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1910

PERSONAL REMINISCENCES
OF THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON

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PERSONAL REMINISCENCES OF
THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON
BY FRANCIS, THE FIRST EARL
OF ELLESMERE EDITED
WITH A MEMOIR OF LORD ELLESMERE
BY HIS DAUGHTER
ALICE, COUNTESS OF STRAFFORD

WITH PORTRAIT

LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET
1903

DEDICATED TO
MY SISTER-IN-LAW
MARY, COUNTESS OF ELLESMERE
AS THE ONLY SURVIVING MEMBER OF MY FAMILY WHO HAS
A PERFECT RECOLLECTION OF MY FATHER, AND WHO
CAN THEREFORE FULLY APPRECIATE THE
BEAUTY OF HIS CHARACTER

CONTENTS

A BRIEF MEMOIR OF MY FATHER
TAGE
The Duke of Bridgewater — Journey to Spain — Bayonne —
Madrid — Spanish Society — Dislike of the English —
Lord Fitzroy Somerset — Mission to Russia— Copen
hagen — Anholt — Detained at Copenhagen — Stock
holm — The Swedish Royal Family — Countess
Montgomeri — The Swedish Army — St Petersburg
— Travelling in Russia — Mr Huskisson and
Reform— Lord Francis Resigns Office— Ireland —
Life at Worsley — Oxford Commemoration — The
Bridgewater Canal— Raised to the Peerage — The
Crimean War— Death of Lord Ellesmere . . 1-55
PROLOGUE  . . 56-58

REMINISCENCES OF THE DUKE OF
WELLINGTON
Wherstead — Woodford, Heaton, etc. — Death of Huskis
son — The Duke Unpopular — The Guildhall Affair —
Mr Huskisson — Mr Huskisson's Resignation —
Huskisson and Peel — The Duke and Huskisson —
Charles Grant — Roman Catholic Emancipation —
Irish Representative Peers — The Duke and Colonel
Galloway — The Duke's Unpopularity — The Duke
at Oxford — Oatlands— The Duke at Strathfieldsaye —
b

CONTENTS
The Duke as a Shot— Personal habits— The Duke's
love of Music— Mrs Stuart Mackenzie — Queen
Victoria at Worsley — The Quarterly Articles — The
Duke and Mr Alison— The Duke of Northumber
land—The Duke and George IV.— The Canningites-
Walmer— The Duke's Pictures— Portraits of the Duke
— Review of Clausewitz — Croker and Arbuthnot —
Afghanistan : the " Portfolio " —Queen Victoria at
Worsley— The Duke's diet— The Pavilion in 182 1—
The Duke's opinion of Cavalry — Opinions of
Generals — Opinion of Napoleon's Tactics — The
Hundred Days — Opinion of Charles I. and James
II. — Napoleon at Waterloo — The Duke and Bobus
Smith — Tickell's lines on Addison — Waterloo Remin
iscences — Quatre Bras — Toulouse — Lord Beresford —
Salamanca, Vimiera, etc. — Plot against Soult —
Waterloo Reminiscences — General Bourmont —
Bramshill — La Baume's History — Master-General of
Ordnance — The Duke and the Jews — French and
Dutch affairs — London Society — Sir Hudson Lowe —
Almack's : the French Play — Lord Londonderry's
Marriage — Gambling — " Standish's Ghost " — Cato
Street Conspiracy — George IV. — at Woodford —
Grouchy's Memoirs — Marmont and Salamanca —
Foy : Soult — Incidents in War — India — Walcheren —
Cato Street Conspiracy — Ireland — Protestants in
Ireland — Sir Stratford Canning — Insubordination
at Maynooth — Soult — Lord Althorp — The Duke on
his own Letters — Don Carlos — Talleyrand — Attempt
on the Duke's life — Change of Ministry — Passage
of the Douro — A Friendly Monk in Spain — Burgos —
Capture of Guns — Marmont's Salamanca Despatch —
Hunting with the Duke — Parquin— Sir De Lacy
Evans— Affairs in Spain— Sir A. Ferguson at
Burgos— Sir A. Ferguson at Verdun— Sir Adam
Ferguson's Stories— Frederick Cornewall — Edward
Fitzgerald— Jack Talbot— Personal Incidents— Our

CONTENTS xi
PACE
Losses in the Peninsula — The Duke in Holland — Dr
Warren — Opinions of Politics — Canada — Hanover —
European affairs — Peel and Ireland — Lord Grey —
Lord Melbourne — Afghanistan, Burmah, etc. — M.
Thibaudeau — Anecdotes — The Turkish Question —
War — Sea-coast Fortresses — Sir Harry Smith —
Soult — Ireland — China — India — The Church of
England — Algiers and Morocco — The Emperor
Nicholas — Sir Andrew Barnard — Salamanca — Civil
Staff Appointments — Hougoumont and La Haye
Sainte — Duel with Lord Winchelsea — Assaye —
Metternich — Muffling — Communications with
Blucher— Waterloo Reminiscences — The Duke and
Gneisenau — Miiffling's Memoirs . . . 59-190

MEMORANDUM ON WATERLOO
Waterloo Notes — Mr Alison's History — Alison and
Siborne — Disposition of the Allies — The Duke's move
ments — Captain Siborne's History — The Duke's
Memorandum on the Battle of Waterloo — Alison's
History — Notes on Waterloo — Clausewitz's History —
The Retreat from Moscow — Siborne's History . 191-240

LIFE OF THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON

A BRIEF MEMOIR OF MY FATHER
I have been asked to append a brief Memoir of
my father, the first Earl of Ellesmere, to the
" Reminiscences " which follow, as there are very
few left now who remember him.
Francis Sutherland Leveson Gower was born
on the first day of the nineteenth century, Janu
ary ist, 1800. His father was then Marquis of
Stafford, and his mother Elizabeth, Countess of
Sutherland in her own right, the descendant of
a long line of Earls of Sutherland, one of
whom married the second daughter of Robert
Bruce. My grandmother's history was rather a peculiar
one. When an infant of two years old, her father
and mother, the Earl and Countess of Sutherland,
died within a few days of each other at Bath of a
fever, and Lady Alva, mother of the Countess,
having heard of the illness, was on her way to
join them, when a few miles out of Edinburgh
she met the funeral cortege bringing their remains
A

2 A BRIEF MEMOIR OF MY FATHER
to be buried in Scotland. They are buried in
the precincts of Holyrood Palace. I believe
Lady Alva, a very charming old Scotch lady,
took charge of my grandmother, but a claimant
disputed her title to the succession, and it took
the Scottish Law Courts of that day nearly
sixteen years to settle the matter. Her title in
Gaelic is "The Chieftainess of the Clan Chat"
{Paniemorachat), not Chattan, which means "the
lesser or little Cat," and is an offshoot merely.
The following letter and statement are from
the pen of "the learned Dr Joass of Golspie,"
as described to me by the present Duke of
Sutherland, who adds that he is "a great
authority on these matters."
" When the Norsemen in the ninth century
settled in the North-Eastern corner of Scotland,
they found the country from Duncansby Head
to Ross, known as Cattuv from its occupants the
Catti or (Gaelic) Cattaich. The new settlers
named the northern corner Cattinez (the Ness or
promontory of Catland, while the central and
South Western parts they called Sudrlandt.
Within this latter territory, the natives under
their old chiefs, called (and still call) themselves
Cattaich, and their Chiefs then and now Morfhear
Chatt (Lord of the Catti or Cattaich), while
Caithness is called Galluv (the land of the
Strangers). "Among some of the far Northern Cattaichs,
who in course of time became partly incorporated
with the Norsemen, there arose one who was
known as Cat tan, the little Cat. He was a
zealous Missionary and unwearied traveller,

THE DUKE OF BRIDGEWATER 3
labouring chiefly along the Western Mainland
and among the Isles.
" A devotee of his, known as Gillichattan o'
Ghalluv (St Cattan's man from Caithness), seems
to have settled in Southern Inverness-shire, and
being of warlike mood, and valued therefor, he
attracted and kept in employment a fairly large
following. These included some known as the
Macintoshes, Macphersons, MacGillivrays, Mac-
Beans, Davidsons, etc., etc., but of course, no
Sutherlands. The mixed Clan came in time
to be called the Clan Chattan, after its first
leader, and the question of chieftainship has
long been in dispute between the two first of
the above named Septs, the Macintoshes and
the Macphersons."
My father was named Francis after his great-
uncle, the Duke of Bridgewater, from whom he
inherited the Bridgewater Estates and property
in Lancashire, and the far-famed Bridgewater
Canal, though he did not come into possession
of them until after his father's death, to whom
they were left for his life.
One of his earliest recollections was of a
journey from Trentham to Dunrobin with his
father, the Marquis of Stafford. He must then
have been about nine years old, and he used to
tell us how they travelled the whole distance
with their own four black horses. The journey
was tedious and occupied three weeks. My
father beguiled the time with The Lady of the
Lake, then just published. He already knew
the first two of Walter Scott's poems by heart.
He afterwards went to Eton, and to Christ

4 A BRIEF MEMOIR OF MY FATHER
Church, Oxford, and subsequently received a
Commission in the Life Guards, which however
he resigned in 1822 on his marriage with
Harriette Catherine, eldest daughter of Charles
Greville, and sister of the writer of the famous
diaries. Lord Francis Leveson Gower's political career
began in 1822 when he was returned for the
small borough of Bletchingley in Surrey.
In the same year he made his first public
appearance when at the state visit of George IV.
to Edinburgh he carried the sceptre before His
Majesty at Holyrood, as the representative of
his mother, who claimed the right as Countess of
Sutherland. My grandmother had raised a
regiment of the clansmen in honour of the
occasion. In 1822 the disorders in Spain led to European
intervention and to the summoning of a Congress
at Verona to consider the question. The French
claimed that any intervention in Spain must be
entrusted to them, as the intervention in Naples
had been entrusted to Austria. A French army
under the Due d'Angouleme was drawn up on
the Spanish frontier, and in January 1823 the
Duke of Wellington sent Lord Fitzroy Somerset
(afterwards Lord Raglan) on a special mission
to some of the leading Spanish politicians with
a view to inducing them to listen to reason
and take such measures as would avert a
French occupation. Lord Fitzroy spent two
months in Madrid, but his efforts were fruitless,
and the French army occupied the country till

JOURNEY TO SPAIN 5
1827. My father accompanied him on this
mission, and I give some extracts from the
letters he then wrote to his wife, as affording
an example of his brightness of style.
"Paris, 10th January 1823.
" We arrived here at four this morning, that is
to say, were six hours later than we had hoped.
The carriages were the principal cause, they
having been delayed so long at Calais. We
are lodged at Stewart's. I am just up, and
sit down to begin this letter before I go about
my numerous affairs. It froze most furiously
on the journey, but as we travelled in Lord F.'s
carriage, and were well defended, we did not
suffer, and my travelling has done me more
good than harm. ... I have begun ' Gil
Bias ' in Spanish, and read it very fluently.
We intend setting off this evening after dinner
to make as long a pull towards the frontiers as
we are able. We came here very slow, although
out of affection for Worcester we took his
favourite courier, Carlos Forte, who once be
longed to our late revered queen (Queen
Caroline), and who, out of regard for that
excellent woman, is supposed to have with a
dagger punched many deadly holes in the head
and ribs of Captain Brown at Milan. As to the
probable time of our journey, I can say nothing
at present. Remember nothing will make me
so happy as bales of letters at Madrid. I
suppose George Bentinck,1 deeply as he is now
implicated in the government of his country,
will indicate the means of sending them. From
1 Lord George Bentinck.

6 A BRIEF MEMOIR OF MY FATHER
what I hear, the only dangers of our journey
will be breaks-down, and an occasional overturn.
If you have any communication with Hobson
the coachmaker, let it consist principally of the
most violent abuse. I left my carriage with the
villain for the express purpose of repairing it,
and he has never looked at it. Do tell Charles 2
to have him waylaid in Long Acre or St Martin's
Lane or wherever he haunts, and left for dead.
I have walked round the Palais Royal, and
observe that there are exactly the same things
in the windows, and the same men in the same
clothes in the cafe's reading the same papers,
which proves that nothing has been bought or
sold in that time. I meant to call on Worcester
but have not had time. ... I shall tell you on
my return some stories of Paul Lieven, which
will not heighten your opinion of him, and which,
if I told them in some other quarters, would get
him horsewhipped or shot, unless the parties
interested should take the more peaceable and
legal method of prevailing on his lady mother
to whip and put him to bed. Do not mention
this, but if, as I believe, my accounts are correct,
the coal-hole is too good a residence for such a
little lump of affectation. . . . Yours, etc."

"Bordeaux, i^th January 1823.
" We arrived here this morning at one o'clock
after a rapid journey from Paris, having per
formed seventy-eight posts in about fifty-five
hours. The frost has been and continues to be
as severe as any I ever felt. The windows
were all along completely glacds, and as we run
1 His brother-in-law, Charles Greville.

BAYONNE 7
the risk ourselves of being so if we put them
down, the country through which we have
passed has preserved day and night the strictest
incognito. I have reason to believe that till this
morning we have lost little by this blind way of
travelling, except about Tours which we passed
in the middle of the night ; the glimpses which
we had of it as far as Poictiers, which is strikingly
situated, were hideous in the extreme. We had
a beautiful frosty day for our arrival here, and
Bordeaux with its new bridge seemed the finest
town almost I ever saw. Our accidents hitherto
have been confined to two or three tumbles of
horses, in one of which the carriage went over
the wheel-horses ; I believe the postilion's leg
was broken, but the horse got up better than
ever, and while we were lifting his master into
a diligence which opportunely arrived, in the
midst of his cries over his pauvre jambe he ex
claimed, ' Entendez done le coquin qui hennisse.'
All this was unpleasant enough in a dark night.
We start early to-morrow for Bayonne, at which
place we shall make our enquiries and arrange
ments for the rest of our journey. I have had
no time to walk about the town, being long
employed in purifying myself from the pollutions
of my journey. . . . We expect to get to
Bayonne in about thirty hours, and intend to
get to sleep on the frontier at St Jean de Luz
the day after to-morrow. . . . Yours, etc. . . F."

"Madrid, 2\st January 1823.
". . . We arrived here yesterday at midnight,
and I take the opportunity of an Englishman's
intended journey to-morrow to give you the

8 A BRIEF MEMOIR OF MY FATHER
earliest information in my power of our advent,
which at many moments of my journey I thought
rather doubtful. The frost and snow increased
every moment till the last two stages. There
is no obstacle, impediment, or misery which we
did not meet with on the road, as far as weather
has been concerned. The Russian Ambassador,
who for weighty political reasons has quitted
the country, met us on the way, and we were
stopped against our will and forced to go to bed
twice between Vittoria and Madrid for want of
horses or rather mules, for the Facciosos, i.e.
factions i.e. rebels, i.e. thieves, have taken every
horse on the road. The day before we reached
Vittoria some of the troops had been set upon
by the insurgents 3 leagues off, and very despite-
fully entreated, but Torrigos set out on a snowy
morning, and revenged himself very thoroughly
without loss, as out of fifteen hundred men only
three fired their muskets, after which ceremony
the whole ran away, which manoeuvre did not
prevent their being killed, taken, beat, and hung
in great numbers. At the passage of the Somo
Sierra, the postmaster refused to take us up on
a clear moonlight night. The weather got bad,
so we crossed in the morning in a bourasque.
The ascent was bad, the descent was fifty times
worse ; the snow balled in the hoofs, and the
wind drifted it into great heaps on the road, and
the wheel mules rolled about like ninepins, but
we got men to clear the road and arrived in
safety. I cannot describe the dismality of our
journey. From near Vittoria to Madrid the
country is quite bare of trees. But through the
whole chain of the Somo Sierra it has a character
of desolation which I cannot describe. It was
in scenery of this description that Philip II.

MADRID 9
chose deliberately to build the Escurial, and the
country looks as if he and the whole Inquisition
had breathed or spit upon it. Imagine after a
journey of this description arriving late at night
at the best hotel of a capital city, and finding it
ten million times worse than the worst posada
we had been condemned to on the road. The
stench of the house was the only article unfrozen
on the premises, and no fireplace. Thank
heaven, the bugs and the thieves were alike
congealed, for I have met with neither on our
journey. I write this from a comfortable lodging
to which we have transferred ourselves, and
after a good dinner at Sir W. a'Court's, which
was a consideration to two wretches who had
dined three days running in the carriage, and
upon biscuits and Perigord pye. . . . The state
of the country is interesting in the extreme, and
will, I think, fully make up for the want of
amusement of any other sort at Madrid. ... I
have seen of course nothing in the way of
business yet, so have no secrets to keep.
Nothing is known of what the French will do ;
they are fighting in the provinces like wild cats,
and it is all high fun. Burgos is a dreadful
town which stopped the English army and broke
my carriage, the streets having been built at a
period when wheel-barrows were the only con
veyances. ... If you want a description of
Spanish inns and peasants, which is all that I
have seen of Spain, I recommend you to
Doblados. I have found the former devoid of
the necessaries of life, and the latter abundantly
uncivil and disobliging. As to the appearance
of the country it has exactly answered the ideas
which I had in my mind before I saw it. I
suppose I must have drawn them from pictures

io A BRIEF MEMOIR OF MY FATHER
but the accuracy of my conception is so extra
ordinary that I am led to think that I was here
before I was born. . . . It is foolish to write
politicks, and they are the only subject which
remain to me." "Madrid, ¦zZth January 1823.
"... I wrote you a letter two days ago, which
I daresay will reach you after this, as it was to
go by the French Ambassador's Courier, who
has been delayed. I hope it may, as I then
wrote under the impression that the enemy
might shortly be in possession of Madrid. They
cleared the Capital yesterday from such an
apprehension by their retreat, not in consequence
of any action, as the troops here had been worsted
in all that had taken place, but probably owing
to the junction of Velasco and Abisbal, the
two constitutional Generals. The Gate of this
town which looks towards the scene of action
presented a very lively appearance the day
before yesterday. No one was allowed to pass
out, and as it is the Hyde Park corner of
Madrid, and near the promenade, the whole
male population was concentrated there, talking
at the top of their voices. Every now and
then, the Gates opened to admit wounded
fugitives, or messengers from the army. They
struggled in by twos and threes, with dirty
clothes and conscious faces, and their whole
appearance picturesque but discreditable. The
enemy is now en pleine retraite. I do not think
he ever meant to attack Madrid, as the popula
tion is constitutional, the Militia very strong,
and being excessively committed, would have
opposed too much resistance for any force which
he could bring up. ... It is impossible to

SPANISH SOCIETY n
conceive a residence so wretched as this Capital.
Placed in the centre of a country which since
the departure of the Moors has been relapsing
into a state of barbarism, it has now arrived
at a pitch of which an inhabitant of Otaheite
or New Guinea has no conception. Not a
shrub or a blade of grass to be found within
six days' journey, and devoid alike of luxuries
and simple pleasures. I should not think
existence worth having in such a place. The
upper classes are utterly and totally without
the resources resulting from education, and the
consequence is a state of society which beggars
description. In the best society here you find
a dozen people sitting round a table playing at
a sort of roulette for sixpences, saying, ' I lose
always, I win never,' and other such witty
apothegms. The peasantry are a magnificent
race in stature and bodily strength. This cir
cumstance, with their natural love for fighting,
robbing, kicking, thumping, stabbing, giving the
lie, and every kind of violence, makes them
utterly unmanageable and unguidable by any
form of government, and will keep them so to
the end of time. If the spirit of" the country
were in favour of this government, which I
doubt, the French might come here, and march
with great ease to Madrid, Seville, or any other
place they liked ; but unless they made haste,
I doubt if a drummer of them would get back,
and as it is, I think it will depend much on
their good behaviour. Come they assuredly
will. . ." "Madrid, ^th February 1823.
". . . . Fitzroy 's prospects of departure are still
uncertain, but a few days must throw some light

12 A BRIEF MEMOIR OF MY FATHER
on the subject ; and should there still be a
probability of his staying here a longer time
than he had expected, I shall avail myself of
the means which Canning proposed, and part
company, which, however, I am extremely un
willing to do, as long as any possibility remains
of our performing the journey together within
a reasonable time. Were I ever so unshackled,
the rains had been so heavy that it would be
difficult to travel for a few days. The weather
looks better to-day, but till this morning it has
rained torrents, to the destruction of shoe leather
and the salvation of life, for the people who
are fighting in the mountains cannot get at
one another for the mud. ... I have given
up all attempts to go into society. My last
act of folly was going to a masqued Ball, where
I was bullied and screamed at till two in the
morning without deigning to reply. As far as
I can learn, public opinion is divided about me ;
some people think I have water in my head, or
some other stupefying complaint, and others that
I am in love in England. . . . We all received a
tremendous invitation to dinner from the Due
de Frias for Sunday, which is the first symptom
of food which has yet shown itself. I saw some
very pretty Spanish costumes at the masqued
Ball, both male and female, and think of getting
one of the former to take to England. . . .
Madrid in all respects is inferior to any market
town in England, and in point of civilization
and comfort inferior to most villages in the
Highlands. All the accounts of officers who
have served here should be received with allow
ances for their situation. They were here as
friends. Nothing is so pleasant as to have a
nation at one's feet, and the Spaniards are the

DISLIKE OF THE ENGLISH 13
finest barbarians in the world. The virtues of
barbarians, their bravery, their hospitality, bon
homie, etc., tend peculiarly to the comfort and
convenience of visitors who come in the way
we did, and our officers are accordingly delighted ;
but it is plain to every impartial traveller, that
in everything which pertains to the comfort and
enjoyment of life, the Nation has not advanced
from the time of Philip II., and in power and
consideration it is fallen. The moment that a
Spaniard is in any way civilized he is lost for
ever. If a Guerilla is made a regular soldier
he runs away incontinently. If an Englishman
were to wander about in this wild country, I
am convinced he would find the full effects of
the gratitude which the nation ought to entertain
for us, but in Madrid one might imagine that
England had never been heard of. On the
contrary, everyone who is unfortunate enough to
have learnt to read and write joins in decrying
and abusing us. On the present occasion they
do nothing but quote the late war, and they
beat Buonaparte every morning from the Tagus
to the Pyrenees without ever alluding to our
assistance." "11th Feb.
" I went to the play last night for the first
time. It was very good fun. There was a
political singing farce, in which Louis XVIII. was
accused of having eaten six millions annually in
ham and potatoes. The actors are very jocular,
when they read a letter, marriage contract, or
any other document on the stage, they invariably
crumple it up and shy it in the prompter's eye,
which he returns, sometimes with the cigar which
he is smoking. Few actors appear without a
paper tied to their skirts, or turkey's feather

14 A BRIEF MEMOIR OF MY FATHER
stuck in their collar, or some such thing which
has been fastened to them behind the scenes.
... I sincerely hope that a week or ten days
at furthest will witness my departure from this
evil city. I see by the papers to-day that the
factions have retired further from Madrid before
Abisbal, which is pleasant for the shop-keepers.
The Carnival is just over, to the infinite annoy
ance of the young ladies who will have no balls
nor flesh for forty days. Lady a'Court gave a
bal costume" on Monday, which was as pretty as
possible, for the Spanish peasant dresses which
abounded are the best in the world for such
purposes. Two young ladies of very blemished
reputation came uninvited, as did a lady with
three daughters. I thought this very atrocious,
and made it known as generally as possible that
in England people were broken alive on the
wheel for such practices, and my exposition of
the common law was universally believed. —
Yours ever, F."
" Madrid, iqth February 1823.
" Woe is me. I am still obliged to write to
you in all the misery and disgust of uncertainty.
The first fact I shall mention is, that I have
made every arrangement to send off my carriage
and Roy by the messenger immediately. I have
long begun to find the want of you insupportable,
and I went into Lord Fitzroy's room yesterday
and explained to him that I thought of setting
off immediately, but he put the matter to me
in such a light as to convince me that he has
no expectation of remaining much longer, more
particularly as I know that his own wishes as to
departing are exactly the same as my own, and

LORD FITZROY SOMERSET 15
if he had thought it at all probable that we
should not set off together in a few days he
would not have pressed the matter. My liking
for him on acquaintance is so great that I could
not find in my heart to leave him to encounter
the journey with his one arm, more especially as
his strong wish that we should hold on together
is a proof that he has taken no decided aversion
to my society. If, however, he should still be
obliged to stay, my powers of bolting will be in
creased in an infinite ratio, by the circumstance
of my incumbrances being removed, as I can ride
at a moment's notice, and in that case the Lord
have mercy on the mules. Do not imagine I am
amusing myself here : I am thrown entirely on my
own resources, having played at e'cartti till I can
not bear the sight of a card, and I lie in bed all
day and read and write all night. I have to
warn you against believing one syllable of
Spanish news as brought through the papers.
All of it comes through France and the Courier
copies it. I have been reading six of that valu
able publication, and can aver from my own
knowledge that there are not six words of truth
in the whole, as far as Spain is concerned. The
opening of Parliament has set us all in fermenta
tion, and we none of us can guess what will
happen. In the meantime I have been buying
some works of art, which I hope and trust may in
time adorn your room. I received a letter from
you the other day which hoped it might find me
at Paris. Alas ! I wish it had. With such an
accumulation of reasons for wishing to set off I
hardly know anybody, except Lord Fitzroy, for
whom I would have delayed my departure five
seconds, but he has quite won my affections.
Among other daring lies, the Courier has the im-

16 A BRIEF MEMOIR OF MY FATHER
pudence to assert that his mission has failed,
almost before it can have known that it has begun.
All its accounts of the affairs here, of the King,
the Factions, etc., are as false as stock-jobbing
can make them. I had a fit of verse-grinding the
other day, and nearly finished Faust, but my wish
to get away has damped equally my powers of
sleeping myself, and putting others to sleep by
my compositions. I have no events to tell, unless
it interests you to hear that Sir William a'Court
has a swelled face, and that his Secretary's dog
has had a severe action with a cat, and was
obliged to retreat with the loss of his left eye,
which has thrown a damp on the spirits of the
embassy. "
" zoth. — I have been writing the whole day in
consequence of numerous events occurring since
I began my letter, which would have gone with
my carriage two hours ago, had not the courier
been delayed till to-morrow to carry the result
of matters, which are to be transacted to-morrow
morning, of no slight import. The consequence
of them to myself, I trust and expect, will be
departure sooner than I had dared to hope.
Within four-and-twenty hours the ministry have
been out and in ; the last measure was effected
by a mob which I attended. It was a despicable
assemblage in numbers and quality, but effected
its purposes of intimidation. These sort of things
make the place rather more amusing, and recon
cile me to my having waited a few days longer
than I wished. The sight of the Palace by
beautiful moonlight with the rabble, soldiers,
etc., was the most picturesque spectacle I ever
saw. It was not in the least a movement of
the people, but a few hired ruffians and a good
many spectators, but for the effect of light and

MISSION TO RUSSIA 17
shade, as good as if their motives had been more
pure and their blackguardism less atrocious.
I am exhausted with writing. I hope we
shall soon be in our carriage, with some assur
ance of having succeeded in our very laudable
endeavours here. . . ."
In the June of 1823 my twin brothers were
born in Albemarle Street ; the elder, Francis,
died at the age of eight months, and the younger,
George, lived to become the second Earl of
Ellesmere, his son being the present holder of
the title.
The year 1826 was partly occupied by a
voyage to Russia, as Member of a Mission sent
by our Government to assist at the Coronation
of the Emperor Nicholas. The Duke of Devon
shire was the special envoy on this occasion, and
he selected Lord Francis and several others to
accompany him. Great delays took place in
consequence of the death of the Empress
Dowager, which caused the ceremony to be
indefinitely postponed, and my father utilised the
interval by visiting Copenhagen and Stockholm.
He eventually arrived with the mission at St
Petersburg, and travelled as far as Moscow,
but returned to England before the Coronation
took place.
I again give extracts from his letters written
to his wife, describing his experiences on this
journey. These letters are occasionally illus
trated with pen-and-ink sketches, as he inherited
his remarkable talent for drawing from his
mother.

18 A BRIEF MEMOIR OF MY FATHER

Letters from Lord Francis Leveson Gower to his wife,
when accompanying the Duke of Devonshire' s mission
to Russia. " Copenhagen (Charming place !),
"24^ May 1826.
". . . .As I have at last some prospect of
being able to forward a letter at no distant
period, I sit down as well as I can to an oblique
table to begin some account of our proceedings.
Our voyage has hitherto been prosperous in
everything but the main point of speed. We
have had little sickness (myself not a qualm),
fine clear weather, splendid sunsets, moonlights
and decorations. But alas ! the wind has been
continually in our teeth, occasionally coquetting
for an hour or two, and then recurring to the
everlasting N.E. We are now going along just
after sunset with a brisk breeze at five knots,
on, I trust, our last tack, previous to weathering
the Skaw — the northern extremity of Jutland ;
if this wind lasts, we shall effect this before
morning, and the wind will take us fast and
fair to Elsinore, where I hope to forward this
letter, and where the native pilots will decide
whether there is water enough for us to go
through the Sound, or whether we must take
the longer and less interesting passage of the
Belt. With regard to our existing state of
society, to begin with the Duke, he has natur
ally been fidgetted to death with the extra
ordinary slowness of our passage. In this, as far
as regards the Coronation, not being ambassador
myself, I confess I do not join, to his infinite
astonishment, but inasmuch as it tends to retard
my return I do feel it most sensibly, for in the

COPENHAGEN 19
monotony of a sea life I have little to do but
to think of you, and my nights are one long
dream on the same subject. The Captain is
the most garrulous of his species — which is the
old woman — the most timid also, always taking
in reefs and sails and refusing to carry on,
against the opinion of every human being on
board. He has been seventeen years on shore,
and thinks it necessary to show his nautical
knowledge by screeching through a swearing
trumpet whenever he comes on deck, throwing
the minds of men and ropes into utter confusion,
and meddling with everything. The ship is in
itself a slug, as her name imports, covered below
with mussels and seaweed, which the Captain
refused to clean away in harbour, and the pilots
have done everything which ignorance and
obstinacy could suggest to assist the powers
of vegetation and the N.E. wind in retarding
her progress. En revanche the other officers are
a very good set, and as they all adore me, I live
a good deal with them. The master teaches
me navigation, and the others give me descrip
tions of the habitable world from Archangel to
Ava. I made myself the idol of the midship
men by dining with them yesterday at 12 in
the cockpit, a place which is below the main-
deck, and below which is the centre of the
earth ; we sat down a numerous party round
the amputation table by the light of a lanthorn,
poetically called " the purser's Moon," and I never
was better amused. Bob Grosvenor, who is
the only one of us who, like me, enters into the
spirit of the place, and makes the most of the
peculiar advantages of his situation, emerged
much elevated. Of the rest of us, Fane is the
only one who entertains me by a queer sort

20 A BRIEF MEMOIR OF MY FATHER
of originality. The others, that is Dundas and
Townshend, are as dull as need be ; the one
may do mighty well with clerks of the Navy,
and the other with young ladies beflounced and
beflowered. They are both good-humoured and
sensible. Young Cavendish shows no prospect
of his ever emerging from his present profound
state of imbecility ; he is now relaxing his
intellects by sleep ; his only waking occupations
are making out a wretched ivory puzzle of the
Duke's, and reading a Russian grammar ; the
puzzle is much more difficult and quite as useful.
I don't know whether an intense admiration for
my poetry may come in for some share of my
liking for W. Russell,1 but I continue to think
him an agreeable companion, and I no more
profess to be proof against flattery than I do
against gravitation, or any other law of our
nature. The chaplain is a loquacious bigot,
uniting the ignorance of men and things which
exists in Cambridge and Lancashire, very harm
less in other respects. The First Lieutenant is
the best possible specimen of the Navy, and
some of the midshipmen are particularly agree
able ; one in particular, who made a journey
over the Andes with Captain Spencer, from
Chili to Buenos Ayres. Out of all this mess,
which I am forced to describe, for want of
better matter, I contrive to extract ample amuse
ment and occupation. ..."
" 26th. — The obstinacy ofthe Captain alone has
prevented my dating this letter from Copenhagen,
but we are not yet at Elsinore by some leagues.
The steamboat was sent on yesterday to the
isle of Anholt, a desolate sand-bank, where two
1 Lord Wriothesley Russell.

ANHOLT 2i
pilots have been waiting for us three weeks.
It was a pretty obvious measure to send her
off so as to be there before dark, as nobody
knew anything about the landing-places. Bob
Grosvenor and myself determined to go with
the second lieutenant for a lark. The Captain
kept us till near evening. When we arrived,
Grosvenor and the lieutenant had a narrow
escape of being drowned in attempting to go
on shore, failed, were forced to wait till the
morning. In the meantime we miss sixteen
hours of by far the finest breeze we have had,
and bring the pilots on board just in time to
see the wind, which would have given us a
breakfast at Copenhagen, return in our teeth,
and to hear the Captain's self-congratulations on
having managed the thing so cleverly. I effected
my landing however on the island. . . . There
seems nothing remarkable in the coasts here
on either side. ... I think it very doubtful
whether we can now be in time for the Corona
tion, and do not care whether we are or not
for my own sake ; we may perhaps have our
doubts removed at Copenhagen. Anholt is
merely a sand-bank in the sea, a sort of candle
stick in a lighthouse, which is snuffed and
trimmed by an elderly governor; the neighbour
hood is dangerous, and I was glad to find myself
on board the ship again, though condemned to
the society of that mixture of the mule and
the magpie, the Captain. He told the captain
of marines the other day, " Sir, you moll tonder
me" meaning mal entendre, and his long stories
have the effect of the wourali poison on every
body but himself. Pray communicate to my
family the principal features of my case. . . ."
" 2jth. — It having been found necessary that

22 A BRIEF MEMOIR OF MY FATHER
the steamer should take in coals at Copenhagen,
I have taken with avidity the opportunity of
running up, and sit down near Elsineur to finish
my letter, having left the Seventy-four anchored
ten miles below in a current which she cannot
stem. I really don't know what the Duke
will do — probably proceed in the steamboat.
I shall get what intelligence I can and return
to-night. The boat is under my orders at
present ; two officers of the ship and Grosvenor
are all he (the Captain) has allowed to go with
us. If I hear anything at Copenhagen I will
insert it. . . . Elsineur has one of the loveliest
old castles I ever saw." Etc., etc.
"Sunday, *%th May 1826.
"... Having just sent off my former letter, I
think it as well to begin another without delay.
We are now at anchor a few, i.e. eight, miles
above Copenhagen. I passed yesterday much
to my satisfaction at Copenhagen. I took a long
walk with our Minister, Wynne. . . . It is a very
clean good sort of town, with a horrid pavement.
The people are very large and good-humoured,
with round red cheeks, and talk much more
German and English than Danish. . . . We
could obtain no decisive intelligence respecting
the time of the Coronation, but I feel convinced
it will not take place till the 7th. A report also
arrived that the Empress Dowager was dead,
which would cause me at least to miss it
altogether. We embarked again at eleven,
and I slept comfortably, as the steamboat could
not begin her horrid noise till eight in the
morning. We reached the ship in time to see
a fresh instance of brutality of the Captain, who

DETAINED AT COPENHAGEN 23
had not loosed his sails though a fair wind had
been blowing for two hours. We have managed
however to pass the point of Elsineur, which
is something, as the current which delays us
is strongest there. The wind now, however, has
left us, and we are again at anchor. If I find
occasion I shall send this from Copenhagen ; if
not, I shall continue it at my leisure. I do
not despair of ultimately bringing the Captain
to a court-martial, and the fate of Admiral Byng.
At all events I have advised the Duke, who
never rebels against me, to quarrel with him
definitively, on the next occasion, which will soon
arrive. If the Captain is impertinent upon this,
I shall advise a statement to the Admiralty, and
with the evidence of the whole ship's company
I trust we shall extinguish him."
" Copenhagen, i i at night.
" The wind this morning was again foul, and
in talking over our matters with the Duke, I
thought it would be much better for me to
take my own suite by land, by Stockholm and
Finland ; a bright idea into which the Duke
entered with the greatest good-nature. I have
accordingly landed here with the intention of
proceeding to-morrow, as soon as I can get
carriage, passports, etc. I have also left orders
at the ship, to despatch Wrio Russell forthwith.
He was on shore when I left it, and I hope he
will be able to get away before morning, as he
will die of the steamboat, if the Duke should
take the desperate measure of embarking in her
as he intends. I am happy to say that as I
hoped and anticipated, matters came to a crisis
with the Captain just before I embarked. The

24 A BRIEF MEMOIR OF MY FATHER
steamboat was alongside, and the Captain as
usual turning a deaf ear and a torrent of
nonsense on the master of her, respecting some
details about cleaning her boilers. The first
lieutenant, who was the person through whom
the master's communications were made, applied
to me to learn the Duke's wishes on the subject.
The Captain immediately sprung upon both of
us like a mad dog, and the concentrated spite
of the voyage came down on the first lieutenant.
The Duke then came into the mess, and as we
were all three perfectly calm and good-humoured,
we gave him his gruel in a way that must have
delighted the ship's crew, who were all assembled
to see Grosvenor and myself depart. I trust the
result will endanger his commission and secure
the promotion of the lieutenant. The whole ship
gave us three cheers when we departed, which
must have completed the phrensy of the Captain,
but will, I fear, bring some annoyance to the
crew, as long as he has them in his power. The
present arrangement is the best possible for all
parties, as the steamboat could not have taken
us all, and I shall spend my time profitably in
taking a hasty view of Sweden, and be at
Petersburg within a few days of the Duke.
" 2,0th. — I am afraid they have kept poor
Wrio on board. The weather is still lovely,
and I am in the midst of my arrangements for
departure. ... I trust my next will be from
Stockholm. Yours, etc.
" P.S. — Wrio has just got off in a pilot boat.
I hear once more that the Dowager Empress
is dead ; if this is true I shall be less hurried at
Stockholm, but I will not allow it to delay my
return. It is impossible to say how amiable the
Duke has been throughout, and how considerate,

STOCKHOLM 25
and how adored he is in the ship. The ship is
off with a fair wind. I suppose I am Jonah,
and must keep a good look out for whales in the
Gulf of Bothnia."

