of Kent; but he then positively declared, that it was not in the least to affect the consideration of his peculiar and distinct claims for his losses, or a compensation for the injury he had sustained through the delay he had experienced in receiving his Parliamentary establishment, observing that the grant from the Droits of the Admiralty would be a spontaneous present from the King to all his younger sons alike.

Shortly after this the Duke of Kent, in behalf of all the younger brothers of the Royal family (except the Duke of York), undertook to represent their situation to Mr. Pitt, and the total inadequacy of a Parliamentary allowance of 12,000l. per annum, to keep up the appearance expected of them at the time when that sum was originally granted, owing to the great depreciation of currency, and the enormous rise in every article of expenditure. In consequence of this, the Duke had several successive interviews with Mr. Pitt in Downing Street, in August, 1805, and it was settled at the last, that the Duke of Kent was authorised by Mr. Pitt to inform all his brothers, that their Parliamentary income would, at the opening of the next session, be raised to 18,000l. a year, clear of all deduction whatsoever; that it would be left optional with those of the Royal Dukes who had apartments in St. James's Palace, to continue to have their tables as before supplied by the Board of Green Cloth from the Royal kitchen there, or to receive in common with those who were not resident at St. James's, an allowance of 5,000l. to each in lieu thereof; while, to all residing in any of the Royal Palaces, the allowance of fuel and lights was to be continued. At the same time Mr. Pitt again repeated his promise, that the individual claim of the Duke of Kent, as before expressed, should be considered as being exclusive of the general arrangements, observing that he was fully aware of the hardship of His Royal Highness's situation, and the difficulties that pressed upon him (from the debts which he had been compelled to incur between the years 1790 and 1799, when the Duke's income was so inadequate to his necessary expenditure, and the enormous interest he was paying upon them), and fully admitting the justice of assisting him to get over them.

Upon receiving this unqualified assurance from Mr. Pitt, no time was lost by the Duke of Kent in assuring his creditors, that the day of payment was at hand, and that he had no doubt but that in the year 1806 all their demands would be, if not wholly discharged, at least greatly reduced. But Mr. Pitt's death put a stop to all these expectations; for when Lord Grenville afterwards proposed to augment the incomes of all the younger brothers to 18,000l. they were not exempted from the Income Tax, which reduced them to 16,200l. no consideration was had in regard to the allowance of Table Money that had been particularly promised by Mr. Pitt, and every allowance of fuel and lights from the Lord Steward's department, the continuation of which had been particularly stipulated, was taken off, thus creating in the promise given by Mr. Pitt, and the arrangement carried into effect by Lord Grenville, a difference to the injury of the younger Brothers of 6,800l. a year, besides the loss of the advantage of the free supply of fuel and lights, which may at the lowest rate be estimated at 12,000l. per

.annum.

From these several causes it was impossible for the Duke of Kent to fulfil those engagements to his creditors which he had entered into, upon the faith of Mr. Pitt's promised arrangement; and in 1807 he felt himself compelled to come to the following arrangement, viz. to put all his debts into the hands of Trustees, and to give up the half of his income towards their liquidation, under a calculation that a period of ten years would clear off the whole, capital and interest; but 5 per cent. for the interest of the capital that remained unpaid, at the expiration of each year, and a large annual sum for an insurance on the Duke's life, as a security to his creditors, if he should die before the capital was discharged, being necessarily taken out of the sum given up for the liquidation of the capital, before any part was appropriated to that; and the whole arrangement being unfortunately entrusted to a solicitor who conducted himself (as was in the sequel proved) most nefariously in the business, after a lapse of six years the reduction made, notwithstanding the sacrifice of 60,000l. on the Duke's part, was in no way commensurate with the expectation held out; while at the

same time, owing to the continued increase of every article of expense, and nothwithstanding a very great reduction in his establishment, a considerable fresh debt was unavoidably incurred through the annual excess of his expenditure above his income.

In addition to these various disappointments, the Duke of Kent (in consequence of a Treasury minute made in 1807, which limited the future supplies of articles from the Lord Chamberlain's department to the younger branches of the Royal Family, residing in the Royal Palaces,, to fixtures only) sustained a peculiar hardship, as that has been the occasion of adding to his debt a sum of above 9,000l. more for furniture, supplied for that part of his apartments at Kensington Palace for which none had ever been before provided, in consequence of the Office of Works not having completed the repairs of that part in time to have them furnished before this resolution took effect.

