every arrangement was made by him, and that the execution of the details was alone left to us. It may not be irrelevant here to observe, that this had at all times been the case; his Royal Highness had been at the head of the army more than thirtytwo years; during that period various officers were successively employed by him in the situations of military secre tary, and at the heads of departments at the Horse Guards; and they possessed his confidence and exerted themselves zealously. But the merit of rescuing the army from its impaired condition, of improving, establishing, and maintaining its system, of introducing that administration of it, in principle and in every detail, which has raised the character of the British service, and promoted its efficiency, belongs exclusively to his late Royal Highness. The work was progressive, but his attention to it, his able superintendence of it were constant. He guided and directed the labours of those subordinate to him; their task was executive. He gave the impulse to the whole machinery and kept the wheels in motion, and to him, I repeat it, the credit was due. An arrangement for the promotion of the old subalterns of the army had long been the object of his solicitude, but it was one of difficult accomplishment, as it was understood that no measure entailing extraordinary charge on the public would be admitted. Hence the delay in bringing it forward; but his Royal Highness entered into every detail of it on the 26th of December, and the king having paid him a visit on the 27th, he ordered me to submit it to his majesty on that day, when it obtained the royal signature; and the communication of his majesty's gracious approbation of this arrangement was received by his Royal Highness with a warm expression of satisfaction. Of the resolution and resignation with which his Royal Highness submitted to protracted confinement and a painful disorder, my statement offers ample proof; but I have not stated, that during all this period, during this serious trial, his excellent temper and kind disposition to all who approached him, continued unimpaired. I appeal to his medical attendants, I appeal to his servants, to those who transacted business with him, official or personal, whether at any time he betrayed a symptom of irritability, whether a sharp word escaped him, whe ther a murmur or complaint was uttered. Every attention, from whatever quarter, was kindly received, and gratefully acknowledged. Great anxiety was shown by him to avoid giving trouble; and at the later periods of his illness, that which seemed to distress him most was his being reduced to the necessity of requesting others to do for him that which he had ceased to be able to do for himself. Of the kind attention of his medical attendants, and their anxiety to afford to him the utmost benefit of their skill, he expressed himself most sensible. And it is due to them to say, that if he had been their nearest and dearest relative, they would not have devoted their time, care, and attention to him with more affectionate zeal than they did. Nor did he ever betray any want of confidence in their skill, or the least desire to resort to other advice. I must add, that I can positively state, having been admitted freely to their consultations, that no difference of opinion prevailed among them; they acted together cordially, and their only object seemed to be the welfare of their illustrious patient. During the progress of his illness, his Royal Highness received the most endearing and affectionate attention from the king, and from his brothers and sisters; and they never failed to be acknowledged with satisfaction and with gratitude; the Princess Sophia especially, whose near residence admitted of more frequent intercourse, never missed coming to him in the course of the day, unless prevented by indisposition; and I have already stated that her Royal Highness, by his desire, took the sacrament with him on the 28th of December. Upon The visits of his Royal Highness's numerous and attached friends were frequent, and they were invariably received with satisfaction, and with an expression of his sense of their attention. these occasions he exerted himself to meet them cheerfully, and to suppress the expression of pain or bodily uneasiness, and they often left him with the belief that he was free from both, although this had by no means been the case. Nor did his Royal Highness's bodily suffering, or the contemplation of his critical state, diminish in any degree the interest which he had ever taken in the state of public affairs, and in the welfare and prosperity of his country. These were at all times uppermost in his mind, and I am convinced that they often engaged it in a much greater degree than did his own situation. H. TAYLOR. Printed and Punished by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, (near Somerset-House,) and sold by all Newsmen and Booksellers. THE village of Thurcaston, which is celebrated as having given birth to the devout martyr, Hugh Latimer, is situated in the hundred of West Goscote, in the county of Leicester, about four miles from the county town. The church is dedicated to All Saints, and consists of a nave, chancel, and north aisle, with a tower containing three bells. In this church is still preserved the font at which the reverend bishop was