"Stockholm, tfkjune 1826.
"... We arrived here very safe at six this
evening, after a very pleasant journey of four
days and three nights from Helsingborg. I
must before I describe it begin by stating that
we have heard that the Empress Elizabeth is
really dead, and that the Coronation is put off.
This I consider as a blessing, as it leaves me
time to look about me, and though I shall
probably miss the Coronation at last, I shall see
other things which I care about more, at my
ease. Sweden differs from the rest of the
Continent in manners quite as much as Spain.
The travelling is the first singularity which
strikes one. I shall best describe it by stating
what we did ourselves. Imprimis, we bought
at Copenhagen an English landaulet, which held
two ' insides,' four out. To this we added at
Helsingborg a long cart, with a seat on springs
for two people, and harness for both. In these
we embarked ourselves, two servants, and an
Englishman well acquainted with Sweden, whom
we had hired at Copenhagen, and who proved
invaluable. We sent on an avant-courier called
a forbud, with written papers, ordering horses,
dinner, etc., along the whole route. This is
absolutely necessary, as the horses are never
stabled, wander over the country, and frequently
take three hours to catch. When they are
caught they are excellent ; a little larger than
ponies, with feet that never wear out, and in our
D

26 A BRIEF MEMOIR OF MY FATHER
journey of 400 miles, with six horses nearly
always at a gallop, I never once observed any
thing like a mistake or stumble. I am told that
the Norwegian breed is still more wonderful. . . .
It is necessary to provide one's own harness
and coachman, as the peasants provide neither.
In this way, one drives at one's own discretion.
My servant put out a talent and relieved the
courier with the four horses, and Grosvenor and
myself often drove the pair. We had beautiful
weather the whole journey, and excessive dust was
our only annoyance. We had only one accident,
which might have been severe. The horses
swerved suddenly into a by-road, and took a
strong post so exactly in the centre at full gallop
that it shivered the pole like a tilting-spear, and
brought us up like Brian de Boisguilbert and
Ivanhoe, without further mischief; my courier
mended it in a moment with a piece of rope and
a huge pine-stick, and we proceeded several
stages to the first town on the road, called
Jungschoping, where we passed the second night,
i.e. till three in the morning, for there are not
above two hours of night now in these latitudes.
Everyone had predicted starvation to us, but we
found on the contrary that the fare at the inns
was excellent. The people are very savage or
' sauvage,' but extremely civil. Intoxication is
like everything here, so cheap, that they seldom
live to above forty. Our journey will have cost
about one-sixth of what similar locomotion would
have cost in England or France. The country
is in most parts like those prettier parts of the
Highlands where the birch abounds ; this is the
only relief to interminable forests of fir up to the
very gates of Stockholm. There are lakes in
numerable of all sizes, from a duck-pond to

STOCKHOLM 27
80 and 200 miles long ; one has 1 300 islands,
bien comptds. We only slept one night on the
road, and averaged 7 miles an hour with our
amiable ponies. The worst page of our history
was our arrival here, as we came dusty and
tired, and were long before we could arrange
our lodging, as there is but one hotel in the town,
and that is so small that Lord William Montagu,
who is here, nearly filled it. He has, however,
given up a room to W. Russell, his cousin, and
here we are, and here I must for the present
conclude, as my eyes fail me.
" §th. — I have been making the loveliest ex
pedition with Lord Bloomfield to the camp, where
the king has collected about 12,000 men. It is
situated in a forest of oak and fir, springing
out of granite knolls about a mile from the city,
and makes a scene of most singular beauty. I
think from what I hear that the Coronation will
certainly be too late for my purposes, but am
not quite sure whether I shall not be able to
compass the Fair at Nishni on the Volga, which
would be much better worth seeing. I shall
stay here probably till the 12th at latest, and if
I have good luck, arrive at Petersburg before
the 19th ; I am told the passage to Abo is as
certain as any passage by sea can be, as the
west wind has just set in. I have no reason
to desire to reach Petersburg except one, which
is all powerful, the expectation of letters. . . .
This town is curiously and beautifully planted
on a cluster of rocky islands, connected by float
ing bridges. The palace is prodigious, but in
general there seems nothing remarkable about
the buildings. The neighbourhood seems lovely.
... I rode yesterday to visit the Russian
Minister, a very nice old man, who has a clever

28 A BRIEF MEMOIR OF MY FATHER
son, with a pretty, rich, and sick wife, and lives
surrounded by eagles, gulls, parrots, owls, rein
deer and bees. We had a party in the evening
at the villa of Mad. de Wetterstetts, the wife
of the Minister for Foreign Affairs. It is the
prettiest spot in the world, in the park and
opposite the camp. We came away long before
dark, though we stayed till midnight ; there is
in fact no night here now. I saw several Swedes
whom I had known in various parts of the
world. The women seem pretty, and everybody
is full of ceremony ; one could not have one's
linen washed without taking off one's hat to
the laundress, and among men, ignorance or
omission of various little rules about drinking
wine, etc., is matter for duelling. We go to
Court to-night, so that I will speak to you of
ruling powers to-morrow. Stockholm is fuller
than it naturally would be, though the mass of
society is in the country, on account of the birth *
of a son and heir to Prince Oscar. It was an
event anxiously looked for, as he has been
married three years, and it would be awkward
for Sweden to hunt about once more for an
heir to the throne. The Princess is a daughter
of Beauharnais, and beautiful. I have spoken
of the Fair of Nishni. It is said to be the
most curious meeting between Asia and Europe
that can possibly be seen, and takes place on
the Volga, and I believe a small circuit might
bring it into one's route to Moscow. I fear it
is not at its height till August, but if it begins
early in July, it may possibly come within my
journey home, and I had rather see it than ten
coronations. The wind now is not fair for
Abo. I shall be very anxious to set off the
moment it changes, but shall find it difficult,

THE SWEDISH ROYAL FAMILY 29
as we are much entangled with the civilities
of the natives, and my companions, not having
anything at home to care about, are well amused.
However, they are by no means refractory, and
Monday is the latest I shall allow them. Bob
behaved with decency till he unfortunately fell on
a pianoforte at Lord Bloomfield's, which has made
a purgatory of that distinguished diplomatist's
house. He also uses my French, which is of
nc* use to him, and unpleasant to me, as I have
not sentences for two.
" 8th. — We were presented last night to the
King, who is an agreeable, obliging old man,
not unlike Farren the actor. The Queen is like
an elderly housekeeper, and it was no bad fun
to see her execute a country dance with Lord
Bloomfield. The Prince Royal, Oscar, and his
wife are a fine couple. She is rather like those
pretty Bavarian princesses at Munich, but more
•regularly handsome in face and figure. There
is an old devil here, sister to the late King,
and consequently aunt to the boy who is driven
from his inheritance. Imagine that this rouged
old wretch was the first who hobbled to the King
the other day to announce the birth of Oscar's
son. . . . We are to go forty miles in a steam
boat to-morrow to see the Castle of Gripsholm,
a curious and historical sort of place." Etc., etc.

"Stockholm, 12th June 1826.
". . . . I write a single line to say that I
leave Stockholm to-night or early to-morrow.
My head turns round in a sort of tourbillon,
arising from the hospitality of the inhabitants.
I was on a steamboat expedition two days since

30 A BRIEF MEMOIR OF MY FATHER
to a very curious Chateau, which I will describe
when I have time. We returned at half- past
two. I get no sleep, and as soon as I am up,
I am ordered to the Camp to dine, ride and sup
with Princes and Generals. Sleep is out of the
question, as there is no darkness and much heat.
... I have met some curious people whom
I will describe hereafter. The wind has given
me no chance of departing sooner. It is now
all right. — Yours, etc.
" P.S. — I have not been able to get away before
this evening, and to do so I was obliged to refuse
dining with the King on Wednesday. Our part
ing scene in consequence was touching, and he
ended with imploring for me the ' benediction du
ciel.' I am so hurried that I must put off my
details till Petersburg. We have every prospect
of a good passage, and I hope to be at Peters
burg on the 19th."

"The Abo Packet, lgtkjune 1826.
" I tore away my companions at one this
morning and shipped them on board the Packet
for Abo, where I now begin a letter which I
hope to finish at Petersburg. . . . My week's
residence at Stockholm has been one of the
most singular and amusing epochs of my life.
One of its principal features was a large
steamboat party consisting chiefly of the Corps
Diplomatique to the Castle of Gripsholm, about
50 miles from Stockholm. We embarked at
seven o'clock ; I expected rather to be bored, and
was ultimately amused beyond measure. In
the first place, the eloquence of the Morning
Post would be perfectly inadequate to describe

COUNTESS MONTGOMERI 31
the magnificence of the preparations de bouche.
The Marquis de Gabriac, French Minister, had
sent his cook, and the King had contributed
all kinds of delicacies and wine. The weather
was splendid. It would be difficult to give you
any idea of the society of so many nations.
The women were few, but one of them was
one of the most extraordinary human beings
I ever met with. She is called Countess
Montgomeri, is a widow with four children,
married her second husband nine years since,
and her face is covered with freckles, so you
may read on with calmness and dignity. Her
mother was an Italian, her father a Spaniard,
and she married a Swede descended from an
English family. She is the most complete
coquette, and consequently the most agreeable
inmate of a steamboat possible, talks all the
languages of Babel, and sings songs to any given
instrument in all of them for any number of
hours. As for beauty she has none, but light
ness of form and feature, and she is not unlike
Lady Clanricarde. She had a contrast in
Madame Suchtela, daughter-in-law to an old
Russian Minister, who is very Asiatic, knows
Lord Byron by heart, states herself to be dying
of the maladie du pays (her's is near the Black
Sea), is really very amiable, and has given me
a Russian dress for George.1 Her husband, a
young General of cavalry, is one of the most
agreeable specimens ofthe race of Mephistopheles,
which abounds so in Russia, I ever saw, and
has made me laugh incessantly for a week,
and seconded all the civilities of his old father
with so much good humour and trouble, showing
me his enormous collections of drawings, etc.,
1 His eldest son.

32 A BRIEF MEMOIR OF MY FATHER
that he has as much of my heart as a Russian
can ever obtain. When tired of all this, I was
able to subside on Worgna, the Austrian
Minister, a young, large, jolly, independent man,
of Polish origin, who proves his adoration of
the English by talking our language as well
as I do. I extracted from him divers first-rate
ghost stories. The Swedes present were all
alike, without much nuances of character, merry
and noisy. The Chateau itself is abundantly
worth seeing. It was the prison of divers Kings
of Sweden, shut up, I imagine, for ugliness, for
such a set of horrors I never saw, as adorn
the walls, in the shape of 1500 portraits of the
rulers of all parts of Europe. Among the
curious are, the portrait of Eric XIV., which
was painted to be sent to Queen Elizabeth
when he became her suitor, some fine bearded
portraits of Gustavus Vasa, and a room con
taining portraits of all the contemporary
sovereigns of about 1750. We dined in a long,
long room hung with old Electors, Prince
Bishops, Emperors, Kings, Landgraves, etc.,
and in this long room, I grieve to say, Count
Piper, the Chairman of the feast, the Marquis
de Gabriac, and the Governor of the Castle,
set such an example, that two Russians and
myself were the only people who had any
pretensions to sobriety. We exerted ourselves
with success to effect a re-embarkation, and
assisted by the presence of the ladies we pre
vented any great scandale. However, Lord
William Montagu and the old Count Piper
had absconded, and I searched for them nearly
an hour before I discovered them. We did
not return to Stockholm till two in the morning.
The next day I received an order to dine at

THE SWEDISH ARMY 33
the Camp with the Prince ; he gave us a most
excellent dinner in a large tent. A Swedish
dinner always begins with a salad of fish, and
a supper with milk porridge, which they wash
down with sour claret. However, I did the
whole thing and never was better, though,
as I said, I had no sleep all the time. The
sun came so hot upon my head the other
morning at five, that I got out of bed in despair,
when the bright idea occurred of nailing my
counterpane against the window, and putting an
umbrella over my pillow, by which means I
reduced the temperature of my brain to a dozing
heat. We rode after dinner for three or four
hours, among the cavalry, which amused me. I
made acquaintance with two most remarkable
young men, sons of Ney. They were refused
permission to enter our service, and are in the
Swedish. They are most remarkably handsome,
particularly the eldest, who is little ; his brother,
who was born within seven months of him, is
taller than I am. They are excessively accom
plished, and seem adored by everyone, particularly
by the English. . . . Nothing can be more
monotonous than all that I have seen of Swedish
scenery, rock and fir, fir and rock, to the end of
the chapter. It is now eight in the evening, and
we are still gliding among the same description
of islands, with a light steady breeze. In a little
while we shall reach the open sea, of which there
is about 80 miles, which may possibly be rough,
and we shall once more be landlocked among the
Isles of Aland. The winter trajtt over the ice is
almost always very pdnible, and frequently
dangerous. Mr Holmes, an Attache^ here, crossed
it with despatches last winter, and slipped twice
through the ice. You would find a curious,
E

34 A BRIEF MEMOIR OF MY FATHER
though probably exaggerated, account of it in
Clarke's ' Scandinavian Quarto.' Many lives
were lost in effecting it last winter. ..."
"Petersburg, 19th June, 9 o'clock.
" We arrived here to-day at half-past four. Our
journey was dull and fatiguing — four days and
three nights. We arrived at Abo soon after
I had finished the above. I have nothing to
say about the town, but must refer you to
Clarke. I had an odd rencontre there. I found
an officer in Russian uniform in the yard of
the inn and entered into conversation. I found
him lively and talking good French, so I invited
him to drink tea with us. Robert Grosvenor
mentioned some woman whom he had known
in Italy, and he immediately told us her whole
history. He appeared to be about eighteen or
twenty, but he began to talk about Edinburgh
in the year 18 12, and we found that he was
present when the Duchess of Bedford danced
the first quadrille in London. He had seen
my father's pictures ; in short, no English or
German name could be mentioned with which
he was not acquainted. At last Wrio Russell
asked him if he knew anything of a daughter
of a Madame Oxenstierna, who had a chateau
in Finland, and for whom he had a letter from
his mother. He said: 'Vous pouvez me confier
la lettre, c'est ma femme.' It turned out that
he was a Count d'Ahlfeld, who had passed three
or four years in England. He amused us much,
and turned out of the greatest possible service
to us about some money matters, directions as
to the road, inns, etc. Was not this odd, lucky,
and entertaining ? and do you not give me some

TRAVELLING IN RUSSIA

35

credit for my discrimination in asking people
whom I never saw in my life before, to tea?
I was quite delighted with him. Our journey
was a repetition of that in Sweden, except that
the horses were not so good. We narrowly
escaped two severe accidents. Once I was
asleep with Russell in the carriage, the horses
were just harnessed, and set off by themselves.
I woke and found them going at a brisk canter
four abreast. It was too rapid for me to jump
out, and as Wrio was stupid from sleep, I merely
let down the glasses, and told him to sit still.
They at length after about a mile relaxed into
a trot up a hill and I jumped out, cleared the
wheel with the loss of the skin of my instep
and stopped them. Another time I was fol
lowing in the Carratella and came up with
the other carriage. Two of the horses had
swerved and managed to clear the rail of a low
bridge. We soon righted it and found, to my
astonishment, that nothing was broken. The
country was all along like Sweden, in some
parts bolder and much more picturesque, in
general flatter and more dull. The inhabitants
are savage in their appearance, to the last
degree, with enormous quantities of white hair.
I have never seen anything so wild. About
Wiborg, a day's journey from here, they begin
to look Russian. Long beards, droskis, copper
roofs to the churches, cossack guards at the gates,
people with long beards driving about in caleches,
etc., but the same eternal forest up to the gates
of Petersburg. We arrived here, I read your
letters up to the 30th, which I opened with
the conviction that they would contain something
dreadful, and finding that they did not, I dined
merrily, and while the rest are gone on some

36 A BRIEF MEMOIR OF MY FATHER
party of pleasure, I sit down to write to you,
and shall afterwards go to a party at the French
Minister's. This is the best proof that I am
not tired with my journey. . . .
" 20th. — Well, I have been to the French
Minister's, and a more formidable idea of the
existing dullness of Petersburg it is impossible
to conceive than that which I draw. Russian
society is of course destroyed by the death of the
Empress, superadded to the melancholy state
of the families implicated in the conspiracy.
There are four hundred young men now in
the chateau. Their trials are supposed to be
nearly over, and the result will soon be known.
It is probable that twelve will be shot and the
rest go to the mines. The party last night
consisted merely of the French Embassy, which
Lord Strangford x has baptised most admirably
by the name of the Cirque Franconi. There
is nothing like a bon-mot to reduce to ashes
a French corporation of the sort. They were
civil enough, particularly the Minister, and I
was presented to Marmont and came away.
I am happy in the possession of the best travel
ling-bed and travelling servant in Europe. The
former is of importance here, where everything
teems with life. Goldsmith might have come
here with advantage to write his treatise on
animated nature. As to the latter, I put not my
faith in treasures ; I know how soon the courier
treasure is found to be drunk, etc., but up to the
present time at least, my servant has surpassed
all I have yet seen. Untired, undaunted, ex-
1 Percy Smythe, sixth Viscount Strangford, Ambassador Extra
ordinary at Petersburg, 1825, succeeded by his son George, seventh
Viscount, father of Percy, eighth and last Viscount Strangford, the
famous Oriental scholar. — Ed.

ST PETERSBURG 37
tracting from the pockets of the carriage, like
the grey man in Peter Schlemihl, everything that
is asked for, the driver of horses, the persuader
of postmasters, the rebuker of publicans and
extortioners, — such is Adrien Stoll, and if you
have an opportunity you may ' rendre graces '
to Dr Hume for having recommended him to
me. The Coronation is not to be fixed till after
the funeral of the Empress ; this is expected in
about three weeks, therefore all I know is, that I
shall not see it. I do not exactly know yet what
I shall do. My wish would be to stay a few
days, and then start for Moscow, but the Duke
has been so kind on all occasions that I should
be sorry to treat him ungenteelly, and if he wishes
me much to stay here a little longer, I shall
make him the sacrifice of Moscow and go home
straight from hence. He is ill off here, lodged
in a house destitute of furniture, and with his
cook and much of his establishment at Moscow,
but will nevertheless, I believe, stay here six
weeks longer. My first occupation has been
hiring a carriage with four horses to go about
the streets, and I am looking out for another for
my journey.1 On one occasion the dicky behind
came down with the two peasants who were
clinging to it. They were not hurt, and were
enchanted when I made them a present of it.
They will probably sell it to some grand seigneur
who will fit it up and drive it for the rest of his
life as an English gig. . . . The magnificence
of the river view of Petersburg fully came up to
all I had ever heard of it, but I have had as yet
1 Here follow minute pen-and-ink sketches by my father of the
two carriages, one a kind of open britska drawn by four horses
with interminably long traces, the other a kind of post-chaise with
a dicky behind. — Ed.

38 A BRIEF MEMOIR OF MY FATHER
nothing but a glimpse of it. I came just too late
to be presented to the Emperor, which I regret.
The Duke came, after all, in the steamboat for
two days. He gave a sort ot fete the other day
on board the Gloucester, which was said to be
beautiful. ... I have been driving out with
the Duke, paying visits. We only found one
party at home, of Potocki's, brother of the fat
Stanislaus who made the ddlices of Paris lately.
She is a beautiful person, but they have only
been married a week, so you have no cause for
alarm. The Emperor rode by with the Empress
while we were drinking tea in the garden.
Nothing can exceed the personal gallantry and
conduct which he showed during the late
troubles, and his brother, the Grand Duke
Michael, behaved equally well. There seems
much to see here in the way of palaces, and
little else. I informed the Duke this morning
that I could not stay for the Coronation, and he
seemed much affected. Pahlen is at Mittau,
Paul Lieven starts for England shortly. I have
not seen him yet. I might have much to write
from hence, which would not be uninteresting,
but do not like to trust it to a letter. After you
receive this you had better write to Berlin the
mass of your information, always sending me
also a line here to say how you are. I think
Mr Canning was right to make Lord Clanricarde
a peer. No news of Clifford1 yet; a merchant-
ship is arrived which sailed after he started.
Bless you. F."
In 1826 Lord Francis became Member for
1 Clifford commanded the line-of-battle ship Gloucester, which
conveyed the Duke and his suite. He was afterwards Sir
Augustus Clifford.

MR HUSKISSON AND REFORM 39
Sutherland. The traditions of his family were
Whig, but later on he changed his political
views, and adopted those of Sir Robert Peel
and Canning.
In those days, the great political parties were
divided into Whigs, Tories, and Radicals ; now,
it is difficult to say what they call themselves.
In January 1828, when the Duke of Wellington
was called upon to take office as Prime Minister,
on the failure of Lord Goderich to carry on the
Canning administration, Huskisson took office
as Secretary at War and for the Colonies, and
Lord Francis Leveson Gower became his Under
Secretary. In May, measures were brought forward in
the House of Commons for the disfranchisement
of the rotten boroughs of Penryn and East
Retford, and the transference of these two seats
to Manchester and Birmingham. On 19th May
Mr Huskisson voted in favour of the East
Retford Bill, which was opposed by the Govern
ment, and in consequence he felt compelled to
write at once to the Duke of Wellington, "that
he owed it to the Duke and to Mr Peel to lose
no time in affording them an opportunity of
placing his office in other hands." Whether this
message was intended as a final and definite
resignation or not may be doubtful, but at any
rate it was accepted in that sense by the Duke,
who at once appointed his successor.
This led to the secession of Lord Palmerston,
Lord Dudley, Charles Grant,1 Wm. Lamb, and
1 Afterwards Lord Glenelg.

40 A BRIEF MEMOIR OF MY FATHER
other Canningites, and to a breach between
Huskisson and the Duke, concerning which
Charles Greville writes in his Journals : —
" But when upon the East Retford affair
Huskisson resigned, and in such an extraordinary
manner, the Duke felt that there was a disposi
tion to embarrass him by these perpetual tenders
of resignation, which he believed they thought
he would not venture to accept. Upon receiving
Huskisson's letter he went to Lord Bathurst and
consulted him, and Lord Bathurst advised him
to take him at his word. I believe that
Huskisson had no intention of embarrassing the
Duke, and none of resigning ; but for a cool and
sensible man his conduct is most extraordinary,
for he acted with the precipitation of a school
boy, and showed a complete want of all those
qualities of prudence and calm deliberation for
which he has the greatest credit. But though
this breach might have been avoided, from the
sentiments which have been expressed by both
parties, it is evident other differences would have
arisen which must have dissolved the Govern
ment before long. After putting aside the
violent opinions on both sides, the opinion is
that Huskisson acted very hastily and im
prudently, and that his letter (say what he will)
was a complete resignation, and that the Duke
had a right so to consider it ; that in the Duke's
conduct there appeared a want of courtesy and
an anxiety to get rid of him, which it would have
been more fair to avow and defend than to deny ;
that on both sides there was a mixture of obstinacy
and angry feeling, and a disposition to treat the
question rather as a personal matter than one in
which the public interests were deeply concerned.

LORD FRANCIS RESIGNS OFFICE 41
" But the charge which is made on one side
that Huskisson wanted to embarrass the Duke's
Government and enhance his own importance,
and that on the other of the Duke's insincerity,
are both unfounded."
Lord Francis resigned office along with his
chief, and in a letter to his mother, the Duchess
Countess of Sutherland, written on 28th May
1828, he explains his position as follows : —
". . . . As the late unfortunate transactions
in the Cabinet have now reached what I con
sider a very disastrous termination, I think that
I can explain better on paper than I possibly
could in conversation my own view of the subject
I think it very probable, natural and just, that
my father should consider my retirement from
office as the immediate and necessary consequence
of Mr Huskisson ceasing to be a Member of the
Government. I had nothing to object to that
decision, and am prepared to act upon it. I am
sure, however, that he would think it unfair in
me to withhold any unreserved opinion of my
own position and my consideration of it under
the hypothesis that I was an entirely free agent.
I own that if I were in that situation I should
not take any step until I had given mature
consideration to the question, and should con
sider it as one full of difficulty. It would then
appear to me to involve a consideration of all
the particulars of the late transactions, and
possibly after that of the nature and extent of
the change which the Government was about to
undergo. I must here acquaint you that of the
former part of the question I am in some respects
better qualified to judge than most others — I
F

42 A BRIEF MEMOIR OF MY FATHER
mean as far as information goes, for it happens
that my confidential habits with both parties
have compelled me unwillingly to step far out
of my own province, and to become a party to
nearly all the communication which has taken
place between them indirectly. ... I am, as
you may imagine, deeply annoyed at what has
occurred, and have only the consolation of know
ing that I laboured incessantly for three days
to set matters right. In this my success has
been more proportionate to my competence than
to my zeal, but I have at least some reason to
think that my interference has had a mollifying
influence on feelings, on both sides, and has
perhaps prevented intemperance where it could
not prevent mischief. — Ever yours affectly.,
"F. L. G."
Before quitting this subject, I may be per
mitted to quote a letter from Mr Huskisson to
my grandmother. " Downing Street, Friday morning, 2 a.m.
"(June 1828.)
" Dear Lady Stafford, — I cannot go to bed
without telling you with what delight I (in
common with a very full House) listened to
Francis's speech, which has just closed the
debate (adjourned) of this evening. It was
beautifully wrought, but without any glitter or
superfluous ornament. Some parts as fine as
anything I have ever heard in the House, and
his delivery very good. — Yours very truly,
" W. Huskisson."
I may here remark that my father was a
delightful speaker, always carrying away his

IRELAND 43
audience with him, for he added to purity of
language a charming voice and delivery, so that
it was always a pleasure to hear him read aloud.
He used to tell me that he owed this to his
father, who used to make him read aloud to
him when a boy, and was a most severe critic.
In June 1828 he was appointed a Privy
Councillor, and became Chief Secretary to the
Viceroy of Ireland, the Duke of Northumberland.
It certainly was not a position to be envied
at that time, and never has been one up to the
present moment, I imagine.
The following passages are from an amusing
letter to his mother, dated from Dublin, 24th July
1829 : —
". . . . I am under no apprehension as to
the state of the country, but the Assizes are
coming on, and the late disturbances will make
my presence at that period desirable. It would
be ridiculous to say that one was satisfied with
the state of things here at present, but I think
that recent events in the North will have the
effect of a thunderstorm and clear the weather.
If that is the case, I am quite sure the R.C.
Relief Bill will have its full effect yet, in spite
of those whose object it is to mar its natural
consequences. In the meantime, be its natural
consequences what they may, the present conse
quence is a world of trouble and anxiety to me.
There are plenty of atrocities of all sorts, but
they are nobly magnified in quantity and quality
in all the newspapers. The simple rule by which
I have treated all numerical reports since I came
to this country is more applicable than ever. I
divide everything by ten. If 10,000 people are

44 A BRIEF MEMOIR OF MY FATHER
reported to have done any one thing, it always
turns out that iooo did it, and the like if a
man's skull be reported as fractured in ten places,"
etc., etc.
Lord Francis resigned the Chief Secretaryship
early in 1830. It is well known that he took
the independent line of thinking the priests ought
to have been paid. This course would have
tended to make them self-supporting, instead of
being dependent upon the alms of the people.
In 1 83 1 Lord Francis gave up his seat in
Parliament, and in 1833, on the death of his
father, the first Duke of Sutherland, he inherited
(as his second son) the greater part of the large
estate and wealth of his great-uncle, the last
and celebrated Duke of Bridgewater, in con
sequence of which he assumed the surname and
Arms of Egerton.
My father entered into possession of Bridge-
water House in 1833, and resided there till
1840, when it had to be pulled down. Its
original name was Cleveland House, as it had
been given by Charles II. to the Duchess of
Cleveland. Restoration was found impossible,
as the dry-rot had penetrated the structure. The
present house, the architect of which was Charles
Barry, was built very nearly on the same site.
There was a saying that Stafford House, which
has no pretensions to architectural beauty, looked
like the packing-case out of which Bridgewater
House was taken.
In 1834, when the Duke of Wellington, amid
scenes of historical enthusiastic applause, was

OXFORD COMMEMORATION 45
installed as Chancellor of the University of
Oxford, Lord Francis Egerton was also given
an honorary D.C.L. Degree.

" Christchurch, glhjune 1834. Midnight.
"... To-morrow we are to be made doctors,
i.e. some dozen of Dukes and Privy Councillors,
Earls, foreigners, etc. ; the others are to be
made the day after. The bad part of the
arrangement is that we do not go into the
theatre with the procession, which, independent
of the interest of the first entry, will be addition
ally interesting from the circumstance that the
undergraduates are determined, as it is said, to
make an uproar till they shall have carried the
point of bullying the offensive senior proctor
out of the theatre. The poor man is a subject
for pity, and the case is unfortunate, but we
shall see. . . .
" Tuesday, 2 o'clock. — Just returned from taking
my degree. A long affair of heat and standing,
but I cannot yet find that I am the worse for
it, and if I should be, I daresay a dose of aconite
will set all straight. I could not for the reasons
above stated see the entry of the Duke, but
we could hear the applause was tremendous.
The proctor walked in procession like a man
going to execution. I really don't know how
they dealt with him. The applause on the
taking the degrees was prodigious, for the Duke
of Newcastle and Lord Winchilsea, but more
so for Lord Fitzroy Somerset, for whom
Phillimore, the Professor of Civil Law, and
Orator on the occasion, made a most admirable
Latin speech. . . ."

46 A BRIEF MEMOIR OF MY FATHER
In a letter to his wife, written nth June, my
father adds :
". . . . The proceeding to-day in the theatre
I saw better, going in with the procession and
getting a good place. There were some lines
in the English Prize Poem (which was one of
the best I ever heard) which had probably been
inserted late for the Duke. The subject was
the Hospice of St Bernard, and the Duke was
ingeniously brought in by the mention of
Buonaparte and his passage of the Alps : ]
' Till on that plain where last the eagle soared,
War's mightier Master wielded Britain's sword,
And the dark soul the world could scarce subdue,
Bowed to thy Genius, Chief of Waterloo.'
" The whole theatre rose up, and the cheering
lasted about half an hour. ..."
The contested election of 1837 returned Lord
Francis as the Conservative Member for South
Lancashire, he heading the poll, his colleague
being Mr Wilbraham, a Liberal, and Lord
Stanley and Mr Townley being the defeated
candidates. He retained this seat until his
elevation to the peerage in 1846.
In 1837 he also took up his residence at
Worsley with his family. His letters at this
period give a singularly interesting account of
his taking up his abode on his new property,
and the conditions under which he did so, and
which in many ways were curiously unique.
He writes to Mr Arbuthnot directly after the
1 I fancy the above is the correct version. — Ed.

LIFE AT WORSLEY 47
severely contested election of this year. The
date is — " Worsley, Sth August.
". . . . I am off for Scotland to-morrow, and
shall not be sorry to get out of the Election
fumes which hang about the country like the
smell of a melon in the dining-room. I am
living in a curious place, near everything that is
most smoky and populous, but neither in itself.
If you could imagine living at Portsmouth with
an entire command, and fee simple in the arsenal,
you would still fall short of any accurate concep
tion of my odd position.
" I have, as you would have at Portsmouth,
every sort of solid handicraft work at my own
disposal. Everything in which timber and iron
is concerned, my people, whom I pay and can
remove at pleasure, fashion and provide. We
burn lime, supply all railroads with coke, make
bricks, make boats, etc., etc., all this under my
own immediate nose. All this, perhaps, would
be more economical if done by contract, etc.,
but I should lose much of the amusement, and
all the influence which it now gives me over
the immediate destinies of between three and
four thousand people, not to mention mules and
horses, which influence I find after all very
agreeable to have. I have just got in 700
acres of hay.
"All this makes me anxious to give more
time to it than Parliament will allow me, but
one's destiny must be accomplished."
This letter is signed " F. Egerton."
My father's first impressions of his new
property were not highly favourable, and he

48 A BRIEF MEMOIR OF MY FATHER
doubted whether it would be possible for my
mother to reside there permanently. But all
difficulties succumbed to a sense of duty, and
in a letter to his wife, dated 15th June 1834,
my father goes on to say : " The first thing I
am going to do is to build a church. The parish
is enormous, and, like most of the manufactur
ing districts which have grown up suddenly to
wealth, wretchedly provided. ..."
Besides the parish church of Eccles, a suburb
of Manchester, four miles off, there was only
a small chapel at the other end of the estate.
My father adds in his letter : " There is nothing
now but a Sunday School. . . . There are
40,000 people in this neighbourhood who cannot
go to church ; no wonder they dissent or believe
nothing." There was an old and picturesque manor-
house on the estate which was prepared for
residence, known by the name ofthe "Old Hall,"
and a bright red commonplace house, the " New
Hall," built by the Duke of Bridgewater for his
own use. This was pulled down when the
present house was built.
The canal was sold to the North- Western
Railway in 1857, and the "timber-yard," where
the boat- building works, etc., were carried on,
had their labours reduced ; but for many reasons
the activity there is nearly as great as ever,
and, to those who care for machinery, it is a
most interesting sight to a visitor.1
1 Since writing the last sentence I am informed that the
" Plant " has been removed to Walkden Moor. — Ed.

THE BRIDGEWATER CANAL 49
The work inaugurated by my father and
mother, and which bears fruit to the present day,
would occupy far more space in the telling than
this brief Memoir would admit of. The people
were very friendly and kindly disposed, and they
were glad to welcome any landlord who was
ready to live amongst them ; for since the Duke
of Bridgewater's death, the agent, Bradshaw,
had reigned, and I do not think any of the family
had taken any interest in the property beyond
receiving the revenues. The management was
in the hands of the Trustees, and was left to
them. The extreme badness of the roads, mostly
paved or quagmires, must have made the goods
traffic very difficult until the canal was made,
which nearly ruined the Duke of Bridgewater
at the time, but brought wealth to his successors.
The House Barge, which was greatly used by
the family, still exists, and was a very attractive
mode of locomotion, enjoying as it did, and does,
the privilege of making all other boats and
barges drop the tow-line to allow it to glide
smoothly along without let or hindrance.
Our present King will probably remember
his experiences in that line, in his various visits
to Worsley Hall. His three companions are
all gone now — the Princess Royal, the Princess
Alice, and Prince Alfred.
In my time the canal was used to a certain
degree for passenger as well as goods traffic ;
the " Passenger Boat " plied daily between
Manchester and Runcorn, and we used the

So A BRIEF MEMOIR OF MY FATHER
private barge ourselves to reach the station at
Patricroft, where the trains originally stopped
between Manchester and London. This place
has acquired a certain fame from the circum
stance that James Nasmyth had his foundry
there, where he constructed the famous steam-
hammer, and many of his great telescopes.
A Memoir of my father would be very in
complete without some reference to his love
of literature and facility in languages, of which
he gave proof by his translations from Schiller
and Goethe into English verse.
His knowledge of the Fine Arts is also well
known, and he added many fine pictures to
the Bridgewater Collection, which he inherited.
His sketches also fill many albums.
All this did not prevent his being a keen
sportsman, especially in deer-stalking, as he
was a good shot and an indefatigable walker
when free from attacks of gout. His love of
foreign travel was also very great, and he has
left amusing records of travels in Spain,
Denmark, Sweden, Russia,1 and, later on, France,
Germany, Italy, the Holy Land and Greece,
ending with the United States and Canada.
This last journey was undertaken at the
instance of the Government of the day, who
wished to send a representative of this country
to the opening of the New York Exhibition in
1853, Mr Pierce being President at the time.
The Exhibition not being ready at the appointed
date, the interval was utilised by a visit to
1 Refer back to the Letters transcribed on a former page.

RAISED TO THE PEERAGE 51
Philadelphia, and subsequently Niagara, Montreal,
and Quebec, and, after the ceremonies of the
opening were over, to Boston. Much hospitality
was shown us during the whole of that tour,
chiefly and notably by Lord Elgin, then
Governor-General, and Mr Prescott, the delight
ful historian, whose works are as charming as
he was himself. Among those who accompanied
my father and his family were the late Prince
Victor of Hohenlohe, then a sub-lieutenant in
the Navy, and the late Lord Acton.
To the latter, his American experiences were
a source of unfailing interest and amusement,
especially upon the more humorous side of his
impressions. Lord Francis Egerton was raised to the
Upper House in 1846, under the title of Earl
of Ellesmere, as objections were made to his
taking that of Bridgewater, and he was created
a Knight of the Garter in 1855. I find an entry
in his Diary Book which says : " To Windsor
for Investiture with the Garter, Lords Carlisle,
self, and Aberdeen. The august Ceremony
moved Lady E. to mirth." On 18th April of
the same year he was summoned to assist at
the Investiture of the Emperor Napoleon III.,
and on 6th December that of the King of
Sardinia, Victor Emmanuel. My father's de
scription of him is as follows : —
" 6th December. — Returned to Bath from
Windsor, where I attended the King of Sardinia's
investiture with the Garter. A most curious
specimen of humanity. A Herculean figure of

52 A BRIEF MEMOIR OF MY FATHER
low stature, conveying the impression of a
professional gymnast, or of some Barbarian
King, such as Germans love to paint in fresco.
Many piquant particulars of his intercourse at
Windsor reached me through the Duchess.1
He has evidently pleased the Queen, and amused
her by a sort of soldatesque honesty and blunt
speak-the-mind character of his conversation,
raising a gentle interest not free from anxiety
as to what might come next. ... He spoke
of his deceased wife and brother 2 with intense
affection and regret, but called the latter ' ce
pauvre diable.' He loves the chase, shoots by
moonlight, and rides like a centaur.
"He alarmed the Queen, at Woolwich, by
caracoling near her carriage. She remonstrated
with him, telling him that English horses would
not bear so much excitement of hand and spur.
He told her that he had once jumped on horse
back into a carriage full of ladies, ' qui jetaient
des cris dpouvantables. ' . . . The Queen asked
him if he was like his father (Charles Albert).
' Non,' he said, ' du tout, mais celui-la,' pointing
to one of his suite, ' qui est mon frere, lui
ressemble beaucoup.' He told the Duchess ' La
Reine m'a joue" un tour pendable.' This was
because she had left him alone with some ladies."
The following is from the diary : —
" Being summoned to a Chapter of the Garter
at Windsor for the King of Sardinia, and rather
uncertain whether I can go or not, I have written
to the Duchess of Sutherland as follows : —
1 His sister-in-law, the Duchess of Sutherland, Mistress ofthe
Robes. 2 The Duke of Genoa, a very handsome and accomplished man.

THE CRIMEAN WAR 53
"AN IMITATION.
" Should you ask if I am coming
From this place of tepid waters,1
To the wigwam of our Mistress,
To the Royal wigwam, Windsor.
Should you ask me, ' Are you coming ? '
I should answer, ' I am coming,
If the west wind, Mudjekeewis,
Blow away the plague which haunts me,2
If my limbs have strength to bear me,
If the north, Kabinobokka,
Do not smite me with lumbago.'
If I do come, shall I find you
Dressed in war-paint, dressed in feathers,
Coloured quills, and strings of wampum ?
Shall I see you smoke the peace-pipe
With the Chief of many Nations,
Who has come so far to meet us ?
Should I fail you, put this letter
In the red stone of the peace-pipe,
In the red stone put and smoke it,
Thinking that my best intentions
Rise in smoke and end in ashes,
Which the Medicine men, the Medas,
Cannot light to any purpose.
If I fail, should any tell you,
Speaking of your humble Servant,
' He was slow to greet our brother —
Who has come so far to meet us
From the lake of inner waters,
Would not come, though he was able.'
Then say, ' Kaw ! what lies you tell us.' "
The Crimean war brought forth my father's
best powers of oratory for about the last time,
when he rose to defend Lord Raglan in the
1 Bath. 2 The Gout.

54 A BRIEF MEMOIR OF MY FATHER
House of Lords. A letter from him to myself,
dated London, 4th July 1855, says: —
"Galloway made a true but not well-timed or
judicious speech on the Raglan case yesterday,
which afforded me a good opportunity, and I
made more of it than you will be able to con
jecture from the newspaper reports. The thing
had begun to degenerate into usual dullness, and
I had despaired of screwing myself up, but as it
was, I nearly succeeded in making their Lord
ships yell and screech after the fashion of the
Commons, and never was more satisfied with
myself. About the first hit I ever made, in the
House of Commons, was in defence of Lord
Fitzroy 's Mission to Spain in 1823, and I do
not care if my last should have been made in
defence of his memory."
My father did not live to hear of the Indian
Mutiny, which would have agitated him pro
foundly, as he died in the February of that year,
at the comparatively early age of fifty-seven, to
the inexpressible grief of all related to him, or
connected with him in any capacity whatever.
Memorials have been erected to him at
Worsley and in its neighbourhood, but the chief
memorials are the churches, schools, and institu
tions which he built or endowed, and his constant
exertions in behalf of the people committed to
his care. By these latter and their descendants,
neither he nor my mother, his unwearied co
adjutor in all these labours, will soon be
forgotten. And yet the following lines from a beautiful

DEATH OF LORD ELLESMERE 55
poem by Alford, Dean of Canterbury, are very
appropriate though sad : —
" The deed lasts in Memory, the doer is not,
The word liveth on, but the voice is forgot.
Be we content then to pass into shade,
Vision and voice in oblivion laid,
And live in the light that our actions have made."
It is what he would have wished for himself.
A. H. F. S.
August 1903.

PROLOGUE
" i$th September 1852. — A gloomy day, suited to the
news it brings — the death of the Duke of Wellington."
Among the first effects of a blow such as that
inflicted by the above intelligence, is that of
making the memory travel back to the various
scenes, stages, and incidents of such personal
intercourse as one has enjoyed with such a man.
For at least twenty-five years mine has been
frequent and intimate. I owe this source of so
many recollections to a concurrence of accidents
which for many years past have afforded me not
only opportunity for personal communication in
London whensoever I had special reason to
desire such, but also produced many casual
occasions of intercourse. The two principal of
these accidents were my close intimacy with
Mr Arbuthnot, and the long occupation of the
post of Private Secretary by my brother-in-law,
Algernon Greville.
While Mr Arbuthnot was alive, few mornings
passed during the London season on which I
did not pass an hour in his room at Apsley
House, and in the course of the visits it was
seldom that the Duke did not walk into that
room, to discuss freely and at leisure some topic
56

THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON

57

of the day, or with some fresh-drawn paper in
his hand ; nor do I remember an instance in
which, though on the watch for the slightest hint
to that effect, I could find reason to consider
myself a check upon the conversation. After
the irreparable private loss of Mr Arbuthnot I
intruded less frequently, but if I wished to see
the Duke I could always do so through my
brother - in - law at convenient hours, without
formally announcing myself through a servant.
I always thought it a sort of duty to myself to
use, without, I hope, abusing these enormous
privileges. Hence, with two exceptions, I do
not believe that there is any one living who,
apart from public grounds, has so much reason to
feel his loss as I have. These exceptions are
Lord Clanwilliam and Lady Westmoreland.
The former was also a friend of Mr Arbuthnot's,
and his residence at Deal Castle gave him
occasion for intercourse with the Duke for some
months of the year, during which few others
saw him at all. Of all his relatives, Lady
Westmoreland was certainly the one most
devoted to him, and most in his confidence.
In matters of personal favour and kindness I
am steeped in obligations.
Among a thousand instances, small and great,
I recur at random to the following. I passed
my honeymoon in 1822 at Strathfieldsaye ; I
spent two winter months of 185: (November and
December) at Walmer, and I know that he was
about to urge upon me the same arrangement
for the approaching winter. As Commander-in-
H

58 PROLOGUE
Chief he has done everything to promote the
establishment and advancement of my son Arthur
in the Army. His intercession procured the
promotion of my other son in the Navy. I
never wrote him a letter which he did not
answer ; I never made him a request which
he did not exert himself to meet. In many
matters, even of a professional nature, he
honoured me with his confidence. When I
returned from Germany, in 1845, he requested
from me a report on the Austrian system of
fortification at Lintz. It was with his approba
tion and assistance that I drew up for the
Quarterly the refutation of Alison's nonsense on
the subject of Waterloo.

