by Lord Lansdowne, to allow himself to be put in nomination for the office. The request was as unexpected as it was gratifying, and while it was under consideration a letter from Dr. Blomfield to Mr. Anson conveyed the assurance, that "the Prince's acceptance of the office would be regarded by many leading members of the University, with whom he had conferred, as honourable and advantageous to the University." It also expressed his personal opinion, that not only the exalted rank of the Prince, but his Royal Highness's scientific and literary attainments, and the distinction of his own academical career, point him out as a peculiarly fit person for the highest honours our University has to bestow.

The same day, Mr. Anson replied to Dr. Whewell, that should a requisition be presented in such a manner as to convey to his Royal Highness a certainty that his election. would meet the unanimous desire of the University of Cambridge, his Royal Highness would feel much pleasure in consenting to be put in nomination.

He also wrote to the Bishop of London that the Prince had agreed to stand if a general manifestation in his favour was made.

No time was lost in obtaining signatures to an address by the Members of the Senate of the University, requesting the Prince to allow his name to be proposed for election, and in the meantime the strongest assurances were conveyed to him by the Vice-Chancellor, and others, of the widespread feeling in his favour. The address, signed by the majority of the most distinguished resident members of the Senate, was presented to the Prince at Buckingham Palace on the 18th.

Meanwhile a difficulty had arisen, which had not been foreseen, when the Prince was first appealed to. Another candidate had been started in the person of the late Lord Powis, and it was now known that his Lordship's supporters intended to press their candidate. It was impossible that the Prince could embark in a competition of this nature. His reply,

therefore, to the deputation who presented the address, after assuring them, that while the wish which it expressed could not be otherwise than highly gratifying to his feelings, conveyed a courteous intimation of his withdrawal from the

contest.

"Did it not appear," the Prince said, "from the proceedings entered into by others in the University, that there does not exist that degree of unanimity which alone would leave me at liberty to consent to be put in nomination, I should have felt both the greatest pleasure and pride in acceding to the desire

expressed in this address, and so personally connecting myself with your ancient and renowned seat of learning."

Here, in so far as the Prince was concerned, his candidature came to an end. But his supporters, among whom Trinity College was largely represented, were not in a temper to accept the triumph of a rival college (St. John's), by whom Lord Powis had been put into nomination. They accordingly determined to go to the poll, being persuaded, as the manifesto issued in their name by Dr. Whewell declares, that a large majority of the University agree with them in thinking his Royal Highness the most proper person to be the Chancellor of the University. They were fortified in this resolution by finding that many persons of the highest rank and authority, not resident in the University, have the same intention. The subsequent proceedings were conducted on both sides with the warmth and acerbity from which philosophic minds enjoy no exemption in contests of this kind-tantæne animis cælestibus ira? The fiery cross was sped across the kingdom, and from every side members of the University flocked to Cambridge in unprecedented numbers to record their votes. Of these no fewer than 1790 were given, of which 953 were for the Prince, and 837 for Lord Powis; the result being a majority of 116 in favour of the former. Of twenty-four Professors who voted, sixteen gave their votes for the Prince. So, too, did nineteen out of thirty senior wranglers, while of the resident members three to one voted for him.

In communicating the result of the election to Colonel Phipps, on the 27th February, Dr. Philpott, the ViceChancellor, wrote, "I trust I may be allowed in this informal way to express my earnest hope, that his Royal Highness will not decline to accept the mark of high respect and esteem which the University presents to him." The Prince, who had stood aloof from the struggle, was not without misgiving as to the propriety of his accepting the honour. The opinions of Lord Lansdowne, and others, were in favour of his doing so, and Sir Robert Peel, whom he consulted on the subject, supported the same view by the following reasons, which he transmitted to the Prince immediately on learning the result of the struggle.

REASONS FOR ACCEPTING THE OFFICE.

First. The election of the Prince has taken place under circumstances very unfavourable to success, and quite sufficient to account for the smallness of the majority. Secondly. The majority which voted for the Prince comprises a very large

proportion of the most eminent men in the University, and almost all the chief academical authorities. Thirdly. To decline the office would be to give a triumph to the partizans of Lord Powis, who would feel no gratitude for the concession, and would cause deep mortification and disappointment to all those who voted for the Prince, and of whom by far the greater number cannot be held responsible for the nomination of the Prince against his declared wishes. Fourthly. The refusal of the Prince will either lead to a renewed and bitter contest, ending probably in the election of Lord Powis, or to the choice of Lord Powis, and the triumph of one college over the others without contest. Fifthly. The acceptance of the office without reluctance or delay, has about it a character of firmness and decision, of supporting friends instead of giving a triumph to opponents. Sixthly. In the course of a few months the contest will be forgotten, and the Prince will have the good will of the whole University. The refusal to accept will conciliate no party, and will offend the strongest and the best party in the University.

