due to 
 him, of his parliamentary allowance ; nor remunerate 
 him for the heavy losses he had sustained by the de- 
 struction of equipment after equipment in the public 
 service ; nor pay his debts, which he did not ask ; nor 
 afford him facilities (which he did} for discharging 
 them himself. They were content only to harass and 
 annoy him. Certainly the Cabinet of the Prince 
 Regent were consistent in injustice towards their royal 
 master's popular brother Was this his crime ? and 
 to the very last ? 
 
 But the haven was now in view. This was the 
 final disappointment. No further trial was in store 
 for him. Reverses embarrassments misrepresenta- 
 tion fraternal injustice each and all had, in turn, 
 been cheerfully borne and battled with. The term of 
 endurance was on the eve of closing : now drew on 
 the season of rest.
 
 286 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 TAKES THE CHAIR FOE THE LAST TIME AT THE ANNUAL MEETING 
 
 OF THE BKITISH AND FOREIGN SCHOOL SOCIETY HIS SPEECH ON 
 
 THE OCCASION DEPARTURE FOR SID MOUTH REMARKABLE EX- 
 PRESSION IN ONE OF THE DUKE's LETTERS RELATIVE TO THE 
 
 INFANT PRINCESS HER NARROW ESCAPE PROM SERIOUS INJURY 
 
 LETTER FROM THE DUKE ABOUT THE SCHOOL AT AMORBACH. 
 
 1819. 
 
 WE naturally scan, with eagerness, the closing por- 
 tions of the life of those whom we reverence and love. 
 We are desirous to ascertain whether the autumn of 
 life fulfilled the promise of its spring ; whether, as the 
 immortal spirit drew nearer and nearer to the period 
 of its release from its prison-house the body, there 
 was a progressive and corresponding ripening for the 
 blissful inheritance of immortality. We are curious to 
 learn whether, towards the close of life, there was 
 any renunciation of former principles ; any withdrawal 
 from benevolent enterprises; any hardening of the 
 affections ; any hesitation ; any selfishness ; any doubt ; 
 any fear.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 287 
 
 He, whose career we have been considering, will 
 bear the most searching scrutiny in this respect. He 
 was benevolent, indulgent, forgiving, and considerate 
 to the last. 
 
 The Duke, from its formation, had cordially sup- 
 ported the British and Foreign School Society. 
 
 Zealously concerned for the spread of education 
 among the masses, he had patronised Joseph Lan- 
 caster, even before the Society was regularly con- 
 stituted ; and from the very first took a deep interest 
 in its proceedings. 
 
 In 1813 1814, meetings of the Committee were 
 occasionally held, at Ms request, at Kensington Palace, 
 at which he presided, and was supported by the Duke 
 of Sussex, and the late Duke of Bedford. He 
 frequently took the chair at the annual meeting ; 
 but as the proceedings at those meetings were not 
 then reported, no record exists of the Chairman's 
 speeches, with but one exception ; that delivered 
 May 15, 1819. It may be considered as his farewell 
 to the Society. 
 
 " His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent opened 
 the Meeting as follows : 
 
 " LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, It is three years since 
 I had the pleasure of presiding at the Anniversary of 
 this excellent establishment, and I believe I may 
 venture to say, it will prove a proud day for me. The
 
 288 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Report will show what has been done in that time. 
 We have had, as you are well aware, great prejudices 
 to struggle against. I natter myself these are all 
 dispelling, and the time will come when, instead of 
 rinding rivals in other establishments, we shall find 
 only friends, such as I trust we, with our hearts as 
 well as by our conduct, shall be able to convince that 
 our object is the same. Without alluding to what are 
 termed the National Schools for any other purpose 
 than to name them as an auxiliary by which a great 
 deal of good is accomplished, I still wish to repeat my 
 own preference to the British and Foreign School 
 Society, upon that simple, broad, and plain principle, 
 that we admit children of all religious persuasions, 
 and give them that education, which by the other 
 establishments is granted only on terms which, accord- 
 ing to my principles, appear too narrow. So much 
 good is done so much instruction is given by them 
 to the lower classes of society, that we can but feel 
 proud that out of an establishment originating with 
 us, has sprung another establishment, which though it 
 does not go hand in hand with us, at least does much 
 good, and from which the poor derive great benefit. 
 In that light alone we would wish to view them, and 
 I hope the time will come when they will view our 
 establishment with similar feelings." 
 
 The health of the Duchess, which had suffered from
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 
 
 the unwearied solicitude with which she fulfilled her 
 maternal duties,* required a milder climate; and 
 Sidmouth was selected as the winter residence of the 
 royal pair. They intended in early spring to return 
 to Amorbach! 
 
 They reached Woolbrook Cottage in December : 
 and under date of the 29th, there is a singular passage 
 in a letter addressed by the Duke to a friend with 
 whom he had freely corresponded for years : 
 
 " My little girl thrives under the influence of 
 a Devonshire climate, and is, I am delighted to say, 
 strong and healthy ; too healthy, I fear, in the opinion 
 of some members of my family, by whom she is 
 regarded as an intruder ; how largely she contributes 
 to my own happiness at this moment it is needless for 
 me to say to you, who are in such full possession of 
 my feelings upon this subject." 
 
 " Regarded as an intruder !" These words contrast 
 strangely with the felicitous remark of one of the most 
 eloquent speakers in the House, which, while I am 
 
 * " I appreciate most gratefully your obliging remarks upon 
 the Duchess's conduct as a mother ; upon which I shall only 
 observe, that parental feeling, and a just sense of duty, and not 
 the applause of the public, were the motives which actuated her 
 in the line she adopted. She is, however, most happy that the 
 performance of an office, most interesting in its nature, has met 
 with the wishes and feelings of society." Letter from His Royal 
 Highness to Dr. Collyer, dated Kensington Palace, Sept. 30, 
 1819. 
 
 U
 
 290 THE LIFE OF 
 
 writing, is read to me by a very juvenile secretary. 
 Am I forbidden, because the orator holds a creed at 
 variance with my own, from admiring and quoting 
 him? 
 
 " He might as well frankly state what were his 
 sentiments with respect to the words ' Fidei Defensor/ 
 'Dei gratia.' With respect to the first, he could only 
 say he regarded our Sovereign as the Head of the 
 Protestant religion, and he hoped the title to the 
 appellation would never be destroyed. As to the 
 words 'Dei gratia,' he thought the Sovereign who 
 reigned over them was adorned with so many virtues 
 as to be indeed the gift of God, and he trusted she 
 might long be spared to them by His favour."* 
 
 Even in early childhood this life was placed in 
 jeopardy, as the following incident will prove : 
 
 "Sidmouth, Dec. 30, 1819. 
 
 " Yesterday and this day, the weather proving 
 favourable, their Royal Highnesses the Duke and 
 Duchess of Kent, and the Princess, have been each 
 day on the promenade, where they continued walking 
 a considerable time. The dangerous practice of inex- 
 perienced persons being trusted with guns had yester- 
 day been nearly attended with disastrous consequences : 
 an apprentice boy, shooting at small birds, had the 
 
 * Mr. Shiel, House of Commons, Feb. 1850.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 291 
 
 hardihood to approach so near the residence of their 
 Royal Highnesses, that the shot broke the windows of 
 the nursery, and passed very near the head of the 
 infant Princess, who was in the arms of the nurse. 
 The delinquent was detected ; but, at the request of 
 the Duke, he was pardoned, upon a promise of 
 desisting from such a perilous recreation." 
 
 But whether at Kensington or at Woolbrook, in 
 a palace or a cottage, the current of thought and daily 
 aim were one and the same to benefit others. And 
 this, one of his latest letters, derives no inconsiderable 
 degree of interest from its being connected with 
 a subject on which he was always earnest the educa- 
 tion of the poor. 
 
 " Sidmouth, Jan. 8, 1820. 
 " MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 " I had the pleasure last night of receiving your 
 favour of the 3d instant, with the interesting 
 enclosure herewith returned ; which, as the con- 
 stant and zealous friend of the promotion of edu- 
 cation amongst the poor, upon the principles of 
 the British and Foreign School Society, all over the 
 world, you may easily imagine has given me satisfac- 
 tion. I most highly approve of the instruction the 
 Committee have given you to correspond with the 
 
 u2
 
 292 THE LIFE OF 
 
 several highly respectable individuals quoted in the 
 letters from Mr. Stephen Grellett ; and the moment 
 you are so good as to explain to me to whom it is 
 wished that I should address a letter, recommending 
 the opening a correspondence with our Society, in 
 general furtherance of the cause of education, and an 
 interchange of communication and assistance, I will 
 immediately pen it ; but your letter is not sufficiently 
 explicit on that head, and therefore I am prevented 
 doing this by return of post. 
 
 " The communications I have received from Brus- 
 sels, from my old respected friend Colonel Houlton, 
 have been extremely satisfactory ; and I conceive, now 
 that a proper subscription has been raised, and Mr. Fire 
 chosen as the fittest person to fill the important 
 station of Master, the only thing remaining is that he 
 should have a complete training, in the first instance 
 at the Borough Road School, and then a little practice 
 at Paris, at the Central School ; during which time, 
 if, as you judiciously propose, Mr. Frossard can be 
 spared from Jersey, to take charge of the school, the 
 best results might be expected to the undertaking. 
 I have already written to my friend Colonel Houlton, to 
 recommend Mr. Fire being sent to England ; and 
 I think it would be right for Dr. Schwabe, as our 
 foreign secretary, to address a letter to the President 
 of the Committee, who I believe is Mr. Beyens, to
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 293 
 
 propose giving the instruction and necessary in- 
 formation to Mr. Pire, for such time as may be 
 necessary; and if at the same time Mr. Frossard 
 could be spared to take his place in the interim, 
 I apprehend there would be little doubt of the object 
 being accomplished. 
 
 " Upon the subject of the Master and Mistress for 
 Amorbach, the Duchess thinks she can do nothing 
 until our return there in the spring, to pay our annual 
 visit, at which period I trust that matter will be 
 brought to its completion ; it being our joint intention 
 to fit up a school for the instruction of ah 1 the poor of 
 that place, both male and female, at our personal 
 expense, if we cannot accomplish it otherwise; con- 
 ceiving that, when her son comes of age, it will be 
 the handsomest present we can make him. 
 
 " 1 have now only to request, when you answer 
 this, that you will forward your letter to N. Kirkland, 
 Esq. No. 8, Bennett-street, St. James's. 
 
 "With every sentiment of esteem and regard for 
 yourself, 
 
 " I remain, my dear Sir, 
 
 " Yours faithfully, 
 
 " EDWARD. 
 
 " James Millar, Esq. &c. &c. <kc"
 
 294 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE DUKE'S LAST ILLNESS DEATH THE PEACE AND TRANQUILLITY 
 
 OP HIS EXPIRING MOMENTS DR. MATON INTERVIEW WITH THE 
 PRINCE REGENT THE DUKE'S FUNERAL HIS WILL HIS RE- 
 ASSERTION IN IT OP HIS JUST BUT EVADED CLAIMS HOMAGE 
 PAID TO HIS MEMORY IN THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT. 
 
 THE year 1820 came in the last of the Duke's life. 
 He made it, as usual, the occasion of kindly expres- 
 sions to those honoured with, his regard. Uncon- 
 scious of the approaching event, he thus writes to 
 Dr. Rudge, two days only before the commencement 
 of his last illness : 
 
 " I fear it will be some time before we meet again. 
 I shall, therefore, avail myself of this opportunity of 
 wishing you health and happiness, until spring, when 
 I hope I shall again have the pleasure of seeing you 
 before our return to the continent, where, on account 
 of the Duchess's duties as guardian of her two chil- 
 dren, and Regent of her son's principality, we cannot 
 avoid going towards the end of April." 
 
 About the third week in January, the nation, with 
 whom he had become generally and deservedly popu-
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 295 
 
 lar, received a severe shock, from the painful and 
 wholly unexpected announcement that the Duke was 
 seriously ill, was pronounced beyond recovery, was 
 dying, was no more ! The deplorable event took 
 place at Woolbrook Cottage, at ten o'clock on the 
 morning of January 23d. The violence of his disease 
 threatened from the commencement a fatal result ; 
 but the bulletin of Thursday held out some little 
 ground of hope. The favourable change was, how- 
 ever, deceitful ; it was the pause in nature which 
 gradually precedes the last struggle. His Royal 
 Highness's disorder was inflammation of the lungs. 
 He bore his sufferings with the greatest fortitude 
 and resignation. 
 
 Prince Leopold, Captain Conroy, and Generals 
 Wetherall and Moore, were present to afford con- 
 solation and support to the Duchess in this most 
 trying scene. Her Royal Highness had been inde- 
 fatigable in her attentions, and performed all the 
 offices of his sick-bed with the most tender and affec- 
 tionate anxiety. She did not even take off her clothes 
 for five successive nights ; and all the medicines were 
 administered by her own hands. 
 
 From the first account of the Duke's illness, those 
 who were the best acquainted with His Royal High- 
 ness's constitution felt the most serious apprehensions 
 of a fatal result.
 
 296 THE LIFE OF 
 
 On Thursday se'nnight, His Royal Highness took 
 a long walk with Captain Conroy in the environs of 
 Sidmouth, and returned to the cottage with his boots 
 thoroughly soaked. 
 
 Captain Conroy, on reaching home, urged the Duke 
 to change his boots and stockings ; but the suggestion 
 was unheeded until he dressed for dinner, being 
 attracted by the smiles of his infant Princess, with 
 whom he sat for a considerable time in fond parental 
 endearment. Before night, however, he felt a sen- 
 sation of cold and hoarseness, when Dr. Wilson pre- 
 scribed a draught composed of calomel and Dr. James's 
 powders. This His Royal Highness, confiding in his 
 strength, and from an aversion to medicine, declined 
 taking, remarking, that he had little doubt but a 
 night's rest would carry off every uneasy symptom. 
 The event proved the contrary. In the morning, the 
 symptoms of fever were increased, and though His 
 Royal Highness lost one hundred and twenty ounces 
 of blood* from the arms and by cupping, he died on 
 
 * Dr. Maton was summoned from London, unavailingly, in con- 
 sultation. 1 well remember to have heard, at his house in Spring 
 Gardens, that able physician, and accomplished man, talk o'/er with 
 my father the particulars of the Duke's case ; and to have listened 
 to Dr. Maton's bitter regret at its fatal issue. One of his remarks 
 was, " Perhaps all was done that could be done. Indeed, that is 
 the view which must now be taken ; but if I had been in attendance 
 on him in the early stage of his disorder, I think I should have 
 bled him more freely. His stamina was so great, his constitution
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 297 
 
 Sunday forenoon. His Royal Highness was sensible 
 of his approaching dissolution, and met it with pious 
 resignation. He generously said he blamed himself 
 for not yielding to the seasonable advice of Dr. Wilson 
 in the first instance, by which the disease might, in 
 an early stage, have been checked. 
 
 Another account says : 
 
 " The death of His Royal Highness may be attri- 
 buted to a neglected cold, caught from sitting in wet 
 boots, after a walk in the environs of Sidmouth with 
 Captain Conroy. In the morning of Thursday the 
 20th, His Royal Highness was reported to be in 
 imminent danger ; but towards the middle of the 
 day he partly recovered, in consequence of a little 
 refreshing sleep which he had been enabled to obtain. 
 Towards evening, however, all the alarming symp- 
 toms returned again with increased vehemence, and 
 
 so unimpaired by excess, that he would have borne more deple- 
 tion ; at all events, I would have risked it. The result might 
 have been the'.same ; but I should have hazarded extreme deple- 
 tion." He characterised the Duke as one of the noblest, most 
 sincere, and truthful of human beings. He detailed to my father, 
 at some length, the interview which he had had with the Regent 
 at Carlton House, on his return from Sidmouth ; when he gave 
 him the particulars of his brother's illness. The Prince changed 
 colour, and seemed much shocked ; and when Dr. M. had finished 
 his narrative, inquired in rather a faltering tone, " Whether his 
 brother had sent him any message 1" " None." A pause of some 
 moments ensued ; and then, with a few unmeaning phrases, the 
 interview terminated.
 
 298 THE LIFE OF 
 
 continued so till towards Saturday morning, when 
 a kindly remission of them took place This, how- 
 ever, proved to be only that fatal relief which so 
 commonly occurs before death ensues." 
 
 Upon the most momentous of all subjects, one 
 who had ample means of judging, and who was about 
 his person to the last, thus pointedly observes : 
 
 " Nothing could be more exemplary than the reli- 
 gious bearing of my late dear master, the Duke of 
 Kent. His Royal Highness was only aware of his 
 state on Saturday the 22d. He executed his will 
 towards night ; and after that he took leave of his 
 gentlemen ; but, on our retiring, he sent for me to 
 come back, and in much conversation with me on many 
 subjects, he forgave as he hoped to be forgiven. It 
 was the Duke's intention to have received the sacra- 
 ment, but it was delayed to the following morning, 
 which was too late. When I left his bedside, he had 
 begun to doze and wander ; and it was about two 
 o'clock on the Sunday morning that he gave his dying 
 injunctions to the Duchess, who for many days and 
 nights never left him never, in fact, tin all was 
 over." 
 
 Information of the deplorable event was brought to 
 town on the morning of the 24th by General Moore, who 
 arrived in London at half-past eight, and drove at once 
 to Carlton House. That mansion was shortly after-
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 299 
 
 wards closed. General Moore then proceeded to York 
 House and Clarence House, to communicate the event 
 to the Dukes of York and Clarence ; and soon after- 
 wards proceeded to Windsor, on the same melancholy 
 errand to the Princesses." 
 
 On Saturday, the 12th of February, the Duke's 
 remains were committed to the tomb. 
 
 The body of His Royal Highness lay in state for a 
 short time at Woolbrook Cottage, previous to its final 
 removal from the scene, but a few days previously, of 
 unalloyed, domestic happiness. The lying in state 
 took place in a spacious room, which was hung with 
 black cloth, and lighted with thirty wax candles. The 
 glare of day was altogether excluded. The coffin and 
 urn were raised upon tressels, and covered with a rich 
 velvet pall. 
 
 At the head of the coffin was a plume of feathers ; 
 right and left were large wax tapers, in solid silver 
 candlesticks. 
 
 The concourse of persons who were admitted to the 
 solemn spectacle, was immense for a country town. 
 The company entered at one door, and having walked 
 round the royal remains, made their egress by another. 
 Every arrangement was governed by consummate order 
 and regularity. 
 
 On Monday, the 7th, the procession towards Wind- 
 sor commenced, attended by some thousand spectators.
 
 300 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Upon the arrival of the procession at Bridport, the 
 remains of His Royal Highness were placed in the 
 church under a military guard, during the night of 
 Monday. 
 
 On the following morning, at ten o'clock, the pro- 
 cession moved in the same order, halting on Tuesday, 
 the 8th, at Blandford ; on Wednesday, the 9th, at 
 Salisbury ; and on Thursday, the 10th, at Basingstoke; 
 the same arrangement being observed, for placing the 
 remains of his late Royal Highness, each night, as at 
 Bridport. 
 
 In every town through which the cavalcade passed, 
 the utmost respect was evinced by the inhabitants : 
 the shops were closed, the church bells tolled, and 
 every possible respect was paid which the rank and 
 virtues of the deceased demanded. 
 
 On Friday, the procession moved on in the same 
 order to Cumberland Lodge, Windsor Great Park, 
 and arrived there at six o'clock in the evening. 
 