REMINISCENCES OF THE DUKE OF
WELLINGTON
When, where, and how did we first meet ?
I cannot fix the date, but I think it must been
in 1820.1 It was in a small ballroom attached
to the French Theatre, in the old Argyll Rooms,
to which the fine world of London then resorted
in great numbers, making it a kind of subsidiary
and restricted Almacks. Many of my first
acquaintances of my dancing days were made
in this room, since, I think, burnt down. I had
brought up in waltzing, and come to an anchor
close to my aunt, Lady Harrowby,2 and at
her arm was a gentleman, unknown, and whose
features I did not, strange to say, at all
recognise as those so often to be observed in
shop-windows. I was, I remember, struck with
the good-humoured and joyous expression of
his smile, but more with the unusual length and
size of his watch-chain and appendages, which
seemed to me to present undue attractions to
1 In reference to Memoranda I find it must have been earlier,
probably 18 18.
2 Parentage of Lady Harrowby— Lady Susan Leveson Gower,
daughter of the first Marquis of Stafford. — Ed. 59

60 WHERSTEAD [1821-
a pickpocket. Lady Harrowby did not fail to
present me.
I met him in the following year on a visit
of some days to Wherstead in Suffolk, then
occupied by my uncle, Lord Granville.1 I found
him there, the life and soul of a large shooting-
party. The only lady besides Lady Granville, I
think, was Madame de Lieven. Among the
men were Edward Montagu, since Lord Rokeby,
Agar Ellis, F. Lambe, the present Lord
Melbourne, Clanwilliam, and, I think, Luttrell.
His spirits were those of a boy. My marriage
in the course of the following summer brought me
at once into closer and more frequent relations
with him, for with all my new connexions he
had been intimate since 18 15. It also shortly
afterwards threw me into the society of Mr
Arbuthnot, and a friendship was formed with
him which had much influence on my political
life, and was only interrupted by his decease.
My acquaintance with him began, I think, in
1824, at Cowes. He was then Commissioner of
Woods and Forests, and, in the course of a tour
of official inspection, came with Mrs Arbuthnot
to the Isle of Wight, and lived with us during
his stay, as far as dinner was concerned.
The house we then occupied was a miserable
lodging called " Trafalgar House," still existing.
In this my son Frank was born, on which
occasion, I remember, Alava was also my guest.
1 Parentage of Lord Granville — Lord Granville Leveson Gower,
brother of the above. He was created Lord Granville, and sub
sequently raised to an earldom. — Ed.

,830] WOODFORD, HEATON, ETC. 61
I next met the Duke at Woodford, Mr Arbuthnot's
residence in Northamptonshire, in a very limited
circle. We drove, shot, and rode together
without cessation. I well remember a day's
partridge-shooting, in the course of which during
a heavy shower we sat down under his umbrella,
which he always took with him, and he told
me the history of his Danish campaign of
1807. There was, I believe, little or no fighting in
the field at that time. The Duke mentioned
with much approbation the skill with which the
Danes, when forced to retreat, concealed the
direction of their march, and evaded pursuit.
I have visited the Duke at Strathfieldsaye,
both at times when large parties were collected
there, and when he was alone or nearly so. I
have coursed with him, shot with him, hunted,
and, once only, I played a set of tennis with
him, the only time I ever saw him use the
tennis-court there, which has been turned to
good account by his sons and myself.
It was some time after 1830 that he took a
great fancy for hunting with his neighbour, Sir
J. Cope of Bramshill, and more frequently with
Mr Newton Fellows, Lord Portsmouth's brother,
an excellent sportsman, who kept the Vine
hounds. The Duke rode good and safe horses,
and I have seen him take good fences when
needful. In 1830, I met him at Heaton and at Lord
Salisbury's, on the occasion of the opening of
the Liverpool and Manchester railroad. It was

62 DEATH OF HUSKISSON [1830
an evil time.1 I was Secretary at War, and in
intercourse with him as such. He sent for me
to his room and showed me a letter he had just
received denouncing the name and address of
an individual in Manchester who intended to
assassinate him. He said, " I never neglect and
never believe these things." After some dis
cussion it was agreed between us that instead
of going direct to Lord Salisbury's, I should
take Manchester in my way, and investigate
the matter. The (name of the) Borough Reeve,
I forget, but Lavender, of Bow Street notoriety,
was head of the police, and with some difficulty
I ferreted out him, R. Sharpe, whose establish
ment we had visited the day before, and who
had much to do with local arrangements at
that time, and the Borough Reeve.
The enquiry led to no result, and I made
my way on with difficulty through pitchy dark
ness and bad cross-roads to Lord Salisbury's,
which I reached late at night.
I was present, and but too near the horrible
Huskisson catastrophe of the following day. I
had previously disliked the whole concern. We
had information that there was a scheme for
placing a loom across the road at a point which,
I think, must have been somewhere near Patri-
croft. Tricolor flags were displayed at some
parts of the line. The spirit of the district
was detestable. It lacked no encouragement
from the Whigs. It was known that Brougham
1 He was to leave Heaton the day before the opening, in order
to reach Lord Salisbury's by dinner-time.

1830] THE DUKE UNPOPULAR 63
meant mischief at the intended Liverpool dinner,
which Mr Huskisson's death prevented from
coming off.
The day after the catastrophe the Duke, with
a party from Lord Salisbury's, drove to the
Rainhill Station, and met old Stephenson the
engineer, who showed us the Newton Viaduct,
and then rashly took us all by a train, not to
Liverpool, but to the bowels of the Liverpool
tunnel, where, from some accident, we were kept
for an hour or more in total darkness, during
which Wm. Bankes convulsed us with anecdotes
which must have given one or two strangers
who shared our fortunes an odd idea of the
conversation of the first circles. I may mention,
as a trifling indication of the Duke's invariable
kindness to myself, that he wished, and en
deavoured to include in his arrangements, the
compliment of a trip along the Canal to Runcorn.
I remember that poor Captain Bradshaw, who
afterwards committed suicide,, was sent over by
his father to Heaton on this subject, but the
difficulties were found insurmountable. I was
myself, on the whole, glad to get the Duke well
out of the county, and to avoid any unnecessary
exposure of his person to insult or risk. My
father had been reconciled by Roman Catholic
relief to the Duke's Government, and had given
him a cordial invitation to Trentham, which was
accepted. I accompanied him there, and very nearly lost
my life by being run away with on an over-fed,
hard-mouthed hack in his company and that of

64 THE GUILDHALL AFFAIR [1830
the Solicitor-General, afterwards Chief- Justice
Doherty, in the park.
Soon after this followed the Guildhall affair,1
to which, as Secretary at War, with all its
anxieties, I was a party. I remember calling on
Sir Robert Peel, and asking him what he thought
of it. "As badly as possible," was the reply,
with a cheerful smile.
Mutatis mutandis, the contemplated military
arrangements were much the same as those since
adopted for the 10th of April 1848. About 5000
troops and Marines were disposable, but I appre
hend the police were scarcely equal in numbers
or perfection to what they have since become,
and the Whigs were well on the look-out for
any mistake.
I called on the Duke the morning before the
dinner was abandoned, on some business of my
1 A friend furnishes me with the following interesting note on
the Guildhall affair : — " Forgive me for telling you that when I was
an undergraduate at Trinity College, Cambridge, I heard from
Alexander Ronald Grant, a nephew of Lord Glenelg, that on one
occasion his uncle was dining with the Duke, in company with
several young officers, whom after dinner the Duke invited to ask
him any questions they pleased as to his old campaigns. When
they had finished, he said, ' Now, you have asked me a great many
questions ; let me ask you one. What crisis in my military or
political life cost me, do you think, the most anxious consideration ? '
One said ' Assaye,' another ' Salamanca,' another ' Waterloo,' etc.,
etc. ' No, gentlemen, it was when at a Cabinet Council I had to
consider the question of the safety of the King (William IV.) in
going to the dinner in the City, and I felt compelled to say No.
" ' We were very much abused at the time, but when our successors
came into office they found abundant evidence to justify us. There
was a plot to cut the traces of the King's carriage at the foot of
Ludgate Hill, and seize his person as a hostage until the Reform
Bill should be carried ! ' "

1829] MR HUSKISSON 65
own, and found his anteroom full of the military
authorities. What occurred was very curious,
as showing the extent to which his old sub
ordinates carried the dread of obtruding opinions
and advice. There were present Lord Hill, Sir
G. Murray, Lord Fitzroy (Somerset), Lord
Frederick FitzClarence, I think Hardinge, but
am not sure, and some others. They were
discussing a programme under the Duke's hand
of the military arrangements. Fred FitzClarence,
who had ripened from the rattling boy I once
knew him into an excellent officer, delivered
himself of some suggestion, which met with
unanimous approval. Unanimous as they were,
there was not one among them who would go
into the lion's den to propose it. I think it was
either Lord Hill or Lord Fitzroy who at last
suggested to me that as I was to see the Duke
on other matters, I might as well do so. If
I had felt any difficulty, I should have positively
declined, but my own experience of the Duke's
patience and indulgence was such that I positively
felt none. It turned out as I expected, and
the Duke heard and approved the proposal.
This was not the first or last occasion on which
I have acted as an intermediary with him, not
always with success, but without the slightest
reason to suppose that I had burnt my own
fingers in the process.
At the time of the famous rupture with
Huskisson,1 I was Under Secretary for the
1 To those who would desire to refresh their memories on this
subject, I would refer them to my Uncle Charles Greville's
I

66 MR HUSKISSON'S RESIGNATION [1829-
Colonies under Mr Huskisson. I had been in
the House of Commons the evening before when
Huskisson gave his fatal vote on East Retford.
My father was, I knew, very eager on this case,
and I confided to Mr Huskisson my own diffi
culty as to supporting the Government proposal,
without any suspicion that he himself contem
plated the course he took. Nor did he, as I
believe, then contemplate it ; it was later in the
evening that he was suddenly driven to it by an
ill-timed and pinching appeal from Sandon,1 who
little dreamed of the consequences. Huskisson's
reply to me was, " Go away, and do not say I
told you." We had both, I must say, attended a
meeting at the Treasury, in which Peel had
explained the course he meant to pursue, and at
which we might and ought to have stated any
doubts we felt. The shell burst the next day in
Huskisson's forced resignation. My father, who
had with great difficulty, and after a serious
quarrel, allowed me to take office at all under
the Duke and Peel, insisted on my instant
resignation, and I had nothing for it but to
walk down with it to the Colonial Office, where
I was instantly sent for by my late chief. I had
hitherto had nothing but the interests and
pleasures which an interesting department of the
State presents to a young man in my position ;
I liked Huskisson and worshipped the Duke,
and it was with sincere regret that I submitted
Journals, First Series, vol. i. p. 120 and onwards, and vol. ii.
pp. 46-51. They will find all these transactions exhaustively
discussed. — Ed.
1 Lord Sandon, eldest son of the Earl of Harrowby. — Ed.

1830] HUSKISSON AND PEEL 67
to my fate. Huskisson, who was a kind-hearted
man, expressed, and I am convinced, felt, the
same regret on my account. "Well, I am
very sorry," were the first words he addressed
to me.
He then rushed into his own case, with the
most passionate expressions of regret at what
had happened, disavowals of his own intention
to resign, and complaints of the harsh con
struction put upon his letter by the Duke. His
desire to patch the thing up was undisguised.
He told me that Lord Dudley had refused to
approach the King on the subject, that the King
himself had referred everything to the Duke.
He seemed to consider himself as deserted by
his friends and Lord Dudley, of whose apathy
he complained in particular. He said to me at
last, " I think you may do me a service with
Peel. Will you go to him ? " I replied to the
effect that I was hardly acquainted with Sir
Robert, and that I did not believe that I had
ever spoken to him out of the House, and that
he could not have a worse advocate.
"No," he said, "you are not aware that you
stand particularly well with Peel at this moment,
and that he considers you as the only person
who stood by him on a late occasion in the
House of Commons."
The fact was so. At the close of the debate
in the famous motion of Lord John Russell on
the Test and Corporation Acts, a rather violent
attack on Peel by Lord Milton had been followed
up by Sir George Warrender, to whom I had

63 THE DUKE AND HUSKISSON [1829-
replied with some spirit and success, in answer
specially to an accusation of Warrender's that
our Leader had lost his temper. I had reminded
him that our former Leader, Mr Canning, had
not been famous for meeting such attacks with
the Christian patience which he now chose to
exact from his successor, etc., etc. As a skir
mishing tirade this had told with the House,
and Peel, who said nothing to me, had talked of
it to Huskisson.
I remember meeting Warrender, with whom
I was always on intimate terms, afterwards at
Crockford's, where Lord Sefton made great fun
of the incident, and baited Warrender most
pertinaciously, more suo.
Well, what Mr Huskisson desired was, that I
would procure Peel's mediation with the Duke.
I stepped over, for the first time I believe, to
Priory Gardens. Sir Robert was very gracious
and rather nervous, jingled his watch-chain a
good deal, but was not to be moved to interfere
in the way requested. He however assented to
my assumption that a reversal of the Duke's
decree was a thing in itself which for the sake
of public interests was to be desired, and advised
and encouraged me to go at once to the Duke
and do my best. I returned to Downing Street
and made my report, and Huskisson fully con
curring in Peel's suggestion, I did go at once to
the Duke. He was a little surprised, I think,
and not the least offended. He made certainly
a face which I have known him to assume only
on rare occasions, one of rather droll elongation.

1*30] CHARLES GRANT 69
He said if Mr Huskisson did not mean resigna
tion, he knew as well as any man what to do,
meaning that he might withdraw his letter.
Beyond this, which I knew was the one thing
Mr Huskisson would not do, I saw in a moment
that I could effect nothing.
The real history of the transaction is that the
Duke was anxious and glad to get rid of the
Canning element, and this feeling was founded
on what had occurred on the question of the
corn duties.
Charles Grant's (Lord Glenelg) refusal to
move as President of the Board of Trade the
Resolutions adopted by a majority of the Cabinet
on that question had all but dissolved the
Government. Huskisson had then avowed to
the Duke that he did not approve Charles
Grant's refusal, but that if he persevered in it,
he should be compelled to follow him out of
office. The Duke, I know, complained bitterly
of this. He said, " I have no party in my
Cabinet which is prepared to follow me when
they don't agree with me. Any man who. takes
a fair objection to my policy has a right to
withhold his own support to it, and, if it is a
vital question, to resign, but no man has a right
to blow up my Government because somebody
else takes such objection."
My father and many others, being un
acquainted with the real facts, considered the
Duke's conduct as a trick to get rid of the
advocates of Roman Catholic Emancipation.
I knew better, for I suspected at the time what

70 ROMAN CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION [1829-
I shortly after knew for certain, that the Duke
contemplated a measure of relief to the Roman
Catholics. I was appointed soon after to Ireland,
and I went there with a conviction, for which
I had solid grounds, of the Duke's intentions
in this respect. He knew that I was strongly
convinced of the urgency of the case, and I
told him that my tenure of office must be
temporary if nothing was to be done, for that
I thought, otherwise, no man of my opinions
could be long useful in Ireland.
Lord Anglesea, who remained Lord Lieutenant,
and who had recently become zealous for
emancipation, made difficulties for himself and
others by thinking it part of his duty, as Lord
Lieutenant, to press the change of the law. He
would have done better to do as I did, to give
the Duke fair play, knowing his difficulties as
he did, and to content himself with his proper
office of administering the law as he found it,
till the moment when he might feel he could
do so no longer with credit to himself and with
effect. I could not tell him that I knew more than
he did of the Duke's intention. If I could have
done so I should have been able to keep him
from the vagaries which ultimately lost him his
office. I did my best, but the Jesuit Blake,
and flattery, got the better of me and Doherty.
The Duke and Lord Anglesea at this time were
on bad terms, and disliked and distrusted each
other. The fine qualities of each have since
and long been mutually recognized, and among

1830] IRISH REPRESENTATIVE PEERS 71
the testimonies of veneration which are attending
the Duke to the grave, I well know that there
will be none more unqualified and sincere than
that of Lord Anglesea. At the time I speak of
he was in bad hands.
I remember another circumstance which
forcibly illustrated the reluctance, which I
thought, and still consider, most unfounded, of
the Duke's political associates to approach him.
The nomination of Irish representative peers
in vacancies was one of those matters which I
always considered rather beyond the functions
of the Irish Secretary to meddle with. Hearing,
however, that an appointment had been settled
which I thought most objectionable, I went
to Peel to state what appeared to me the ill
consequences to be expected. Peel, being at
the Home Office, was my proper chief. He
entertained my views, but instead of undertaking
the matter himself, he said, " I am now going
to the Duke ; you had better come in while I
and Goulburn are with him, and broach the
subject." I did so rather reluctantly, but found no
difficulty whatever with the Duke, and the result
was that Lord Glengall was substituted, much
to his satisfaction ; and I must say no Irishman
afterwards gave more assiduous and honest
support to those to whom he owed his elevation.
I can easily understand why the Duke's old
military subordinates were shy of him; I must
say that in civil matters the reserve of his
colleagues was misplaced. I have combated his

72 THE DUKE AND COLONEL GALLOWAY [1829.
views and maintained my own with him over
and over again, and never could detect in him
the slightest trace of obstinacy of conviction
or impatience of discussion. In any professional
matter, once settled according to rule, he was
adamant, and neither Arbuthnot, nor I through
Arbuthnot, could have made the slightest impres
sion on him. I never tried this but once, in
a case in which I knew that a decoration well
deserved had been withheld by an accident.
Arbuthnot felt his ground, but found reason
to back out immediately. In another, a purely
professional matter in which no departure from
any rule or reversal of any decision was con
cerned, I succeeded better. When the 33rd
Regiment was encamped near Manchester, in
1848, I became acquainted with a Major
Galloway. He was about to suffer one of the
very usual penalties of poverty in seeing the
second Major, a rich man and excellent officer,
step over his head by purchase. The poor
Major and his brother officers were soon after
wards agreeably surprised by his being gazetted
to the Lieutenant-Colonelcy of a regiment in
India, or under orders to go there. They could
none of them account for the circumstance,
and some attributed it to the accident that the
Duchess of Cambridge had attended a review of
the Regiment at Heaton Park. It was in fact
done on a statement of mine, which I forwarded
to Arbuthnot. My son Frank has since met
the Colonel and his cheerful little Irish wife
in India.

1830] THE DUKE'S UNPOPULARITY 73
I have always dated the Duke's downfall as
Prime Minister, not from the turning-point of
the Reform Bill, but from the barricades of July.
I think it was the day before that news reached
London that a great review was transacted
in Hyde Park by William IV. The day was
glorious, and the crowd immense and satisfied,
the whole ending in a breakfast at Apsley House.
I remember sitting there by the French Minister,
old Laval, whom I had well known in Rome,
and I remember the deep sigh with which he
received some banalities of mine, hoping that he
had good accounts of friends and things at Paris,
For years afterwards, and before we had re
covered the shock of the Reform Bill, the Duke
used to say that this review was the last exhibi
tion of English loyalty and good humour. It
certainly at one time, and for some time, seemed
as if little of these qualities would ever float
upward from the wreck. It was shortly after
his resignation, and when he was at the height
of his unpopularity, that, calling one morning at
Apsley House, I found him dressed for a lev tie .
Lord Cowley, looking ill and dismal, was in the
Secretary's room with my brother-in-law. Lord
Cowley asked, "Is my brother going alone?"
" Yes." " I am sorry for it ; I wish somebody
would go with him." I volunteered for this
service, but it was necessary to pretend that I
was intending to go, and only wanted a con
veyance, for my attendance as an escort would
have been promptly refused. As a favour, a
seat in his carriage was instantly granted, and
K

74 THE DUKE AT OXFORD C»»34-
I sent for a uniform to Bridgewater House
and accompanied him. We took no other
precaution than that of driving straight out of
the stable entrance instead of having his state
carriage brought round. He was treated with
perfect respect by the crowd, which was not
numerous, and included not much rabble.1
The next remarkable occasion on which I met
him, the Oxford Installation, was one from which
I think the rally of Conservatism may be dated.
I walked about Oxford with the Duke and Mrs
Arbuthnot the evening, a very fine one, before
the Installation. I remember his wishing to see
a set of rooms as we were passing through the
modern part of Magdalen. We knocked at the
first door we found open, and invaded a small
party of elderly Fellows, sitting, as if for their
pictures of Oxford life, over their wine.
The ceremony was very stirring. As I had
1 It is to be remembered that early in the struggle for the
Reform Bill the Duke had distinct information that a man, not of
the lower class, intended to attempt his life with an air-gun.
When the Guildhall Scheme was in agitation, Joseph Hume
gave private information to Peel that he, Joseph, had been invited
to take part in an attempt on Buckingham Palace. The Duke
placed ioo ofthe Foot Guards there, and made some preparations
for the defence of Apsley House, of which my brother-in-law
Algernon Greville took charge.
On these occasions, his coachman, Turnham, was a sight to
see. His pride of place and contempt for the rabble were
sublime. He returned once, radiant and excited from strife in a
public-house. The circumstances as he related them were simple, but pregnant.
A politician ofthe society had called the Duke a knave.
" I had my two shillings' worth of brandy and water before me,
scalding hot it was, 'cos I had the heartburn, and I slapped it in
his face."

¦840] OATLANDS 75
to be made a Doctor, I could not see the entry
into the theatre, because I had to wait for my
turn of execution, like the rebel lords on Tower
Hill. I heard, however, afterwards the recita
tion of the Prizes, and the English verse, which
was generally good of its kind, produced a very
fine moment. The subject was the Great St
Bernard, and the author, after due introduction
of Napoleon, rolled out the following with much
unction : —
" Till on that plain, where last the Eagle soared,
War's mightier master wielded Briton's sword,
And the dark soul the world could scarce subdue,
Bowed to thy genius, Chief of Waterloo." 1
The whole audience rose up, and the applause
was endless. It was impossible not to contrast
the spirit of the rising generation here with that
which existed among University Students on
the Continent. Here they would have turned
out to an undergraduate to support the Crown
and the Church ; in France and elsewhere they
would scale a wall to man a barricade, and
sacrifice their young lives for anything, no matter
what, which was not law or order or religion.
While I resided at Oatlands, between 1830 and
1840, the Duke paid us several visits. In these
days he was often to be had at a short notice.
Strathfieldsaye was within riding distance, and
I was never more thoroughly drenched than
once between Cobham and Bagshot on my way
1 This incident has already been alluded to in his letter to my
mother, quoted in my introductory Memoir. — Ed.

76 THE DUKE AT STRATHFIELDSAYE [1830-
thither with Lady Ellesmere. I remember, on
our return ride, two or three days later, we saw a
messenger urging a jaded horse towards Strath-
fieldsaye ; we guessed him to be carrying the
intelligence of the death (or danger) of the poor
Duchess, which was the case.
I at once posted over to Basingstoke, from
which he drove me in his curricle some miles
more or less to the cover side, and, after hunting,
by the same conveyance to Strathfieldsaye. The
process was not without its risks. When it was
cold or rainy he used to close a glass window in
front and drive, or make his companion drive, with
the reins passed through a small hole. Luckily
his horses were tractable. On this occasion1 I
obtained from him a most minute account, re
corded elsewhere, of the whole Burgos trans
action. I remember one sunny morning riding with
him to meet the hounds at that splendid old
mansion, Bramshill. Sir John Cope, the owner,
received us with all honours. The accessories
were very Elizabethan, except the figures. Sir
J. Cope was an old Radical, his country bad, and
his field usually composed of an inferior class of
people. The Duke, when Queen Adelaide visited him,
invited his Radical neighbour, and amused him
self with making him kiss the Queen's hand.
In these hunting days, one of the oddest incidents
of his system of doing his duty to everyone was
his annually dining with Lord Portsmouth, who
1 2nd February 1836.

1840] THE DUKE AS A SHOT 77
was mad and under surveillance. Lord Ports
mouth was allowed two decanters of weak wine
and water, from which he drank bumper toasts,
the first, always proposed in a short speech by
himself, being the Master of the Vine Hounds,
meaning himself.
The Duke, when I first knew him, was a
quick and tolerably sure shot. The game was
plentiful at Strathfieldsaye, till a poaching affray
occurred which cost, I think, the life of one of
his keepers, and he then left off strictly preserv
ing. He had the propensity of cheerful minds
to be satisfied with his own possessions and
acquisitions. He thought Strathfieldsaye perfect
as a residence. His horse and his gun were
in his opinion better than anybody's. His guns
were Moore's manufacture, and when he made
a long shot, which, firing at everything, he
sometimes did, he would laud and extol the
maker. I remember at Woodford he invented
a very neat bandage for a sore finger, and did
nothing but exhibit how he could tie and untie
it for himself. He hated all assistance,1 though
he loved to give it, and I am sure, though I
1 A propos of this trait of the Duke's, I remember a little incident
on the occasion ofthe Queen's first visit to Worsley Hall, in 185 1.
Her Majesty alighted from the train at Patricroft, and was
conveyed by the canal in the private barge, the suite in another.
The barge which conveyed the Duke and others had to be drawn
up a little beyond the landing-place, and we had to alight on
the bank, which was steep and grassy. My mother had to hasten
to the carriages, so as to arrive at the house to be in time to receive
the Royal party on the doorstep.
I was alarmed to see the Duke struggling up the bank, he
being past eighty, and I saw the moment when he would slip
into the canal, so I seized hold of his hand and hauled him up.

78 PERSONAL HABITS [1830-
never witnessed his toilet, that no man's valet
had less to do in the way of personal attendance.
His dress was scrupulously neat, and he was
quick in adopting any invention against cold or
wet, boas, capes, overalls of strange construction
and material, etc., etc.
He was an early purchaser of a patent razor
for safe shaving, and when he paid for the
purchase with a cheque in his own hand, the
inventor, instead of cashing it, framed and glazed
it. He was no neglecter of his own person,
and his ablutions were not of the partial and
scanty old school. He not only looked clean,
but was so. I do not remember that in his
society I ever heard from any one, still less
from him, anything which might not have been
repeated before ladies. On religious topics I
never heard him speak, but I knew from
Arbuthnot he professed implicit and uncom
promising belief in the doctrines of the Church
of which, as all men know, he attended the
observances. He did not say a word, but when we got up to the top, solemnly
shook hands with me, which was funny.
It was on that occasion also that following in the royal
progress to Manchester, where the Queen was to open the Royal
Exchange, amid prolonged cheering, a renewed burst always took
place as soon as the carriage conveying the Duke appeared. He
sat quite immovable, taking none of it to himself. At last, sitting
opposite as I was, I got so excited that I leant forward and said,
"Duke, that's for you!" Whereupon he solemnly put the two
fingers to his hat, as was his usual mode of salutation, and the
people cheered louder than ever.
Once when we came to a momentary standstill a working-man
came to the carriage and held out his hand ; the Duke shook
hands with him with the same immovability. — Ed.

1842] THE DUKE'S LOVE OF MUSIC 79
His attention to music was notorious. It was
shown in his regular attendance at the " Ancient
Musics," his listening to Lady Douro's harp,
Mrs Dyce Sombre, and other amateur singing,
and his punctual appearance at the Opera when
Jenny Lind was the prima donna.
He was a great admirer of Mrs Butler (Fanny
Kemble), and constantly took a stall when she
acted. When she acted in The Hunchback, in
Belgrave Square, he told us he was engaged
to the Beauforts to meet the Duke and Duchess
of Cambridge, and that he would keep that
engagement, provided they kept theirs, and
that there were signs of dinner at the time
specified in the invitation. He went, but finding
no sign of dinner at a quarter to eight,
very deliberately drove off to us, leaving them
in the lurch, Royalties and all. (2nd June
1842.) Whether this (love of music) was the pleasure
which men like myself, destitute of the musical
faculty, are still capable of receiving from music,
or whether he inherited an organ for sound from
his father, Lord Mornington, I am not sure.
Croker told me that he had ascertained that
the Duke, while a subaltern, played the violin,
that he left it off when on becoming a field-
officer he for the first time began to pay serious
attention to his profession, and that he disliked
any mention of the circumstance.
Since this was written, the following letter
from an old friend of my family, Mrs Stuart
MacKenzie, has reached me through my brother.

80 MRS STUART MACKENZIE 11842-
She writes, after alluding to my Worsley dis
course : " 15th November 1852.
" Lord Ellesmere spoke of the great hero's
first victory at Eton School. I know of a
second, more characteristic, which I have never
seen mentioned, and which, if you will allow me,
I will relate to you. Everyone knows that to
the last the Duke was fond of and a fine judge
of music ; in youth he was a performer on the
violin, of which he grew so fond that, giving
up a great deal of time to it, he began to fear
lest the hereditary taste should get the better
of him, and in one day he broke the spell, laid
aside his violin, and never afterwards touched
it. This circumstance occurred during the time
of his early attachment to, as you know, my
dear friend the Duchess, who has often repeated
it to me with pride as an omen of what was
to be expected from his great self-command and
firmness of decision. So many of his con
temporaries are dead that perhaps no one
remains to bear witness to the truth of my
story, but I think it were a pity that it were
quite lost, and I could mention it to no one
who could more feelingly appreciate it than your
self, or be less inclined to doubt the testimony
(even though single) of your Grace's (etc., etc.). —
" Mary Stuart MacKenzie.
" To the Duke of Sutherland."
I remember at Wherstead he got hold of a
triangle and used to accompany with it some
waltzes which Madame de Lieven had imported
from Hanover and played with her exquisite

1852] QUEEN VICTORIA AT WORSLEY 81
execution on the piano. This instrument had
been sent for to Ipswich to enable Madame de
Lieven to reproduce the effect of a particular
waltz which had been the only agreeable feature
of George IV.'s unpleasant visit to Hanover.
The Duke's recollections of Eton appeared to
me not to be vivid. He has spoken to others
of boyish escapades there, such as getting out
of his dame's house at night, etc.
The only two men I have met who were
his contemporaries there were Lord Skelmersdale
and Bobus Smith. Lord Skelmersdale, I think,
recollects him only as a healthy and jovial boy.
Bobus Smith told me that the Duke's first
victory was over him, Smith ; that they had
fought a regular battle, and that he, Smith, had
succumbed. I mentioned this to the Duke, who said he
could not recollect it.
The last remarkable occasion on which I met
the Duke was one which has been fully adverted
to in preceding pages of this volume,1 the
Queen's visit to Worsley. I thank her for
having procured me the pleasure of this recol
lection. I see him now on his arrival. I was
laid up as I am now, in the room where I write
this, and he spent an hour there before dressing
time, with Lady Ellesmere, Lady Wilton,2 and
myself, in the highest force and spirits.
I wrote in successive years two elaborate
1 A sort of Diary and Book of Reminiscences, extracts, etc.,
etc., from which these Memoranda are copied by the Editor.
2 Mary, daughter of the Earl of Derby, first Countess of Wilton.
L

82 THE QUARTERLY ARTICLES [1842-
articles in the Quarterly, for the purpose of
showing up some follies of the historian Alison
which, coming from a professed admirer of the
Duke, and a Conservative, carried with them
more weight than they deserved. The history
of these compositions is worth relating. The
Duke had made it a rule never to read any
work whatever bearing on his military career.1
He said that they would merely tempt and
provoke him to comments which he could not
make without offence to living men. Before I
knew this I once asked him for his opinion on
a passage in Napier, with whose work I took for
granted he was familiar. He positively refused
to read even an extract.
While he was out of office he read everything
else that came out, and I had been in the habit
of sending him everything I had picked up, on
the Continent especially, in the way of new
works which I thought worth his notice, and
generally ascertained, by his remarks, that he
had digested them. One only of these, a clever
history of the last Polish insurrection, I never
got back. How then did he come across that
pompous compiler from gazettes, Alison ? It was
thus. Arbuthnot had asked me to recommend
him a readable Sunday paper. I suggested the
Spectator, because I thought it very clever, and
that its Liberalism would be qualified to
Arbuthnot's taste by its lavish weekly abuse of
1 He did, however, although very rarely, make an exception to
this rule, as when he wrote his famous memorandum in reply to
Clausewitz' " History of the Campaign."

1852] THE DUKE AND MR ALISON 83
the Whigs. That the Duke would read it did
not enter into my speculations, and if it had I
should not have been deterred, for there was
much sense and ability in many of its articles.
One number, however, contained a criticism on
Alison, which brought under the Duke's notice
the mis-statements of that writer and his foolish
inferences from such authority as the soi-disant
" Mefnoires " of Fouche. The Duke made a nearer
approach to being ruffled than I ever witnessed
in him, and in the first instance took the wrong
sow by the ear. He knew nothing of Mr Alison,
and rushed, at first, to the conclusion that the
Conservative Sheriff — who, poor man, thinks to
this hour that the Duke owes half his fame to
his writings — was a Whig, hired by that party
to depreciate and defame him. I had much
difficulty in convincing him of the real state
of the case, namely, that Mr Alison sincerely
admired the Duke, but only admired himself a
good deal more. When, however, I undertook,
with Gurwood's assistance, to deal with this
nonsense in the Quarterly, the Duke not only
gave his imprimatur and sanction to all I wrote,
but in the second instance furnished me with a
memorandum in his own hand, which I was able
to a great extent to incorporate into the article.
Blockheads, who thought that they were com
menting on me, or some one of as little weight
and authority, little knew whose language they
were criticising and whose statements of fact
they were disputing. Alison's first offence was
venial, but his perseverance was inexcusable.

84 THE DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND [1842-
The Duke was fond of talking of his
"rapports" with George IV., and of his mode
of managing the particular temperament and
caprices of that strange character. The task
had not been easy, for the private society in
which His Majesty chose to indulge did not
refrain from political machinations which re
quired attention to watch and dexterity to
defeat. I remember one instance of a sudden ebullition
of independence which would have been amusing
in its details if the subject had been less dis
tressing, for it related to the carrying out a
capital sentence. During the Lord- Lieutenancy
of the Duke of Northumberland, and while I
was his Secretary, an Irish gentleman of family,
and a magistrate, was convicted of an aggravated
case of arson. The evidence was conclusive,
the malice unquestioned ; mercy to a man in
such a position and class of life would have been
an insult to justice and public opinion. The
wretched man, however, had an advocate in the
higher quarter, and one fine day a letter reached
the Phoenix Park commanding the Lord-
Lieutenant to reprieve the convict.
I was staying at Hatfield, when I received a
letter from my dear friend Archdeacon Singleton,
Private Secretary to the Duke of Northumber
land, announcing that the Lord- Lieutenant had
sent in his resignation. I ordered post horses
and drove straight up to Apsley House. As I
entered the Duke's room, and before I was well
over the threshold, he exclaimed, " I know what

1852] THE DUKE AND GEORGE IV. 85
you are come about. I have been to Windsor
and settled it all." I need not add that the
wretched man was punctually executed.
In trifles, as well as matters of importance,
these explosions of autocracy were sometimes
very embarrassing. The privilege of the entree
at Court, and of driving through the Park, were
matters of which George IV. was not unreason
ably jealous. I never ventured as Irish Secretary
to ask for either, neither did they accrue in
virtue of his office to the Lord- Lieutenant.
One day His Majesty took it into his head
to reform the list, and the first name he struck
out was that of the Duke of Northumberland,
who had lately accepted the Irish Office, and
had long enjoyed the privilege. This was the
sort of difficulty the Duke had frequently to
settle. On one occasion when the Duke visited the
cottage, it pleased His Majesty to go out
shooting. Unfortunately he missed every shot.
The subject of the morning's occupation was
not once mentioned at dinner.
Knighton knew more than was convenient,
and George IV., who felt his power but did
not like to break with him, used to take every
opportunity of small revenge. Knighton did
not know French, and the King, addressing
Sir Henry Halford, expatiated on the charm
of French Memoirs, adding his regret that
Knighton could not profit by it. "Sir, I can
write Memoirs of my own, if I am at a loss,"
was the reply, and a settler.

86 THE CANNINGITES [1842-
There was nothing George IV. liked better
than to assert his social independence by sur
rounding himself with notorious and active
enemies of his Ministers, male and female, the
latter especially. The Duke, however, knew
most of what passed, was prepared for all devices,
and ready to brush- away the flies when they
buzzed too palpably. Except the bitterness of
the Whigs at one time against Canning and
the Grenville party, I never knew acrimony
and under-valuation carried further than it was
against the Duke by the surviving friends of
Mr Canning.
Till the Despatches were published I do not
think that either they or the Whigs conceded
to him any Civil talent, and many Whigs are
known to have believed that even his military
successes had been due to such subordinates
as Picton. Brougham was one of the first to
do him justice, and Lord Grey, in private, did
so very handsomely when the Despatches ap
peared. It was certainly an extraordinary freak of
nature which produced from the same stock two
such men as Lord Wellesley and his brother
Arthur, so eminent and so antipodean in their
eminence. If Virgil and Caesar, Pope and
Cromwell, had been brothers, the contrast could
hardly have been more striking.
In addition to the instances above related
in which my interference has been requested
with the Duke, I may mention that Lord John
Russell one morning requested me to pay him

1852] WALMER 87
a visit. I went over accordingly to Chesham
Place. I found that his object, which I had
been unable to conjecture, as I was in no political
relations with the Prime Minister, was to request
me to make the Duke acquainted with the fact
that the Government, expecting to be hard
pressed on the subject of the Navigation Laws
in the Lords, had made up their minds, in case
of their being out-voted, to resign. They were
of opinion that in the existing state of parties,
the Duke would see in this contingency danger
and prejudice to public interests, and they
therefore wished him to shape a course by
which many others would probably be guided
on a full knowledge of the circumstances. As
it happened, I had no reluctance, for I had
had a conversation with Sir Robert Peel which
had left myself no doubts as to my own vote,
and I was well content that the Duke should
hear what might possibly influence him in the
same direction.
One of the last and kindest personal favours
I received at the Duke's hands was the loan
of Walmer Castle as a residence for last year's
( 185 1) winter months. Any service of this
description to a friend was what he most delighted
in, and he thought Walmer, as he thought
most places where his own lot was cast,
charming, and that its dry soil and sea air
would suit my health. I occupied as my study
the room which he lived in, where, alas ! he
has breathed his last and now lies. His eighty-
three years, and all the obvious reflections on the

88 THE DUKE'S PICTURES [1842-
common lot of sinful, and therefore mortal, man,
cannot reconcile me to the thought. I have
seen him in that room, in his litter of papers,
with its deep embrasures, its cross-lights, and
its curtainless camp-bed with its faded green
silk cover. I knew every book in the shelves
over the bed. One of his last acts was to
send a message through Clanwilliam to renew
the offer for the approaching winter, and I
daily expected a letter to that effect. The last
letter we did receive here from him was one
to Lady Ellesmere, acknowledging the receipts of
some extracts from Sir Robert Gardiner's Orders
at Gibraltar, very creditable to my son Arthur,
in which he promised to bring him forward in
his profession. It was a kind one, on a pleasant
subject, and I thank God it was so.
In the purchase of pictures the Duke always
consulted Siguier till the death of that very
worthy counsellor. There is a picture now at
Apsley House, a very good head by Velasquez,
said to be a portrait of Quesado. This had
been sold at Lady Stuart's sale (mother to Lord
Stuart de Rothesay), and was re-purchased at
my suggestion from Smith of Bond Street, as
a fitting addition to his Spanish pictures, but
not without Seguier's advice. Lady West
moreland, herself an artist, had, however, more
influence than I had with him in matters of
art, and, in the case of the statue by Wyatt,
I think it was her influence which led him to
insist on its being placed where it is, or at
least to express his feeling in that disputed

1852] PORTRAITS OF THE DUKE 89
question in a manner which made resistance
impossible. It is, I think, a bad thing in a
bad place.1
He was much pleased with d'Orsay's statuette
of himself, and was eager to take me to Gore
House to see it. I forget what prevented us.
The best sculpture of and concerning him, in
my opinion, is Steele's statue at Edinburgh,
and the bas-reliefs on Marochetti's pedestal at
Glasgow. The best portraits, Arbuthnot's half-
length by Lawrence, and Sir Robert Peel's
whole-length, standing with the telescope, also
by Lawrence ; one of the worst, Lord Bathurst's
equestrian full-length, which is a libel on poor
Copenhagen, who was not made of wood. I
have often visited the old horse in his paddock
with the Duke. When he died, Mrs Arbuthnot
and, I think, other ladies had bracelets made of
his hair.
After the Battle of Talavera he sat to a
Portuguese artist for a whole-length, of which
there is an elaborate line-engraving. He is
represented, I think, in Portuguese uniform, in
Hessians, and it is remarkable for the size and
strength of the legs, in which I believe the
artist was accurate. This print I have seen in
the dining-room at Walmer, and I think there
is another in a bed-room at Apsley House. I
never saw one except that at Walmer, and I
conclude it to be rare. The engraver inscribed
1 Removed when the alterations were made at Constitution Hill,
and a much better one occupies its place. Wyatt's was on the top
of the Arch, and was far too big for its position, besides all
its other faults. — Ed. M

9o

REVIEW OF CLAUSEWITZ [1842-

under it the Latin word invicto. Croker tells
me that the Duke wrote under this in pencil,
"Don't cry till you are out of the wood" — a
modest commentary which fortunately never
became applicable.
The second article which I wrote for the
Quarterly on Waterloo was partly a commentary
on the work of the Prussian Clausewitz. A
translation in MS. of this had been furnished
to him by a friend — I believe the late Lord
Liverpool. The Duke had some doubt of the
competence of the translator, and would not
look at it till I had gone over it and certified
its accuracy, which I did. He then read it,
and made on it comments, some of which appear
verbatim in the article in question. I forwarded
to him last year some passages which I trans
lated for him from Miiffling's autobiography. I
received in return several sheets of observations
on the Belgian campaign which cost me much
pains to decipher. His handwriting of late
had become the despair of his friends, and also
of himself, when he had to recur to it. The
reason of this was that he would persevere in
writing without spectacles. His sight, like my
own, had remained perfect for distant objects.
He was rather proud of this, and was slow to
admit that it had become defective for near
inspection. He read at my request my preface to Clause
witz on the Russian campaign, and wrote me
a commentary, concurring with my observations.
His private life of latter years was very

1852] CROKER AND ARBUTHNOT 91
lonely. His increasing deafness made conversa
tion laborious to him, and the intercourse of
the dinner-table what it always must be to
the deaf, tantalising. I am convinced that but
for the misfortune of that deafness which de
prived the Duke for some of his last years
of social intercourse, the unclouded state of his
faculties would have been recognised by all.
A week before he died, he paid a long visit
to Croker. The latter informed me that he
adverted in his conversation to the remote period
when he was Irish Secretary. When he left
England, still holding that office, he committed
some of its business, Irish bills, to the care of
Croker, and he now adverted to details of them
which Croker himself had long forgotten.
While Arbuthnot remained to him, it was
easier for him to entertain common friends of
both than it afterwards became, and though to
the last I could depend upon the same cheerful
and cordial reception by him at Apsley House,
I would not on any account have suggested
myself as a guest at dinner, as I sometimes did
when Arbuthnot was at hand.
At Walmer he may be said to have been
alone sometimes for weeks. His sound sleep by
night never left him, though latterly he slept
a good deal by day. I have often looked into
his room at Apsley House, and found him fast
in his chair, in a chaos of papers, which I might
have read without a chance of rousing him.
Still, to the last, I never found in him apparent
reluctance to discuss and enter into any subject,

92 AFGHANISTAN : THE " PORTFOLIO " [1836
public or private, which I had occasion to start,
and if it were one which he had been considering,
his voice would rise, and the old fire blaze up
with as much energy as in the House of Lords.
The only time I ever was at Burleigh, he was
one of a large party. It was at the crisis of the
Canada insurrection, and he came to my room
to read me a paper of military suggestions, which
he was about to send off to the Whig Govern
ment. The walls of Burleigh are thick, or I
question whether his voice would not have
reached the drawing-room.
One of his compositions which struck me as
most extraordinary of its class, was a paper of
this kind upon India, having reference to the
Afghan War, but which involved military geo
graphical details relating to the whole extent of
the three Presidencies. He had drawn it up
entirely from memory, and without looking at
a map. On the difficulties of the Afghanistan
operation, the clash of the Bombay and Bengal
armies on the river, the necessity of dealing with
the Ameers, etc., he was absolutely prophetic.
This happened 28th January 1836. On this
occasion the Duke told us the history of the
Portfolio. The papers were obtained in Con
stantinople by the clever adventurer and
creature of Palmerston, Urquhart, who was
made Secretary of Legation, and had at the
time complete possession of Lord Ponsonby.
They were published in order to get up a
feeling in favour of war with Russia, were a
good deal garbled, but true in the main. I

1852] QUEEN VICTORIA AT WORSLEY 93
remember his laughing much at an incident of
this time and subject. There was a fire in
Downing Street at the Foreign Office, and
Urquhart, who was supposed to be at Constanti
nople, suddenly rose like a phantom in the ruins.1
I was anxious once to ask his advice and
that of Lord Lyndhurst on some matters of
legal concern to myself. They both came down
to Oatlands at a day's notice. His habit of
late years of coming among the earliest to
evening parties, and staying for a few compli
mentary minutes, was well known. I think he
stayed longer than usual at the ball this year
(1852) which was given by Lady Ellesmere in
the Gallery of Bridgewater House. He spoke to
many in high appreciation of all our proceedings
for and during the reception of the Queen (at
Worsley Hall), seemed to consider no expense
wasted on such a purpose.
He called on Lady Clanwilliam the morning
after his return to Walmer, to tell her all the
1 I am tempted to quote here a foot-note from my uncle Charles
Greville's Journals on the subject of the Portfolio.
The text has : " I was desirous of seeing the Duke to hear what
he says to the Portfolio, which makes so much noise here." (Then
comes the note.) " A collection of diplomatic papers and corre
spondence between the Russian Government and its agents
published about this time by Mr Urquhart, was supposed to
throw light on the secret policy of the Cabinet of St Petersburg.
They were, in fact, copies of the original documents which had
been sent to Warsaw for the information of the Grand Duke
Constantine when Viceroy of Poland, and they fell into the hands
of the insurgents at the time of the Polish revolution of 1850.
Prince Adam Czartorisky brought them to England, where
the publication of them excited great attention." — "Journal of
the Reigns of George IV. and William IV.," vol. iii. p. 327,
A.D. 1 836. —Ed.

