n a speech; occasionally he takes
a hint from his Lempriere; whilst not unfrequently his happiest
conceptions are derived from a character or scene in one of the popular
operas or farces of the time. Thus, in one of the debates on the Reform
Bill in the House of Lords, some very high words passed between Lords
Grey and Kenyon, the latter applying the words "abandoned" and
"atrocious" to the conduct of the former, who on his part declared in
reply that he threw back the expressions with scorn and indignation. In
the midst of the confusion the Duke of Cumberland rose, and implored
their lordships to tranquillize themselves and proceed with the debate
in a temperate and orderly manner, advice which, after taking time to
cool, they thought it prudent to follow. The farce of "I'll Be Your
Second" was then running at the Olympic, Mr. Liston taking the part of
"Placid," who, having a pecuniary interest in one of the characters who
has a weakness for duelling, is kept in a state of nervous anxiety, and
constantly interposes with the question, "Can't this affair be
arranged?" In one of his "sketches," HB gives us _A Scene from the Farce
of "I'll Be Your Second,"_ in which the Duke of Cumberland is
represented as Placid, endeavouring to arrange matters amicably between
my Lords Kenyon and Grey.

DUKE OF CUMBERLAND.

The duke himself was one of the most unpopular personages of his time,
and evinced on his part a contempt for public opinion which did nothing
to lessen the prejudice with which he was generally regarded. We dislike
a man none the less for knowing that he is conscious of and indifferent
to our good or bad opinion; and so it was with the Duke of Cumberland.
He followed his pleasure (field sports amongst the rest) with a serene
and happy indifference to all that the world might think or say about
him. This characteristic of his Royal Highness is satirized in another
of the "sketches," where he is supposed to sing "My Dog and My Gun," as
"Hawthorn," in the then popular opera of "Love in a Village." His Royal
Highness made himself a remarkable character in those smooth-faced days
by wearing a profusion of whisker and moustache perfectly white. A
rumour somehow got abroad and was circulated in the tittle-tattle
newspapers of the time, that at the instance of some fair lady he had
shaved off these martial appendages. The cavalry for some unexplained
reason were the only branch of the service who were then permitted to