 On the procession reaching the lodge, the coffin 
 was received at the principal entrance by Mr. Mash, 
 attended by Colonel Stevenson. It was conveyed into 
 one of the suite of rooms on the ground floor, im- 
 mediately at the left of the hall. 
 
 The coffin was one of the largest which has been 
 made for any of the royal family. It was 7 feet 
 5J inches in length; 2 feet 10 inches in breadth;
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 301 
 
 2 feet and 1 inch in depth ; and weighed altogether 
 upwards of a ton. 
 
 The inscription on the coffin ran thus : 
 
 DEPOSITUM 
 
 Illustrissimi Principis 
 EDUARDI DE BRUNSWICK-LUNENBURG, 
 Ducio Cantii et Stratherniae, Comitis 
 
 Dublinae, 
 
 Nobilissimi Ordinis Priscelidis, 
 
 Honoratissimi Ordinis Militaris de Balneo 
 
 et Illustrissimi Ordinis Sancti Patricii, 
 
 Equitis, 
 Filii Quartogeniti Augustissimi et Potentissimi 
 
 GEOEGII TEBTII, 
 
 Dei Gratia, Britanniarum Regis, Fidei 
 Defensoris. 
 
 Obiit 
 
 xxni Die Januarii, Anno Domini 
 
 MDCCCXX. 
 
 ./Etatis sure 
 
 LIII. 
 
 The supporters of the pall and canopy bearers 
 were all full generals, in their uniforms. 
 
 The Venerable Sir Isaac Heard proclaimed the style 
 of his late Royal Highness. 
 
 After the funeral obsequies had been solemnized, 
 his brothers, the royal Dukes, retired to the castle. 
 
 Under the will of the .deceased made on the 
 evening prior to His Royal Highness's death
 
 302 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Lieutenant - General Wetherall, comptroller of the 
 Duke's household, and Captain Conroy, one of his 
 equerries and his private secretary, were executors. 
 
 " I, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, being of sound 
 mind, do make my Will, in manner following : And 
 first I do nominate, constitute, and appoint my beloved 
 wife, Victoir, Duchess of Kent, to be sole guardian 
 to our dear child, the Princess Alexandrina Victoria, 
 to all intents, and for all purposes whatever; and 
 under a confident hope that my just claim on Govern- 
 ment WILL BE YET CONSIDERED, for the purpose of 
 
 liquidating my debts, I give, devise, and bequeath unto 
 Frederick Augustus Wetherall, Esq., Lieutenant- Gene- 
 ral in the army, ah 1 and every my real and personal 
 estates of every sort and nature, whatever and where- 
 soever situate, upon trust, and for the entire use and 
 benefit of my said beloved wife, and dear child, in 
 such manner, on such occasions, and at such times, as 
 my said dear wife shah 1 direct. And I do vest the 
 said Frederick Augustus Wetherall, and John Conroy, 
 with all and every necessary power and authority, with 
 the consent and approval of my said wife, to dispose 
 of all and every, or any part of my said estate and 
 effects, real and personal, for the purpose before men- 
 tioned. And I do hereby constitute and appoint the 
 said Frederick Augustus Wetherall, and John Conroy,
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 303 
 
 executors in trust of this my last Will and Testament. 
 In witness whereof I have subscribed my name, and 
 set my seal, the 22d day of January, 1820. 
 
 " EDWARD." 
 
 Consequent upon the event, were the following pro- 
 ceedings in the Legislature of the realm : 
 
 HOUSE OF LORDS. February 18, 1820. 
 
 " On the motion of Lord Liverpool, an address of 
 condolence to His Majesty on the death of the Duke 
 of Kent, and a message of condolence to the Duchess 
 of Kent, were agreed to. The noble Lord highly 
 panegyrized the conduct of the Duchess. 
 
 " In these praises Lord Eolle sincerely concurred. 
 So close, he said, was her attendance on the Duke in 
 his last illness, that for five days she never had put off 
 her clothes ; but she had her reward in the look which 
 her royal consort gave her before he expired,* and 
 which proved his grateful sense of her conduct, and 
 the consolation which it had afforded him." 
 
 HOUSE OF COMMONS. February 17, 1820. 
 " Lord Castlereagli moved an address of condolence 
 to His Majesty on the death of the Duke of Kent, 
 
 * It has been confidently stated, and never contradicted, that 
 the last words of the dying Prince to the Duchess were these 
 admirable for the feelings of faith and hope which they expressed 
 " Act uprightly, and TRUST IN GOD !"
 
 304 THE LIFE OF 
 
 which was unanimously agreed to, and ordered to be 
 presented in the same manner as the former. A reso- 
 lution of condolence to the Duchess of Kent was also 
 agreed to." 
 
 A contemporary by no means favourable to royalty 
 thus summed up his character : 
 
 " His person was tall and athletic ; his appearance 
 dignified ; his understanding strong ; his deportment 
 affable, and his bravery chivalrous. The course which 
 he pursued in politics, appears to have been almost 
 invariably tolerant, liberal, and conciliatory. Towards 
 the latter part of his life, he had become exceedingly 
 popular, and his death was deeply regretted by the 
 nation."
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 305 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 HIS CHARACTER THE FOUNDER OF REGIMENTAL SCHOOLS HIS 
 
 KINDNESS TO THE OLD SOLDIER PRINCE LEOPOLD HIS SHORT 
 
 BUT REMARKABLE SPEECH AT A PUBLIC MEETING THE DUKE'S 
 
 FORBEARANCE AS COLONEL OF THE REGIMENT LETTER FROM 
 
 REV. DR. RUDGE, THE DUKE'S DOMESTIC CHAPLAIN THE DUKE 
 
 AXD THE YOUNG ENSIGN HIS PAINFUL SUSCEPTIBILITY ON THE 
 
 SUBJECT OF GIBRALTAR THE BURIED QUEUE ! SCENE WITH 
 
 THE DUKE LETTER TO MR. AYTON KIND FEELING TOWARDS 
 
 THE PRESS, AND POLITICAL WRITERS LETTER TO MR. CRAW- 
 FURD LETTER TO DR. COLLYER HIS HABITS HIS PECULIA- 
 RITIES HIS PUNCTUALITY CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS. 
 
 BUT this brief summary does him scanty justice. Let 
 his career and character be analysed somewhat more 
 in detail. And first, with reference to the charge so 
 often brought against him of cruelty. 
 
 The assertion is not hazarded that he was a perfect 
 character. Perfection describes nothing human. ALL, 
 be their station what it may, bear the taint of Adam's 
 transgression. But this may fearlessly be affirmed : 
 the Duke's virtues were all his own. His faults were 
 nurtured and ripened by early and pernicious habits. 
 Subjected from his boyish days to the discipline of
 
 306 THE LIFE OF 
 
 a German adjutant, he became a soldier by choice, 
 and a martinet by example. Accustomed to the most 
 implicit obedience, he exacted it in return ; and that 
 too, with a degree of minuteness that rendered him 
 personally unpopular with the troops. But no sooner 
 did more mature years and greater observation of life 
 fall to the lot of His Royal Highness, than with 
 a magnanimity peculiar to a great and noble mind 
 he ingenuously avowed the sole errors of his youth 
 and education, by frankly acknowledging that the 
 military punishments then in use, might be commuted 
 for others less rigorous, and at the same time equally 
 efficient. Accordingly he was, actually, THE FIRST to 
 give a practical example, by substituting solitary con- 
 finement, which may in the end create a good soldier, 
 for the lash, which is found, by experience, constantly 
 to produce a bad one. 
 
 An ardent friend to education, his constant aim 
 was to raise the character and elevate the habits of 
 the soldier by educating him : and this fact is 
 undeniable, that he was THE FIRST COMMANDER OF A 
 REGIMENT who set the most commendable example 
 of having a regimental school. 
 
 The ensuing documents and correspondence bear 
 out this assertion. 
 
 " At a meeting held at the Freemasons' Tavern, 
 May llth, 181 1, of the friends and subscribers of the
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 307 
 
 Royal Lancasterian System of Education of the Poor, 
 the Duke of Bedford in the chair, the following among 
 other resolutions were passed : 
 
 " On the motion of the Marquis of Lansdowne, 
 seconded by William Adam, Esq., M.P., 
 
 " ' Resolved, 3d, That it is with the most lively 
 satisfaction this meeting contemplates the sanction 
 and support which the Lancasterian System for the 
 Education of the Poor has received from their Majes- 
 ties, and every branch of the royal family ; and His 
 Royal Highness the Duke of Kent is most respectfully 
 solicited to represent to the whole of the royal family 
 the high sense which this meeting entertains of a 
 patronage, no less important to the prosperity of the 
 undertaking, than indicative of the affection of 
 the House of Brunswick for the truest interests of 
 the people.' 
 
 " On the motion of tjie Marquis of Lansdowne, 
 seconded by Lord Keith, 
 
 " ' Resolved, 5th, That the respectful thanks of this 
 meeting be presented to His Royal Highness the 
 Duke of Kent, whose friendship to soldiers children 
 has been shown in that princely liberality with which 
 His Royal Highness has established a school in the 
 Royals, as Colonel of that regiment, AND SET AN 
 EXAMPLE which, it is hoped, will be universally fol- 
 lowed by military commanders, and thereby promote 
 
 x2
 
 308 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the welfare and do honour to the character of the 
 British army. 
 
 " ' That the thanks of this meeting be presented to 
 Lieutenant-Colonel M'Leod, and the Officers of the 
 4th battalion of the Royals, for the zeal and benevo- 
 lence with which they have superintended a Royal 
 Lancasterian School in that regiment. 
 
 " ' That His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent be 
 respectfully requested to communicate the same/ 
 
 " His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent lias set a 
 most important example, by introducing the Lancaste- 
 rian system into the army, having attached a school to 
 his own regiment. The school consists of the children 
 of the privates, and amounts to 220. A young man, 
 a sergeant in the regiment, was trained for the school- 
 master, at the Borough-road ; and the school was 
 instituted at Maiden, in Essex, where the regiment 
 was then quartered. Great credit is due to Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel M'Leod and the other officers, who 
 co-operated with their royal commander in his bene- 
 volent design. The regiment lately removed its 
 quarters to Dunbar, where the establishment was 
 carried on. Mr. Lancaster, on his journey to Scot- 
 land, found it in an excellent state of order. By 
 permission of the Duke, a number of these boys went 
 to Edinburgh, to illustrate the system in the lecture 
 delivered there by Mr. Lancaster. The regiment is
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 309 
 
 now quartered at Stirling; and the school, at the 
 request of the magistrates, is kept in the Guildhall of 
 Stirling Castle ; many of the town's children partici- 
 pating in its benefits. On joining the Duke of Kent's 
 regiment, if a recruit is found incapable of reading, he 
 is sent to the school ; and, as a powerful stimulus to 
 exertion, those who make a good proficiency in learn- 
 ing are put down as duplicate non-commissioned 
 officers." 
 
 The point appeared to me so full of interest, as 
 illustrating the character of the Duke, that I put 
 myself in communication with Mr. Watson, the ex-, 
 cellent chaplain of Stirling Castle ; and by his kind 
 courtesy procured the following particulars. The 
 reader, if friendly to the education of the people, will 
 not deem the accompanying letters undeserving of 
 perusal. 
 
 " Bothwell, Aug. 22, 1849. 
 " SIR, 
 
 "To your letter of the 9th instant, I have much 
 pleasure in replying. 
 
 " I would be truly glad if it were in my power to 
 furnish every particular relative to the subject on 
 which the letters of yourself and Mr. Neale treat. 
 " I joined at Maldon the 4th battalion of the
 
 310 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Royals; but it was at Dunbar that I first saw the 
 Lancasterian system, which, prior to the battalion 
 quitting England, had been the mode of instruction 
 pursued in the regimental school, by authority of His 
 Royal Highness, the ever-lamented Duke of Kent, 
 who was ever anxious to promote the good of the soldier. 
 While at Dunbar, I perfectly remember Mr. Lancaster 
 coming there from London to examine the pupils as 
 to their progress by his course of imparting knowledge, 
 with which he was perfectly satisfied. And being 
 desirous of conveying to the public the perfection of his 
 system, he obtained permission, through the Duke of 
 Kent, to take some of the young soldiers of the school 
 with him to Edinburgh ; where, in the theatre, they 
 exhibited to the entire satisfaction of a numerous 
 audience. The regimental school attained such high 
 reputation, that there were some regiments that 
 applied for, and each obtained, one of the most pro- 
 ficient of the scholars as teachers. The battalion was 
 removed from Dunbar to Stirling Castle in 1811, 
 where the system was rigidly carried on, and where, 
 so far as my recollection goes, the children of many of 
 the inhabitants were permitted to attend the regimen- 
 tal school gratuitously. And I am fully aware that 
 a gold medal was presented to the schoolmaster, by 
 order of the lamented Duke of Kent, bearing an inscrip-
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 311 
 
 tion expressive of His Royal Higliness's approbation 
 of his zeal and assiduity. 
 
 " I have the honour to be, 
 
 " Sir, 
 " Your obedient Servant, 
 
 " ROBERT MULLEN, 
 
 " The Rev. Robert Watson, " Late Lieut-Col. Royal Regt. 
 
 Stirling Castle." 
 
 " Stirling Castle, Sept. 11, 1849. 
 
 " REV. SIR, 
 
 " The letter of Lieutenant -Colonel Mullen I prefix. 
 The' 4th battalion of the Royals occupied this 
 garrison in 1811. The name of the person who 
 taught the military school at that time was Munns, 
 if I am rightly informed. Besides the gold medal 
 presented to him by the Duke's orders, he ob- 
 tained, it is believed, a commission through the same 
 influence. In an old almanac for 1814, I find G. F. 
 Munns noticed as one of the four quarter-masters of 
 the Royals. And I have very little doubt that he is 
 the same person who taught the school, 
 
 " I regret that the person who had it in his power 
 to furnish the best and fullest information died about 
 a year ago. He was adjutant of the battalion at the 
 time, and, I believe, took considerable interest in
 
 312 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the school. With Dr. Galliers, surgeon to the batta- 
 lion when quartered here, I had some conversation 
 regarding the contents of your letter ; but he was able 
 to supply me with very little information beyond what 
 I already possessed. I may mention, however, that 
 the lady of Dr. Galliers remembers being at an exa- 
 mination of the school when Mr. Lancaster himself was 
 present. There was the strictest attention paid to 
 regularity and order ; and, as far as her recollection 
 goes, Mr. Lancaster expressed himself highly pleased 
 with the mode in which his system was pursued in the 
 military school, and with the proficiency of the pupils. 
 In those days persons were admitted into the army, 
 and put upon the strength of regiments, at a much 
 earlier period of life than at present. The Royals 
 accordingly had a good many boys belonging to the 
 corps. To these in particular the schoolmaster's 
 attention was, I believe, principally directed. /So far 
 as I have been able to ascertain, UNTIL THE DUKE OF 
 KENT SET THE EXAMPLE, regimental schools were things 
 quite unknown in the service ! 
 
 " I have the honour to be, Rev. Sir, 
 " Your most obedient 
 
 " And humble Servant, 
 
 " ROBERT WATSON, 
 
 " Minister of Stirling. 
 " To Rev. Erskine Neale, 
 
 Kirton Rectory"
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 313 
 
 As a pendant to the above, and before I quit the 
 subject of education as connected with the Duke's 
 name, I cannot resist adding the following incident. 
 
 The school which had been held in a barn for two 
 years at Oxshot, a small hamlet on the Claremont 
 estate, gained the attention and patronage of His 
 Royal Highness Prince Leopold, and on Wednes- 
 day, the 7th of June, 1821, the first stone of a new 
 and spacious building was laid, which was called, by the 
 express desire of Her Royal Highness the Duchess of 
 Kent, " The Pioyal Kent School," as a remembrancer 
 of the late Duke, who had, in his lifetime, greatly 
 interested himself in this cause. The school was 
 conducted on the British and Foreign plan, and on 
 Sundays used as a place of worship. A vast con- 
 course of people attended at the ceremony, and the 
 royal arms were carried in procession, and have 
 been since suspended in the barn. 
 
 On Monday, August 15, 1821, a meeting of the 
 friends of education was held at Oxshot near 
 Claremont, in the new school, the foundation of 
 which was noticed in the preceding paragraph. 
 
 It was attended by the Duchess of Kent and 
 Prince Leopold, the patroness and patron of the 
 school, the latter of whom took the chair. At the 
 conclusion of a very interesting address, Prince 
 Leopold feelingly exclaimed, " Real piety is the only
 
 314 THE LIFE OF 
 
 support in adversity, which never fails : / speak from 
 sad experience, and may say, that without the support 
 of religion, I could never have borne up against the 
 calamities with which it has pleased Providence to 
 visit me." 
 
 An instance, among many, of the kind-heartedness 
 of the deceased Prince, occurs in Dr. Collyer's Memoir. 
 The Duke had been prevailed upon to solicit the dis- 
 charge of a young man, who had rashly enlisted in the 
 military service, almost at the expense of the life of his 
 aged and afflicted parents : and having procured his 
 dismissal from the army, he further undertook, 
 without solicitation, to give it efficacy with the 
 smallest delay, and at the least possible expense, at a 
 time when the efficiency of the substitutes was 
 previously subjected to trial. 
 
 He says, " Your esteemed favour of the 26th ult. 
 having given me reason to expect that I should 
 shortly again have the pleasure of hearing from you, 
 I purposely delayed answering that until I should 
 receive your second letter. That having now come to 
 hand, under date of the 2d instant, 1 hasten to return 
 you my best thanks for both. The information you 
 
 have afforded me of the present station of , 
 
 will immediately enable me to communicate the official 
 sanction for his discharge, upon providing the sub- 
 stitutes required by the regulations of the services,
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 315 
 
 and I will take care that Major is informed of 
 
 my intention, that he should pass the substitutes at 
 Tilbury, and detain them there for trial, by way of 
 giving every facility to his friends to promote his 
 release from the service, at the least possible expense 
 and inconvenience to him or to them." 
 
 " A young officer in his regiment had formed some 
 associations by which he was seduced from a sense of 
 duty, and certainly wrote to the Duke in a style of 
 insolence, which few persons, not of the rank of His 
 Royal Highness, would have forgiven ; at the same 
 time that he disobeyed the orders of his superior 
 officers. To have reported him to the Cominander-in- 
 Chief would have ruined all his military prospects ; not 
 to notice his conduct must have been subversive of 
 military subordination. The good prince could not 
 consent to expose his officers to contempt of authority, 
 and would not visit the transgressions of the offender 
 upon his head. His object was, to endeavour to 
 reclaim him from a course which threatened his future 
 welfare ; and although it was necessary to remove him 
 from the regiment, to effect this in a way least injurious 
 to his interests by recommending him to be placed upon 
 half-pay. His Royal Highness could not himself 
 appeal to the better feelings of this young man, but 
 he did it through the medium of the friend who had 
 just recommended him to notice. ' It is with real
 
 316 THE LIFE OF 
 
 concern/ he says, ' that I address myself to you 
 to-day, as the object of this letter is to communicate 
 
 to you the copy of one I have received from Mr. , 
 
 the gentleman I recommended for a commission in 
 
 at your request, which is of such a nature that 
 
 were I to lay it before the Commander-in-Chief, it 
 would be impossible for him to escape without being 
 subject to the most ignominious dismissal from the 
 service. My object, therefore, is through you to 
 induce him to retract and apologize for this gross 
 production, which is subversive of every rule of military 
 subordination, and such as I could not be warranted 
 in passing over, as the colonel of the regiment, but 
 from the hope that this unfortunate young man may 
 be brought to a sense of his error, and atone for it 
 before it is too late.' After stating the particulars of 
 misconduct, and the steps which he had taken, the 
 Duke adds, ' In short, my whole wish has been to 
 treat him with all possible kindness and indulgence 
 on your account, and the return he has made me has 
 been his writing me this letter, the copy of which I 
 herewith enclose, and which I am sure you will admit, 
 had I treated him knowingly with the grossest injus- 
 tice, nothing could have justified. I am, however, still 
 willing to save him, if possible, from ignominy, which 
 must ensue if I once lay the subject before the Duke 
 of York, which I must do unless he makes a suitable
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 317 
 
 apology, and entreats me to permit him to withdraw 
 the letters, which, in that case, I will most willingly 
 assent to.' In another letter on the same subject he 
 says, ' Convey to him from me that the moment he 
 is brought to a sense of his relative situation towards 
 his superior officer, I am ready to forgive his conduct 
 towards me.' 
 
