§ MR. A. J. BALFOURI think the House will agree with me that we ought not to enter on business this afternoon without making some reference to the melancholy event that occurred this morning—the death of His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge. The Duke, of Cambridge was not merely a distinguished member of the Royal Family; he was not merely the oldest member of the Royal Family in this country, a con temporary of our late Queen; but he was a man who devoted by far the larger portion, I may say the whole portion, of his active life to the earnest service of this country. He served his country in the field, he served his country in the high office of Commander-in-Chief; and, though I suppose it would be too much to hope that at any time of our political history questions connected with the War Office should be outside the pale of controversy, there is one thing in which every man will agree—namely, that the Duke of Cambridge devoted to this great office his whole time, his whole energy, his whole strength, and that he was intimately and profoundly acquainted with every question that affected the British Army, and that throughout his whole career he possessed the confidence of both officers and men. I am sure the House will feel with me that a great figure has disappeared from among us, and that not merely of a member of the Royal Family, but of a zealous and devoted servant of the State, and that it would not be fitting that we should pass the melancholy occasion by with out some expression, even though that expression be informal in character, of our sorrow for the event and of our deep sympathy with the illustrious family of which he was a member.
§ SIR H. CAMPBELL-BANNERMANI am sure the right hon. Gentleman has taken a course which will meet the feeling of every Member of the House. I have nothing to add to what the First Lord of the Treasury has said of the Duke of Cambridge. It so happens that I perhaps have had a longer relationship with him in the administration of public affairs than almost any other Member of the 1417 House; and therefore I can bear testimony to the fact that the picture which the right hon. Gentleman has drawn has not been too highly coloured. The Duke of Cambridge was devoted, with an intensity of devotion beyond description, to the Army of which he was the Commander-in-Chief for many years. I may, perhaps, refer to the fact that it was while I was Secretary of State that he came to the conclusion that he ought to relinquish the high position he held. I can bear witness to the extreme reluctance and almost anguish which he felt in severing that connection, and, at the same time, to his loyal acceptance of the necessity of its being severed, as he felt advancing years telling upon him. I feel sure that during the few years that have passed since he retired from active life he has enjoyed the recollection of all the years of close association with the Army in which his life had been passed. Sir, the Duke of Cambridge was not only a conspicuous figure in the public life and society of this country, but he was the true friend of all his friends. He had a personal charm which drew to him every one with whom he came in contact, and both in that sense —in the sense of the personal feeling of affection which he created in all who knew him—and also as a notable and loyal, faithful and energetic public servant, he deserves, I think, all the eulogy which the right hon. Gentleman has passed upon him. I would associate myself, and those on this side of the House, with the expression which he has given to our regret and to our sympathy with the Royal house in the loss it has sustained.