ERNEST AUGUSTUS : DUKE OF CUMBERLAND AND KING OF HANOVER
By Herbert van Thal George the Third's fifth son was not an attractive or par- ticularly important person. But he cut a conspicuous figure in his . day, and it is rather surprising that Ernest Augustus : Duke of Cumberland and King of Hanover (Barker, 15s.) is the first biography of him. The author lacks, however, the deftness of touch necessary for a good light biography ; and he has not taken sufficient pains to write a serious one. Mr. van Thal's ambition has been to show that his hero was not the shadowy figure -that- the text-books would lead us to believe." But most of his book is no more than a slipshod compilation from familiar and obvious sources ; and his own contribution is merely to pause now and then in order to assure us that most of the scandals associated with the Duke's name are untrue. For the last fourteen years of his life the Duke was King of Hanover, Queen. Victoria having been prevented by the Salle Law from succeeding to that part of her uncle's and grandfather's dominions. This period is dismissed. by Mr.-van Thal in a single chapter, based almost entirely on the obsequious reminiscences of the Court Chaplain. The ;important German 'sources for the reign, which might hai'e shownbiin.what manner of King Ernest Augustus was, are ignored altogether. The most valuable pages in the volume are -the. appendix, which contains a number of un- published letters from the King to a clergyman in England, formerly his chaplain. These have no historiesl importance, but intdyerteatl - confirm ' the verdict passed by public -opinion' on Ern ' Augustas as a semi-literate boor. "The best-thintrykat ean ifo;"'iaicrthe-DUke of Wellington *hen he became King of Hanover, " is to go away as fast as you can. Go instantly, and take care you are not pelted."
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