Book ,T?^ -A-e- 
 
PAPERS 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 IN REGARD TO 
 
 THE RIGHTS 
 
 3?J 
 
 C3f 
 
 
 THE ENJOYMENT OF THE TITLES, PRECEDENCE, ARMORIAL BEARINGS, 
 
 AND ALL OTHER RIGHTS WHICH BELONG TO A LEGITIMATE 
 
 SON OF A PRINCE OF HANOVER,— OF A SON BORN 
 
 IN AN EQUAL MARRIAGE. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED BY WILLIAM DAVY, GILBERT STREET, 
 GROSVENOR SQUARE. 
 
 1811. 
 
mA 5 ' 
 
 The following Papers and Correspondence 
 
 are to be considered as Manuscript : they are 
 
 only put into Type to render their perusal less 
 
 irksome by Those, to whom Copies may be 
 
 presented. 
 
 205449 
 '13 
 
—- *H©-3K-©*2*- 
 
 The few following pages cannot be dedicated 
 otherwise than to Your revered, and to Your 
 honored, Memory — my beloved Mother. 
 
 In them the Nobility of Your Birth is suffi- 
 ciently set forth to satisfy the most fastidious 
 that You were an Equal Consort for my 
 Royal Father : 
 
 — in them are recorded the repeated Solemni- 
 ties at the Altar of the Supreme Creator, 
 which made You a Wife and a Mother : 
 — in them are set forth, that from Your Royal 
 Husband, for many years, You received that 
 Title which belonged to his Equal Wife ; — 
 that Title, the noblest and the brightest orna- 
 ments of which were to be found in Your 
 humble and unwavering Devotion in the Ser- 
 vice of the Great-Supreme, — in Your Filial 
 Piety towards both of Your own Parents, — 
 in Your Parental Affection towards my Sister 
 and myself, — and in Your exuberant Charity 
 towards Your Fellow-Creatures. 
 
11 
 
 With what pride, and with what exultation, 
 does Your Son bear his incontestable evidence 
 of the many Virtues of such a Mother. 
 
 To Your Memory, my Mother, I dedicate 
 these pages, for another reason : — there is that 
 within me which tells me, were You now 
 living, their contents would draw down upon 
 them Your approbation, — would prove to You 
 that, during past years, I have not left undone 
 that which was due to You, and was due to 
 Your Daughter, and to myself. In the fol- 
 lowing pages You would find that I have 
 used the Documents, which, by Your loss, 
 became mine, as You would have had me to 
 use them : they were submitted for considera- 
 tion to the Experienced and to the Learned 
 (for to Kluber do both those epithets pre-emi- 
 nently apply) ; and the Opinions which were 
 returned having been free from doubt, I 
 appealed to my Sovereign's Justice for His 
 Acknowledgment of my Rights ; — Rights, 
 the full enjoyment of which by Law and in 
 Equity should be mine, as the consequence of 
 Your Noble Birth, and of those Righteous, 
 and of those well-judged Measures, which You 
 took, conjointly with my Father, to ensure 
 my religious and my lawful Birth. 
 
 Under the heart-felt security, were You 
 living, that what appears in the following 
 
Ill 
 
 pages would meet with Your approval, I 
 dedicate them to Your Memory ; and with 
 reverence sign myself, 
 
 Your affectionate Son Augustus* 
 
 TWO ILLUSTRATIONS OF CHARACTER. 
 
 In the foregoing humble tribute to the Memory of a 
 justly revered Mother, allusions have been made to her 
 exemplary Filial Piety, and to the generous benevolence 
 of her noble nature : subjoined will be found instances 
 of the one and of the other, the perusal of which will 
 kindle in the breast of every Reader, those feelings of 
 Admiration and of Respect which so eminently are due to 
 her many virtues. 
 
 The first that I shall give is in regard to her excellence 
 as a Daughter, and it is as follows : — 
 
 During the last illness of both Her Parents my Mother 
 was their constant Attendant : there was no service 
 whatsoever, which could fall to the office of any Menial, 
 which for Them She did not joyfully perform. Her 
 bodily exertions in moving Her Father, when confined to 
 to his bed of sickness, were the occasion of an injury to 
 her spine; which injury, in all probability, materially 
 hastened the moment which inflicted upon her Children 
 her irreparable loss. In return for the Filial Piety which 
 She had shewn towards both Her Parents, my Mother, 
 during her own long-continued sufferings, was rewarded 
 in the receipt of not inferior Services, which she expe- 
 rienced at the hands of her own dutiful and devoted 
 Daughter. 
 
IV 
 
 In the second little anecdote which has been promised, 
 it will be seen that compassionate and generous feelings 
 held possession of my Mother's heart, to the thorough 
 exclusion of that species of pride, which most people 
 would instantly admit that they possessed — and that, 
 without a fear of incurring a reproach. 
 
 Few would consign a piece of Plate, for a time, into 
 the hands of the Pawnbroker, for the purpose of extri- 
 cating a Fellow-creature from impending ruin : that my 
 Mother did not hesitate to do so will be seen by what 
 follows : — 
 
 Upon one occasion, a Person who had previously pos- 
 sessed herself of my Mother's favourable opinion, came 
 to her in an hour of the utmost need and besought her 
 for pecuniary assistance. It so happened, precisely at 
 that time, that my Mother had not the sum required, and 
 there existed reasons which rendered her insuperably 
 averse to applying to her Bankers for its loan : under 
 these circumstances, to relieve the individual in question 
 from being overwhelmed by her difficulties, my Mother's 
 generous heart suggested an expedient, and unhesitatingly 
 she delivered over to her a large piece of Plate, that 
 upon it might be raised the required amount. Again, I 
 say, there are but very few upon whom the sentiments 
 of compassion and of liberality would have operated to 
 the same extent : it is an action the remembrance of 
 which is ever fondly dwelt upon by her Son. 
 
INTRODUCTORY NARRATIVE. 
 
 It was upon the Fourth Day of March, 1830, 
 that by death I was bereaved of my revered 
 Mother. — I use the word, revered, although an 
 insufficient expression, yet as the one which 
 is best calculated to convey some idea of the 
 effects produced both in my heart and in my 
 judgment, by her religion, which was fervent 
 — by her devoted piety towards her Parents, 
 of which, to the same extent, there are but few 
 examples — by her affection towards her own 
 children, which knew no bounds — and by her 
 charity towards her fellow-creatures, which 
 was noble and magnificent. By her demise I 
 became possessed of her Papers : amongst 
 these I found Documents, the evident import- 
 ance of which fixed my attention upon the 
 Claims of my Sister and of myself, and impres- 
 sed upon me the necessity of deferring no longer 
 to institute diligent inquiries into our position, 
 and as to how it was affected by the Laws of 
 
 a 2 
 
4 INTRODUCTORY NARRATIVE. 
 
 Great Britain, of Ireland, and of Hanover. 
 For this purpose, a Case, founded upon the 
 Documents of which I had become possessed, 
 was prepared, and submitted for the consi- 
 deration of Dr. Stephen Lushington and Mr. 
 Griffith Richards. This Case had for its object 
 to ascertain the operation and limits of the 
 Royal Marriage Act, and whether it could 
 affect the Union of my Parents which was 
 solemnized at Rome. 
 
 The opinions and answers of those eminent 
 and learned gentlemen fully bore out the view 
 of my Case, as presented in the Publications 
 of Sir John Dillon, and removed from my 
 mind all anxieties as to whether the Roval 
 Marriage Act could invalidate the Union of 
 my Parents at Rome, or whether the sentence 
 of the Court of Arches, could bar my inheri- 
 tance from a Father who was not a parti/ to 
 the Suit. 
 
 At the time of the Marriage of my Parents 
 in 1793, Ireland had not been united with 
 Great Britain, but was a separate kingdom, 
 having its own Lords, its own Commons, and 
 its own Privy Council ; and it was not bound 
 by any of the Enactments of the British Legis- 
 lature. Under such circumstances it became 
 necessary that I should obtain the opinion of 
 the most learned and celebrated of its Lawyers, 
 
INTRODUCTORY NARRATIVE. 5 
 
 as to whether the Royal Marriage Act (a 
 purely British Statute) was operative in 
 Ireland ; and whether my Father, as an Irish 
 Prince, was not legally capable of contracting 
 Matrimony with my Mother, both in Rome 
 and in London. 
 
