Majesty's Government to bring forward, as a government, any measure on any one of the topics contained in the speech. -Feb. 4, 1834.

THE CARLIST AND CHRISTINO WAR IN SPAIN.

The Duke to the last paid great attention to news from the Peninsula, and was always anxious-as he was a great newspaper reader-for fresh intelligence of the contest between Don Pedro and Don Miguel in Portugal, and that between Don Carlos and the then childqueen's generals in Spain. His Grace by no means approved the system of the Anglo-Spanish Legion; for he was of opinion that if this country interfered at all, it should interfere openly, and not allow men to go out in hopes of being paid by the Spanish Government, which from poverty and procrastination never paid the legionaries at all. He occasionally objected, too, to the tactics of Lord John Hay and General Evans. He said:

The connexion between the Legion and the fleet has been injurious to the military operations of the Queen of Spain's generals. That is my decided opinion founded upon my knowledge of the nature of the country, and of the position of both parties.-April 21, 1837.

THE TWO GREAT UNIVERSITIES.

One

The Duke generally said a few words when the condition of the Universities was the topic of discussion, but he had not any great knowledge of academical requirements; speaking, perhaps, as a sort of duty, as he was Chancellor of the University of Oxford. of the last works, however, which the Duke read-perhaps the very last-was the lengthy report of the commissioners who had made inquiries with an intention, it was believed, on the part of Lord J. Russell's government, to effect some changes in the two Universities. The Duke seems to have been averse to any material alteration, but what effect the report of the commission might have wrought upon his mind may never be known. He has said on the subject:

The noble earl (Radnor) has not adverted to all that has been done; he has referred only to what has actually passed,

forgetting that though some laws have not passed, they have been considered by the heads of houses and by the several colleges. I protest against this House entering into a consideration of bits of statutes, and I will give no answer to the noble earl's remarks upon them. I call upon your lordships to allow the University of Oxford to proceed with the revision of their statutes, with a view to make such alterations as appear to them to be proper.-July 9, 1838.

AFFIRMATIONS INSTEAD OF OATHS.

It is perfectly true that, on a former occasion, I expressed an opinion that a bill of this nature might be, with propriety, applied to certain persons who had been Quakers, Moravians, or Separatists, but who had separated themselves from those classes, while they still had scruples with regard to an oath. But I never thought of extending this privilege to all mankind.-July 12, 1838.

COUNTRY MAGISTRATES.

Some complaints having been made that political partiality had been manifested in the appointment of the unpaid magistracy of the country, the Duke brought the subject before the notice of the House of Peers and its chairman (Lord Cottenham). He wished that the purity of motive which led to the appointment of justices of the peace should not be so much as questioned, observing:

The public would ultimately feel that those who wished to keep the magistrates clear of party, and uninfluenced by political motives, and to select the justices of the peace from the persons of the greatest influence in the country, were the best friends of their country.-July 17, 1838.

CORN LAWS-PROTECTION.

The law was originally established to give protection to agriculture, and without that protection it could not be prosperous.-Feb. 18, 1839.

THE QUEEN'S MARRIAGE.

The House could not omit that first opportunity (it was the opening of the session of 1840) on which they were called upon to pledge themselves, beyond mere congratulation, on this marriage; to declare in such terms their

opinion as should not leave the public in the smallest doubt of the Prince chosen by her Majesty being a Protestant. He concluded by moving that the word "Protestant" be inserted before the word "Prince."-Agreed to.

The Duke, it was asserted at a public meeting by a D.D. who had not forgiven him Catholic Emancipation, was "less wise and nice in 1829."

THANKS TO THE ARMIES AND THEIR LEADERS.

The Duke of Wellington was too wise and too great to entertain jealousy of any successful general, and (departing, in order to keep together the subject, from the strictly chronological order of this series) we here give his remarks on three motions "for thanks;" all highly and even startlingly eulogistic from such a man. The first was moved after the taking of Ghuznee. Some have said that if that strong fortress had not been carried by the British, all the recent annexations to the Indian empire of the merchant princes would have been aroused by the emboldened natives into a fresh warfare with their foreign possessors:

THANKS TO LORD KEANE, SIR WILLOUGHBY COTTON, AND THE ARMY OF THE INDUs.

