The Sun.
London, England, 1852-09-18 00:00:00

DEATH

OF THE

DUKE OF WELLINGTON.

At a late hour 1:183; night the Earl of Derby arrived
at his mansion in St. James's-square from Balmoral.
Her Majesty and Prince Albert had received, with dcep
concrAn, the announcement of the Duke of Wellington's
death, and the Noble Premier had at once, in compli-
ance with the command of, her Majesty, returned to
town.

At noon yesterday the new Duke of Wellington ar-
rived at Weimer Castle. He was at Baden Baden when
the news of his father's death reached him, and bastenirg
back, without an hour's delay, landed at Dover yester-
day morning by the Ostend boat. His presence removes
the chief cause for delay in the arrangements for the fu-
neral, but, as already announced, they will not be de-
finitively settled until her. Majesty's will has been declared
by her constitutional iadvisers. In the meantime steps
aro being taken for removing the body of the illus-
trious deceased to Apaley house, where it will remain
until the preparations for the interment are com-
pleted. A leaden coffin was set down to Widmer Castle
last night from Messrs. Dowbiggan, Holland, and
Co., of Mount-street, Grosvenor square, and it is ex-
pf that the removal to town will take place to-night
or on Monday. The Duchess, it is thought, will arrive
at Weimer Castle in time to have a parting look at the
well-remembered features of the departed. It is said
that these have been little changed in expression by the
hand of death, a circumstance the less surprising from
their singularly marked character.
Most great men have had striking ends. The Duke of
Wellington, having compressed within the space of his
existence the interest of many lives, died as a lamp ex-
pires, the oil of which is exhausted. The Spartan
simplicity of his habits was maintained to the
last, and the only relaxation which he permitted
himself was an occasional extra hour's rest at
Weimer. In his 84th year he was still the same ab-
stemious, active, self-denying man he had ever been,
rising early, never latterly tasting wine or spirits,
taking regular exercise on toot and on horseback, sleep.
ing on a hard uncurtained couch, and rejecting even the
luxury of a downy pillow. The Duke used a pillow,
but it was an exceedingly hard one, stuffed with horse-
hair and lined with washloather, and he carried it about
with him wherever he went. His life had for years been
a steady system of defensive warfare against the ap-
proach of disease, and death overtook him at last from
sheer exhaustion, without being preceded by a single
day's illness. On the very morning of his fatal attack
it was much feared that he would persist in going to
meet Lady Westmoreland at Dover, and not long ago,
when suffering from a severe cold, he could not be per-
suaded to keep his room, but joined the dinner circle in
his great coat. His habits certainly throw a striking
light on his whole character; and when we learn that
to the last his daily toilet was performed without
the slightest assistance, we can appreciate how fully he
acted up to a favourite motto of his own—that if a man
wanted to have anything properly done he must do it
himself. It took him from half-past six o'clock till nine
every morning to dress; but even to the operation of
shaving he did all himself; and at his age that must
have been nearly as difficult a feat as winning a battle
in early life. Though in his 84th year, he still wrote a
firm hand and carried on a large correspondence—cu-
rious confirmations of the strength of nerve required to
form a great commander.
The Duke was a most diligent and indefatigable
reader of the newspapers. Nothing WB3 too minute to
escape his notice, but the advertisement columns had
bis special attention; and if, in glancing over them, he
found an announcement of a new patent pen, to which
were assigned some peculiar virtues, or any thing else
which struck his fancy, forthwith a dispatch was sen
off for the article.

His great mental activity has often been a theme of
conversation; but there was an illustration of it shortly
before his death which is no less interesting on account
of its relation, than astounding in itself. Shortly before
his decease, his Grace was engaged in the task of read-
ing a ponderous document, which has excited a good deal
of public attention, being no other than the report of the
Royal Commission appointed to examine into the manage-
ment and condition of Oxford University. This he
doubtless did with the view of mastering the details, so
as to be able to form a sound judgment on a question of
so much national interest, and possibly to take part in
the discussion of the subject in the next session. The
Duke was, like the late Sir Robert Peel, one who would
take no opinion second hand, and in this instance he
laboured hard to understand the subject in all its bear-
ings. It is a striking, and, all things considered, a
most interesting fact, that before his death he bad nearly
concluded his gigantic task, and, up to a certain point, it
is believed, bad read every word of the report.
The Duke's diet was as simple as his habits, or as the
architecture of Weimer Castle, consisting of the very
plainest dishes. He had, indeed, a French cook, but had
his Grace always lived alone the office would have been a
perfect sinecure. The cook, who no doubt partakes of
the enthusiasm of his art, was even chagrinned at times
at having so little opportunity of displaying his artistic
powers. The bill of fare was daly placed before his
master, but was nearly always returned with, in addition
to a plain joint of meat, some such words as "pudding
and tart," occasionally varied by the transposition of the
words into " tart and pudding," as if by way of joke at
the baffled ingenuity of the gastronomist. Another source
of disquiet to the cook was positively that the Duke
never complained. "If I cook a good dinner," the de-
sponding artist would say, "the Duke remarks It is
well;' and if I cook a bad dinner he says It is well."
No complaint ever evinced dissatisfaction, or marked a
ruffled temper; and the reason doubtless was, that the
dinner and the stomach were as well regulated and at-
tempered as the mind.