 The opinion of Daniel O'Connell (for whose 
 judgment upon those heads a Case was sub- 
 mitted), set forth in words the most plain and 
 unequivocal, fully satisfied my own mind as 
 to what is my rightful status and position in 
 that portion of the United Empire. 
 
 Having proceeded thus far in my investiga- 
 tions as to my position in Great Britain and in 
 Ireland, it yet remained for me to ascertain 
 what my station was, and what my rights 
 were, in regard to Hanover. 
 
 To this end I left England in June, 1833 ; 
 and in Germany readily obtained the requisite 
 information, as to the names of those Jurists, 
 whose reputations were of that high order, 
 that their opinions in regard to my Claims, by 
 the difierent Courts, and by the different Uni- 
 versities, would be considered conclusive. I 
 ascertained that it was to Kluber of Frank- 
 fort a.m., and to Zacharia of Heildelberg, that 
 I must address myself. Into their hands I 
 committed the following case, and received 
 from them the thereunto appended Opinions. 
 
6 
 
 CASE FOE HANOVER, 
 
 Duke Augustus Frederick* of Hanover — the 
 sixth Son of the Elector George — was born 
 on the 27th of January, 1773: he was educated 
 at Gotingen, and was brought up in the doc- 
 trines of the English Church. 
 
 Being upon his Travels, towards the close 
 of the year 1792, Duke Augustus at Rome 
 became acquainted with the Right Honorable 
 Lady Augusta Murray. 
 
 I shall here give a statement of the Family 
 of my honored Mother. 
 
 The Lady Augusta was the second Daughter 
 of John, Earl of Dunmore, of the Ducal House 
 of Atholl, whose Grandfather was (in male 
 descent) the Grandson of the Reigning Sove- 
 reign of the Island of Man ; consequently, 
 according to the customs of Germany, where 
 the younger Branch continues to enjoy the 
 same Titles as the elder Line, Lady Augusta 
 cannot be viewed otherwise than as in a station 
 
 * As the object of this case is only to remove all uncertainty as to 
 my Status IN HANOVER, when speaking of my illustrious Father 
 I give him that Title, which was his in 1794, as a Son of THE 
 ELECTOR OF HANOVER, according to Rethmeyer's Braunsch- 
 weigische und Luneburgische Cronici Tom. II. page 1337 — and also 
 according to Pfeffinger. 
 
CASE FOR HANOVER. 
 
 equivalent with that of A PRINCESS OF 
 THE EMPIRE. 
 
 The Lady Augusta derived her descent 
 three times from the very same com- 
 mon Ancestors with Duke Augustus, — 
 namely, from two Crowned Heads, and from 
 a Family now become kingly. 
 
 The common Ancestors to both were — 
 James the Second, King of Scotland — Henry 
 the Seventh, King of England — and Prince 
 William of Orange, the Ancestor of the pre- 
 sent King of Holland. (See Genealogical 
 Table.) 
 
 It is here to be observed, that in Scotland 
 and in England EARLS ARE PRINCES, 
 and are styled by the King, COUSINS— in 
 Latin Consanguinei. 
 
 Gwillim, in his Display of Heraldry, says Extract 
 (page 460) : " The Title of Earl is very anci- owfflta. 
 ent, the Dignity very Honorable ; their cal- 
 ling being, in sign of their greatness, adorned 
 with the lustre of a Coronet, and themselves 
 ennobled with the style of Princes." 
 
 If it were asked, why Earls are styled 
 Cousins by the Scottish and English Kings 
 (and surely there must have been some 
 weighty reason for it) ? my reply would be, 
 taking into consideration the marriages of 
 
CASE FOR HANOVER. 
 
 former kings, that it must have been given to 
 them to signify that it was contemplated that 
 ROYAL CONSORTS should be taken from 
 amongst their Daughters. Cousins are assur- 
 edly the most equal in birth, who by the 
 Divine Laws are permitted to intermarry. 
 
 I now proceed to narrate the consequence 
 of the acquaintance between Duke Augustus 
 and the Lady Augusta in the Words of the 
 Prince himself. 
 
 The extract is from Document E, being part 
 of a Letter from His Electoral Highness to the 
 celebrated Lawyer, the Honorable Thomas 
 Erskine, afterwards Lord High Chancellor of 
 Great Britain. 
 Extract " A detail of the circumstances which relate 
 Document to me and my Wife, will put you in a better 
 way of judging the affair. 
 
 " In the Month of December, being on my 
 Travels, I got acquainted at Rome with Lady 
 Dunmore and her two Daughters. * * * * The 
 well known accomplishments of my Wife 
 (then Lady Augusta Murray) caught my 
 peculiar attention. 
 
 " After four months' intimacy, by which I 
 got more particularly acquainted with all her 
 endearing qualities, I offered her my hand, 
 unknown to her family, being certain before- 
 hand of the objections Lady Dunmore would 
 
 E. 
 
CASE FOR HANOVER. 
 
 have made me, had she been informed of my 
 intentions. The CANDOUR AND GENE- 
 ROSITY MY WIFE, shewed on this occa- 
 sion, by REFUSING the proposal, and by 
 shewing me the personal disadvantages I 
 should draw on myself, instead of checking 
 my endeavours, served only to add new fuel 
 to a passion, which already no earthly power 
 could evermore have extinguished. 
 
 " At length, after having convinced Augusta 
 of the impossibility of my living without her, 
 I found an English Clergyman, and we were 
 privately married at Rome, in the month of 
 April, 1793, according to the rites of the Eng- 
 lish Church. 
 
 " After having lived with Augusta some Precaution 
 months, though privately, I was recalled to the 
 
 Legitimacy 
 
 England; when for fear of ANY DIFFI- ofi }\ s 
 
 to ' J J J Child. 
 
 CULTY being made as to THE LEGALITY 
 of my Child's birth, I caused myself to be 
 married a second time." 
 
 By the foregoing it is seen that Duke 
 Augustus and the Lady Augusta were married 
 TWICE; first at Rome, and secondly in Eng- 
 land. 
 
 It will be well to give here the copy of 
 Document A : it is the Espousals of the 
 Parents of Augustus of Este. 
 
Extract 
 from 
 
 10 CASE FOR HANOVER. 
 
 Document A. 
 
 As this Paper is to contain the mutual Pro- 
 Document m j se Q f Marriage between Augustus Frederick 
 and Augusta Murray, our mutual names must 
 be put here by us both, and kept in my pos- 
 session. 
 
 It is a Promise neither of us can break, and 
 is made before GOD OUR CREATOR AND 
 ALL-MERCIFUL FATHER. 
 
 Onmy knees before GOD OUR CREATOR 
 I Augustus Frederick promise thee Augusta 
 Murray, and swear upon the Bible, as I hope 
 for Salvation in the world to come, that I will 
 take thee Augusta Murray for my Wife — for 
 better, for worse — for richer, for poorer — in 
 sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, 
 till death us do part — to love but thee only, 
 and none other — and may God forget me, if I 
 ever forget Thee. 
 
 The Lord's name be praised ! — so bless me, 
 so bless us, O God! And with my hand- 
 writing do I Augustus Frederick this sign, 
 March 21st, 1793, at Rome, and put my Seal 
 to it and my name. 
 
 fe) 
 
 AUGUSTUS FREDERICK. 
 
 (Completed at Rome, April 4th, 1793.) 
 
 Observe — the above is in different coloured ink, 
 and written with a different pen from 
 
CASE FOR HANOVER. \\ 
 
 what precedes, or what follows ; it is an 
 evident insertion after the solemnization 
 of the Marriage. 
 
 Then follows the Lady Augusta's promise 
 to take the Duke Augustus for her Husband, 
 in exactly the same words as those used by the 
 Duke himself. 
 
 The attention of the learned Jurisconsult is 
 requested to the following circumstances : 
 1st. That the idea of the written promise 
 
 originated with the Duke. 
 2nd. That the words, "COMPLETED 
 AT ROME, APRIL 4th, 1793," ap- 
 pear, from having been written with a 
 different pen and with different ink, to 
 have been inserted by the Duke after 
 that Solemnity had taken place, which 
 had been vowed upon the Bible. 
 By the different Documents it is evident 
 that the first marriage was intended to be a 
 clandestine marriage. By a reference to 
 Document D we find the reasons for such a 
 wish, and they speak much in favour of both 
 the judgment and prudence of the illustrious 
 writer. 
 
