felt that the empire owed a heavy debt of gratitude for all that he had effected for its safety and its fame.

There was little room for hesitation in selecting a successor for his royal highness as commanderin-chief: there was only one man in whom personal merit and the fullest confidence of the country were united. Military fame, habits of business, and long practical acquaintance with every department of the army, placed the duke of Wellington, already mastergeneral of the ordnance, beyond the reach of competition; he was called to the head of the army which had so often followed him to victory in the field. The only objection uttered against the appointment was directed, not against his fitness to be commander-inchief, for on that all men were agreed, but on the fitness and expediency of his continuing to hold, along with that office, his former seat in the cabinet. There were those who traced, and justly, the impartiality which pervaded every part of the duke of York's administration, in a great degree to his want of official political connection with the ministry. He was no party to their measures of state; strictly speaking, he was a servant, and could not be a colleague; he was intrusted with the welfare of the military service alone, and to aspirants to military favour on the ground of political services, he could always reply, that to him no political services could be rendered, and that he had no interests to cherish but that of the army. It cannot be denied, however, that this independence was rather to be ascribed to the rank of the royal duke; he had not been brought into his office as the adherent of a

party, and he was not to be shaken from it by a change of ministry: he, therefore, had no motive to use his patronage for the purpose of supporting a cabinet as if his own power had depended upon its prosperity. But this is only an additional reason why every ar rangement ought to be avoided which may lend facilities to the operation of such a motive; and, as a man's anxiety to serve and support a ministry will always increase with the extent to which he is dependent upon them, so will the temptation to employ his patronage for the political benefit of them and of himself.

Parliament met, pursuant to adjournment, on the 8th of February, and one of its earliest measures was to vote an address of condolence to the king, on the death of his royal brother. Lord Liverpool moved it in the House of Lords, and Mr. Peel in the Commons (February 12); in the latter House, it was seconded by Mr. Brougham. All political asperity was forgotten in an unanimous expression of respect for the private character, and official conduct of the deceased. Mr. Peel said, that he would studiously abstain from touching any point which might excite discordant opinions or angry feelings; but he was confident that every man, whatever might be his political sentiments, would willingly join in expressing deep sorrow for the death of an illustrious prince, who had executed a high office, and fulfilled an important trust, with great talent and untainted impartiality, and in testifying deep sympathy with his majesty on the loss of a brother, who, after having been his play-mate, had been the most faithful and useful of his servants, and who, on

his death-bed, could justly console himself with the reflection that he had never abandoned a friend, or resented an injury. Laboured panegyrics on departed princes were better suited to despotic countries, than to those where the human mind grew up in robust and healthy freedom; but he was confident he did not transgress the truth, when he said, that the duke of York possessed qualities which eminently fitted him for the discharge of his high duty, and had lost no opportunity of turning them to advantage in the discharge of that duty; that, as commander in chief, he had improved the discipline, and raised the moral charaeter of the army. No man was capable of appreciating what he had effected in his capacity of commander-in-chief, who had not made himself acquainted with the state, the discipline, and the constitution of the army, when the duke entered upon his office, as well as with its state, when death removed him from his command. "I can never forget," said Mr. Peel, "the last words which I heard from the royal prince, only nine days before his death. When he received the news of a part of our troops having landed at Lisbon, he exclaimed, in a faint, but triumphant, voice, I wish that the country could compare the state of the brigade which has landed at Lisbon in 1827, with the state of the brigade which landed at Ostend in 1794." These were the last words which I heard from the living lips of the duke of York." The duke had been forty-six years a soldier, and when he came into office, he had declared, that no man should for the future labour under the disadvantages which he had had to contend with. To enumerate all the benefits which

