d themselves entitled, not to over-rule political movements,
but to take the part in them to which their strong convictions
prompted them. They were particularly prominent in the debates on the
Catholic question, and did not hesitate to express their views with an
energy that was often embarrassing. The Duke of York and the Duke of
Cumberland had used all their influence to encourage the King in his
opposition to Catholic Emancipation, while the Duke of Cambridge had
supported that policy, and the Duke of Sussex had spoken in the House
of Lords in favour of it. The Duke of York, a kindly, generous man,
had held important commands in the earlier part of the Revolutionary
war; he had not shown tactical nor strategical ability, but he was for
many years Commander-in-Chief of the Army, and did good administrative
work in initiating and carrying out much-needed military reforms. He
had married a Prussian princess, but left no issue, and his death,
in 1827, left the succession open to his younger brother, the Duke of
Clarence, afterwards King William IV., and after him to the Princess
Victoria.

[Pageheading: THE ROYAL DUKES]

The Duke of Kent was, as we shall have occasion to show, a strong Whig
with philanthropic views. But the ablest of the princes, though also
the most unpopular, was the Duke of Cumberland, who, until the birth
of the Queen's first child, was heir presumptive to the Throne. He had
been one of the most active members of the ultra-Tory party, who had
opposed to the last the Emancipation of the Catholics and the Reform
Bill. He had married a sister-in-law of the King of Prussia, and lived
much in Berlin, where he was intimate with the leaders of the military
party, who were the centre of reactionary influences in that
country, chief among them being his brother-in-law, Prince Charles of
Mecklenburg.

In private life the Duke was bluff and soldier-like, of rather a
bullying turn, and extraordinarily indifferent to the feelings of
others. "Ernest is not a bad fellow," his brother William IV. said of
him, "but if anyone has a corn, he will be sure to tread on it." He
was very unpopular in England.

On the death of William IV. he succeeded to the throne of Hanover, and
from that time seldom visited England. His first act on reaching his
kingdom was to declare invalid the Constitution which had been
granted in 1833 by William IV. His justification for this was that his
consent, as heir presumptive, which w