94

THE DUKE'S DIET [1814

particulars, and described it as the best arranged
festivity he had assisted at — praise which leaves
nothing to be desired.
In his diet the Duke was temperate and very
careless. He was fond of telling of the uniform
good health which he enjoyed in India, where
for three years he lived under canvas, eating
little but rice, and drinking little or no wine.
His Indian habits as to rice continued through
life ; he ate it with meat, and almost everything,
and those who knew his habits had it in
readiness where he dined out. Of late years,
an ordinary observer would have considered
him a very indiscriminate feeder ; in the flow
of conversation at dinner he often, without think
ing or caring about it, accepted everything that
was carried round, and I have seen his plate
filled with the most incongruous articles, which,
however, he scarcely tasted, but sent away
almost untouched.
I have often seen him do the honours of a
large tea-table on returning from a shooting party
at Strathfieldsaye. I believe him to have been
the inventor of the commixture of ale with soda
water, which I, first at least, tasted under his
auspices. He scarcely knew one wine from
another, and was quite unconscious of such
minor gastronomic evils as bad butter at
breakfast. When he reached Dover in 18 14, after six
years' absence from England, the first order he
gave at the Ship Inn was for an unlimited supply
of buttered toast. Alava, who was present, made

1821] THE PAVILION IN 182 1

95

some conversation with the landlady, who told
him that it was a remarkably fine season for
apples, which the Spaniard treasured up as a
standing joke upon the climate and productions
of England.
His health, till that period of his mission to
Russia when he first suffered from deafness,
had been nearly uninterrupted. I think he was
once laid up in Spain for a few hours with
lumbago. In India he contracted a rather
obstinate and troublesome cutaneous disease
from sleeping in the captain's berth in a
Portuguese vessel. He cured it with nitric acid
baths, then in vogue, under a Dr Scott.
In 1 82 1, soon after my Wherstead visit, I was,
for reasons best known to George IV., a frequent
guest at the Pavilion, where among many guests
I again met the Duke. I remember one dinner
at which George IV. related the entire history
of the assassination of the Emperor Paul, subject
to constant correction by the Duke, who knew
the details more accurately.
I have said that he was a somewhat careless
driver. At one time he was in the habit of
driving himself about the streets at night in a
cabriolet, in a most daring and reckless fashion.
I remember a great dinner given by Lord
Salisbury to the Duke, Peel, and others, to
exhibit his house, lately enlarged and repaired.
The walls were still damp, and Lady Salisbury
I believe to have caught the illness off them
of which she died. It was the longest and
latest dinner of my experience, and would have

96 THE DUKE'S OPINION OF CAVALRY [1821
been longer if the Duke had not at last risen
to go to the Ancient Music. He took me in
his cab through a fog, with a high-trotting horse
and a slack rein, talking all the while.
He grew latterly very impatient of any
request to sit for bust or picture. I scarcely
know a subject on which I should have so much
feared to approach him. The Minister of a
foreign Sovereign was not long since obliged to
do so, and my brother-in-law was equally obliged
to break the message to him. " I won't sit,"
he said; "why can't they take some of the
existing busts and copy that ? " After a pause
he said, "D  n him!" His use of this
expletive was rare. I do not remember ever
hearing him swear.
He was commonly supposed to have held
cavalry in general, and our cavalry in particular,
in comparatively low esteem. I do not, however,
think that I ever heard him speak so highly of
the performance of any troops as he did to me
of the conduct of the — th Light Dragoons at
Bristol. He said that no foreign troops in the
world could have dealt as they did with the
difficulties of the case.
" When," he said, " they were ordered to walk,
they walked — to trot, they trotted— to strike
with the flat of the sword, they did it. When
they were ordered out of the town, they went,
and when told to return and quell the riot, they
did it with a single troop."
I do not remember to have seen any favourite
about the Duke of the canine species. I have

¦82i] OPINIONS OF GENERALS

97

heard him speak of one in India, a terrier, which,
being left behind when he took the field, made
his way for 400 miles across the country to his
quarters. He told Mr Arbuthnot that he read Caesar's
" Commentaries " through and through in India.
He considered Hannibal, by many degrees, the
greatest soldier on record. He had certainly
little respect for the professional writers of our
time on strategy, such as Jomini, but spoke of
the Archduke Charles as a man who "could
show the best of us the way," meaning as an
author. He had also a high opinion of the Archduke
as a commander in the field, and considered his
campaign against Jourdain and Moreau, in 1798,
as the greatest strategic display of science of
our time.
Of his own antagonists, the Duke invariably
spoke of Massena as the most dangerous and
difficult to deal with ; of Soult as the best
strategist, but as very defective and irresolute
in actual collision.
He mentioned as his beau-ideal of a cavalry
regiment one of Saxon Hussars, which formed
part of the army of occupation in France.
On the subject of the relative merits of the
Austrian and Prussian armies, he preferred the
old soldiers of the Austrian rank-and-file to the
short service and almost militia material of the
Prussian system. The latter, however, he con
sidered as having a great advantage in having
its gentry among the infantry officers — in
N

98 OPINION OF NAPOLEON'S TACTICS [i8ai
Austria, men of family usually entering only into
the cavalry. He considered that the excellence
of our own army mainly derived itself from the
circumstance that its officers were gentlemen in
the true sense of the word. A French officer,
he said, will cut your throat if you tell him he is
not a gentleman, but that does not make him
one. He believed the Austrian artillery to be
the best instructed in Europe.
The Duke was always slow to speak in
disparagement of foreign troops and their com
manders. From many conversations, however,
I ascertained that his opinion was not high of
the systems pursued to the last by the Allies in
their operations against Napoleon. He opined
that they had throughout indulged in distant
and ineffective cannonades, and that they laid
too much account by the relative proportions of
artillery in the field. He was satisfied that in
a little time he would have made their soldiers
as good as his own for carrying out a more
summary and practical system of bringing on
collision. Napoleon's system he believed to be
very simple and effective — that of bullying with
much noise and smoke, puzzling his cautious
adversaries as to his point of attack, and massing
under cover of light troops and guns his own
people on one or two points. His cavalry he
used with skill and effect in masses which moved
forward, not fast, and occupied a position till
the infantry could follow and secure it. "He
tried this," he said, " with me at Waterloo, and
when he had placed his men on the ground he

1821] THE HUNDRED DAYS

99
probably concluded that, according to precedent,
I should retire ; but I moved up thirteen regiments
of infantry, and destroyed or disorganized the
cavalry before he could follow up the rush." 1
2gth October 1853. — Flahault gave Lord
Rutherford an account of a curious and im
pressive scene at which he assisted as Aide-de
camp to Napoleon during the Hundred Days.
A regiment, recruited from La Vendee, had
fired upon a body of the troops which had come
over to Napoleon in the south of France. When
the latter was reinstated in the Tuileries he
ordered this regiment to Paris, and one morning
formed it into a hollow square, and, attended
only by Flahault, rode into it to address them —
1 It was the practice of the French cavalry to receive attacks
standing still with a volley of carbines. The instances of this in
York's Life, by Droysen, a valuable book, are frequent. It
appears often to have answered, and notoriously did so at Ligny,
where the heavy cavalry received Blucher's last attack in this
manner, but in many instances it signally failed against the
Prussians. I collect from Prussian works that this mode of
receiving attack was almost invariable with the French heavy
cavalry. In our service, and, I apprehend, in most others, it is
a rule that cavalry should never wait to receive an attack.
He considered Napoleon as the greatest master on record in
the art of handling large masses, and deriving the greatest
possible advantage from superiority of numbers and resources ;
further, as the most dangerous of all commanders in front of
whom to make a false movement. He assented to the popular
French dictum, that his presence with his army was to be
valued at 40,000 men. As to his policy, "that was all bullying."
[I heard an anecdote in a sermon this morning : " After one of
the peaces which we made with Napoleon, the latter was much
displeased with the arrangements, and said to our Ambassador,
' I will make war upon England ! ' The Ambassador bowed
and replied, ' That, Sir, is your own affair.' Still more angry
Napoleon rejoined, ' I will annihilate England ! ' ' That, Sir, is
our affair.' "—Ed.]

ioo OPINION OF CHARLES I. AND JAMES II. [1821
Flahault, from his knowledge of the disposition
of officers and men, being persuaded that the
life of neither was worth two minutes' purchase.
The address was to the effect : " You are
steeped in disgrace and infamy. You have fired
on these glorious colours which have led you
from victory to victory, from capital to capital.
I should be justified in decimating and dis
banding you, but I will yet give you the
opportunity of expiating your guilt. You shall
wash away its traces with your own blood and
with that of the enemies of France."
The effect was indescribable. The regiment
left the ground the most attached to his person
and his dynasty of those which a few days later
sacrificed themselves at Waterloo.
I find the following memorandum of a conver
sation. I mentioned Mitchell's (author of " Life
of Wallenstein ") low opinion of Napoleon's
military talents and exploits. The Duke said :
" He is certainly wrong. Napoleon was the
first man of his day on a field of battle, and
with French troops. I confine myself to that.
His policy was mere bullying, and, military
matters apart, he was a Jonathan Wild."
I quoted some passages from Fielding's
Memoir of that great man, which made the
Duke laugh for half an hour. He is fully
worthy of Fielding, and has a keen enjoyment
of wit.
The Duke had some singular opinions about
Charles I. and James II. He considered the

1821] NAPOLEON AT WATERLOO 101
former as remarkable for military talent — "the
best officer of his day " was the expression.
James II. , he said, "showed great administrative
talent at the Admiralty, and the best regulations
now existing in that department date from his
tenure of office."
The Duke and Croker, travelling in a carriage
together, played, to pass the time, a game which
consists in guessing at the description of the
objects to be first met with after crowning a
hill or turning a corner. The Duke had greatly
the advantage, and when Croker observed upon
his success, said: "You don't consider that I
have been passing my life in guessing what I
might meet with beyond the next hill, or round
the next corner? ..."
The Duke mentioned, as one of the most
remarkable phenomena of sudden and total rout
of a disciplined army he had ever seen, the fact
that when the French position at Waterloo was
finally carried, he saw in more than one instance
the arms of entire regiments piled, as they had
been during the day, in rear of the corps engaged,
and deserted by their owners.
Ouvrard, who as Chief Commissary and
contractor to the French army had attended
Napoleon through the action, told me that
Napoleon was suffering from a complaint which
made riding painful and nearly impossible. He
sat through nearly the whole of the day on a
rush-bottomed chair. I could not collect from
Ouvrard that he was ever what would be con
sidered fairly under fire, but he, Ouvrard, said

102 THE DUKE AND BOBUS SMITH
that a led horse was hit by a stray shot among
the suite in his immediate attendance.
Lord Hatherton heard from Bobus Smith the
particulars of his Eton encounter with the Duke.
Smith was bathing, and was pelted from .the
bank by young Wellesley. He threatened to
get out and thrash him, which the other dared
him to do. He got out and fought without
dressing, and was defeated in three or four
rounds.1 The Duke frequently spoke of his adventures
at sea. He had a quarrel with the officer in
command of the ship which conveyed him to
Ceylon. The band of one of the regiments was
on board. The men complained of the pro
visions, and deputed the band-master to make a
1 Bath, 6th October 1853,
General Sir Alexander MacKenzie of Fairbairn was with the
Duke at the Angers Military Academy. He now resides at Bath.
He was called " le beau MacKenzie," a favourite of the Duke
of York, and full of recollections. The Duke at Angers was ailing
and sickly, too much so to take much part in the bodily exercises,
riding, fencing, etc., which, I believe, were the principal part
of the instruction at this school. He passed most of the time
on a sofa, playing with a white terrier. They left the Academy
together, and travelled to Paris. Some miles short of that city
their carriage broke down, and they had to walk the remainder
of the way, and had some difficulty in finding a lodging. They
did not meet again till after Waterloo, when the General found
the Duke at Paris, not having this time broken down by the way.
He reminded the Duke of their adventure. " Recollect it ? " said
the Duke, " to be sure I do, and I have been doing nothing but
try to find out the place where we lodged."
The General observed that, in following the Duke's subsequent
career, nothing had surprised him more than his physical strength
and endurance, remembering, as he did, his condition at Angers.
"Ah," said the Duke, "that is all India. India effected a total
change in my constitution."

TICKELL'S LINES ON ADDISON 103
representation to the Captain, who immediately
ordered him to be flogged. General Wellesley,
being informed of this, asked the Captain
whether it was so, and the latter coolly replied
it was, that he was master on board, accountable
to nobody, etc., etc. The Duke said, certainly
the man must be flogged, but added, " I shall
make my report on shore, and you will abide
the consequences." The outrage was not
committed. A ten-gun brig conveyed him to Germany to
join Lord Cathcart. The Captain had his wife
on board, and the main cabin was divided by a
flag, the couple on one side, the Duke on the
other. The lady did not leave her berth during
the voyage, but when the vessel was coming
to an anchor at Cuxhaven, the Duke heard her
order the cabin-boy, who acted as lady's-maid,
to bring her the Captain's comb and toothbrush,
and a pair of silk stockings, as she was going
ashore. The splendid lines of Tickell1 (on Addison)
have probably been often applied to the obsequies
1 An Extract from Thomas Tickell's lines, "To the Earl of
Warwick, on the Death of Addison."
" Can I forget the dismal night that gave
My soul's best part for ever to the grave !
How silent did his old companions tread
By midnight lamps, the mansions of the dead,
Through breathing statues, then unheeded things,
Through rows of warriors, and through walks of kings !

While speechless o'er thy closing grave we bend,
Accept these tears, thou dear departed friend.
Oh, gone for ever ! take this long adieu ;
And sleep in peace next thy loved Montague."

104 WATERLOO REMINISCENCES [1845
of eminent men. They were, in my opinion, much
misapplied by Sir James Mackintosh to those
of Grattan. I remember the Duke saying that
he had always repented the having attended
Grattan's funeral ; that Lord Castlereagh and
himself had been wrong in doing so, for that,
in their view of the subject, Grattan had been
little else or better than a rebel.
I think the last occasion on which I attended
the Duke on horseback was that of the Queen's
visit to Arundel. The roads were like iron,
and very slippery with a black frost, but he
insisted on riding out to meet Her Majesty.
We went about four miles towards Chichester,
and then dismounted to warm our feet till the
cortege should appear. The Duke drew up to
let the carriages pass and to salute the Queen,
and then put his horse to a gallop, in order to
pass her and be at the Castle gate to receive her.
2,rd September 1845. 1 — "I landed at Dover
from a tour abroad, and finding Lord Fitzroy
on the pier, learned that the Duke, Arbuthnot,
and Lord Cowley were at Walmer. I therefore
went over and stayed the night.
"The French had not the ghost of a chance
till they carried La Haye. It was their only
success, and came too late to be of consequence.
The Duke had not only carefully examined the
position of Waterloo, but also one formerly
occupied by Marlborough in front of Hal. The
reason why he kept a strong force there under
General Colville and Prince Frederick was
1 I think it was October.

1845] QUATRE BRAS 105
because he thought that Napoleon ought to
have manoeuvred after his success at Ligny in
that direction in order to drag away the Duke
from his communication with Bliicher. For
this purpose he should have marched from
Quatre Bras, not on Genappes, but by the
Nivelles road, along which our people had
come up from our right on the 15th.1 Prince
Frederick was therefore made strong enough
to hold Hal till the Duke could march to his
support from Waterloo. It is curious that this
corps did not hear the firing at Waterloo.
" If Muffling is well informed, it was not till
the Duke received an answer from Bliicher,
promising to join with his whole force, instead
of a corps for which the Duke had asked, that
the Duke resolved to keep Prince Frederick
in force at Hal.
" The present Lord Rokeby was close to the
gun, one of Captain Bull's howitzers, from
which the first shot of the battle was fired. The
Duke, for the special defence of Hougoumont, had
put a number of howitzers together on ground
which commanded that position and a wood
and the French line of defence beyond. When
the French column under Jerome showed itself
within range or near it, a blind shell was thrown
to try the distance. It fell a little short, the
word was passed down the battery for the re
quisite elevation. The officers of the Guards'
battalion stationed near, approached to watch
the effect, but were soon sent back by the Duke,
who told them to go to their men, for that they
would have the d  l's own fire upon them
1 The 16th is probably meant, as none of "our people" came
up on the 15th except the Nassau troops, who arrived from
Genappes (not Nivelles), and the Dutch Belgians.
O

106 TOULOUSE [1845
immediately. He himself watched the effect for
some time, and told me that after a while he
saw a heavy column of men retiring from the
wood towards the French rear. He was puzzled
for some time by their appearance, but at length
made out distinctly that it was a column of
wounded. He said they could not have lost
less than 1000 men in the first three-quarters
of an hour about Hougoumont. The Duke
said the King of Wiirtemberg was the cleverest
man and ablest officer of all existing German
sovereigns. " Talking of French invasion, he said : ' Talk
of their not subsisting themselves here. I have
seen them in Spain, with every communication
cut off, live on their own horses. I knew what
they would do in this country, eat everything,
burn the towns, and carry off the women.' "
The above is copied from a memorandum
made at the time.
He always said that if he had had his army
of the South of France with him, he would
have attacked Napoleon at Waterloo, more
probably I imagine at Quatre Bras. I well
remember some one asking whether the French
could have stood long. " But three minutes,"
was the answer, striking the table.
I think it was Lord Fitzroy (Somerset) who
told me that we had a notion that the French
glasses in Spain were not so good as those
used by the Duke. This was founded on some
occurrences of our retreat from Burgos. Lord
Fitzroy told me that in the affair of Toulouse,
so much vaunted by French writers, it was our

l845] LORD BERESFORD 107
opinion that Soult's defence was by no means
remarkable for him, or what it might have been
with such a position.
After hostilities were over, Soult and the
Duke met, travelling post in different directions,
somewhere on the Bordeaux road. The postilions
as usual changed horses, and while this was
going on, Soult, learning who he was, got out
and approached the Duke's britska. The Duke
was fast asleep, and Soult, after looking him
well over, returned to his own carriage without
waking him.
The Duke had a high opinion of, and regard
for, Lord Beresford, but not any confidence in his
moral nerve.1 In the case of Albuera, the Duke
arrived just in time to point out to Lord Beresford
that he had gained a victory, and to prevent him
from writing a despatch of a different tenor.
The Duke told me that at Albuera he saw
one of our regiments literally lying dead in their
ranks as they had stood, which he said he never
saw elsewhere. At Salamanca, when the famous
1 At Salamanca Lord Beresford was much opposed to the
Duke's attacking. He prevented him from doing so at an earlier
period of the day, about twelve o'clock, much to the vexation of
the Staff. He was, however, probably right, and certainly, as it
turned out, fortunate in his advice. He had seen large masses
of the enemy collected behind the intended point of attack. The
French position was strong, and the affair, whatever its termination
would have been, more bloody to us than the great exploit,
subsequently with better opportunity achieved. Lord Downes,
then Sir Ulysses de Burgh, riding with the order to Pakenham to
attack, met Lord Beresford and said, "Well, we are going to attack
at last, and you can't prevent it." Lord Beresford was still
uneasy and opposed to it. The Duke, however, had a high
opinion of him, which was fully justified at Toulouse.

108 SALAMANCA, VIMIERA, ETC. [1845
attack was ordered, Lord Beresford could not
conceal his apprehensions. Napier tells an
anecdote, pretty and true, of Pakenham at
Salamanca, before riding away to lead the attack,
requesting a shake of the Duke's hand. The
Duke gave it, but with no relaxation from his
usual rigidity. Even under such circumstances
anything like display of sentiment was un
congenial to him. On the occasion when the
40th regiment behaved so well (mentioned
elsewhere), some of the Staff could not resist
taking off their hats and cheering. The Duke
instantly and peremptorily called them to
order. Before Vimiera, a cavalry vedette, I think,
a German, rode up to the Duke in a state of
fear, which the Duke said literally lifted the
helmet from his head.
" Bei Gott, they are coming on, Sir."
"How many, do you think?" said the
Duke. "One hiindert tousand."
The Duke told me that the only man of
superior ability he ever had to do with in the
Peninsula was Forjas the Portuguese, for some
time a member of the regency. He spoke
favourably of the manner in which Longa carried
out some specific instructions of his to Lord
Lynedoch in the movement on Vittoria. He
directed Lord Lynedoch to keep advancing so
as to outflank the French right and seize
ultimately their most direct line of retreat on
France, but if possible to keep the Spaniards

1845] PLOT AGAINST SOULT 109
constantly in front, so as to persuade the French
as long as possible that it was nothing but a
movement of some independent partisan corps
unsupported by English troops. Longa, the
Duke told me, understood his meaning, and did
it very well. The Duke always spoke with
affection and respect of Romana, but had no
great opinion of his abilities.
The Duke used to say that " Gil Bias " never
could have been written, as some maintain it
was, by a Spaniard, because it constantly
describes dinners which are unknown in Spain.
The only dinner given to him by an individual
in Spain was by the Duchess d'Ossuna (this
is incorrect ; he dined once with Madame
Sta. Cruz, and once with the King), and that, he
said, was exactly like the Bodas di Camacho in
" Don Quixote," whole sheep, etc.
He (the Duke) often talked of the strange
history, well related in Napier, of the proposal
made to him in Portugal by the agent of a
conspiracy of Soult's officers1 to carry Soult off
and surrender him, dead or alive, to the English.
The Duke neither trusted nor encouraged such
an emissary, but he said that the facility with
which the man, who was ultimately arrested and
after once escaping, retaken and shot, passed
to and fro between the armies, convinced him,
at the time, that his scheme was not without
foundation, and that a conspiracy really to some
extent existed of so strange a nature.
One of our commissaries complained formally
1 See also page 173.

no WATERLOO REMINISCENCES [1845
to the Duke that Picton x had threatened to hang
him. " Did he ? " said the Duke ; " then I advise
you to take care, for he is quite the man to
do it."
The late Lord Clinton was on the Duke's
Staff in Spain. He told me that he was with
him during the storm of Badajos. The main
breach was still holding out, when a note was
brought in. It was necessary to procure a candle
to read it, and there was some delay in finding
one. Lord Clinton said that in this interval the
Duke betrayed more anxiety than any one about
him had ever witnessed in him. The note was
from Kempt to say that he was in the Castle.
I have heard others say that they never saw
him so thoroughly angry as late in the evening
of the 17th at Waterloo. As the troops were
taking up their ground, the French pressing
rather closely, an officer of our artillery took
upon himself to open a fire upon them. The
Duke was very angry, thinking it might lead
to a useless and ineffectual waste of life and
ammunition. He had just returned from retrac
ing his steps towards Genappes, to which he
had hurried on receiving a report from Lord
Anglesea of the cavalry affair at Genappes,
which he had found happily concluded by the
attack of the ist Life Guards. As he rode
back to his quarters after his interview with
Bliicher on the evening of the 18th, he was
1 Fitchett in his book " How England saved Europe " says it
was not Picton but General Crawford who thus threatened the
Commissary. Cf. Lord Stanhope's " Conversations with the Duke
of Wellington," pp. 187-299. — Ed.

1845] GENERAL BOURMONT in
recognised in the moonlight by the wounded
on the road. Many of them cheered him as
he passed. He found his quarters at Waterloo
full of French superior officers, prisoners, who
expected to be invited to dinner. He refused
to admit them, telling them that they must
make their peace with Louis XVIII., before he
could have anything to say to them. French
writers generally treat the defection of General
Bourmont as an important event, and suppose
that he communicated information of consequence
to the Duke.1 The Duke was, in fact, scarcely
aware of the circumstance. It was communi
cated to him in the heat of the action. He
paid it no attention, and did not see the
General. I remember when Bourmont, strange to say,
became War Minister under Charles X., the
Duke said : " It will never do ; he can never
get over an act of desertion in the field." 2
The above Memoranda have been written
off generally from recollection. I find on re
turning to Hatchford some scattered Memoranda
which now assume a melancholy value and
interest.
1 Bourmont deserted on the 15th, not to the English but the
Prussians. 2 Colonel Waters made a most remarkable escape from
imprisonment in Spain. He had refused to give his parole,
and was therefore guarded by a strong escort. During a halt
a Spanish farmer approached him and asked, sotto voce, whether
he could do anything for him. He replied "Nothing," unless
he could get him a new pair of rowels to his spurs. This the
man contrived, and the Colonel made good use of them the

112 BRAMSHILL [1818
Extract of Letter from the Duke of Wellington to
Lady Charlotte Greville. "August 1818.
" I went yesterday to Bramshill, as well as
Strathfieldsaye. The house at the former is of
the date and in the style of Hatfield, but neither
so large nor so magnificent, nor are the propor
tions of the rooms good. They are all too low.
The walls are all tottering, and out of the per
pendicular, and would fall if the roof were taken
off. I am certain it would cost more to make
anything of this house than to build a new one.
The house is well situated, but not remarkably,
nor is there anything remarkable in the place,
which is on the borders of Bagshot Heath, and so
near, as that the house is only a quarter of a mile
from it. Indeed, the place on that side is re
markably ugly, and the soil of that kind of heathy
next day on the march, dashing down a steep bank, and gaining a
cork-wood. He made his appearance shortly after at the
Duke's dinner-table. The Duke's first impression was that he
had broken his parole, and I have heard those present say
that the expression of his countenance was one which they could
never forget, till explanation cleared his brow. The Duke was
slow to anger, but when occasion required, the effect was awful.
When the army was about to enter France, Abisbal, who
then commanded the Spaniards, made a formal representation
that they were not in condition to join in the operation, and
the Duke consented to their remaining in Spain occupied with
the blockade of Pampeluna. The Duke afterwards detected a
despatch of Abisbal to his Government to the effect that he
and his army would never forget the insult which had been
put on them.
When the Duke visited Madrid after the Peace of Paris, a
visit from Abisbal was one morning announced. The Duke
said, " Let him come up," and sent all others away. Those who
saw Abisbal retire from that interview have described him as
pale, nearly fainting, and clinging to the banisters of the stair
for support.

1818] LA BAUME'S HISTORY 113
sand which could never grow anything to render
it handsome. I may buy the estate therefore, but
shall never live on that spot. . . . The truth is
that there is an old porch, and a kind of fraised
balustrade, of which people have made drawings
which have struck the fancy of Lord Grenville
and others, but I am certain that a visit to the
place will dissipate the illusion."
My father has a note on this letter ; —
" The Duke was doubtless right about the diffi
culty and expense of restoring Bramshill. In other
respects, I think, he undervalues it. The situation is
very fine, and in as strong contrast to the swampy
flat of Strathfieldsaye, as its Hatfield style of
architecture is to that miserable specimen of a
French Chateau. The only consolation for the
neglect of the opportunity to purchase it, is that
at that time the restoration would probably have
been ill done, possibly by Soane or Nash. The
lowness of rooms which hits the Duke's eye is, I
suspect, confined to the hall, out of which an
upper room has been manufactured by a ceiling
half-way up the wall. The heath behind is rather
desolate of its kind, but not unsuited in character
to such a mansion."
From a Letter of the Duke of Wellington.
" $tk September 18 18.
" Have you read La Baume's history of the
Campaign of Russia? If you have not, pray do.
It contains, in my opinion, next to the account of
the wreck of the Medusa, the best picture of your
friends, the modern French, that I have yet seen.
The military part is not worth your attention, but
the rest is capital." p

n4 MASTER-GENERAL OF ORDNANCE [1818
Sept. 1 81 8. — " I have just heard a good story
of a travelling Bull family, who were passing the
road during our review on Thursday. The enemy,
consisting of the Cavalry, Infantry, Staff Corps,
etc., English troops, were to be beaten out of the
village of D'Ouchy, on the high road to Valen
ciennes, by the Saxon troops, according to the
plan, and this part of it was carried into execution
just as Mr and Mrs Bull were passing, and there
was a good deal of firing, and the light troops
were running away and the Saxons following,
hooting and holloing as if all had been real. Mrs
Bull took fright and fainted away, which did not
prevent Mr Bull from getting out of the carriage
and running with his flying countrymen, and he
seriously thought the whole was in earnest, that
war had been declared, and that this was the first
action ; and as he could not understand, or make
himself understood by, the Saxons, some time
elapsed before the matter was set right by an
English doctor who happened to be standing by.
In the meantime Mrs Bull fell into the hands of
the Saxons, and was recovered from her faint by
their surgeons ! "
Extract of a Letter of 2$th Dec. 18 18, to
Lady Charlotte Greville.
" I believe I shall be appointed Master-General
(of the Ordnance) in the beginning of the week.
I hear that the Department in London, as well as
the Officers at Woolwich, are very much alarmed
at my appointment. I understand that some wag
stuck up a bulletin in a sort of coffee-house
they have there, the morning after they heard
of it, stating, ' The Field-Officers and Captains,
after passing a very restless and uncomfort-

1818] THE DUKE AND THE JEWS 115
able night, are as well as could be expected this
morning ! ' "
From Fragments of a Letter of 18 18.
" .... If I recollect right I promoted him, and I
know that I always showed him every attention and
kindness in my power. But there are some people
in the world upon whom even a sense of gratitude
cannot prevail to refrain from detracting from
the character of a person in eminent station and
of great success in the world. I believe Sir
G. W  1 was the one of those who discovered
that I was no captain,2 a circumstance which it is
fortunate for them and me, and unfortunate for the
French, that they did not discover twelve years ago.
But not satisfied with that, it has been found out
that I am a gambler, and that I have lost all the
money which the Nation has lavished upon me to
the Regent and Lord Yarmouth. No sensible,
well-informed person will believe the contrary, and
the report is so generally circulated that some of
the Jews have sent to me to offer to lend me
money, ' en secret '!!... had an acceptance of
mine, which he was willing to take up, and that
there were others in circulation which he would
likewise take up if I wished it, and that the utmost
secrecy should be observed. Now it so happens
that in the whole course of my life, whether in
poverty or otherwise, I have never had occasion
to accept a bill."
1 Not Sir G. Walker.— (E. E.)
2 This reminds me of one of Herbert Cornewall's American
stories : —
" Am. You think your Wellington a great man ? — Yes, Sir."
" Eng. Why, we have a notion of that sort."
"Am. Well, there is an Aide of General Brown's here, who says
he is no Ginneral."

n6 FRENCH AND DUTCH AFFAIRS [1819
From a Letter of 12th January iSip, containing remarks
on the fall of the Due de Richelieu's Ministry in
France.
" I preached this opinion frequently to them at
Paris, but it was like the voice in the desert ! !
Kings will get worse and worse in France, till at
last some fine day this family will be overthrown
as by a blast of wind. God send that it may not
be a storm ! "
15th January 1819. — " Castlereagh has the gout
very badly. . . . Your old acquaintance has in
finitely more of what is called ability ; but he wants
sense and conduct, and above all in cases in which
we all want these qualifications where self is
concerned. Lord H  F  is in town, and has
already had a headache. I think he is the most
curious composition of a man that I have ever
met with."
jgth January 1819. — "I am just returned from
Hatfield where I was hunting yesterday. Lady
Salisbury rode just as she did thirty years ago,
and it occurred to me, as I was waiting for
breakfast, that everything at the place is now
exactly in the same state in which it was at that
period. Among other circumstances, there is a
little daughter of Lady Westmeath's there, as like
her as she can be, who sat upon my knee at break
fast, as little Emily used formerly."
26th January 18 19. — (On the subject of the King of the
NetJierlands towards the Prince Auguste d'Aremberg.)
" However, between ourselves, I am afraid it is
true that, although we are all a little annoyed by
the little troubles and duties of office, we are none
of us comfortable without the occupation which
they give us, and we none of us like to be passed

¦8i9l LONDON SOCIETY 117
over. I am afraid that the King is too much of a
Republican to appreciate the value of the services
of a gentleman ! "
igth February 1819. — "I went to Brighton on
Tuesday, as I told you I should, and was remark
ably well received. I arrived early, and gave or
rather had an audience immediately, which lasted
for three hours, and we were throughout the day
couleur de rose. The Regent looks remarkably
well, and old Cholmondeley twenty years younger
than he did. But the Regent says that this is
because he has not lately been obliged to eat his
own dinners and drink his own wine."
2 3rd February 1819. — "On Friday I was seized
with a headache, which more resembled the break
ing of the head than any other pain of which I can
form an idea, which, however, v/ent off when I
went into the air."1
London, $th March 1819. — "It is certainly
true, as you say, that there are many persons in
London who are very agreeable society, and
one might collect more here than elsewhere ; I
don't know how it is, but it always appears to me
as if London was an immense petite ville, of which
the inhabitants knew each other too well, indeed
so well as to be completely tired of each other.
The truth is that during the long war they were
confined to their island, and so jumbled up
together, that it is impossible that that effect
should not have been produced. For this reason
every stranger and everything new is a curiosity,
and run after for a moment, till it is found that
strangers are like those of the petite ville, and the
disposition to be bored prevails in respect to them
1 That is from a Committee of the Lords of which he complains
much. This was probably one of the first attacks which ended in
producing his deafness.

