every branch of the service, the beneficial execution of whatever shall enable the army best to discharge its duty to the state, are still, as heretofore, the objects of H. R. H.'s earnest solicitude and unabated attention; and it may be confidently asserted, that, after so many years of official duty, every part of it, however comparatively trivial, is undertaken and executed with the same zeal and assiduity which distinguished his first labors.

His impartial dispensation of promotion, and his anxious desire to reward the services of the meritorious officer, are acknowledged by the whole army, and by the country at large; and to H. R. H.'s credit be it said, no prejudice which may have crept into his mind, no sense of injury received, have ever influenced him in the consideration of the claims which are brought before him. His mind is indeed incapable of harboring resentment, still less is it susceptible of jealousy of those whom distinguished services have placed in situations of high command. These have at all times received his cordial and strenuous support, and his utmost endeavours have been exerted to furnish them with the means of prosecuting their successful and honorable career.

The Duke of York's commendable selection of those holding official military situations, under his immediate direction, has already been noticed in the first pages of this memoir; and although some of them were early distinguished by his friendship, it must be observed, in proof of the assertion, "that private favor has not influenced the choice," that General Brownrigg, his first military secretary, became first known to him by his meritorious discharge of the duties of Deputy Quarter Master General, in Flanders, in 1794, and that Generals Gordon and Torrens, who successively filled that office, were not personally known to H. R. H. until some years after he became Commander in Chief, and then owed their appointment to his official sense of their value. The same principle has ever guided H. R. H. in the selection of individuals to fill official departments, and staff situations in general, and has been strongly evinced in his recommendations to the King, of officers for the situation of Aides-de-Camp to his Majesty, who were

indebted for this honorable distinction to their military talents and conduct in the field.

H. R. H. is regular in his attendance to business, to which the greater part of every day is devoted. Every arrangement, the most minute, is submitted by the heads of departments for his sanction; the memorial of every officer, the petition of every soldier, engages his personal attention, nor are any suffered to pass unnoticed.

Tuesdays and Fridays (during the meeting of Parliament), and at other periods, Tuesdays only, are the days on which H. R. H. gives audiences to officers of every rank who wish to approach him on business. From the frequency of these levees, and the indiscriminate admission, there are few, if any, officers of the army who are not personally known to H. R. H.; and although compliance with the requests of all is impossible, the refusal is always softened by the kind manner in which it is conveyed.

The line of politics which H. R. H. has invariably followed, since the year 1794, has been that of firm and zealous support of the King's and the Prince Regent's Government; but his political conduct has been free from violence, and from prejudice against those who have adopted a different course; nor has he ever suffered the spirit of party to influence him in the choice of, or intercourse with, private friends. These are to be found alike among the supporters and the opposers of government; and the line has been so well drawn as to secure him from all suspicion that private inclination can affect what he considers to be a public duty. The favorable impression made upon all parties by his good sense and moderation, in this respect, has been confirmed by his conduct when entrusted by the Prince Regent, soon after the removal of the restrictions on his authority, with communications to the heads of parties, having for object a coalition which should strengthen H. R. H.'s government.

Although the negociation failed, the honorable, upright, and candid manner in which it was conducted by H. R. H. was acknowledged by all those concerned.

H. R. H. has shown himself a not less dutiful and affectionate son and kind brother, than a faithful and zealous subject.

In his private attachment he has offered through life an example of steadiness truly remarkable. The friends of his youth, those respectable individuals to whom the King had entrusted the superintendence of his education are still his friends, have free admission to his society, and are at all times received by him with the same feeling of sincere affection, which on the other hand has continued to be entertained by them towards him.

Those whom he has in the further course of his life honored with his friendship, and who have proved themselves deserving of his confidence, have experienced the most decided proofs of sincere and cordial solicitude for their welfare and success, and, high and low, respect and love him as a true friend, and a kind and indulgent master. His manner, with all, is easy, affable, and unaffectedly condescending. Every act evinces goodness of heart, so justly considered the greatest of all blessings, and producing an equanimity of temper, and a cheerfulness of disposition, which are so well calculated to support the individual under the constant weight of business, and the occasional pressure of affliction and difficulty.