admitted a member of that church which he so eminently adorned. It is of a circular shape, on a hexagon base, with niches. The house said to be that in which Latimer was born, is, in the style of the age, built or brick, with beams on the exterior; it is now inhabited by stockingers, and the adjoining part used as a blacksmith's shop. Dr. Hurd, the learned bishop of Worcester, resided in this village for some time as rector. In the parsonage is an original portrait in oil of Latimer, an engraving of which is preserved in Nichols's" History of Leicestershire." Most persons are familiar with the biography of the glorious martyr, and we have not room at this moment to do justice to the character of so famed a divine. G VOL. IX. Latimer was undoubtedly a man of merit, and possessed of learning, but not in the usual acceptation of the word, for he cultivated only useful learning, and lived rather what the world calls a good than a great man. He was endowed with candour, sincerity, and beneficence, and all those virtues which were fitted to render him useful and amiable in society. As a preacher he was eminent, but his sermons that are extant are not patterns of good composition. His manner of preaching was affecting, as he spoke from the heart, and made deep and lasting impressions upon his auditors. There is no period of English history more interesting to the antiquary and general reader than the reigns of Henry VIII., Edward VI., and Queen Marya period to which we look back with min. gled sensations of pain and pleasure. The above interesting engraving (communicated by a friendly correspondent, who signs himself S. I. B.) will revive our recollections of the times of the reforma tion, while a correct view of the birthplace of so eminent a man cannot fail of delighting the majority of our readers and friends. 237 AMBITION-AN ORIENTAL ALLEGORY. (For the Mirror.) ABDULLAH, the only son of Obiram, with his wife Tehaza, inhabited a small cottage situated in a delightful plain, distant a few miles from the capital of the luxurious climate of Persia. Unlike the gaudy palaces of the great, which glitter with the case-fraught embellishments of jewels, gold, ivory, and ebony, his simple hut was indebted to nature for the trifling ornaments displayed. A small piece of ground, which he cultivated, furnished ample means of subsistence; labour sweetened their repast, and imparted the glow of health, while content rendered them both happy. Thirty suns had now traversed their annual course, and Abdullah had never yet passed the boundaries of his native plain; unacquainted with the pomp and bustle of the city, curiosity had never tempted him to exceed his accustomed walk; but, ah! luckless moment, he one summer evening extended his steps to the entrance of Ispahan. Transported with the sight, he viewed, with eager admiration, the splendour of the bazaars, and gazed with delight upon the numerous passengers in the streets, attired in vestments of the richest silk and most splendid colours. Every thing he observed seemed as a perfect paradise to his view, and comparing in his mind these delightful allurements with his own humble condition," What a blessing," he exclaimed, "would the holy prophet confer on Abdullah by allowing his worshipper to participate in such bliss!-but I will no longer confine myself to an obscure and deserted spot, a prisoner from society. To this abode of insignificance and dreary sameness I will never return, but from henceforth I will enlarge my prospects and endeavour to become like those I now see; yet, alas! how shall I set about it? who will assist my views, or second the advancement of a stranger ?" Pursuing these ideas, he sat down in a fit of despair near the portal of a noble edifice, and forgetful of his now despised home, and the anxiety of Tehaza at his absence, he indulged in a strain of impious murmurs at the dispensations of Alla; at last he fell into a short slumber which presented nothing but objects of grandeur; gold, diamonds, cabinets of pearl and ivory, crowns, thrones, and sceptres, were all at his disposal; from this sweet illusion he awoke in a horrible fright upon receiving the news of a rebellion, headed by his grand shah or prime minister; and, upon looking round, he beheld the venerable figure of an old man clad in a mantle of pure white; his head was bare, excepting a few silver tresses which had yet escaped the hand of time; beckoning to Abdullah with his wand, he thus addressed him : 66 Abdullah, I have listened with anger at your discontented murmurs; your appointed lot, though humble, was blest with tranquillity and peace. You have hitherto enjoyed a station in which care has never disturbed your bliss, nor has your mind been tormented by the anxieties of a lofty rank; for know, my son, that a life of ambition is at best but a continual storm; as the loftiest vessels are driven about by the raging of the mighty ocean, so the heart of the ambitious man is distracted by conflicting passions; drifted along by the torrents of discontent, he is perpetually tossed on the great ocean of life, and never anchored in the sweet haven of happiness; he is at length shipwrecked on the rocks of error-the lofty cedar is exposed to the howling tempest, while the lowly bramble escapes the fury of raging winds. Go then, my son, and be grateful for the gifts of Alla, return in peace to the partner of your bosom, nor madly attempt the dangerous and intricate path of ambition-fly, oh! fly the insidious snare while you have the power, take not one footstep in the path for you can never afterwards recede." Abdullah listened to the counsels of wisdom, and falling prostrate to the god gild the east, he paid his morning orisons. of day, whose beams had just began to Forthwith he departed to his cot of content, where, happy in the arms of his Tehaza, he enjoyed a period of thrice fifteen suns, crowned with health and blissful repose-nor once desired to encounter the heart-gnawing anxiety of ambition JACOBUS. Erratum. Mirror, No. 232, page eleven, column first, line 23rd.