118 SIR HUDSON LOWE [1819
as in respect to others. I wish the dinners were
not quite so long, and that we had more society
to go to in an evening. I passed yesterday
delightfully ! In the Committee of the House of
Lords from 12 to ^-past 5. Went to dine at the
Mansion- House at 6, and sat at table with the
Duke of York, listening to the stupidity of the
Lord Mayor and Citizens till 12, when I returned
home." gth March 1819. — "I always thought that
Lowe was the most unfit person to be charged
with the care of Buonaparte's person. But I
don't believe your Cook's stories. On the con
trary, I believe that Buonaparte is in very good
health, and as well provided for as a man can
be at St Helena."
16th March 1819. — "The Duchess of Richmond
is in great style. She has been to the Pavilion,
and she is now commanded to attend a Committee
of the House of Commons and give evidence of
Lady Madelina's marriage. I advised her to take
care that they did not question her about her own.
We made her believe that she could not attend
the Committee without leave of the House of
Lords. If we had managed the matter well, we
should have made her believe that she ought to
have the leave of the Peers of France, and a
Tabouret to sit upon."
" The whole petite ville are occupied by an
event which occurred the night before last, which
appears to have driven even the game law from
our thoughts. The Cabinet had dined at Lord
Castlereagh's, and we sat rather later than usual,
till near twelve, and then Lord Westmoreland,
Lord Castlereagh, and I went to Almack's. The
latter with me. We arrived about five minutes

1819] ALMACK'S: THE FRENCH PLAY 119
after the hour fixed for closing the doors, and
were sent away, notwithstanding that Lord
Castlereagh twice sent the pages up to the Lady
Patronesses, and used my name as the Cheval de
Bataille. The answer to the last message was
that her Ladyship begged his Lordship would go
home, and to bed. This decision was very good
for him but not necessary for me, who had not
had the gout ! After, as I understood, hundreds of
others were shut out, and at last those inside were
so bored that they wished to be outside, and the
ball ended at about one o'clock. I do believe
there never was so tyrannical a Government as
that of Almack's ! I wish the Lady Patronesses
would infuse some of their vigour into those of
their husbands who are in the Government."
lgth March 18 19. — " I went last night for the
first time to what I think the best amusement in
London, the French Play, but nobody goes to
these places till after Easter, although all com
plain of the dulness of their Homes ! We
are a very extraordinary nation. . . . These
(charity) dinners are the strangest fancy ; a few
people take it into their heads to be charitable,
and then in order to obtain charity they have
an anniversary dinner, which is very bad and
costs each individual who goes there about as
much as the charity, and Alava will tell you that
all we get for our money is, Non nobis Domine.
In any other country one would suppose a sermon
would be the best mode of getting money for a
charity, but here it is a dinner. They wanted me
to be president of another Society for the cure of
diseases of the skin, but I proposed the use of
soap and water, and refused."
30th March 18 19. — "I met your friends Lady
Bath and Lady Granville at Madme de Lieven's

120 LORD LONDONDERRY'S MARRIAGE [1819
at dinner on Sunday, where we had very good
society. Indeed, I must say that, excepting now
and then that I am obliged to dine in the City,
I don't spend my time amiss in this way ; and I
agree with you in thinking that there is in
England more gentleman-like and better society
than elsewhere. But after all, I am not astonished
at the inclination of people in general to escape
from this petite ville, and go abroad. Everybody
occupies himself with his neighbours' affairs, and
as there are more people in England who have
nothing to do than in other countries, there is
more vigilance and activity employed in this
pursuit." 6th April 18 19. — Lord Londonderry's (then
Sir Charles Stewart) marriage.
"The wedding went off very well on Saturday.
We had a dinner of the Pratts, Lady Castlereagh,
etc., of the Stewart side, and Sir Thomas Liddell
of the lady's. The Bishop of Exeter performed
the ceremony, and read it better than I had ever
heard it read before. There were about sixty
people present, including my family, who are
only a connection, not relatives. Duncannon
was asked to be present, which is curious enough,
considering the piece of work the opposition have
made to prevent the marriage."
Here follow some remarks on French politics
of the moment.
" What do you think of the murder of
Kotzebue ? This is the effect of the new light
upon Germany ! I am afraid, however, that we
have not seen the worst yet. All the youth are
corrupted, and as the Court and judicial offices

r8i9] GAMBLING 121
must be filled by persons who have studied and
taken their degrees in the Universities, we may
live to see a revolution planned and encouraged
by those whose duty it is to prevent and put it
down." 30M April 1819. — " I have had much occasion
lately to observe your friend Lord  . He is
certainly a man of extraordinary talents, but I
believe his health and his temper are in a cercle
vicieux, and that the one affects the other, and
his mind is so acute that he perceives difficulties
in everything which don't occur to a more blunt
understanding, and in my opinion he would be
a more useful man, if he possessed only half the
talents he has. I really believe that he would
throw into the fire the report which he has
drawn with so much labour, notwithstanding that,
as you will see, it is very bare of opinions."
\th May 1819. — "The truth is that Charles
has a very clear, good head and understands the
matter better than most of them, and attends to
it, and I entertain no doubt that he is more
certain of winning than a man is who plays in
the Funds. But I wish he would pull up and
marry Miss  , who is come up to be seen, and
is very good-looking, and, as they say, has lots
of tin. But he will have to quit Newmarket
entirely, and to attend sermons, Bible Societies,
etc., instead."
7th October 181 9. — " I enclose the print of the
Gateway 1 at Treves, which I mentioned to
you, and which, I think would suit the stables
1 The Roman ruined archway and building.
I cannot imagine it to be applicable to the purpose mentioned.
The Duke had visited Treves on one of his tours to inspect German
fortresses, and had been struck with this ruin. I remember his
recognising it instantly in a bad coloured sketch of mine.
Q

122 "STANDISH'S GHOST" [1820
at Longleat. . . -1 I have proposed to take
the youngest boy now, and to educate him, and
send him in time to the academy at Woolwich.
If any care had been taken of the education
of the boys there would now be no difficulty,
but it is not easy to employ Lords of high
rank and family, who scarcely know how to
read." January 1820. — " I have seen Standish's account
of the ghost ; and I believe in it, unless Horace
Seymour, Mrs Fitzherbert, and Arthur Hill were
confreres. If Standish is accurate, H. Seymour
could have had no communication of the name
of the person who was to appear. Either then,
the whole were confreres, or there is such a
thing as selling one's self to the Devil, and
Lady Catherine Stewart has so disposed of her
self."2 2\th February 1820. — "You will have seen
in the papers the plot to destroy the Ministers
at Lord Harrowby's, and will be anxious to
know how far you can give credit to it. The
truth is that we have long known of this plot.
It was to have been carried into execution at
Lord Westmoreland's before Christmas, and the
1 This alludes to the death of the Duke of Richmond.
2 This letter alludes to a strange story of the proceeding of the
parties mentioned at Brighton, which was probably a device for
frightening and mystifying Standish, in which particular it com
pletely succeeded. I never could obtain from Mrs Dawson Damer,
then Miss Seymour, who was present, any true account of the
transaction. The story ran that Lady Catherine Stewart possessed
the power of raising the dead, and undertook to exercise it. That
she uttered an incantation of a frightful and somewhat blasphemous
description, and that H. Seymour, who had undertaken to face the
result alone in a dark room adjacent, came out in a state of terror
real, or well acted, and avowed that he had seen the ghost of
a deceased friend, a comrade, I think, of the 10th Hussars, a
Mr Robarts. Standish was undoubtedly frightened.

i82o] CATO STREET CONSPIRACY 123
assassins were deterred from it then, only because,
in my opinion, it was not sufficiently matured ;
but they matured it yesterday. We had in
telligence of it not only from three different
spies, all unknown to each other, but their
intelligence was confirmed by circumstances
known to some of us ; and in the last two days
before the intended dinner, two different persons
implicated, but shocked by the base turpitude
of the scheme, came forward to give us intel
ligence of it. We therefore took our measures
so well that we have seized nearly all the
principals of those who were assembled to put
us to death. I am delighted that we have got
the better of this gang, which is one of the
most desperate that ever existed in any country,
as I am certain that some misfortune would have
happened if they had continued to be. They
intended to assassinate us individually, parti
cularly Lords Sidmouth, Castlereagh, and myself,
if they could not effect the general purpose
by any accident, and they were the leaders of
the mob who were nearly breaking into the
Spanish Ambassador's ball two months ago ;
and I think it probable they would have tried
something of the same kind at some of the
dressed Assemblies in London this spring. I
think they will all be hanged."
2%th October (date of year wanting, but probably
1820). — "The Government stand very high in
consequence of their successful stand against
the King. . . . The question I cannot solve is
this : Is the British] Government never to be out
of a crisis ? I have been in Office about a year,
and I know that we have been three different
times in such a crisis that we might have been
out of Office any fine morning. I believe there

124

GEORGE IV. [1821

is something in the character of our master
which occasions these difficulties. I understand
that during his whole life he has scarcely passed
a tranquil day, and that even when he was a
boy he was in constant difficulties, and that
his getting into them appeared a sort of fatality,
for that notwithstanding his fear of the late
King and the effect his Jobations had upon
him at the moment, he was sure to get into
the same scrape over and over again, with the
positive certainty of being discovered, lectured,
and even punished ! This is very like our state
for the last year. We travel on from difficulty
to difficulty, each one occasioned by the same
person, to say nothing of the numberless pro
positions which are smothered almost as soon
as uttered, which would lead to still greater
difficulties than those in which we habitually
find ourselves." London, 25/^ October 182 1.
" The King has the gout, and certainly returns
direct. He is on the Wings} and will be here
by the 7th or 8th of November, so that all the
preparations at Paris will be disappointed. He
is in very good humour with Lord Londonderry,
and I hope we shall find him so with every
body when he returns here. At all events our
foolish Whigs have done everything in their
power to destroy their own hopes again. Never
was there anything like their shabbiness in the
first instance, and then the folly of their sub-
1 " Of Love." His stay at Hanover had been made insupportable
to him, and his journey home hurried by the separation from the
object. He had an attack of gout in the knee, in consequence of
riding from Herrenhausen into the capital, the last ride I think he
ever took.

1826] AT WOODFORD 125
scription for Sir Robert.1 They first concealed
their names, expecting that the world was
interested about him and would subscribe, and
then when he found that the example was not
followed, he and his friends had their names
published, and thus the subscription has gone
on regularly, but with scarcely any names to it
excepting those of the great Whig leaders ;
and thus they trust to obtain the power of the
country in their hands ! They are, begging your
pardon, only silly intriguers."
21st August 1822. — " Algy will have informed
you that our journey was very prosperous and
unattended by any accident or interruption of
the kind reported.2 But I think that these
reports will at last induce young Mr Ney to
think that he ought to do something of the
kind suggested. Indeed, I believe that is
the object of the report. But I say, as my
Porter did to the curious badauds who came to
enquire here whether the report was true,
' Damn the report,' and shut the door in their
faces." gth September 1826. — "Met the Duke in
a small and intimate circle, at Woodford,
Arbuthnot's (house), Northamptonshire. A small
new house and place in an agricultural and very
wet clay country. The immediate neighbour
hood is ugly, but extensive grass-fields illustrious
for exploits of the Pytchley Hunt, and a swarm
of old Elizabethan houses of historic interest,
1 Sir Robert Wilson, who for his conduct in abetting the mob
against the military at the Queen's funeral, had been deprived of
his military rank, decorations, etc. He lived to quarrel with the
Whigs and to reinstate himself in good and friendly relations with
the Duke.
2 It had, I presume, been reported that the Duke had been
waylaid on one of his tours of inspection by a son of Marshal Ney,

126 GROUCHY'S MEMOIRS [1826
and a good deal of forest with green glades,
afforded us means and objects for long rides,
and it was impossible to see and hear the Duke
to greater advantage. He gave us a most in
teresting chapter on Waterloo. I put him on
the subject of Grouchy 's defence, lately published.
He confirmed the truth of it in all particulars
of which he had knowledge, and said that in
others it agreed with his belief and opinion ;
among others in his strictures on the delay of
Napoleon in attacking on the 17th. He said
that after having drawn off his infantry in the
face of day, he remained with the cavalry on
the ground of Quatre Bras unattacked till 4 p.m.
The next morning Napoleon asked those about
him whether they thought the English were
still in their front. Foy answered that it was
impossible to say, for that it was the system
of the English under the Duke to show nothing
but their vedettes. A squadron of horse would
soon find out, but if they were in position the
affair would be serious, ' Car Pinfanterie Anglaise
en duel est le diable? This was confirmed by
Reille, and disregarded by Napoleon. Bliicher
had pushed one corps through the defile of St
Lambert by one o'clock. The Duke thinks that
he delayed attacking till the other had come up,
on the ground that the Duke's army was so
bad that he dared not risk a small body in its
support. As to the means of retreat through
Soignies, the wood on both sides of the road
was clear enough for the movement of forces
sufficient to clear the road itself of all obstruc
tions. The wood itself might have been main
tained, and at all events it was far easier for
us to retreat through it than for Napoleon if
worsted to retire across the Dyle. The Prussians

1826] MARMONT AND SALAMANCA 127
at Ligny persisted contrary to the Duke's advice,
in exposing their whole line to cannon-shot. The
consequence was that they were not only beat,
but beaten in less time than any army of similar
strength and quality almost ever was, a circum
stance of great importance to Napoleon, who
attacked late in the day.
Soult never would talk of past occurrences
with the Duke. Marmont asked him at what
moment he ordered the attack at Salamanca.
The Duke said, "As soon as I perceived the
extension of your left." -"Ah," said Marmont,
"that was after I was wounded." This was
certainly a subterfuge, the fatal movement was
unquestionably Marmont's own.1
\\th. — "Rode with the Duke to Boughton.
1 A note here says : — " From Lord Combermere. Towards
9 p.m. on the evening of the battle of Salamanca, and during the
pursuit of the French army, the Duke and Lord Combermere
were riding on together in the direction of the Tormes. Lord
Combermere, having been much with the outposts, knew the
country and the roads.
"George III. sent the Duke to Portugal on an express stipula
tion with his Ministers that he was to be superseded by one
of what he called his own Generals. George IV. in one of
his after-dinner glorifications asserted that it was himself who
insisted on sending out a reinforcement of 12,000 men to the Duke
in Spain. ' I sent for the Duke of York, and said, This will
not do,' etc., etc. He appealed to the Duke for the truth of
this enormous allusion. ' Sir, I was in Spain at the time.' He
consulted the Duke on the important question of buff or white
belts for the Blues. The Duke replied, ' Sir, I have no taste.'
George IV. said the Duke knew nothing about cavalry.
"Before the return of Ferdinand VII., the Duke had much
discussion with Arquelles. He advised him to let the Inquisition
die a natural death, rather than to put it down by a formal
vituperative decree, which would array the vast power of the
Church against him. Arquelles could not however resist the
allurements of temporary popularity. ' What is the result ? ' said
the Duke. ' The Inquisition in Portugal, equally established once
in the habits of the people, is defunct, that of Spain is revived.' "

128 FOY: SOULT [1826
He described to me the manner in which he
had been ' surveilled ' on his late mission to
Russia. His principal enquiries had been
directed to the subject of how the army was
paid and supported. Lord Strangford recom
mended to him a man conversant with these
details, who referred the Duke to certain books
which were kept at the Etat Major. When the
Duke visited that establishment, these particular
books were the only articles called for which
somehow could not be produced. The French
during their operations in Portugal were cut
off from all communication with France and the
rest of the world. General Foy had established
an intercourse with our outposts through Baron
Tripp, and was constantly sending flags of truce,
to borrow English newspapers. The Duke got
wind of this and desired the Baron on the next
occasion, instead of sending the papers, to enquire
why Foy wanted them. Foy, with much readi
ness, replied that he had heen speculating in
the English Funds, and was very anxious about
the price of Consols,
" In the Pyrenees, Soult was pointed out to the
Duke by a French spy. The Duke saw him
distinctly write an order and give it to an aide-de
camp, who galloped off in a particular direction.
The Duke moved a regiment in consequence, and
in 10 minutes an attack took place just where this
incident had given him reason to expect one, and
was repulsed.
" I imagine that this incident was of a character
very rare with respect to operations of such magni
tude. Commanders-in-Chief, I apprehend, seldom
see each other distinctly, and still seldomer can
draw conclusions from a gesture. The warfare of
mountains, however, makes casual approximations

1826] INCIDENTS IN WAR 129
less infrequent than in an open country. In the
Pyrenees the Duke had once or twice to ride for it.
It is known that the cheer which rose from the
British lines when the Dukesuddenlyarrived among
them, after hard riding from St Sebastian, deterred
the French from an intended attack. It was on
this occasion that, as he rode along the line, a
corporal broke out of the ranks and shouted, 'There
goes the little blackguard what whops the French ! '
"He spoke with much indignation ofthe wanton
sortie from Bayonne, and said he had some doubts
whether he should not have been justified in hang
ing its author, Colonel Taupin. It cost the French
more lives than it did us. If the war had con
tinued, the citadel would soon have fallen before
the tremendous artillery he could have brought
against it. It was strong, but very small. He
would then have put a few English into it, and
blockaded the town with Spaniards, after which
the advance on Paris would have been conducted,
as noticed elsewhere, by successive maritime bases,
first Bordeaux and then Nantes.
" After Fuentes d'Onoro, where Massena fought
to raise the siege of Almeida, Claparede declared
that the French army was disgraced for ever. He
said, ' Nous avions deux fois leur infanterie, trois
fois leur cavalerie.'
" The Duke mentioned, as the finest individual
feat of arms he had witnessed in Spain, an affair in
the Pyrenees, in which the 40th Regiment repulsed
20,000 men.
" With respect to the Duke's adventure on the
back ofthe Isle of Wight, as he described it, the
ship would not tack, and was too close to the
shore to wear; the Duke suggested to anchor, and
bring her head to wind ; she was however saved
by a shift of wind. R

130 INDIA— WALCHEREN [1826
"Shortly before the Duke's departure from India,
an old native officer demanded an interview, which
Sir Arthur, who knew and esteemed the man,
granted. He said, ' I hear you are to leave
us ; I am come to implore you to change your
decision.' " Sir Arthur explained that the state of his
health, which had begun to feel the climate,
rendered this impossible. ' Ah, then,' said the
old man, ' something will go wrong ; those who
know and understand us are leaving us ; mischief
is brewing, and now men are coming who will
only hasten the danger.'
" Lord Howden came out, and the mutiny at
Vellore and other subsequent movements occurred,
which soon and fully verified the predictions of the
loyal Hindoo. He went through the history of
the Mutiny in 1809, and said that the narrative of
it given in the Annual Register was most imperfect,
partial, and unfair, particularly with reference to
Sir G. Barlow. He considered that the existence
of our Indian Empire turned upon that part of it
which occurred at Hyderabad, when the European
officers hustled Sir Barry Close (?) off the parade.
It was then that he appealed to the native officers,
asking them whether they had not eaten the Com
pany's salt. This felicitous allusion to Eastern
usage and moral code saved him and India.
They acknowledged it to a man.
" Touching on the Walcheren expedition, he
said that Lord Chatham was appointed to its
command by Mr Canning's advice and influence,
as a person who, if he could obtain at small cost
a little reputation, might make on his return a
good head for an administration. A Cabinet
Minister was also a good selection for the purpose
of silencing the Duke of York, who was anxious

1826] CATO STREET CONSPIRACY 131
to go. He thought Antwerp might have been
reduced without difficulty.
22nd Nov. 1826. — "The Duke dined with me in
Albemarle Street.1 Talked much of America, and
of Sir T. Prevost's affair. He was a clever man,
but did not understand the troops he commanded.
They would have walked at once into the works
from which he retired. Had no great opinion of
the merits of the American backwood riflemen in
the field. Believed our riflemen had greatly the
advantage. I do not myself see how this could be
otherwise ; the American rifle of that day is very
cumbrous, requires a rest, is slow to load, and,
except behind a work or other permanent cover,
a man, who with time and cool blood can pick a
squirrel from off a tree, and this, however, at a
very limited range, may lose half or all his skill in
the hurry of a skirmish.
" I am not sure whether it was at this dinner,
but it was in the Duke's company about this time
that I heard from Arbuthnot some curious par
ticulars of the Cato Street affair. Edwardes, the
informer, who first set the Government on the
track of the conspiracy, lived by the manufacture
and sale of small portrait busts. Sir Herbert
Taylor had sat to him. Through him he had
been employed by some of the Royal Family,
among them I think by the Princess Elizabeth,
who had sat to him at Windsor, and had shown
him the kindness which she showed to all who
came near her.
"It was to Sir Herbert Taylor that he first
communicated what he knew, and from him he
received a letter of introduction to Lord
Sidmouth. At one time it was settled by the
1 No, 12 Albemarle Street, where my twin brothers were born.
The site is now occupied by an Arcade. — Ed.

132 CATO STREET CONSPIRACY [1826
conspirators to assassinate the Ministers, one
by one. The Duke one day received, I don't
know how or from whom, an intimation that
he had walked up Cockspur Street the evening
before with a one-armed friend, that he had
looked for some time into the window of a china
shop, and that he had been followed all the time
by the men who had undertaken to assassinate
him. These, however, had been deterred from
the attempt by observing that another person
was keeping also near the person of the Duke,
whom they took for a police officer. The Duke
said the description of his movements was quite
accurate. The one-armed friend was Lord
Fitzroy (Somerset) ; the supposed police officer
must have been a chance passenger who had
probably recognized the Duke and lingered near
him to indulge his curiosity, perhaps in the
hope of hearing some of his conversation. Of
late years I have known this happen, for like
most deaf people he talked loud, and he always
talked with emphasis. I remember one day he
had called to take me to Prince Metternich's,
and on our return his conversation along two
or three streets was to the use and benefit of
two well-dressed Belgravians, a lady and gentle
man, who followed us close. It was a Sunday,
and he might have been heard round Belgrave
Square. " It is well known that Thistlewood and his
people changed the plan above mentioned, for
one to assassinate the Cabinet en masse at Lord
Harrowby 's in Grosvenor Square. The Cabinet
dinner was given up on information of this
scheme, but not so a dinner of the Directors of
the ' Ancient Music,' given at the Archbishop
of York's, next door to Lord Harrowby 's. If

1826] CATO STREET CONSPIRACY 133
the den in Cato Street had not been discovered
by the police and foot-guards, which was ac
complished not without some difficulty and delay,
the conspirators would probably have marched
on Grosvenor Square. In this case they would
have been very likely to have mistaken the
house, seeing every sign of festivity at my
excellent uncle the Archbishop's, and it was
on the cards that they might, in the hurry of
the moment, have put to death the entire
direction of the 'Ancient Music' It was an
evil time, that winter of 18 19. The conspirators
had been on the look-out for several favourable
occasions to carry their designs into execution.
One of these was the funeral of George III. ;
another had previously been a great ball given
in Portland Place by the Duke of San Carlos,
the Spanish Ambassador. I was at home on
this occasion for the Oxford vacation, and re
ceived an invitation, with which I was enchanted,
for it was a dress ball and involved my wearing
a new and gorgeous yeomanry uniform, added
to which I was deeply attached to a vast number
of the prettiest women in London, and had
every reason to believe that the attachment was
reciprocal. Be that as it may, the Prince Regent
did asseverate to Frank Russell that my coat
was a d  d good coat. My self-importance
was much increased by the fact that as I was
putting it on I received a packet superscribed,
' On His Majesty's Service,' from my Colonel,
old Monckton, inviting me to join the regiment
forthwith in Staffordshire, for the purpose of
quelling a rebellion which was expected to break
out in the Midland counties, and I determined,
like the Duke at Brussels, to set off after the
ball, and did so at 4 a.m. in a hard frost and

i34 CATO STREET CONSPIRACY [1826
an open carriage, and when I reached Somerford,
Monckton's place, next day, found that the
rebellion was postponed, at least in England.
It did, I believe, show itself more or less in
Glasgow.1 "Well, I went to the ball with my mother, and
on getting into the string, I thought I perceived
more than usual crowd and noise among the
people who were attracted, as I supposed, by
the illuminations. Before we reached the
entrance, a strong detachment of Life Guards
made its appearance. They had no sheep-skins
to their saddles, and came in at a hard trot and
with every indication of having been turned
out at a short notice. This was so, for they
had, I believe, been sent for on a representation
from the police, which in those days was scanty,
that they were unable to deal with the populace,
and could not answer for the safety of the carriages,
as the mob were beginning to insult the parties
arriving. I remember that the Bow Street gentle
men took their revenge when the soldiery arrived,
and laid about them with their canes like school
masters in a passion. The Duke of Wellington,
who had arrived early, remarked, with his usual
sagacity, that he had never seen a mob of
such a vicious and malignant aspect. It turned
1 The Government had, I know, information that a general
rising was intended, but was, I believe, more alarmed for Scotland
than for England. I think it was at this period that Sir Harry
Smith was in command at Glasgow, and established such a
character for activity and judgment that there has been very
lately a question of starting him as a candidate for Glasgow.
I remember it was thought necessary to escort the mail when
it left Newcastle-under-Lyne, which it did in a deep snow
at midnight. The only passenger was a lady, who went into
hysterics on finding herself preceded and followed by a detach
ment of the 9th Lancers.

1828] IRELAND 135
out afterwards that Thistlewood and his people
had been there. He took credit to himself for
having decided on relinquishing his project,
because so many women would have been in
cluded in the massacre. I think it quite as likely
that it occurred to him that all the gentlemen
present, as well as the band of the Guard,
had swords."
Letter from the Duke of Wellington to Lady C. Greville,
while she was resident with me at the Secretary's
Lodge, Phanix Park. "London, 2-]th Sept. 1828.
" Many thanks for your waistcoat,1 which I will
have made up and wear constantly. I am very
much flattered by your recollection of my favourite
colour. If I was resident in Ireland, I would not
do what the Protestants are doing, because there
is a little mixture of political faction in their
measures, but I would associate with my friends
and neighbours for the protection of myself and
family against what is impending over them all,
viz., Assassination and Massacre. I would do this
because I should see clearly that Government
would not, and possibly under existing circum
stances could not, protect them. It is most
important to see the truth in all these matters.
The Protestants in Ireland are the proprietors
of the soil, the gentry, and the well-educated
class of society generally. This class in every
country requires the special protection of the
Government and the laws, and they require it
more especially in Ireland, because they are an
English Colony, the descendants of the con
querors of the soil of which they are the
1 In all human probability a poplin.

136 PROTESTANTS IN IRELAND [1828
possessors by right of conquest, and they are,
moreover, of a different religious persuasion from
the dispossessed, and their religion has become
by the same right of conquest the predominant
religion of the country.
" All these circumstances would appear to give
to the Protestants of Ireland a peculiar claim to
the protection of Government, a claim founded
not alone upon the policy common to all States,
but upon the circumstances attending their
peculiar situation. But there is no man who
looks at what is going on who would not think
that they were a proscribed sect. In this view
of the case, I lay out of the question altogether,
as having nothing to do with it, all reference to
the Roman Catholic question, as it is called.
That must be considered on its own peculiar
grounds, and it is difficult enough without super
adding other difficulties. But in the meantime
I am affording real protection and countenance
to the proprietors of the country ; and these are
the Protestants ; and if I was one of them, I
would associate for my own protection till the
Government should protect me. This is my
opinion, and we may rely upon it that till the
seeking of popularity by courting the Mob is
discontinued, we may do what we will in Ireland,
we shall never have tranquillity and security for
life and property, nor would I, if I resided there,
discontinue my associations with my friends and
neighbours for our general security."
From a Letter adverting to the state of his property in the
Netherlands, and to the dishonesty of an agent there.
"gtk November 1832.
"You are very right. I am doomed to be

1834] SIR STRATFORD CANNING 137
cheated and plundered. The truth is that from
the time I had anything in the world, I had an
officer to look after my affairs, and I never
troubled myself about them. This ceased, of
course, when I quitted the command of the
troops in the field, and from that time forward
I don't think that any man ever came near my
affairs who did not think that he had to deal
with a mine of gold, of which he had only to
participate to the amount that should suit him
self. I must say I have not met many of the
class which call themselves honest Englishmen,
with much right to the title.
" I was magnificently treated and provided for,
but my affairs required a great deal of looking
after and good management. They have had
none from me, and those who did undertake
to look after them, with one exception abroad,1
did worse than neglect them. The consequence
is I am now under the necessity of considering
them seriously myself, and of giving a little
attention to them."
18th January 1834. — " Reached Strathfieldsaye
at 6. Found the Duke alone in the library,
reading by the light of a hand candle. He had
just returned from hunting, which much engrosses
him at present. He had had a dangerous fall
two days before, though not with the hounds, but
on an ordinary ride, and I found him with a black
mark of it on the temple.
He told me that Sir Stratford Canning had
played him an abominable trick in the not show
ing the Turkish Government a most important
private letter, which he, the Duke, had written
1 If this "one exception" means O'Lawler, the Agent of his
Spanish estate, it is a great mistake. O'Lawler was the greatest
robber of them all. S

138 INSUBORDINATION AT MAYNOOTH [1834
from Petersburg. The substance of it was an
assurance that if the Porte would consent to and
carry out the settlement of Greece, then recom
mended, the Emperor was determined never to
attack the Porte for the sake of Greece."
Extract from a Letter front the Duke of Wellington.
"Strathfieldsaye, 8th March 1834.
" My election to be Chancellor of the University
of Oxford is certainly a most extraordinary cir
cumstance. There was every reason why I should
not be chosen, and most particularly that I had
taken my sons from Oxford and sent them to
Cambridge ; having censured the discipline of
Christ Church. I likewise protested in the
strongest terms against the choice, urged them
to choose another, etc., etc. But all in vain.
They would have me ; chose me unanimously,
and I understand that even those who at first
objected now applaud the choice."
2gth April 1834. — "Walked with the Duke
across the Park. Told me of a curious Report
which had been shown by Blake, the Chief
Remembrancer, to Colin Campbell.1 It was one
1 This was not the Colin Campbell of Crimean and Indian
Mutiny fame, afterwards Sir Colin and Lord Clyde. A Note here
gives some particulars of him. — Ed.
[Note by my Father. — Sir Colin was one of those who owed
their start in life, and their subsequent advancement, to the good
opinion and protection of the Duke. He was in the Commis
sariat Service in India, and had volunteered for an assault on a
hill-fort. The Duke saw a little round man run up a ladder, and
receiving a pike thrust at the top, roll down like a ball to the
bottom. He was, however, up again in an instant, and running up
like a squirrel, was the first, or among the first, in the place. The
Duke laughed, inquired about him, and procured him a Commis
sion. He rose to be Governor of Ceylon after the Peace, and
died, I think, in command of the garrison at Portsmouth.]

1834] SOULT— LORD ALTHORP

139

addressed by Lord Wellesley to Lord Grey, to
the following effect : — ' The young priests at
Maynooth had broken down all subordination.
The Roman Catholic Bishops were in despair.
Dr Doyle on his death-bed. Lord Wellesley 's
opinion that there was no remedy but a military
Government, and that to be administered by the
Duke.' "
" Colin Campbell asked permission to show the
paper to the Duke, which Blake said he was not
quite prepared to allow. The Duke was of
opinion that the Church had gained strength by
recent occurrences ; that the London University
claims were at a discount ; and that the Bill for
the admission of dissenters to the Universities
would be thrown out in the Lords without mis
chief, because it was not a Government Measure,
but introduced by an individual. He repeated
much which I had heard from him before on the
subject of the emeute which had occurred lately
at Paris. I had been present on that occasion,
and had written him some long letters upon it,
which, for aught I know, may still be among his
papers. I had reported what I had heard on
the spot, of Soult's skill in the concentration of a
large force in Paris. He said : ' That is just what
I should have expected of him. He is unrivalled
as a strategist, but timid in action.' He entirely
concurred in the opinion which I told him Edward
Ellice had expressed to me at Paris, that Lord
Althorp was the only man who had a following
in Parliament. He said : ' Depend upon it, Lord
Althorp is the only man who can carry with him
any number of votes. In this particular, Lord
Grey, Stanley, and even Peel, are cyphers in
comparison.' He attributed this partly to old

140 THE DUKE ON HIS OWN LETTERS [1834
Whig associations, and partly to the feeling that
he would not ride them roughly or overbear them
with talent or insolence."

Extract from a Letter, dated 14th May 1834.
" Clanwilliam ascertained yesterday that we
should be at liberty on Wednesday, and I will wait
upon you on that day. I shall be delighted to see
Lady Francis again, and I hope to find you both
quite well I have not read a line of any of
Napier's works, because I did not wish to be
tempted, as others have been, to enter into a
literary controversy with him, and I preferred
to have no knowledge of his romances. But
you have almost tempted me to peruse his last
volume. "I have long been convinced that the British
public know very little of what our Army is, and
of the difficulty of commanding to their satisfac
tion one of theirs. Many of them think that it is
very like a fleet. One of these is our most
gracious Sovereign." (This was addressed to me
at Oatlands.)
16th May 1834. — "You are quite right. I
don't know when I have been more entertained
than by the perusal of my own letters. There
is a freshness, activity, and energy about them
which is quite amusing ; and I am astonished to
find that I could not write better sense now, after
all my experience, than I did then.1 I have
omitted to mention that I put down your name
1 Lord Brougham said to Gurwood, " You have published a
book which will live when we are in the dust and forgotten." This
was reported to the Duke, who said, "Very true, so it will." A
very bitter Whig partizan asked Gurwood, " When do you bring
out another of your d  d volumes ? "

¦834] DON CARLOS— TALLEYRAND 141
among the Privy Councillors intending to go to
Oxford. However, if you should not be well, or
it should not be convenient for you to go there,
no harm will be done if you should excuse your
self." 23rd July 1834. — "The Duke came down to
Oatlands, self-invited. He had lately had an
interview with Don Carlos at Gloucester Lodge,
shortly before his strange escape to Spain, which
showed up so signally the futility of the passport
system. The Duke described his allures as
those of an idiot. His object seemed to be to get
an opinion from the Duke against his project of
escape, which the Duke took care to withhold.
He asked, ' Can I get to Spain by sea ? ' The
Duke, ' Have you a sea-port ? ' Answer, ' No, but
Zumalacarreguy will get me one.' The Duke
suggested that while he was on the march for
that purpose, Biscay would be left to the Chris-
tinos. The Duke inquired whether he had a ship,
meaning money to get one. To this, as to many
other questions, he replied with an idiotic laugh.
The Duke told him he was watched, and the first
tidings of his departure would be communicated
to France. As it turned out, however, he did
escape, and the first tidings the French Embassy
received of it was four days afterwards, when Lord
Grey mentioned it to Talleyrand at a Blackwall
dinner. Talleyrand was furious, for though Lord
Palmerston wrote to the French Government, had
he told Talleyrand, the news would have reached
Paris earlier by telegraph. The escape was
managed by Iturbe, a Jew of Carlsruhe, who has
for some time acted as War and Finance Minister
to Don Miguel.
"The Duke showed me a letter from Sir G.
Tuthill, a Surrey Magistrate, informing him that

142 ATTEMPT ON THE DUKE'S LIFE [1834-
a sailor who was on his way to Bedlam, and
who had armed himself with a pistol, with the
avowed intention of killing the Duke, had
escaped from his keepers. On going up to
London, I found that the man had been re
captured while demanding to see the Duke at
Apsley House. A pistol was found upon him,
loaded to the muzzle. The Duke had ridden
up while the man was waiting, but had not been
recognised by him. The prisoner was conveyed
to Bedlam."
18 th August 1834. — (Written soon after the
death of Mrs Arbuthnot, from Woodford.)
"He (Mr A  ) has requested me to tell
you that there are here a phaeton and pair of
ponies, admirably trained, and exceedingly manage
able. He cannot bear to go into the phaeton
again, and he wishes that you would accept the
whole equipment, and for his sake give them
an asylum for the lives of the animals. When
you will have worn them out, or wish to get
rid of them, send them to me, and I will keep
them for their lives."
29^ November 1834. — "I have not written
to you because I really had nothing to tell
except what is in the newspapers. I dare say
that you have seen the letter to Lord Wilton
which contains our case. There is not a word
in it which is not borne out by the correspond
ence between the King and the Ministers.
People call upon me to publish it, but it is
forgotten that it is the case of the King. I
may be constitutionally responsible for enabling
the King to carry on a Government without the
aid of his popular Ministers, but the quarrel is
his. I have nothing to say to it, excepting that
I facilitated his changing his Ministers. I am

1835] CHANGE OF MINISTRY 143
not surprised that they should complain that
some of them were removed suddenly. Some
of them, it must be observed, are still in office.
But I was to take the Government and to hold
it provisionally till Sir Robert Peel should return
to England. I was to effect this object by
being Secretary of State and First Lord of the
Treasury. But should I have had the Govern
ment if others had held the Seals of the other
Departments ? Each of the Secretaries of State,
as you know, can convey the King's commands ;
and it would have been curious enough to have
had one Secretary of State conveying the King's
commands in one sense, and two others in
another, for three weeks certainly, or possibly
a month. The complaint of incivility is a very
good one ad captandum, but it is better to be
uncivil than absurd. The fact is that the Affaires
Courantes go on as well as possible. Nobody
is the worse for what is doing, except myself,
who am worked as no post-horse at Hounslow
ever was. However, I have settled every de
pending question, and have set right some which
my predecessor left wrong.
"You must not allow your own affairs to go
to the wall ! Rely upon it that a very little of
your own care and attention will set them, and
keep them right, and that nobody can arrange
them but yourself."
November 1835. — " Passed the four first days of
November at Walmer. The Duke recovered from
recent illness. Company — Mahons, Salisbury,
Lady Burghersh, Lord Rosslyn, Arbuthnot, and
Lady Stanhope and Rogers from Deal, Mr Jones,
junior, the optician from Cockspur Street. He
was employed to put to rights a good - sized
astronomical reflecting telescope, still at Walmer,

144 PASSAGE OF THE DOURO [1835-
and stayed a week, amusing the Duke and
Arbuthnot a good deal with his scientific talk,
showing us Jupiter's satellites and a comet. I
remember there had been at first question where
he was to dine. The Duke had ruled it in
favour of his own table, and was much pleased
with him.
"The Duke thought that if Buonaparte had
landed, he would have got to London, our force
at that time was so ill organised and commanded.
He told us a great deal about one of his spies
in the Peninsula, who lived a great deal in both
camps, whose real name, I think, was Osire.
We asked whether these agents afforded him
information of real value. He answered, ' Oh
yes; I knew everything.' He described the
system of mutual forbearance, and even courtesy
and kindliness, which regular and protracted war
generates. The French vedettes, when their
people were going to advance, would cry, 'Courez,
courez, vite. Sacr6 Nom de Dieu ! On va vous
attaquer ! ' He gave me once a curious account
of the famous passage of the Douro. The
surprise of Soult was complete. When he was
first told that the red-coats were on the right
bank, he replied, ' Bah ! Ce sont des Suisses
qui se baignent.' He had with him some Swiss,
dressed in red.
"If Paris had held out in 1815, Montmartre
would have fallen to his (the Duke's) lot to
attack. He had no doubt of carrying it with
much greater ease than the Allies did in 18 14.
Bliicher, in order to get good quarters for his
troops, had insisted on moving rashly from the
left to the right of the Allied army, and had
suffered a severe check in consequence at
Versailles.

¦836] A FRIENDLY MONK IN SPAIN 145
" Talleyrand told the Duke that the line of
conduct he pursued with regard to the overthrow
of Napoleon was founded on the fact that the
army had always followed the Senate. It had
done so in the case of Dumouriez, and even
in that of the XVIII. Brumaire, for then the
Conseil des Anciens was with Napoleon."
From a Memorandum. " 2nd Feb. 1836.
" Went from Oatlands to Basingstoke, to meet
the Duke, and hunt with the Vine hounds. It is
a nasty, Radical, dirty borough, and I had a bad
breakfast at a bad inn, followed by a blank day.
I did not, however, repent, for the Duke took me
to cover in his phaeton and drove me back to
Strathfieldsaye, when he was specially entertaining.
When he first landed in the Mondeyo, before the
affair of Rolica, he was sleeping in his tent, when
he was woke and informed that a Monk wished to
speak with him. The strange visitor was instantly
admitted. He said, ' I am a Brother of the Con
vent of Alcobaga, the head-quarters of General
Thomieres. I am come to tell you that he means
to retire early. If you wish to catch him you
must be quick.' The Duke did wish to catch him,
and meant to attack him in the morning. He said,
' This may be so, but how do you know anything
about it ? ' The Monk replied, ' When General
Junot first entered Portugal, General Thomieres
was quartered, as now, in our convent. I made
great friends with his aide-de-camp, who was then,
and is again, an inmate of my cell. Entering it
yesterday evening, I found him writing a letter.
I stole behind him unobserved, and as if in joke
put my hands over his eyes, and held them there.
T

146 BURGOS [1836
He struggled, but I am strong, and I can read
French, and I held him till I had read what he
had written. It was an order to the Column to
move in retreat at an early hour.' A good subject
this for a painter.
" The Duke described the siege of Burgos, as
conducted by him with two or three howitzers and
one gun, called ' Nelson' by the soldiers, because
one trunnion had been shot away. I asked him
whether any Department was to blame for his
being so ill supplied with material for siege. He
replied, ' Not at all. It was all my own fault ; I
had got, with small means, into the forts near
Salamanca. The Castle was not unlike a hill-fort
in India, and I had got into a good many of those.
I could get into this, and I very nearly did it, but
it was defended by a very clever fellow, one Le
Breton. As fast as I established myself, he
attacked and drove me out. He knocked my
guns to pieces, and I took to mining, and not a
bad way either to get into a place. The French
collected in force, and I was obliged to retire.
When I approached the place the following year,
on the march to Vittoria, the French, instead
of forcing me to invest it, as they might have done,
and ought, evacuated it, and in such haste, that in
destroying the works they blew up an entire
battalion of their own people. I turned instantly
to the right, crossed the Ebro, and fought the
battle of Vittoria. My great object there was to
push forward my left, under Lord Lynedoch, upon
the enemy's communication with France. The
French, the day before the battle, made a very
strong reconnaissance in that direction. My in
struction to Lord Lynedoch was to endure every
extremity rather than show an English soldier.
The Guerilla, Longa, accordingly masqued our

¦836] CAPTURE OF GUNS 147
front. He did it very well, and I am satisfied
that the French believed I had no force in that
quarter, and that their road to Bayonne was safe.'
I asked whether the French committed any great
fault in the action. ' Why,' he said, ' I think they
allowed their attention to be too much engrossed
by the attacks of Morillo and Cadogan on their
left, and that they fed that hill more than was
necessary. This enabled me to break their centre
and get right on their park of artillery, which,
owing to Lord Lynedoch's progress on their right,
had only one road to retire upon, and were all
taken — as I think Joseph himself would have been
if I had had one of the old regiments of dragoons
there instead of the — th. I never could satisfy
myself why Clausel did not manage to join them
in time for the battle. He would have made no
difference to speak of in the result, but the affair
would of course have been more severe.'
" It was during this drive that I asked a ques
tion which elicited, perhaps, the most remarkable
statement ever made by a General who had seen
much service in high command. I asked whether
he ever had made any rough computation of the
number of guns he had taken in war. ' No,' he
said, ' but I should guess somewhere about three
thousand. I took a prodigious quantity at Oporto,
and the whole French battering train at Ciudad
Rodrigo, and at Vittoria and Waterloo I took
every gun they had in the field. What, however,
is more extraordinary, / never lost one in my life.
There were three light guns attached to the Portu
guese cavalry taken near Madrid, after the battle
of Salamanca, on the night before we entered
the town, but they were immediately recovered ;
six guns were at one time lost at Albuera, but
were also recovered.' The Duke did not add,

1 48 MARMONT'S SALAMANCA DESPATCH [1836
as he fairly might, that these were not lost by
him. " Six guns were thrown over a precipice by
Lord Hill on retiring through the valley of
Elisondo, near the French frontier. These were
recovered, and, I apprehend, never were in the
hands of the enemy. I imagine that if any
General could have given such an account as this
of the guns entrusted to his command, it might
have been Marlborough, and Marlborough alone
of modern times. Even in that case, when one
considers the ground over which the Duke acted,
the circumstance that he was repeatedly pressed
in retreat by superior numbers under able men,
the character of Allies, with whom he had to act,
and a thousand other circumstances, the fact
remains scarcely conceivable. Napoleon lost
guns in some of his greatest victories, certainly
at Wagram.
"'We took in Spain,' the Duke pursued, 'a
despatch which was on its way to Marmont
from the Aide-de-camp whom he had sent to
Russia to explain to Napoleon the circumstances
of his defeat at Salamanca. The officer, as is
well known, reached the French army about the
time when Napoleon was taking up his quarters
in the Kremlin. As soon as the purport of
his intelligence was known to Napoleon, he was
confined, not under nominal arrest, but in as
strict confinement as a State criminal, in the
Kremlin. When admitted, after some delay, to
Napoleon's presence, the latter, after some silent
perusal of the report, asked how many troops
had the Marshal. 'Forty thousand, Sire.'
'Well,' said Napoleon, 'a man who has one
million under his charge can hardly afford
much attention to what happens to forty

¦837] HUNTING WITH THE DUKE 149
thousand at the other side of the world.' He
said nothing more at that audience, and sent
the officer back to his seclusion. The latter was
not, I believe, released, nor did Napoleon give
any opinion on the transaction till after he had
received a copy of the Duke's published report
of the battle. He then sent for the officer and
said, ' I see by this account that the affair was
a smart one and well contested. You may tell
the Marshal I am satisfied.'
"The despatch which contained this curious
narrative was in cypher, but the Duke had
somehow the key to the French cypher in the
Peninsula. I have understood that Lord Fitzroy
was particularly clever at decyphering, but in
general I think the Duke had a regular key to
that in ordinary use. I have heard that in an
evil hour one of our officers, dining with a French
Marshal while on a flag of truce expedition,
boasted of this, which of course led to the sub
stitution of a new cypher."

