His Royal Highness Edward, Duke of Kenic Can Not 24707 Died Jan 20, 1820. Put lished v Henry Fiener, Caxton, Liverpool.icze. gine of amazing powers. It is also, in a few seconds, changed into a ship's purifying Syphon. To ship-owners this will prove of incalculable advantage; because, when used as such, by applying two hoses and tubes, to the tube below, which discharges the water from alongside into the vessel, extending to each extremity fore and aft, the water being discharged through them, will drive all the bilge-water into the midships, where it will be almost as quickly thrown out by the pumps; thus keeping the vessel clean and wholesome, and removing those noxious and pestilential exhalations, so unwholesome to the passengers and crew, and so destructive, from their corrosive powers, to the timbers and metals of which vessels are composed, arising from the stagnant bilge-water, to which all vessels are liable. From the specimen which we have seen of Mr. Clymer's inventive genius, we are persuaded that it will not be unacceptable to our agricultural friends to be informed, that that gentleman has also invented a PLOUGH, possessing, in a proportionate ratio, the properties of easing the labour of that noble animal the horse, as much as the Columbian Press eases the labour of man; and with less expense and labour ploughing more land, in a given time, than any other plough now in use. MEMOIR OF HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCE EDWARD DUKE OF KENT AND STRATHEARN, &c. &c. &c. (With a Portrait.) Ir has long been a trite observation with moralists, that death levels all distinctions, directing his darts with the same unerring hand against the palace and the cottage, and bringing alike the monarch and the peasant to the house appointed for all living. Three years have not yet elapsed since the nation was clothed in sackeloth, and the generous tear of sorrow streamed from the eye of nearly every Briton, for the sudden death of an amiable Princess, and her infant offspring, on whom had been fixed the hopes and expectations of a sympathizing people, throughout the united empire. Her Majesty the Queen of England, soon followed her granddaughter to the silent repositories of the dead, and again covered those faces with solemnity, which had scarcely begun to smile. Again the sounds of mortality salute our ears; and while inquiry was endeavouring to satisfy itself, as to the time, and place, and manner, in which this Prince expired, the departure of our venerable Monarch was announced.-Such inroads by the hand of death, can scarcely be paralleled in the biographical annals of royalty. His Royal Highness Prince Edward, the fourth son of his late Majesty George III. was born November 2, 1767; and in 1789 was created Duke of Kent and Strathearn, with the additional title of Earl of Dublin in Ireland. Having received the rudiments of his education in England, his Royal Highness was, by his Majesty's express command, sent to the continent, to finish his studies at the university of Gottingen. In this seminary, his affability of manners, superior talents, and generous disposition, gained at once the admiration and esteem of all who had the happiness of being honoured with his acquaintance. From this university he again returned to England; but his stay was transient ; as he again embarked for Germany by his Majesty's command, in May 1785, when he had only attained his 18th year. During this period, which continued until October 1787, he resided successively at Luneburg and Hanover, being lodged in one of his Majesty's palaces, while his table and equipage were furnished from his Majesty's Hanoverian establishment. At this time, the total amount of his pecuniary allowance was 10007. per annum ; but of this sum his governor had the entire disposal, with the exception of 17. 11s. 6d. per week, which was allowed him as pocket-money. Towards the conclusion of 1787, the Duke, by his Majesty's order, removed to Geneva, where he continued two years. In this place, his governor, to support his establishment, was allowed 6000l. per annum; but the only money which his Royal Highness could command was the weekly stipend already noticed. Thus circumstanced, he found himself unable to associate with the sons of some private English gentlemen who then resided in Geneva, without contracting debts, which some advantageous change in his circumstances could alone enable him to discharge. In this state of splendid poverty, which few at his age would be disposed to envy, he remained, until he had attained his twenty-second year. It was, during this residence, and under these peculiar exigencies, that he contracted debts to support his private rank in society, which laid the foundation of these pecuniary embarrassments, with which he continued to be harassed through a considerable portion of his life. In the month of January 1790, his Royal Highness again returned to England; and having a strong predilection for the military profession, after remaining only ten days in his native land, he embarked for Gibraltar, as Colonel of the 7th Fusileers, at the short notice of forty-eight hours. On his arrival at this celebrated fortress, which was under the command of General O'Hara, he found himself compelled to commence an establishment, for which no provision had been made. Every article therefore, in his outfit in housekeeping, being purchased on credit at an extra expense, augmented | the difficulties under which he already laboured; nor did a single ray of light beam from his country for some considerable time to exhibit the prospect of more auspicious days. to dispose of his equipage, to satisfy some of his American creditors, he sailed for the West Indies, and after many severe losses, and singular escapes from the vigilance of the French | cruisers, landed safely in Barbadoes. In the taking of Martinique, he particularly distinguished