Sivut kuvina
PDF
ePub

there. The infantry, therefore, which was ordered to duty on this occasion at Windsor and its vicinity, amounted to nearly 1,600 men. These troops received the assistance of a detachment from the Royal Horse-guards (Blue), stationed at Windsor and Slough. Two brigades of Artillery were stationed in the Long Walk, with twelve light sixpounders and ammunition cars. Sir H. Vivian commanded the whole.

On the day of the funeral, at eleven o'clock, the Mayor and Corporation proceeded in their robes to the parish church, and a funeral sermon was preached by the Rev. Isaac Gosset, Vicar of Windsor, and Chaplain to the Corporation.

[ocr errors]

At half after six visitors were admitted by tickets to the north aisle of St. George's Chapel, the south aisle being exclusively reserved to the persons immediately engaged in the ceremony. At a quarter before nine the head of the procession arrived at the barrier erected before the gate leading into the yard. The carriages of the Chief Mourner and of the other Royal Dukes only were allowed inside. The hearse having reached the porch and halted, the coffin was placed in the car, and wheeled by ten Yeomen of the Guard into the Chapel. From this moment half-minute guns continued to be fired in the Long Walk.

The procession then moved forward:

Poor Knights of Windsor.

Eleven Pages of their Royal Highnesses Prince Leopold, the Princess Augusta, and the Duke of Sussex.

Five Pages of his Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence.

Sixteen Pages of the King, the Back-stairs, the Presence, and Bedchamber.
Nine Pages of the deceased.

Solicitor to his late Royal Highness, John Parkinson, Esq.
Surgeons, Messrs. Simpson, M'Grigor, Sir A. Cooper.

Physicians, Doctors Macmichael, Thomson, Drever, Sir H. Halford.
The Corporation of Windsor, represented by a Deputation, consisting of Mr. J.
Secker, Jun. and Mr. C. Layton, Bailiffs; Mr. Secker, Town-clerk; Mr. Egel-
stone, Chamberlain; Mr. J. Clode, Justice; Mr. J. Voules, Mayor; and
Sir Giffin Wilson, Recorder.

Curate of Windsor, Rev. R. P. Mealy. The Vicar of Windsor, Rev. I. Gosset. Chaplains to his late Royal Highness, Rev. W. L. Coghlan, T. Nayler, S. Barker, Dr. Rudge, T. Hatch, G. G. Stonestreet, Thomas Lane Fox, H. H. Dakins. Private Chaplain, Rev. Wm. W. Dakins, D. D.

Chaplain-gen. to the Army, the Rev. Robert Hodson, Dean of Carlisle. Secretaries to his late Royal Highness, Major T. Maling, F. Dighton, Esq, Lieut.-Col. G. Disbrowe.

Equerries to Prince Leopold, Duke of Sussex, Duchess of Kent, and Duke of Clarence.

Assistant Quarter-master-general,
Lieut.-Colonel J. Freeth.

Assistants Adjutant-general,
Lieut.-Cols. Macgrigor and D'Aguilar.

Aids-de-camp to his Majesty, Cols. Trench and Thornton. Aids-de-camp to his late Royal Highness, Lt. Cols. F. Russell, T. Armstrong, Hon. G. Anson, Col. Sir H. F. Cooke.

Deputy Quarter-master-general,
Sir R. D. Jackson.

Licut.-Governor of Chelsea Hospital,

Sir A. Hope.

Deputy Adjutant-general,
Maj.-gen. J. Macdonald.

Governor of the Royal Military College,
Sir E. Paget.

Quarter-master-gen. Sir J. W. Gordon. Adjutant-gen. Sir H. Torrens. Equerries to the King, Maj. Gen. Sir G. A. Quentin, Lt.-Gen. Bayly. Clerk-marshal and First Equerry to the King, Lt.-Gen. Sir F. T. Hammond. Equerries to his late Royal Highness, C. C. Smith, Esq. Maj. Gen. Hon. A. P.Upton

Master of the Buck-hounds, Lord Maryborough.

Grooms of the Bedchamber to his Majesty, Col. Whatley, Hon. Col. King, Hon. A. C. Bradshaw, Lt.-Gen. Sir W. Houstoun, Lt.-Gen. Hon. Sir W. Lumley, Maj.Gen, Sir A. F. Barnard, Adm. Sir E. Nagle, Gen. Sir W. Keppel,

Gen. the Hon. E. Finch.