I never knew an occasion on which the duty of Government had been performed on a larger scale, on which more adequate provisions have been made for all the contingencies which might have occurred, or in which more attention had been paid to the wishes of the officers, the comforts of the soldiers, and all those considerations which are likely to make a war successful.-Feb. 4, 1840.

THANKS TO SIR R. STOPFORD FOR HIS SERVICES ON THE

COAST OF SYRIA.

The present achievement I consider one of the greatest deeds of modern times. I give the highest credit to those who performed such a service.-Feb. 4, 1841.

THANKS TO THE ARMY AT SCINDE.

Sir C. Napier having gained one victory, again found himself in a position likely to be attacked by a greatly superior force. He secured for himself not only the fortress

of Hyderabad, but a fortress on the Indus behind him. He then brought up the reinforcements from Sukkur, and had a stronger army than that with which he fought the battle of Meeanee. My lords, I must do him the justice to say that the movement to effect a junction with his reinforcements, manifested all the abilities of an officer to be trusted with the highest description of operations.-Feb. 12, 1844.

Sir William Napier, the historian of the Duke's Peninsular war, has written an account of his brother's (Sir Charles Napier's) very able administration of Scinde. There Sir Charles captured a powerful band of armed robbers, some thousands strong, in the deep recesses, 300 yards wide, but 40 miles in length, of Trukkee. "The scheme of attack," writes Sir William, “though not finally executed, was planned with such subtlety and caution, and was yet so daring, that being afterwards laid before the Duke of Wellington, it drew from him strong expressions of approbation."

THE DUKE AGAIN IN OFFICE.

In 1841, the Duke of Wellington was again in office. He had been so in 1834, but for so short a period, that no impression could be made by his policy on the condition of the country. There was one incident, however, which it may be interesting now to mention. Some years after this short-lived tenure of place, his grace said, on the question of the

GRANT TO MAYNOOTH COLLEGE:

I was in office in 1834, for a month or six weeks (a laugh), and I then supported this grant; nor do I see anything in subsequent circumstances to induce me now to pursue a different course.

On this occasion (in 1834) the Duke held eight offices, five of them of the first political consequence. This was owing to the absence of Sir R. Peel in Italy, as the Duke wished for his association in

forming a cabinet. Messenger after messenger

"sweated" after Sir Robert, more earnestly than did the captains dispatched to secure for official purposes

a very different character-Sir John Falstaff! Wellington was assailed with all the light (and heavy) artillery of He was an Atlas, but bearing on his

the press. broad shoulders more than one official world-he out-did Cerberus, being eight "gentlemen at once," instead of but three-he was an animated encyclopædia-he was "at all in the ring," he was your single 66 Iman of all-work!" And so indeed he was! worked like a government clerk, only a great deal harder. At length Sir Robert arrived, but the country was in a ferment, and no Peel-Wellington administration could be formed.

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THE BEDCHAMBER LADIES.

66

He

Sir R. Peel, then in opposition, once attacked a proposed measure of the government, and was asked what he would have done under the same circumstances? Nay," said the right honorable baronet, I may not prescribe; I have not been called in; you must consult the regular doctor." The Duke was for years the regular court doctor, even when he was not in the ministry. He was " consulted" by George IV., William IV., and Queen Victoria. On one occasion the Duke and Sir R. Peel were to have resumed power, Viscount Melbourne, then premier, having informed her Majesty that he could no longer carry on the government. But the Queen, when the proposed new arrangements were submitted to her, objected to part with the ladies of her household, who were the sisters, wives, or near connections of the outgoing ministers. Viscount Melbourne, who, according to Theodore Hook, was the pleasantest and most particularly unfit man for the premiership, dined, during his interregnum, as frequently as ever, at the royal table, until Sir Robert hinted, that although he and his friend the Duke of Wellington were the last men to interfere with her Majesty's hospitality, the public and the parliament would imagine that, as Lord Melbourne was her most frequent guest, he might also be her most frequent adviser! The matter ended in the Whigs retaining their possession of the Treasury

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