himself by his personal bravery; and a fort, which, at the head of a brigade of grenadiers, he stormed in person, was named fort Edward, to commemorate the event. On the reduction of Martinique, he proceeded to St. Lucie, where he gave such proofs of his personal courage, as drew from the commander in chief a complimentary rebuke for his daring intrepidity. At the close of the campaign in 1794, his Royal Highness, commanded by his Majesty, returned once more to North America, where being placed on the staff, he was compelled to bear the expense of a fourth outfit, on terms correspondent with those that preceded it, and without ever receiving any reimbursement. On his arrival at Halifax, he first served as Major-General until 1796, and from this time until October 1798, as Lieutenant-General ; during which period he received nothing more than the annual sum already stated, and the pay connected with His Royal Highness remained at the military ranks which he respectiveGibraltar from January 1790 until Mayly sustained. At this time his debts 1791, when he was ordered to Canada. It was then, for the first time, that he learnt the amount of his annual allowance, which being 5000l. was exactly 1000l. less than had been allowed to his governor in Geneva, to provide for his establishment there. But as no provision was made for the liquidation of those debts which his rank in the army, and his pecuniary embarrassments, had compelled him to contract, on his departure, he disposed of his property, to meet the pressing demands of his necessitous creditors; consequently, on his arrival at Quebec, he had again to furnish his establishment, without having in his power the means of doing it. amounted to about 20,000l., for which, having given legal securities bearing interest, his annual income was considerably reduced, and this finally led to an augmentation of the evil which he was in vain endeavouring to remedy. Having sustained an accident by the falling of his horse, in the streets of Halifax, when returning from the exercise of the troops, he once more repaired to England in 1798; and, on his recovery, obtained in 1799, when and he was thirty-two years of age, the Parliamentary income, which the Dukes of York and Clarence had successively realized, the one at the age of twenty-one, and the other at twentyfour; and which was now granted at the same time with his own, to the Duke of Cumberland, who was four years younger than himself. His Royal Highness remained in Canada from May 1791, until December 1793, when he received an appointment to serve under Sir Charles Grey in the West Indies. This change, it has been asserted, arose from his own particular request; but on the authenticity of this report we have no means of deciding. Being again compelled Recovering from his accident, in May 1799, he was promoted to the rank of General, and appointed commander-in-chief of the British forces in North America. Prior to his embarka tion, he had once more to furnish an equipment suitable to his rank, and the respectability of his situation. | Every thing being prepared, he took leave of his friends in the month of July following, fully expecting to remain on the American establishment for some years, during which time he had made arrangements for the liquidation of all his debts. Unfortunately, however, the transport which was allotted to convey his equipment across the Atlantic, being detained by an embargo until October, approached the place of her destination when the winter was far advanced, and being overtaken by a storm, was finally wrecked on the shores of America, and all her cargo totally lost. An event so serious to his finances, compelled his Royal Highness once more to return to England, to urge his claims upon government for remuneration; and to lay before the constituted authorities, the nature and extent of those debts, which had been contracted at different periods, during his residence in foreign parts. To execute this measure, he applied for leave of absence; and the state of his health was such, as to secure the admission of his claims. He arrived in England in the autumn of 1800; and, after a long and persevering application, obtained 20001., which, together with a similar sum obtained for losses sustained in captured vessels conveying his baggage and equipage to the West Indies, amounted only to about one-eighth part of his actual loss, exclusively of the interest which his creditors regularly claimed. In the meanwhile his government in America procured for him a high degree of popularity; and, as a token of their approbation, the Assembly of Nova Scotia voted to his Royal Highness 500 guineas, for the purchase of a diamond star. About this time he was also called up to the House of Peers; but even this did not take place, until eight years more had elapsed in his life, than in that of the Duke of Clarence, when he received the same mark of honourable distinction. It has therefore been presumed, that this difference arose from some political reasons, which have never been fully developed. In the month of March 1802, his Royal Highness was appointed to the government of Gibraltar, in which place he had begun his military career about twelve years before. On his arrival, he discovered a mass of abuses that awaited his powerful but correcting hand; and no doubt can be entertained, if he had been properly supported by those whose duty directed them to co-operate with him in his virtuous designs, that the accumulated evils might have been removed, without producing those unhappy consequences which marked this eventful period. To the disadvantage of his Royal Highness, on this melancholy occasion, it has frequently been asserted, that during his command at Gibraltar, the severity of his discipline was unsufferable; that the soldiers were unnecessarily harassed by his caprice ;-and that his whole conduct was