 Extract. 
 
 " The secret of our marriage (that is to say, Extract 
 of your Daughter Augusta Murray with me) Document 
 
12 CASE FOR HANOVER. 
 
 I could have wished myself to conceal, TILL 
 WHEN THE MINDS OF MY ROYAL 
 PARENTS (as well as the Public) COULD 
 HAVE been prepared to it, for which I was 
 employing my utmost endeavours." 
 
 The cause of the second Marriage by Banns 
 in the great Church of St. George's, London, 
 must now be given : it is assigned in four 
 different documents, with an interval of seven 
 years between their dates. 
 Extract " The motive of my wishing to have it (the 
 
 from 
 
 Document marriage) performed again, proceeded from a 
 fear LEST THE LEGALITY OF OUR 
 CHILD'S BIRTH SHOULD BE DISPU- 
 TED, and which, for my part, I SHALL 
 NEVER HESITATE a moment OWN- 
 ING." 
 
 By a reference to Document E, we find : 
 
 Extract « I was recalled to England, when FOR 
 
 from ° 
 
 Document FEAR OF ANY DIFFICULTY being 
 made as to the LEGALITY OF MY 
 CHILD'S BIRTH, I caused myself to be 
 married a second time." 
 
 In Documents F and G — two Wills, one 
 
 executed in Berlin, September 15th, 1799, the 
 
 other in London, in December, 1800 — we find 
 
 the following words : 
 
 Extract " That for GREATER SECURITY, and 
 
 Documents NOT from an apprehension of the first being 
 
 L F & G. l - & 
 
Doc. E. 
 
 CASE FOR HANOVER. 13 
 
 insufficient, I again performed the ceremony 
 of Marriage with my said Wife," &c. 
 
 I will now request your attention to the 
 following reason, which is given by the Duke 
 himself, for writing the letter (Document E) 
 to the learned Avocate, the Honble. Thomas 
 Erskine : remark, the two marriages of the 
 Duke were in 1793, and this Document is 
 stated to have been despatched January 30th, 
 1798, THREE days after the birth day on 
 which his then Electoral Highness had com- 
 pleted his 25th year. 
 
 u The time being now come when by the E f r om Ct 
 Laws of my own country I am allowed to 
 stand forward and CLAIM MY WIFE, I 
 apply to your kindness, in order to see that 
 justice done me in the sight of the world," &c. 
 
 Thus we perceive that the Duke entertained 
 the disposition of mind, through a vigorous 
 prosecution of such claim, to repeat his asser- 
 tions of his Marriage both BY WORD AND 
 ACT. 
 
 The separation of the Parents of Augustus 
 of Este, during which Document E was writ- 
 ten, continued until the year 1799, when they 
 again came together at Berlin, and lived to- 
 gether as man and wife : the honored Mother 
 of Augustus of Este, received from visitors 
 and from all the members of the household, 
 
14 CASE FOR HANOVER. 
 
 the Title which was consequent upon her 
 being the acknowledged LEGAL AND 
 EQUAL Wife of the Electoral Duke. 
 
 Shortly after their meeting at Berlin they 
 removed to London, where they continued to 
 live together as man and wife until the end of 
 1800, when in consequence of Asthma the Duke 
 was obliged to go to Lisbon for milder air. 
 
 Whilst at Berlin his Electoral Highness 
 executed Document F — a Holograph Will 
 and Testament, which he revoked by Docu- 
 ment G, also a Holograph Will. They are 
 both nearly word for word the same, and 
 both contain the following passage : 
 E fJom t " Whatever unforseen events may yet fol- 
 
 Do^ument low> and m ^charge of that duty which I 
 feel incumbent on me, I think it requisite and 
 JUST for me to declare, in this MY LAST 
 
 andT// WILL, THAT I WAS SOLEMNLY and 
 DULY MARRIED to Lady Augusta Mur- 
 ray, second daughter of the Earl of Dunmore, 
 on the 4tk day of April, in the year of 
 our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and 
 Ninety-three, at the City of Rome, and in the 
 Inn commonly known by the name of Sami- 
 ento, where my aforesaid Wife then resided 
 with her Mother, Lady Dunmore, and her 
 Sister, Lady Virginia Murray. — And also that 
 for GREATER SECURITY, and NOT 
 
 Marrried. 
 
CASE FOR HANOVER. 
 
 15 
 
 from an apprehension of the first 
 
 being insufficient^ I again performed the 
 ceremony of Marriage with my: said Wife, 
 at the Parish Church of St. George, Hanover 
 Square, in the County of Middlesex, by 
 virtue of Bans published in the said 
 Church, on the Fifth day of December, in the 
 year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hun- 
 dred and Ninety-three." 
 
 We also find in the same Documents, F and 
 G, the following words : 
 
 " I consider and EVER shall acknowledge 
 our Son, Augustus Frederick, who was born 
 after both these marriages, as my True, Legi- 
 timate and Lawful Son," &c. &o. 
 
 In January, 1801, his Electoral Highness 
 addressed Document H to his Son, a letter, 
 from its piety and paternal solicitude, highly 
 to the honour of the illustrious Writer. The 
 said letter is thus addressed : 
 
 London 
 Marriage. 
 
 H. E. H.'s 
 Vow 
 
 ever to 
 acknowledge 
 
 his Son. 
 
 To my dearly beloved Son 
 PRINCE AUGUSTUS FREDERICK. 
 
 No. 40, Lower Grosvenor St. 
 
 Grosvenor Square, London. 
 
16 CASE FOR HANOVER. 
 
 Before concluding the present Case, Augus- 
 tus of Este begs to inform the learned Coun- 
 sellor, that not only was his late honored 
 Mother, until the year 1801, ALWAYS 
 called by the Titles which were hers as the 
 
 acknowledged legal Wife of his Royal 
 
 Father, but that he has also a great many 
 letters from the Duke Augustus to his honored 
 Mother, superscribed both in English and in 
 French : 
 
 A son Altesse Royale 
 la Princesse Augustus Frederick 
 
 And in English also, 
 
 To H. R. H. 
 
 the Princess Augustus Frederick. 
 
 The opinion of the learned Counsellor is 
 requested upon the following Questions : 
 
 1st. Taking^ into the consideration that the 
 Mother of Augustus of Este (who was the 
 Daughter of a Scottish Earl, which Dignita- 
 
CASE FOR HANOVER. \J 
 
 ries ARE PRINCES, and when formally 
 addressed by their Sovereign are called COU- 
 SINS ) was thrice descended from the 
 same common Ancestors as was her 
 
 Royal Husband, two of which were Kings; — 
 secondly, bearing in mind that she descended 
 in the male line from the ACTUALLY 
 REIGNING SOVEREIGN of the Island of 
 Man, a State COMPLETELY independent, 
 at the time when the Danmore Branch left its 
 elder line ; — taking these circumstances into 
 consideration, was not the birth of the Mother 
 of Augustus of Este such, as fully to ensure to 
 the Union between Her and the Duke Augus- 
 tus Frederick of Hanover, its being held an 
 EQUAL (standesmassig) MARRIAGE ? 
 
 2nd. In case that the Royal Father of 
 Augustus of Este should die, would the writ- 
 ten Contract of Marriage (Document A) in 
 conjunction with the other Documents, and 
 more especially together with the Parochial 
 Certificate of the Marriage solemnized in 
 London, be considered by the Law-Courts of 
 Hanover, a sufficient Proof of Marriage, to 
 secure to the Children of this Marriage their 
 right of succession ? 
 
 3rd. In case that the two preceding ques- 
 tions should be answered in the affirmative, is 
 
18 CASE FOR HANOVER. 
 
 there any Law whatsoever of force in the 
 
 Kingdom of Hanover y which could rob 
 
 Augustus of Este of those Rights, which are 
 consequent upon his being the Son of an 
 EQUAL MARRIAGE (standesmassiger 
 Ehe) ? 
 
 The following Paper may be considered as 
 a Postscript to the preceding Case ; it was 
 written by me some months later, and is an 
 invitation to use the Certificate of St. George's 
 Church, London. 
 
 INVITATION. 
 