In proof of the assertion that undue prejudice and every effort of malice have yielded to a sense of his Royal Highness's meritorious discharge of his duty, the vote of thanks, and which passed unanimously in the House of Commons at the termination of Hostilities in 1814, and was moved by one of those members who had been a warm advocate for his Royal Highness's removal from office, is inserted, together with His Royal Highness's reply, and the subsequent votes and correspondence in 1815.

"House of Lords, 11 July, 1814. "The Lord Chancellor has the honor to send to your Royal Highness, the Commander in Chief of His Majesty's forces, the enclosed resolution of the House of Lords, which he has been commanded to transmit to your Royal Highness for the purpose expressed in the Resolutions.

(Signed)

"His Royal Highness,

The Commander in Chief.

ELDON."

"My Lord,

Mercurii, 13 die Julii, 1814.

"Horse Guards, July 12th, 1814.

"I have received your Lordship's letter of yesterday, transmitting the unanimous vote of thanks of the House of Lords to His Majesty's Army, for the services rendered to their King and Country: and according to the desire of their Lordships, I shall not fail to communicate in the handsome terms in which the vote is expressed the sense the House entertains of the meritorious and eminent services of the officers, and of the exemplary and gallant behaviour of the non-commissioned officers and privates during the war.

"It remains for me to assure your Lordship of the satisfaction I derive from the opportunity they afforded me of conveying to the different branches of the Army so honorable a testimonial of the eminent services rendered by them to His Majesty and the nation. I am, &c. (Signed) FREDERICK,

"The Right Honorable

The Lord Chancellor.

"Sir,

Commander in Chief."

"House of Commons, 7th July, 1814.

"In the name and by the command of the Commons of Great Britain and Ireland in Parliament assembled, I have the honor to lay before your Royal Highness their unanimous thanks to the officers of His Majesty's Army for the meritorious and eminent services which they have rendered to their king and country during the course of the war; and also their unanimous resolution, highly approving and acknowledging the services of the non-commissioned officers and men employed in the Army during the course of the war; requesting that the same be communicated to them by the Commander of the several corps, who are respectively desired to thank those under their command for their exemplary and gallant behaviour.

"In transmitting these resolutions to your Royal Highness, I am further commanded, by the unanimous voice of the House of Commons, particularly to express the high sense they entertain of your Royal Highness's long, unremitting, and effectual exer

tions for the improvement of the British Army: to those exertions, of your Royal Highness they feel indebted for that well regulated and durable system, which has enabled the British Army to maintain its victorious career upon the Continent, and established the high rank it now holds amongst the great military Powers of Europe. I have the honor, &c.

(Signed) CHARLES ABBOT, Speaker." "Field Marshal His Royal Highness the Duke of York."

"Sir,

Luna, 11 die Julii, 1814.

"Horse Guards, 8th July, 1814.

"I have received your letter, dated yesterday, transmitting the unanimous vote of thanks of the House of Commons to His Majesty's Army for the services rendered their King and Country; and according to the desires of the House, I shall not fail to communicate in the handsome terms in which the vote is expressed, the sense the House entertain of the meritorious and eminent services of the officers, and the exemplary and gallant behaviour of the non-commissioned officers and privates during the war.

"In expressing the pride I feel in the opportunity thus afforded me of distributing the acknowledgments of the Commons of the United Kingdom to the different corps in the Army, I must not omit to convey to the House through you, Sir, an assurance of the high gratification I have derived from the thanks which you have by their command communicated to me personally, for the service I have rendered to the country in the command of its military force.

"I am truly sensible, Sir, of the indulgent view the House takes of such services when they attribute the state of perfection to which the army has arrived to the organization which they are pleased to consider that I have been instrumental in effecting; gratified as I am by so high a testimonial of my individual exertions in a cause which has ever been the anxious object of my life, it is incumbent upon me to assure the House that my endeavour could scarcely fail of success, when followed by the patriotic zeal which characterizes this great country. If under