 The proper submission was made, and accepted with 
 generous pleasure by His Royal Highness : ' I am 
 truly happy to find,' said this considerate commander, 
 
 ' that Mr. has seen the propriety of following my 
 
 advice with respect to retracting those further acts of 
 which I could not possibly approve. I now only wait 
 
 for a few lines from Colonel , which will be 
 
 prepared in a day or two, to enable me to write in a 
 more official shape to the military secretary of the 
 Commander-in-Chief, so as to induce the Duke of 
 
 York to remove from the stigma that was placed 
 
 upon him when retiring to half-pay, and thereby 
 enable him to pursue the active duties of his profession 
 in some other corps.' ' 
 
 By these firm, yet mild and conciliatory measures, 
 in a case of most aggravating misconduct, did the Duke 
 of Kent save from ruin, and preserve to the service, a 
 high-spirited young officer, who was misled for a time, 
 but thus recovered to his friends and to his country. 
 Yet this was the man who was represented as a
 
 318 THE LIFE OF 
 
 martinet, a tyrant, an unfeeling disciplinarian, the 
 scourge of the troops placed under his command ! 
 " O shame, where is thy blush?" 
 
 An officer of high rank writes me : 
 
 "The Duke of Kent was the most accessible of 
 human beings. An old sergeant ; an old soldier, who 
 had served under him ; a broken down trooper, who 
 had been discharged without a pension, and whom the 
 world had used hardly, were sure of an audience if 
 they presented themselves at Kensington Palace ; and 
 if in circumstances of difficulty, the Duke's earliest and 
 best attention would be given to the particulars of 
 their case. If redress was needed and could be got, 
 nothing stopped the Duke in his pursuit of it ! Time, 
 trouble, letters to be written or read, personal applica- 
 tions, oral applications, nothing baulked him if a wrong 
 was to be redressed, or a poor devil set on his legs. 
 And observe, he never broke faith. What he promised 
 he fulfilled. Name to me another prince of whom the 
 same can be said!" 
 
 An officer of some standing in the army thus writes 
 me relative to his former friend : 
 
 " The solicitude of His Royal Highness the late 
 Duke of Kent for my well-being was not confined 
 to expressions used in the correspondence with 
 Dr. Collyer. When His Royal Highness learnt that I 
 was marching from Hythe, in Kent, to Portsmouth, to
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 319 
 
 embark for the Peninsula, he sent directions to an 
 officer to provide a horse for me, and also caused to be 
 sent from London for my use, such surveying instru- 
 ments as I required as an officer of the Royal Staff 
 corps. The case of mathematical instruments are yet 
 very good, though I carried them all through the 
 Peninsula from Lisbon to Bordeaux since then to 
 Canada, and back to England ; then all round the world, 
 and into the jive grand divisions of it, and finally to 
 India and back to England. Since my return I have 
 had them put into thorough repair, and shall ever value 
 them as the gift of my illustrious patron, a prince for 
 whose memory I cherish no common regard; and 
 I most sincerely wish that every success may attend 
 your efforts to call attention to the life of struggle, and 
 the many as yet unappreciated excellences, of His 
 Royal Highness the late Duke of Kent." 
 
 Dr. Rudge, to whom I am very deeply indebted for 
 many and most valuable hints, thus expresses himself: 
 
 " The Duke of Kent took a real delight in doing 
 good. As I took the liberty of reproving him for the 
 indiscriminate manner in which he often distributed 
 his charities to the worthless and undeserving, he, 
 for some years before his decease, requested me to 
 examine every application he received, and referred to 
 me all letters of the sort, and in no instance did he 
 ever fail to relieve the distressed, if their characters
 
 320 THE LIFE OF 
 
 proved to be good. These investigations at the time 
 gave me much trouble, and caused me much abuse 
 from those of whom I could not present a favourable 
 account. But this, of course, I little regarded .... 
 In spirit and feeling, the Duke was one of the most 
 benevolent of men. His desire to do good was unre- 
 mitting. But in speaking or writing of him, you will 
 bear in mind that he lived at a period in which 
 A MARK was put upon any man, however high or low 
 his station, who supported liberal institutions, and 
 entertained charitable feelings towards others out of 
 the Established Church. And it was quite sufficient, 
 at the time to which I allude, for even a private clergy- 
 man to have the door of preferment closed upon him, 
 if by a certain clique a suspicion was entertained, and a 
 rumour was propagated touching his orthodoxy, which 
 orthodoxy was made a matter of question if he lent the 
 slightest support to a Bible society ! The Duke once 
 told me, that on a visit to Windsor he met with the 
 then Archbishop of Canterbury. The subject on the 
 tapis, the King was present, was the Bible Society. 
 The Archbishop said to the King, but meaning his 
 remark for the Duke, ' He that is not with us is 
 against us.' To which the Duke rejoined, 'Your 
 Grace, there is another saying of our Lord, ' He that is 
 not against us is on our side. ' The prelate frowned, 
 but made no reply."
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 321 
 
 A gentleman, formerly in the Royals, but now a 
 member of a profession, for which, sacred as it is, his 
 virtues, zeal, and earnestness eminently fit him, gave 
 me this trait of his well-remembered commander : 
 
 " Shortly after I was gazetted I went down to Castle 
 Hill to see my Colonel. The invitation perhaps 
 I should say command was for breakfast. The 
 Duke came in from his morning stroll in the grounds, 
 and the servant brought in the breakfast equipage. 
 There was a good deal of state and ceremony in the 
 arrangements ; but at last he handed a large massive 
 tea-caddy to the Duke, who, to my astonishment, had 
 the key, and proceeded very gravely to unlock it. 
 I suppose griffin as I was that surprise was visible 
 in my tell-tale face, for the Duke said, 
 
 " ' Take a lesson from me you are just starting 
 in life never be above attending to particulars, ay, 
 and minute particulars. Many a man has had reason 
 to rue his deeming himself so circumstanced as to be 
 above giving attention to trifles. What is a trifle? 
 Nothing that has reference to our comfort, our inde- 
 pendence, or our peace.' 
 
 " The breakfast hour sped away rapidly enough. The 
 Duke gave me some very useful hints on military 
 matters, and much valuable information. When I took 
 leave of him, he said, with the most winning kindness 
 of voice and manner, ' Regard your Colonel as your 
 
 \
 
 322 THE LIFE OF 
 
 FRIEND. If you get into any scrape or difficulty, if 
 any unforeseen or awkward contingency arises, come 
 to me at once. Tell me all be frank have no 
 reserves : and if there be nothing dishonourable to 
 you as a soldier, be the scrape what it may, I'll yet 
 you out of it! " 
 
 " His (the Duke's) acquaintance with details was," 
 added my friend, " quite marvellous. He knew every- 
 thing that was passing in his regiment, and every- 
 body, from the drum-boy to the lieutenant-colonel !" 
 
 Another most popular personage, who had formerly 
 served in the Royals, and has now attained high rank 
 richly merited by dauntless bravery, thus alluded to 
 his former chief. It is proper that I should pre- 
 viously state, by way of explanation, that Sir Harry 
 Fearnought* was formerly a midshipman on board 
 H.M.S. Active. That ship lay in the bay of Gibraltar 
 at the time of the mutiny, and was the bark on board 
 of which the rebels intended to place the Duke, had 
 they succeeded in their attempt to seize his person 
 and eject him from the Rock. Disliking the service, 
 or finding his chance of promotion in it visionary, 
 the young midshipman quitted the navy for the army. 
 His name was put down for a commission. It came : 
 he was gazetted to the Royals. On this, as a matter 
 
 * I need hardly say, that this is a nom de guerre.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 
 
 of course, he went down to Kensington to pay his 
 personal respects to his Colonel the Duke. 
 
 His own words must now be given. 
 
 " The Duke received me very coldly : and after the 
 interchange of a few common-place phrases his part 
 of the dialogue being performed, by the way, with 
 remarkable hauteur he drew himself up to his full 
 
 height, and said, ' Mr. , it is proper you should 
 
 be told, at once, and from myself, that you are put 
 into my regiment against my wishes. I applied at 
 the Horse Guards for another individual, in whose 
 favour I was and am deeply interested; but the 
 authorities there have thought fit to disregard my 
 application, and have sent you here against my will and 
 desire. I repeat, you enter my regiment, Sir, not 
 with my consent, but against it.' I immediately 
 replied, ' I am extremely sorry to hear from your 
 Royal Highness that such is the case. I learn it now 
 for the first time. It is a matter most abhorrent to 
 my wishes to do anything that is displeasing or dis- 
 agreeable to you. I can now fully understand that 
 my joining the Royals would be both. It would also 
 be most disagreeable to myself. The very idea is 
 hateful to me of forcing myself into a regiment, or 
 joining it, in defiance of the Colonel. If, therefore, 
 any alternative can be pointed out, or any course 
 suggested for my exchange into another regiment, 
 
 Y 2
 
 324 THE LIFE OF 
 
 I am quite ready to adopt it. Your Royal Highness 
 has only to indicate what steps you wish to be 
 pursued.' 
 
 " ' That fixes you, Sir, in mine ! You have spoken 
 frankly and without flattery, like a soldier and a man 
 of honour. I advert to this subject no more. Now 
 tell me where you have been and what you have 
 done/ 
 
 " ' 1 have been in the navy.' 
 
 " ' On board what ship ?' 
 
 " ' The Active: 
 
 He started. The name struck him at once. 
 
 " ' About what period ? ' was his next question ; 
 and he waited, with evident eagerness, for my 
 reply. 
 
 " ' The year 1802 and 1803.' 
 
 " ' Ah ! Were you in her off Gibraltar at that 
 time, when that most unfortunate affair of the mutiny 
 occurred ? ' 
 
 " ' I was/ 
 
 " ' And did you happen to hear that ' ' 
 
 " Some strong remarks followed, which it may be as 
 well not to repeat, as they impugned the loyalty and 
 good faith of other parties, and were evidently wrung 
 from him in the bitterness of his recollections. I refer 
 to it principally, to show how the mere mention of 
 Gibraltar in after years affected him !
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 325 
 
 " Time rolled on. I wish the old boy's wings could 
 be clipped ! They bear away one's friends, one's 
 comrades, one's hopes, one's youth so rapidly ! . . . . 
 We lay off Chelmsford. It was the year 1809. We 
 were about proceeding on foreign service. Orders 
 came down from the Horse Guards : the men were 
 allowed to cut off their queues or retain them, as they 
 pleased. Some did : and some did not. My reso- 
 lution was soon taken. I cut off mine : placed it in 
 a coffin ; had a pall put upon it ; fired a salute of 
 twenty-one guns over it ; and buried it. It was a 
 madcap freak ; but I was wild with joy at getting rid 
 of this hateful appendage. I had my fling : and the 
 prank was forgotten. Some ten days afterwards I 
 saw the Duke. He received me with astounding 
 austerity. He looked not blue, but actually black 
 with indignation. After some monosyllabic answers 
 to my very deferential inquiries he burst forth, 'I 
 could not have believed it, Sir, that you would have 
 striven to bring the regulations of the army into dis- 
 repute. I entertained a higher opinion of you. I 
 fancied that you, at least, saw the necessity, the abso- 
 lute and paramount necessity of adhering to points of 
 discipline, and minutiae in dress and equipments. I 
 flattered myself YOU would be the last man to descend 
 to the use of the vulgar weapon, ridicule, where 
 matters relating to the service were concerned. I see
 
 326 THE LIFE OF 
 
 my error. I had estimated your soldierly feelings too 
 highly.' 
 
 " ' May I presume to inquire of your Royal Highness 
 what is my offence ? ' 
 
 " ' You buried your queue, Sir buried it with 
 military honours : ' said the Duke, with portentous 
 gravity. 
 
 " I thought I should have roared," said Sir Harry, 
 " when this forgotten escapade was thus solemnly 
 brought to my recollection. 
 
 "The Duke continued, 
 
 " ' It had a coffin and a pall and a salute of 
 twenty-one guns and I know not what distinctions 
 beside : all, of course, by way of mockery and 
 bravado ! ' 
 
 "And niy illustrious Colonel's countenance was 
 crimson up to the very temples, in his wrath at my 
 profaneness. 
 
 " ' Do you deny this ? ' 
 
 " ' By no means. It is perfectly true. I did all your 
 Royal Highness relates. But may not my conduct 
 admit of another interpretation ? Might not these dis- 
 tinctive honours be regarded as proofs of attachment 
 to my queue as marks of respect for an appendage 
 which had belonged to me for so many years, and 
 which was so essentially military ? I submit that no 
 ex-parte view should be taken of my proceeding.'
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 3.27 
 
 " The Duke smiled. Whether he saw through my 
 ru#e I know not. I suspect he did, for he was not 
 easily deceived. But he feigned an air of conviction ; 
 and we parted on cordial terms. 
 
 "Now I give you these two anecdotes," said Sir 
 Harry, "because, to my mind, they convey no dim 
 idea of the man. You may gather from them his 
 kindness of heart ; the manner in which his reason- 
 able requirements were systematically thwarted at the 
 Horse Guards ; and the importance which he attached 
 to military minutiae. And then I must add, that a 
 more thorough soldier a more princely-minded man, 
 never gave the word of command ! " 
 
 The following letters are curious. The first is in- 
 teresting only from its allusion to Louis Philippe. The 
 next, from the insight it gives into the Duke's views 
 of the press. And the last as indicative though it 
 were needless of his untiring humanity, and prompt 
 compassion for the unfortunate. 
 
 " Kensington Palace, Sept. 15, 1807. 
 
 " DEAR ATTON, 
 
 " In answer to Mr. Padley's letter to you, I must 
 beg of you to assure him that I should be miserable 
 to think that he did not enjoy under my ranger- 
 ship, to the full, every indulgence which his pre-
 
 328 THE LIFE OF 
 
 decessor had during that of my deceased uncle ; and 
 pray, forthwith order the half buck to be delivered 
 to him, and the same continued annually. I hope 
 your excellent mother has had hers ; for if she has not, 
 I shall be very angry with you ; and that my old friend 
 Mrs. Tunstall, as well as Messrs. Brown and Yenn, 
 have been supplied with the same, at such time as was 
 most acceptable to them. 
 
 " In regard to the papering, I have this day caused 
 inquiry to be made at the Chamberlain's Office, rela- 
 tive to a precedent for its being done under that 
 department ; and if so, of course I shall get it done by 
 their tradesmen ; but if that should not be the case, 
 then the Duke of Orleans* will do it at his own 
 expense, and employ the same upholsterer (Mr.Gillois), 
 who is to furnish for him, to do that also, for we have 
 both seen enough of Mr. White to wish to have no- 
 thing to do with him but as a tradesman working under 
 estimate from the Board of Works. 
 
 " I am, 
 
 " With friendly regard and sincere esteem, . 
 " Dear Ay ton, 
 
 " Ever yours faithfully, 
 
 " EDWARD. 
 
 " To William Ayton, Esq." 
 
 Louis Philippe.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 329 
 
 " P.S. I shall henceforward, for the rest of the 
 season, wish to receive a half buck weekly, by Geymer, 
 on the Friday, but killed on the Wednesday." 
 
 g IR " Kensington Palace, May 2, 1815. 
 
 " I have had under my careful consideration the 
 various particulars you have stated in your letter 
 bearing date the 28th ultimo. I have no recollection 
 of any officer of the name of Layson having served 
 under me in the campaign in the West Indies ; and 
 my memory so rarely fails me as to names, that I feel 
 tojerably certain no officer, so designated, was there ; 
 so that I presume some mistake has arisen as to the 
 period or place of service ; but that does not diminish 
 my feelings of regret for the sufferings of Captain 
 Layson's worthy son, or do away with my desire to 
 contribute to his relief. 
 
 " I have, for some years past,* entertained a strong 
 
 * The Duke had been a warm and steady friend for years to 
 the Literary Fund. 
 
 " Thursday, May 4, 1815. This day the Anniversary of the 
 Literary Fund was celebrated at the Freemasons' Tavern, the Duke 
 of Kent in the chair. After dinner, His Royal Highness addressed 
 the company, dwelling with much eloquence on the plan and 
 object of the Institution, and on the benefits of literature to the 
 
 community." 
 
 ***** 
 
 In Fitzgerald's Ode, recited May 4, 1820, the lines occur : 
 " What awful scenes are passing every hour, 
 To show the gossamer of rank and power ! 
 
 The PRINCE
 
 330 THE LIFE OF 
 
 conviction that the country does not treat with suf- 
 ficient consideration the services of her literary men, 
 more particularly those who cater for the public press, 
 and who are often men of very considerable intelli- 
 gence and ability. England, who has Chelsea and 
 Greenwich for her decayed soldiers and sailors, might 
 with propriety provide some peaceful asylum for the aged 
 and worn-out writer, when the power to think and the 
 ability to record fail (as they must inevitably do) 
 eventually, from the pressure of years and unremitting 
 exertion. 
 
 " I have, therefore, great pleasure in enclosing ten 
 pounds, which I beg you will devote to Mr. Lay son's 
 present exigencies. I only regret that my means of 
 serving him are so limited, and that the remittance is 
 not more commensurate with his misfortunes and 
 deserts. 
 
 " I am, Sir, 
 
 " Yours very faithfully, 
 
 " EDWARD. 
 
 " Mr. Philip Crawfurd, 
 attersea" 
 
 The PKINCE who, once, so ably fill'd that chair, 
 And who, this day, had promised to be there;* 
 Fram'd in a mould to look for length of days, 
 Sunk in the grave our sorrow, and our praise ! " 
 
 * The late Duke of Kent had promised to attend the Anniver- 
 sary of the Literary Fund, in 1820, the year in which he died.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 331 
 
 " MY DEAR DOCTOR, 
 
 " The instant I received your letter of Sunday even- 
 ing, upon the case of the unfortunate , now 
 
 under sentence of death, at Newgate, I lost no time 
 in taking that step which I conceived to be most 
 efficacious to obtain either his pardon or a com- 
 mutation of his sentence, viz. that of placing your 
 most interesting relation, and its accompanying en- 
 closure, in the hands of the Earl of Moira, who holds 
 the first place in the Prince's confidence, and will, I 
 am sure, most warmly second our wishes of saving 
 this unfortunate young man, by representing his case 
 to my brother in the most favourable light. With 
 such an advocate for our cause, I own I feel sanguine 
 of success ; and it will be one of the happiest days of 
 my life if I am enabled to communicate to you and 
 your respectable friend the result of the step I have 
 taken being favourable ; as, from the moment I first 
 
 heard of 's misfortune, my heart felt warmly 
 
 interested for him. I am happy in this, as in every 
 opportunity, of repeating the sentiments of friendly 
 regard and sincere esteem, with which 
 
 " I ever am, my dear Doctor, 
 
 " Yours faithfully, 
 
 " EDWARD. 
 
