He could wave his
flag and kill his deer; and if he had only possessed an
estate, he would have been as well off as if he had helped
conquer the realm with King William, or plundered the church
for King Harry. A revenue must however be found for the Duke
of Fitz-Aquitaine, and it was furnished without the
interference of Parliament, but with a financial dexterity
worthy of that assembly--to whom and not to our sovereigns we
are obliged for the public debt. The king granted the duke
and his heirs for ever, a pension on the post-office, a light
tax upon coals shipped to London, and a tithe of all the
shrimps caught on the southern coast. This last source of
revenue became in time, with the development of watering-
places, extremely prolific. And so, what with the foreign
courts and colonies for the younger sons, it was thus
contrived very respectably to maintain the hereditary dignity
of this great peer.
The present Duke of Fitz-Aquitaine had supported the Reform
Bill, but had been shocked by the Appropriation clause; very
much admired Lord Stanley, and was apt to observe, that if
that nobleman had been the leader of the conservative party,
he hardly knew what he might not have done himself.
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