 Should the learned Counsellor of State con- 
 sider it desirable to have yet further Proofs 
 of Marriage, beyond the Sponsalia, and the' 
 REITERATED accounts of the Roman Mar- 
 riage, given by my Royal Father, (reiterated 
 at different times within the space of SEVEN 
 YEARS,) I venture to suggest that the Cer- 
 tificate of the Marriage solemnized at St. 
 George's Church, London, may furnish the 
 additional proof required, for the following 
 reasons : 
 
 When the British Empire offered their 
 different Crowns to the Elector of Hanover, 
 they were accepted by him, HE RETAIN- 
 
CASE FOR HANOVER. 19 
 
 ING all the Privileges and Immunities of a 
 German Sovereign. These Privileges and 
 Immunities ARE possessed fully by his Des- 
 cendants. George the Third was King of 
 England ; but he did not forfeit thereby his 
 Right to be considered in London also as a 
 FOREIGN VISITING SOVEREIGN so- 
 journing in that Capital. 
 
 It is clearly laid down in the Laws of 
 Nations that the Privileges and Immunities of 
 Embassadors are fully participated in by their 
 Wives and Children. By so much the more 
 must the Wives and Children of those Sove- 
 reigns who send these Embassadors, be enti- 
 tled, when abroad, to equal advantages as are 
 enjoyed by the Wives and Children of Embas- 
 sadors. * 
 
 Further : Suppose a Son of the King of 
 Denmark (being a sojourner in London) to 
 have been enamoured of, and to have mar- 
 ried by Bans (proclaimed on three different 
 Sundays) the Daughter of a British Earl, — 
 would such marriage not have been good in 
 England? There CAN BE NO DOUBT 
 upon the subject. 
 
 To those acquainted with the Laws of Con- 
 tinental Europe, it is well known that the 
 same Personage may possess different Charac- 
 ters or Personalties in Law ; and that Acts 
 
 b 2 
 
20 CASE FOR HANOVER. 
 
 which may be unlawful to the said Personage 
 in one Character, may be perfectly lawful 
 
 to him in his other Character : thus, 
 supposing for one moment, that it was unlaw- 
 ful to my Royal Father, in his character as a 
 Prince of England, to contract matrimony in 
 London without observing certain legal forms ; 
 YET IN HIS CHARACTER OF A 
 HANOVERIAN PRINCE SOJOURNING 
 in the British Capital, IT WAS PER- 
 FECTLY LAWFUL for him to marry 
 WITHOUT observing such legal forms. 
 
 Mr. O'Connell is of opinion that as an 
 IRISH PRINCE, my Royal Father could, 
 legally, contract Marriage at Rome ; — AS 
 AN ELECTORAL PRINCE OF HANO- 
 VER, COULD HE NOT LEGALLY 
 CONTRACT MATRIMONY ifc LON- 
 DON? 
 
 From the arguments which have been 
 adduced, with deference I venture to sub- 
 mit, that the Parochial Certificate of the 
 Marriage solemnized in London would be 
 held a sufficient proof of Marriage by 
 the Law Courts of Hanover for all the pur- 
 poses of ensuring the Right of Succession to 
 my Sister and to myself, should it be consi- 
 dered desirable that Proof beyond the Es- 
 pousals (Document A) should be furnished. 
 
 
kluber's opinion. 21 
 
 The foregoing Case having been submitted 
 to the Counsellor of State, Kluber, received 
 from that celebrated Jurist the following 
 opinion. 
 
 THE OPINION 
 
 OF 
 
 JOHN LOUIS KLUBER, 
 
 COUNSELLOR OF STATE, 
 UPON THE RIGHTS AND CLAIMS 
 
 OF 
 
 " From the preceding disquisition concern- 
 ing rights in regard to the German Empire, 
 and in regard to Hanover, it results — 
 
 1st. That the marriage of his Royal High- 
 ness Duke Augustus Frederick of Sussex, at 
 the time of the said marriage an Electoral 
 Prince of Brunswick, therefore a member of 
 one of the Sovereign Houses of the Empire 
 (sonach aus einem Reichs-standischen Hause 
 entsprossenen Herrn), with the Lady Augusta 
 Murray, daughter of an Earl, and Peer of 
 Scotland, is a valid marriage, and not a 
 Misalliance, consequently, that it is fully 
 operative in law. Nay, more — that it is 
 an equal marriage ; and one which affects 
 both the contracting parties themselves, and 
 their children, with the legal consequences 
 resulting from marriage. 
 
22 kluber/s opinion. 
 
 2nd. That the children of this marriage* 
 namely, the son Augustus Frederick, and the 
 daughter Augusta, are not only the legitimate 
 children of the Duke (or children born in 
 wedlock), but that they are equal to their 
 
 FATHER IN BIRTH* and the SAME IN STATION 
 
 (ebenburtig oder standesgleich), and therefore, 
 that they are, to all intents and purposes, Mem- 
 bers of the Sovereign House of Bruns- 
 wick. That the said children, as members of 
 one of those reigning houses, which are part 
 and parcel of the Empire, belong, in the Em- 
 pire, to the high Nobility, and to the class of 
 Imperial Immediates (der Reichs-unmittelbaren 
 Erlauchten). Further, that the said children 
 (in consequence of their equality to their father 
 in birth, and of their being actual Members of 
 the united families of Brunswick) are entitled 
 in the united families of Brunswick, especially 
 in the Kingdom of Hanover, to the full en- 
 joyment of ail rights belonging to their class 
 of non-reigning Members of the House, to wit, 
 
 of the FAMILY NAME — TITLES ARMORIAL 
 
 bearings — and all other rights: further, that 
 they are entitled to succeed (successions fahig) 
 their father in his political, family, and private 
 rights, whenever the law of succession opens 
 to them/' 
 
zacharia's opinion. 23 
 
 The same Case, verbatim, having been sub- 
 mitted for the consideration of Dr. K. S. 
 Zacharia, of Heidelberg, received from that 
 eminent Privy Counsellor the following ans- 
 wers. 
 
 OPINION UPON THE CLAIMS OF AUGUSTUS OF ESTE, 
 THE LAWFUL SON OF HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE 
 DUKE OF SUSSEX, TO THE TITLE, THE DIGNITY, 
 AND THE RIGHTS OF A PRINCE OF THE HOUSE 
 OF HANOVER, BY DR. K. S. ZACHARIA, PRIVY 
 COUNSELLOR AND PUBLIC LECTURER IN THE 
 UNIVERSITY OF HEIDELBERG, KNIGHT OF THE 
 ZAHRINGER LION, &c. &c. &c. 
 
 " Final Results. — I now proceed to con- 
 dense the result of the preceding Treatise into 
 the following sentences, which contain my 
 opinion — an opinion which has been weighed 
 with great care — upon the five questions 
 submitted to me for answers. 
 
 No. 1. The case now under consideration 
 is not to be decided according to the laws of 
 Great Britain, especially not according to the 
 Royal Marriage Act, but must be judged 
 according to the laws in force in that German 
 Princely House, which is now the reigning 
 one of the Kingdom of Hanover : it is to be 
 judged by the special law of this House, and by 
 the general law in force in the Sovereign 
 Houses of Germany (dem gemeinen Deutschen 
 
24 zacharia's opinion. 
 
 Privat-Fursten-Rechte). For Prince Augustus 
 Frederick, Duke of Sussex, at the period of his 
 marriage with the Lady Augusta Murray, and 
 still is to be considered in law in two distinct 
 qualities or capacities, in that of a Prince of 
 the Royal House of Britain, and in that of a 
 Prince of the formerly Electoral, now Royal y 
 House of Hanover. But, in the present case, 
 he is considered exclusively in the latter 
 quality — that is, as a Prince of Hanover, and 
 his marriage must be decided upon solely and 
 alone by the laws in force in the Reigning 
 House of that Kingdom : were it otherwise, 
 the Kingdom of Hanover, a State completely 
 independent of Great Britain, would be thrown 
 under the supremacy of British laws. For the 
 same reason, the sentence concerning this mar- 
 riage, pronounced by the Ecclesiastical Court 
 in London, in consequence of the Royal Mar- 
 riage Act, cannot have the force of law in 
 Hanover, nor can it be applied to that House, 
 now the reigning one of that Kingdom. 
 
