Miscellaneous.
The Duke of Wellington's serious illness, and partial recovery, were mentioned in last week's Spectator. The Duke's health has since im- proved, though slowly ; and on Thursday, the bulletins, which had been daily exhibited at Apsley House, were discontinued. The in- quiries from persons of all ranks and parties, were exceedingly nume- rous; but on Tuesday the public learned, with some surprise and much displeasure, that up to Monday night no message had been sent from the Queen's Palace. This neglect was pointedly noticed by the :11orning Post of Tuesday- " We rejoice to state, that, after a night of undisturbed repose, his Grace was SO much better yesterday as to be permitted to apply himself for several hours to business. The list of anxious inquirers at Apsley House since the commencement of the Duke's indisposition comprehends every person in Lou- den, of the upper ranks of society, who can claim any sympathy with the fed- it.gcs or interests of Great Britain—with one exception. We inentioo the ex- ception with unfeigned regret, and with the consciousness that, in stating the fact as it is, we only discharge an imperative duty. We feel that for her Ma- jesty the Queen every allowance at the present moment ought to be made ; but what can the British people think of the persons whoisurround her Majesty, when they are apprized, that from Buckingham Palace to Ansley House, in the whole four days during which the Duke of Wellington has heel seriously ill, no message of any kind has been sent ? The QIICM of England, whenever it may be her good fortune to have honest and faithful advisers, will understand the respect which is due from those who inherit thrones to those who defend them."
The Morning Chronicle of Wednesday put forth an article intended as a reply to this reproof, couched in language which has excited very general reprehension. This is a specimen- " On the evening of Thursday last, his Grace the Duke of Wellington had a fit (/' indigestion. The fact became publicly known by the newspapers of Fri ay eveuins and Saturday morning. At the same time, and through the seine means, it also became known that the Duke was considerably recovered, and there was nothing serious in the indisposition. On Sanday night he slept soundly ; and on Monday, with the permission of his physicians, betook himself to business as usual, at which lie fagged several hours: lit all this there is nothing at all extraordinary. The extraordinary part of the story is, that out of this very commonplace occurrence, a grave charge is manufactured against her Majesty the Queen, her Court, and her 3iinisters. " It is asserted, we really know not whether truly or falsely, and very little does it signify, that daring the Duke's indigestion no message whatever was sent from Buckingham Palace to Apsley House. The Morning Post is positive on this point. After putting this foundation-'act in the strongest manner, with only the deduction of a generous allowance' fir her 3Iajesty's peculiar eircumstlinces, our contemporary emphatically demands, what can the British people think ? "lhe first public response will probably be, that they think our coutempoory guilty of more egregious folly than they bad previously given lam credit fins But leis question goes further than that. He wants to know what the British people think of the persons who surround her Majesty,' and has the ludicrous impudence to threaten that her mInjecty shall be sur- rounded by other persons, who shall make her on,h.,...t,oul the respect which is due from those who inherit thrones to those who defend them.'
" What our contemporary would have, we know not, nor how tar his scheme extends for coercing her Majesty into what his party shall reckon good man- ners. Is the Queen of England, while yet a four-days' bride, to become the z.urse of an aged Duke who gets an indigestioo hit.l taking horse t'ereiNe Olt tall stomach? Never has 'the respect due from thoso who inherit throtios' to all honourable claims in others been more fairly, frankly, and graciously ren- dered, than by the present Sovereign of these realms ; nor has the respect due in return ever been more basely or insolently violated. We say nothin of the Duke of Wellington having twice lent himself to a fictions insult in refirenee to the Royal marriage, the 11011.801Se about Prince Albert's Protestantism, and the postponement of the Naturalization Bill : in the serious illness of a war- rior so renowned, these would have been forgotten ; but they should have been remembered by the selficonstituted censor of her Majesty's conduct, bef lie dared to threaten her with the future retaliation of his triumphant faction. Not by such means, assuredly, will its triumph be accelerated, though they strikingly exhibit the venom of its purposes, time bitterness of its disappoint- ment, and the depth of its desperation.'
It so happened, that on Tuesday night, "a gracious message of in- quiry front her Majesty and Prince Albert reached Apsley House," through the medians of a common footman ; and the fact was an- nounced by the Morning Post on Wednesday, just when the inhabi- tants of the Metropolis were reading the Morning Chronicle's ridicule of the Dukes ailment, and apology for or rather eulogy of the Royal indifference to his fate. On Thursday, her Majesty renewed her in- quiries ; Prince Albert sent his Private Secretary, Mr. Seymour, on the same mission ; and the Duke of Saxe-Coburg called in person at Apsley House. Thus it appears that the Royal inmates of the Palace were taunted and stung into a tardy deference to public opinion, and an exhibition of solicitude, which, wanting the grace of sponteneity, is liable to be thought insincere. The slight put upon the Great Captain on his couch of sickness may be attributed to accident or forgetfulness; but the Morning Chronicle touched the true reason. The Queen's wrath for the Duke's course in Parliament burned fiercely. Iler Majesty's temper is what her flatterers term Elizabethan. Lord Melbourne's friends make no secret of the difficulty which even that accomplished courtier experiences in the discharge of his Palace duties ; and his successor, whoever he may he, will soon discover that to "keep all right at Court" is an arduous undertaking.
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