sought for either reward or honours; no undue ambition was ever shown to have existed in his mind either by word or deed; his sole effort appears to have been, to do his duty to his king, his country and himself, and by every honourable means within his power to fulfil the great object of the dreadful war,-to restore peace to distracted countries, and hurl from his pinnacle of power the warrior who had converted Europe into a charnel-house, blasted her fairest fields with blood and ashes, and filled the homes of nations with tears and lamentation. Throughout his whole career no vaunting word escapes him-not one appeal is made to empty vanity or inflated glory; his soldiers are called on to do their duty, his highest praise is his assurance to his country that the expectation had been fulfilled, and that "every man had done his duty." His calm and chivalrous courage was never unnecessarily displayed; but in the hour of need, in conjunction with his consummate genius, it inspired every man with perfect confidence. This is the great outline incontestably proved by the volumes for which our country is indebted to Colonel Gurwood: the various details by which those results were attained and the indefatigable attention necessary to their completion, will be developed in our analysis of their contents. The Duke of Wellington's entrance into active service was inauspicious. It opened with the retreat of the British army through Holland in 1794. From the absence of superior officers, the command of the brigade to which his regiment, the 33rd, belonged, devolved upon him, at that time but twentyfive years old, and a lieutenant-colonel of only one year's standing. However unfortunate the result of that expedition, the incidents of it during the six months that he served with it, the glaring defects in the several departments of the army, and the want of professional talent in many of those in command, formed indelible lessons for his after guidance; for he learned more from the errors of his superiors than he could profit from the good examples before him; and the reflections consequent on all these led to the formation and discipline of that mind which was shortly afterwards destined to command armies, and to become a model in the civil as well as in the military administration of them. It appears that Sir James Craig, the Adjutant-General to the expedition, had noticed the superior intelligence and zeal of LieutenantColonel Wellesley, and on his return to England made a very favourable report of him to Mr. Pitt. In the autumn of 1795 he embarked for the West Indies in the fleet commanded by Admiral Christian, and after keeping the sea for six weeks during the tremendous gale, in which many of the vessels composing it perished, his ship fortunately returned to Portsmouth. The destination of the 33rd being changed we find him at Calcutta in 1797, and shortly afterwards proceeding to Manilla with an expedition which, on arriving at the rendezvous at Penang, was recalled, and he returned to Bengal. He then proceeded on a visit to his friend Lord Hobart, the Governor of Madras, where he remained about two months, which afforded him an opportunity of visiting the different establishments of that presidency. In August 1798, his regiment was removed from Bengal to Madras; and as senior officer he commanded the army assembled at Wallajahbad, and afterwards stationed at Vellore, until the arrival of the commander-in-chief, General Harris. In the Wellesley Dispatches there is a letter from General Harris to the governor-general, containing a flattering testimony of the state of the army, and of the admirable system adopted by Colonel Wellesley during his temporary command. (Vol. i. p. 425.) In the Mysore war which followed, Colonel Wellesley was appointed to command the Nizam's forces, to which the 33rd regiment was attached; and on the march of the army to Seringapatam he had an opportunity of distinguishing himself on the 27th March, 1799, at the affair of Mallavelly. On taking up the ground before Seringapatam there was an affair at the Sultaunpettah tope, the night attack on which by the 33rd, under Colonel Wellesley, was unsuccessful from the darkness of the night and other causes fully detailed; but the capture of that post was accomplished by an increased force under Colonel Wellesley by daylight on the following morning. The failure of the night attack is explained in some notes and extracts from the private diary of General Harris, but we think unnecessarily, as the affair was of no importance, and certainly neither the previous nor the sub sequent conduct of Colonel Wellesley could excite even a suspicion of want of judgement on that occasion, or warrant any attempt at exculpation from exaggerations of unfounded "camp gossip." دو Although the homely expression in the preceding paragraph shows the contempt in which the insinuation is held, and although several years had elapsed before it was known by his Grace to have been breathed, it is our duty to say that the idle and erroneous opinion still exists, for in the Revue des deux Mondes, 15th Septembre, 1839, p. 782, are these words : "Il était déjà lieutenant-colonel quand il entra au service de la Compagnie des Indes, et les protections de son frère, devenu gouverneur-général des Indes orientales, ayant valu au jeune Wellesley le commandement des troupes du Nizam, lors de l'attaque de Séringapatam il eut à lutter à la fois contre ses propres officiers et contre les troupes de Tippoo. Tout le monde sait que, dans sa première affaire, le jeune Wellesley ne se montra pas aussi épris du sifflement des balles, que le fut en pareil cas Charles XII.; et le général Harris, qui commandait en chef, ne pensait pas que le jeune officier qui revenait si agité dans le camp, serait un jour le héros de l'Angleterre." The writer of that paragraph exhibits, to speak in the mildest terms, a sad want of accuracy, as Lieut.