French invasion of 1812; this noble-minded man adopted exactly the plan of Wellington, which, the French themselves being witnesses,* was the best possible plan for Russia, while it was the worst for them. Barclay's treatment, too, exactly corresponded to that received by Wellington. The ignorant but boisterous clamour of the empire constrained Alexander to displace him, and appoint Kutusof. He was not removed, however, till, by his plan of retreat, he had drawn Napoleon into the heart of Russia, and thus, in conjunction with other events, secured the destruction of the tyrant's forces. Mark the sequel: as the successor of Fabius, to please the Romans, fought the battle of Canna, by far the most disastrous in the annals of the Republic, the successor of Barclay, too, to please the Russians, fought the battle of Borodino, by far the most sanguinary and destructive in modern times. Steady adherence to the Fabian policy would have averted the dreadful calamities of both these battles. Nothing was gained, either at Cannæ or Borodino, to counterbalance the fearful loss.

I have now finished my case for the claims of the moral greatness of the Duke of Wellington. All history, civil or military, will be searched in vain for an example of moral greatness so splendid and so glorious. During the whole of this solitary and tremendous struggle, his moral powers vastly preponderated over his mere military genius, towering with an elevation which far transcended his achievements on the field at Waterloo. The coarse-minded masses, however, see no glory but in conflict and slaughter. They forget who hath said, "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty;

* Segur, vol. i. pp. 304-309.

and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.” The glory of Wellington lies not in the plurality, but in the paucity of his battles, and in the fact that he fought so that he never wantonly shed one drop of human blood! He did his utmost to accomplish his object at the smallest expense to humanity. This is his real, and it will be his lasting, honour; it is in this that he so much surpasses all conquerors of all times. One scarcely knows which more to admire, the prudence, or the humanity, of his defensive system. In his bold defiance of the clamour of unthinking multitudes, both in England and in the Peninsula, heedless alike of human life and probable consequences, there is a sublime courage-inconceivably more glorious than was ever displayed in the ordering of battle, and the slaughter of men. This, this was heroism! This, this was glory! Here it is that Wellington had fellowship with spirits of the loftiest order!

On the directly military part of his Grace's character, it is not to my taste, nor necessary to my purpose, to dwell. Suffice it to say, that the hour, and all the circumstances which the sagacity of the Duke had anticipated, at length arrived. Then began the fighting, when he showed mankind that he was not less mighty in assault than he had been in defence; that he could assail and pursue with resistless energy, as well as defend and retreat with consummate prudence. Having fairly commenced, he pressed forward, in the greatness of his might, like an impetuous torrent, bearing down whatever stood opposed to him, and halted not till he planted his foot in the capital of France! But on this part of the subject why should I linger? Can any thing be added to the declaration, or rather confession,

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of Napoleon himself, who said, Wellington is my equal as a general,-my superior in prudence."

The Duke of Wellington has been highly favoured. There is no case of a first-rate general surviving his wars half as long as his Grace has done. After completing his military enterprise, he has had nearly a generation to study the arts of peace and of civil government. He has, therefore, enjoyed the opportunity of adding the virtues and services of the loyal citizen to those of the faithful and able commander-a felicity peculiar to himself—but a felicity which has necessarily not been without its perils to his fame. His Grace has lived in troublous times, notwithstanding they have been times of peace; and, true to his manly character, in all civil, as well as in all military, conflicts, he has never shrunk from his share in battle and in responsibility. His reputation has, therefore, in all points, sustained a fiery ordeal. His friends, however, and they are millions,-have abundant reason to congratulate both themselves and him on the fact, that not one leaf of his laurels has faded, not a single ray of his lustre been obscured. This is certainly a circumstance and a satisfaction of no ordinary kind. His Grace's maintenance, and not merely his maintenance, but, upon the whole,' his improvement of his position, is the most convincing proof of the real greatness of his character. That character, at the distance of six and twenty years from his great and final victory, stands forth like the public statue which adjoins his mansion, in all the strength, grandeur, and majesty of its gigantic dimensions, unimpaired by the violence of the civil and political storms which, for so long a space, have raged around it. This fact demonstrates that the character of his Grace has in

it nothing factitious; that it is a piece of pure solid gold, and will live in his country's history so long as true greatness is appreciated among mankind. Notwithstanding differences from his political creed, notwithstanding some foolish sayings and doings, equally foolish, upright and candid men, of all parties, at home, and of all nations, abroad, are of one opinion relative to his lofty patriotism, to his political rectitude, and to his moral integrity.

The Duke of Wellington is incomparably the first historical personage now living. All reflecting, all virtuous men, his contemporaries, pronounce his name with feelings of respectful esteem, profound veneration, and admiring gratitude; and history will not reverse, but establish, the general decision already pronounced by mankind. She will make due allowance for his aristocratic origin, for his peculiar temperament, and for his military education, and consequent habits; and in these she will find an apology for the want of attributes which would have imparted something more of a civil air to his noble nature and exalted character. History will adjudge, that, not England alone, but Europe and the world, have been his Grace's debtors, and that he amply merited the wealth and honours which a grateful country awarded him. She will also notice with point and significance, that, as in the vegetable world, the bane and the antidote always appear in the same field, so the same year which, in wrath, ushered into our world a Buonaparte, in mercy, sent along with him a Wellington.

My Lord Duke, notwithstanding my admiration of your Grace's moral greatness, and also of your military genius, as far as it is possible for me to admire talent of that description, still I cannot look upon military enter

prise with any feelings other than those of abhorrence or sorrow, according as it is aggressive or defensive. If I may be allowed to speak comparatively, on such a subject, I think there have been but few wars in our world of a less exceptionable character than that which your Grace conducted on the Continent. Still this did not render the enterprise the less dreadful in many of its aspects, nor the less calamitous in many of its results. Your Grace's avowed and real object and motive were the overthrow of the tyrant of France, the oppressor of Europe; a cause in which, if in any cause it were lawful to bear arms, it was lawful and honourable to fight. I speak not, however, of that particular war, but of war generally of such wars as have hitherto, almost without exception, prevailed in our world. They are an unutterable evil, a criminal atrocity. This fact is certified to the world by your Grace's own hand, in your letter to General Cox, in which you state, that "war is a terrible evil, particularly to those who reside in those parts of the country which are the seat of the operations of hostile armies ;" and in your letter also to Baron Constant, in which you declare, that the "new French system of war is the greatest evil that ever fell on the civilized world." Your despatches often speak in strong terms of the violence and wrong perpetrated by the French soldiery. This fact is but too well attested by many nations. Even their own countryman, Chateaubriand, speaking of the Revolutionary army, truly declares that they "displayed a degree of energy which was completely without example, and an extent of crimes, which all those of history, put together, can scarcely equal.' But there was order and consistency * On Revolution, p. 46.