Letter from the Duke of Wellington.
"Strathfieldsaye, 15th January 1837.
" I shall be delighted to see you and Harriet
whenever you will come. I shall stay here till
the 25th or 26th. Croker comes on Tuesday,
as well as Lord Bathurst, I believe, after the
ceremony of the Funeral. Let me know the
day on which you will fix. The Vine hounds
will hunt, weather permitting, on Thursday and
Saturday of this week, and on Monday and
Wednesday ofthe next."
23rd January 1837. — " Hunted with the Duke
at Ash Park. Very wet, but he persevered.

150 PARQUIN [183?
Drove there and back in his curricle, with the
window down in front, he holding the reins
through a slit in the bottom.
" When the risk of hunting at his (the Duke's)
age, and with an injury to his knee, is considered,
I can hardly regret that he seems less eager about
it than he was, and more sensitive to its troubles
and disappointments. For some two years past it
has been a great resource and interest to him.
Thank God ! I have found and have left him
in good health, but Lord Rosslyn's decease loads
him with troublesome details of business.1
"In the advance on Vittoria, after the affair
of Osma, I think, but about the time when he
was changing his base of operations from
Portugal to the North coast and harbours of
Spain, the news reached him of the affairs of
Liitzen and Bautzen. Everybody came to him
with advice to rest satisfied with his past
successes and to content himself with maintain
ing the line ofthe Ebro. ' I thanked them,' said
the Duke, ' but said to myself I preferred the
Pyrenees.' Had he followed this advice the
whole course of transactions in Germany might
have been changed. I have heard from Lord
Harrowby, and have seen on record, the effect
produced by the battle of Vittoria on the councils
of the Allies.
" I mentioned to the Duke an incident I had
lately been reading of, — the trial of the parties
engaged in the Strasburg conspiracy for placing
Louis Napoleon on the throne of Louis Philippe.
One Parquin, a principal culprit, had made in
his defence a splendid flourish about having,
in Marshal Marmont's presence, encountered in
single combat an officer of the English 10th
1 The 2nd Earl of Rosslyn died on January 18, 1837.

1837 SIR DE LACY EVANS 151
Hussars, whom, in sight of the two armies, he
had wounded and dismounted, and had carried
off his horse and epaulettes as trophies, shortly
before the battle of Salamanca.
"His advocate had made a thoroughly French
and successful use of this palpable falsehood,
and I believe Parquin was dismissed, as Mr
Canning said hackney coachmen when prosecuted
usually were, 'with some slight commendation.'
The Duke said, ' There is only one objection
to the story, which is, that the 10th Hussars
were not in Spain at the time, but at Hounslow.
They did not join me till the year afterwards.'
He might have added that Hussars do not wear
epaulettes. He did add that nothing ofthe kind
could well have occurred without his hearing of
it, which he never did. He went on to describe
the circumstances of the accident by which Sir
Arthur Paget was taken prisoner on the retreat
from Burgos, and said, ' If I have met with one
French officer who had taken Sir Arthur, I have
met fifty. One after another at Paris told me,
" C'est moi qui ai eu l'honneur de recevoir le sabre
du General Paget." The difference,' he said,
' between the French and ourselves is this, that
with them common bravery is subject for boast ;
with us it is presumed of everybody till he is
convicted of not possessing it, and is never talked
about in any ordinary instance.'
" There has been some villainy in victualling
Evans from our Marine Commissariat, which
ought to be detected in the estimates. Peel has
encouraged the hopes of three or four successive
parties in Spain and Portugal, who now, like
the Duke d'Ossuna, have to charge him with the
confiscation of their estates. The case is perhaps
stronger in Portugal, for the Belem affair was

152 AFFAIRS IN SPAIN [1837
got up in Downing Street. She, Donna Maria,
had the army with her, so was safe in the Castle,
but the insurgents had cut off her cook, she
got hungry, and insisted on returning to the
palace. She told Madame Terceira, her lady,
that she really did not know how she could get
her out of the scrape. Madame Terceira and
Palmella made a dash down the street, and got
on board the English fleet. He told me some
curious stories of the press. George IV. had
less fear of the press than of caricatures. Every
strange face which appeared about the Pavilion
was noted and watched, and reported to Knighton.
A man was employed to take their portraits on
his thumb-nail. Much of Canning's influence over
George IV. was due to that which he cultivated
and obtained over the press.
"He denied the truth of a report I had often
heard, that before our alliance with Spain he
had been named or thought of for the command
of an expedition against Spanish America. He
said, however, that Pitt and Lord Grenville
had always kept up a communication with that
quarter, and that he had been employed by
the latter to communicate with Miranda, who
promised wonders in the Caraccas. When the
Spanish Alliance was ripening, the Duke said,
' This will do no longer,' and he was instructed
to communicate to Miranda the final destruction
of his project. ' I knew,' he said, ' the violence
of the man, and was unwilling to face him in a
room, so I got him into Piccadilly for the purpose.'
He was very angry with Marmont for firing
on his people when drinking in the river before
Salamanca. ' I had let his people drink a
thousand times, and took care to let him know
that I would never do so again.'

¦837] SIR A. FERGUSON AT BURGOS 153
"Burgos having been lately mentioned, I may
notice some curious particulars of that transaction,
which reached me in an odd way from two
quarters. On a visit to Abbotsford, in 1822, I
fell in with Sir Adam Ferguson, Keeper of the
Regalia in Scotland. He was an old friend
of Sir Walter Scott, and when the latter had
guests from England he liked to exhibit the
particular social talents of his friend, which were
very remarkable. Sir Adam had served in the
Peninsular War, in which he was ultimately taken
prisoner. He was a keen observer and an
excellent mimic. He was, in fact, a sort of
military Mathews, equal to him in power of
imitation, and, in point of humour and finesse,
to Frederick Cornewall, Ed. Fitzgerald, and
others well known in my youth as delineators
of the scenes of military life, a rich field. Among
other campaigning incidents with which at the
bidding of the great magician he delighted us,
was one of the siege of Burgos. The approaches
had been pushed up close to the wall, and
one stormy night Sir Adam was one of a party
posted at their extremity. The French were
firing occasional shells, and the distance was
so small that it was necessary to discharge them
at the highest elevation, with the feeblest charge.
The objects of these unpleasant compliments
hardly dared to breathe, for fear of betraying
by the sound their exact position ; talking,
coughing, etc., were quite out of the question.
At last one of the shells was pitched so high
that it fell back into the enemy's lines. Sir
Adam and his companions could not suppress
a titter. It passed off, and for a while all was
quiet, but presently something like a horse-
trough was protruded over the wall, and shell
u

154 SIR A. FERGUSON AT VERDUN [1837
after shell was quietly rolled in upon the bivouac
of the party. I had previously heard this very
incident described by an old soldier of the
French guard, who, at D'Orsay's recommenda
tion, attended me as fencing-master at Paris.
He had been on duty that night, and described
the whole occurrence. Among other particulars,
he said the wind had been so strong that they
were obliged to put the shells in their hats to
prevent the fuse from being blown out before
they lifted them into the trough.
" This story was not a specimen of Sir Adam's
special dramatic powers ; these were, I am told,
for I did not hear it, best displayed in a night
scene of the retreat from Burgos, with all its
sounds, the various dialects and style of oratory
of Scotch and Irish and German troops, the
whiz of round-shot through the air, or its splash
in the mud, etc.
" One of his small dramas which I did hear
rose to the sublime. It was connected with his
residence as a prisoner at Verdun, and described
the arrival there of a regiment which the French
had formed partly of deserters from various
nations, and among them some English. In
the street were some English sailors of the
Nelson breed, prisoners, men with long pig
tails. The deportment of these, upon the
deserters endeavouring to claim kindred and
acquaintance, no abuse or answer, but a silent
and almost compassionate discharge of tobacco
juice, was acted by Sir Adam in a style that
would have made his fortune on the stage,
and reminded me of the finest moments of
Jack Bannister, Emery, or Michaud of the
Frangais. "Another of his French imprisonment scenes

1837] SIR ADAM FERGUSON'S STORIES 155
was from a moment when the approach of the
Allies made it necessary for the French to
transfer their prisoners from Verdun further
into the interior. Among the officers on parole
were some who had been captured mere boys,
English midshipmen, and who had grown into
strong, uneducated, and ungovernable men.
These grew excited and audacious as their hopes
rose of early deliverance, and became the dread
of their feeble escort. In the Cafes it became
necessary to chalk off a line to divide them
from the ordinary and native habitues, and Sir
Adam acted the instant prostration and clang
of a gendarme who was rash enough to cross
the sacred line. His whole account of these
young men with their career cut short and
running to seed and to vice in a French town,
was very striking.
"There never was a man, himself a con
tributor to conversation, who took a keener
delight in drawing out and exhibiting others
than Sir Walter. I have seen him bring out
Glengarry's Highland mania, and make the
Ettrick Shepherd sing his Jacobite song, and
everything worth notice so contributed by others
who like Sir A. Ferguson had treasured up
scenes and incidents of military life in the Pen
insula. Of these Frederick Cornewall, who
had joined and followed the army as an amateur,
about the time it entered France, was the richest,
and the one who had seen the most of head
quarters. He was with the Duke at that anxious
moment when the sudden rise of the Garonne
left Beresford with 20,000 men for some time
exposed to an attack from the whole force of
Soult. 'In for a penny, in for a pound,' was
the quiet observation of the Duke, as he sat

156 FREDERICK CORNEWALL [1837
on the bank. I have heard' him censure Soult
severely for his hesitation on this occasion.
' Beresford's position, however,' he said, 'was
good. I used to go over in a boat and put a
good face upon it, and attacked Soult's pickets
every morning.'
" F. Cornewall was at the affair of the Croix
d'Orade when the 10th Hussars made a successful
attack. He fell in with a young Irishman who
had somehow captured a lance and was riding
off with it in triumph. ' What have you got hold
of there, my lad ? ' ' Please, your honour, it is a
sort of a pike. A fellow began a-pushing and
a-thrusting at me with it, so I just let him feel
my sword in his eye, sir, and here it is.' He
seemed to consider the pushing and thrusting
as something altogether unfair, and highly repre
hensible, and to have resented it accordingly.
Another of his stories was a passage between
the Duke and a German dragoon who was
trudging along with a corn-bag, which evidently
contained something endued with life and motion.
The Duke, smelling plunder, said, ' Come here,
sir ; what have you got there ? ' Dragoon :
' Nothing, sir, but one little pig which had lost
its moder, and I was carrying it home to its
relations.' 'Little pig, sir! — you deserve to be
hanged for plundering. Let it go, directly.'
' Yes, sir,' pinching the pig. ' Run away, little
pig, run away to your poor moder.' The Duke's
gravity quite failed him.
" F. Cornewall was sleeping in his billet when
his servant woke him to tell him that the French
were in the street. He rushed to the window,
and sure enough saw a heavy column coming
down the main street, with bearded sappers at
their head, and other most un English -like

1837] EDWARD FITZGERALD 157
insignia. He was preparing for a rush to the
back door, when he was informed that the
phenomenon was those two regiments of Nassau
Ussingen infantry which came over with their
arms at this period from Soult's army to the
Duke, who despatched them shortly to join
their countrymen in Holland. These troops
had been acting with Soult's rear-guard, and
had distinguished themselves on all occasions.
At Waterloo the Duke placed them in the wood
of Hougoumont, but here their courage failed
them, and they fled at the first onset, leaving
heavy work to be done by the Foot-Guards.
The Duke, when he saw them run, turned to
the Austrian General, Vincent, and said, ' Do
you see those fellows run ? Well, it is with
these that I must win the battle, and such as
these.' " One of F- Cornewall's stories was maritime.
He came across the Bay to Spain in a cutter
packet. Among the passengers was a young
Englishman of rustic breed and top-boot costume,
who had been very sick from the first. There
was an alarm of a French privateer, and the
Captain prepared for fight. The sick man rose
from the companion with a pocket-pistol in his
hand, and said, ' Captain, if you have no objec
tion, as I understand there is to be some fight
ing, I should like, please, to be put among the
boarders.' " Edward Fitzgerald was perhaps as great
as Cornewall, but in a lower department, that
of the habits and language of sergeants and
privates. Among these was his account of a
military execution to be done on some notorious
robber and murderer. ' Come, Jones, be quick,
wash and clean yourself, and come and help to

158 JACK TALBOT [1837
hang poor Sims. He won't be long. He don't
mean to say no prayers. You'll have time to
go to the wine-shop before parade.'
"Another of his tales concerned a private of
the 10th Hussars, who, without much enquiry,
in skirmishing had shot and plundered a Portu
guese Colonel. The troop-sergeant addresses him :
' Well, you Jones, here's a pretty mess. You
have been and gone and shot a Portuguese
Colonel.' ' I ain't shot no Portuguese Colonel ;
I shot a Frenchman, and here are his epaulettes.'
' Well, I am blessed if there isn't the " Tower
and Sword " on 'em any way, but you've been
pretty regular lately, and we won't say nothing
about it.' A week after, the man gets drunk
and throws down his horse, for which he is
relentlessly punished with the utmost rigour of
regimental law. This story must date from the
time of the Corunna retreat and Sir John Moore,
when the 10th did good service. Jack Talbot
was another famous repertory of low military
slang and humour. He had a celebrated passage
with the Duke in the Burgos retreat. Jack was
in charge of his regiment's baggage, which, in
the mud and darkness of a dreadful night, he
had lost. He was shivering and despondent in
a wood when an officer rode up and enquired
hastily what he was doing there. ' He was in
charge of baggage.' ' Well, where the d  1
is your baggage? — I see none.' 'I wish you
would tell me,' said Jack, totally ignorant to
whom he was speaking, and in his usual manner,
which was much like that of Keeley on the
stage. The Duke could not help laughing, and
said, 'Well, I can't be surprised that you
have lost your baggage, for I cannot find my
army.

¦837] PERSONAL INCIDENTS 159
" The above are digressions, but not, I think,
impertinent to my subject. "Oatlands, 28th January 1837.
" Lord Fitzroy (Somerset), and Hume, not
Joseph but Dr Hume, the Duke's surgeon, shot
and slept here. I asked Lord Fitzroy whether
he was at any time anxious about the result at
Waterloo. Never. He went away wounded at
six o'clock, perfectly easy on the subject. When
the guns in front line were left by the Duke's
order, the artillerymen and horses retired to a
greater distance than the Duke wished. Some
officers of artillery remained to look out, and
these were all killed.
"At Salamanca, while Lord Beresford depre
cated the attack, Gordon strongly advocated it.
" The Duke said, ' By G  , they are extend
ing ; bring me my horse.' He rose to give his
directions in person to Pakenham, and the scene
ensued as described by Napier, but with less
fine language. At St Sebastian, Lord Beresford
was in great anxiety, and with more reason than
at Salamanca."1
" Frederick Ponsonby rode up at last to
announce the success of the assault. All seem to
have lamented Sturgeon at Tarbes, and Cadogan
at Vittoria. Hume spoke with rapture of Lord
Anglesea's firmness under amputation, and said
his pulse did not alter. One of his (Lord
Anglesea's) Staff, was paying him compliments
on the behaviour of the cavalry. He said he
1 The Duke said that the critical part of the battle of Salamanca
was when he was compelled to relieve a division under fire, an
operation which requires great steadiness in the troops to effect
without confusion.

160 OUR LOSSES IN THE PENINSULA [.837
was not uniformly satisfied with it. The French
columns at Waterloo in no instance deployed to
the attack, and the rout, as formerly in Spain,
commenced invariably from the centre and rear
of the column. This probably arises from the
ignorance of the parties so situated of what is
going on in front. The best troops lose courage
and discipline, like Ajax, when fighting in the
dark. Alava rode away from the field with
Lord Fitzroy, a round-shot came bounding over
their heads and killed a solitary artilleryman,
who was riding a few paces before them. Alava
pulled up, and began to moralise ' sur ce pauvre
diable,' which did not suit Lord F. at all,
who was suffering dreadfully from the motion
of the horse, after the first chill and numbness
of the shot which had shattered his elbow had
passed. _ " I have heard the Duke speak highly of a
history of the campaign of 1808, including the
battle of Ocana, by a Captain Shee, an Irishman
in Soult's army.
"At Batalha the Duke occupied a position in
which, in old times, a Spanish army had been
defeated by the Portuguese. The monks of
the neighbouring convent thought that ill-luck
attached to the position, and sang psalms and
rang bells through the night.
" The total loss of the Duke's army for the last
six years of the Peninsular War in killed, dis
charged for wounds, and deserters, averaged 6000,
or 36,000 on the whole. That of the French
was nearly half a million, or 83,000 per annum.
Our expense was ^54,000,000, which principally
passed through the hands of one man, who
retired on ,£1200 per annum. Mr T. Grenville
observed to me upon this, that we heard nothing

THE DUKE IN HOLLAND— DR WARREN 161
of any large fortunes acquired by civil function
aries in this war, while out of the seven years
of the American War several large fortunes
were notoriously made, and he instanced Lord
Eardley. "The Duke, when asked how he learned his
profession, replied, ' I learnt more by seeing
our own faults, and the defects of our system
in the campaign of Holland, than anywhere else.
I was left there to myself with my regiment,
the 33rd, on the Waal, thirty miles from head
quarters, which latter were a scene of jollification,
and I do not think that I was once visited by the
Commander-in-Chief. The infantry regiments,
taken individually, were as good in proper hands
as they are now, but the system was wretched.'
The jollification of which the Duke spoke forms
the subject of one of Gilray's best and most
irreverent caricatures, in which the Duke of
York is a prominent figure.
" Dr Warren, father to the eminent physician
of our time, attended the Duke in the illness
which he suffered shortly before he went to India,
and which delayed his departure. He told a
friend, ' I have been attending a young man
whose conversation is the most extraordinary I
have ever listened to. They speak highly of
the talents of his elder brother, Lord Wellesley,
but depend upon it, if this young man lives, he
must one day be Prime Minister.' "
27^ April 1837. — "Talk with the Duke.
Showed me his despatch to Lord Granville^
of 27th November 1835, proving that his
interpretation of the Quadruple Alliance was
acquiesced in by all parties concerned, and
afterwards by Alava. Despaired of forming a
stable Conservative Government." x

162 OPINIONS OF POLITICS [ig37.
"After my election for South Lancashire.
"London, gth August 1837.
" I sincerely congratulate you. I heard of your
coming to the Scratch, with your opponents upon
the Hustings, and that you had been very success
ful. We are going on well in all the counties.
I wish that the Irish would follow the example
of their neighbours. What do you think of Lord
Clancarty failing to support, or rather opposing,
Daly in Galway? I hope that you are quite
well." The following is a specimen of the Duke's
kindly nature. I find the following Memorandum
concerning it : —
yth December 1837. — "I have been prevented
by illness from attending the new Parliament
which has been sitting for a fortnight. The
Duke heard of this, and has written me a letter
of four sheets, to show, as he says, his wish to
give me some amusement in my confinement.
It contains a re'sume' of the state of affairs and
parties, such as no other friend in London could
have supplied, and I have certainly no other who
would have volunteered such an attention : —
" ' Lady C. Greville has written to tell me that
you have had a little attack of gout, and it is
most probable that you will not be able to come
to town. Our Leaders were not pleased with
their division upon the same questions as this
night, some few days ago. I am afraid that they
will be in a minority to-night. They were, last
night, as to the question of Lord Canterbury's
claims. I think that things are going on gener
ally as they did heretofore. The Ministers, that

1837] CANADA— HANOVER 163
is to say Lord Melbourne and the Conservative
faction among them, in great favour at Court.
The others not so much in favour, and it is
said that there are symptoms of jealousy in the
Cabinet as now formed. I do not believe that
anybody of our way of thinking has been near
the Court, excepting myself. I dined there, and
the Queen was as usual very civil to me. The
Duchess of Kent did not appear at dinner. She
came in the evening, and I played at whist with
her. I thought she looked very ill.
" ' You'll have seen in the papers some accounts
of the affairs in Canada. I was much surprised to
find that the Radicals here were perfectly informed
of what was going on in Canada in relation to its
defence; the measures adopted by the Commander-
in-Chief, etc., etc., and Mr Leader repeated in the
House of Commons the boasting menaces of the
rebellious Party in Lower Canada. Then the
tone taken by the Government is certainly the
very lowest that any British Minister ever took.
He does not say that the Queen will vindicate
her rights of Sovereignty, will protect her servants
and see that they are paid for their services to the
Colony, and that she will carry into execution the
Laws, and protect her loyal subjects. But the
Minister says that the Queen will act with those
who are well affected to the Crown of this country.
In respect to foreign affairs, we are in the usual
state : not upon good terms with France ; on
very bad terms with the rest of Europe ; Spain
and Portugal going to destruction.
" ' There are two or three awkward questions in
movement on the Continent. First, Hanover :
King Ernest writes that he is very popular. In
the meantime his dragoons are keeping the Uni
versity of Gottingen in order. The truth is that

164 EUROPEAN AFFAIRS [1837
the great Powers, Austria and Prussia, have in
formed him that he must settle his affairs to the
satisfaction of the Hanoverians. That he must
not look to them for military support. That they
will not allow the Diet to deliberate on the subject
of his proceedings. That all the Constitutional
States of Germany are against him. I have no
very high opinion of the judgment of King Ernest.
If he can go wrong he will, and I should not be
surprised if that affair was to end ill. Then there
is a little affair stirring in Belgium. King Leopold,
who is bound to neutrality, and having a great
many more fortresses than he can garrison by his
own means, wishes to build more, in order, as he
says, to secure himself against the King of Holland
— as if he had any security except the good will
of the Powers of Europe and the Revolutionary
strength of France. The Powers of Europe, in
stigated, I conclude, by the King of the Nether
lands, have expressed great alarm upon this subject,
particularly Prussia ; Austria likewise has been
induced to disapprove strongly of this course. I
don't know exactly what we have done. When
Lord Palmerston was spoken to, he treated the
affair lightly. I believe there is but one subject
on which the Queen has declared an opinion : that
is the interests of her uncle, King Leopold. I know
that when the Prussian Minister was here to con
gratulate her upon her accession, she did not receive
him very well. She desired him to be informed
that she wished to see her uncle admitted as an
equal among the Sovereigns of Europe, referring
to some difficulties which existed, particularly at
Berlin, upon the reception of his Minister Pleni
potentiary. Then it is a curious circumstance
that we should have discovered that there is a
country called Bolivia, with which we have con-

1837] PEEL AND IRELAND 165
eluded a treaty of commerce, and that the Queen
should have informed her Parliament of this pro
pitious event (although I think it very doubtful
whether the Treaty is ratified), and that Her
Majesty should not have mentioned that she had
concluded and ratified a treaty of commerce with
the King of the Netherlands. That title is not
agreeable, and the Treaty is omitted in the
Speech, but the ratified copy is now on the Tables
of Parliament. You will see then that this ques
tion in the Netherlands is not unattended with
difficulties. I objected to the construction of
these proposed fortresses when I was Secretary
of State.
" ' I have not heard precisely what part Louis
Philippe takes in the affair. But I conclude that
he will not encourage Leopold to go so far as
to risk a war in Europe. In the meantime you
will see that the King of Prussia has got into a
religious difficulty on the Rhine, which would not
be unimportant if there was to be any extremity
in that part of the world, in relation to Belgium.' "
Jth December. — '"Peel was not pleased,T under
stand, with the discussion in the House of Com
mons respecting Ireland. Ours in the Lords
turned out better. But seeing how it was likely
to go, I thought it as well to look at the papers,
and I made out a good case. All accounts agree
that they are in a terrible situation in Ireland, in
every respect except the payment of tithes. The
Clergy are certainly collecting their tithes, I be
lieve, by a casual alteration of the Law for the
regulation of the Process by Civil Bill. The
execution of the decree of the Barrister or the
Judge's Court rests with the Sheriff. He proceeds
with the "Posse Comitates." This alteration was
introduced by the Government unknowingly, in an

1 66 LORD GREY— LORD MELBOURNE [1837-8-
Act passed in 1 836. It was agreed to by the House
of Lords unwillingly. It has settled the affair for
the Clergy in many parts of Ireland. It is only to
be apprehended that this improvement in their
situation, which can be but temporary, and possibly
is only local, may tend to induce the Clergy to
object to a reasonable permanent arrangement ot
the affairs of the Protestant Church.
" ' I have written you a long budget, which will
at least show you my desire to give you a moment's
occupation during your confinement to your couch.'"
12th October 1837. — "I don't admire Lord
Grey's determination not to take his seat. A
man who has done what he has should devote all
the faculties of his mind and every hour of his life
to the public cause, and should do everything in
his power, that the Government of his country
may get on, under the new system which he had
been the means of establishing. But I am afraid
that the noble Earl is no more than an ordinary
Party man."
2nd February 1838. — "The Duke called on me
after the Opera, wrapped in a pelisse lined with
sable, which cost ^200. He noticed the attacks
in the Times on Lord Melbourne's constant
presence at the Palace.
"'I must say,' he said, 'that, were I in his
place, I should from the beginning have done
exactly the same, and, if for no other reason, in
order to secure the Queen from the hands of the
Conroys. "Strathfieldsaye, \^th January 1839.
" I shall be delighted to see you and Lady
when you will come. I propose Monday,

the 2 1 st. I must go to town soon. According to

1839] AFGHANISTAN, BURMAH, ETC. 167
the usual custom, I am wanted for everything
previous to the meeting of Parliament."
"Strathfieldsaye, 24M January 1839.
"The Duke read me his correspondence with
Lord Hill, on the subject of our movement in
Afghanistan. It strongly deprecates our choice of
the particular chief, Shah Souja, whose cause we are
embracing. In a military point of view, he seems
to think our force sufficient in numbers, both for
the main operation and for watching Burma and
Nepaul. The two latter, however, he considers
as full of formidable contingencies in the matter of
expense. Lord Amherst's Ava business cost
more than Tippoo and Seringapatam. The point
of General Fane's measures on which he is most
anxious is his present design of making one
place, Shikarpore, the rendezvous for the stores
(and, I think, the passage) of both armies, the
Bengal, and the Bombay, to be transported down
the Sutlej for the former, and up the Indus for
the latter. ' If Fane does this,' he said, 'relying
on what he can find at Shikarpore for the further
transport of the armies, he will land 20,000 men
on the other side, and be utterly unable to move
them.' He expressed altogether a strong hope
that if Herat should hold out, the entire
expedition might be found unnecessary. Herat
did hold out, but in an evil hour Lord Auckland
persevered. " We heard yesterday of rumours of war with
Ava. To-day, that Fane retires and is succeeded
by Keene, of whom the Duke has no high
opinion." 2nd February. — " Confined by illness at Bridge-
water House. The Duke called on foot in a deep

168 M. THIBAUDEAU [,839
snow, on his way to a Committee Meeting for
Nelson's Monument, and to ask me to belong to
it. He spoke with much emphasis of The Port
folio, 1 a publication of State papers attributed to
Urquhart and Palmerston, which was exciting
much interest. He said that the first number had
been garbled, and that if the editorship could be
brought home to Palmerston, as it nearly had
been, he would call on Lord Melbourne to lay it
on the table of the House of Lords.
" M. Thibaudeau, son of a regicide of that
name, was one of the editors of the National at
the time when the despatches appeared. When
he read those parts of the latter volumes which
concern the Duke's conduct towards the French,
after Belgium and during the occupation, he is
said to have declared, ' Nous avons fait injustice
a cet homme,' and to have avowed an intention of
translating and publishing them.
" Dining with Croker at Moulsey, I mentioned
this circumstance, and M. Thibaudeau's paternity.
Lord Brougham, who was present, promptly
denied that M. Thibaudeau, senior, was a regicide,
saying, ' I knew him very well ; he is a most
respectable man.' Croker's dining-room is lined
with bookcases. He rushed to a shelf, and in a
few seconds produced the list of votes on Louis
XVI.'s trial, with the name of Thibaudeau, and
' la mort ' opposite. Lord Brougham, for once, was
silenced. " The Duke once gave me the history of
Napoleon's sudden return to France from As-
torga, which is usually ascribed to intelligence
received by him there of Austrian warlike
demonstrations. These were not the cause of
his haste. The immediate reason was intelli-
1 More fully alluded to on a previous page. — Ed.

1839] ANECDOTES 169
gence of a conspiracy between Fouche^ and
Talleyrand for placing Murat on the throne, on the
supposition that Napoleon would perish in Spain.
Fouchd and Talleyrand had been at daggers
drawn, but a meeting for reconciliation and mis
chief had been arranged between them at a ball
given by the former, at the house since well known
to Parisian society as the Hotel Crawfurd. Laval-
lette remarked that these two were engaged in
close conversation in a window for an hour, and
reported the circumstance. Eugene Beauharnais
about the same time intercepted a cypher letter
from Fouche to Murat. The above is from
Desmaret's notes confirmed to Alava by Pasquier.
"When Louis XVIII. was approaching Paris
after the Hundred Days, Fouche and Talleyrand
drove out in the same carriage to meet him. Pozzo,
observing the pair, said to the Duke, ' Je voudrais
savoir ce que causent ces deux Agneaux la.'
"Talleyrand was received by Louis XVIII.,
after Waterloo, in Alava's presence, who reported
to me the following little passage of sincerity : —
"'Sire, votre Majesty a sauve l'Europe, au
Congres de Vienne.'
" ' Non, M. de Talleyrand, ce n'^tait pas moi ;
c'efait votre savoir faire.'
" ' Sire, je n'ai fait qu' exprimer vos augustes
pensees.' 1
" Frederick the Great was at constant war
with our Minister, Eliot, and usually got the worst
of it. At the time when our Indian empire was
expected to be overthrown by Hyder Ali, he
asked Eliot aloud, ' Qui done est cet Hyder
Ali dont on parle tant?' 'Sire,' said Eliot,
'e'est un vieux pirate qui radote.'2
"In the dim morning of the 16th, at Brussels,
1 From Alava at Worsley, 1839. 2From Alava.

170 THE TURKISH QUESTION [,839.
Lady Dalrymple Hamilton's maid was opening
her mistress's bedroom shutters when she had
the good fortune to recognise the Duke riding
off with his Staff for Quatre Bras.
"'O my lady,' says she, 'get up quick; there
he goes, God bless him, and he will not come
back till he is King of France!"
26th August 1839. — " I believe that the
Powers of Europe are not disposed now to
fight about the division of the spoils of the
Turkish Empire. We have not the means.
The French King had rather not. The other
Powers do not much like the probable con
sequences. First, revolutionary movements,
which are very probable ; secondly, derangement
of their finances, which is certain, as England
neither will nor can give subsidies. We — that
is our Ambassador — have done all that we could
to excite the war, and nothing to prevent it,
which we might at any time. Luckily Metternich
seized upon the question in time, and will
prevent a general war. He would have saved
the monarchy of the Othmans if the late Sultan
had lived, by preventing that foolish battle in
Syria. Nothing could equal the folly of our
Ambassadors, and, in this particular affair of the
battle, that of the Government.
" P.S. — It is wonderful that I was not seized
and thrown out of the window as a spy at the
Chartist Meeting to which you refer. I was
asked there, the only one of my caste ! This
shows that the Chartists are better people than
their fellows in the United States, who threw a
stranger over the bannisters and broke his ribs." 1
1 A note by my father says here : — " I do not recollect to what this
'P.S.' refers. Probably a reference to the newspapers of the time
would discover." — 22nd December 1852.

i84i] WAR— SEA-COAST FORTRESSES 171
I find the following Memorandum of a visit
to Strathfieldsaye : — " 16th June 1 84 1.
" Passed Saturday and Sunday at Strath
fieldsaye. I do not remember the having so
much enjoyed any visit here. His sons and
Lady Douro the only society besides ourselves.
Pleasant to see the devotion with which he
consults and anticipates every wish of his
beautiful daughter-in-law. He said the natural
state of mankind was war. Witness Spain,
Greece, Asia. There were two hill-forts in
India within gun-shot of each other. They used
to be perpetually and without any reason firing
on each other. ' I was obliged to tell them
I would take them both. One was called
Lonygoor.' He was much pleased with a letter
he had . written to prevent some blockheads of
our party from opposing our concession of
Buonaparte's ashes. Had never, since he went
out to India, been in bed from illness till the
unfortunate operation on his ear. Riding home
from it through St Giles, he nearly fell from
his horse in consequence of the irritation, while
passing a cart laden with iron bars. . . .
"He spoke of the Acre affair as a very
brilliant operation, said that some regular hand
must have planned it, and was disposed to attribute
it to Sir Charles Smith of St Sebastian notoriety,
in which I apprehend he was mistaken. He
mentioned S. Juan d'Ulloa, as the only other
instance of a fortress of the second order falling
to a sea-attack. I do not think he was informed
of the wretched state of its defences, and the
quality of the Mexican gunpowder, which it is
known was good for nothing. My boys were

172 SIR HARRY SMITH [1842
with us, and he insisted, as he often does, on
showing their rooms in person, in consequence
of which he bolted into the maids' bedroom, to
their consternation and our amusement. . . .
" Alava told Sir Harry Smith as follows : —
When the Duke sat down to his late dinner
in the evening of Waterloo, there were many
vacancies, as the table was laid for its usual
complement of guests. He ate little, and his
eyes were constantly directed to the door, in
the hope that some of those missing might yet
arrive. That hope was vain. No one entered.
He retired soon to write his despatch, but before
doing so, he held up both hands and exclaimed,
' The hand of God has been over me this day ! ' "
22nd March 1842. — "Walked with Arbuthnot
and the Duke. Remarked that the English
regiment, the — th, destroyed at Cabul was the
same which lost us New Orleans. It was also
with Murray in the unhappy business at
Tarragona. When the officer who brought
the despatches thence to the Duke reached
head-quarters, the Duke told him to keep quiet,
and not even say where he came from. ' I was
afraid,' said the Duke, 'our people would toss
him in a blanket.' "
The following note, or memorandum, though
made at a much later date — i$th January 1853 —
contains matter which comes in appropriately
here : —
" Sir Harry Smith visited us at Hatchford. I
asked him whether he was uneasy at Waterloo.
He said that he had never been in any action
in which the smoke so completely prevented any
general perception of what was going on. There

1842] SOULT 173
was little or no wind, and the field of action was
perhaps more compact than in any other instance
on record. When the French made their great
attack on our centre, in the very thickest of his
phenomenon a lull suddenly occurred. For some
minutes not a shot was fired, and nothing could
be seen by those not engaged ; when at last
the cloud cleared away, there were the scanty lines
of red in their old position, and a cheer along the
whole line saluted the glorious spectacle. Sir
Harry Smith was serving as Brigade Major to
the 10th Brigade, General Lambert."
23rd March 1842. — " The Duke dined at Lady
Charlotte Greville's, in great force and spirits.
Gave some curious details of his communications
with d'Argenton, the agent of the conspiracy in
Soult's army, in 181 1. The facility with which
this man, and others engaged in the plot, passed
to and fro through the French chain of outposts,
satisfied the Duke as to the extent of the con
spiracy. He was often with the Duke for days
together, the Duke always telling him, ' Do as
you please ; my business is to destroy your army,
and when I can I will.' The man fell a victim to
his own imprudence, in procuring passports from
the British Admiral. He landed with these in
France, was arrested and searched, but escaped to
England. He returned to France for his wife,
was again arrested, and shot in the plain of
Grenelle by special order of Napoleon.
" The red uniform of the Swiss in Soult's army
cut both ways. In the first instance, it induced
Soult to disbelieve the report that the English
were crossing the river. In the second instance,
it saved the French retreat. A Swiss regiment,
under Colonel Dulong, was met by a Portuguese
peasant, who, taking them for English, said, ' Make

174 IRELAND— CHINA [1842.
haste, or you will be late, for our people are de
stroying the bridge.' Dulong hastened his march,
and was just in time to save the only passage for
the escape of the whole army."
wth April 1842. — " Mr Grenville, Chief- Justice
Doherty, and the Duke dined with me in Belgrave
Square. Duke and Doherty agreed in the belief
that the quantity of arms concealed in Ireland is
enormous. Anecdote by Doherty of Lord Nor-
bury. Finishing a charge to the Grand Jury of
Limerick County, he saw in the Court the present
Colonel Peel, brother to Sir Robert, then an ensign
in the Rifles in the garrison. ' One word more,
Gentlemen,' said the Judge, ' and I have done.
His Majesty has just been pleased to add to the
garrison of this city a detachment of that distin
guished corps, the Rifle Brigade. Among its
Officers is Mr Jonathan Peel, brother to the
Secretary. By showing that excellent young man
every hospitality and attention in your power,
you will do honour to yourselves, your country,
and to Ireland.'
" The Duke said the great principle enforced
at his recommendation in the Chinese operations
was that the Naval and Land Force never should
separate, and that the former should not run the
risk of keeping the sea in the stormy season. The
co-operation was such as had never occurred be
fore, and could not, in the Duke's opinion, be
attained in any service but our own.
28/^ April 1842. — " Mr Grenville, to meet
the Duke at dinner. — Lady C. Greville and
Mr Arbuthnot. Never saw the Duke to greater
advantage, so calm and so fluent. Sat till half-past
eleven, and seemed in great spirits the whole time.
Wants Landseer to paint a particular moment of
Van Amburgh's exhibition. India was naturally

1843] INDIA— THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 175
a principal topic, but his conversation, like the
letter he has lately addressed to Lord Ellen-
borough, rather turned upon the ultimate object
of the consolidation of our strength behind the
Indus than on the more immediate and pressing
problem of what we are to do in Afghanistan.
His suggestions are principally the establishment
of a strong defensive position by the fortification
of Agra and Delhi ; the improvement of the water
communication from Allahabad ; and the securing
the left of the Northern army by occupying the
island of Bukkur, and by a tite-du-pont there.
These, with less dependence of the military on
the politicals, seem to be his chief proposals."
A Memorandum by the Duke.
" 2gth September 1843.
" I wish that the Landed Gentry and Great
Proprietors of England could consider the re
formed Church of England, as by law established,
not only as the true Christian Church, and there
fore the best religious establishment that could be
formed, but, connected as it is with the State, with
the Landed Property, and with the systems of
education in the country, it is an Establishment,
political as well as religious, essential to the con
servation, the property, the peace and good order
of the country. It is true that many dissent from
its religious doctrines, its disciplines, and its forms.
The majority of the Dissenters from the Church
in these times are politicians. They object to the
Institution on account of the strength, the support
and solidity which it gives to the Constituted
Monarchical system of the Government, the state
of property and established order existing in the

176 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND [1843-
country. It is a great merit in the Church of
England that it tolerates and protects all these
Dissenters from its Establishment on whatever
ground. It is the only Church Establishment
existing, or that ever has existed, which could
tolerate Dissent. A part of the Church of Eng
land is established in Ireland. When the Legis
latures of the two countries were separate, the
Reformed Church of England in Ireland was a
separate Church Establishment. One of the
Articles in the Treaty of Union between Great
Britain and Ireland unites these Churches into
one — The United Reformed Church of England
and Ireland. This Treaty was confirmed by Acts
passed in the Parliaments of the two countries,
by which the Article was specially confirmed for
ever. "The reformed Church of England, of Great
Britain, is thus established in both countries, its
doctrines are professed by the majority of the
people of the two countries. It is true that in
Ireland exclusively the majority of the people are
Roman Catholiqs, as they were at the period of
the Reformation, and when these laws were passed
establishing in Ireland the Reformed Religion of
the Church of England, and likewise at the period
of the Treaty of Union and the Laws to ratify
that Treaty.
"The establishment of the Church of England
in Scotland stands upon the same foundation, and
produces the same benefits as the same Establish
ment does in Great Britain.
" Let it not be supposed that this Branch of
the Establishment can be cut off and thrown
aside, abandoned! particularly by the violence,
virulence, and injustice of its enemies — whom it
has tolerated and indulged in everything ex-

1844] ALGIERS AND MOROCCO 177
cepting its own destruction. Let it not be
believed that the Church of England can stand
if unable to protect that Branch of the Establish
ment which is in Ireland. We must maintain
that or we shall lose all, and with all, our
Religion, our Monarchy, our property, our Con
stitution, our Education, our manners, and every
thing which distinguishes us as a nation."
The above paper is marked " Memorandum."
Memorandum of Sunday, gth June 1 844.
" I fell in with the Duke in Stanhope Street.
I am afraid I robbed poor Miss d'Este of a
visit, for after some conversation he determined
to return home through the garden, of which he
had the key. Expressed great satisfaction at
having got the Emperor of Russia safe on board
at Woolwich. There had been some fear of
attempts at assassination. In the garden we
met many children, all of whom he seemed to
know. Pretty, as Pepys would say, to see the
reverence of the old and the familiarity of the
young, as they gathered about him.
Tuesday following. — " Met him again to-day in
Grosvenor Place, walking home from Lady
Douro's. He walked slow, and stopped often
to expatiate. Recognition and reverence of all
as usual. Hats were taken off; passers made
excuse for stopping to gaze. Young surgeons
on the steps of St George's Hospital forgot their
lecture and their patients, and even the butcher's
boy pulled up his cart as he stopped at the gate
of Apsley House.1
" Eager on the subject of Algiers and Morocco.
1 Cf. Lord Ellesmere's poem on 18th November 1852.
Z

178 THE EMPEROR NICHOLAS [1844-
Repeated old observations on the impolicy of
the French course in attempting to deal with
numerous and partially civilised occupants,
pastoral and agricultural, as we have dealt with
the Red Indian hunter in North America. Said
he had dwelt forcibly on this topic with the
Emperor Nicholas, with a view to Circassia and
other countries in process of Russian absorption,
pointing out our example in India, where we
govern, but do not occupy, expel, or extirpate.
' Burn their villages, and sweep their flocks ! '
he said ; ' the true policy would be to build them
villages, and give them more flocks.'
" When the Emperor Nicholas collected 100,000
troops at Petersburg for the inauguration of
Alexander's column, Lord Palmerston made
William IV. believe that they were collected for
the invasion of England. He made our Minister,
Bligh, who seems to have watched the cat jump,
and to have favoured this strange supposition,
furnish reports of the tonnage of vessels at
Cronstadt capable of transporting troops. I
don't know what the object of this invention was,
for of course I don't imagine that Lord Palmerston
believed in it himself. I remember, however,
that Russophobia was a Whig fashion of the
day. They used to talk of expecting to
see Cossacks mounting guard at the Horse
Guards. " Among the people at this time most bitter
against the Duke was Lord Palmerston. When
he was first appointed to the Foreign Office, the
Duke sent him a civil message to say that if he
should desire any explanation respecting trans
actions which he would find there in progress,
he, the Duke, would wait on him there to furnish
it. This noble offer was declined.