 " Dr. Collyer"
 
 332 THE LIFE OF 
 
 The application was successful. 
 
 The Duke was abstemious, perhaps even to a fault ; 
 and all his habits of life were uniform and unvarying. 
 Like his royal father, he was an early riser ; and to 
 attain this object, he kept a man-servant to light his 
 fire in winter, who never went to bed but in the day- 
 time, that he might be enabled to fulfil his office with 
 punctuality and despatch. Precisely at six o'clock, a 
 cup of coffee was brought to His Royal Highness by 
 one domestic, and the tray removed by another soon 
 after. In the course of the morning, all the chief ser- 
 vants made their appearance in turn ; and a bill of the 
 expenditure of the former day was always brought in 
 by the house-steward, with a minuteness scarcely pos- 
 sible to be conceived. 
 
 Among the peculiarities of the Duke of Kent, are to 
 be enumerated his bells for the purpose of preserving 
 order and regularity. Five separate pulls, with gilt 
 handles, were conspicuously placed in a small alcove in 
 the parlour, next Kensington-gardens, for the purpose 
 of summoning an equal number of domestics. 
 
 The palace at Kensington abounded with musical 
 clocks. Two of these that chimed every quarter of an 
 hour, although not attended to by the royal owner, 
 were particularly annoying to strangers, as they inter- 
 rupted the conversation, and seemed to preclude the 
 possibility of being listened to.
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 333 
 
 One quality for which he was distinguished in all 
 his habits, public and private, was punctuality. All 
 letters, even such as were anonymous, if any place was 
 specified whither a reply might be sent, received 
 immediate notice, and were answered to the full detail 
 of their contents. The consequence was, that the 
 correspondence of the Duke was most voluminous. 
 He never suffered any letter to go out in his name, 
 which he did not himself dictate or write, for subse- 
 quent transcription and his own signature. As all his 
 letters were put into his own hand, without any inter- 
 mediate examination, they all received his own defini- 
 tive answer, and in his own language. To meet these 
 contingent claims, in addition to those of his stated 
 engagements, military, public, and private, he was 
 obliged to husband weh 1 his time ; and every part of 
 the day was so arranged that it could not brook inter- 
 ruption ; for the whole was filled, from the beginning 
 to the close of it. He was, therefore, and necessarily, 
 most punctual in all his appointments. 
 
 To be a quarter of an hour too late was to risk not 
 seeing him at all, and certainly to abridge the inter- 
 view to that extent. " I thought I should not have 
 had the pleasure of seeing you to-day," said he, on 
 one occasion, turning to the clock which stood in his 
 closet, and the index of which pointed out that ten 
 minutes had elapsed beyond the stipulated hour. A
 
 334 THE LIFE OF 
 
 servant entered, announcing that certain individuals 
 were then in waiting ; " I cannot see them to-day," 
 was his reply : " I named nine o'clock, and it is now 
 ten minutes past ten : my appointments are filled up 
 for the day ; to-morrow I will see them at one o'clock 
 precisely!' In all this there was no affectation. It 
 was a habit formed in his childhood, by the precepts, 
 and upon the example of his royal father ; cultivated 
 by the military discipline, to which it is essential; 
 confirmed by the extent and variety of his occupations, 
 and maintained upon the conviction of its propriety 
 in itself and its great importance to society. By 
 adhering invariably to order, and inflexibly to this 
 punctuality, together with unwearied application, and 
 early rising, it is incredible how much he was capable 
 of effecting, and did actually accomplish. 
 
 My grateful task is done : and my feeble portrait 
 of a patriot Prince completed. Of how few can it be 
 said, that their own bitter personal sorrows but 
 deepened and strengthened their desire to serve and 
 succour their fellow-creatures ! 
 
 He passed away from power " with a temper not 
 soured, with a heart not hardened, with simple tastes, 
 with frank manners, and with a capacity for friend- 
 ship. No stain of treachery, of ingratitude, or of 
 cruelty rests upon his memory."
 
 THE DUKE OF KENT. 335 
 
 But does the influence of the righteous terminate 
 with their own earthly existence ? Does it call down 
 no blessing UPON THEIR CHILDREN ? Do trials sub- 
 missively borne and injuries thoroughly forgiven 
 does untiring benevolence and a ceaseless struggle to 
 do good do plans which have for their object the 
 instruction of the ignorant, and the prevention of 
 crime, and the circulation of the Scriptures arrest 
 but momentarily the smile of the Great Spirit above, 
 and leave no permanent impression of his favour with 
 the survivors ? 
 
 Scripture negatives such conclusion. " The curse 
 of the Lord is on the house of the wicked : but he 
 blesseth the habitation of the righteous" " The secret 
 of the Lord is with them that fear him: and his 
 righteousness is upon children's children."
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS.
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 A. 
 
 As might naturally be expected, the sincerely deplored 
 death of the Duke was a signal to the various Societies 
 which he had encouraged and befriended, to offer their 
 heartfelt testimony to his worth. From a mass of these 
 honest but painful tributes the following are selected. 
 Preference is assigned them mainly from their convey- 
 ing the sentiments of two valuable and influential Asso- 
 ciations, in whose success the Duke, during his life-time, 
 had taken marked and special interest. 
 
 At the Fifteenth Anniversary Meeting of the British and 
 Foreign School Society, held in Freemasons' Hall on Satur- 
 day, 10th of June, the following extract was read from a 
 letter written by His Grace the Duke of Bedford : 
 
 " When I reflected on the great loss the Society had 
 sustained by the death of his late Royal Highness the 
 Duke of Kent ; when I considered the ardent zeal and un- 
 wearied labours which I had so often witnessed in His 
 
 z2
 
 340 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Royal Highness, to give permanency and stability to the 
 interests of this excellent Institution, I felt conscious 
 that it was the bounden duty of every well-wisher to the 
 Society to redouble his efforts, and endeavour, as far as he 
 was able, to supply the loss occasioned by the premature 
 death of this lamented and illustrious personage." 
 
 " It was moved by the Rev. John Hooper, seconded by 
 the Marquis Pucci, from Florence, and resolved unani- 
 mously, 
 
 " That this Meeting, while it most deeply deplores the 
 loss which the Society has sustained by the decease of His 
 Royal Highness the Duke of Kent, the zealous patron 
 and warm advocate of this Society to the latest period of 
 his life, .... 
 
 " In His Royal Highness the late Duke of Kent, the 
 British and Foreign School Society, and indeed the cause 
 of education, has lost not only a warm patron, but an 
 active and indefatigable labourer, an eloquent advocate, 
 and, where it was necessary, an undaunted champion. It 
 was ever near his heart, and its calls and claims with him 
 were never out of season nor too often repeated. His 
 advice, his aid, his correspondence were never refused, 
 where it appeared to him that the dissemination of light and 
 truth could be promoted, whether at home or abroad. Still, 
 in some of the last days previous to his fatal illness, his 
 benevolent mind was engaged in devising the means of 
 ensuring success to schools ; and his active aid was given to 
 the Society for that purpose. His memory will live in our 
 grateful hearts ; our schools, and many schools in foreign 
 and distant countries, will be the monuments of his phi-
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 341 
 
 lanthropic zeal ; and our firmness and ardour in the pursuit 
 of the object in which His Royal Highness has so long and 
 so powerfully assisted us, shall be the living witnesses of 
 our gratitude." Report of the British and Foreign School 
 Society for 1820. 
 
 " Your Committee, as well as the inhabitants of the 
 Netherlands, will ever have reason most gratefully to 
 remember and to acknowledge the truly philanthropic 
 anxiety which the late Duke of Kent showed, and the zeal 
 which he evinced in promoting the Central School at 
 Brussels. That zeal had no small share in the success of 
 the undertaking. Belgium possesses now four Societies 
 for mutual instruction, at Brussels, Liege, Luxembourg, 
 and Huy." Ibid. 
 
 From the Proceedings of the Sixteenth Anniversary of the 
 British and Foreign Bible Society. 
 
 May Zd, 1820. 
 
 His Lordship, the President, addressed the Meeting as 
 follows : 
 
 " In opening the business of the Meeting, I shall tres- 
 pass as briefly as possible on your time and attention. But 
 1 should not do justice to my own feelings, nor probably 
 satisfy your expectations, if I were to omit offering a 
 tribute of respect to the memory of His Royal Highness 
 the Duke of Kent; a tribute most especially due to him 
 from the members of a Society, the prosperity of which he 
 so anxiously endeavoured to promote. We have had the 
 gratification to witness the exertions of His Royal High-
 
 342 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 ness in this place; and I could with pleasure refer to 
 numerous instances of his condescension in attending the 
 meetings of Auxiliary Bible Societies. On these occasions 
 the dignified affability of his demeanour was not less con- 
 spicuous and endearing, than his zeal for the success of the 
 Institution which he so publicly patronised. It has now 
 lost the benefit of his services; but the remembrance of 
 those which he rendered to it will long be retained with 
 heartfelt gratitude, and with the deepest regret for that 
 calamitous event which has deprived the Society of the 
 continuance of them. I had the honour to communicate 
 to Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent a resolution 
 in accordance with these sentiments, which she was pleased 
 graciously to receive, and at the same time to ex- 
 press the interest which she felt in the prosperity of our 
 Institution."
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 343 
 
 B. 
 
 THE CASE OF THE FIVE YOUNGER ROYAL DUKES 
 BRIEFLY STATED. 
 
 THE precise situation of the junior male branches of the 
 royal family has, hitherto, either been wholly concealed 
 from, or imperfectly disclosed to the public. In consequence 
 of this a certain degree of ambiguity is attached to their 
 characters ; and everything relating to their debts, encum- 
 brances, and expenses, has been grossly misunderstood, 
 magnified, and perverted. Accordingly, without expe- 
 riencing any sympathy on the part of a generous nation, and 
 with scarcely a murmur on their own, they have long been 
 consigned to obscurity, and almost to oblivion. Although 
 reduced to a state painful in the extreme to princes of the 
 blood, but little creditable to a high-minded people, and, 
 if not tending to shake the security, yet contributing, in no 
 small degree, to diminish the lustre of the throne itself, 
 their Royal Highnesses, with an exemplary forbearance, 
 have hitherto declined all public justification. Their situ- 
 ation is indeed delicate, in every point of view ; a variety 
 of feelings are to be combated, and it is difficult to defend 
 even the best cause, without assuming the odious character of 
 an accuser. But there are certain conditions in which 
 acquiescence becomes culpable : for a servile and long- 
 continued submission exhibits all the appearance of guilt, 
 and seems to invite, if not to justify oppression. It may,
 
 344 ILLUSTRATIONS". 
 
 therefore, at length be permitted at least to complain. Yet, 
 even then, while their high rank forbids vulgar recri- 
 mination, their affinity, as well as affection, preclude 
 the most distant censure relative to either of their royal 
 parents, who not only possess, but merit all their love, 
 respect, and esteem. 
 
 It is not here meant to insinuate that this portion of the 
 royal family has been wholly exempt from the frailties inci- 
 dent to humanity. 
 
 For the early errors of the children of our nobility and 
 opulent commoners, we readily find an apology, in extreme 
 youth or a too ardent temperament: and are those born under 
 the canopy of a throne to be alone condemned by vindic- 
 tive rules and unrelenting maxims ? The philosophers of 
 all ages tell us, and daily experience confirms the truth of 
 their assertions, that such an exalted rank is far more liable 
 to snares, temptations, and impositions of all kinds, than a 
 humbler condition. 
 
 It has proved a great misfortune, and seems almost pecu- 
 liar to the situation of four, out of five, of these princes, 
 that no regular outfit was ever provided for them on entering 
 the world. While their scanty revenues were burdened 
 with a large and expensive household ; plate, horses, and 
 carriages were either wholly forgotten, or left to be pur- 
 chased out of an incompetent annual income. This original 
 omission necessarily led to engagements, onerous in the 
 extreme, and became the cause of a variety of future embar- 
 rassments. Such a fatal error has been recently alluded to, 
 and very properly obviated, in the case of their august 
 niece.
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 345 
 
 Another circumstance, also pregnant with much mischief, 
 sprung from a different source. "While their exalted rank 
 imposed many obligations, and produced a variety of 
 expenses early in life, the age of manhood was in some 
 cases unaccountably protracted long beyond the usual 
 bounds prescribed either by law or custom. Thus, although 
 the Duke of York received a provision soon after his ma- 
 jority, yet the Duke of Clarence had attained his twenty- 
 fourth year before he procured a parliamentary grant by 
 way of* appanage; the Dukes of Cumberland and Cam- 
 bridge obtained theirs only at twenty-eight ; the Duke of 
 Sussex was allowed to reach the age of twenty-nine before 
 he was provided for in a similar way ; while the Duke of 
 Kent, by a strange and unaccountable neglect on the part 
 of His Majesty's Ministers, was allowed to languish until 
 the completion of his thirty-second year, without partici- 
 pating in the advantages conferred on his brothers. 
 
 Such a gross act of injustice inevitably led to anticipa- 
 tions ; and the result of these, ever more ruinous to princes 
 than to private individuals, is but too obvious, Hence, 
 also, another prolific source of future embarrassments. 
 
 The allowance of 12,000/. per annum, first granted in 
 1789, and accompanied as it was, in the case of the Duke 
 of Clarence, then resident at St. James's, with an unlimited 
 table for His Royal Highness and household, in addition 
 to apartments, lighted and warmed under the management 
 of the Board of Green Cloth, and furnished and kept in 
 repair by the Lord Chamberlain's office, was the model 
 assigned for all the junior princes. Even this, however,
 
 346 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 was at length deemed inadequate to the rank, dignity, and 
 requisite grandeur of the illustrious persons in question. 
 
 Accordingly, in 1805, a negotiation was entered into, by 
 one of the royal Dukes, on the part of his brothers, and 
 the Right Honourable William Pitt on the side of Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 On this occasion, the Premier solemnly pledged himself 
 that, in addition to the private and exclusive claims of the 
 Duke, the incomes of the junior branches should be 
 augmented from 12,000/. to 16,000/., clear of all deductions 
 whatsoever. He also stipulated the additional specific sum 
 of 5,000/. per annum, being the exact medium between 
 the calculation expressly made by the Board of Green 
 Cloth on one hand, and an indifferent person on the other, 
 should be allowed instead of a table ; but that coals, candles, 
 together with furniture, fixtures, and the necessary repara- 
 tion of the same, should be continued as before. 
 
 To this agreement, two gentlemen of the first respecta- 
 bility, one of whom occupies the high and dignified station 
 of a judge, were privy. The sudden illness, followed soon 
 after by the demise, of Mr. Pitt, alone prevented it from 
 being carried into immediate execution. 
 
 Instead of realizing these hopes, however, in 1806, the 
 parliamentary provision of their Royal Highnesses was 
 fixed at precisely 18,000^. It is evident, then, that the 
 exalted persons in question were not in the least benefited 
 by this new settlement. On the contrary, being now 
 deprived both of a table, and 5,000/. per annum, as here- 
 tofore promised for the loss of one, together with a variety
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 347 
 
 of other advantages, they became sufferers by this arrange- 
 ment to the amount of more than 6,5001. a-year. In addi- 
 tion, also, to the loss resulting from this violation of a 
 solemn agreement, their Royal Highnesses were subject to 
 fresh difficulties from the circumstances of the times. The 
 sudden depreciation of the currency, of course, affected 
 incomes that were fixed by law, to a degree scarcely con- 
 ceivable ; and for which, indeed, an ample indemnification 
 was granted to many persons of inferior dignity in the State. 
 
 Nor was this new parliamentary provision, like the former 
 one,* exempt from taxes, according to the terms both of 
 the first settlement, and the subsequent agreement on the 
 part of Mr. Pitt ; for, either by a clerical error, or a culpa- 
 ble omission in the bills for imposing the income and pro- 
 perty tax, the revenues of their Royal Highnesses were, for 
 many years, subject to a reduction of ten per centum, amount- 
 ing to a contribution of 1,800/. a-year; thus making the 
 nominal exceed the real income, by reducing the allowance 
 of 18,000. to 16,200/., and constituting a very large and 
 serious defalcation. 
 
 It almost detracts from the dignity of complaint, on the 
 part of such distinguished personages, to enter into minute 
 details ; but on a subject of finance, the most trifling item 
 ought not to be omitted. From the above statement it 
 will be perceived, that the five younger brothers of the 
 royal family, instead of being more favoured as they 
 advanced in years, have experienced a marked and progres- 
 sive deterioration in their respective conditions ever since 
 
 * See 39 Geo. III. cap. xxix. and all the other Acts passed for a similar 
 purpose.
 
 348 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 the year 1789, when the eldest of them (the Duke of 
 Clarence) first obtained a parliamentary establishment. 
 But in 1807, they were condemned to a variety of petty 
 vexations, in consequence of the supplies of furniture being 
 cut off by a Treasury minute ; while, in conformity to a new 
 regulation of the Office of Works in 1715, it was determined 
 that nothing was to be done to the royal palaces in the 
 occupation of the younger branches, but what the safety of 
 the buildings absolutely required ; leaving the wear and 
 tear of fixtures, furniture, and decorations, to be supplied by 
 themselves. The windows were to be mended, and bells 
 hung or repaired, by the tradesmen of the household, 
 indeed, but at their own sole expense. It is thus evident, 
 that the various encumbrances to which their Royal High- 
 nesses are now subject, chiefly originate in three insur- 
 mountable causes, over which they have not, and never 
 could possibly have, any control whatever: 
 
 1. The protraction of their respective parliamentary 
 establishments long beyond the age of manhood. 
 
 2. The want of an original outfit, on at length obtaining 
 a settlement, burdened as it was with a numerous and ex- 
 pensive household. 
 
 3. The violation of a solemn engagement, by the grant of 
 an advanced nominal income, tending to throw an odium 
 on the characters and conduct of their Royal Highnesses ; 
 whereas, in fact, they were still more incapacitated from 
 honourably fulfilling their respective engagements, by an 
 actual diminution, arising from a deduction of ten per cent., 
 together with the loss of a table, coals, candles, &c. And, 
 
 4. A variety of little, mean, and paltry regulations on
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 349 
 
 the part of certain public boards, have contributed not a 
 little to superadd mortification to injustice. 
 
 From an enumeration of the above facts it is now evident 
 that the case of the five junior male branches of the royal 
 family demands immediate consideration. The reimburse- 
 ment of the contributions raised upon them, in express 
 violation of the original agreement, under the income and 
 property-tax acts, together with a very moderate indemnifi- 
 cation for their other losses and deprivations, would instantly 
 enable the royal Dukes to liquidate all just demands by 
 means of trustees expressly nominated for this purpose, 
 and assume their due rank and importance in the State. In 
 such a case it is a pleasing reflection, that the sum total 
 might be levied from a fund that would not add an unit to 
 the public debt, or withdraw one single shilling from the 
 annual supplies. 
 
 Supplementary Case of His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent. 
 
