us. xii. JULY 3, i9io.] NOTES AND QUERIES.
3
military men who have seen service feel
more or less, became more apparent daily.
He wished for a war somewhere. " Per-
haps," said he. " Murat may prove trouble-
some and an English force be sent there,"
little thinking at that time of the occasion on
which he should be shortly recalled to his
old post of Commander- in-Chief of a large
army. As far as we know at present of the
plan of the Campaign, the Allied forces under
the Duke will be divided into two corps
d'armee, one of which will be commanded by
th^ Prince, the other by Lord Hill, and it is
not improbable that the Duke of Richmond
may command a body of reserves. All here
are sanguine that the Allies will be at Paris
in two months. . . .
III.
[To his father.]
Brussels, June 13, 1815.
.... The family are at present gone to Enghien to a cricket match amongst the gentlemen of the Guards, in which the Duke takes a part. You have, of course, heard of his fame as a cricketer. He was, I believe, considered one of the two best in England ; the ^ other is Lord Frederick Beauclerc. Tho' on the spot, I can give you little news with respect to public affairs which you will not see sooner in the English papers. In fact, we have all along received accounts of the downfall of Murat (omen hand malum, for the imperial cause) much earlier by way of England than of Vienna, and the case is the same with reference to Paris intelligence. From Germany we have it in its way to you. The latest is that the Prussians are on the Rhine, and no doubt active operations may be expected very soon. The Allied force which will bond fide enter France, may be safely computed at 500,000 (sic) men/ An officer told me a few days ago that he had observed many droves "of cattle, marked G. R., which had quitted their pastures and were proceeding to the frontiers. These he conceived to be destined for the subsistence of the army on its march, not whilst it remains stationary. English officers who have come from their quarters to Brussels to make purchases for the campaign, &c., say that they have left it for the last time. A Westminster man cannot fail of knowing people, go where he will, and it is curious to think how many old schoolfellows I have fallen in with, that I have not seen for years. It is an interesting thing to take leave of these brave fellows, all of whom it is impossible that we should see again.
Some must fall, and all stand a chance of
it. Lord March, A.D.C. to the Prince
called a few days ago whilst we were at
dinner, to say they were going. He shook
hands with every individual round the
table, and departed. He has been back-
wards and forwards many times since the-
Prince fixed his headquarters at Brain-le-
Comte, and each time he takes leave as if
the last. It has this good effect that the
Duchess and his sisters, who doat on him,
do not mind the parting ; they say, " Oh !
we shall see him again in a day or two.'"
The Duke of Richmond has three sons, some-
nephews, and many other relations, besides
an extensive acquaintance, amongst whom
are his Irish Secretary, the Duke of Welling- -
ton, and eight A.D.C. 's, engaged in this
business. The Secretary is the Duke of
Wellington.* Lord G. Lennox is A.D.C. to
his Grace, Lord William to General Maitland,
Lord W. met with a fall about two months
ago, riding a race at Enghien. He was taken
up for dead, but has experienced a most
wonderful recovery. He cannot yet go to
his duty, and is living with us for the present. .
The Duke of R.'s offer of service has been
declined by Ministers, because he is senior
to the Prince and must therefore have a .
larger command than him. He is very much \
annoyed about it. Tho' I have given some
fairly good reasons for supposing that
hostilities will soon commence, yet no one
would suppose it judging by the Duke of
Wellington. He appears to be thinking of
anything else in the world, gives a ball
every week, attends every party, and par-
takes of every amusement that" offers. He
took Lady Jane Lennox (the youngest of
the four) to Enghien to the cricket match
and brought her back at night, apparently
having gone with no other purpose than to
amuse her. At that time Bonaparte was
said to be at Maubeuge, about thirty or
forty miles off. The whole scene of military
preparations is new to me and, of course,
very interesting. In the Allee Verte, which
is the ride here, there were a few evenings
ago the King and Queen of the Netherlands,
Prince of Orange, Dukes of Wellington,
Berri, and Brunswick, Prince de Conde,
Blucher, &c., &c.
ALAN STEWART.
(To be. concluded.)
- The Duke of Richmond had been Lord
Lieutenant of Ireland 1807-13, and the Duke of Wellington was Chief Secretary in 1807. It seems, therefore, that the former continued playfully to call the latter his Secretary still.
