intentioned, tribute, "spare me this terrible irony. Do not

provoke the inevitableretort. Say of me, if you must say
anything, that I was not a bad man, though an erring one; that I

was kindly disposed towards my fellow-creatures; that I did some
good in my generation, and was able and willing to do more, but

that I heedlessly wasted time, money, health, intellect, personal
gifts, social advantages and opportunities; that my career was a

failure, and my whole scheme of life a melancholy
mistake." '[134]

[134] _Times_, Jan. 7, 1868.
This is a terrible rejoinder to a son endeavouring to raise a

monument to his beloved and respected parent. But, if we will
rake up rottenness from the grave--rottenness in which we are

interested--we must take our chance whether we shall find a
Hamlet who will say, `Alas! poor Yorick!' and say _NO MORE_ than

the musing Dane upon the occasion.
WAS THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON A GAMESTER?

A few years after the battle of Waterloo there appeared a French
work entitled `_L'Academie des Jeux_, par Philidor,' which was

soon translated into English, and here published under the title
of `Rouge et Noir; or, the Academies.' It was a denunciation of

gambling in all its varieties, and was, no doubt, well-
intentioned. There was, however, in the publication the

following astounding statement:--
`Not long ago the carriage of the heir-apparent to the T*****

of England, in going to his B****'s levee, was arrested for
debt in the open street. That great captain, who gained, if not

laurels, an immense treasure, on the plains of Wa****oo,
besides that fortune transmitted to him by the English people,

was impoverished in a few months by this ignoble passion.'
There can be no doubt that the alleged gambling of the great

warrior and statesman was the public scandal of the day, as
appears by the duke's own letters on the subject, published

in the last volume of his _Dispatches_. Even the eminent
counsel, Mr Adolphus, thought proper to allude to the report in

one of his speeches at the bar. This called forth the following
letter from the duke to Mr Adolphus:--

`17 Sept., 1823.
`The Duke of Wellington presents his compliments to Mr

Adolphus, and encloses him the "Morning Chronicle" of Friday,
the 12th instant, to which the duke's attention has just been

called, in which Mr Adolphus will observe that he is stated to
have represented the duke as a person _KNOWN SOMETIMES TO PLAY

AT HAZARD, WHO MIGHT BE COMMITTED AS A ROGUE AND VAGABOND_.
`The duke concludes that this paper contains a correct statement

of what Mr Adolphus said upon the occasion, and he assures Mr
Adolphus that he would not trouble him upon the subject if

circumstances did not exist which rendered this communication
desirable.

`Some years have elapsed since the public have been informed,
_FROM THE VERY BEST AUTHORITY_, that the duke had totally ruined

himself at play; and Mr Adolphus was present upon one occasion
when a witness swore that he had heard the duke was

constantly obliged to sell the offices in the Ordnance himself,
instead of allowing them to be sold by others! ! The duke has

suffered some inconvenience from this report in a variety of
ways, and he is anxious that at least it should not be repeated

by a gentleman of such celebrity and authority as Mr Adolphus.
`He therefore assures Mr Adolphus that in the whole course of his

life he never won or lost L20 at any game, and that he never
played at Hazard, or any game of chance, in any public place or

club, nor been for some years at all at any such place.
`From these circumstances, Mr Adolphus will see that there is no

ground for making use of the duke's name as an example of a
person _KNOWN SOMETIMES TO PLAY AT HAZARD, WHO MIGHT BE

COMMITTED AS A ROGUE AND VAGABOND_.'
_Mr Adolphus to Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington_.

`Percy Street, 21st Sept., 1823.
`Mr Adolphus has the honour to acknowledge the receipt of a note

from his Grace the Duke of Wellington, and would have done so
yesterday, but was detained in court till a late hour in the

evening. Mr Adolphus is extremely sorry that any expression used
by him should have occasioned a moment's uneasiness to the Duke

of Wellington. Mr Adolphus cannot deny that the report in the
"Chronicle" is accurate, so far as it recites his mere words;

but the scope of his argument, and the intended sense of his
expression, was, that if the Vagrant Act were to receive the

extensive construction contended for, the most illustrious
subject of the realm might be degraded to the condition of the

most abject and worthless, for an act in itself indifferent--and
which, until the times had assumed a character of affected

rigour, was considered rather as a proof of good society than as
an offence against good order. Mr Adolphus is, however,

perfectly sensible that his illustration in his Grace's person
was in all respects improper, and, considering the matters to

which his Grace has adverted, peculiarlyunfortunate Mr Adolphus
feels with regret that any public expression of his sentiments on

this subject in the newspapers would not abate, but much
increase, the evil. Should an opportunity ever present itself of

doing it naturally and without affectation, Mr Adolphus
would most readily explain, in speaking at the bar, the error he

had committed; but it is very unlikely that there should exist an
occasion of which he can avail himself with a due regard to

delicacy. Mr Adolphus relies, however, on the Duke of
Wellington's exalted mind for credit to his assurance that he

never meant to treat his name but with the respect due to his
Grace's exalted rank and infinitely higher renown.'

_To Mr Adolphus_.
`Woolford, 23rd Sept., 1823.

`The Duke of Wellington presents his compliments to Mr Adolphus,
and assures Mr Adolphus that he is convinced that Mr Adolphus

never intended to reflect injuriously upon him. If the duke had
believed that Mr Adolphus could have entertained such an

intention he would not have addressed him. The duke troubles Mr
Adolphus again upon this subject, as, in consequence of the

editor of the "Morning Chronicle" having thought proper to
advert to this subject in a paragraph published on the 18th

instant, the duke has referred the paper of that date and that of
the 12th to the Attorney and Solicitor-general, his counsel,

to consider whether the editor ought not to be prosecuted.
`The duke requests, therefore, that Mr Adolphus will not notice

the subject in the way he proposes until the gentlemen above
mentioned will have decided upon the advice which they will give

the duke.'[135]
[135] `Dispatches,' vol. ii. part i.

The result was, however, that the matter was allowed to drop, as
the duke was advised by his counsel that the paragraph in the

"Morning Chronicle," though vile, was not actionable. The
positive declaration of the duke, `that in the whole course of

his life he never won or lost L20 at any game, and that he
never played at Hazard, or any game of chance, in any public

place or club, nor been for some years at all at any such place,'
should set the matter at rest. Certainly the duke was afterwards

an original member of Crockford's Club, founded in 1827, but,
unlike Blucher, who repeatedly lost everything at play, `The

Great Captain,' as Mr Timbs puts it, `was never known to play
deep at any game but war or politics.'[136]

[136] Club Life in London.
This remarkable deference to private character and public

opinion, on the part of the Duke of Wellington, is in wonderful
contrast with the easy morality of the Old Bailey advocate, Mr