On the 10th of April, 1848, when the great Chartist meeting took place near London, the dispositions made by the great duke to put down any attempt at insurrection, excited the admiration of all military men.
At no period in the Duke of Wellington’s history did he so fully enjoy the confidence and respect of his countrymen as when death approached. The mode of his death was such as might be expected at his advanced age. It was easy—as the lamp expires when the oil which fed it becomes exhausted. One of the honours which he bore was that of warden of the Cinque Ports; he was therefore staying at Walmer Castle when his brief but fatal illness occurred. His remains were there placed in a coffin, which the inhabitants and the troops of the surrounding garrisons were permitted to see. On the 10th of November, the body was removed to London, and laid in state at Chelsea Hospital, where a vast concourse of persons were permitted to see it. Thence it was taken to the Horse Guards, whence the funeral procession went forth to St. Paul’s Cathedral, in the dome of which, beside the body of Nelson, it was to be deposited. The funeral was the grandest which ever took place in England, or perhaps in Europe. Military representatives from all the important nations in Europe, except Austria, attended. Vast multitudes of people crowded the thoroughfares along which the procession moved, and of that multitude exceeding great numbers were dressed in deep black. In parliament and throughout the country, demonstrations of respect for the memory of the departed hero were made, and the court went into mourning. Thus closed the life and obsequies of one of the greatest men to whom the British Isles had ever given birth. His grace was a widower at his death. He had married, in 1806, an Irish lady of rank, the Honourable Catherine Pakenham, daughter of the second Baron Longford, and sister to the gallant Generals Pakenham, who distinguished themselves under the command of his grace in the Peninsular. The duchess died in 1831, leaving two sons, the Marquis of Douro, heir to the title, and Lord Charles Wellesley, both military men. Lord Charles Wellesley, from loss of sight, has since been obliged to give up the military profession; and the successor to the great duke, although a man of general talent, and allowed by military men to possess remarkable ability for the profession of arms, has not followed that career, but maintains a high position at court and in public affairs.
THE COURT.
There were few incidents connected with the court in 1852 interesting to the general reader. Her majesty and the royal family spent the usual season in London, especially in connection with ministerial changes and parliamentary proceedings. Windsor Castle and Osborne House also received their royal proprietor at the accustomed seasons. In the summer, however, her majesty made a cruise in her yacht, before retiring to her autumnal Scottish retreat. A royal yacht squadron escorted the queen and the royal household from Cowes along the southern coast of England to Plymouth, the party landing at various points celebrated for their picturesque situation. Having cruised about the south and south-west coast, the squadron returned to Osborne. At the close of August, her majesty, the prince, and the elder five children left Osborne for Balmoral. Her residence there was shortened by tidings of the death of the Duke of Wellington, which reached her September 16th. Early in October she left for Windsor, visiting en route the Menai Straits, and passing through the tubular bridge.
A curious circumstance occurred to her majesty on the 30th of August. The royal lady was then made aware that she was legatee to a large fortune, bequeathed by a barrister of Lincoln’s Inn. He was a man of singularly penurious habits, allowing himself to be in want of necessary food, and neglecting cleanliness. An old housekeeper, who had served him twenty-six years, he left without any provision whatever. The sum bequeathed to his sovereign was £250,000.
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