1845] SIR ANDREW BARNARD 179
Note of a Memorandum made 6th May 1845.
" The Duke is leading a very solitary life. He
dines out nowhere and gives no dinners.
Arbuthnot and Lord and Lady Charles (Wellesley)
his only society till yesterday, when Lady Charles
was brought to bed of a son and heir, to the
Duke's great delight and relief, for she was ill for
some hours, and he was in as great an agitation
as a young husband could have been.
"Met dear Sir Andrew Barnard at Apsley House.
He has a dead foot, of which the nerves at least
have lost sensation. He put his umbrella on it
yesterday and apologised, thinking it was a neigh
bour's. At the Queen's Concert last night he
lost a shoe without perceiving it, and when he
did become aware of its absence was obliged to
borrow one of a servant. Told me the best
troops we had at Waterloo were almost all second
battalions, scarcely out of the goose-step. They
stood, and hammered away as well as the oldest,
but it would have been very hazardous to have
manoeuvred with them under fire as with the old
Peninsulars. The Duke said of Napoleon during
the action : ' D — n the fellow, he is a mere
pounder after all.' Sir Arthur Paget left the
field wounded, about three.
" I asked him (Sir Andrew) if he had any
anxiety about the result. He said, ' Oh no,
except for the Duke. We had a notion that
while he was there nothing could go wrong.'
Sir Andrew corroborated my refutation in the
Quarterly of Marmont's statement as to his in
feriority in numbers at Salamanca. The Duke
had been superior, and our people were much
dissatisfied at his not attacking at that time.
The Duke, however, was far from his resources,

180 SALAMANCA [1845
could not expect reinforcements, and was, for
good reasons, determined not to fight unless he
could do so at great advantage. His own object
was gained as long as he could compel Marmont
to keep his army together, for a French army
occupied nothing but the ground it stood on.
He knew that difficulties of subsistence would
compel Marmont soon to disperse his troops, and
that he would then be able to sally forth from
Portugal with effect. He was therefore retiring
on Ciudad Rodrigo, and content to do so, when
Marmont, who had redressed the balance of num
bers by the junction of Bonet with 7000 men from
the Asturias, gave him an opportunity too good
to be resisted, for what Sir Andrew called ' stick
ing a knife into his side.' It must be remembered
that every addition like that of Bonet's to Mar
mont's main army was in effect a province gained
to the Spanish revolt, while it lasted. The Duke's
saddle-flap was hit by a spent shot in the evening
of Salamanca. Before the dinner, on rising from
which the Duke saw the fatal extension of the
French left, the servants had attempted to open
the canteens in an orchard, but two or three round-
shot coming in had made them pack up in a
hurry." To Mr Arbuthnot, forwarded by him, I imagine, with
reference to my Article in the Quarterly Review.
"Strathfieldsaye, gth May 1845.
" There was a sheet missing from the number
relating to the battle of Waterloo. I told you
there was, and I have found it among my papers
on my arrival here. I enclose it. You will see
that it is a very important one."

1845] CIVIL STAFF APPOINTMENTS 181
"London, ist November 1845.
" I think you mentioned to me that when you
were in Germany you saw one or two of the
Austrian towers fortified on the new principle of
towers. I shall be obliged if you will let me
know what was the size ... of each of the towers ;
what their distance from each other. Was each
surrounded by ditch or moat ? Was the foot of
the wall covered by glacis ? Were the towers
connected with each other by any line or re
trenchment ? " " Walmer Castle, \th November 1845.
" I am very much obliged to you for your letter,
which contains just such an account as I wished to
receive, and it agrees exactly with what I have
seen of the mode of carrying into execution the
same system on the Rhine." 1
1 itk December 1846. — (" On the question of my
son Arthur obtaining a Staff appointment")
" I am very sensible of the advantage it is to
any young Officer to serve on the Staff of a Civil
Governor or of a Military Commander-in-Chief
out of England. It makes him acquainted with a
new society. He must acquire knowledge, and
even habits of business, if at all employed by his
Chief ! At the same time I must say he will have,
at a late period of life, to acquire a knowledge of
the mechanical discipline and movements of the
troops, which will be essential to him in the higher
ranks of the military profession. It is not easy to
say what it is of which the knowledge would not
1 These two letters refer to the great Austrian works at Lintz. I
sent in reply to the first as good an account of them as I could from
memory, with some sketches. The Duke's question was connected
with his views of the danger of foreign invasion of England.

182 HOUGOUMONT AND LA HAYE SAINTE [1847
be useful to an Officer in high command. But I
do say that, what I have always found of most use
to myself, is the great facility in moving large
bodies of troops on the ground. I know that
others, Murray for instance, felt the inconvenience
of the want of that facility which is acquired, in
fact by practice and a regimental education.
" P.S. — Tell your son from me, not to neglect
the cultivation of his mind in every way while he
will be employed on the Staff of the Governor-
General in N. America. Tell him that I have
never been, and never am at this moment, list
less or idle."
February 1847. — "During the battle of Waterloo
the Duke observed that the French had contrived
to set on fire a haystack close to the roof of the
building.1 He was in the habit of carrying in his
pocket tablets of asses' skin. On one of these
he wrote an order to the Officer Commanding to
put out the fire. This leaf was preserved, and is
(or was) in possession of Lady Wellesley. It
ought to go to the British Museum. If the French
had succeeded in taking Hougoumont, they could
not have held it long, as our howitzers completely
commanded it, but while they could hold it, their
occupation would have prevented us from acting
on the flank of their attacks, as we did, with so
much effect, in the last advance of their guard.
Hougoumont and La Haye were like two bastions
to the ridge between, and made the position a very
strong one.
" The Duke had noticed its capabilities on re
peated visits, both in his journeys of inspection,
and in a ride he took from Brussels for the pur
pose. It was in one of these visits that Lady
1 The name is not given, but most probably at Hougoumont.
—Ed.

1847] DUEL WITH LORD WINCHELSEA 183
-, l travelling with her mother, first met the

Duke upon the spot of his subsequent victory.
" He had, in like manner, inspected the position
once occupied by Marlborough in front of Hal.
The reason why he posted Colville and Prince
Frederick of Orange in force in that position was
because he thought then, as he thinks now, that
Napoleon ought, after Quatre Bras, to have
manoeuvred in that direction, in order to draw away
the British from the Prussians, with the ulterior
chance of acting between them. For this pur
pose, he should have moved along the Nivelles
road, by which we had advanced from our right.
Prince Frederick had 17,000 men to hold the
Hal position till he could have been joined by the
Duke. " The King of Wiirtemberg, the cleverest man
and best officer among the German Sovereigns."
(Collected at Walmer in 1845.)
"March 1847. — Robert Eden2 told me a story
of a pensioner who had assisted at the Duke of
Wellington's duel with Lord Winchelsea. He
said, ' I saw him riding through Battersea, and I
saw that there was mischief in his eye, so I
followed, and saw what happened."
"May 1847. — Dinner at Apsley House, to meet
Sir Harry Smith of Aliwal. Fitzroy Somerset
disputed the circumstance of Nassau troops on
the extreme left at Waterloo. I knew they were
there, and so did Sir Harry, who had been told
1 My mother, then Miss Greville. My grandparents formed a
part of the English Colony at Brussels at that time.
2 The Hon. and Rev. Robert Eden, brother of Lord Auckland,
the Governor-General of India, was then Rector of Battersea. He
was afterwards Bishop of Bath and Wells.

184 ASSAYE— METTERNICH [1847.
by the Duke he would find his old friends who
had deserted from the French at Arbonne, in
the south of France. He said the Duke rode up
to him at the end of the battle and asked,
' Where are your people, Kempt's division (or
brigade) ? Tell them to form column of com
panies, and move on.'
" ' In which direction, my Lord ? '
" ' Why, right ahead.'
" Sir Harry had just returned from America ;
on the voyage spoke a vessel. ' Any news ? '
" ' Nothing particular. Buonaparte landed in
France ; that's all'
" ' Then I shall be a Lieutenant-Colonel before
the year's out.' "
" 15th July 1847. — A dinner at Apsley House
before the Opera, with no one but Arbuthnot.
The Duke spoke of marching. In India, shortly
after Assaye, he made an extraordinary march,
with a view of surprising a body of native preda
tory horse. With infantry, cavalry, and artillery,
he left his quarters at 6 a.m., halted at 2 p.m. for six
hours, then marched through the night, and came
on the enemy at mid-day, having completed 72
miles, occupied the camp, with his infantry fresh
and in good order, and his cavalry in condition to
manoeuvre for four more miles on the flank and
rear of the enemy's retreat. He carried the knap
sacks of the natives as well as the European
troops, which is not usual, and also the port
manteaus of the cavalry. He also relieved the
artillery on the march with spare bullocks. The
surprise was complete and effectual."
" May 1848.— Walked with the Duke of Well
ington to call upon Metternich. The Duke
promised to show me his recent correspondence
with Lamartine, which appears to have been

1851] MUFFLING 185
amicable on both sides, but cautious on the part
of the Duke, who took care to inform and advise
with Lord John Russell. It is curious to see how
the Whig Government now hang on the Duke.
In delicate matters they send the Duke of Bedford
to Arbuthnot, as they did lately, to sound him on
the Jew Bill, and to prevail upon him not to
speak. " I think the Duke much disinclined to press
them in the Palmerston business, which bids fair
to give a jog to this tottery Government. Peel
keeps aloof from the Opposition, and Graham,
Lincoln, and probably St Germans, are specu
lating on a break-up and a coalition."
"Walmer, 25^ September 1851.
" I am much obliged for your notes on Muffling's
work. There was certainly something out of
order in the communication between the two
armies in the middle of June. I was in the habit
of dining at three o'clock punctually, that I might
be in the way, and at leisure throughout the day !
" The first that I heard of the attack upon
Ziethen was not from Muffling! It was from
the Prince of Orange, who had come in from his
quarters at Binche (?) Reuil (?), and who informed
me that the French were in movement, that
they had felt his posts, and had attacked Ziethen !
I immediately sent orders for the concentration
of our troops towards the left, and for the
reserve to collect in the Park as soon as pos
sible. Muffling did not come in with his account
till dinner! Certainly the first news that I
received of a movement by the French, and
particularly of the advance against Ziethen's
posts, was from the Prince of Orange in person.
2 A

186 COMMUNICATIONS WITH BLUCHER [1851
It is perfectly true that we had received several
reports of movements on the frontier from (the
left ?), but I waited till I knew which was to be the
decided point of attack ; and my position and line
of cantonments and arrangements were so good,
as that, in point of fact, the army was assembled
on its extreme left in little more than twelve hours
after the report was received of the French move
ment. The Prussian army, which was attacked,
was not assembled in a shorter period of time.
" It is true that I went to the Moulin de Bry
and saw the Prussian army formed to receive
battle. My observation was, 'We each of us
know our own army best! I should not have
formed mine in this defensive position as yours is.
I should have held them further back, and would
have thus protected them from the effect of the
French artillery.1 Gneisenau made me an angry
answer — I believe, that the Prussians liked to see
the enemy ! We saw in the evening what passed
on the Prussian field of battle — the failure of the
charge of cavalry made by Bliicher. We were
certain that the Prussians did not possess the
whole of it ; we were doubtful how much they
did possess. As soon as we could see in the
morning, I sent my aide-de camp, Colonel Alex
ander Gordon,2 Lord Aberdeen's brother, with
two squadrons of the 10th Hussars, to patrol up
to the Prussian army, and to communicate with
its Commanding Officer. He had been with us
at the Mill of Bry the preceding day. He found
French vedettes in the field of battle ; the
French troops in possession of all the villages
1 Sentence here illegible.
2 Fitchett, in vol. iv. of his " How England Saved Europe," dis
cusses this question of sending Colonel Alexander Gordon to
communicate with Bliicher. — ED.

1851] WATERLOO REMINISCENCES 187
on the rivulet which the Prussians had occupied
the previous day. He communicated with Ziethen
in Sombref, and came back and reported that
Bliicher had retired upon Wavre, and that Ziethen
was ordered to retire in the same direction. I
determined to take up the position at Waterloo,
with which I was well acquainted ! There was
but one road by which I could retire from the
position at Quatre Bras, and the Prussians
having retired, I had the whole French army
in my front till I saw Grouchy detached towards
the middle of the day! It was necessary to wait
and be certain that that road was clear . . . and
afterwards to withdraw the troops from their posi
tion with the utmost regularity, and, if possible by
any means, to conceal what we were doing ! All
our movements were as regular as if they had
been in the Mall in St James's Park. The whole
of both cavalry and infantry were set in move
ment in broad daylight !
"The infantry was withdrawn on the high
road, excepting the light troops kept in position
on the ground . . . (illegible). . . . The cavalry,
in several lines, was left on the ground. Till
towards evening, and hours after Grouchy had
moved, a large body of cavalry and infantry,
principally cavalry, was assembled on our left in
the position and ground of the preceding day.
This body .moved on the road towards our left
flank. ... As soon as the French vedettes
touched ours on the road from ... we com
menced to retire with the cavalry and light troops
from Quatre Bras, and reached Genappes and
Waterloo without interruption. Our retreat
could not have been more regular and safe
than it was. I was in communication with
Bliicher, as well in writing myself as verbally

1 88 THE DUKE AND GNEISENAU [1851
through Miiffling, from the middle of the day
of the 17th, to inform him of my determination
to maintain the position of Waterloo to all
extremities if he would remain in communication
with us. I was acting on the very best terms
with Muffling and with Bliicher, indeed not
otherwise with any of them. I did not much
admire Gneisenau, and Grollman was the worst
of all, but I was always on good terms with all.
Miiffling saw that I did the business of the
army myself, that I . . . (inspired ? ) its move
ments, that I ordered them, that I handled it,
that I directed its operations and superintended
everything. He frequently told me they could
not do this, and that none other but myself could.
Muffling is right : it was Delancy who was
Quartermaster- General of the Army. He was
killed in the performance of the duty of his
office in the battle of Waterloo. ... He was
succeeded in the post by Lieutenant-Colonel
Brooke, who was Quartermaster-General at the
end of the battle and in the . . . march to Paris.
I will write to you again, if anything else should
occur to me. It does not appear to me that
there is anything else which you have mentioned
of sufficient importance to make it desirable that
I should notice it."
My father comments on the above as follows : —
" This letter affords an indication of the sort
of character the Duke had to deal with in
Gneisenau. That officer's Memoirs are to appear
shortly, and he will doubtless give his own version
of these and other transactions. He will hardly,
however, be able to remove the unfavourable
impression of his personal character which
Droysen's Life of that great soldier and

1851] GNEISENAU 189
ill-used man, York, and Miiffling's Memoirs are
calculated to leave on their readers.1
"Both these works show what a miserable
scene of dissension and counter influences the
Prussian headquarter was in 18 13, '14 and '15,
under Gneisenau's guidance, and both leave
a very poor opinion with me of Gneisenau's
strategic ability, coupled with the highest ot
the fighting qualities of the troops he directed.
Muffling tells us that he started in 18 15 with
a rooted distrust of the Duke's good faith,
honesty and veracity. This curious disclosure
is confirmed in the account published this year
in Berlin, by authority, of the campaign of 1 8 1 5 —
the 14th No. of the Geschichte der Kriege in
Europa seit 1792, p. 3. In this it is asserted
that for various military reasons of the moment
the Prussian chiefs hesitated to promise the
Duke the support which he requested on the
17th for the battle which he intended to fight
at Waterloo. These reasons, however, were
strengthened by Gneisenau's unconquerable mis
trust of the Duke. The mistrust of the Duke's
heterogeneous army was reasonable, but what
possible ground could a sane or well-regulated
man have adduced for a suspicion of his zeal
in the common cause, or his good faith towards
his allies ?
" Gneisenau was, however, jaundiced by his own
perpetual dissensions with his own comrades and
rivals, York and others, including Muffling, whom
he hated. His own dispositions at Ligny were
confessedly wretched, and such as enabled
Napoleon to finish with success a battle begun
late in the day.
1 Graf York von Wartenburg, Life by J. G. Droysen, 3 vols. 8vo
Berlin, 1851-2.

190 MUFFLING'S MEMOIRS [1851
"This letter has given me more trouble to
decypher than any I ever received from the
Duke, and I have failed to satisfy myself with
some passages."
In answer to a proposal to send translated extracts from
Miiffling's Memoirs.
"Walmer, 30^ September 1851.
" I shall be very much obliged to you for the
communication of any passages of Miiffling's
Memoirs, relating to 18 15, of which you may
think it desirable that I should have cognizance.
" I shall certainly be at Worsley in good time
on the 8th." (For the Queen's visit.)

MEMORANDUM ON THE BATTLE
OF WATERLOO
My father contributed an Article to the
Quarterly Review, in 1845, on Marmont, Siborne
and Alison. On the proof-sheets of this Article
I find the following Memorandum : —
"These proof sheets were under the Duke's
perusal on the 18th of June 1845, tne 3otn
Anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. They
received his unqualified approbation, and bear
evidence of his perusal in one or two pencil
corrections under his own hand. The passage
at page sixteen, marked with ink, is one to
which I drew his attention, being anxious to
know whether I had rightly apprehended and
remembered some observations, caught from his
own lips at various times, on which it is founded.
" F. E.
" 28th June 1845."
The following Memoranda are here printed
practically as they were written by my father, but
the vast mass of new evidence on the details of
the Battle of Waterloo since his day, has thrown
some new light on some of the statements con
tained in them. I have therefore added a few
notes on points concerning which there appears
to be some conflict of evidence. — Ed. 191

192 MEMORANDUM ON WATERLOO
Memorandum all in the Duke's hand. 1
" The Battle of Waterloo and all the details
connected with that operation, including the
positions of the Allied Armies previous to its
commencement, the orders given them, their
marches on the days immediately preceding the
battle, their operations in the battles of the
15th, 1 6th, and 17th of June 18 15, as well as
on the 1 8th of June itself, are fair subjects of
historical discussion. But that which it is the
duty of the Historian of a battle to do, equally
with the Historian of any other transaction, is
to seek with diligence for the most authentic
details of the subject on which he writes, to
peruse with care and attention all that has been
published ; to prefer that which has been officially
recorded and published by public responsible
authorities ; next, to attend to that which pro
ceeds from Official Authority, although not
contemporaneously published, and to pay least
attention to the statements of Private Individuals,
whether communicated in writing, or verbally ;
particularly the latter, if at a period distant from
the date of the operation itself; and, above all,
such statements as relate to the conduct of the
Individual himself communicating or making the
statement. "The Histories of Mr Alison and Captain
Siborne ought both to be considered in these
views. 1 " This ought properly to be preceded by the other and longer
document, on which my Article in the Quarterly was principally
founded. The original of this was, I apprehend, returned to the
Duke, as my version is a copy executed by Mr Rasbotham
(Lord Ellesmere's Private Secretary). "(Signed) E. E."

WATERLOO NOTES 193
" The objects in the view of the Allied Powers
for the Collection of the Allied British Army
under the Duke of Wellington in the Princi
pality of the Netherlands,1 just then formed, and
the Allied Prussian Army under the command
of Marshal Prince Bliicher, on the left bank of
the Meuse, and on the rivers Meuse and Sambre,
have been before adverted to. The attack of
these armies, or one of them, by the Emperor
Napoleon before the period at which the other
Allied Armies could be collected, was an event
calculated upon, and considered by the Officers at
the head of them ; and the orders and directions
given by the Duke of Wellington for the march
and collection of the Troops under his command,
in different hypothetical cases stated therein, have
been published, and since that period the orders
given by them on the 15th of June, after he had
received an authentick Report of the movement
of attack made by the French Army on the
Prussian Position of the Sambre, during the
previous night and on that morning.
" There can be no doubt, that it would have
been desirable, if the two armies had been
collected, each near the point attacked at the
moment at which the attack commenced. But
the advantages derived by the French Emperor
from the nature of the N.E. frontier of France,
towards the Netherlands and Germany, must
never be lost sight of, any more than the great
object of the Allied Powers in the original
position of their Armies, and the necessity of
maintaining in security the communication with
Holland and England by the Army under the
Duke of Wellington, and it will be seen that
such collection of troops could not be made till
1 So in original MS.
2 B

194 MR ALISON'S HISTORY [1837
the ultimate designs of the French Emperor
should be clearly ascertained, without incurring
the risk of great losses . . . and further of being
under the necessity of making false movements
in presence of such a Master in the Art of War
as the Emperor Napoleon. The views of the
Allies in assembling Armies in the Netherlands,
and in German Provinces on the left of the
Rhine, and on the rivers Sambre and Meuse,
have been heretofore discussed. It appears that
the Duke of Wellington having his Head
quarters at Brussels, and Marshal Bliicher his
at Namur, the first account which the Duke of
Wellington received of the operations and attack
of the French Army upon the positions of the
Prussian Army on the Sambre, was at between
three and five o'clock in the afternoon of the
15th from the Prince of Orange in person, who
had come in from Binche to dine with him.
" He had at his Headquarters a Staff Officer
of the Prussian Army of the highest rank and
distinction, who was in constant communication
with all parts of the Prussian Army.
"It might reasonably have been expected that
an attack made upon the Prussian Army at five
o'clock in the morning might have been known
at Brussels, at the distance of about forty miles,
before five in the evening. Yet in point of fact,
it was not till that hour, that the accounts were
received from the Prussian quarter ; the orders
for the movement had been issued upon receipt
of the first accounts from the Prince of Orange.
Further orders were issued for the continuance
of the movements as soon as the Reports from
the Prussian Quarters were received."
" The Duke of Wellington was responsible for

WATERLOO NOTES 195
not receiving these Reports," says the sagacious,
fair-judging Mr Alison ! He was, was he ? That
is the question. This was entirely and exclusively
a Prussian affair.
Nobody can say whether there was any mis
conduct in anybody for the failure of early com
munication, but if there was any, surely he was
not to blame who was to receive the communica
tion from others !
There is a good deal of detailed statement in
both these histories regarding the failure owing to
the misunderstanding of a communication between
Marshal Bliicher in his Headquarters at Namur,
and General Biilow von Dennewitz at Liege,
which was the cause of the halt of that corps on
the 15th June at Hannut, and of its consequent
absence from Sombref on the next day of battle,
that is, on the 16th of June.
But has Marshal Bliicher, or the Chief of the
Staff, or Baron Biilow, been blamed for this omis
sion to communicate a failure or mistake of or
in the communication ? No ! but the Duke of
Wellington must be blamed, because a communi
cation failed, at the important moment certainly,
over which he could have no control ! And this
is what is called a candid historian !
It is obvious that the Duke of Wellington did
not lose a moment in giving the proper and re
quired orders when informed of the attack.
Let the historian only suppose the case : that
he had received at nine in the morning from the
Prussian Staff-Officer, as he ought, the Reports
of what had passed between the French and

196 ALISON AND SIBORNE
Prussian Armies on the Sambre at five on the
same morning :
The orders given at five in the evening would
have been issued at ten in the morning ! The
troops would have been on the evening of the
15th, at six o'clock, in the situations in which they
were at twelve o'clock that night, after the receipt
of the orders of 5 p.m. of the 15th.
They would have moved at daylight in the
morning of the 16th, and would have been at
mid-day on the 16th, at the points which they
reached at six, seven, and eight that evening.
But after all, it is desirable to see what force of
the Allied British Army, under the command of
the Duke of Wellington, was at this point of
attack made on the Sambre, and then to see
whether, after the failure of the communication,
there was cause for blame on account of delay in
collecting the troops, or indeed at all, considering
that the French Army was not itself collected ;
that is to say, with its columns closed up, and in
a state to commence an operation till late in the
day of the 16th, as it is stated by Captain Siborne,
writing from information from the French Staff,
and that even Marshal Ney had not joined the
army, and had not his horses and his equipages,
and had been under the necessity of purchasing
horses from Marshal the Duke of Treviso, who
was sick.
" It is true that Captain Siborne criticises the
conduct of the Emperor Napoleon in not following
up with sufficient activity on the 16th the move
ment which he had made with so much success on

WATERLOO NOTES 197
the 15th. But a little reflection upon the infor
mation which he undoubtedly had of the move
ments of the various parts of" the French Army
must have convinced him that those which had
been on the extreme left in French Flanders, and
formed the rear of the column, of which the Head
was engaged on the Sambre, on the 15th, could
not be closed up till a late hour on the day of the
1 6th. " Yet it must be admitted that the Commander
of the French Army, the Emperor Napoleon, had
the initiatives, and the choice of the point of attack,
as well as of the moment at which it should be
made, in consequence of the Allied Armies being
necessarily at that moment on the defensive."
It is stated by Captain Siborne that the Prince
of Orange had the command of the First Corps of
the Infantry of the Allied Army, under the com
mand of the Duke of Wellington. This corps
consisted of the —

ist British Division

4,051 men

3rd British Division

6,970 „

2nd Dutch Belgian Division

9,533 ,,

3rd Dutch Belgian Division

6,669 ,,

25,223 men
and 48 pieces of cannon.
This corps was cantoned. The ist and 3rd
Divisions British at Enghien, Braine le Comte,
and Soignies ; the 2nd Dutch Belgian Division
at Nivelles ; the 3rd Dutch Belgian at Roeux
and towards Binche.
The 2nd at Nivelles being 4 miles from Quatre
Bras, all the others within an easy march of
Quatre Bras, supposing that to be the point of

198 DISPOSITION OF THE ALLIES
attack, these troops were in immediate communi
cation with the right of the Prussian Army, the
corps of General Ziethen on the Sambre.
Their right was cantoned, as said, in the neigh
bourhood of the high road from Mons to Brussels,
thus giving protection to the capital. By their
right they communicated with the 2nd corps of
Infantry, under the command of General Lord
Hill, and the corps of Allied Cavalry under the
command of General the Marquis of Anglesea.
They had a good and easy communication with
the right of the corps and the Prussian Army from
Braine le Comte on Nivelles and Quatre Bras.
There was, besides, at Bruxelles as Reserve —
The 5 th British Division 7, 188 men.
„ 6th British Division 5, 199 ,,
,, Brunswick Corps - 5,376 „

17,763 men.
25,223 „
42,986 men.

This was the force actually upon the field at
Quatre Bras, in the course of the day and after
noon of the 1 6th of June, exclusively of the British
cavalry, which reached the ground late in the
evening. The public will judge for themselves whether
the Duke of Wellington ought to have posted
his army in a different manner ; whether he, or
anybody else, ought to be blamed for the failure
of the receipt of early intelligence of the attack
of the French upon the Prussian Army on the
morning ofthe 15 th at five o'clock; and whether

WATERLOO NOTES 199
there was delay or mistake on his part in giving
orders for the march of the troops after he had
obtained knowledge of the exact state of affairs
at the point of attack.
These are the facts referable to the charge
that His Grace was surprised.
// is true and well known that the Duke went
to a ball at the Duchess of Richmond's at
Bruxelles, after he had given his orders for the
march of the troops, as well to those at a distance
as to those cantoned in that town and the neigh
bourhood of Bruxelles. Those cantoned in the
town having been ordered to assemble in the
Park at midnight.
In respect to this Ball having been the cause
or a symptom of the military surprise upon the
Commander-in-Chief, it may be as well to remind
the Historian of another well-known fact.
The Duchess of Richmond, daughter of the
Duke of Gordon, a great admirer ofthe Highland
troops (and the 42nd and 92nd, or Gordon
Highlanders, of which Her Grace's father, the
Duke of Gordon, was Colonel), being cantoned in
Bruxelles, invited some of the non-commissioned
officers, and even privates, to her Ball, wishing
to show her Bruxelles friends the real Highland
dance, and some of the soldiers danced at this
ball. These two regiments were engaged on
the next day at Quatre Bras, and it is well known 1
that some of the dancers were killed.
1 Ney's advanced guard attacked the Nassau troops at Frasnes,
some twenty-three miles from Brussels, at 5.30 on the 15th, the day
of the ball.

200 THE DUKE'S MOVEMENTS
So much for the surprise occasioned by the
Commander-in-Chiefs presence at the Ball.
// is well known that he quitted Bruxelles on
horseback at daylight 1 in the morning of the 1 6th
of June, and he must have been in person on
the field at Quatre Bras before mid -day.
He went immediately, accompanied by his
Aide-de-camp, Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon.
Alexander Gordon, to the Headquarters of the
Prussian Army, at that time assembling on the
heights in the rear of the villages of St Amand
and Ligny, distant from six to eight miles from
the Quatre Bras.
He returned to Quatre Bras in the afternoon,
having quitted the Prussian Headquarters before
the attack by the French Army commenced. He
reached the position at Quatre Bras before the
French attack upon it commenced, and it is well
known that he in person reconnoitred the French
Army in the wood, formed in columns preparatory
to the attack.
It is not true, as stated by Captain Siborne,
that at night he was ignorant of what had
occurred on the Prussian field of battle, and was
not informed till the following morning.2
It is well known that the Duke of Wellington
employed a Staff-Officer, Col. Sir Henry Hardinge,
at Marshal Bliicher's Headquarters, who sent him
repeated Reports during the battle — one Report,
1 Ropes gives the hour as 7.30 a.m., Houssaye as 6 a.m., Greig
as " about 8," and Lady Hamilton Dalrymple as 8 a.m.
2 But compare a passage on p. 229, where it is stated that
"the exact result of the battle was not known" — "the Duke was
informed of some of the details at night."

WATERLOO NOTES 201
the last written after he was himself wounded,
which was brought to the Duke by his brother,
Captain Hardinge of the Royal Artillery, with a
verbal message given after nightfall.
The Duke, moreover, could see, and saw what
passed on the Prussian field of battle, until dark
ness put an end to all further movements and
observations on either side.
But he sent his Aide-de-Camp, Lieut.-Col.
Gordon, who had been on the Prussian field of
battle with the Duke on the preceding day, the
1 6th, at daylight on the morning of the 17th,
with two squadrons of the 10th Hussars, in order
to communicate with the rear-guard of the Prussian
Army, and to ascertain what was their position
and design.
The Colonel found the field of battle deserted,
excepting by a few French vedettes. These were
driven in, and the Colonel with his squadrons
crossed the field of battle unmolested, and having
communicated verbally with General Ziethen,
commanding the Prussian rear-guard at Sombref,1
on the road to Namur, where the Prussian left
had rested in the battle of the preceding day, and
having ascertained that the Army had retired upon
Wavre, he returned across the Prussian field of
battle to the position at Quatre Bras.
Let the reader of the History compare this, the
true account of the transaction, with the account
in the History.
If Colonel Gordon had lived, probably Captain
1 It is probable that Col. Gordon found Ziethen at Tilly, not at
Sombref.
2 C

202 CAPTAIN SIBORNE'S HISTORY
Siborne might have learnt the truth from him,
and he must have known that the Colonel brought
back the most positive accounts of the state and
position of the Prussian Army, instead of bringing
back word that the Prussians had retreated towards
Wavre. It must be observed throughout the fifth chapter
that the statements recorded by the author as
facts and matter of historical truth were the
reports of individuals of their own actions, and
of conversations which they held with each other.
It is undoubted and well known that the
Commander-in-Chief, the Duke of Wellington, was
on the field of battle from the commencement to
the termination of the battle, that he reconnoitred
the enemy in the wood, and indeed was the first to
discover that the attack was about to be made by
a very large body of troops. That he was on the
field till after dark as long as any contest lasted,
and that, as was his uniform practice, he posted
all the troops himself, and that no movement was
made but by his orders. Yet the perusal of this
history, as it is called, would inspire the belief that
he was not in the field at all, and had not given a
single order.
As soon as Colonel Gordon returned with his
patrol, it is well known that the Duke of Welling
ton gave orders for the army to occupy the position
in front of Waterloo, of which he had a perfect
knowledge, having seen it frequently, and of which
no knowledge could have been had by any other
officer in the Army. The road to and through
Genappe having been cleared of all hospital and

WATERLOO NOTES 203
store carriages, and of every impediment, the In
fantry and Artillery were put in march, in broad
daylight, in different columns, to cross the different
bridges over the Dyle. These movements were
as regular as on a parade.
The outposts, particularly those held by the
Riflemen, were kept standing, and movements
were made by the British Cavalry so as to attract
the enemy's attention, and conceal the retrograde
movement of the Infantry.
The Infantry having marched, the cavalry
remained on the ground, the Commander-in-
Chief, the Duke of Wellington, with them till
between three and four o'clock in the afternoon.
In the History of the transactions of the 17th,
there is another example of the mode of writing
Histories founded on the Reports of private
individuals of their own conduct and their
conversation with others.
It is well known that the Duke of Wellington
was on the ground till the last moment ; that he
saw all the movements on the Prussian field of
battle, the detachment of Grouchy's corps towards
Wavre, following the march of the Prussian Army,
and the march of the great body of the French
Army along the great road from Sombref. It is
well known that no movement was made on his
part, and that in fact he did not order the com
mencement of the retreat of the Cavalry till their
advanced patrols touched the vedettes on the
high road on their left.
He had before ordered off the Riflemen from
the front, with directions to halt in the first houses

204 CAPTAIN SIBORNE'S HISTORY
of Genappe, in order to facilitate the retreat
through the Town of the Cavalry, in case they
should be pressed.
There were several bridges over the Dyle which
the separate columns ofthe Cavalry might cross, and
eventually did cross, and in point of fact there was
no difficulty as to the retreat of the Cavalry, no
part of which was pressed. Lord Edward Somer
set formed the Brigade on the high ground behind
Genappe, within the distance of cannon-shot from
the entrance of the village.
A violent storm had commenced at nearly about
the moment at which the retreat of the Cavalry
commenced, which in a very short time rendered
the country impassable by troops, excepting on the
roads. This event certainly facilitated the retreat.
When the troops had retired through Genappe,
followed by the French Cavalry, the 7th Hussars
charged the head of the French Cavalry as it was
coming out of the village. This charge failed,
and Colonel Elphinstone and Major  being
at the head of the column, were taken prisoners.
Lord Edward Somerset's Brigade, posted as
above stated, charged, and protected the retreat
of the 7th.
This was the only event of this retreat, which,
in the afternoon and evening of the 17 th was
made with as much facility and security by the
Cavalry as the retreat of the Infantry had been
made early in the day.
It is curious that the Historian of the Battle of
Waterloo, Captain Siborne, having discovered that
in his capacity of artist he had failed in producing

WATERLOO NOTES 205
an accurate, and even intelligible, representation of
the Battle of Waterloo, on his beautiful and accu
rate model of the ground, by having listened to
every hero of his own tale, and by having intro
duced into the model the action represented by
each individual to have been performed, without
regard to time, order of time, or circumstances,
— the consequences of which have been to render
ridiculous and useless that beautiful work, so
that it is more like the picture of five (Acts) of a
play, and its termination represented on canvas as
one scene, than it is to anything else that can
be imagined — should in his History of this great
military event, have fallen into the same error, so
far at least as to have listened to every individual
who chose to tell his own tale, to insert into his
work as facts, and as operations performed, the
reports made by others of what was related to the
person who reported, in conversation with third
parties ; while he lays aside and unnoticed the
authentick reports by the General Commanding-
in-Chief, and by the Generals and others em
ployed at his Headquarters, made to their respective
Sovereigns ; the letters written by the General on
the morning of that day, and all the well-known
circumstances of the Battle, known to all the
Officers about the Headquarters, and to all
particularly whose duty placed them near the
Commander-in-Chief on that day. It is well
known that, however unfavourable the weather,
the Commander-in-Chief was on the field at day
break, after having written his letters to the King of
France and others. He was perfectly acquainted

206 CAPTAIN SIBORNE'S HISTORY
with the ground which he had taken up, and him
self posted the troops upon it. He visited the
posts in Hougoumont, and gave orders for the
defensive musketry works which were formed in
the Garden and in La Haye Sainte, and beyond
the road leading from Bruxelles to Genappe,
Charleroi, Sombref, and Namur, and on to the
extreme left occupied by his Army, and it is a
curious circumstance, not mentioned by the
historians, that having throughout the night from
the 17th to the 18th communicated by patrols
through Ohain with the Prussian corps at Wavre,
he saw the Prussian Cavalry collected in a mass
on the high ground on the Waterloo side of the
Defile of St Lambert at an early hour of the day,
at least an hour before the commencement of the
Battle, which Cavalry is the same represented to
have been seen by the French Headquarters, in a
letter written by Marshal Due de Dalmatie to
Marshal Grouchy, dated at half-past one o'clock
in the afternoon, which letter is published by
Marshal Grouchy in a pamphlet printed in the
United States. The same letter is in a note to
page 400 of Captain Siborne's first volume.
The perusal of the account of this battle will
show where the historian collected the facts
which he narrates. But some of the most
important facts of the battle are omitted ;
because the only authorities from whom infor
mation was never required were the Com
mander-in-Chief himself, and the Officers of
the General Staff, and those acting under his
immediate orders in the Field.

WATERLOO NOTES 207
It is well knozvn that the Nassau Dutch
troops were withdrawn from Hougoumont and
relieved by British Guards. Neither the fact
nor the reason is stated.
When the formidable attacks were made by
the Enemy upon the Centre of the Line, that
is between Hougoumont and La Haye Sainte,
first by cavalry, then by large masses of
infantry, and at last, by large masses of
infantry supported by cavalry, and each attack
was defeated, no statement is made of the
operations carried on, or of the mode in which
the defeat was effected ; because such state
ment did not promote the object of any
Individual Narrator.
In the first attack the French Cavalry was
undoubtedly in possession of the first line of
the Allied Artillery, the Artillery -men having
retired into the squares of the infantry, and the
horses and limbers of the guns being retired
to the rear.
A sufficient body of cavalry, particularly of
the Heavy Cavalry, including the Horse Guards,
having been collected in rear of the Centre
attacked, the squares of infantry were moved
forward, supported by the British Cavalry.
The French Cavalry retired, leaving the guns
behind them on the ground ; the British Cavalry
charged through the intervals of the squares
and did great execution.
Where masses of the French Infantry alone
attacked this same centre, advantage was taken
of the continued possession of Hougoumont to

208 CAPTAIN SIBORNE'S HISTORY
(throw ?) forward Sir Frederick Adam's Brigade
of the Division en potence with its left joining
the line of the centre of the Army, and its rear
and right defended by Hougoumont and the
sharp-shooters in the wood in its front, to make
an attack on the left and rear of the masses
engaged in the attack of the infantry of the
Centre. This attack had been preceded by the enemy's
attack and possession of the Ferme de la Haye
on the left of the Centre.
The cause of this loss has not been stated, for
the same reason. It was occasioned by the want
of ammunition of the troops engaged in its
defence. There was but one communication
with the farm, and that was by a gateway on
the road from Bruxelles to Genappe, which
communication was under the command of the
fire of the enemy's artillery from their position
for a considerable distance between the line
occupied by the British Army, and the gateway
into the farm, and was of course impracticable.
An easy remedy might have been, but unfortu
nately was not, adopted, which was to break out
a communication through the back wall1 of the
farm-house, through which a practicable communi
cation might have been made, not alone for the
introduction of ammunition, but for the relief and
reinforcement of the Garrison itself.
The enemy, however, obtained possession of
the post, established their sharp-shooters in the
1 Colonel Shaw-Kennedy states from his own personal observa
tions that such a door did exist.

WATERLOO NOTES 209
roof of the building, and, there is no doubt, did
from thence much of the injury done to the
British Army on that day ; and at all events their
possession ofthis farm enabled them to make these
repeated attacks on the centre of the Allied Army.
After the repulse of the great attack made by
the infantry alone, a former attack of cavalry
having been repulsed, it was obvious that the
next attack was to be combined of the three,
cavalry, infantry, and artillery. It was obvious
that the troops would require extension of line
to engage with the infantry, and solidity to
engage with the cavalry. But they could not
have the necessary extension if formed in squares,
as before, to receive the attack of the cavalry,
nor the necessary solidity if formed in line in
their usual order, two deep, to engage the
enemy's infantry.
They were therefore formed four deep, by
which formation they enjoyed the advantage
of sufficient extension, and of solidity to stand
the attack of any cavalry.
The troops of the Third Division were again
formed en potence on the flank of Hougoumont,
with their rear to that farm.
This formidable attack was again repulsed.
It was after these attacks that the Commander-
in-Chief, having perceived the confusion in the
enemy's ranks upon their repulse, and having
ascertained that a corps of the Prussian Army
was in immediate communication, if not joined
to the left of the army, ordered the advance
of the whole line to attack the enemy.
2 D

210 CAPTAIN SIBORNE'S HISTORY
If the historian had enquired, he would have
ascertained the exact place at which the smoke
of the fire of the Prussian Artillery was first
seen in the British line in the attack of the
enemy's extreme right.
It is well known that the report was brought
to the Commander-in-Chief at about six o'clock
in the evening.1
It is not true that Lord Uxbridge was wounded
before the Army was ordered to advance.
After the first advance, the Army was halted by
order of the Commander-in-Chief, in order to
enable the troops to get into the best order to
attack the enemy, some of which were still posted
on the height, and it was during this halt that his
Lordship was wounded by a grape-shot while he
was in conversation with the Commander-in-
Chief. N.B. — There are passages in the foregoing
which seem to me founded on a misapprehension
of Captain Siborne's language, and I have some
doubts whether in one or two instances there is
not some confusion between him and Alison. I
find that I felt this so strongly at the time, that I
wrote a letter, dated 18th May 1845, to Arbuthnot,
in which I deprecated the Duke's severity towards
Siborne. I took occasion also to ask a question
respecting the passage in the above Memorandum,
which states that the Duke saw from Quatre
1 The Prussians opened fire on the French right at 4.30 p.m. The
smoke and fog which hung heavily may account for the late hour at
which the Prussian firing was observed by our troops (cf, p. 233).