As to the value of the reasons thus urged there may be considerable difference of opinion. The fourth is certainly of doubtful strength. However, they were deemed sufficient to induce the hesitating Prince to accept the distinguished honour of the Chancellorship.

CONCLUDING REMARKS.

We are now approaching the close of our subject, which has refreshed our memories of bygone times, and recalled to our view a panorama of stirring incidents, pregnant with eventful consequences to our nation. We have been privileged to gather materials from an ample field, and our only difficulty has consisted in the selection of details; and we have for the most part restricted ourselves to the Herberts of Montgomeryshire, who, like their kindred dignified by the titles of Pembroke and Carnarvon, have added fresh lustre to the honours which their ancestors have won. Among other important offices, they have discharged through fifteen several years the honourable functions of High Sheriff in our county.

The family, whose varied annals of weal and woe we have been recapitulating, has been characterised by sundry natural gifts and accomplishments. They have uniformly felt the responsibilities of property and influence, displayed dexterity and application in business, and steadiness in pursuit of their ends, and united much prudence with occasional daring, and a spirit of adventure. Many of its members, too, are descended from our local princes, and are consequently encircled with a halo of additional interest among a people keenly and justly alive to the associations of the past.

In a recent work, the authors of which are more remarkable for saying pungent things than for the accuracy of their judgment, the following passage occurs :

"It is useless to give any general character of the Herberts, for they have been rather a clan than a family, and have presented almost every variety of individual type. In most of them who have risen to personal greatness the trace of old Celtic blood may be perceived, the courage and the choler, the tendency towards luxury and the fondness for art, which mark that branch of the human family; but there have been men among them of a very much higher type. Though good soldiers, and gallant sailors, they have, on the whole, done less for England than most of her older houses; and their great position is due more to the singular hold they once possessed over the affections of Welshmen, and an hereditary keenness of intellect, than to their great achievements."

They have resembled the winding Severn, as it descends from their native hills, with a wider expanse of waters and a deeper bed, and they have been not unlike the oak of their own forests, displaying the ampler trunk and the broader shade through the quiet lapse of ages.

We are fully conscious, that we have lighted on a mine of precious ore, and have discerned the multiplicity and richness of its manifold veins. We have admired the bravery of Edward Herbert, who gathered laurels on the memorable field of St. Quintin, and of

1 "The Great Governing Families of England." By J. L. Sanford and M. Townsend, 1855. Vol. ii, p. 189.

the Earl of Torrington, who won his way to the highest post in the navy, and boldly contended against a superior force in the battle of Beachy Head.

We acknowledge the judicial capacity of Chief Justice Herbert, and the literary merit of Edward, first Lord Herbert of Chirbury, and of his brother, the Rev. George Herbert, rector of Bemerton, Wilts.

We are no strangers to the inward satisfaction with which the second Lord Herbert of Chirbury, and his uncle, Sir Henry of Ribbesford, paid the price of their loyalty in the heavy fines imposed on their estates by the victorious Parliament.

We have occasionally withdrawn the veil of retirement, and contemplated the privacy and sanctity of domestic life, and have listened with delight to the dulcet strains of a mighty master of the lyre, and studied the instructive pages of a standard Divine.

We have also marked several members of this race exhibiting their abilities and courage in the turmoil of civil strife, and in every political storm entering their perilous bark, and facing the angry elements with patriotic fortitude; and we have witnessed in such seasons of agitation as much devotedness to the altar, as to the throne.

We have paused to survey, with admiration,

Hands, that the rod of empire might have sway'd,
Or waked to ecstacy the living lyre."

And have often noted

"A daring pilot in extremity:

Pleased with the danger, when the waves went high,
He sought the storm."

In the merciless Wars of the Roses, and in the protracted conflict of Charles I with his Parliament, and in the days of the glorious Revolution, the Herberts have never shrunk from the conspicuous post of danger, or been sparing of their blood or property. They have been mindful of their stake in the state, and have vindicated the loftiness of their position. Public danger 2 Dryden.

1 Gray.