the duke had conferred upon the army, it would be necessary to go through many details of various regulations connected with religious duties, with military schools, with points of discipline, and with the security of fair hopes of promotion to every man in the service. But it was sufficient to recollect, that, while the duke of York held the office of commander-in-chief, every man knew that justice would be done him: and it was by this, and not by the minute regulations of discipline, that the English army had obtained that plastic energy which distinguishes the free soldier from another. During the long period, during the ten thousand days, in which the duke of York had been in office, he (Mr. Peel) did not think that one of those days had passed without his devoting some portion of it to the business of his official situation. No letter ever came to the office, which, if it had a signature, was not read and attended to. Individuals might frequently have mistaken the proper quarter to which their applications should be addressed; but even in these cases a civil answer was always returned, accompanied by a direction to the applicant respecting the department to which he ought to apply. The impartiality of the royal duke had always been the theme of applause in that House, whenever his disposal of promotions had been brought under its notice. On the augmentation of the army in 1825, the only lieutenants who were promoted were senior lieutenants; no interest was allowed to interfere in this, and the only exception to the rule which the duke had here laid down, was one which reflected any thing but dishonour. It was in the case of a lieutenant of the year

1814, who was promoted on account of his conduct at the battle of Waterloo, where the command of his regiment devolved upon him, all the other officers of the regiment having been disabled or slain. In 1825, twenty-two captains were promoted to the rank of majors without purchase. The power of conferring promotion without purchase was certainly a means of conferring favour; but the average service of these twentytwo captains, who had thus obtained majorities without purchase, was twenty-six years. Sixteen majors were also raised to the rank of lieutenant-colonels, and the average service of these was fifteen years. During the whole of the time in which the duke of York was in office, there had never been an instance of an officer being raised by purchase over the head of another, without the offer being previously made to that officer, or unless he had for some reason for feited his claims to promotion. Three-fourths of the commissions which had been given away in the year 1825 without purchase, were conferred upon the sons or relatives of old officers. The duke had possessed extraordinary advantages from having been in the army for forty-six years, and having filled the office of commander-in-chief for thirty-six years. It was no slight encouragement to a soldier to know that an experienced eye observed him, while there was no greater advantage in a commanderin-chief than to know who had seen service.

Mr. Brougham considered it no small praise to the Duke of York, that, having for so long a time held the office of commander-in-chief, he had never allowed his political principles by which he (Mr.

Brougham) meant party principles to interfere in the discharge of the duties of his office. The best testimony of the sincerity and honesty, with which the late duke entertained those strong political sentiments which he was known to hold upon some subjects was, that he entertained them free from all asperity towards the persons who differed from him.-Sir R. Wilson said, it was worthy of observation, that the improvement, which the duke of York had effected in the discipline of the army, was maintained without any exaggerated severity. When his royal highness came into office, corporal punishment, which had been carried to so great an extent as to become a matter of opprobrium in the eyes of foreigners, was considerably reduced by him; and it was to be hoped that the House would complete what the late commanderin-chief had begun. The kindness, the benevolence, and the impartiality, of the duke of York were well known; and although parties, upon whose cases he judged, might sometimes think his decisions harsh, yet in no case had any one impeached the motives upon which he had determined.

By the death of the duke of York, his next brother, the duke of Clarence, became the nearest heir of the crown. It was thought that this change in his situation would be accompanied with the necessity of a more expensive style of living; and, on the 15th of February, a royal message was presented to both Houses of parliament, stating that his majesty was desirous of making a further provision for the support of the duke and duchess of Clarence, suitable to the present situation of their royal highnesses. The message was taken into con

sideration on the following day: the address in reply to it was voted unanimously in the House of Lords, but encountered considerable opposition in the Commons. The chancellor of the Exchequer proposed a resolution, by which 3,000l. per annum were to be added to the income of the duke, and 6,000l. per annum to that of the duchess. He said, that whenever parliament had been called upon to provide for the due maintenance of any member of the royal family, the degree of proximity in which the individual might stand to the throne had always been a material ingredient in the inquiry. This principle had been applied in the case of the duke of York, even before the course of events had advanced him to that point in the line of succession at which the duke of Clarence already stood even before his present majesty had ascended the throne, and while the princess Charlotte was still alive, he had enjoyed a higher income than his younger brothers. The condition of the duke of Clarence at present was the following. He had, charged upon the consolidated fund, an income of 26,500l. ; but there was no separate allowance to the duchess, as there had been in the case of the duchess of York: all that their royal highnesses possessed conjointly, was this annuity of 26,500l., which had been granted in different portions at different periods. An addition of 3,000l. a year had arisen from the death of the duke of York. In the earlier part of the year 1820, until the civil list should be settled, which did not take place until some months after the death of his late majesty, the allowances to the different younger branches of the royal family had

been charged upon the hereditary revenue. But in the month of July an act had been passed to regulate these allowances; it reenacted those provisions with regard to the duke of Clarence and his younger brothers, which had expired upon the death of George 3rd; and it also contained a clause, giving the members of the royal family the benefit of survivorship which they had enjoyed under earlier acts.