 From the preceding statement it has been seen how far, 
 and to what amount, His Royal Highness has suffered in 
 common with his four brothers, from the want of an original 
 outfit; the breach of a solemn engagement; the substitution 
 of a nominal for a real income ; and, above all, by the 
 additional hardship of permitting eleven whole years to 
 elapse, after attaining his majority, before a parliamentary 
 provision was obtained for this prince. But a short his- 
 torical detail will convey the best idea of the sufferings, and 
 exhibit the most becoming apology for the difficulties and 
 embarrassments of their Majesties' fourth son.
 
 350 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 The Duke of Kent, under the title of Prince Edward, 
 left England in 1785, and resided, successively, both at 
 Lunenburgh and Hanover, until the end of the year 1787. 
 During this period he was lodged in one of the palaces, 
 and both table and equipage were furnished from the elec- 
 toral establishment. The sole pecuniary allowance issued 
 on this occasion was the sum of 1 ,000/. per annum, of which 
 his governor had the entire control and disposal, with an 
 exception of two pistoles a-week allowed for the pocket- 
 money of a young man of high rank and spirit, between 
 the age of eighteen and twenty. His Royal Highness next 
 removed to Geneva, in obedience to His Majesty's com- 
 mand, where he remained some months, after attaining the 
 period of manhood, without any increase of allowance. 
 The consequence is sufficiently obvious. Incapacitated 
 from enjoying those indulgences which not only princes 
 but private gentlemen expect at a certain age, he incurred 
 debts and borrowed money to procure them. 
 
 At the beginning of 1790 Prince Edward returned to 
 England; and, after passing only ten days at home, re- 
 paired at the short notice of forty-eight hours to Gibraltar. 
 Here, though destitute of pecuniary resources, he was 
 obliged to provide an establishment, and everything inci- 
 dent to house-keeping, at an enormous expense. It was 
 not, indeed, until the middle of 1791, when orders arrived 
 for his departure for Canada, that he discovered his annual 
 allowance to amount only to the sum of 5,000/. ; being 
 considerably less than what had been granted to his 
 governor at Geneva. 
 
 Here, again, the fatal effects of a scanty provision were
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 351 
 
 too evident: a considerable debt for the Gibraltar outfit 
 had been unavoidably incurred, as it would have been im- 
 possible for the most rigorous economy either to have 
 advanced the necessary expenses, in the first instance, or 
 liquidated the encumbrance afterwards, out of the current 
 income. So sensible, indeed, was the King of this circum- 
 stance, that His Majesty was most graciously pleased to 
 promise reimbursement. 
 
 On arriving at Quebec, His Royal Highness had accord- 
 ingly to provide a new establishment ; and this, like the 
 former, was effected on credit, no allowance whatsoever 
 having been made for either. 
 
 In 1793, this Prince, in consequence of instructions from 
 England, prepared to embark for the West Indies ; and, on 
 leaving the capital of Canada, a sale necessarily took place, 
 the proceeds of which were chiefly applied to provide for the 
 more urgent demands incident to a third equipment. 
 
 Here it may be necessary to observe, that Prince Edward, 
 anxious to give all possible satisfaction to his English 
 creditors, had already granted bonds for about 20,000/. 
 payable at the expiration of seven years ; long before which 
 period he, of course, expected a parliamentary provision. 
 The interest of this sum produced a diminution of exactly 
 one-fifth part of his scanty income. 
 
 In travelling through the United States with a suite 
 suitable to his rank, a very considerable expense was of 
 course incurred ; while every one acquainted with the West 
 Indies must know, that the necessaries of life are enhanced 
 to an enormous extent. 
 
 At the close of the campaign of 1794, His Royal High- 
 ness, in obedience to His Majesty's commands, returned to
 
 352 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 North America, highly flattered, indeed, with the official 
 encomiums on his valour and good conduct, but encumbered 
 with those fresh debts and engagements which are ever 
 incident to sudden changes, long journeys, and expensive 
 preparations. 
 
 Being now placed on the staff, a fourth outfit, for which, 
 like the three preceding ones, no compensation was ever 
 received, became necessary at Halifax. Here he remained, 
 first with the rank of Major-general, until His Royal High- 
 ness obtained that of Lieutenant-general ; but there being 
 no issue of bat and forage money as of late, His Royal 
 Highness never enjoyed any other allowance than that of 
 5,000/. first granted in 1790; and as 1,000^. of this was 
 regularly disbursed in interest, his expenses of course 
 during every succeeding year exceeded his income. 
 
 In 1798, this Prince returned to England in consequence 
 of an accident, proceeding from his horse falling under him. 
 On that occasion, the creditors of His Royal Highness 
 were induced, perhaps by the punctuality with which the 
 interest had hitherto been discharged, and the knowledge 
 of his utter inability to liquidate the bonds granted in 1791, 
 to consent to their renewal for seven years more. In the 
 mean time, however, in addition to this old debt, a much 
 larger new one had been also unavoidably contracted, from 
 the various concurring causes already specified. 
 
 At length, in 1799, Prince Edward obtained his Duke- 
 dom, with a parliamentary provision of 12,0001. ; but, 
 by this time, he had nearly reached his thirty-second year, 
 as has been already stated. And here, without making 
 any invidious comparison, the singular hardship of his 
 situation may be easily appreciated, from the consideration
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 353 
 
 that his two elder brothers, the Dukes of York and Clarence, 
 had been favoured with a similar allowance soon after 
 obtaining their majority, and that a similar sum was granted 
 to the Duke of Cumberland, his junior by four years, on 
 the very same day with himself. 
 
 About a month after this, the Duke of Kent was pro- 
 moted a General, and nominated Commander-in-Chief in 
 North America. His new equipment was, of course, on a 
 scale commensurate with his rank ; and, on this occasion, 
 the sum of 2,000/. was advanced by Government. His 
 Royal Highness had now a fair prospect of being enabled 
 to pay off all encumbrances, by a gradual liquidation of his 
 debts; but here, again, he was assailed by fresh misfor- 
 tunes, and doomed to experience new embarrassments. 
 The transport, which contained the whole of his baggage, 
 goods, and equipage of every kind and description, was 
 ready to sail in July, but being detained by embargo, in 
 consequence of the Helder expedition, until the stormy 
 month of October, was wrecked on the American coast, 
 without the possibility of saving anything. 
 
 It may be here proper to state a series of accidents, 
 unexampled, perhaps, in history, which occurred during 
 the military career of His Royal Highness. 
 
 1st. His equipment was lost in Lake Champlain. 
 
 2d. His baggage again lost by the capture of the Ante- 
 lope packet. 
 
 3d. Lost a third time, by the capture of the Tankerville 
 packet. 
 
 4th. Lost a fourth time, by the capture of the Recovery 
 transport. 
 
 A A
 
 354 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 And 5th. Lost once more, first by the temporary cap- 
 ture, and finally by the plunder of the Diamond. 
 
 On learning this melancholy intelligence, occasioned by 
 no neglect either of himself or his agents, but by the mere 
 act of Government for the advantage of the public service, 
 His Royal Highness was soon taught to feel that he had 
 experienced an injury to the amount of full 16,000. Partly 
 on this account, therefore, and partly in consequence of a 
 declining state of health, the Duke of Kent was induced to 
 apply for leave of absence, in order to solicit remuneration 
 for this as well as his former losses. Having accordingly 
 arrived in England, in the autumn of 1800, through the 
 kind intervention of the Prince of Wales with the Earl of 
 Rosslyn, then Lord Chancellor, the Duke of Kent's various 
 claims were brought under the consideration of Mr. Pitt, 
 from whom he received the fullest assurance, " not only 
 that they should be made good, but also that due conside- 
 ration should be had to the circumstance of having received 
 his parliamentary establishment so much later in life than 
 any of his brothers ; and that if he were not placed on an 
 exact footing with the Duke of Clarence, which would have 
 produced an arrear of eight years, he should enjoy the same 
 advantage as the Duke of Cumberland, which must ensure 
 an arrear of four." 
 
 This pledge held out a speedy prospect of paying off his 
 debts ; but the cup of hope was once more dashed from the 
 lips of His Royal Highness, in consequence of a change of 
 administration, subsequently to the happy event of His 
 Majesty's recovery. 
 
 On being nominated to the Government of Gibraltar, the
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 355 
 
 Duke of Kent applied for equipage money) or an outfit, as it 
 is generally called; but he was told, in reply, that this 
 would be unnecessary, on account of the " lucrative nature 
 of the appointments." He obtained 2,000/., however, from 
 the Treasury, in part payment of his other claims ; which, 
 together with a similar sura received in 1809, will not liqui- 
 date even the interest of those debts incurred by losses in 
 the service of the public, which His Royal Highness con- 
 tinued to pay till his death. 
 
 On his arrival at the place of destination, in the spring 
 of 1802, the new Governor found the garrison in the pre- 
 cise state he was taught to expect, from prior communica- 
 tions with Lord Sidmouth, then at the head of His Ma- 
 jesty's councils. Blind to his own immediate interests, and 
 alive only to a sense of duty, His Royal Highness instantly 
 determined to cut off the root of all military irregularities, 
 which had long approximated to the very verge of mutiny, 
 by reducing the number of wine-houses : although the 
 opening and encouragement of these had proved a fruitful 
 source of emolument to his predecessors. Several of the 
 former governors, indeed, received during some years from 
 10,000/. to 20,000/. in fees; while he, by this sacrifice to 
 general order, did not obtain one-sixth part of the sum in 
 question. Relying, however, on the assurances he had re- 
 ceived, that no loss should finally accrue, and gratified 
 at the additional security obtained on the part of the 
 civil inhabitants, His Royal Highness executed the unpo- 
 pular, but very necessary task imposed upon him, without 
 complaint or murmur; although, assuredly, not without 
 manifest loss to his own revenue. 
 
 A A 2
 
 356 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 And here it may be necessary to observe, that, on the 
 Duke's return from Gibraltar, the allowance of the officer 
 left in command of the garrison, as an indemnification for 
 the fees which were taken from the Governor and carried to 
 the credit of the revenue, was fixed, first at 3,000/., and 
 afterwards augmented to 3,500^., upon the representation of 
 Sir Thomas Trigge; but no consideration has ever been 
 paid to the loss sustained by His Royal Highness during 
 the year he was entrusted with the command of the fortress : 
 although it is a well-known fact, that the average of the 
 fees amounted to 7,000/. per annum ; and that, during the 
 absence of the Governor, a full moiety was regularly remitted 
 to him by his representative. 
 
 On the return of Mr. Pitt to office, in 1804, the Duke of 
 Kent seized the earliest opportunity to renew his claims, 
 and remind that Minister of the expectations held out to 
 him three years before. In consequence of the fresh hopes 
 now obtained of speedy adjustment, His Royal Highness 
 was enabled to pacify his creditors for a time ; but as they 
 became discontented with such frequent delays, he obtained 
 an interview with the Premier in July, 1805, when that 
 gentleman intimated his intention of recommending to His 
 Majesty to grant 20,000/. from the droits of the Admiralty, to 
 each of his younger sons, which he hoped " would prove a 
 temporary accommodation to the Duke of Kent." But he 
 at the same time positively declared " that it was not in- 
 tended in the least to affect the consideration of His Royal 
 Highness's distinct and peculiar claims for losses ; or be 
 deemed a compensation for the injury he had sustained 
 from the delay of granting his parliamentary establishment."
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 357 
 
 In fine, he stated, " that the grants from the droits of the 
 Admiralty would be a spontaneous present from the King to 
 all his younger sons alike." 
 
 It is evident that this sura was never meant as an indem- 
 nification ; but it may be here necessary to add, that it was 
 instantly and faithfully applied by the Duke to pay off the 
 prior debt originally bonded in 1791. 
 
 Nearly at the same time, His Royal Highness entered 
 into another negotiation with the Minister, for the purpose 
 of rescuing the five younger sons from the difficulties inci- 
 dent to an incompetent income ; the result of which has 
 been already mentioned. In consequence of this, a fresh 
 promise was now made to take into consideration all the 
 separate claims of the Duke of Kent ; particularly those 
 arising from the debts incurred between the years 1790 and 
 1799, when his income proved so inadequate to the necessary 
 expenditure ; the pressure of which had been greatly aggra- 
 vated by an enormous, and annually increasing interest. 
 
 The demise of Mr. Pitt, followed by a new and fallacious 
 settlement, which, instead of meliorating, greatly deterio- 
 rated the condition of all the younger princes, prevented 
 the fulfilment of His Royal Highness's engagements, which 
 had been entered into on the faith of a solemn promise 
 made by a public minister. 
 
 After that period, the Duke of Kent in vain appealed to 
 every branch of Government for redress, but was never so 
 fortunate as to obtain justice in respect to losses, either duly 
 certified by General Wetherall, then at the head of his 
 household, or sanctioned by incontestable documents, to the
 
 358 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 amount of 108,200/. ; inquiry, reference, arbitration, even 
 a patient hearing, having all been refused. 
 
 Reduced to so critical and mortifying a dilemma, the Duke 
 now determined to make every sacrifice that either honour 
 or justice could demand. Accordingly, in 1807 he 
 conveyed one-half of his income to his trustees, for 
 the express purpose of liquidating his debts ; at the 
 same time reducing his establishment, and limiting his 
 arrangements, so as to meet the exigency of the case. 
 Twenty-one years was the period assigned for clearing off* 
 all encumbrances ; but, partly owing to the sudden and 
 unforeseen increase of every article of expense, and partly 
 from the accruing arrears of interest, together with the 
 large annual sum paid for an insurance on the life of His 
 Royal Highness, the capital was found to have been only 
 reduced on one hand from 112,000^. to 75,000/.; while a fresh 
 debt to the amount of 28,000 had been actually incurred 
 on the other ; thus leaving a saving of only 9,0001. 
 
 This fresh debt, arising from the annual excess of 4,000/. 
 of expenditure above the net income, (which, since 1807, 
 has been only 11,000^., including military and civil allow- 
 ances, as Governor of Gibraltar,) became peculiarly oppres- 
 sive, as it was chiefly owing to little tradesmen. In addition 
 to this, the Treasury minute of 1807, limiting the fixtures 
 and supplies of furniture from the Lord Chamberlain's 
 office, on the part of the younger branches of the royal 
 family residing in any of the palaces, to fixtures alone, has 
 borne particularly hard on His Royal Highness, by adding 
 a fresh sum of 6,000/. to his former debt, on account of
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 359 
 
 articles supplied by himself at Kensington palace. This 
 circumstance, too, is farther aggravated by the consideration, 
 that the Duke is actually a sufferer on this occasion, and to 
 this precise amount, solely by the neglect of the Office of 
 Works in completing the apartments in question ; which, 
 but for this, would have been furnished as usual, anterior to 
 the obnoxious mandate just alluded to. 
 
 Nor is the situation of His Royal Highness much melio- 
 rated, however he may be personally gratified, by the 
 consideration that two of the royal family, in precisely the 
 same situation with himself, (the Dukes of Clarence and 
 Cumberland,) have been so essentially favoured as to have 
 their respective apartments completely furnished ; not only 
 posterior to, but in express contravention of the hostile 
 Treasury minute already quoted. And this too has occurred 
 under the direction of that very same Lord Chamberlain's 
 department which had enforced the prohibition against 
 others in the most rigorous manner. 
 
 It may be necessary to conclude this long catalogue of 
 disappointments, mortifications, and misfortunes, by adding 
 
 that Mr. R , the solicitor of His Royal Highness, 
 
 suddenly disappeared some years since ; by which event a 
 pecuniary defalcation to the amount of 2,000/. was sustained 
 on the part of the Duke. 
 
 Instead, however, of succumbing under such a cruel 
 series of losses, vexations, and injuries, which would never 
 have been endured without an appeal to the nation, and, in 
 all probability, a redress from the justice of the Government, 
 on the part of any private individual : the Duke of Kent has 
 acted in a manner worthy of himself. His Royal Highness
 
 360 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 has accordingly made new, recent, and important sacri- 
 fices, for the satisfaction of his creditors ; incompatible, 
 indeed, perhaps, with his exalted rank, but assuredly not 
 unworthy of his high sense of honour. His establishment 
 has once more been subjected to revision and reduction : 
 and it is at this moment on a level with that of a private 
 gentleman, rather than a prince of the blood ; while his 
 diminished household is regulated with a degree of order, 
 economy, and precision, perhaps unequalled in any other 
 family in the kingdom. 
 
 However painful it may be to the feelings of one so 
 nearly allied to the throne, it will surely contribute rather 
 to the glory than the disgrace of this Prince, frankly to con- 
 fess, that his wines have been sold, and his plate mort- 
 gaged, to supply the wants of some, and secure the claims 
 of others, to whom he stands indebted. Nor is this all, for 
 His Royal Highness, instead of seeking protection from his 
 privilege as a peer of the realm, has not only insured his 
 life for their benefit, but actually assigned the whole of his 
 income to them, with an exception of only 7,0007. a-year. 
 
 And this, perhaps, is the proper place to remark on and 
 elucidate the sole accusation ever made against the cha- 
 racter of His Royal Highness, either public or private ; 
 more especially as this circumstance has been magnified, 
 distorted, and perverted, with no common degree of assiduity. 
 
 Bred in the old school, and at a time, too, when the new, 
 and perhaps more enlightened ideas concerning military 
 punishments, had not yet dawned on this age's nation, the 
 Duke of Kent had been taught early to believe that, in 
 England as in Rome of old, the safety of the State abso-
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 361 
 
 lately depended on the strictness of the discipline of its 
 armies. Let it be recollected, toOj that at Gibraltar he was 
 expressly enjoined to repress the military licence of an 
 inebriated garrison : that the odious task was not sought 
 for, but imposed on him, to his own manifest disadvantage ; 
 and that his conduct on this occasion at once merited and 
 obtained the thanks of the inhabitants. 
 
 No sooner, however, did a more liberal policy flash con- 
 viction on the mind of His Royal Highness, now arrived at 
 a more mature period of life, than, with a magnanimity to 
 be found only in a great and noble mind, he ingenuously 
 avowed the sole errors of his youth and education, by 
 frankly acknowledging, that the military punishments then 
 in use might be safely commuted for others less rigorous, 
 and at the same time equally efficient. Accordingly, he 
 was actually the first to give a practical example, by sub- 
 stituting solitary confinement, which may in the end create 
 a good soldier, for the lash, which is found by experience 
 constantly to produce a bad one. 
 
 And, if the best estimate of a governor is to be deduced 
 from the voluntary good opinion and disinterested gratitude 
 of the governed, it must be owned, that no public character 
 ever challenged a higher claim to respect, than that of the 
 Duke of Kent. After his return to England, the inha- 
 bitants, including the civil officers of the garrison of Gib- 
 raltar, transmitted a thousand guineas, for the purchase of 
 a piece of plate and a diamond garter to His Royal High- 
 ness. The assembly of Nova Scotia, too, some time before 
 he left Halifax, passed an unanimous vote of thanks in
 
 362 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 his favour, and presented him at the same time with a dia- 
 mond star. 
 
 Instead of passing his time at home in inglorious ease, 
 a large portion of the life of the Field-Marshal has been 
 spent in camps and garrisons ; and it arises from no want 
 of zeal on his own part, that His Royal Highness has not 
 been permitted to take an active and efficient part in the 
 most dangerous occurrences of the late war. 
 
 The barren rock of Gibraltar the tropical heats of the 
 West Indies the rigours of ten Canadian winters, all 
 attest both the length and the nature of his services. 
 