To complete the measure of the Duke's misfortunes, the solicitor above alluded to absconded with a sum of money, which was advanced him to make good the insurance on the Duke's life, and for other purposes; and thus the pressure of His Royal Highness's debts became so overwhelming, that he resolved to submit his case and claims through Mr. Vansittart to Lord Liverpool in the spring of 1814, at which period the Duke had more than one personal interview with that gentleman, and besides, had the advantage of the intervention of Lord Commissioner Adam; but after being kept in a constant state of suspense until the close of the session of 1814, he had the mortification of learning, through Lord Commissioner Adam, that not only nothing would be done for him by Ministers, but also that they would not sanction an independent Member introducing the business into the House of Commons, which the Duke very strongly urged as his wish, being satisfied that the justice of his case, when it came to be fairly known to Parliament, and to be investigated by a Committee up stairs, would - produce an attention to his pretensions, not for the payment of his debts, of which he never had the presumption to entertain the slightest idea, but for the recovery of his just claims, which would enable him to discharge every embarrassment he had in the world.

After experiencing this cruel disappointment, the Duke was strongly advised to address a Memorial to the Prince Regent, which he did in the month of January, 1815, and accompanied it by an official letter to Lord Liverpool, together with one to the Prince Regent. The result of that memorial was an answer in the negative from Lord Liverpool, under date of 22nd February following, of a nature the most distressing to His Royal Highness's feelings, and with which communication the business closed.

The Duke then felt that nothing remained but his own personal exertions and increased sacrifices, to enable him to overcome those difficulties, which, although not the result of extravagance on his part, were nevertheless equally distressing to him, while, upon the ground of justice to his creditors, they no less demanded an honourable settlement with them; and after many conferences with his friends, he resolved to constitute a Committee of them, to assign over three fourths of his income into their hands until the complete liquidation of his debts was effected, giving them a carte blanche for this purpose, and to limit his expenditure to a sum not exceeding the remaining fourth part thereof, with which he agreed to content himself. This plan was matured by the end of June, 1815, when the Duke parted with many of his servants, and made reductions to a large extent in every part of his establishment, the good consequences of which were soon amply proved, for, by the strenuous exertions and judicious arrangements of his friends, more was done in the first twelve months that followed the general retrenchment, than was accomplished in the eight years preceding. The Duke hoped to have been able to combine the execution of his plan with remaining in England; but after giving it a trial of one year, viz. from July, 1815 to July, 1816, he found that it would be quite impossible for him to continue to live at home without privations even beyond those to which he had already submitted, and which would be still more painful to his feelings than any he had yet experienced. He was therefore under the painful necessity of coming to the resolution of going abroad in August, 1816; and from the arrangements made at that time, and closely followed up to May, 1818,

would have been able to resume his residence in England, free from every incumbrance, in 1821, had not His Royal Highness's marriage taken place at that time, which, although conducted with every possible regard to economy, occasioned a new, unavoidable, and heavy expense, to meet which he had been led by the Minister to expect an outfit of 12,000l. but which expectation having failed in toto, and nothing being granted him by way of addition to his income at that period, except 6000l. per annum (the half of which was settled by the contract of marriage as pin-money on the Duchess,) the Committee of his friends were obliged to appropriate a considerable sum from the funds allotted for the liquidation of his embarrassments, to cover the unforeseen extraordinary disbursements arising out of that circumstance: and thus the final period of His Royal Highness's emancipation from his pecuniary embarrassments, and consequently the time of his resuming his permanent residence at home, became, to his great regret, unavoidably protracted to a far more distant day.

Under these circumstances His Royal Highness was obliged to persevere in his plan of residing on the Continent; and in conformity with that resolution, which was not one of choice, but altogether of necessity, proceeded in a few weeks after the ceremony of his marriage to Amorbach, the residence of the Prince of Leiningen, which the Duchess, who was left by the will of her late husband Guardian of her son (a minor) and Regent of the Principality, during his minority, had occupied as her residence during the period of her widowhood. It was during their Royal Highnesses' retirement at this spot that the Duchess proved to be pregnant; and as Her Royal Highness, fully concurring in the sentiments entertained by her illustrious Consort, as an Englishman, that her Child ought to draw its first breath on English ground, at once gave her consent to the measure of returning to England for the purpose of her confinement taking place there, fresh sacrifices became necessary to enable them to fulfil what was considered by their Royal Highnesses as no less a duty to the Royal Family and to the Country, than to themselves and their expected infant; and so great were the difficulties they experienced in obtaining the means necessary