 No. 2. Prince Augustus Frederick has con- 
 tracted with the Lady Augusta a marriage 
 which, in regard to its outward forms, can be 
 proved to be valid — for the outward formalities 
 attending any legal act are to be decided 
 upon according to the laws of that place 
 where the said act has been completed, in 
 
zacharia's opinion. 25 
 
 accordance with the rule ( Locus regit actum ' 
 — so in the first place, the stability in law 
 (Recht-bestandigkeit) of the marriage which 
 took place in London on the 4th of December, 
 1793, is unquestionable, because it was attended 
 by all the formalities required by the laws of 
 England, and, for the fact of marriage, suffi- 
 cient evidence can be produced through the 
 parochial certificate, proof sufficient, according 
 to both German and English law. But, in 
 consequence of the peculiar quality of one of 
 the parties, the marriage in question is likewise 
 to be held valid, in regard to its outward forms, 
 from the written promise of marriage given by 
 Prince Augustus Frederick (bearing date the 
 21st of March, 1793), and followed by the 
 cohabitation of the Parties ; also, the said 
 marriage is to be held valid in regard to its 
 outward forms, from the Holy Rites which 
 were solemnized at Rome on the 4th of April, 
 1793 ; because, a Prince of any of the German 
 Protestant Princely Houses, according to the 
 German laws in force in the year 1793, was 
 entitled to marry by a contract alone, 'solo 
 consensu!" and this as well abroad as at 
 home. Evidence sufficient, at least according 
 to the German rule of Courts (Processrechte), 
 can be produced of each and of both these 
 facts. 
 
26 zacharia's opinion* 
 
 No. 3. That Augustus of Este was begotten 
 in wedlock can only be questionable in regard 
 to the solemnization of the marriage in Lon- 
 don on the 4th of December, 1793 ; but the 
 German law, in consonance with that of Eng- 
 land, declares that every child which is born 
 after the solemnities of matrimony is a legiti- 
 mate child of its Parents. 
 
 No. 4. According to the laws which must 
 be applied to this case, the validity of the 
 marriage depends neither upon the consent of 
 the parents of the Prince, nor upon his being of 
 age. The Royal Marriage Act cannot be viewed 
 in the character of a law of the House, or 
 family statute, and in such quality be brought 
 forward to oppose the validity of the marriage 
 now under consideration ; for the said Act, 
 by the formalities which it enjoins, and by the 
 tenour of its words, can only be applied to 
 the reigning family of Britain — it has never 
 been published by the King of Great Britain 
 in his character of Head of the Reigning 
 family of Hanover ; nor has it, through any 
 particular Declaration, been made of force in 
 regard to this House. Besides, according to 
 the German (' Privat-Fiirsten-Recht ' ), Prince 
 Augustus Frederick cannot be considered as a 
 minor at the time of his marriage ; and, accor- 
 ding to the same law, the Parents of the 
 
zacharia's opinion. 27 
 
 Prince were those alone who were competent 
 in any way to impugn a marriage which had 
 been contracted without their consent. 
 
 No. 5. According to the general law in 
 force in the Sovereign Houses of the German 
 Empire, such marriage is only a Misalliance 
 (missheirath) as has been contracted between 
 a German Prince (Furst), between the reign- 
 ing Lord, or a member of his family, and a 
 Consort who is not of the Nobility (mit einer 
 Biirgerlichen). But, on the other hand, ac- 
 cording to the said law and according to the 
 most modern practice, such marriage is an 
 equal marriage (eine ebenburtige Ehe), which 
 has been contracted between a German Prince 
 and a Lady who descends from old Nobility 
 (Nobilitatis Avitae), unless an express stipula- 
 tion to the contrary appears in the marriage 
 contract. Not only is there no departure 
 from this law by the especial ones for the 
 House of Hanover, but it is actually corrobo- 
 rated by the marriage of Duke George William 
 of Brunswick Zelle, the Father of the Consort 
 of George the First of Great Britain ; beyond 
 all this, the Mother of Augustus of Este was 
 of one of the most Illustrious Houses of the 
 High Scottish Nobility — indeed, in relation to 
 the Island of Man, she was of a Sovereign 
 House. The lineage of the Lady Augusta 
 
28 zacharia's opinion. 
 
 can in every respect be compared to those 
 mediatised families amongst the German Prin- 
 ces, to which the Federal Act explicitly 
 secures the right of equal birth (Ebenburtig- 
 keit). From these sentences it directly follows, 
 that not only the status of a legitimate son 
 of his parents — namely, of Prince Augustus 
 Frederick, Duke of Sussex, and of the Lady 
 Augusta Murray — belong to Augustus of 
 Este, but also that he is entitled to claim 
 
 THE TITLES, THE DIGNITIES, and the rights, 
 
 which belong to a Son, begotten in an equal 
 marriage of a Prince of that House which 
 reigns in the kingdom of Hanover. 
 
 Dr. K. S. Zacharia. 
 
 Heidelberg, 
 
 In the Month of December, 1833." 
 
 — -*£*&•£•©*&• — 
 
 In the possession of the Opinions of Men of 
 such eminence and of such celebrity, the path 
 which now I had to travel seemed clearly to 
 be marked out. 
 
 The moment had now arrived when it be- 
 hoved me, in all due form, personally to bring 
 my Claims, through the medium of their 
 Legislature, under the cognizance of the Peo- 
 ple of Hanover. As the first step towards 
 
 
PETITION TO THE CABINET. 29 
 
 this end, I addressed the following Petition, 
 founded upon the Opinions of Kluber and of 
 Zacharia, to the Viceroy (H. R. H, the Duke 
 of Cambridge) and to the Cabinet Ministe- 
 rium. — A Copy of Kluber accompanied the 
 Petition. 
 
 PETITION 
 
 TO 
 
 H. R H. THE VICEROY, AND CABINET MINISTERIUM, 
 
 OF 
 
 HANOVER. 
 
 August 23rd, 1834. 
 
 The undersigned Augustus Frederick of Este, 
 duly impressed with the consciousness of being 
 the Issue from the valid and equal ( Standes- 
 massig) Marriage of his Princely Father, his 
 Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex, with his 
 departed Mother, a daughter of the Earl of 
 Dunmore, a member of the formerly Sovereign 
 and Reigning House of Atholl, cannot doubt 
 that in consequence of such descent, he is born 
 to the full enjoyment of the Paternal Rights 
 in regard to the Royal House and to the 
 Kingdom of Hanover. In the early years of 
 his life, his Royal Father always addressed 
 him by the Title connected with such Claim, 
 
30 PETITION TO THE CABINET. 
 
 the bearing which Title was suspended only 
 out of delicate family considerations which no 
 longer exist. 
 
 The original family name of the Princely 
 House of Brunswick was given to him, and 
 has ever since been borne by him, without 
 either opposition on his part, or the renounce- 
 ment of his Rights. 
 
 The distinguished German Lawyers who 
 have been consulted by him concerning the 
 validity of his Claims, have unanimously de- 
 clared them to be well founded; and in the 
 enclosed second volume of Kliiber (just pub- 
 lished), that Counsellor of State gives an 
 historical and juridical Treatise, which em- 
 braces the subject in all its bearings. 
 
 The Undersigned feels it a duty, which is 
 due to the memory of his revered Mother, 
 and to himself, to use his exertions, so that 
 such Claims not only be generally known and 
 acknowledged, but that the distinctive Marks 
 connected with them be accorded to him ; 
 such as the Titles, Armorial Bearings, and 
 Precedence, — to be by him used on all occa- 
 sions, and to be as generally recognized. 
 
 To this intent the Undersigned, again 
 referring to the above-mentioned Treatise, 
 addresses to your Royal Highness and to your 
 Excellencies the humble prayer, that you will 
 
PETITION TO THE CHAMBERS. 3J 
 
 be pleased to use your influence with His Majesty 
 towards the attainment of the purpose which 
 has been pointed out. 
 
 The undersigned begs to add the assurances 
 of his profound respect and his distinguished 
 esteem, both towards your Royal Highness 
 and to your Excellencies. 
 
 (Signed) Augustus d'Este. 
 
