ver wrote to me without assuring me
that he was going on as well as possible.

[Page Head: FUNERAL OF THE DUKE OF YORK.]

February 12th, 1827

The Duke of York was no sooner dead than the public press began
to attack him, and while those private virtues were not denied
him for which he had always been conspicuous, they enlarged in a
strain of severe invective against his careless and expensive
habits, his addiction to gambling; and above all they raked up
the old story of Mrs. Clark and the investigation of 1809, and
published many of his letters and all the disgusting details of
that unfortunate affair, and that in a manner calculated to throw
discredit on his character. The newspapers, however, soon found
they had made a mistake, that this course was not congenial to
public feeling, and from that moment their columns have been
filled with panegyrics upon his public services and his private
virtues. The King ordered that the funeral should be public and
magnificent; all the details of the ceremonial were arranged by
himself. He showed great feeling about his brother and exceeding
kindness in providing for his servants, whom the Duke was himself
unable to provide for. He gave L6,000 to pay immediate expenses
and took many of the old servants into his own service. There
appeared a few days after the Duke's death an infamous forgery,
purporting to be a letter or declaration written by him a short
time before his death (principally upon the subject of the
Catholic question), which, however, was disavowed by Taylor, but
not till after many thousand copies had been sold. I dare say
many people believe still that he was the author of this
pamphlet. All his effects either have been or will be sold by
auction. The funeral took place a fortnight after his death.
Nothing could be managed worse than it was, and except the
appearance of the soldiers in the chapel, which was extremely
fine, the spectacle was by no means imposing; the cold was
intense, and it is only marvellous that more persons did not
suffer from it. As it is the Bishop of Lincoln has died of the
effects of it; Canning has been dangerously ill, and is still
very unwell; and the Dukes of Wellington and Montrose were both
very seriously unwell for some days after. The King was very
angry when he heard how miserably the ceremony had been
performed. I have been this evening to hear Peel move the address
of condolence to the King, which Canning would have done i