-Colonel Wellesley had distinguished himself in Holland in 1794, and on the 27th of March, in the same year (1799) in which he is said to have been "dans sa première affaire," and not to be "aussi épris" at the whistling of the shot, he commanded in the left wing of general Harris's army at Mallavelly; and on an aide-du-camp informing him that the attack proposed by him was approved by general Harris, he "advanced en "échellons of battalions, supported by three regiments of "cavalry (under General Floyd), when a column of the 66 enemy, consisting of about 2000 infantry, moved forward " in excellent order towards the 33rd regiment, which corps "reserving its fire, with the utmost steadiness received that "of the enemy at a distance of about sixty yards, then quick"ening its advance the column gave way and was thrown into "disorder; General Floyd seizing the critical moment, charged "them with his cavalry and destroyed great numbers.” The Sultaunpettah tope or thicket was full of broken ground, where this "première affaire" took place, and it being a night attack, the troops, from the nature of the ground and the utter darkness, got into disorder and the attack failed; the next day it was repeated, and under Lieut.Colonel Wellesley's orders completely succeeded. So much for the idle tale and the accuracy of the Revue des deux Mondes and "sa première affaire." The first three volumes contain the details of the Duke's early military services in India, a period replete with interest, whether considered as a portion of the history of the conquest of that great dependency of the empire, or as developing his character. There are many chasms in the dates which may hereafter be filled up. As the present Marquess of Wellesley, his Grace's elder brother, was at that time Governor-General of India, the letters which passed between them, in addition to their public importance, are worthy of careful examination. They are, of course, of two kinds,-the one public, the other private. The former are specimens of that respect and precision which was due to a viceroy; the latter are open, manly and full of fraternal affection*. The nature of the correspondence between the two brothers may be exemplified by the following extract from a letter of the Governor-General proposing to unite him with Admiral Rainier, in an expedition against Batavia, which he declined. The extract also shows that George III. sometimes used his prerogative without consulting his ministers. "Calcutta, 13th May, 1800. "MY DEAR ARTHUR,-The object of this letter is to propose to you a situation, which I think it would be unjust not to submit to your option, although I entertain considerable doubts whether you will think it eligible It may not be out of place to introduce here some particulars of the childhood of the Duke of Wellington. The information is from a schoolfellow, whose accuracy may be relied on. When about ten years old, his Grace was under the tuition of the reverend William Gower at Chelsea. His health was indifferent, but improved as he grew up. Those occasional attacks of illness produced an indolent and careless manner, and often a great degree of heaviness. Unlike boys of his age, he was never seen to play, but generally came lagging out of the schoolroom into the play-ground; in the centre of it was a large walnut-tree, against which he used to lounge and lean, observing his schoolfellows, who were playing a variety of games around him. If any boy played unfairly the game he was engaged in, Arthur quickly gave intelligence to those engaged in the game; on the delinquent being turned out, it was generally wished that he should supply his place, but nothing could induce him to do so; and when beset by a party of five or six, he would fight with the utmost courage and determination until he freed himself from their grasp; he would then retire again to his tree, and look about him as quiet, dejected and observant as he had been before. with a view to your individual interests; and I am still more apprehensive of the difficulty of reconciling it with the exigencies of the public service in Mysore at this crisis. You will however exercise your own free judgment on the subject, and I have no doubt that you will decide in the manner most honourable to yourself, and most advantageous to the public. "I have received instructions directly from the king, addressed to me in my individual capacity, empowering me to take measures for the purpose of endeavouring to induce the settlement of Batavia to accept his majesty's protection on the same terms lately granted to the colony of Surinam, and some time past to those of Demerara and Berbice. "It is not the intention of ministers to attempt to reduce or to retain Batavia by force; indeed a sufficient force for that purpose could not be spared from India at the present moment. The plan is therefore to send to Batavia several ships of war, with a force sufficiently numerous to furnish an ostensible justification to the governor-general to surrender the colony into our hands. "The king has given me the power of selecting the persons who are to conduct the expedition, and I have thought it on every ground most expedient to place the principal conduct of the equipment and negotiation in the hand of Admiral Rainier. It will be necessary to join a military officer in the commission with him, and a conscientious sense of duty induces me to think that you are the most fit person to be selected for that service, provided you can be safely spared from Mysore for the period of the expedition, which I imagine may be four or five months, but probably cannot be longer," &c. &c. It will now be necessary for the sake of clearness to retrace our progress, and recommence with the proceedings at Seringapatam in May 1799. Col. Wellesley, at the storming of that fort, "remained in the advanced trenches in command of "the reserve, to support the troops in the assault, in case it "should be necessary." He "entered the fort immediately "after the assault; and was one of the few present when Tippoo "Sultaun's body, which was still warm, was discovered in the "sallyport gateway." On Major-General Baird desiring to be relieved, Colonel Wellesley, being next on the roster, was appointed to the command of the fort. His laconic and energetic measures are characteristic. The following letter is an example: "Half-past Twelve. "My dear Sir,-I wish you would send the provost here, and put him under my orders. Until some of the plunderers are hanged, it is vain to expect to stop the plunder. "I shall be obliged to you to send positive orders respecting the treasure.” "Lieut.-General Harris." |