 The next measure to which I felt it neces- 
 sary to have recourse, was to acquaint both 
 Chambers of the States, individually, with the 
 step already taken, and at the same time to 
 present to them Copies of those legal Autho- 
 rities which formed the main-spring of that 
 action. On the 25th of August, I delivered 
 in person to the Huissiers of the First and 
 Second Chambers the following note, enclo- 
 sing a Copy of my Petition, and presented with 
 it the published Volume of Kluber, which 
 contains his Treatise on my Claims. A few 
 days afterwards, I was enabled to forward 
 Zacharia's Opinion to the Minister ium, and to 
 each of the Chambers of the States. 
 
32 teommunication to the chambers. 
 
 LETTEE 
 
 TO 
 
 THE RIGHT HONORABLE THE FIRST AND SECOND 
 
 CHAMBERS OF THE STATES - GENERAL 
 
 OF THE KINGDOM OF 
 
 HANOVER. 
 
 Hanover, August 25th, 1834. 
 
 Animated with the conviction of the im- 
 portance of my Claims to the full enjoyment 
 of the Rights and Station of my Father, 
 particularly in regard to the Royal House, and 
 to the Kingdom of Hanover, I trust that they 
 will be both duly appreciated, and attended 
 to by the Members of the Hanoverian 
 States. 
 
 I feel it, therefore, incumbent upon me to 
 transmit to the (First and Second) Chamber 
 a Copy of a Petition in reference to my Claims, 
 which, on the 23rd Instant, I presented to his 
 Royal Highness the Viceroy and to the Cabi- 
 net; also a Copy of the Treatise mentioned 
 in the said Petition. 
 
 I beg to avail myself of the present opportu- 
 nity to add the assurance of my highest esteem 
 and consideration. 
 
 (Signed) Augustus d'Este. 
 
FIRST LETTER TO WILLIAM IV. 33 
 
 By my Petition to the Viceroy I had ap- 
 proached my Sovereign by the road which is 
 open to every subject who seeks his King ; 
 but as the Son of his Majesty's own Brother, 
 I felt that, in duty, it behoved me, and in my 
 own hand-writing, humbly to tender informa- 
 tion upon the measures which had been taken; 
 and further, my heart prompted me in the 
 same letter to my Royal Uncle, to implore 
 his justice and his grace. 
 
 On the 25th of August, 1834, I despatched 
 from Hanover the following letter. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 TO HIS MAJESTY KING WILLIAM IV. 
 
 Hanover, 
 
 August 2lst, 1834. 
 
 Sire, 
 
 If the Opinions of Dr. Lushington, 
 of Mr. Richards, and of Mr. O'Connell, on 
 my political status in Great Britain and Ire- 
 land, were of a nature to impress me with a 
 due Feeling of my Position in those portions 
 of your Majesty's dominions, may I hope. 
 Gracious Sire, that you will both understand 
 and appreciate the sentiment, which told me 
 that it was DUE TO THE MEMORY OF 
 
34 FIRST LETTER TO 
 
 MY REVERED MOTHER, to my Sister, 
 and to myself, to remove all doubts about my 
 Position in Germany; and to ascertain through 
 the Opinions of the most Learned, both in the 
 Law and in the History of that People, 
 whether I was not entitled to the exalted 
 privilege of being counted amongst the Mem- 
 bers of your Majesty's illustrious House. 
 
 To this end having diligently sought out 
 who would be held by all classes to be the 
 VERY HIGHEST Authority, I addressed 
 myself to the Counsellor of State, Kluber. 
 
 After a due pause, in which to be enabled 
 to determine the justice of my Claims, and to 
 weigh the legal Efficacy of my Documents, 
 this NOBLE-MINDED Jurist undertook my 
 Suit; and, impressed with the righteousness of 
 the cause, SPURNED ALL IDEA OF PRO- 
 FIT, and gave to me all the energies of his 
 understanding from his Love of Justice. 
 
 His considerations upon my Case in ALL 
 its bearings, form the greater portion of one 
 of the accompanying volumes, which from 
 feelings of profoundly respectful Duty and 
 of Openness, I humbly venture to lay at your 
 Royal feet, and of its contents to implore an 
 impartial consideration. 
 
 Pre-eminent as Kluber stands, in a case of 
 such importance I felt it might not be suffi- 
 
WILLIAM IV 35 
 
 cient to rest satisfied with the opinion of one 
 individual, and my inquiries were directed 
 further. 
 
 Permit me, Sire, to lay at your Royal feet 
 also, the Opinion of the Privy Counsellor 
 Zacharia. 
 
 Possessed of the opinions of the Just and of 
 the Learned, it then became a question, — the 
 manner in which it might be most agreeable 
 to you, Sire, that the Petition founded upon 
 their Decision should be conveyed to your 
 Most Gracious Majesty. This day through 
 the channel of your Majesty's Viceroy and 
 Ministerium, I have ventured to address my 
 humble prayer that to your Majesty's spon- 
 taneous justice I may owe, henceforth, the 
 enjoyment of that Rank, and of those Privi- 
 leges, to which it has pleased Providence that 
 I should be born. 
 
 Beseeching your Majesty to call to mind 
 that, in the Heirs which have been given 
 already (besides those which it may still please 
 Providence to bestow), the Line of Succession 
 seems to have been so marked out, that no 
 junior Member of your Majesty's House loses 
 one tittle of present and of positive advantage 
 by my acknowledgment ; and venturing to 
 appeal to you, Sire, as my Father's Royal 
 Brother, by the title of Uncle, which (though 
 
 c2 
 
36 SECOND LETTER TO 
 
 many years ago) in gracious condescension 
 your Majesty was once pleased to use to my 
 great honor, I venture to commend myself to 
 YOUR JUSTICE, and to subscribe myself, 
 with sentiments of profound loyalty, 
 
 Your Majesty's most dutiful 
 and devoted subject, 
 
 (signed) Augustus d 'Este. 
 
 On the 1st of September I despatched my 
 second letter to the King : its occasion will be 
 found by its contents. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 TO HIS MAJESTY KING WILLIAM IV. 
 
 Hanover, 
 August 31^, 1834. 
 Sjre, 
 
 Your Majesty will, I hope, be gra- 
 ciously pleased to pardon the enclosed not 
 having formed a part of the last enclosures : it 
 was not waited for that a Post might not be 
 lost. 
 
 (A) Is the Result at which the Counsellor of 
 State, Kluber, arrives, after investigating 
 the subject in ALL its bearings. 
 
WILLIAM IV. 37 
 
 (B) Is the Opinion of the Privy Counsellor, 
 Zacharia, upon the Question of my 
 Rights only in regard to Germany and 
 to Hanover. 
 
 (C) Is the Petition which has been addressed 
 to the Viceroy and Cabinet. 
 
 (D) Is the Formal Notification of the same 
 to the Chambers. 
 
 (E) Is a paper to which I could wish par- 
 ticularly to draw your Most Gracious 
 Majesty's attention : it is a Note con- 
 cerning the King of Sardinia's recogni- 
 tion of a young Prince of Carignan as a 
 Prince of the Blood. 
 
 If the two cases be contrasted, mine and his, 
 I feel that I have every thing to hope from 
 the united sentiments of clemency and of 
 justice which, I am confident, even contend for 
 supremacy in your Majesty's gracious bosom. 
 When the two cases are put together, it will 
 be found that the Mother of the Sardinian 
 Prince was of the Mercantile Class, whilst 
 mine was of the second branch of one, which, 
 until within a few years, was a Sovereign 
 and a Reigning Family. 
 
 When again the Cases are viewed, it will be 
 seen, that the Prince of Carignan receives the 
 Grace of his Recognition from a Sovereign 
 from whom he is far removed in Blood, whilst 
 
38 SECOND LETTER TO WILLIAM IV. 
 
 I humbly kneel for a similar grace at the feet 
 of the Royal Brother of my Father. 
 
 Before I conclude, let me humbly implore 
 your Majesty to take into consideration- — 
 1st. That Kluber (as a Statesman and as 
 a Jurisconsult) has published to the 
 World his unbought Declaration of 
 my Rights. 
 2nd. That the grace for which I supplicate 
 occasions no injury to any Junior Mem- 
 ber of your Royal House. 
 3rd. Let me, Most Gracious Sire, humbly 
 conjure you to consider, that the grace 
 for which I supplicate has by another 
 Sovereign been just accorded. 
 Commending myself again to the grace and 
 justice of my Sovereign, with sentiments of 
 the most profound reverence, I have the 
 honor of subscribing myself, 
 
 Your Majesty's most humble 
 and devoted Subject, 
 
 (signed) Augustus d 'Esle. 
 