tyrannical, wanton, and oppressive. He has also been charged with creating disturbances in the army;-with driving the soldiers to the verge of mutiny ;-with alienating the affections of his officers; with injuring the industrious inhabitants;-and rendering himself unworthy of that exalted station which he was appointed to fill. That much confusion prevailed for a season, that it originated apparently in those regulations which his Royal Highness introduced, and that complaints at home were preferred against him, in consequence of which he was removed, [are facts that have obtained universal publicity; but whether those charges and complaints were founded on actions, and a mode of conduct, which merited reprehension, can only be known by adverting to the peculiarity of his situation, and the state of the garrison at the time that he was entrusted with the supreme command. It will therefore be necessary to take, in a transient manner, a retrospective survey of existing facts, in order to form a proper estimate of this interesting period of his life. Prior to his arrival at this important fortress, in the character of commander-in-chief, the number of wine houses, for the sale of liquor to the troops, had increased in an alarming degree. This had been encouraged by certain official characters, from pecuniary motives; the fees arising from the legal transactions, and the private connivances connected with this business, amounting sometimes to 20,0001. per annum. One consequence of this to the troops was, that their health was that popular odium to which his virseriously injured, discipline was neg- tues had exposed him. He was relected, public morals were outraged called in May 1803; since which time, by prevailing drunkenness, and by his official services have been confined those vices with which drunkenness to the command of the First Regiment rarely fails to associate. His Royal of Foot, in which he has held the rank Highness, attentive only to the welfare of Field Marshal; retaining also the of the community, and despising the nominal government of that fortress emoluments which were thus polluted from which he was discharged, for rewith iniquity, resolved to stem this moving the evils which his predecessors overwhelming torrent of abomination; had permitted to accumulate, and for which, rendered formidable by the reestablishing that discipline, the begrowth of many years, had now reach-nefits of which his successors have ed an alarmed crisis, that even endan- since enjoyed. gered the safety of the fortress. The merchants who were interested in this nefarious traffic, on finding the Duke determined to check their enormous profits, and place the sale of liquors under prudential restraints, instigated a drunken soldiery to revenge the loss of those indulgences, which frequently brought them to the halberts, swallowed up their pay, injured their health, and, by generating disease, carried multitudes to an untimely grave. Thus irritated and encouraged, insubordination broke out on every side; and the noble commander, whose plans were calculated for the ultimate benefit of the individuals who complained, as well as for the general good, was abandoned by those subordinate authorities which could alone give efficiency to his exertions. Nor were the happy consequences resulting from his regulations, though too conspicuous to be overlooked, sufficient to reestablish tranquillity and order among those, on whose profligacy his interposition had laid an embargo. Many of the peaceable inhabitants, however, were sensible of the advantages which they began to enjoy. They could now carry on their business, and walk the streets, without being exposed to those insults and outrages, which result from half-licenced intoxication. Among the troops, drunkenness in a great measure disappeared; cleanliness and discipline were restored; military punishments became less frequent; the hospitals were less crowded with inmates; and the sexton found his trade in a declining state. But although these salutary effects were so visible as to procure from the eivil population of Gibraltar a grateful and unanimous acknowledgment of their obligations, they were insufficient to secure his Royal Highness from That the tide of public opinion has set in with a strong current, against the conduct of his Royal Highness on this occasion, will not admit of a moment's doubt. But it must not be forgotten, that while some have attributed his actions to unworthy motives, many of his officers have beheld them in another light, and even applauded him for introducing those wholesome regulations, and imposing those salutary restraints, which have been represented as tyrannical and severe. This gentleman, To obtain some accurate information on a point thus fluctuating between conflicting opinions, the writer of this article addressed a letter to a gentleman now in Paris, who had been an officer under his Royal Highness, and who was an eye-witness of these transactions. having long since relinquished the military profession, and become a minister of the gospel, cannot be suspected of using the language of partiality; his sentiments therefore on this occasion, will best appear in his own language. "I regret my not having received a more timely information of your laudable intention, that I might have digested some very interesting matter of which I am in the possession, relative to that excellent Prince, whom it has pleased God, in his unsearchable providence, to remove from time into eternity. I am convinced that the worth of this exalted character has never yet been fully estimated; and it never can be rightly known, while the jaundiced eye of malice and uncharitableness remains perversely blind to his many noble qualities, and tries to see defects in him, that will require a magnifying lens to make visible. But the tongues which slandered him, will, it is to be hoped, slander |