In consequence of this, the duke of Clarence enjoyed an additional sum of 3,000l. a-year by the death of the duke of York, which made the whole income, to which he was now entitled, 29,500l. ayear. But this was all; and there could be no more benefit of survivorship, as the law terminated the right to this advantage, when the shares of the royal brothers had been raised by it above 15,000l. ayear. There was no separate allowance to the duchess whatever. What was proposed to be done at present was, to place the duke and duchess of Clarence as nearly as possible upon the same footing, as to income, as their late royal highnesses, the duke and duchess of York, had been; with one difference which he should state in the suggested allotment of the fund. In the case of the duke and duchess of York, the whole income had been 37,000l. a year; of which the duke possessed 33,000l., and her royal highness the duchess, in her separate right, 4,000l.: what he meant to submit in the case of their royal highnesses the duke and duchess of Clarence, involved a slight variation; he meant to add 3,000l. a year to the royal duke's present income, which then would be 32,500l.; and to grant to the duchess 6,000l. a year in her separate right, during the life of her

royal husband. He then moved a resolution to that effect.

The resolution was opposed by lord Althorpe, Mr. Hume, Mr. Brougham, and Mr. Abercromby. Lord Althorpe agreed, that, if it could be shewn that the change which had taken place would necessarily involve his royal highness in additional expenses, it was fit ting that he should be enabled to meet them; but without some very good ground indeed, it would be wrong to add to the burthens of the people, among whom distress was already so prevalent. No case had been made out; nor had a single instance been produced in proof of the statement, that it was the constant custom of parliament to give the heir apparent a grant beyond that allowed to the other members of his family. It was true that the duke of York had possessed a larger income than his younger brothers, even when he was not heir apparent; but not a shilling had been added to it, when he became heir apparent ; and, therefore, that instance was no precedent in favour of the principle of the present grant. Mr. Hume contended that it was ungracious and inconsistent, to be proposing an additional burthen of 9,000l. a year, so soon after a royal letter to the bishops had exhorted them to use all their influence in promoting charitable contributions for the relief of the starving population. To support monarchy, he said, at such an expense, tended neither to do honour to the crown, nor to produce satisfaction with monarchy itself. He had but lately presented to the House a petition from the weavers of Blackburn in Lancashire, praying that something might be done which would provide them with food even

of the vilest kind, and sufficient only to support nature, and the answer now given to their prayers, was a vote for adding 9,000l. a year to the income of the duke of Clarence. If, in the present situation of the country, parliament had money to spare, let it be given to those, who, by being absolutely in want of bread had a prior claim to their sympathy; and let them refrain from becoming parties to a measure which could only tend to render the royal family odious in the eyes of the people. How could any man, who looked at the misery prevalent over all the country, seriously venture to propose such an addition to an income which amounted already to 29,000l.; when tens of thousands of distressed operatives were dying for want, and yet had not been betrayed into violation of the laws. Unwilling to do any thing which might look like a reproach to the crown, he would not oppose to the motion direct negative; but to give ministers an opportunity of withdrawing it, he would move that the chairman should report progress, and sit again for the further consideration of the proposed grant.

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Mr. Brougham and Mr. Abercromby opposed the motion on the ground, that neither the custom nor the necessity on which it was justified, had been proved to exist; nor was there any principle for establishing a distinction resting merely on what was called proximity to the throne. The question rested plainly on this simple proposition-that the demise of the duke of York had imposed on the duke of Clarence, as a conséquence, the necessity of incurring a greater expenditure in maintaining his rank; than he had been previously called upon to meet. But where was the