ROYAL 
"be awakened by a sense of their danger, may 
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choose to confide in such expedients, and to 
suffer themselves to be Julled into security by 
florid declamations on the commerce and 
opulence of the country. Under these cir- 
eumstances, it will be Jost labour to reason 
and expostulate. But the period must come 
Arr. LIL. Royal Letters. 
LETTERS. 353 
when this delusion will vanish away, and we 
shall be convinced by dire experience, that 
neither the prosperity nor even the existence 
of a nation can ever be secure, unless firmly 
established on the foundations of peace and 
economy.” : 
Correspondence betaween his Majesty, the Prince of Wales, 
the Duke of York, and Mr. Addington, respecting the offer of Military Service made by 
his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales.’ 8vo. pp. 16. 
IN perusing these letters there are 
three subjects that naturally present 
themselves for investigation. The first 
is the general question, whether in a go- 
vernment, constituted like the British, 
it is adviseable that the heir apparent to 
the throne should be allowed to occupy 
ahigh military situation. The second 
relates to the particular subject of dis- 
cussion between the prince of Wales and 
the king ; and the third consideration is, 
how far it would conduce to the public 
good, if, in the present circumstances 
of the nation, the prince was appointed 
to a general command. 
The idleness and dissipation of princes 
is a favourite topic of ignorant decla- 
Mation: as if it were possible that a 
man, without professional employment, 
deprived, for the most part, of civil 
and political influence, and of the very 
highest rank, could avoid giving way, 
more or less, to that indolence and love 
of pleasure, from which nothing, but. 
the necessity of active exertion and ab- 
sence from the contagion of bad exam- 
ple, can secure even those who are the 
most carefully educated. The pursuits 
of literature, of natural and experi-. 
mental philosophy, are by no means 
suited to be the favourite and habitual 
Studies of a prince of Wales; they are 
neither connected with the art of govern- 
ing, nor do they encourage those habits 
of activity in the dispatch of business, 
or that prompt decision which are so 
‘peculiarly valuable in the character of a 
sovereign. The want of responsibility 
Wisqualifies the heir of the throne for 
the exercise of any ministerial office, 
not to mention other equally strong ob- 
jections: the only alternative left, there- 
€, is the army or the senate. It is 
it to be expected, and perhaps not to 
wished, that the direction of the 
Mle military force, or even a high in- 
dependent command, should be entrusted 
the sovereign to his future successor ; 
Nor is it likely that the prince should be 
Satisfied with one considerably inferior 
to what, by his birth, he might seem to 
Any. Rey. Vor. IT. 
be entitled; the business of an officer, 
also, during peace, is by no means suffi- 
cient to occupy the time duly and regu- 
larly ; and the habits and avocations of 
a camp are but little qualified to teach 
that respect for the laws and civil au- 
thority, which ought to be always cha- 
racteristic of aking of Britain. But.in 
the regular and active discharge of those 
duties which his situation as a peer of 
the realm appears to demand, a prince 
of Wales may be both fully, usefully, 
and honourably occupied. The study 
and practice of eloquence, the investi- 
gation of general principles of policy, 
and their application to real life, are 
pursuits not only highly respectable, 
but strictly professional in the man who 
is destined by birth to fill the highest 
office in the state. Being possessed of 
no immediate patronage, his opposition 
could not thwart any wise and patriotic 
design of ministers, but would be a most 
valuable check upon any unwise ‘or un- 
principled projects, ‘Vhe proceedings of 
the house of peers would be viewed. 
with more interest than at present, and 
their influence on the public mind would 
more nearly balance that of the house 
of commons. While the sovereign con- 
tinued vigorous, and his ministers able, 
the weight of the prince would be com- 
paratively small; as, on the other hand, 
iN contrary circumstances, it would, as 
it ought to do, increase; and its advance 
or retrogression being visible to the na-. 
tion, the improvement of the common-: 
wealth must be the aim, and the public: 
approbation the reward of both parties. ’ 
_it appears from these letters, that the 
prince of Wales solicited the king in 
1798 to be allowed to accompany the 
army on foreign service: this was re- 
fused, but a promise was made, that if 
any thing should happen at home, the 
prince * should be first and foremost.’ 
In consequence of this, his royal high- 
ness, upon the prospect of inyasion, ré4 
quested to be promoted in the army ; 
naturally supposing that the heir to the 
throne was notin a situation to be “ first 
Aa 