-for tro, read woe. INTERMENTS. (For the Mirror.) THE bodies of the dead have been disposed of in various manners, by different nations, and in different ages of the world. Agreeably to the old Roman law of the twelve tables, the places of inhumation of the ancients were universally excluded from the precincts of their cities. In England, church-yards for burial, are not of earlier date than the year 750, and the moderns would have done well if they had followed the custom of the ancients, in burying not within the city, but without its walls. In other respects, the discernment of modern and enlightened Christianity has happily abolished the frequent representations of mortality in all its shapes, and the silly ornaments of death's head and marrowbones, adopted by former ages in the decorations of their sculptured monuments, and of their ecclesiastical buildings. These arose in the monkish days of bigotry and superstition; the deluded people, terrified into a belief that the fear of death was acceptable to the great author of their existence; contemplating it amidst ideas the most horrid and disgusting; excited gloom and melancholy in their minds, and altogether losing sight of the consolatory doctrines of the gospel, which regard death in no terrific point of view whatever. Clemens is of opinion that the tombs of the Athenians were the origin of all their temples. He says the first place of worship in the Acropolis of Athens was the sepulchre of Cecrops; upon which spot the Parthenon was afterwards erected. The Athenians preserved his tomb in the Acropolis, and that of Ericthonius, with religious veneration. Hearses erected in the church were anciently common, and, according to Du Cange, the term signified a candlestick, furnished with different lights, and erected at the head of a cenotaph. We are told, that about the time of Edward III. began the use of hearses, composed entirely of wax lights, called castra doloris (keeps of grief.) Hearses over the grave for a continuance, and with lights, occur long before and after. As to movable hearses, they were of different forms, and not of so early an origin. So late as the time of Charles II., at the burial of a peer, the body was borne on men's shoulders from the hearse to the grave. The Egyptians thought the deprivation of funeral rites the greatest misfortune which could possibly attend them; and knowing how powerfully religious sentiments enforced social and moral virtues, applied that opinion to the support of order in the state, and made a law that every one should be judged immediately after his death. As soon as a person was dead his relations were obliged to acquaint the judges with it, who appointing 3 day for producing the body before their tribunal in public, then entered into a strict examination of his morals and actions; and if they were found particularly culpable and vicious, he was condemned to be unworthy of funeral rites; if nothing was laid to his charge, he was honoured with a tuneral oration, in which the person's virtues and merits were displayed to excite imitation; but not the least intimation of rank or dignity, all the Egyptians thinking themselves equally noble. It is a maxiin with the Chinese, that if young people are made spectators of the veneration that is paid to deceased relations, they will early learn submission and respect for the living; and they have accordingly established certain regulations for the conduct of the kindred on such occasions. The demonstrations of grief by no means cease with the expiration of the time of mourning; their tombs are visited every vernal season, the weeds that spring around them are carefully removed, and the same ceremonies repeated as were adopted at their decease. When death visits the throne, all public business is suspended for fifty days, a universal mourning being observed throughout the whole empire. The funeral procession of the Turks, bears relation to the quality or situation in life of the deceased; if he has been employed in any military service, banners, torn and tattered, are carried before the corpse by proper officers. Towards the head of the coffin an upright piece of wood is fixed, on. which the turban of the deceased is placed, sometimes the clothes and ornaments are laid upon the pall; and if he had any public employment, the ensigns of his office. The pall may be of any colour or materials that the friends of the deceased choose, but it is generally black, russet, or dark brown; the middle of which is pretended to contain a small part of the old covering of the mosque of Mecca, the sacred repository of the remains of their prophet