 Regular, methodical, abstemious, he can be accused of 
 no vice ; active, vigilant, intrepid, he can be suspected of 
 no dereliction of duty. His personal gallantry was early 
 displayed, by leading a storming party of grenadiers, at the 
 attack of one of the strongest fortresses in the West Indies ; 
 while his submission, good conduct, and ability, were all 
 fully testified in the despatches of the Commander-in-Chief, 
 after obtaining the victory. 
 
 Anxious for the improvement of the minds and morals of 
 those subjected to his command, this distinguished officer 
 was the first to exhibit a laudable example to the army, 
 by the introduction of regimental schools ; while in imita- 
 tion of his royal father, he has ever been eager to diffuse 
 the blessings of education throughout all ranks, classes, and 
 denominations of civil society. 
 
 Highly gifted by nature, both for business and debate, 
 the Duke of Kent has hitherto been prevented alone by 
 a nice, and perhaps culpable sense of delicacy, from exhi-
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 863 
 
 biting great oratorical powers in his parliamentary capacity, 
 and has therefore confined his eloquence to the advance- 
 ment of the cause of humanity, and the promotion of those 
 great public charities in which England stands so proudly 
 pre-eminent above all contemporary and contiguous nations. 
 And is this a character fitted for the alternative of penury 
 or proscription? to remain in a disgraceful obscurity at 
 home, or be driven into a dishonourable exile in a foreign 
 land, after having petitioned in vain for that justice which 
 would have enabled him to have benefited and adorned the 
 country that gave him birth?
 
 364 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 C. 
 
 Whitehall, May 16, 1794. 
 
 A DESPATCH, dated St. Lucia, April 4, 1794, of which 
 the following is an extract, was this day received from 
 General Sir Charles Grey, K.B., by the Right Hon. Henry 
 Dundas, His Majesty's principal Secretary of State for the 
 Home Department: 
 
 " In my despatch of the 25th ultimo, I had the happi- 
 ness to acquaint you of the surrender of Fort Bourbon (now 
 Fort George) and the Island of Martinico, on that day. 
 
 " I have the honour to acquaint you with the further 
 success of His Majesty's arms, in the conquest of this 
 fine island ; the French garrison, under the command of 
 General Ricard, in the works on Morne Fortunee, having 
 marched out and laid down their arms, this morning, by 
 nine o'clock ; at which time His Royal Highness Prince 
 Edward, with his brigade of grenadiers, and Major-General 
 Dundas, with his brigade of light infantry, marched in and 
 took possession. 
 
 " On the 30th ultimo the brigade of grenadiers, com- 
 manded by His Royal Highness Prince Edward ; the brigade 
 of light infantry, by Major-General Dundas ; and the 6th, 
 9th, and 43d regiments, by Colonel Sir Charles Gordon; with 
 engineers, &c. under Colonel Durnford, and a detachment 
 of royal artillery, with some light ordnance, under Lieu-
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 365 
 
 tenant-Colonel Paterson, embarked on board His Majesty's 
 ships in the bay of Fort Royal, having left the transports 
 and heavy artillery at Martinico ; and also left there the 
 15th, 39th, 56th, 58th, 64th, and 70th regiments, artillery, 
 &c. as a garrison, under Lieutenant-General Prescott, Bri- 
 gadier-General White, and Colonel Myers ; but that day 
 proving very rainy, hazy, and calm, we did not sail till the 
 31st, and reached St. Lucia the 1st instant. Every neces- 
 sary matter being previously concerted and arranged with 
 the Admiral, we proceeded, and effected three different land- 
 ings with little resistance, and no loss ; viz. Major-General 
 Dundas's division, consisting of the 3d battalion light in- 
 fantry, under Lieutenant-Colonel Close, and conducted by 
 Captain Kelly and Lord Garlies of the navy, at Ance du 
 Cap ; and the 2d light infantry, under Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Blundell, conducted by Commodore Thompson, at Ance de 
 Choe ; who were ordered to join, taking the enemy's batteries 
 in reverse, and to occupy a near position for the purpose of 
 investing the works of Morne Fortunee, on the side of the 
 Careenage, which was executed with the usual spirit and 
 ability of that Major-General, and the flank battalions. 
 His Royal Highness Prince Edward's division, the 1st and 
 3d grenadiers, disembarked at Marigot des Roseaux, imme- 
 diately under the Admiral's own direction, assisted by Cap- 
 tain Hervey, and immediately proceeded to co-operate with 
 Major-General Dundas, to invest Morne Fortunee. Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Coote, with the 1st battalion of light infantry, 
 did not disembark till seven o'clock the same evening, from 
 the Boyne, and landed at Anaise de la Tocque, proceeded
 
 366 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 to, and took the four-gun battery of Ciceron, investing 
 Morne Fortunee on that side, at the same time covering 
 Cul de Sac, or Barrington Bay, for our shipping, which 
 anchored there next morning, the 2d instant. The 2d 
 grenadiers and Colonel Sir Charles Gordon's brigade (the 
 Gth, 9th, and 43d regiments) were kept in reserve on board 
 ship. About seven o'clock in the evening of the 2d instant, 
 Lieutenant -Colonel Coote, with four light companies, 
 stormed a redoubt and two batteries by my order, close to 
 the enemy's principal works on the Morne, killed two 
 officers and near thirty men, made one prisoner, and released 
 one British sailor from captivity, spiking six pieces of 
 cannon. The ability and meritorious conduct of that excel- 
 lent officer, Colonel Coote, on this enterprise, are such as 
 do him the highest honour, and cannot be surpassed. In his 
 enterprise he was well supported by the whole detachment ; 
 particularly by Major Evatt, Captains Buchanan, Crosbie, 
 Welch, J. Grey, Aide-de-camp to the Commander-in-Chief, 
 and Stobin, and by Major of brigade Visscher, with Lieu- 
 tenant Drozier, and the detachment of royal artillery, who 
 spiked the guns. 
 
 " The exemplary good conduct of the brigade of grenadiers 
 under the immediate command of His Royal Highness 
 Prince Edward, and of the brigade of light infantry under 
 Major-General Dundas, and indeed of all the troops, affords 
 me the highest satisfaction. 
 
 "When His Royal Highness Prince Edward had hoisted 
 the British colours on Morne Fortunee, the name of it was 
 changed to Fort Charlotte ; and the entire conquest of this
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 367 
 
 island has been effected without the loss of a man, although 
 there has been a good deal of cannonading from the enemy's 
 batteries and works. 
 
 " I transmit the colours to be presented to His Majesty. 
 Captain Finch Mason, one of my Aides-de-camp, will have 
 the honour of presenting this despatch, being an officer well 
 qualified to give any further information you may desire to 
 receive. 
 
 " I transmit herewith a general return of ordnance and 
 stores found in the fort of Morne Fortunee, and also a 
 general return of the batteries on the coast of St. Lucia."
 
 368 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 D. 
 
 THE DUKE'S GENERAL ORDERS AT GIBRALTAR* 
 
 At half an hour before second evening gun-fire, the drum- 
 mer's call is to beat, when all the drummers and fifers are 
 immediately to assemble and begin to beat the tattoo through 
 the district, which will be pointed out by the Town Major 
 as belonging to the barrack in which the regiment is quar- 
 tered ; after which, no man is to leave his barracks, and every 
 man is required to repair to them at least a quarter of an 
 hour before the gun fires, when the senior non-commissioned 
 officer present of each company is to commence calling the 
 roll of his company, in the several barrack-rooms occupied 
 by the non-commissioned officers and men of the same ; 
 during which time all musicians, waiters to officers, all regi- 
 mental orderlies of every description, all men confined to 
 the barracks, or who attend drill for punishment, all regi- 
 mental prisoners, and all men under sentence of black 
 strap, all men for guard the ensuing day (who are to be 
 considered as a piquet, and the first to turn out in case of an 
 alarm) , from all of whom the most correct sobriety is required, 
 are to be assembled by the sergeant-major, aided by the 
 drill-sergeants, when the adjutant will attend and minutely 
 inspect them one by one, as their names are called over by 
 the sergeant-major, to see that they are all perfectly regular, 
 
 * Code of Standing Orders as required to be observed in the Garrison of 
 Gibraltar. Established by General His Eoyal Highness the Duke of Kent, 
 Governor of Gibraltar. Printed at the Garrison Library, Feb. 1803.
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 369 
 
 and that none is anywise disguised in liquor. After this duty 
 has been performed, the reports of each company are next 
 to be collected by the sergeant-major, and by him delivered 
 to the adjutant, when all the non-commissioned officers, 
 and men acting as such, will fall in, in the orderly room, 
 and their names be called over by the sergeant-major, to 
 which they are required to answer, and then pass by the 
 adjutant for his inspection, in order that their correct 
 sobriety may also be ascertained, as no degree of inebriety is 
 at any time admissible in a non-commissioned officer. On 
 the second evening gun firing, the drummers will instantly 
 cease beating the tattoo, and immediately be inspected by 
 the adjutant to ascertain their perfect sobriety, they being 
 always considered as on duty at that hour, and when this 
 inspection is completed he is to send them to their rooms. 
 
 THE CANTEEN. 
 
 1. The canteen is invariably to be held by a sergeant of 
 respectability, and one who will keep up and enforce his 
 authority as such. He is to be allowed the assistance of one 
 careful man. It is not to open, on any day, until one hour 
 after guard-mounting ; it is not to remain open later than 
 the drummer's call beats for tattoo viz. half an hour before 
 second evening gun-fire ; it is to be shut whenever the 
 regiment is on parade, or out in the field, and not to be 
 open on Sundays until after Divine Service in the convent 
 chapel is over. 
 
 2. No spirituous liquor, whether mixed or unmixed, of 
 any sort or kind, is to be sold upon any pretence whatso- 
 
 B B
 
 370 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 ever ; the sale, therefore, of liquor is limited to wine, malt- 
 liquor, cyder, and beer. 
 
 3. No cards, dice, or gambling of any description, are to 
 be allowed in it. 
 
 4. No liquor whatsoever is to be sold for any other than 
 that of being drunk in the canteen, as none is on any pre- 
 tence to be carried out of it, except for the use of the 
 families of outlayers, and then the quantity sold to any one 
 person is not to exceed one pint, nor is any to be delivered 
 to children under the age of fifteen years. 
 
 5. No liquor whatsoever is to be sold on trust ; and 
 therefore, if any non-commissioned officer or soldier be 
 suffered to depart without paying for what he has been 
 supplied with before he leaves the canteen, he is cleared of 
 all obligation to pay afterwards. 
 
 6. No non-commissioned officer or soldier is to be per- 
 mitted to leave in pledge any part of his dress, necessaries, 
 or appointments, for liquor, nor is anything to be received 
 but money ; therefore, if any one calls for more than he 
 can pay for on the spot, he is immediately to be sent pri- 
 soner to the regimental guard-house, charged with the 
 crime of disobedience of orders, for the purpose of being 
 brought to a court-martial, and punished for the same. 
 
 7. No non-commissioned officers or soldiers of any other 
 corps but that to which the canteen belongs, nor any 
 stranger of any description, except being passed in by a 
 commissioned officer, the sergeant-major, or quarter-master 
 sergeant, is to be admitted into the canteen without produc- 
 ing permission in writing from the commanding officer of 
 the corps ; nor are any persons to be supplied with liquor
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 371 
 
 from it, but the non-commissioned officers, &c. belonging 
 to the regiment. 
 
 8. No non-commissioned officer or soldier who has the 
 least appearance of intoxication, is to be permitted to enter 
 the canteen ; such as show a disposition to drunkenness or 
 rioting are immediately to be sent to their barracks, and if 
 disobedient to the orders of the non-commissioned officer 
 holding the canteen, when directed to go there, are to be 
 sent prisoners to the guard-house, with a crime against 
 them for refusing to obey his orders. 
 
 9. The non-commissioned officer having charge of the 
 canteen, is to be obeyed by the other non-commissioned 
 officers and soldiers, as next in rank to the quarter-master 
 sergeant, in everything relating to the carrying on the busi- 
 ness of the canteen. He and his assistant have authority 
 to call upon the barrack-guard for assistance, whenever 
 good order and regularity are in danger of being disturbed ; 
 but on no other occasion, except when called upon for this 
 purpose, are non-commissioned officers or soldiers, on duty, 
 to enter the canteen. 
 
 10. The captain of the day and orderly officer are each 
 of them frequently to visit the canteen, and if they discover 
 any irregularity or breach of these regulations during the 
 time they are on duty, they are to report the same to 
 the commanding officer in writing. 
 
 11. The established price of wine and malt liquor is to 
 be at the following rate, and never to be altered without an 
 order from the commanding officer ; viz. Malaga, two reals 
 per quart; black wine, one real and a half per quart; 
 
 B B 2
 
 372 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 porter, one real and a-half per bottle ; and beer, one real 
 per quart. 
 
 The wine to be sold in the same state as it is purchased from 
 the merchant, and any attempt to adulterate it is, on detec- 
 tion, to be punished in the most exemplary manner.* 
 
 * Standing Regulations for Regimental Canteens at Gibraltar. Order 
 Book, 1803. Printed at the Garrison Library.
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 373 
 
 E. 
 
 LETTER FROM MR. COUTTS. 
 
 Strand, London, March 30, 1816. 
 
 SIR, I have perused with much attention and great 
 pleasure the papers your Royal Highness sent me for that 
 purpose, on your late departure for Brussels, respecting 
 affairs on which you communicated with the various minis- 
 ters of the day, the clear details and accuracy whereof 
 must ever do your Royal Highness the greatest honour. 
 I should flatter myself, the ministers employed in the finan- 
 cial arrangements of the empire, whatever difficulties they 
 may have to encounter from the consequences of the dread- 
 ful duration of the war, and the unexampled expense con- 
 sequent to it, will feel it incumbent upon them to give the 
 consideration due to your Royal Highness's situation, and 
 be well inclined to administer such relief as circumstances 
 may render possible ; and I cannot allow myself to doubt of 
 the universal approbation that I think must follow the deter- 
 mined and zealous exertions of your Royal Highness for 
 the discharge of the encumbrances that now distress you, 
 and the pleasure every person will feel at seeing them 
 attended with ultimate success. I had frequent commu- 
 nications with Mr. Adam, at the time he was engaged in 
 treating with Mr. Pitt on the subject of the aid proposed to 
 be given to the younger branches of the royal family, and 
 the particular hardship of your Royal Highness's own situa- 
 tion, and your statement regarding these objects appears to
 
 374 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 me to be perfectly correct. I also remember to have seen 
 Mr. Pitt myself, and to have conversed with him often on 
 the same. It is difficult, especially with my failing memory, 
 to recall to mind all particulars, especially sums and dates, 
 alluded to in such conversation ; but I well remember 
 6,000/. was the sum of additional annuity determined upon. 
 I also recollect hearing it spoken of as a matter of injustice 
 and inequality, that the two Princes residing in Kensington 
 Palace had not any table found them, as the other three 
 residing at St. James's had, and which was valued at a very 
 considerable annual sum. I think it was also mentioned as 
 Mr. Pitt's intention, that the whole five Princes, besides 
 the new grant of 6,000/. per annum, should have an equal 
 sum allowed to each in the room of a table ; although I can- 
 not boast of my memory enabling me to state the quantum 
 of the proposed allowance. As to the other two points, 
 namely, remuneration for having your parliamentary grant 
 of 12,000. per annum voted to you several years later in 
 your life than any of the other four Princes, older or 
 younger than yourself, had theirs, or for losses by ship- 
 wreck or captures ; I do not remember what may have been 
 proposed to have been given in compensation for either, 
 though I recollect to have heard them both spoken of as 
 being fair claims. Mr. Adam, 1 think, is more likely than 
 I am to give a full explanation and clear information, hav- 
 ing had more frequent opportunities of intercourse, and going 
 to Mr. Pitt expressly on your Royal Highness's business ; 
 whereas my intercourse occurred irregularly and acciden- 
 tally, at times when I had occasion to go to him on his 
 own business ; but I clearly recollect that Mr. Pitt always
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 375 
 
 expressed the greatest wish that all your Royal Highness's 
 and your brothers' embarrassments should be totally re- 
 moved, and your incomes made such as to prevent all 
 occasion to resort to the necessity of borrowing, and equal 
 to supporting the dignity of illustrious rank in the empire. 
 I have the honour to be, with the most dutiful respect, 
 
 Sir, your Royal Highness's 
 
 Most faithful and most obedient Servant, 
 (Signed) THOMAS COUTTS.
 
 376 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 F. 
 
 LETTER FROM COMMISSIONER ADAM. 
 
 Shrub Hall, Edinburgh, IQthDec., 1814. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 I persuade myself that the condescending goodness which 
 has always been shown to me by your Royal Highness, 
 will extend to me on the present occasion ; and that I shall 
 be forgiven for not having replied sooner to your Royal 
 Highness's letter of the 31st of November, and stated as to 
 the extract, what my recollection now tells me to be correct 
 respecting it. The distance of time makes it impossible to 
 state with minuteness the sums and dates, but the general im- 
 pression is clear in my memory, and 1 have so expressed it. 
 
 I am, Sir, 
 
 With the most profound respect, 
 Your Royal Highness's 
 
 Most devoted and humble Servant, 
 
 WILLIAM ADAM. 
 
 His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent. 
 
 At the request of His Royal Highness the Duke of 
 Kent, I have perused the extract, and by His Royal High- 
 ness's desire, as my absence might render it impossible to 
 apply to me personally, I state what my recollection serves 
 me to mention, viz. that although I cannot bear in mind the 
 particular sums and precise dates mentioned in the extract,
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 377 
 
 I have a correct memory of its containing a JUST and true 
 representation of Mr. Pitt's sentiments, as to the aid to be 
 given to the younger branches of the royal family, and 
 that what relates to the PECULIARITY of the Duke of Kent's 
 situation, was admitted by Mr. Pitt in the manner here 
 stated. 
 
 WILLIAM ADAM.
 
 378 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 G. 
 
 COPY OF MEMORIAL TO THE PRINCE REGENT THROUGH 
 VISCOUNT SIDMOUTH. 
 
 To His Royal Highness George Augustus Frederic 
 Prince of Wales, in the name and on behalf of His Majesty, 
 Regent of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ire- 
 land. The memorial of Edward Duke of Kent respectfully 
 showeth, 
 
 That your memorialist was in the year 1802 appointed 
 from the command of His Majesty's forces in North Ame- 
 rica, to the Government of the fortress of Gibraltar, vice 
 General O'Hara deceased. 
 
 That at the time of such appointment your memorialist 
 had a just claim to all the emoluments heretofore enjoyed 
 by the governor of the fortress. 
 
 That the principal part of these emoluments consisted 
 in certain fees upon the licence of wine-houses, and upon 
 all liquors drunk in the garrison, enjoyed wholly by him 
 when present, while custom established his right to half of 
 them when absent. 
 
 That the average of these for several years prior to the 
 death of General O'Hara, it can be proved from the books 
 of the Deputy- Receiver-General, who collected those fees 
 for the Governor, was 7,0001. per annum. 
 
 That upon your memorialist proceeding to Gibraltar, 
 in consequence of several communications he had with the
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 379 
 
 present Lord Sidmouth, then First Lord of the Treasury, 
 lie teas authorized to adopt arrangements for diminishing the 
 extreme temptation to drunkenness, which the very large 
 number of licensed wine-houses held out to the soldiers ; 
 but, as it was well known that this had been the principal 
 source of emolument to the governor, from the first moment 
 Gibraltar was in possession of the British, your memorialist 
 received the ASSURANCE from Lord Sidmouth, that he should 
 be no loser by such arrangements, and that an ample compen- 
 sation should be made him in due time, whenever it should 
 be seen what was the loss he thereby sustained. 
 