 Copies, with one exception, of all the enclo- 
 sures mentioned in the preceding letter having 
 already appeared in their proper order, I will 
 now give the excepted paper : it is a Histori- 
 
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE. 39 
 
 cal Narrative of the Recognition of the Prince 
 de Savoie-Carignan, by the King of Sardinia, 
 by a Royal Decree bearing date April 28th, 
 1834. 
 
 HISTORICAL NARRATIVE. 
 
 An Extract in regard to the Recognition of 
 the Son of the Chevalier de Savoie and of 
 the Demoiselle Quelen as a Prince of the 
 Bloody by the King of Sardinia, on the 
 28th of April, 1834. 
 
 It was about the year 1775, that the Prince 
 of Savoy-Carignan, accompanied by his Son, 
 the young Prince Eugene, came to Versailles 
 upon a visit to the King of France. Upon 
 this occasion, his Majesty was pleased to confer 
 upon the young Prince the Colonelcy of a 
 Regiment of Infantry ; who, to avoid all mis- 
 understanding in regard to precedence, which 
 might have arisen between himself and the 
 Dukes and Peers of France, assumed for the 
 time the Title and Name of the Comte de 
 Ville-franche. 
 
 In the year 1779, the young Comte de 
 Ville-franche married in the Town of St. 
 Malo a Demoiselle Magon, the daughter of a 
 Merchant. The Bishop of St. Malo solem- 
 nized the Ceremony by which they were 
 united. 
 
40 HISTORICAL NARRATIVE. 
 
 As soon as the news of this marriage reached 
 the Court of Sardinia, it formally claimed and 
 obtained possession of the person of the young 
 Prince Eugene — Comte de Ville-franche, and 
 during fifteen months kept him a prisoner. 
 At the end of that period, finding that the 
 privation of liberty had no effect upon the 
 NOBLE CONSTANCY of this Prince's cha- 
 racter, he was set at liberty, but under the 
 stipulation that his Son (for one already had 
 been born) should only receive and adopt the 
 Title and Name of the Chevalier de Savoie. 
 
 About the year 1786, the death of the Prince 
 Eugene — Comte de Ville-franche — took place. 
 In the year 1800, his Son, the Chevalier de 
 Savoie, brought an action against his Aunt, 
 the Princess of Savoy — Carignan, to compel 
 her to pay to him the Royal Portion, which 
 was his right through his Father — u De lui 
 payer la Legitime de son Pere." He gained 
 'his Suit ; the Tribunals deciding that his claim 
 was valid. 
 
 Some time after, this young man, the Che- 
 valier de Savoie, married a Demoiselle de 
 Quelen, a young lady of good family. Louis 
 XVIII. upon his restoration to the Throne, 
 acknowledged the Chevalier de Savoie as a 
 Prince of Savoy — Carignan, This Prince did 
 not long survive his recognition, for in the 
 
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE. 4\ 
 
 year 1829 he died, leaving behind him a Son 
 by his marriage with the Demoiselle Quelen : 
 and it is this Son, whom, by the Decree of 
 April 28th, 1834, the King of Sardinia has 
 recognized as a Prince of the Blood- 
 Royal. 
 
 The publication by himself of his Treatise 
 and Opinions on my Claims, in Kliiber's 
 widely circulated Legal Periodical, * had 
 brought me already under the consideration 
 of the legal profession in Germany, and the 
 columns of the daily Press begun to be occu- 
 pied by extracts from his Work : under such 
 circumstances, it became an obvious mark of 
 respect due by me to those Sovereigns who are 
 Members of the Federal League of Germany 
 — des Teutschen Bundes, (also, I felt I owed 
 it to myself,) not to permit their knowledge of 
 my Claims to be gleaned from Newspapers ; 
 but that, immediately, by myself their Majes- 
 ties should be put in possession of those legal 
 opinions, which had freed my position from 
 all doubt, and had widely promulgated the 
 Legality and the Righteousness of my Claims. 
 
 * Abhandlungen und Beobachtungen fur Geschicht-kunde, Staats 
 und Rechts-wissenschaften. Von J. L. Kliiber. II Band. Frank- 
 furt a.m. in der Andreuischcn, Buch-handlung. 1834. 
 
42 THIRD LETTER To 
 
 Accordingly the printed volumes of Kliiber 
 and of Zacharia, presented by written com- 
 munications, were respectfully transmitted by 
 me to the greater number of those Sovereigns, 
 who, had not its dissolution been effected by 
 Napoleon, would have constituted the Reign- 
 ing Members of the German Empire. 
 
 When I said that to the daily Press was 
 greatly to be attributed the measure to which 
 I had just resorted, it must not be inferred 
 that every other motive was wanting : by the 
 perusal of the following letter (Letter III.), 
 which I found myself called upon to write, 
 other and more cogent reasons will be found, 
 which had their influence in its adoption. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 TO HIS MAJESTY KING WILLIAM IV. 
 
 Pyrmont, 
 September 7th, 1834. 
 Sire, 
 
 Your Majesty's condescension will 
 
 pardon my venturing within so short a period 
 of time to lay a third letter at your feet ; but 
 trusting that no step of mine which Prudence 
 or Respect may counsel, can in any possibility 
 find an objection in your Majesty's Royal 
 breast, I feel it only humbly following the 
 
WILLIAM IV. 43 
 
 dictates of my Duty, to communicate what- 
 ever new combinations or the fresh aspect of 
 circumstances may have occasioned. 
 
 Having been impressed with the conviction 
 that my Claims were of a nature to create an 
 interest in the different Sovereigns of the Ger- 
 man Confederation, and certain (as has been 
 the case) that the Public Press would not 
 allow my Affairs to pass unnoticed, I felt that 
 it would be any thing but decorous — that it 
 would be disrespectful in me to allow such 
 High Personages to gain their knowledge of 
 the merits of my Case from the Newspapers. 
 
 I have, therefore, transmitted to the most 
 illustrious of those Royal Personages who send 
 their Ministers to Frankfort, Copies of the 
 Documents, and also the Volumes of Kliiber 
 and of Zacharia. 
 
 May I humbly hope that your Majesty will 
 not only understand, but will sanction my wish 
 that the Mighty Personages to whom I have 
 alluded, should clearly see the following 
 prominent features of my case : — - 
 
 1st. That the marriage of my Parents was 
 according to German views thrice reit- 
 erated. 
 
 2nd. That my revered Mother was one of a 
 Family which until lately was Sovereign 
 and Reigning. 
 
44 THIRD LETTER TO 
 
 3rd. That my Father until the period of 
 
 their unhappy separation addressed her 
 
 by his own Titles, whilst to me he 
 
 gave that of a Son not springing from a 
 
 Misalliance. 
 
 4th. That in two very solemn documents, 
 
 my Father had besought the two of his 
 
 Brothers who were nearest to the Throne, 
 
 to maintain and to support my Rights 
 
 as his lawful and legitimate Son. 
 
 5th. That two legal Authorities, with whose 
 
 fame they were so well acquainted, had 
 
 demonstrated the Rights to which, by 
 
 the will of Providence, I had been born. 
 
 To understand the steps which have been 
 
 taken, it seemed to me necessary that the 
 
 Mighty Personages whom I have mentioned 
 
 should clearly see the preceding points. 
 
 Before I conclude, let me throw myself at 
 your Majesty's feet, and implore your gracious 
 consideration of the light in which my Father 
 must appear to Hanover — to Germany — to the 
 present Generation — and to Posterity, should 
 the demonstrations of such Authorities as 
 Kluber and Zacharia be lost upon him. 
 
 Oh ! my Gracious Sovereign, if the absence 
 of health, or too great delicacy in family rela- 
 tions, should prevent his taking those steps 
 which FAITH and duty to his children, 
 
WILLIAM IV. 45 
 
 and FAITHFULNESS to HIS OWN ASSEVERATIONS, 
 
 demand — accord, nevertheless, the Grace of 
 Acknowledgment to his Children ; and with 
 glorious magnanimity let it be thought that 
 your Most Gracious Majesty has not been left 
 without receiving his prayers in their behalf. 
 