Master of the Robes to his Majesty, Earl of Mountcharles.

Pursuivants: Rouge-croix, R. Lawrie, Esq.; Blue-mantle, W. Woods, Esq. F.S.A.

Rouge-dragon, F. Townsend, Esq. F.S.A.;
King's Sol.-gen. Sir N. C. Tindal.
Comptroller of his Majesty's Household,
by the Deputy, T. Brent, Esq.

Portcullis, J. Pulman, Esq. F.S.A. King's Att.-gen. Sir C. Wetherell, Treasurer of his Majesty's Household, Rt. Hon. W. H. Fremantle.

Lancaster, G. F. Beltz, esq.

Heralda of Arms.

Windsor, F. Martin, esq. York, C. G. Young, esq.
Judge-Marshal of his Majesty's Forces, Sir. J. Beckett.
The Lord Chief Baron, Sir W. Alexander.

The Master of the Rolls, Sir J. S. Copley.

The Paymaster-general to the Forces, Rt. Hon. W. V. Fitzgerald.
Lords of the Bedchamber to his Majesty, Lords Graves and Lovaine,
Visc. Lake, and Earl De la Warr.

The Secretary at War, Viscount Palmerston.

Bishop of Llandaff, Dr. Sumner.
Chancellor of the Order of the Garter,
Dr. Burgess, Bp. of Salisbury.
Heralds: -Somerset, J. C. Disney, esq.

Bishop of Lincoln, Hon. G. Pelham.
Bishop of Exeter, Dr. Carey.
Bishop of London, Dr. Howley.
Richmond, J. Hawker, esq.
The Minister of State of Hanover, Count Munster.
His Grace the Archbishop of York, Dr. H. Vernon.
Norroy King of Arms, by G. M. Leake, Chester.
Captain of the Yeoman Guard, Earl of Macclesfield.
Groom of the Stole to his Majesty, Marquis of Winchester.
The Lord Steward of his Majesty's Household, the Marquis of Conyngham.
Choir of Windsor.

Prebendaries of Windsor.

The Dean of Windsor, the Hon. H. L. Hobart, D. D.

The BATON of his Royal Highness as Field-marshal, and the CORONET, Lorne each on black velvet cushions, by Field-marshal Earl Harcourt, and Norroy King at Arms, E. Lodge, esq. (acting for Clarencieux), next followed, supported by Gentlemen-ushers to the King, and surrounded by the six banners, of Albany, the White Horse of Hanover, the Falcon and Fetterlock, the White Rose, the Crest, and the Arms, each carried by Cols. W. Elphinstone, Sir J. Harvey, J. T. Jones, Sir A. Dickson, Sir H. Hardinge, and Lord Downes,

The Earl Marshal, the Duke of Norfolk.

The Lord-chamberlain and Vice-chamberlain of his Majesty's Household, the Duke of Montrose and Marquis Graham,

escorted by Gentlemen-ushers of the Privy-chamber.

THE BODY,

covered with a black velvet pall, adorned with eight escutcheons of the Arms of his late Royal Highness,

carried by Ten Yeomen of the Guard, under a Canopy of black velvet. The Pall-bearers were six Dukes,- Beaufort, Rutland, Dorset, Newcastle, Northumberland, and Wellington; and the Supporters of the Canopy eight Generals,the Marquis of Anglesea, the Earls of Cavan, Ludlow, Rosslyn, and Cathcart, Lords Lynedoch, Hill, and Howden.

J. Sharper, esq. Garter King of Arms, Sir G. Nayler,

THE CHIEF MOURNER,

Sir H. Halliday.

H. R. H. the Duke of Clarence, in a long black cloak, with the Star of the Order of the Garter embroidered thereon, wearing the collars of the Garter, Bath, Thistle, and Guelphie orders; supported by the Marq. of Hertford and Camden. Trainbearers, Marq. of Salisbury and Londonderry.