Of all his Grace's peculiarities none, perhaps, was
more remarkable than the tenacity and accuracy of his
memory. He had a clear recollection of many minute
facts connected with Mr. Pitt and his times. Some
allusion being made one day to an approaching Lord
Mayor's dinner, the Duke remarked that the last public
dinner attended by Mr. Pitt was on such an occasion,
and that ho happened to be present, and heard Mr. Pitt
make an excellent speech. A speaker at the dinner, in
proposing Mr. Pitt's health, spoke of that statesman as
.‘ the saviour of his country," and in his reply to the
toast, Mr. Pttt denied that he was the saviour of his
country, observing, " The country saved itself by its
own exertions, and othercountries would be equally for.
tunato if they would follow its example." This speech
the Duke greatly admired: it was after his own heart.
Toe Duke had many aphoristic rules for his guidance
in the common affairs of life. One of his maxims was,
who wishes to have anything done well must do
A pleasing trait in the Duke's character is the long
period during which a large proportion of his dependents
have been connected with or served him, and the un-
varying testimony which they bear to his good and kind
it himself."
He
qualities as an employer, a landlord, and a master.
Exact and punctual in the management of his private
affairs, up to the last moment his weekly bills were dis-
charged by him as usual; and this precision, which he
carried into everything, made him easily dealt with.
proprietor is apt to be forgotten. Yet
Amid the splendour of his public achievements his con-
duct
most liberal and improving landlords
dwuacst
he
es
one
eatoAlf
in the country. The estate of Strathfieldsaye, which he
used to say would have ruined any man but himself, has
had more done for it in the shape of permanent improve-
ments—of draining, of chalking, of substantial farm pre-
mises and such like, than perhaps any other single pro-
perty in the south of England. It was a wretched in-
vestment of the public money; but the Duke, tree to his
usual maxim, did the best he could with it, and the an-
nual income for a long series of years has been regularly
laid out upon it.
The announcement will certainly be received with
immense satisfaction by the whole nation that a cast of
the Duke's head was taken yesterday afternoon by a
gentl?man perfectly qualified to perform the task well,
namely, Mr. Adams, a pupil of Mr. Wyon, the eminent
modeller, and himself well known as the artist who inc.
cesJully competed for the juror's prize medal in the
Great Exhibition.

Orders were issued yesterday from the Horse Guards
to all the commanding officers of regiments in the United
Kingdom to go into full mourning.
A general and very erroneous impression has existed
in the public mind that the Duke of Wellingtion was
extremely parsimonious in his contributions to the
different benevolent institutions with which London
abounds. Such was not the case; but when he gave dona-
tions he always requested that it might not be blazoned
before the public; and tthat his private benevolence was
extensive, we have only to instance the late prosecution of
the female Stanley and her male accomplice, who ob-
tained from the Duke above 5001. at various periods
extending over seven years. Of the hospitals and
charitable institutions he was connected with, we may
mention that his Grace was President of the Royal
Westminster Ophthalmic Hospital, President of the
Royal Maternity Charity, President of the Eastern
Dispensary (Great Alie-street), Patron of the St.
George's and St. Jame's Dispensary, Patron of the
Royal Society of Musicians, President of the Society of
Friends of Foreigners in Distress, besides being a
liberal though unostentatious supporter of many of the
charitable institutions of the metropolis. He was also
the oldest governor of the Charter-house (excepting the
Duke of Buccleuch), a governor of King's College, a
trustee of the Hunterian Collection, and President of the
United Service Institution.

EXTRAORDINARY PEDESTRIANISM.—A man named
James Jones is at the present time engaged, at the Borough
Gardens, Manchester, in fulfilling the arduous task of
walking 1,500 miles in 1000 hours, commencing in the first
quarter in each hour, day and night continuously, lie
commenced at seven o'clock on the evening of Saturday.
the 14th of August, and his task will be completed, if hie
strength do not fail, on the 25th instant, at eleven o'clock in
the forenoon. On Monday next, at seven in the evening,
he will have accomplished 1,333 miles. The man has suf-
fered considerably. At one time his feet were covered
with blisters, and his toes were exceedingly sore, but by
constant attention and judicious application they are nearly
restored, while his bodily health is good. He is temperate
in respect to drink,taking only a pint of porter per day, but
consumes flebh meat to the extent of six pounds per diem.
If he succeed in going through his excessive exertion—and
at present there is every reason to believe that he will, on
Saturday, the 25th, he will be presented with a purse con-
taining 100/., the amount promised him when he started.
He will then commence to walk 1,000 quarter miles in 1,000
quarter hours, starting in the first five minutes in each
quarter.

SINGULAR OCCURRENCE.—On the evening of Mon-
day week, two little boys were flying a kite in Glasgow-
green; the kite had obtained a very considerable elevation,
when a vivid flash of the electric fluid struck the kite, and in
the twinkling of an eye the kite, tail, and paper appended
thereto, an.i the greater part of the twine, were consumed,
leaving the poor little fellows staring in utter amazement at
the disappearance of their favourite.—Edinburgh Advertiser._