 That during twelve months your memorialist was in the 
 command of that fortress, such was the diminution in the 
 amount of the fees received, that where 9,0001. had hereto- 
 fore been the average, he did not receive 2,0001. That in 
 the year 1803, at the moment of your memorialist's depar- 
 ture, an order was brought from the Secretary of State, by 
 Sir Thomas Trigge, for allowing the officer resident in com- 
 mand of the fortress of Gibraltar the sum of 3,500/. per 
 annum, in place of his fees, which were to be carried to the 
 credit of the revenue. 
 
 That, in consequence of this, your memorialist, who, 
 from long-established custom, should have been entitled, 
 during his absence, to receive the moiety of his fees, has 
 from that time been deprived of the sum altogether, although 
 it is evident, from the allowance made to the officer in com- 
 mand, that one-half only of the average of the fees was 
 awarded him, which, if any other proof was necessary, 
 establishes the claim of the Governor to the half. 
 
 That, in consequence of the former very great emolu-
 
 380 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 merits attached to the Governor of Gibraltar, no outfit was 
 allowed to a Governor going out to that fortress ; from 
 which no exception was made in favour of your memorialist, 
 although those emoluments were so essentially diminished 
 from the moment of his assuming the command, the hard- 
 ship of which was particularly felt, from the short time he 
 held it, which did not exceed a twelvemonth. 
 
 That on these grounds your memorialist respectfully 
 solicits of your Royal Highness's justice the difference be- 
 tween the sum he derived from the reduced fees, during the 
 year of his command, and the average at which they were 
 heretofore rated before the reduction of the wine-houses 
 took place, the arrear of the moiety of the average of the 
 fees, which are his just due, from May 1803, when he left 
 Gibraltar, unto the present time. 
 
 And, lastly, the assurance that so long as your Royal 
 Highness is pleased to continue your memorialist as Governor 
 of Gibraltar, he may be assured of receiving the moiety of 
 those fees which would have been his undoubted right, had 
 not his zeal for the public service led him to make that 
 diminution in the number of licensed wine-houses for the 
 sale of liquors, which so essentially diminished his income.
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 381 
 
 H. 
 
 THE following official notifications belong to the year 
 1805 : and, but for an oversight, would have appeared in 
 the body of the work : 
 
 " September 7th, 1805. General, His Royal Highness 
 Edward, Duke of Kent, K.G., to be Field-Marshal of the 
 forces." 
 
 " WJiiteJiatt, Nov. 25, 1805. His Royal Highness Ed- 
 ward, Duke of Kent, appointed Keeper and Paler of the 
 house and park of Hampton Court, and mower of the brakes 
 there, and of the herbage and pannage of the said park, with 
 the wood called browsings, wind-fall wood, and dead wood, 
 happening in the said park ; and of all the barns, stables, 
 outhouses, gardens, and curtileges, belonging to the great 
 lodge in the said park, together with the said lodge itself, 
 &c. during His Majesty's pleasure."
 
 382 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 I. 
 
 DR. NEALE'S STATEMENT. 
 
 THE barbarous murder of Mr. Wood, on his journey be- 
 tween Constantinople and Ruschuk, occurred soon after the 
 death of SenorOcarris, and is remarkable on account of some 
 striking circumstances connected with it. This gentle- 
 man, who had been confidentially employed by the English 
 Ambassador, was the bearer of despatches between Con- 
 stantinople and Petersburg, Vienna and London. 
 
 He quitted Peru in February 1806, and the mouths of 
 the Danube being still obstructed with ice, it was deemed 
 expedient, for the sake of greater expedition, that he should 
 take the overland route across Mount Haemus, through 
 Bulgaria. Having hired post-horses, he set out, accom- 
 panied by a Turkish janissary, a Greek lad of fourteen, his 
 domestic, and a Frank of Peru, who was to return with the 
 horses from the Danube. They had accomplished the 
 second day's journey in safety, and were proceeding from 
 Burgas towards Kirk-Iklissi (the forty churches), when, 
 towards mid-day, they halted at a khan in a village, to 
 refresh themselves and feed their animals. While there, 
 a party of armed Turks entered the house, and having sur- 
 veyed them very attentively for some time, sat down near 
 the door. Mr. Wood and his attendants having finished
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 383 
 
 their repast, mounted their horses and quitted the village, 
 but had not proceeded far, before they perceived these 
 armed Turks in full pursuit. The janissary suspecting 
 their sinister intentions, called out to Mr. Wood to make 
 what speed he could and escape ; himself showing the ex- 
 ample by digging the shovel stirrups into his horse's flanks, 
 and setting out at a full gallop. Unluckily, however, Mr. 
 Wood was but an indifferent horseman, and besides other 
 encumbrances, h'ad attached a dog by a string to the cautle 
 of his saddle. The animal becoming entangled between 
 the horse's legs, he halted to cut the string, and by so doing 
 gave the robbers time to come up with him. The janissary 
 and other attendants were then considerably in advance, but 
 on turning round and observing Mr. Wood's critical situa- 
 tion, the faithful Turk wheeled round his horse and re- 
 joined him, while the Frank guide galloped off. 
 
 By this time, the robbers having seized the reins of Mr. 
 Wood's horse, compelled him and the janissary to dismount, 
 and forced them into a thicket about two gun-shots from the 
 road-side, where they commenced rifling Mr. Wood's person 
 and packages. On ripping open the portmanteau contain- 
 ing his letters and official despatches, the Grand Seignor's 
 travelling firman dropped out. Mr. Wood, being unfor- 
 tunately entirely ignorant of the Turkish language, was 
 unable to explain himself, and incautiously, and with some 
 degree of warmth, disputed with the robbers the possession 
 of his papers. One of the villains suddenly drew a loaded 
 pistol from his girdle, and discharged the contents through 
 Mr. Wood's head ; the janissary was instantly murdered in 
 the same manner; and the Greek lad, horror-struck at this
 
 384 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 sanguinary scene, took advantage of the momentary con- 
 fusion, and fled towards the mountains. But in scrambling 
 over some broken ground, he fell amidst a volley of musket 
 shots from the assassins ; who, believing that their fire had 
 taken effect, never followed him. In fact, however, he was 
 not wounded, but fainted from fear, and lay in a ditch till 
 nightfall, when he crept back to the town which they had 
 quitted in the morning, and where he lay concealed for some 
 days. Meantime the Frank guide returned to Pera, and 
 communicated these disastrous tidings. Orders were im- 
 mediately sent by the Reis Eflendi to the Pasha at Burgas, 
 to take instant measures against the murderers, and to 
 recover, if possible, the despatches and property taken from 
 Mr. Wood. In a few days some half-dozen heads were 
 duly forwarded in a sack to the Porte, together with some 
 very trifling articles of baggage, but none of the papers or 
 despatches were ever forthcoming. This, joined to some 
 other circumstances of a suspicious nature, led to a belief 
 that the robbers had been /tired to waylay Mr. Woody and 
 possess themselves of his papers, but that the murder was 
 accidental, and was chiefly brought on by his own impe- 
 tuosity of character. Be that as it may, the mystery, up 
 to the hour of my quitting Constantinople, was never 
 developed.
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 385 
 
 K. 
 
 As a Son, perhaps I may be pardoned for introducing the 
 following 
 
 Attestation of the late Dr. Neale's military services, 
 from Sir James McGrigor, Bart, M.D., Director-General 
 of the Army Medical Department. 
 
 " Army Medical Department, 
 
 London, Augiwt 10, 1837. 
 
 " SIR, 
 
 "In reply to your letter of the 26th of July, I have 
 much pleasure in testifying to the merits of your late 
 father, Dr. Neale, Physician to the Forces, as an officer in 
 the public service. I have known Dr. Neale on various 
 services for a period of upwards of twenty years, more par- 
 ticularly in the Peninsular War, where on one particular 
 occasion it was my pleasing duty to convey to Dr. Neale 
 
 THE THANKS OF THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON, for his 
 
 extraordinary exertions on an emergency at Ciudad Ro- 
 drigo, where Dr. Neale was the principal medical officer, and 
 displayed great professional skill, with extraordinary zeal 
 for the public service. 
 
 " I have the honour to be, Sir, 
 
 " Your most obedient Servant, 
 
 " JAMES McGRiooR, 
 
 " Director-General, Army Medical Department." 
 
 C C
 
 386 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 L. 
 
 PRINCE REGENT'S MESSAGE RESPECTING THE MAR- 
 RIAGE OF THE DUKE OF KENT. 
 
 LORD CASTLEREAGH presented the following Message 
 from the Prince Regent : 
 
 " GEORGE P. R. 
 
 " The Prince Regent, acting in the name and on the 
 behalf of His Majesty, thinks it right to acquaint the House 
 of Commons, that he has given the Royal Consent to a 
 marriage between His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent, 
 and Her Serene Highness Mary Louisa Victoria, widow of 
 the late Prince of Leiningen, and sister of the reigning 
 Duke of Saxe Cobourg of Saalfeld, and of His Royal High- 
 ness Leopold George Frederick Prince of Cobourg of Saal- 
 feld. His Royal Highness is persuaded that this alliance 
 cannot but be acceptable to His Majesty's faithful subjects ; 
 and he has the fullest reliance on the concurrence and 
 assistance of the House of Commons, in enabling him to 
 make a suitable and proper provision with a view to the 
 said marriage. 
 
 " G. P. R." 
 
 The House agreed, " to return His Royal Highness the 
 thanks of this House for his most gracious communication 
 of the intended marriage between His Royal Highness the 
 Duke of Kent, and Her Serene Highness Mary Louisa 
 Victoria, widow of the late Prince of Leiningen, and sister
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 387 
 
 of the reigning Duke of Saxe Cobourg of Saalfeld, and of 
 His Royal Highness Leopold George Frederick Prince of 
 Cobourg of Saalfeld ; to express our entire satisfaction at 
 the prospect of this alliance with a Protestant Princess of 
 illustrious family, and to assure His Royal Highness that 
 this House will immediately proceed to the consideration of 
 His Royal Highness's gracious message, in such a manner 
 as shall demonstrate the zeal, duty, and affectionate attach- 
 ment of this House to His Majesty's person and family, and 
 a due regard to the importance of any measure which may 
 tend to secure the succession of the crown in His Majesty's 
 illustrious house." 
 
 The Earl of Liverpool moved the order of the day for the 
 consideration of the Prince Regent's Message on the sub- 
 ject of the Marriage of the Duke of Kent with the Princess 
 of Leiningen. After what had already passed in parlia- 
 ment on the subject of making provision for the members of 
 the royal family who might contract marriages with the 
 consent of the Crown, it would not be necessary for him to 
 detain their lordships with any detailed observation on the 
 present case. He should merely state, that it was the 
 intention of His Majesty's ministers to propose to parlia- 
 ment the same arrangement as had already been sanctioned 
 by their lordships in the case of the Duke of Cambridge. 
 He then moved an address of thanks to the Prince Regent 
 for the communication, expressing their lordships' satisfac- 
 tion at the intended union, and their readiness to concur in 
 
 CC 2
 
 388 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 the measures necessary for making a suitable provision for 
 the royal Duke. 
 
 The Marquis of Landsdowne said, " He did not rise to 
 oppose the motion ; on the contrary, there were some cir- 
 cumstances, and particularly the relation in which the Prin- 
 cess named in the message stood to an illustrious person 
 with whom their lordships had condoled on account of a late 
 melancholy event, which must render this alliance very 
 satisfactory to parliament and the country. The noble earl 
 had stated that he intended to propose an arrangement of 
 the same nature as that which had been sanctioned by par- 
 liament in the case of the Duke of Cambridge ; but he 
 thought it due to the illustrious Duke, who was the object 
 of the message, that from what he knew of the state of his 
 affairs, it was but justice that an increase should be made 
 to his present income. He had suffered considerable em- 
 barrassments, but they arose from no improvidence on his 
 part, but solely from his having been left for several years 
 without any provision. It could not be expected of him 
 that he should particularize the embarrassments of His 
 Royal Highness, but it appeared to him proper that their 
 existence should be known. As the increase proposed was 
 the same as that which had already been voted by parlia- 
 ment to the Duke of Cambridge, it would doubtless receive 
 the approbation of their lordships." 
 
 The address was then agreed to.
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 339 
 
 THE HOUSE having resolved itself into a Committee on 
 the said Message, 
 
 Lord Castlereagh said, " that in calling the attention of the 
 committee to His Royal Highness's gracious Message, it 
 would not be necessary for him to trouble them at any 
 length ; for all the topics connected with the subject had 
 been so recently discussed, and the general principle on 
 which the House was disposed to act had been so fully 
 recognised, that all that he felt it his duty to do was, to recall 
 that principle to the minds of the committee, and to propose 
 its application to the present case. The present question 
 had, indeed, to a certain degree, been determined in the 
 late discussions ; for although he was not authorized to 
 communicate to parliament the intended marriage of His 
 Royal Highness the Duke of Kent, yet the treaty for that 
 marriage was so far in progress at the time of the discus- 
 sions to which he alluded, that he should have thought him- 
 self wanting in candour, had he not opened to the House 
 the probability that such an alliance would ere long be 
 concluded. It might, he thought, be collected from the 
 general character of the late discussions, that when a branch 
 of the royal family entered into a matrimonial alliance, 
 approved by the Crown and satisfactory to parliament, the 
 House was disposed to vote such a decent and proper 
 additional income as ought to be granted to a member of 
 the royal family under such circumstances, and not to 
 expect that he could meet his expenses with the same means 
 when married as when single. He thought it might also
 
 390 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 be collected, that there was no disposition on the part of 
 the House to take into consideration, in their estimate of 
 the proper grant to be made on such an occasion, the casual 
 income which such branch of the royal family might derive 
 from any military situation, whether conferred upon him at 
 home for his past services, or abroad as a mark of honorary 
 distinction. On these principles the House had acted in 
 their grant of 6,000. a-year to His Royal Highness the 
 Duke of Cambridge. He proposed, in the present instance, 
 strictly to follow the course adopted by the House on that 
 occasion. He proposed to make the same provision for 
 His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent, and the same 
 dower to his intended duchess, in the event of her surviving 
 him. He did not mean to propose any outfit, as he under- 
 stood from His Royal Highness, that, under all the circum- 
 stances of the case, he did not wish for it. There were one 
 or two observations which he wished to be allowed to make, 
 respecting the royal marriage at present under consideration. 
 He was persuaded that the marriage itself must be felt by 
 the committee to be, in every point of view, highly satisfac- 
 tory ; and that if any consideration were wanting to recom- 
 mend it, that consideration would be found in the fact, that 
 the connexion was not new to the country ; but that the 
 illustrious female, with whom His Royal Highness was 
 about to ally himself, belonged to a family of whose virtuous 
 and amiable qualities the country had already experienced 
 the most convincing proof. He must say, in justice to this 
 illustrious lady, and it was a feature of her conduct highly 
 creditable to her, and which, he was sure, would recommend 
 her to the respect of the Committee, that although, when
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 391 
 
 the treaty of marriage was in progress, she felt it her duty 
 not to relinquish the personal guardianship of her children, 
 by her former marriage, she did not extend that disposition 
 to the pecuniary advantages of her widowhood ; but that 
 her marriage would deprive her of an income of 3,0001. 
 a-year on that score, and of other smaller pecuniary advan- 
 tages arising from her guardianship, amounting, in the 
 whole, to about 5,000/. a-year ; so that the provision of a 
 dower for her, in the event of her surviving her illustrious 
 husband, was but an act of bare justice. It was due also to 
 His Royal Highness to state, that he was desirous that 
 2,0001. a-year of the proposed income should be settled on 
 his royal Consort by way of pin-money. His Royal High- 
 ness had for some years been under the pressure of con- 
 siderable encumbrances. Those encumbrances His Royal 
 Highness had met in the most manly and honourable way 
 [hear, hear!]. In consideration of these encumbrances it 
 was not to be expected that His Royal Highness, im- 
 mediately after his marriage (in the event of the provision 
 being made, which he was about to propose to the Com- 
 mittee), would live altogether in that splendid style which 
 he would otherwise do, and which he would adopt as soon 
 as he was liberated from those encumbrances. They had 
 been principally incurred at an early period of His Royal 
 Highness's life. His Royal Highness, it must be recol- 
 lected, did not come into the enjoyment of a separate income 
 until a later period of his life than that at which it had 
 been bestowed on other branches of the royal family. 
 Until His Royal Highness was thirty-two years of age he
 
 392 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 had only 5,000/. a-year allowed him by his royal father, and 
 his emoluments of about 5,000/. a-year from his situation as 
 Commander-in-Chief of the British possessions in North 
 America. From the narrow nature of that income arose 
 those encumbrances which His Royal Highness was now in 
 the course of discharging with so much honour to himself. 
 Under these circumstances he would move, * That His 
 Majesty be enabled to grant a yearly sum of money out of 
 the consolidated fund of the United Kingdom of Great 
 Britain and Ireland, not exceeding in the whole the sum of 
 6,000/., to make a suitable provision for His Royal High- 
 ness the Duke of Kent, upon his marriage.'" 
 
 Mr. Curicen said, "that however painful to his feelings 
 it might be, he felt it his duty to oppose the present motion. 
 He rested his opposition on two points. In the first place, 
 he did not know that he had ever acceded to any pledge, by 
 which he was bound, in all cases, to mike a provision for 
 every branch of the royal family, when a marriage was 
 about to take place. In the present instance, he could not 
 see any necessity for making such a provision as that now 
 called for, in addition to the income enjoyed by the illus- 
 trious Duke. He differed also from the noble lord on 
 another point. He had observed, that they were not to take 
 into consideration any emolument enjoyed from military or 
 other situations, by the royal family, when a provision of 
 this description was demanded. He never had conceded 
 any such principle ; and, if it had not been for the late hour 
 at which the question was brought forward on a former 
 occasion, when a grant was made to the Duke of Cam-
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 393 
 
 bridge, he would have opposed it. When he saw the 
 illustrious duke receiving an income of 25,0001. per annum, 
 he could not agree to an additional vote. He considered 
 the situation in which the country was placed, and he could 
 not consent that 6,0001. per annum should be added to the 
 existing burthens. He wished to ask, was there no source 
 from which this sum could be derived without coming to 
 parliament? Had not the illustrious Duke parents? Was 
 not Her Majesty in possession of a very considerable sum, 
 derived from the privy purse? That House had not 
 inquired into the state of the privy purse, and, in neglecting 
 to do so, they had neglected their duty. Out of the privy 
 purse Her Majesty might have made good the sums 
 necessary to remove the pecuniary embarrassments of the 
 illustrious Duke, and thus have rendered an application to 
 parliament unnecessary. He was glad that parliament had 
 at length awaked to a sense of its duty. He was glad they 
 had told the royal family, that, if they chose to contract 
 debts, and did not discharge them out of their regular 
 income, parliament, when applied to for that purpose, could 
 not conscientiously assist them. In acting as he did, he 
 was not influenced by a desire to do what was agreeable, 
 but what was just. He opposed the motion with reluctance, 
 because he had a high respect for the character of the 
 illustrious Duke, but his duty to his constituents and to the 
 country imperatively called on him to refuse the grant now 
 called for." 
 