Assistants to the Chief Mourner, Eight Peers: Earls of Shaftesbury, Jersey, Warwick, Bathurst, Clarendon, and Verulam, Visc. Melville and Sidmouth. Their Royal Highnesses the Dukes of Sussex and Gloucester, in long black cloaks, with the Star of the Order of the Garter embroidered thereon, wearing their collars, their trains each borne by two of their Equerries.

The Executors to his late Royal Highness, Sir H. Taylor and Lt.-Col. Stephenson. His Majesty's Ministers: Right. Hon. W. Huskisson, C. W. Wynn, Geo. Canning, R. Peel; Lord Privy-seal, Lord Westmoreland; Lord High Chancellor,

the Right Hon. Lord Eldon.

Private Friends of his late Royal Highness, &c.
Gentlemen-ushers.

Gentlemen Pensioners, with their axes reversed.
Yeomen of the Guard, with partisans reversed.

[There were also present the Dukes of St. Alban's, Leeds, Devonshire, and Argyll, the Marquisses of Thomond, Worcester, and Chandos, Earls of Ormond, Belfast, and Brecknock, Lords Howard of Effingham, Foley, Alvanley, Grantham, Farnborough, the Speaker of the House of Commons, &c. &c. &c.]

The most solemn silence was preserved during the advance of the procession, and by the time that those who composed the rear had reached the choir, the first part of the Burial Service had terminated. The coffin was then placed near the entrance to the Royal vault, the foot being directed towards the altar. The Duke of Clarence sat at the bead as chief mourner, the Dukes of Sussex and Gloucester being on his right and left.

The venerable Earl Harcourt, who bore the Baton of his late Royal Highness, stood at the foot of the coffin, opposite the Chief Mourner. The Lord Chamberlain was in the same position. The Duke of Wellington, who supported the pall first on the left hand, retained his place with the other five Dukes who were pall-bearers, on the sides of the coffin. The six banners, which were carried by Colonels in the Army, were arranged between the coffin and the altar. The Bishops took their seats in the stalls nearest the east end-the Marquis Conyngham, Lord Steward, occupied one of the lower stalls near the place of interment; the Canons of Windsor sat in the stalls near the organ, under the Knights' stalls; and the Dean stood, in the earlier part of the service, under the Sovereign's stall. The Master of the Rolls and the Chief Baron sat on the south side of the choir; as did also the Earl of Westmoreland, Mr. Canning, Mr. Huskisson, Mr. Croker, &c.

The arrangements having been completed, the Lay Clerk and Choristers chaunted the proper Psalm. The Lesson was then read by the Hon. and Rev. the Dean of Windsor; afterwhich the beautiful anthem by Kent, from the 55th Psalmi, was sung in the most impressive manner.

The solemn ceremony of interment was then performed. The lowering of the coffin into its last awful receptacle was a crisis which shook the firmness of many.-Part of Handel's Anthem, composed for the funeral of Queen Caroline, wife of George II. was then sung: QUARTETTO.

When the ear heard him, then it blessed him. And when the eye saw him, it gave witness of him,

CHORUS.

He delivered the poor that cried, the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. Kindness, meekness, and comfort were in his tongue. If there was any virtue, and if there was any praise, he thought on those things.

QUARTETTO,

His body is buried in peace.

CHORUS.

But his name liveth evermore. Amen. GENT. MAG. January, 1877.

-The Dean read the remainder of the Burial Service, which being concluded, Sir George Nayler, Garter King of Arms, proclaimed his Royal Highness's style as follows:

"Thus it has pleased Almighty God to take out of this transitory life unto his Divine Mercy, the late most high,. most mighty, and illustrious Prince, Frederick Duke of York and Albany, Earl of Ulster, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, First and Principal Knight-Grand-Cross of the most Honourable Military Order of the Bith, Knight-Grand-Cross of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order, and next brother of the most high, most mighty, and most excellent Majesty, George the Fourth, by the grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, King of Hanover, aud Duke of Brunswick and Lunenburgh; whom God bless and preserve with long life, health, and honour, and all worldly happiness!"

The day was observed throughout the kingdom as one of mourning. Business was every where suspended, and in several places funeral sermons were delivered in the Churches. There was, however, scarcely a sermon delivered on the following Sabbath, in which some allusion was not made to this grand national misfortune.