WATERLOO NOTES 211
Bras important passages of what happened at
Ligny. Arbuthnot sent me back my letter, with
the following docqueted upon a corner of it in the
Duke's hand : —
" I think that Lord Francis is quite right. I
mentioned Siborne's model only as an illustration
of the manner in which he had made up his work.
That is to say, he took down every man's story as
true and certainly correct, as he had before repre
sented his act and supposed position in his model,
of which beautiful work he had made a scene of
confusion, such as would be a drawing or repre
sentation in one view of all the scenes and acts
of a play in five acts.
"With a glass from Quatre Bras I positively
saw the principal events on the field of Ligny.
That is to say, the charge and failure of the
charge of the Prussian Cavalry, Bliicher's personal
situation, and the retreat of the Prussians from
the field of battle. I was besides frequently
informed by reports from Hardinge ; the last
brought by his brother after he was wounded."
I once spoke to Lord Fitzroy Somerset on this
subject, who fully and positively confirmed this
statement of the Duke.
The following is a Memorandum, by the Duke,
on the Battle of Waterloo, the original of which
was returned to him : —
"In discussing the Battle of Waterloo and the
military movements previous thereto, it is neces
sary to advert to the state of Europe at the
moment, to the military position of the Allies,

212 THE DUKE'S MEMORANDUM ON
on the one hand, and of Buonaparte and France
on the other.
"The Powers of Europe had, in 1814, made
peace with France governed by Louis XVIII.
A Congress was assembled at Vienna, composed of
Ministers from the principal Powers engaged in
the previous war, and from His Most Christian
Majesty, to regulate and settle various points left
unsettled by the treaties of peace, not only as
between France and the Powers engaged in the
war, but questions affecting the relative interests
of all, arising out of the long and extensive war
fare, the consequence of the French Revolution.
" Buonaparte, having abdicated his power, and
having retired to the Island of Elba under the
sanction of a Treaty, returned to France early in
March 1815, with a detachment of his Guard
which had attended him to the Island of Elba,
and arrived at Paris on the 20th of March, and
overturned the Government of King Louis
XVIII., who fled to Lille, and subsequently to
Ghent in the Netherlands, and Buonaparte
usurped the Government of France.
" Whatever we may think of the settlement of
the Government of France, of the state of the
possession of the different parts of Europe, and of
the world, as fixed by the treaties of peace, and by
the subsequent diplomatic transactions at Vienna
at that moment completed, they constituted at
that time the public law of Europe, and the state
of possession ofthe several Powers under authority
thereof. This must never be lost sight of in the
consideration of this subject.
" From the moment at which Buonaparte drove
Louis XVIII. from Paris and usurped his throne,
it was obvious that the war would be renewed ;
and the first thing that was done by the Ministers

THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO 213
of the Allies at Vienna upon learning the invasion
of France by Buonaparte, his march upon Paris,
and his usurpation of the Government, was to
renew and to render applicable to the circum
stances of the moment the former treaty of
alliance concluded at Chaumont in March 18 14.
" Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington being
the Plenipotentiary of His Britannic Majesty at
the Congress of Vienna at this period ; having
concluded and signed the Treaty of Alliance on
the 25th of March, and all the arrangements
connected with that instrument, and having been
appointed to command the Allied Army assembled
in the Netherlands, set out from Vienna and
reached Bruxelles in the first days of April.
"The Treaty of Peace of 18 14 had rendered
necessary the occupation of the provinces,
commonly called the Belgian Provinces, by an
army composed of British, Hanoverian and
Dutch troops under the command of H.R.H.
The Hereditary Prince of Orange. The German
provinces, on the left bank of the Rhine with
the Meuse, extending from the province of
Lorraine to the junction of the Rhine with the
Meuse, by Prussian troops. The Italian pro
vinces forming what had been called the Kingdom
of Italy, by the Austrian Army. Indeed, this
Austrian Army was at about this time engaged
in active operations of war with Murat, King
of Naples. The provinces in Poland, forming
the Kingdom of Saxon Poland, by the Russian
Army. " Thus then the Armies of the Allies were
distributed in different parts of Europe, while
the greater part of that of England had been
detached to North America, and notwithstanding
that the Treaty of Peace had been concluded at

2i4 THE DUKE'S MEMORANDUM ON
Ghent, on the 24th of December 18 14, between
His British Majesty and the United States,
sufficient time had not elapsed to enable His
British Majesty's Ministers to bring back the
Troops to Europe.
" On the other hand, Buonaparte found an
Army in France completely organised, consisting
of not less than 250,000 men, with cannon and
all that was required to render them efficient
for the field.
" There were besides in the country many
old soldiers available for the service, who had
been prisoners of war in England, in Russia,
and elsewhere, besides the men discharged from
the Corps of the Imperial Guard.
"It is obvious that the first measures which
the Generals commanding the Armies of the
Allies could take must have been defensive.
Those in the Belgian Provinces, and those on
the left bank of the Rhine, must have been
strictly and cautiously formed on these principles.
Their forces were weak in comparison with the
French force opposed to, or which might be
brought against, them. The latter enjoyed other
advantages in the nature and strength of their
frontier. " These Allied Troops were at the outpost.
They were destined to protect the march of
the other Armies of the Allies to the countries
which were intended to be the basis of the
operations to be carried on against the enemy,
for which the Treaty of the 25th of March had
made provision.
" The Army in the Belgian Provinces under
the command of the Duke of Wellington, from
the first days of April had particular interests
to attend to, as each of the other armies had

THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO 215
in the districts under its charge besides the
general operations of the war. That Army
composed of British, Dutch, and Hanoverian
Troops had to preserve the communications
with England, Holland, and Germany. It was
connected with the Prussian Army by its left,
the communication of which with Germany was
absolutely necessary.
" The Prince Sovereign, afterwards King of
the Netherlands, to whose Government the
Belgian Provinces had been ceded by the Con
gress of Vienna, had fixed its seat at Brussels,
and the King, Louis XVIII., having found him
self under the necessity of withdrawing from
France altogether, had fixed his residence at
Ghent. " Buonaparte had great advantages, whether
for an offensive operation on the position of
the Allies, or for the defence of his own, in
the number, the position, and the strength of
the fortresses on the N.E. frontier of France.
He might fix and organise his armies within
these, out of sight, and almost without the
knowledge of the Allied Generals, even to the
last moment previous to an attack, and it was
impossible for the Allies to carry on an offensive
operation against the French position which
should not include the means of carrying on
one or more sieges possibly at the same
moment. " The inconveniences, difficulties, and dis
advantages of this defensive system were
aggravated by the uncertainty of the length of
time during which it might last. That is to
say, till the Austrian Armies, having terminated
their operations in Italy against Murat, should
have reached the upper Rhine, and there formed

216 THE DUKE'S MEMORANDUM ON
a junction with the Armies of Bavaria and
Wiirtemberg, and the Russian Armies should
have retrograded from Poland, should have
crossed Germany, and formed upon the Rhine,
the Meuse, and the Moselle.
"It is complained of by the Prussian historian,
Clausewitz, that he had never been able to obtain
the sight of a return of the Army under the
command of the Duke of Wellington, made up
in the form of what is called 'a line of Battle.'
This, at best, is the complaint of the want of
a return made up in a particular form, and it
would not have been noticed here, were it not
desirable to draw the attention of the reader
to the general temper and tone of this history.
" The reputation of its army, and above all,
of the Generals commanding the same, is an
object of the greatest importance to every
nation, and we find the historians of all nations,
not excepting, as we see, those of the British
nation, too ready to criticise the acts and opera
tions of not only the Generals and Armies of
the enemies of their nation, but likewise of
those of the best friends and allies of their
nation, and even of those acting in co-operation
with the Armies of their own nation.
" This observation must be borne in mind
throughout the perusal of Clausewitz 's history.
"In respect to the return mentioned, it is
forgotten by General Clausewitz that the Army
under the command of the Duke of Wellington
was not, like that under the command of Marshal
Prince Bliicher, composed of the troops of all arms
and establishments of and belonging to one
nation ; that they belonged to several nations,
the infantry, cavalry and artillery, in some cases,
belonging each to different nations. That the

THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO 217
several corps of troops composed the Allied
Army in question were not of uniform strength
of numbers, whether considered by nations, by
battalions, by brigades, or by divisions. That
the discipline and military qualities of the several
corps of troops, and, above all, their efficiency
and military experience in the field were very
various. The greatest part of some of the corps
composing the Army was formed of men lately
recruited. The whole of the Hanoverian army
was of Militia, excepting some battalions of the
Hanoverian Legion which probably belonged to
the British Army, and had served under the
command of Field - Marshal the Duke of
Wellington in Spain.
"It was necessary to organise these troops in
brigades, divisions, and corps d'armde with those
better disciplined and more accustomed to war,
in order to derive from their numbers as much
advantage as possible. But these arrangements
in Allied Armies, formed as this one was, are not
matters of course. The same national feeling
respecting its armies, even in the least powerful
nation, which has been adverted to as having an
influence over the critical morality of the historian,
is not without its influence in the formation of such
arrangements of organisation. No troops can be
employed in an allied army, excepting each corps
and detachment be under the immediate command
of its own national officer. The organisation and
formation of corps to serve together and under
command and superior direction of what officer,
becomes therefore, and became in this case, a
matter which required great attention and labour,
and was of great difficulty. To these considera
tions was to be added that some of the troops
were fit only for garrison duties ; while, on the
2 E

218 THE DUKE'S MEMORANDUM ON
other hand, the importance of the fortresses was
so urgent as to require for their garrisons a pro
portion at least of the very best troops.
" This statement may serve to show that the
formation of a return of the Army, under the com
mand of Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington,
as a ' line of battle ' was not very easy.
" The two Allied Armies, the one in the
Netherlands, the other in the provinces on the
left bank of the Rhine, were, as has been already
shown, necessarily on the defensive ; they were
waiting for the junction of other large armies, to
attain by their co-operation a common object.
" But their defensive position and immediate
objects did not necessarily preclude all idea and
plan of attack upon the enemy. Their enemy
might have so placed his army as to render the
attack thereof desirable or even necessary. In
that case the Allied Generals must, and in all
probability would, have taken the initiative. But
in the case existing in 1815, the enemy did not
take up such a position as is thus supposed. On
the contrary, he took a position in which his
numbers, his movements, and his designs could
be concealed, protected, and supported by his
formidable fortresses on the frontier up to the
last moment previous to their being carried into
execution. The Allied Generals could not attack
this position without being prepared to attack a
superior army so posted.
" They could not therefore have the initiative of
the operations in the way of attack. They had
the option of taking the initiative in the way of
the defensive movement, but each defensive move
ment or alteration of the well-considered original
positions taken up by each of the Allied Armies
must have been founded on a conviction that such

THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO 219
positions were faulty and might be improved ; or
upon an hypothesis of the intended movements of
attack by the enemy. There was no reason to
believe that the first was the case ; and it must
never be lost sight of, that to found upon an hypo
thesis, which might and probably would prove
erroneous, considering what the advantages were
of the position of the enemy on the frontier, the
alteration of the defensive position of the Allied
Armies, might have occasioned what is commonly
called a false movement ; and it must be observed
that whatever may be thought of Buonaparte as a
leader of troops, in other respects there certainly
never existed a man in that situation, in any times,
in whose presence it was so little safe to make
what is called a false movement.
" The initiative, then, rested with the enemy, and
the course to be pursued by the Allied Generals
respectively was, to be prepared in all directions,
to wait till it should be seen in what direction the
attack should be made, and then to assemble the
armies as quickly as possible to resist the attack,
or to attack the enemy with the largest force that
could be collected.
" There is a good deal of discussion in the his
tory of General Clausewitz upon the expediency
of the maintenance of the defensive position taken
up by the Allied Armies, particularly by that under
the command of Field- Marshal the Duke of Well
ington, and that even for the attainment of the
objects in view for the position of the last men
tioned, it would have been best to occupy a
position in the country, having for its sole object
the early junction of the two Allied Armies, with
a view to fight a great battle with the enemy
under the command of Buonaparte.
" It is not difficult to criticise the particular

220 THE DUKE'S MEMORANDUM ON
positions occupied by any army, which positions,
as in this case, were never the object of actual
attack. It is not so easy a task, first to define
precisely a particular object for the operation of a
definite nature for any army, excluding from the
consideration not only political objects and views,
but likewise those of a merely technical and mili
tary nature, such as in this case the preservation
of the communications of this army with England,
with Holland, and with Germany ; and next to
define the positions to be occupied by two armies,
in order to carry on such operations.
" Bruxelles, Ghent, the communications with
England, Holland, and Germany, were to be
given up, and the armies were to unite, or to be
prepared to unite, in order to fight a great battle
with the enemy, as the best mode of securing all
the objects of their respective defensive positions.
But it is not stated or even hinted where each was
to be posted, nor where they were to unite, nor
where was to be the great field of battle on which
the contest should be decided.
"It is obvious that the historian could not indi
cate such position ; he was too wise to make the
attempt. "He could not but be aware that when the
Allies should have abandoned their defensive posi
tions in the Netherlands, and should have left it
in the power of the enemy to occupy, with his
hussars and light troops, Bruxelles and Ghent, the
communication with England through the towns
on the Lys and Ostend, they would not have been
nearer the attainment of the object of fighting a
general battle, than while in the positions having
for their objects to maintain and secure these
advantages. " The initiative for such general battle must

THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO 221
still have been in the hands of Buonaparte. He
might have avoided it only by remaining with his
main body within the French frontier, while with
his hussars and light troops he would have pos
sessed Bruxelles and Ghent, and the communica
tions with England, Holland, and with Germany
through Holland.
" The historian shows, in more than one passage
of his history, that he is not insensible of the mili
tary and political value of good moral impressions
resulting from military operations. He is sensible
of the advantage derived by the enemy from such
impressions. But he cannot calculate the advan
tage on the one hand, or the disadvantage on the
other, resulting from such impressions in cases in
which it is the object to blame the course of
operations, directed by a General supposed to be
a rival in reputation to one of the Prussian nation.
"He is aware of the object of Buonaparte to
create throughout Europe, and even in England,
a moral impression against the war, and to shake
the power of the then existing administration in
England. He is sensible of, and can contemplate
the effect of the moral impression upon the other
armies of Europe, and upon the Governments in
whose service they were, resulting from the defeat,
or even want of success of the Allied Armies
under the command of the Duke of Wellington
and Prince Bliicher. But he is not sensible and
cannot calculate upon or even consider of the effect
of the moral impression resulting from the loss of
Bruxelles and Ghent, the flight of the King of the
Netherlands and of the King Louis XVIII., the
creatures of the treaties of peace and of the
Congress at Vienna, and this with the loss of the
communications of the Army under the Duke of
Wellington with England, Holland, and Germany,

222 THE DUKE'S MEMORANDUM ON
without making the smallest effort to save any
of those objects.
"If this historian had, however, inquired,
whether in England or elsewhere, he would have
found that the feeling upon such events would
have been as strong, as he admits it would in
case of the want of success of the operations of
the Allied Armies whose operations are under
discussion. "In England, in particular, these supposed
events would be severely felt.
" But let us consider whether the abandonment
of all the objects which the Allies had in view in
maintaining any position in the Netherlands would
have enabled the Generals of the Allied Armies
the better to fight a great battle with the enemy.
The enemy would have had the option to fight
the battle or not, and the initiative of the move
ments preparatory to it, after having acquired all
the advantages placed in his hands, and the Allied
Generals, having thus given up those objects, the
protection of which, in a political or even a mili
tary view, could alone justify their fighting a
battle at all, at least till they should be in a state
of co-operation with the other armies of Europe.
" The enemy, having the initiative, would have
moved across the communications of the army
under the command of the Duke of Wellington.
In possession of the great towns, of all the roads,
and of the resources of the Belgian provinces, he
would have had to decide whether he would or
not force the two Allied Armies to retire from the
Meuse. " But in the hypothesis that the enemy would
fight a battle for such an object, why should the
Allies ? The Duke of Wellington would have lost
all for which, as the Commander of an Army, he

THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO 223
ought to desire to contend, and neither his posi
tion, nor that of the Army under Prince Bliicher,
would have been improved by a great battle, even
under the hypothesis that the result would have
been a great victory.
" Such an one would not have restored to the
Duke of Wellington the advantages which he
enjoyed in the state of preparation of the Army
under his command, for the advance into France
in co-operation with the other Allied Armies,
when they should have taken their stations, and
should have been prepared to advance.
" The restoration of the communications with
Holland, England, and Germany, which would
have been the result of such successful battle, would
not immediately have restored and replaced his
magazines not located in fortresses, and which
would have fallen into the enemy's hands by the
supposed change of position with a view to fight
this great battle.
" After all, the initiative of this battle must
have rested with the enemy, and there could be no
military reason for fighting it, or political reason,
excepting the usual impression throughout the
world of its successful results.
" It is useless to speculate upon supposed mili
tary movements which were never made, and
operations which never took place, and the objects
of the several Chiefs or Generals opposed to each
other. " But although it was not desirable that the
Duke of Wellington should break up his defensive
position in the Belgian provinces, with a view to
take one with the Army under his command, having
solely in view the object of fighting a great battle
in co-operation or in conjunction with the Prussian
Army, it was still desirable that he should occupy

224 THE DUKE'S MEMORANDUM ON
this defensive position in such manner, and take
such precautionary measures as would enable him
to assemble at the earliest period of the largest
force at his disposition, after providing for the
defence and security of his communications with
England, Holland, and Germany, and of the
objects entrusted to his care and protection under
the Treaty of Peace and Acts by the Allied
Ministers in Conference at Vienna.
"He accordingly, from the moment at which he
arrived in the Netherlands, in the beginning of
April, turned his attention to the strengthening
the posts on the frontier, and works were con
structed at Ostend, Nieuport, Ypres, Menin,
Courtrai, Oudenarde, Tournay, Ath, Mons, Char-
leroi, and Namur. It is true these were field-
works generally on the site of the ancient works,
by which these towns were defended, the defence
of which was aided by the ancient ditches and
means of inundation.
"His orders at that time to the Quarter- Master
General and the General Officers, show what his
instructions were in the various hypothetical cases
therein stated.
" There are several great roads leading from
the Northern Departments of France, and the
great French fortresses therein situated, by each of
which these provinces might have been invaded,
and which it was necessary, at least, to observe.
" One from Lille ; upon Menin, Courtrai, and
Ghent. " One from Lille ; upon Tournay and Ghent,
or upon Ath and Brussels.
" One from Conde ; upon Tournay, Ath, Eng-
hien, and Bruxelles.
" One from Conde and Valenciennes, upon
Mons and Bruxelles.

THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO 225
" Each of these was a great paved road, upon
which there was no obstacle of a defensive nature,
excepting the field-works, of which it appears the
Duke of Wellington ordered the construction.
" The historian Clausewitz has detailed the
positions of the Prussian Army, the distances
of each part from the other, and the length of
time which would elapse for the completion of
the assembly of the whole. It cannot be stated
that the Allied Army under the Duke of Well
ington could have been assembled in an equally
short period of time, but if it is considered that
the objects for the protection of the Army under
the command of the Duke of Wellington were
extended over a tract of country of greater length
than were those protected by the Allied Army
under the command of Prince Bliicher, it will be
found that this part of the country, contiguous
in its whole extent to the French frontier, and
traversed in all parts by excellent paved roads,
leading from some one or other of the French
fortresses required for its protection, a system
of occupation quite different from that adopted
by the Prussian Army under Marshal Prince
Bliicher. "But what follows will show that, notwith
standing the extension of the Allied Army under
the command of the Duke of Wellington, such
was the celerity of communication with all parts
of it, that in point of fact his orders reached all
parts of the army in six hours after he had issued
them, and that he was in line in person, with a
sufficient force to resist and keep in check the
enemy's corps which had first attacked the Prussian
corps under General Ziethen at daylight on the
15th June; having received the intelligence of
that attack only at three o'clock in the afternoon
2 F

226 THE DUKE'S MEMORANDUM ON
of the 15th, he was at Quatre Bras before the
same hour on the 16th, with a sufficient force
to engage the left of the French Army. It was
certainly true that he had known for some days of
the augmentation of the enemy's force on the
frontier, and even of the arrival of Buonaparte at
the army. But he did not deem it expedient to
make any movement, excepting for the assembly
of the troops at their several alarm-posts, till he
should hear of the decided movement of the
enemy. " The first account received by the Duke of
Wellington was from the Prince of Orange, who
had come in from the outposts of the Army of the
Netherlands to dine with the Duke at three in
the afternoon. He reported that the enemy had
attacked the Prussians at Thuin, that they had
taken possession of, but had afterwards abandoned
Binche, that they had not yet touched the position
of the Army of the Netherlands. While the Prince
of Orange was with the Duke, the Staff-Officer
employed by Prince Bliicher at the Duke's Head
quarters, General Muffling, came to the Duke to
inform him that he had just received intelligence
of the movement of the French Army, and the
attack upon the Prussian troops at Thuin.
"It appears by the statement of the historian
that the posts of the Prussian Corps of General
Ziethen were attacked at Thuin at 4 o'clock in
the morning of the 15th, and that General
Ziethen himself with a part of his Corps retired
and was at Charleroi at about 10 o'clock on
that day. Yet the report thereof was not
received at Bruxelles till 3 o'clock in the
afternoon. The Prussian Cavalry of the Corps
of Ziethen was at Fleurus on the evening and
night of the 15th.

THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO 227
" Orders were forthwith sent for the march
of the whole of the army to its left.
"The Reserve, which had been encamped in
the neighbourhood and cantoned in the town
and in the neighbourhood of Bruxelles, were
ordered to assemble in, and in the neighbour
hood of, the park at Bruxelles, which they did
on that evening, and they marched in the morn
ing of the 1 6th upon Quatre Bras, towards
which post the march of all the troops, con
sisting of the left and centre of the army and
of the cavalry in particular, was directed.
"The Duke went in person at daylight in
the morning of the 16th to Quatre Bras, where
he found some Netherland troops, cavalry,
infantry and artillery which had been engaged
with the enemy, but lightly, and he went on
from thence to the Prussian army which was
in sight, formed on the heights between Ligny
and St Amand. He there communicated person
ally with Marshal Prince Bliicher and the Head
quarters of the Prussian Army.
"In the meantime the Reserve of the Allied
Army under the command of the Duke of
Wellington arrived at Quatre Bras. The
historian asserts that the Duke of Wellington
had ordered these troops to halt at the point
at which they quitted the Foret de Soignies.
He can have no proof of this fact, of which
there is no evidence. The troops, forming the
Reserve, having arrived from Bruxelles, were
soon joined by the First Division of Infantry
and the Cavalry. And notwithstanding the
criticism of the Prussian historian on the positions
occupied by the Army under the command of
the Duke of Wellington, and on the march of
the troops to join with the Prussians, it is a

228 THE DUKE'S MEMORANDUM ON
fact appearing on the face of the history, that
the Allied British and Netherland army was in
line at Quatre Bras, not only twenty-four hours
sooner than one whole corps of the Prussian
Army under General Billow, which is attributed
by the historian to accidental mistake, but like
wise before the whole of the corps under General
Ziethen, which had been the first attacked on
the 15th, had taken its position in the line of
the Army assembled on the heights behind
Ligny, and having their left on Sombref.
" It was perfectly true that the Duke of
Wellington did not at first give credit to the
reports of the intention of the enemy to attack
by the valleys of the Sambre and the Meuse.
" The enemy had destroyed the roads leading
through these valleys, and he considered that
Buonaparte might have made his attack upon
the Allied Armies in the Netherlands, and in
the provinces on the left of the Rhine by other
lines with more advantage. But it is obvious
that when the attack was made, he was not
unprepared to assist in resisting it, and in point
of fact, did in the afternoon and in the evening
of the 1 6th of June repulse the attack of Marshal
Ney upon his position at Quatre Bras which had
been commenced by the aid of a portion of another
corps darmtie under General Reille. These were
the troops which had attacked on the 1 5th at day
light the Prussian Corps under General Ziethen,
which the Allied troops under the Duke of Well
ington relieved in resistance to the enemy.
"The Prussian Army, after a contest of some
hours' duration upon the heights of Ligny, having
been under the necessity of retiring, that part of
the Allied Army under the command of the
Duke of Wellington, which was engaged at

THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO 229
Quatre Bras, maintained its position at Quatre
Bras, and even gained ground upon the enemy.
"The fields of battle were in sight of each
other, and a report was received. Although the
exact result of the battle was not known, it was
judged that it had not been successful to the
Prussian Army. Field Marshal the Duke of
Wellington was informed of some of the details
at night, but still he considered that, his own
position being untouched, and the continued
march of the troops under his command giving
him an increase of strength at every moment,
he felt the utmost confidence in the final result
of the operation in progress.
" The Prussian Army retreated towards Wavre.
It must be observed in the historian's account of
these battles that the corps of Reille l was at the
commencement of the battle of Quatre Bras
joined with the corps of Ney. In point of fact
it was seen on the field. That corps was, during
the battle, ordered, and did march to its right,
towards the main body of the French Army.
It was then halted and countermarched towards
its original destination. The reasons for these
eccentric movements are not known. Certain it
is that the corps of Reille did not fire a shot
after the commencement of the battle of Quatre
Bras. That which it is reasonable to suppose
is that Marshal Ney had required that the
corps of Reille should be sent back to him, upon
finding that he could make no impression upon the
position of the Duke of Wellington at Quatre
Bras, whose army was at every moment receiving
reinforcements of cavalry, infantry, and artillery
from Nivelles and the places on its right.
1 This is perhaps a slip of the pen. Here and elsewhere in this
paragraph it is probably d'Erlon's corps that is meant.

230 THE DUKE'S MEMORANDUM ON
" Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington's Aide-
de-camp, Colonel the Hon. Alexander Gordon,
with two squadrons of hussars, shortly after day
light on the evening of the 17th, drove in the
enemy's vedettes upon the ground of the Prussian
contest of the 16th of June. These retired into
the villages of Ligny, St Amand, etc., on the
stream. Colonel Gordon communicated with
General Ziethen, and ascertained exactly the line
of retreat of the army under Marshal Prince
Bliicher upon Wavre. As soon as the exact
position of the Prussian Army was ascertained,
and the intentions of its General were known
to the Duke of Wellington, he broke up from
the position of Quatre Bras shortly before mid
day, in presence of the whole army of the
enemy, without interruption or molestation, and
ordered the march of the infantry of the Army
under his command to the ground in front of
Waterloo, with the exception of the Light Troops
at the outposts, with which and the cavalry the
Duke remained on the ground at Quatre Bras.
" The Duke saw throughout the day of the
17th the movements of the Prussian Army upon
the field of battle of the preceding day. No
pursuit was made of the Prussian Army, or move
ment of any kind made by the French Army,
till the afternoon of the 17th, and, indeed, the
account given by Marshal Grouchy, in a pamphlet
in his own defence, published in the United
States, shows that the account given in the
History is as nearly as possible an accurate
representation of what passed on the 17th.
" According to the reports in the Allied Army
under the Duke of Wellington, would it not have
been a fair conclusion for the historian to draw,
that the position occupied by the Allied Army

THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO 231
under the Duke of Wellington at Quatre Bras,
and the successful resistance of that Army on the
preceding day, might have had some effect in
producing the unusual tranquillity of the French
Army throughout the day of the 17 th, the morrow
of a successful attack upon the position of an
enemy's army which had retired.
" The enemy did not move till between three
and four o'clock in the afternoon, at which hour
large masses of troops appeared on the Prussian
field of battle. One body marched in the direction
of Namur, another in the direction of Wavre,
which last is supposed to have been the corps
under the command of Marshal Grouchy. The
largest body and the great mass of the cavalry
moved down the high road leading from Sombref
to Quatre Bras, towards the left of the British
troops of the army of the Duke of Wellington,
which still remained on the ground. These were
put in motion and retired as soon as their outposts
were touched by those of the enemy, and joined
the main body of the army, at that time posted in
front of Waterloo.
" Here were assembled all the troops com
prising the army under the Duke of Wellington,
excepting a small corps de reserve still remaining
at Hal, on the high road from Bruxelles to Mons.
All the remainder, whether engaged at Quatre
Bras on the 16th, or who had joined in the
evening of the 16th, or had turned off from
Nivelles to Waterloo, and the troops falling back
from the position at Quatre Bras, were in the
position at Waterloo on the 1 7th in the evening.
" The whole of the Prussian Army was, at the
same time, in the position at Wavre.
" The two Allied Armies communicated with
each other throughout the night of the 17th of

232 THE DUKE'S MEMORANDUM ON
June, and the cavalry of General Billow's corps
of Marshal Prince Bliicher's army was on the
ground in front of Ohain, through the defile
between the positions of the two armies, at day
light on the morning of the 18th.
" Thus, then, it appears, by the report of this
historian, that after the affairs at Ligny and
Quatre Bras, the two Allied Armies were col
lected, each on its own ground, in the presence of
the enemy, and between the enemy and Bruxelles ;
all their communications with England, Holland,
and Germany, and all the important political
interests committed to their charge being secure.
"It has been stated always, and believed, that
the cavalry of Biilow's corps was seen on the
heights in Ohain, between the Allied Army under
the Duke of Wellington and the defile leading to
Wavre, at an early hour ofthe morning ofthe 18th.
" It is a curious fact in elucidation of the move
ments of the Allied Army under Marshal Prince
Bliicher that M. Grouchy has published in his
defence, printed in the United States, a letter
from Marshal Soult, addressed to him, dated the
1 8th June, at one o'clock p.m., in which Marshal
Soult states, ' Nous apercevons la cavalerie Priis-
sienne,' which was the very cavalry seen by the
Duke of Wellington, as stated, shortly after day
light in the morning of that day.
" It is a curious circumstance that this cavalry
should not have been observed by the French
.Army at an earlier hour than one o'clock in the
afternoon. It must be concluded that at that hour
no knowledge existed in the French Headquarters
that other troops had passed the defile, or had
been engaged with the enemy on the left of the
Army under the command of the Duke of Well
ington.

THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO 233
" The first heard of the operations of Marshal
Bliicher's army was a report brought from the
left of the army under the command of the Duke
of Wellington at six o'clock in the evening that at
that moment the smoke of the fire of Artillery
perceived at a great distance beyond the right of
the enemy's army, which firing was supposed to
be at that time at Planchenoit.
" The report of the battle, made at the time by
the Duke of Wellington to the British and the
Allied Governments of Europe, has long been
before the public. In that report he does full
justice to the exertions made by his colleague the
Prussian Commander-in-Chief, and by the General
Officers and troops, to aid and support him, and
to the effectual aid which they gave him.
"He states no detail, except that the battle was
terminated by an attack which he determined to
make upon the enemy's position, in which he does
not report that any Prussian troops joined, because
in fact none were in that part of the field of battle.
He states, however, that the enemy's troops
retired from the last attack on his position in great
confusion, and that the march of General Biilow's
corps by Frischermont upon Planchenoit and La
Belle Alliance had begun to take effect, and as he
could perceive the fire of his (General Biilow's)
cannon, and as Marshal Prince Bliicher had joined
in person with a corps of his army to the left of
our line by Ohain, he determined upon the 'attack,
which succeeded on every point.
"He added that he continued the pursuit long
after dark, and then discontinued it on account of
the fatigue of the troops, who had been engaged
during twelve hours, and because he found himself
on the same road with Marshal Bliicher, who
assured him of his intention to follow the enemy
2 G

234 THE DUKE'S MEMORANDUM ON
throughout the night. He then adds, ' I should
not do justice to my own feelings, or to Marshal
Bliicher and the Prussian .Army, if I did not
attribute the successful result of this arduous day
to the cordial and timely assistance I received
from them. The operation of General Biilow's
upon the enemy's flank was a most decisive one,
and even if I had not found myself in a situation
to make the attack which produced the final result,
it would have forced the enemy to retire if his
attacks should have failed, and would have pre
vented him from taking advantage of them if they
should unfortunately have succeeded.'
" When the two Field- Marshals met on the
same road, it is well known that they embraced in
the presence of their troops, and were cordial
friends up to the day of the death of Prince
Bliicher. Surely the details of the battle might
have been left as in the original official Reports.
The battle, possibly the most important single
military event of modern times, was attended by
advantages sufficient for the glory of many such
armies as the two great allied armies engaged.
The enemy never rallied. Buonaparte lost his
empire for ever. Not a shot was fired afterwards,
and the peace of Europe and the world was settled
on the basis on which it rests at this moment.
"It is impossible to close this paper without
observing that Field- Marshal the Duke of Wel
lington's letters, published by Colonel Gurwood,
afford proofs that he was convinced that the enemy
ought to have attacked by other lines, rather than
by the valleys of the Sambre and the Meuse ; and
that even up to the last moment, previous to the
attack on the position at Waterloo, he conceived
that they would endeavour to turn it by a march
upon Hal.

THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO 235
"He states this in letters to the Due de Feltre
on the 15th, and to the Due de Berri and King
Louis XVI 1 1., dated 3J a.m. 18th June; and there
are orders to his patrols of cavalry on the night of
the 1 6th and 17th of June, to observe particularly
the enemy's movements towards Nivelles.
"It might be a nice question for military
discussion, whether Buonaparte was right in
endeavouring to force the position at Waterloo,
or the Duke right in thinking that, from the
evening of the 16th, he would have taken a
wiser course if he had moved to his left ; have
reached the high road leading from Mons to
Bruxelles, and have turned the right of the
position of the Allies by Hal. It was obvious
that the Duke was prepared to resist such a
movement." N.B. — The above Memorandum is the one
which the Duke supplied me with for the Article
headed " Life of Bliicher," in the September
number of the Quarterly of 1 842 ; parts of which
Memorandum I incorporated into the Article
in question. The following letters from Mr
Arbuthnot refer to the subject : —
"Apsley House, 22nd July 1842.
" Dear Lord F  ,
" Last night the Duke read out to me
your paper, which I had given him,1 and said,
' Oh, this will do exactly, but I will make some
additional remarks.' ... I had written this far
when the Duke came into my room with his j 2th
volume 2 in his hand, and said, ' I have it all here,'
1 The first rough draft of my Article.
2 Gurwood's first edition of the Despatches, I think.

236 ALISON'S HISTORY
— said it with high delight. He stayed with me for
some time, and read to me various parts from page
375 to 476. I took down the pages by his desire
and send them to you. You never saw a man so
delighted as the Duke is, and saying that he
would go and write his Memorandum, and make
out Alison to be a d  d rascally Frenchman
This between ourselves. C. A."

"Apsley House, 25th July 1842.
" I send you the paper which the Duke has
drawn up, and I return the one you gave to me
for him to read. The Duke's paper contains a
complete narrative of all that has happened
from Napoleon's quitting Elba till the battle of
Waterloo, and I think you will find it conclusive
against a surprise. It details all that he had
ordered, which proves that he had good reason
for not collecting his troops until Napoleon had
committed himself to the place of attack upon
which he had determined. At the conclusion of
the paper the Duke represents Alison as a Whig.
Whether so or not I don't know, but you do
probably. I -think you will make a capital article
from your own notions, and from the Duke's
information. When written, you had better send
it straight to the Duke, as I might not be returned
to London. C. A."
"P.S. — Alison states his numbers from those
which were to have been collected. The actual
numbers were nothing like what had been in
tended, and the Duke had not more than 50,000
men on the field of battle."

NOTES ON WATERLOO 237

Memorandum enclosed in a Letter of Mr Arbuthnot, of
10th October 1842, in the Duke's hand.
" I don't know that I can suggest any alteration
of this. There is in some of my papers an
argument upon the inconvenience and danger of
taking up a false position, and of making a false
movement, in front of such a Captain as Buona
parte, having an Army in such a position as that
of the French frontier of the Department of the
North covered (he'risse'e) with fortresses, in which
he might cover and protect, and through which
he might in safety and secrecy move hundreds
and thousands of troops ; while the Allies, whether
to correct or improve their position erroneously
taken up, must have moved along the frontier,
and confronted with this formidable position of the
enemy, no part of which could be attacked by us,
we should have been exposed to be attacked by
each part in detail.
" A common inspection of the map will show
this. Place our right at Ostend, and the left at
Namur on the Meuse, and take any central position
you please. Then take the French position, with
its right at Givet and Charleroi, by Le Quesnoi,
Valenciennes, Courtrai, Lisle, Dunkirk, on the
sea. And the folly and danger of a central
position will be seen, we being, par force on the
defensive, and, moreover, we could not move
without being attacked.
" Even my position . . . as it was in com
parison, could not have been taken up if I had not
fortified and rendered defensible against a coup de
main, Mons, Ath, Tournay, Ypres, Ostend, and
Nieuport. " Wellington."

238 CLAUSEWITZ'S HISTORY

Copy of Memorandum in the Duke's hand, dated 18th
October 1 842, which he wrote on reading a Letter
of mine upon the subject of Clausewitz' s History
of the Moscow Campaign.
" I have been much interested by the perusal
of this letter. When I go to London I will
look for the papers which I wrote on the
Campaign in Russia, of which I gave a copy
to Walter Scott, which he used in his ' Life of
Napoleon.' " Lord Francis is right ! The Russians nearly
lost themselves by an ill-applied imitation of our
operations which saved Portugal ; 1 and they
would have been lost, if Buonaparte had not
always, and particularly at that time, found him
self under the necessity of seeking to fight a
general battle. With this view he quitted the
basis of his operations up to that moment success
ful, adopted a new line, which after all he never
completely established, and ultimately abandoned.
That which the Russians did well was their
dogged refusal to treat.
" Buonaparte having fought his battles, and
obtained possession of the authentic and real
territorial capital of the country, intended to
record his triumph as usual in a Treaty of Peace,
by one of the Articles of which he would have
obtained a sum of money to replenish his coffers,
according to his usual practice, and he would then
have made a peaceable and triumphant retreat
from Russia, across Poland and Germany sup
ported by the resources ofthe Russian Government,
1 I had stated my belief that the Russian camp at Orissa had
been suggested by, and was a defective imitation of the Lines of
Torres Vedras. — E. E.

THE RETREAT FROM MOSCOW 239
so long as his armies should have remained within
the Russian territory.
"In the meantime, he had made no preparations
for the military retreat which he would have to
make, if his diplomatic efforts should fail, as they
did. " We see that he was distressed for want of
communications, even before he thought of
retreat. His hospitals were not supplied, nor
even taken care of, and were at last carried off ;
and when he commenced a real movement of
retreat, he was involved in difficulties without
number. The first basis of his operations was
lost ; the second was not established, and he was
not strong enough to force his way to the only one
which would have been practicable, and by the use
of which he might have saved his army, by the
sacrifice, however, of all those corps which were
in the Northern line of operation. I mean the
line from Kaluga through the southern counties ;
but instead of that, he was forced to make his
retreat by the line of the Beresina, which was
exhausted, and for which he had made no pre
parations whatever. This is, in a few words, the
history of that disaster.
" It is not true that the cause of it was the frost.
It is my opinion that the loss of the French Army
would have been accelerated, more disastrous and
disgraceful, if the season had been wet instead of
having been frosty. In truth, the Army could
not, in that case, have moved at all, in the state
to which all its animals were reduced at that
time." The following two letters relate to the Article on
Marmont, Siborne, and Alison, which I wrote for
the Quarterly.

240 SIBORNE'S HISTORY
From Mr Arbuthnot. " \,thjune 1845.
" I have told the Duke that I have your sheets.
He has not seen them, but will to-morrow, to-day
being a busy one. Though indeed to-morrow
will be a more importantly busy one in the Com
memoration of the 30th Anniversary since the
great day of Waterloo. I am glad to give my
opinion of your work, nothing worth, however,
before the Duke gives his. I think it admirable.
There is not a point that I would alter. You are
right in the 16th page. I have heard the Duke
say that Napoleon tried to gain the victory at
Waterloo in the same way he gained other vic
tories, by moving upon the enemy immense bodies
of Cavalry at a slow pace, and then following up
advantages gained by furious attacks of Infantry.
It is a capital review, and so the Duke will think
it, I am sure. C. A."
" ijlh June 1845. — The Duke brought the
enclosed to me soon after you had -gone. He
said that it was admirable, and that there were
only one or two little mistakes, which he had set
right. C. A."

FKINTEI) AT THK EDINBURGH PRESS, Q AND II YOUNG STREET.

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