The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1886-07-17
HOW A CR0TESQUE HERO WALTzED
ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO,

1t is just century since scene
was enacted at royal ball given at
St. James Palace, the like of which
never engaged the attention nor in
spired the pen of any Of the satirists
and wags who always love to bask
in "the fierce light that beats upon
q throne" The American Revolu-
tionary War had just resulted in the
independence of the United States,
and the English officers who had
fought, not without distinction, al
belt they fought in vain, against
George Washington and his "Conti-
nentals," were received in their
native land with an abundant well
come and hearty sympathy. Among
the returning soldiers was numbered
Major the Hon. George Hanger,
who afterward became Lord Cole
raine, and was one of the most
eccentric Irishmen that ever drew
the sword for England.
Before he joined the British army
Major Hanger had been brought up
in Hanover, and knowing the Ger
man language perfectly, he was sent
out when the American war was in
full blast, to take command of one
of those Hessian regiments with
which George iii. endeavored TO
put down the instruction of his
"erring subjects" on the other side
of the Atlantic. Having got back
to London, Major Hanger naturally
desired to make his bow at Court,
and received His Majesty's com
mand to attend ball at st. James
Palace.
The Major was six feet high, re-
markably thin and angular, with
coal-black hair, and with nose like
a snipc. He was often compared to
Don Quixote, and as he entered the
crowded ballroom general whisper
ran around the royal circle, "Who
is he?" He wore his Hessian uni
form-a short, blue coatee with
enormous frogs, and belt six
inches broad over his shoulder,
from which his sword depended.
Conscious that every eye was upon
him, the grotesque Major stalked up
to the lovely Miss Diana Cunning,
then the greatest beauty of the
day.
The young lady, taking him for
some high-born foreigner, rose and,
with profound courtesy, accepted
his prOffered arm. He led her out
to dance the minuet, but when it
became necessary that he should
put on his hat-which was a "Kwen-
huller" of the largest kind, orna-
mented with two large black and
white feathers-the figure which he
cut was so ridiculous that seven
His Majesty could not preserve his
gravity, the serious faces Of his
Ministers relaxed into a smile, and
the Prince of Wales was thrown
into convulsive fit of laughter"
The Major was subsequently adj
mitted into the Princes rollicking
set, and amid the many strange
vicissitudes of fortune which tho
future Lord Coleraine was destined
to experience-at one time he de.
scended to the lowly calling of 6
coal merchandise had always 6
good word to say for George
Prince of Wales. IT," he wrote
81 were not to acknowledge the obi
cations l owe to His Royal High
ness, i should be the basest of men
In afiluence, in poverty, at libert,
and when in prison his kindness t.
me has never varied" What, how
, ever, makes "Major Hangers Me
moirs," published in 1901, SO inter
esting, is that they constitute one o
the few books which tell us anythin!
|, about horse-racing as it fourished il
these islands at the end of last cen
, tury.- London Telegraph.