The best portraits of the Duke of York recently published are:

[blocks in formation]

"We, the undersigned members of the United Service Club, feeling most deeply the loss sustained by the nation, and by us, by the lamented death of his Royal Highness the Duke of York, and being most anxious to perpetuate to posterity the profound respect and esteem in which we hold his memory, propose a voluntary subscription to be entered into, to defray the expence of erecting a marble statue to be presented to the United Service Club, and to be placed in the new Club-house about to be built, as a mark of the high respect

[merged small][ocr errors]

CHARACTER OF THE DUKE OF YORK.

By the Author of Waverley.

In the person of his Royal Highness the Duke of York, we may justly say, in the language of Scripture, "there has fallen this day in our Israel a Prince and a Great Man." He has from an early period of his manhood, performed a most important part in public life. In the early wars of the French Revolution, he commanded the British forces on the Continent; and although we claim not for his memory the admiration due to the rare and high gifts which in our latter times must combine to form a military genius of the first order, yet it has never been disputed, that in the field his Royal Highness displayed intelligence, military skill, and his family attribute, the most unalterable courage. He had also the universal testimony of the army for his efforts to lessen the distresses of the privates, during the horrors of an unsuccessful campaign, in which he acquired, and kept to his death, the epithet of the Soldier's Friend.

But it is not on account of these early services that we now, as boldly as our poor voice may, venture to bring forward the late Duke of York's claims to the perpetual gratitude of his country. It is as the reformer and regenerator of the British army, which he brought from a state nearly allied to general contempt to such a pitch of excellence, that we may without much hesitation claim for them an equality with, if not a superiority over, any troops in Europe. The Duke of York had the firmness to look into and examine the causes, which, ever since the American war, though arising out of circumstances existing long before, had gone as far to destroy the character of the British army, as the natural good materials of which it is composed would permit. The heart must have been bold that did not despair at the sight of such an Augean stable.

In the first place, our system of purchasing commissions,-itself an evil in a military point of view, and yet indispensable to the freedom of the country, had been stretched so far as to open the way to every sort of abuse. No science was required, no service, no previous experience whatever; the boy, let loose from school the last week,

But

might in the course of a month be a field-
officer, if his friends were disposed to be
liberal of money and influence. Others
there were, against whom there could be no
complaint for want of length of service, al-
though it might be difficult to see how their
experience was improved by it. It was no
uncommon thing for a commission to be
obtained for a child in the cradle; and
when he came from college, the fortunate
youth was at least a lieutenant of some
standing, by dint of fair promotion. To
sum up this catalogue of abuses, commis-
sions were in some instances bestowed upon
young ladies, when pensions could not be
had. We know ourselves one fair dame
who drew the pay of Captain in the
dragoons, and was probably not much less
fit for the service than some who at that
period actually did duty; for, as we have
said, no knowledge of any kind was demanded
from the young officers. If they desired to
improve themselves in the elemental parts of
their profession, there was no means ope
either of direction or of instruction.
as a zeal for knowledge rarely exists where
its attainment brings no credit or advantage,
the gay young men who adopted the military
profession were easily led into the fashion of
thinking that it was pedantry to be master
even of the routine of the exercise which
they were obliged to perform. An intelli-
gent serjeant whispered from time to time
the word of command, which his captain
would have been ashamed to have known
without prompting; and thus the duty of
the field-day was huddled over rather than
performed. It was natural, under such cir-
cumstances, that the pleasures of the mess,
or of the card or billiard table, should oc-
cupy too much of the leisure of those who
had so few duties to perform,-and that
extravagance, with all its disreputable con-
sequences, should be the characteristic of
many; while others, despairing of promo-
tion, which could only be acquired by money
or influence, sunk into mere machines, per-
forming without hope or heart a task which
they had learned by rote.

