WHAT THE PREACHERS SAID.

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of the king; and he, pleased with this act, behaved with kindness both to her and her children.

When the Duke of Cumberland was told of his brother's death, he remarked satirically, ‘It is a great blow to the country, but I hope it will recover it in time.' Laments on the Prince's fate were soon written and printed, long-winded elegies were sold in the streets, and funeral orations were preached from the City pulpits. One of the most singular pieces of oratory which the event called forth was delivered at Mayfair Chapel, when the preacher said His Royal Highness' had no great parts, but he had great virtues; indeed, they degenerated into vices; he was very generous, but I hear his generosity has ruined a great many people; and then his condescension was such that he kept very bad company.'

This was much

nearer to truth than Dr. Newton's statement made in St. George's, Hanover Square, that "never was there in a person of such eminence more humanity and condescension to the lowest, more pleasing courtesy and engaging address to the highest, more beneficent to all within his

sphere, or more benevolent to all without it." The reverend doctor, in his oration, looked beyond the present to the bright and glorious future when a mitre might repay his eloquence.

The lampooners were likewise busy, and on this occasion saw an opportunity of having a hit at the reigning family. One of the verses set afloat at the time took the form of an epitaph, and ran as follows:

'Here lies Fred,

Who was alive and is dead;

Had it been his father,

We had much rather;

Had it been his brother,

Still better than another;

Had it been his sister,

No one would have missed her;
Had it been the whole generation,

Still better for the nation;

But, since 'tis only Fred,

Who was alive and is dead,

There's no more to be said.'

The Prince's funeral, Doddington says, 'was far short of that for any son of a king.' The heralds had orders to form it on the plan of the funerals of the Duke of Gloucester and Prince George of Denmark; but private orders were

IN MOTHER EARTH.

123

afterwards given, and Prince Fred was carried to the grave with but little ceremony. With the exception of the lords who were appointed pall-bearers and attendants on the chief mourner, and those of his own domestics, there was but one English and one Irish lord present, whilst the bishops were conspicuous by their absence. Moreover, the service was conducted without either anthem or organ.

In this way Frederick, Prince of Wales, was laid in mother earth.

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CHAPTER IV.

William Duke of Cumberland-His first Campaign-Made Commander of the Forces-Battle of Fontenoy--Defeat at Laffelt-Culloden-' Billy the Butcher '-His Last Battle-Indignation of the Nation-His Amusements-The Princess Royal-Her Marriage with the Prince of Orange-Curious Court Custom-Her Reception in Holland.

HE Duke of Cumberland, born in 1721, was the

THE

second surviving son of George II. When six years old he was created Baron of Alderney, Viscount Trematon in Cornwall, Earl of Kennington in Surrey, Marquis of Berkhamsted, and Duke of Cumberland. The history of his life may be said to be written in the records of war. When quite young he exhibited an interest in everything connected with the army, and soon became a soldier by profession, serving his first campaign when he was two and twenty.

AT DETTINGEN.

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He was said to have shown such courage at the battle of Dettingen, where he received a wound, that two years later he was made commander of the British forces in Flanders, a post for which he soon proved himself utterly incompetent. In 1745 he fought the famous battle of Fontenoy, commanding the allied forces, when, by his want of generalship, he sacrificed the lives of ten thousand men, and suffered a memorable defeat. So prominent, indeed, was his want of ability that the enemy soon perceived it; and when an English soldier, who had been made prisoner by the French, told them they had barely missed making the Duke prisoner, a French officer answered, with a laugh, 'We took good care not to do so, for he does us much more service at the head of your army.' At Laffelt he met with another defeat in the same year, when General Lagonier, by his skill and courage, prevented the total destruction of the English troops: from that day, however, the Duke never afterwards liked General Lagonier, or treated him fairly.

In the following year the battle of Culloden was fought, when, by the gallant Duke's orders,