CHARITABLE ACTS ! 231 



of the 28th shows that even his grace's conscience 

 had pricked him for giving so small a sum, for one 

 of his great wealth, to so good and righteous a cause. 

 He therefore added another thousand to his former 

 benefaction — one he could have made ten, or twenty, 

 without depriving himself of the slightest luxury or 

 suffering the least inconvenience. The Duke, who 

 kept the largest balance at his bankers' of any of 

 his peers — a hundred thousand pounds — as well as 

 being, vulgarly speaking, ' consoUed up to the eyes,' 

 could have afforded to be magnanimous in those 

 times. Nevertheless, the journals of the day acted 

 upon the poet's hint — 



* Praise the proud peacock and he spreads his train,' 



in the hope, perhaps, of future favours from the little 

 millionaire of Piccadilly ; and resorted to comparison, 

 placing his grace's donation against that of a naval 

 officer : 



'The Duke of Queensberry has munificently sub- 

 scribed another £1000 to the Patriotic Fund at Lloyd's 

 towards the sufferers in the late glorious action — 

 Trafalgar ; while Admiral Peter Kainier, who has had 

 all the rich naval gleanings of the Indian seas for these 

 ten years, seems to have satisfied his professional 

 feelings by a benevolence of ten guineas.' This thin 