 " Sir Robert Heron bore unequivocal testimony to the 
 character of the exalted individual in question, so well 
 known by his constitutional principles, and by the bene-
 
 394 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 volence of his disposition ; but in the present overburthened 
 state of the country, if it were necessary to make any addi- 
 tion to His Royal Highnesses income, it ought to be made 
 from those immense establishments maintained only for the 
 purposes of parade and patronage, and which were easily 
 and advantageously susceptible of diminution. After the 
 late discussions, he would not trouble the Committee farther 
 on the subject. So far, however, was he from thinking 
 that the grant to the Duke of Cambridge was a proper pre- 
 cedent, that if he had had an opportunity of doing so, he 
 should have opposed it as most objectionable, on account of 
 the immense emolument that he derived from Hanover. If 
 it were urged that that emolument was temporary, the 
 answer was, that when it ended that would be time enough 
 to make the proposed provision. To the dower proposed 
 to be granted to the illustrious consort of His Royal High- 
 ness, he would make no opposition. 
 
 Mr. Brougham " was persuaded that if the Committee 
 were to vote on the ground of the personal character or the 
 private conduct of the illustrious individual in question, the 
 motion would at once be disposed of; for he would venture 
 to say, that no man had set a brighter example of public 
 virtue no man had more beneficially exerted himself in 
 his high station to benefit every institution with which the 
 best interests of the country, the protection and the educa- 
 tion of the poor, were connected, than His Royal Highness 
 the Duke of Kent. But it appeared to him that his two 
 honourable friends who had just spoken, were perfectly right 
 in saying, that all considerations of that nature ought to be 
 entirely laid aside in deciding on such a proposition as that
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 395 
 
 now submitted to the Committee. Laying aside, therefore, 
 all such considerations, he should vote for the motion on 
 the same principle as that on which he had voted for the 
 allowance to the Duke of Clarence. Here was a proposed 
 matrimonial alliance, intended for the purpose of supplying 
 the succession to the Crown, contracted with the full con- 
 sent of the executive government, given in the manner pre- 
 scribed by the constitution, and meeting with (as it deserved) 
 the sanction of parliament. There was also this additional 
 fact, that the finances of the illustrious individual in ques- 
 tion were in such a state as to render parliamentary aid 
 indispensable to the completion of a marriage, which was 
 on all hands allowed to be so desirable. Such was the dry 
 constitutional ground on which the vote rested. That 
 House knew nothing of the personal qualities, of the merits 
 or demerits of their Royal Highnesses. It was enough that 
 they were Princes of the house of Brunswick, the succession 
 of which it was so highly desirable if possible to secure. 
 The only questions were, was the match calculated to obtain 
 that object ? Had it received the approbation of the Crown 
 as prescribed by law? Did it deserve the sanction of par- 
 liament ? If these questions were determined in the affirm- 
 ative, as they were in the present case, and in the cases of 
 the Dukes of Clarence and Cambridge, there then came the 
 last question Is the assistance of parliament necessary to 
 enable the match to be concluded ? To this answer an 
 affirmative was given in the case of the Duke of Clarence, 
 on which account he (Mr. B.) voted for an allowance to His 
 Royal Highness; a negative was given to it in the case of 
 the Duke of Cambridge, on which account he voted against
 
 396 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 an allowance to His Royal Highness. An affirmative was 
 now given to it in the case of the Duke of Kent, on which 
 account he was compelled by his duty to vote for an allow- 
 ance to His Royal Highness. This was the only true con- 
 stitutional ground on which the noble lord's proposition 
 ought to be acceded to, and not the gratitude which every 
 man must feel who had witnessed the incessant exertions of 
 the Duke of Kent for the last seven years to forward every 
 object of a chariable and benevolent nature. He wished 
 merely to advert (and that on public grounds) to what had 
 dropped from the noble lord with respect to His Royal High- 
 ness's encumbrances. If he had been rightly informed, those 
 encumbrances had arisen almost entirely, if not entirely, 
 from the delay in providing for His Royal Highness a sepa- 
 rate income. Instead of receiving 12,000/. a-year at the 
 age of twenty-four, as prescribed by act of parliament, His 
 Royal Highness enjoyed no income, except an allowance 
 from His Majesty, until he was thirty-two. The appoint- 
 ments which had been conferred upon His Royal Highness 
 had been by no means sinecures. Exposed to the severity 
 of opposite climates, in the West Indies, in Gibraltar, in 
 Nova Scotia, in Canada, His Royal Highness had spent 
 twelve or fourteen years in active and harassing service 
 without receiving any adequate emolument. His Royal 
 Highness had also experienced great losses in his baggage, 
 which in the case of an ordinary military officer would cer- 
 tainly have appeared in the army extraordinaries, but for 
 which His Royal Highness had received no remuneration. 
 His Royal Highness, however, made no claim whatever on 
 this subject. But the circumstance, added to the length of
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 397 
 
 4) 
 
 time during which his income was so limited, and the 
 expense to which the important situation in which he was 
 placed subjected him, had compelled him to incur debts to 
 such an amount that His Royal Highness had set apart 
 17,000/. out of his present revenue of 25,000/., for their 
 discharge, which it would nevertheless take several years to 
 effect. As on the one hand, he would not be induced by 
 any favours that he might have received from His Royal 
 Highness, or by the gratitude which, in common with the 
 country, he felt for His Royal Highness's public conduct, 
 to agree to any preposterous or misplaced expense that 
 might be proposed on this occasion, so, on the other hand, 
 he would not be deterred by popular clamour from oppos- 
 ing that more preposterous and misplaced economy that 
 would refuse to His Royal Highness the fair allowance to 
 which, under all the circumstances of the case, he was most 
 justly entitled." 
 
 Mr. Methuen said, " He must protest against the grant, 
 though he did it with every feeling of respect towards His 
 Royal Highness, who was worthy of the greatest regard 
 and esteem. He could not, however, in the present cir- 
 cumstances of the country, agree to the grant." 
 
 Lord Althorp said, " He agreed with his honourable and 
 learned friend in the principle of the votes which both of 
 them gave respecting the other branches of the royal family. 
 He agreed with him, too, that it was most desirable the succes- 
 sion should be kept up in the House of Brunswick ; and as it 
 appeared in the case of the Duke of Clarence, that a mar- 
 riage could not take place without some addition to his 
 income, he had agreed to the moderate provision voted to
 
 398 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 him, thinking that would be sufficient. Certainly, the 
 noble lord had said that that moderate addition would not 
 be sufficient; but it now appeared from rumours that the 
 noble lord was mistaken. It did not appear to him that the 
 marriage of all the branches of the royal family could be 
 considered as any great advantage to the country. It might 
 be desirable that some of them should marry, but it was 
 not desirable that the country should be called on to enable 
 all of them to marry. His honourable and learned friend 
 had assumed that the marriage of the Duke of Kent would 
 depend on this vote. But the noble lord, though he had 
 stated to the House that the Duke of Kent was under pecu- 
 niary embarrassments, did not state that if the present vote 
 was not agreed to the marriage would not take place. There 
 was, therefore, this distinction between the case of the Duke 
 of Kent and that of the Duke of Clarence. He had voted 
 against the grant to the other branches of the royal family, 
 because he did not consider the advantage to arise from 
 their marriage sufficient to compensate the country for the 
 burthen of an additional grant. For the same reason, 
 though he had every respect for the Duke of Kent, and 
 though he agreed in the praises which had been bestowed 
 on him, in the present distressed state of the country he 
 could not consent to vote in favour of the motion." 
 
 Mr. Brougham " wished to say a few words in conse- 
 quence of what had fallen from his noble friend respecting 
 the marriage of the Duke of Clarence. All of them knew 
 that the noble lord opposite assigned as the ground on 
 which he called on the House to consent to a vote of 
 10,000/. a-year to the Duke of Clarence, that unless the
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 399 
 
 House voted that sum, it was impossible His Royal Highness 
 could marry. Notwithstanding that ground, the House 
 had voted the lesser sum. But it must now surprise the 
 House, that, notwithstanding the noble lord stated there 
 was an absolute necessity for 10,000/. a-year to enable the 
 Duke of Clarence to marry, it now appeared that even 
 with 6,0007. a-year it was possible for him to contract 
 marriage." 
 
 Lord Castlereagh said, "he had stated to the House, 
 when he proposed 10,000/. as the sum necessary to enable 
 His Royal Highness to marry, in the understanding that 
 His Royal Highness should live in England, that it was 
 impossible for His Majesty's government to advise a 
 marriage, in the view with which he had proposed it to the 
 House, on a smaller allowance. It was not necessary for 
 him to state to the House what course His Royal Highness's 
 feelings, and his sense of honour, dictated to him ; but he 
 would appeal to the House, if that marriage still took place, 
 whether it would be grateful to their feelings that the sum 
 necessary to enable His Royal Highness to support himself 
 in a married state abroad, should be derived from any other 
 source than the bounty of parliament." 
 
 Mr. Protheroe said, " that having opposed the grants to 
 the other branches of the royal family, on the ground of 
 the distressed state of the country, he could not con- 
 scientiously vote in favour of the present motion." 
 
 Mr. John Smith " considered that the statements of his 
 honourable and learned friend had been correct. There 
 were some circumstances in addition, however, which ought 
 to be known to the House. He believed that His Royal 
 Highness had received some small sum of money on
 
 400 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 account of losses he had sustained. The House, however, 
 were not perhaps aware of the exact state of his affairs. 
 For many years His Royal Highness had not had a larger 
 income than the eldest sons of many gentlemen in that 
 House. He had incurred a large debt, a considerable por- 
 tion of which had been discharged from the appropriation of 
 a portion of the droits of the Admiralty. When it was 
 considered that he had not had the parliamentary grant till 
 he was thirty-two years of age, there did appear a sort of 
 want of liberality in the House towards him. It was 
 scarcely necessary to mention what was generally known, 
 the great benevolence, and the useful and generous con- 
 duct of His Royal Highness, of which no man could be 
 ignorant. He had watched the progress of His Royal 
 Highness ; he had seen what he had done for numerous 
 charities, and his constant exertions to advance the interests 
 of many valuable institutions. Those things would be 
 enough to influence him in his vote. But he thought it 
 hard that it should be stated as a reason why he had not 
 had the parliamentary grant till he was thirty-two years of 
 age, that he had been in foreign service, exposing himself 
 to the yellow fever, and to all the hardships of a West 
 Indian climate. So far from agreeing with that idea, he 
 thought that ought to be a reason why his allowance should 
 be larger. His Royal Highness had set apart 17,000/. for 
 the payment of his debts, and three years, he believed, 
 would discharge them all. A mistake had been made with 
 regard to the present amount of his income; for though 
 7,000;. remained, 1,000/. and more had been long paid to 
 certain widows of officers and soldiers, who had been his 
 companions in arms in former days, and he had no doubt
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 401 
 
 that sura would be continued to be paid by His Royal 
 Highness. He voted for the motion of the noble lord upon 
 principle alone, and he had seldom given his vote with 
 greater satisfaction." 
 
 Sir G. MoncJc " wished to show the consistency of the 
 vote which he intended to give. When the grant had been 
 proposed to the Duke of Clarence as a member of the royal 
 family, he was ready to accede to any grant of money that 
 might secure to His Royal Highness a proper establishment. 
 He had given his vote for the 10,000/., thinking it not too 
 large under all circumstances. But he could not agree 
 with the noble lord, when he proceeded, he thought, in the 
 most improper course which a minister of the Crown could 
 adopt ; when he proceeded to take that course which was 
 calculated to record the motive for which that 10,000/. had 
 been reduced. When he selected from the other end of 
 the royal family, if he might so speak, a man who stood so 
 high in the public opinion as the Duke of Kent, he thought 
 the noble lord went far to display an opinion that had been 
 entertained on the proposal of that former grant. While 
 the marriage of the Duke of Clarence was in course, he 
 thought it was not proper that any other member of the 
 royal family should come to the House and ask for an 
 additional allowance for the same purpose. That should 
 not, he conceived, be done till all hopes of increase had 
 ceased from the marriage then pending. 1 ' 
 
 The Committee then divided. 
 
 Ayes 205 
 
 Noes 51 
 
 Majority 
 
 D D
 
 402 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 LIST OF THE MINORITY. 
 
 Althorp, Viscount 
 Bennet, Hon. H. G. 
 Brand, Hon. T. W. 
 Byng, G. 
 
 Burrell, Hon. P. D. 
 Calvert, C. 
 Calvert, Nich. 
 Calcraft, John 
 Campbell, Hon. J. 
 Carhampton, Earl of 
 Carter, John 
 Cranbourne, Viscount 
 Coke, E. 
 Dowdeswell, E. 
 Dundas, C. 
 
 Elliot, Right Hon. W. 
 Fane, John 
 Folkestone, Viscount 
 Ferguson, Sir R. C. 
 Guise, Sir Win. 
 Heron, Sir Robert 
 Hornby, Edw. 
 Hurst, Robert 
 Latouche, Robert 
 Lambton, John G. 
 Lefevre, C. S. 
 Lloyd, Sir Ed. 
 
 Lyttelton, Hon. W. 
 Madocks, Wm. A. 
 Martin, John 
 Monck, Sir C. 
 Moore, Peter 
 Methuen, P. 
 Newman, R. W. 
 North, Dudley 
 Ord, Wm. 
 Osborne, Lord F. 
 Portman, Ed, B. 
 Protheroe, Ed. 
 Philips, G. 
 Pym, T. 
 
 Ridley, Sir M. W. 
 Sebright, Sir John 
 Sefton, Earl of 
 Sharp, R. 
 Shelley, Sir John 
 Stanley, Viscount 
 Tierney, Right Hon G. 
 Waldegrave, Hon. W. 
 Webb, Ed. 
 Wynn, C. W. 
 
 TELLER. 
 J. C. Curwen 
 
 Lord Castlereagh next moved, " That the sum of 6,000/. 
 per annum be settled upon Her Serene Highness Mary 
 Louisa Victoria, Princess of Leiningen, when she shall 
 become Duchess of Kent, in case Her Highness should 
 survive His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent, to be 
 issuing and payable out of the consolidated fund of the 
 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland." 
 
 Agreed to. 
 
 B. CLAY, PRINTER, BREAD STREET HILL.
 
 23n t!)e same 
 
 THE 
 
 LIFE-BOOK OF A LABOURER; 
 
 OK, 
 
 THE CURATE 
 WITH HIS TRIALS, SORROWS, CHECKS, AND TRIUMPHS. 
 
 BY ERSKINE NEALE, M.A. 
 
 RECTOR OF K1RTON, SUFFOLK; 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 "THE CLOSING SCENE;" "THE BISHOP'S DAUGHTER," ETC. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 " I write not for favour nor preferment, but only to serve the cause of Christianity, and 
 of that Church, of whose communion it is my happiness to be a member, my glory to be 
 a priest ; and that I had better abilities to do her service my highest ambition." Works 
 of the Rev. J. N orris, Vicar of Bemerton, 1704. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 THE SAILOR KING J A SKETCH FROM 
 THE LIFE. 
 
 LINKS OP THE PAST. 
 
 NEWNHAM PADDOX AND MR. BLUNT. 
 
 THE GRAVE OP BYRON. 
 
 NELSON'S WIDOW AND NELSON'S 
 DAUGHTER. 
 
 A FASTIDIOUS PARISH. 
 LOKD BROME. 
 
 M. J. J. 
 
 LAUD'S CHURCH-YARD. 
 
 THE ROUGH CLERGYMAN J BEING A RUDE 
 SKETCH OP A REAL CHARACTER. 
 
 THE TENNIS BALL OF FORTUNE. 
 
 THE DYING REQUEST OF THE INFIDEL'S 
 DAUGHTER. 
 
 THE CLERGYMAN ALCHEMIST. 
 
 WHAT SAY YOU TO A GHOST STORY] 
 
 ARNSBY AND ROBERT HALL. 
 
 THE CHURCH COMMISSION. 
 
 LADY HUNTINGDON'S RESTING-PLACE. 
 
 BRANK : OR, THE BOTHERED BA- 
 RONETS. 
 
 THE SPOT WHERE CLARKSON SLUM- 
 BERS. 
 
 DR. HAWKER AND MRS. JORDAN. 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 "A curious and interesting book, possessing much anecdote, almost amounting to 
 history, of several living characters connected with the Established Church. Our chief 
 reason, however, for introducing and recommending it to public notice proceeds, we 
 apprehtnd, so far as we can conscientiously judge of our own motives, from a liberal 
 feeling. \Ve may be thought to be too exclusively attached to the Church and it distin-
 
 THE LIFE -BOOK OP A LABOURER. 
 
 guished members. On the contrary, we assert that we revere goodness and admire talent 
 wherever they are found, whether within or without the pale of the Establishment ; and 
 of the truth of this assertion we at once afford a proof. Among the Dissenting divines 
 of later times, none was more, or more justly, celebrated than the late Robert Hall, of 
 Leicester. We have ourselves heard with astonishment some of his, not extemporaneous 
 certainly, for they were studied with the most laborious care, but unwritten discourses. 
 Nothing superior to them was ever heard from the pulpit ; deep metaphysical research, 
 just reasoning upon it, apposite Scriptural illustration and confirmation, with a sublimity 
 of thought and felicity of expression truly marvellous, were the characteristics of his 
 eloquence. The author of the ' Life-Book of a Labourer,' in whose work there are many 
 other striking delineations of excellence, still living or recently departed, gives an account 
 of the late Robert Hall ' Arnsby and Robert Hall.' " Times, July 18. 
 
 " It is not often that the critic, if he be just, can afford to give unreserved praise to the 
 works he is called upon to notice. Amongst the few exceptions to this rule, we are 
 inclined to place the ' Life-Book of a Labourer.' There is not one paper in the whole 
 collection which may not be read again and again with pleasure, and which is not calcu- 
 lated to raise the mind and purify the heart, while it charms the imagination. In these 
 respects it reminds us of that most delightful of all biographies, ' The Doctor,' to which, 
 indeed, many portions of the work are little, if at all inferior. It is just such a book 'as 
 parents should be desirous to place in the hands of their children ; full of pure thoughts 
 and holy feelings, and well calculated to enlist our affections in the cause of virtue, and 
 our sympathies on the side of truth." Britannia, May 26. 
 
 " We owe the estimable author a debt of gratitude, which the expression of our senti- 
 ments in relation to this interesting volume can but feebly repay, for contributing so 
 largely to our gratification. The moral is uniformly excellent, the style chaste, while the 
 anecdotes are replete with the peculiar hold on the mind that thoughts fresh from nature 
 never fail to possess." Hull Packet, May 31. 
 
 " Fora more interesting work, and one breathing more fully and firmly the very essence 
 of Christian philanthropy and national patriotism, and that, too, in the most simple and 
 unambitious language, as if the writer were not aware of his power of influencing all the 
 better feelings of the human heart, we never read." Literary Chronicle. 
 
 " One of the few books at once moral, interesting, and high-toned." Alias. 
 
 " In the new edition of this ably-written and popular work, a few chapters of the least 
 interest have been omitted, and some new ones introduced. Among these last is a very 
 interesting chapter on Lady Nelson and Nelson's daughter Horatia, in which some 
 calumnies on the first are refated, and, with respect to the last, doubts are thrown on any 
 relationship existing between her and Lady Hamilton. A chapter is also introduced 
 descriptive of the spot where Clarkson slumbers. It is written with great feeling. We 
 are glad to find that these narratives have been so much sought after as to render the 
 issue of a new edition necessary." Morning Heral-L 
 
 ' The reader will find both grave and gay, instruction and entertainment, in the pub- 
 lication." Literary Gazette. 
 
 LONDON : 
 EICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET.
 
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