 In lively hopes that the bounty of your 
 Royal heart will end the painful anxieties 
 which for so many years I have experi- 
 enced, with feelings of devotion towards your 
 Royal Self, I have the honor to subscribe 
 myself, 
 
 Your Majesty's 
 
 most humble Subject, 
 
 (signed) Augustus d 'Este. 
 
 After an attentive consideration (if such be 
 granted) of the measures which have been 
 detailed, — of the written communications by 
 which they were accompanied, — and of my 
 private and energetic appeals to that Illustri- 
 ous Personage, upon whom, at that time, de- 
 pended the success of my exertions, — I indulge 
 in the hope that they will find approval in 
 the judgment of every just and unprejudiced 
 reader. 
 
46 NARRATIVE. 
 
 Important Documents having come righte- 
 ously into my possession by the decease of my 
 honored Mother, and those Documents having 
 an important influence upon her posthumous 
 fame, as well as upon the claims to legitimacy 
 of my Sister and of myself, surely it was no 
 less a duty which I owed to the revered 
 memory of my departed Parent, than it was 
 due to my Sister and to myself, to submit 
 them to be assayed by those, who, by every 
 one, would be considered to be the most com- 
 petent to decide upon their efficacy: this was 
 done ; and the Opinions — given after great 
 consideration — having been not only favoura- 
 ble to the greatest extent, but free from all 
 doubts, it would have been worse than igno- 
 ble in me had I hesitated to pursue the 
 straight-forward course of action, which, as 
 their consequence, I became bound to adopt ; 
 and I should have been as contemptible in my 
 own eyes as in those of every other reflecting 
 individual, had I vacillated in regard to imme- 
 diately laying those Opinions at the feet of 
 my Father's Brother, and to supplicating, as 
 their consequence, his recognition of my 
 Claims. I did both : and I grieve to say that 
 I find deep traced in the records of my 
 memory, that, to my letters — written, most 
 assuredly, under the influence of all the loy- 
 
REPLY OF THE CABINET. 47 
 
 alty which can be borne towards a monarch, 
 and of all those dutiful sentiments which were 
 due to His Majesty from one so nearly allied 
 to him by blood — no answer was vouchsafed. 
 
 If His Majesty vouchsafed no reply what- 
 soever, to the three private letters which have 
 been given., the Petition to the Viceroy and to 
 the Cabinet Council of Hanover received its 
 answer. Upon the 22nd of September, 1834, 
 whilst I was sojourning in Brunswick, the fol- 
 lowing Official Instrument came to hand. 
 
 REPLY OF THE HANOVERIAN CABINET 
 
 TO 
 
 MY PETITION. 
 
 Hanover, Sept 16th, 1834. 
 
 The Memorial of Lieut.-Colonel d'Este, re- 
 ceived by us on the 23rd of August of the 
 present year, has been by us (as in duty bound) 
 laid before His Majesty the King. 
 
 His Majesty has been pleased to command 
 us to communicate to Lieut.-Colonel d'Este, 
 that His Majesty cannot recognize as well- 
 founded the claims which have been raised by 
 the Lieut.-Colonel ; and, therefore, that Lieut.- 
 Colonel d'Este for the future SHALL RE- 
 FRAIN from taking ANY STEPS with the 
 
48 REPLY OF THE CABINET. 
 
 Authorities of this Kingdom, which steps have 
 for their object the establishment of such pre- 
 tensions. 
 
 The Cabinet Ministerium of His Majesty 
 the King of Great Britain and of 
 Hanover. 
 
 (signed) OMPTEDA. 
 
 Imperfectly could I describe the astonish- 
 ment occasioned to myself by the tenour of 
 the foregoing instrument. — To the reader I 
 will address the entreaty that upon the conclu- 
 ding portion of its second paragraph may be 
 bestowed undivided attention ; and then — for 
 the epithets which it merits — I leave them to 
 be affixed, without reserve, by the reader's 
 judgment, and by the reader's sense of justice. 
 
 The portion of the second paragraph to 
 which I refer is— "and, therefore, that Augus- 
 tus d'Este for the future shall refrain from 
 taking ANY steps with the Authorities of 
 this Kingdom, which steps have for their ob- 
 ject the establishment of such pretensions." 
 
 If, as the person cruelly aggrieved, I abstain 
 myself from prefixing any epithets to an act, 
 of which, it will appear to all, I have such 
 reason to complain; still, surely, it will be well 
 
CONCLUSION. 49 
 
 to direct the attention of those who may 
 favour me by the perusal of these pages, to 
 the character of the Instrument, and to some 
 of the most obvious of its consequences. In 
 the words which have been quoted the as- 
 tounding Fiat had gone forth — and the sacred 
 approaches towards Justice, which, surely, 
 should be accessible to ALL, through the 
 Hanoverian Ministerium had become for me 
 prohibited paths — were made for me forbidden 
 ground : however I might be indebted to legal 
 research for additional demonstrations of the 
 validity of my claims ; and however my Coun- 
 sellors — men of the greatest legal knowledge — 
 might impress upon me the necessity of continu- 
 ing my Proceedings ; — nevertheless, from the 
 Cabinet of Hanover the Interdict had gone 
 forth, and I was forbidden to take one step 
 more, which might have for its object the 
 prospective recognition of my Claims:— Claims, 
 be it remembered, which, already, had been 
 proved both by Kluber and by Zacharia to 
 be incontrovertible, and BASED UPON 
 LAW. 
 
 Under such prohibition from all future 
 action, as regarded Hanover, during the life- 
 time of the then reigning Sovereign, various 
 were the measures which, during the long 
 
 D 
 
50 CONCLUSION. 
 
 and anxious hours of reflection, suggested 
 themselves as most befitting for adoption. 
 
 I will not affirm that it never crossed my 
 mind to change my scene of action back to 
 Britain ; and by published Narratives of the 
 Past, to arouse the generous sympathies of this 
 Land for one, who in vain had sought for 
 Justice where the ties of blood gave him so 
 strong a claim. — I will not deny that Petitions 
 both to the Lords and Commons, offered them- 
 selves to my consideration, as measures well- 
 calculated to obtain my Rights, so unrighteously 
 withheld. Such, under various modifications, 
 and other Projects, during times of reflection, 
 pressed themselves forward as not ill-suited 
 means to obtain my lawful ends. 
 
 At length, wearied with the consideration 
 of to what measure I should next have re- 
 course, my thoughts sought to find a tem- 
 porary repose in the hope of a more auspicious 
 Future. In a happy hour, the welcome ques- 
 tion suggested itself — If, from The Duke 
 of Kent, during early sorrow,* I have expe- 
 rienced kindness and commiseration, now 
 that my Father's Royal Brother is no more, 
 
 * Upon one occasion in early youth, when all ingress under the 
 Paternal roof, for a time, was denied to me, the Duke of Kent's doors 
 continued ever ready for my admission, 
 

 CONCLUSION. 51 
 
 why may I not look to the Accession to 
 the Throne of His Illustrious Daughter as 
 to the Day-spring of Justice and of Grace ? — 
 Suffice it to say, in such contemplation I found 
 a solace; — those measures, the adoption of 
 which was then under consideration, remained 
 untried ; — and my hopes for eventual Justice 
 and for Grace were fixed upon BRITAIN'S 
 FUTURE QUEEN. 
 
 London. September 26th, 184L 
 
 *@4K-©*2* 
 
INDEX 
 
 Page 
 Case for Hanover . . . . .6 
 
 Opinions on the foregoing Case by the Counsellor of 
 
 State, J. L. Kliiber . . . .21 
 
 Opinions upon the same Case by Dr. K. S. Zacharia, 
 
 of Heidelberg . . . . .23 
 
 Petition to the Viceroy and to the Cabinet Council of 
 
 Hanover . . . . .29 
 
 Letter to the First and to the Second Chamber of the 
 
 States-General of Hanover . . .32 
 
 Letter No. I. to His Majesty King William IV. . 33 
 Letter No. II. to His Majesty King William IV. . 36 
 The Recognition of the Son of the Chevalier de Savoie 
 
 by the Demoiselle Quelen, as a Prince of the 
 
 Blood . , . . . .39 
 
 Letter No. III. to His Majesty King William IV. . 42 
 Reply of the Cabinet of Hanover to my Petition to 
 
 the Viceroy and to Itself . . .47