To this state of things, by a succession of well-considered and effectual regulations, the Duke of York put a stop with a firm yet gentle hand. Terms of service were fixed for every rank, and neither influence nor money were permitted to force any individual forward, until he had served the necessary time in the present grade which he held. No rank short of that of the Duke of York-no courage and determination inferior to that of his Royal Highness-could have accomplished a change so important to the service, but which yet was so unfavourable to the wealthy and to the powerful, whose children and protogés had formerly found a brief way to promotion. Thus a protection was afforded to those officers who could only hope to rise by merit and

length of service; while at the same time the young aspirant was compelled to dissubaltern before atcharge the duties of a taining the higher commissions. In other respects, the influence of the Commander-in-Chief was found to have the same gradual and meliorating influence. The vicissitudes of real service, and the emergencies to which individuals are exposed, hegan to render ignorance unfashionable, as it was speedily found, that mere valour, however fiery, was unable, on such occasions, for the extrication of those engaged in them; and that they who knew their duty and discharged it, were not only most secure of victory and safety in action, but most distinguished at head-quarters, and most certain of promotion. Thus a taste for studying mathematics, and calculations applicable to war, was gradually introduced into the army, and carried by some officers to a great length; while a perfect acquaintance with the routine of the fieldday was positively demanded from every officer in the service as an indispensable qualification.

His Royal Highness also introduced a species of moral discipline among the officers of our army, which had the highest consequences on their character. Persons of the old school of Captain Plume and Captain Brazen, men who swore hard, drank deep, bilked tradesmen, and plucked pigeons, were no longer allowed to arrogate a character which they could only support by deep oaths and ready swords. If a tradesman, whose bill was unpaid by an officer, thought proper to apply to the Horse-Guards, the debtor received a letter from head-quarters, requiring to know if there existed any objections to the accompt, and failing his rendering a satisfactory answer, he was put on stoppages until the creditor's demand was satisfied. Repeated applications of this kind might endanger the officer's commission, which was then sold for the payment of his creditors. Other delinquencies were at the same time adverted to; and without maintaining an inquisitorial strictness over the officers, or taking too close inspection of the mere gaities and follies of youth, a complaint of any kind, implying a departure from the character of a gentleman and a man of honour, was instantly inquired into by the Commander-in-Chief, and the delinquent eensured or punished, as the case seemed to require.

The private soldiers equally engaged the attention of his Royal Highness. In the course of his superintendence of the army, a military dress, the most absurd in Europe, was altered for one easy and comfortable for the men, and suitable to the hardships they are exposed to in actual service. The severe and vexatious rules exacted about the tying of hair, and other trifling punctilios (which had been found sometimes to goad troops

into mutiny), were abolished, and strict

cleanliness was substituted for a Hottentot head-dress of tallow and flour. The pay of the soldier was augmented, while care was at the same time taken that it should, as far as possible, be expended in bettering his food and extending his comforts. The slightest complaint on the part of a private sentinel was as regularly inquired into, as if it had been preferred by a general officer. Lastly, the use of the cane (a brutal practice which our officers borrowed from the Germans) was entirely prohibited; and regular corporal punishments by the sentence of a court-martial have been gradually diminished.

If, therefore, we find in the modern British officer more information, a more regular course of study, a deeper acquaintance with the principles of his profession, and a greater love for its exertions-if we find the private sentinel discharge his duty with a mind unembittered by petty vexations and regimental exertions, conscious of immunity from capricious violence, and knowing where to appeal if he sustains injury-if we find in all ranks of the army a love of their profession, and a capacity of matching themselves with the finest troops which Europe ever produced,- -to the memory of his Royal Highness the Duke of York we owe this change from the state of the forces thirty years since.

The means of improving the tactics of the British army did not escape his Royal Highness's sedulous care and attention. Formerly every commanding officer manoeuvred his regiment after his own fashion; and if a brigade of troops were brought together, it was very doubtful whether they could execute any one combined movement, and almost certain that they could not execute the various parts of it on the same principle. This was remedied by the system of regulations compiled by the late Sir David Dundas, and which obtained the sanction and countenance of his Royal Highness. This one circumstance, of giving a uniform principle and mode of working to the different bodies, which are after all but parts of the same great machine, was in itself one of the most distinguished services which could be rendered to a national army; and it is only surprising that, before it was introduced, the British army was able to execute any combined movements at all.

We cau but notice the Duke of York's establishmen tnear Chelsea for the Orphans of Soldiers, the cleanliness and discipline of which are a model for such institutions; and the Royal Military School, or College, at Sandhurst, where every species of scientific instruction is afforded to those officers whom it is desirable to qualify for the service of the Staff. The excellent officers who have been formed at this Institution, are the best pledge of what is due to its

« EdellinenJatka »