Death of the Duke of Cambridge.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XL, Issue 7794, 19 March 1904, Page 7

Death of the Duke of Cambridge.

(By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) (P. r Press A^ssociatinn). London-, IS The Kiaß and Quben visuni and conaoli d wi:.;i ibo relaiive-t ci tho l.iukp of G(imbriJ»e, in conno:;t,)ori wh t»olitto<'« deith A Oouro circul.'.r esprys^od the Soveivigns' gru-at sorrow atthadea-h of the JDuke. A £■ z=Hte extraordinary i-isu^d orders for Uouro mourrn- g for six weeks, uud half mourning iroui April t-J'.h. Tvibu:.ei to t.hn .lo.ensed w^ro ptiid by both Housea of Parliament sn-1 rtio- J £ng< :5 of a- mouthy have befn reosivt-.d lr.m ali parts The fnner-U srrtfice will be held at We-rmi s-,er Abhey on Tuesday. Hi; ir/teraiHnr, &•; tlm Duke's own wish, will bo beside hu wifd aG Kausal Green. j George. Dake ot Cambridge, was bo-n at Kauover on tha StJth Marcii, ISI9. so that he was within v. few d>ys of coinp'uuin^ his <Ms»ht-y-lifr>i year. He was a cousin of Queen Vn-torn, his father having b-eu George 1 (I.'s savur.th I "on At the early a«e of eiuhtu -n tlie Duke became a Colonel ia the Briti>h Army, and served at various of our oii*lying aarrisons—freland, Gibraltar and the lonian Islands. His tavounle :irm was tin1 mounted on<». and in 1852 he was made luspector-General of Cavalry —a post which he hold till 1855 when, with the l-ar.lc of Major-Genera), ho went out ttrfche Crimea iv command of the very fine Ist Division, composed of the Guards and the Highland Brigade. He went into action with his Guaids Jjoth at tiie ATnia and Inkerman, in thi ' last-named bat tin hfivmg a horse shot under htm. Shortly after Inke-uiau th« breokdowu tf ins hewth compelled hh recirenieni; (roni tbe Crimes, and Hi oho same litne hid conduct aj a divisional leader, eix'tun ia for hoiuo free crnicibin. Hiu p^rnoaal bravery was unnoubitd, mid in fad of tho oneuiy Ijb.proved him»eif a wu-r hy defceudanc oi the mourn oh who lad th<i British Army to victory at DewingHti. Bm if ho failed on every occasion to nmlfH tho fullest use of hid opportunities in tho field, the reason is be-t given by Kmgslake in his history of tha «Jii i.eau ■Wur :-—..• He was of a genial teaiperanisni, bur, af'ev all, what a Gansral ha-, to di» is to. try to ovei-cooie th 9 sunny by exposiog his soldiery to all needful risks, it ia well for him to be able to uas-i through the bloodiest .hours of battle v,'Mi sorneihiog of a ruthless joj. The Duke of sGumbndge was waiving in this kind.of truculence, and, howevri- careless of his own life, he was liable to ba cruelly wrung wiih the weight of a command which charged him with tho livoo of-other men.

At tbe close of the war, the Duke was appointed Comniinder-in-Chiei; in succession to Viscount Hardingc, and his appointment on tbe whole was very pDpuliir-riiot 0.-.ly because lie was a iiojai Duke, but also because he was

ia :counted o be a very sensible ..boldiei*' Six years later he was raised to the ran ofField-Marshal and was in turn, ampn* otiier things; m»de Colonel oE the Rbya. Artillery and the Boyal-Engineers, "17th Lancers ("Death or Glory Bens"), Scots Guards and Grenadier Guards.

The Duke held his high :u\d iv>{>onsible position for nearly forty years, retiring in 1895. when hu w.-ix HUuc-eilL-ii by "Viscount Wulseley. Duvin«j Ins lemi of command he introduced many- reforms on points of'd<t«l, mo.st of'iicui lending to improve tlie comfo.-c and condition t>t ihe private so!dier, and b* fitrned f<>r himselr tlie tit'u: ut •'Tiic Soldier's Friend." But towards ihe ens»« of his long term of onk-e ie w.-i> ariiemlU' recognised tha; to liiJik-j (hi: British Army equal to the needs of a wmid-wide Empire required •■: isjau :ir ii-. lie.;n uuire abreast of the times, and a g'-'it-ra' sen^c of relief w.ts ;'eit vvlien >b^ ainetion t ,t affairs was trun~fm\d to Lord Wo'seley's pXjieritui'.-dlx-.tKk

White it c.-umo: be claMii-ri that the late Du.i; win a. brilliant couiuuiuler. it is admitted that he wa.s a painstaking an.t capable adiiiiuistrator, wi:h a^ eye to pcifcctiou in small things; and he wa.s :<cnipu!ou^ly ju-t and free from fav<.uri;i.-m Poi- tlie last forty years he litdbten in e.-peciat demand at public dinners, wh.-re his speeches have been marled by vluiu common sense and a biir-t distinctness which has beeii of niiifh help to manja deserving charity. J?nr tbe last few years, however, tlie infirmities due to advanced ago have preveu'.cd his sittendance at many gatherings with which he had been'long associated.

Hisßoyal Highness, who was aKr.ighf, of the Garter, iho Thistle, >inri Ur : nd Cross of the Baih, ana otber Orders, iind who enjoyed many other personal distinctions, was B°nger of tho Royal Purka for a long series of years. . He cont^ acted a morganatic mam*ge with Miss Louisa Farebrother. who was known and received in the Eoyal family as MrsFuzchorge. Of his two sons, on.i, Colonel Augustus FitzGeorge, has served among other places in Canada and ludi^, and another has attained tho rani of KuavAduaral in the Navy.