Mahomet. The corpse is deposited in a reclining posture, and certain prayers are pronounced and passages from the Alcoran, expressive of a future state. The Turks usually set up a stone at each end of the grave, on which are inscribed texts of the Alcoran or some prayer; on that which is placed at the head a turban is generally carved in relief, which denotes the quality of the deceased, and in some measure corresponds with the inscription of coats of arms on the tombs or grave stones of this country. The ordinary grave-stones are held so sacred, that they are never removed on any account, but are preserved with infinitely more care than in most Christian countries. The superstitious honours observed by various nations in regard to the dead, are truly revolting; but there is nothing absurd of which a man may not be guilty, when he has resigned himself to the power of prejudice or of custom. When a sovereign of Japan dies, there are generally fifteen or twenty of his subjects, who, in order to evince their loyalty, rip up their bellies, and follow him into the other world. On such occasions, he who gives himself the deepest wound, acquires the highest glory. The funeral of a sovereign of Africa is attended with scenes of uncommon horror and inhumanity; several of his slaves, whom they have previously pampered with all the delicacies of the country, are despatched at the grave, as attendants to serve him in a future state. Other extraordinary proofs of barbarous superstition are recorded on the interment of the sovereign of Benin ; a deep hole being dug before the palace, the dimensions of which increase as the workmen descend, and the royal corpse exposed in the presence of an infinite concourse of people, who contend for the honour of being inhumed with him; such as are admitted to this distinguished privilege are let down with the deceased monarch, and the solemnity is concluded by placing a large stone at the mouth of the pit. The modern travels into various parts of Africa, serves to show us human nature still remaining, in a great measure, uncivilized and ferocious. The Persees, in the manner of other barbarous nations expose the bodies of the dead to be devoured by birds of prey. The Gentoos either bury their dead, or burn them with sweet-scented wood, and the latter method is more common and more honourable. A Siamese of high rank, is placed on the pile, which is set on fire by the king himself, but the poor are laid in the ground without burning; nor are those burnt whose deaths are untimely. At Tunis, persons of rank have their graves constantly kept white and clean, illustrating the expression of Christ, where he compares the hypocrites to whited sepulchres, which appear outwardly beautiful, but within are full of dead men's bones, and all uncleanness.* parliament on William and Mary, and on the heirs of Mary; in default of her issue on the princess Anne and her heirs, and in case of her default on William prince of Orange and his heirs.-William was grandson of Charles I. and Mary was daughter of James II., so that the lineal descent was preserved in all these limitations; however in the year preceding the death of king William, another act of settlement was passed fixing the succession, in default of issue from the abovementioned, on the princess Sophia of Hanover, grandaughter of James I. of England, and mother of George I. James I. was born of Mary queen of Scotland, only daughter of James V. of Scotland, who was grandson of Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII. (the descendants of Henry VII. in the male branch terminated in queen Elizabeth.) Henry's title was very doubtful and unsatisfactory to himself, therefore he prevailed upon the parliament to pass an act declaring that the inheritance of the crown should abide in him and his heirs for ever," however the lineal succession was preserved entire and undoubted in his heirs by his marriage with Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV. Edward IV. was son of Richard duke of York, who, although he never filled the throne himself, an act of parliament was passed declaring his title indisputable; and although he consented that Henry VI. should enjoy the crown during his life, he was declared the lawful successor by act of parliament to the exclusion of Henry's heirs; this Richard duke of York was descended from Edward III. both by his father and mother. He was descended from Lionel, the third son of Edward III. on his mother's side, and from Edmund, duke of York, fifth son of Edward III. on his father's side; whereas Henry VI. was descended from John duke of Lancaster, the fourth son of Edward III. thus his title (as far as hereditary right goes) was certainly better founded than Henry's; however Henry V. the renowned hero of Agincourt, had procured the nation such glorious advantages, and was so beloved by the people that the house of Lancaster had held the crown for above fifty years on the authority of the parliament, who both before and since that time have altered and regulated the succession to the crown of England; in one year they declared this duke of York and his posterity incapable of inheriting the crown, and the very next year resolved that his title was indisputable, and that at Henry's death the crown should descend to him and his heirs! Edward III. was son of Edward |