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other nations think them as extravagant, as we think the manners of the Dutch and Spaniards, as they are represented in our travellers' books."

THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON.

THERE was a time when even the people of God fought, and fought aggressively, under the direction of the Lord of Hosts himself. But a better day came, and the only "resistance unto blood" amongst them, was in striving against sin. They took joyfully and unresistingly the spoiling of their goods, and gave due weight to the command of their Great Master to sheathe the sword, lest they who used it should become in turn the victims of it.

Centuries rolled by, and a people who professed and called themselves Christians, and who are sometimes so styled by others, forgot these things, and became loud in their cries for a revival of the Cruel Art. But as civilization and the vital power of the Cross grew stronger amongst them, the rage war became more feeble; and there now seems a prospect that in a few generations it will be unknown and forgotten.

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But so long as men will fight, we are not disposed to find very serious fault with the instruments by which they carry out their wicked purpose. Our quarrel is with the principle that puts them forward, and supplies motive and money for the work. A good general, or a good army, is doubtless better than a bad one; and if we must carry on a warfare, as many honest men contend we must, we believe that neither Christianity nor common sense would tell us it was better to lose an action than to gain one.

It was therefore with no little sympathy and concern that we received the solemn tidings that the Duke of Wellington had breathed his last, on the 14th of September, 1852. The conqueror of the nations has succumbed to the conqueror of the world. He who is to put all things under him till a Greater shall assert His reign, has vanquished the vanquisher of Napoleon, himself the terror of all Europe.

Arthur, Duke of Wellington, was the fourth son of Garret Wesley, Earl of Mornington, a family originally dignified by

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its connection with the great Wesleys, of whose relationship, however, the latter branches were so far ashamed, as to alter the patronymic to Wellesley. Yet the conquests of the brothers, John and Charles, shall long outlive the less glorious deeds of Arthur. He was born on the 1st May, 1769, at Dangan Castle, in Ireland. The first part of his education, as well as that of his brother Richard, was at Eton-whence he proceeded to Oxford, Arthur being removed to the Military College of Angiers, in the department of the Maine and Loire. The school career of the Duke of Wellington, though far from dull, was not brilliant.

On the 7th of March, 1787, when in his 18th year, Arthur Wesley was gazetted to an ensigncy in the 73rd Regiment, and received rapid promotion. At the general election in the summer of 1790 he was returned for the borough of Trim. He occasionally addressed the house, and his speaking was already characterized by that terseness and force which stamp all his written and verbal communications.

On the 30th September, 1793, he succeeded to the lieutenantcolonelcy of the 33rd Regiment of foot, and was soon after ordered abroad to assist the remnant of the royalists in France.

On the 4th of January, 1795, a sharp encounter took place at Meteren. Colonel Wellesley with part of the 33rd was forced back upon the British lines by an impetuous attack of the French, but the remainder of his regiment coming up, he repulsed the enemy in his turn, and retook the guns they had captured. On the 16th the British recommenced their journey, and on the 27th they reached Deventer after having endured extreme sufferings. They were compelled to retreat hence, and soon afterwards embarked for England, thus closing the first and certainly not very encouraging campaign of the future conqueror of Waterloo.

In April, 1796, Colonel Wellesley embarked with his regiment for the East Indies. In one encounter, his regiment made such a brilliant charge, that it decided the day, and utterly demolished Tippoo's best brigade, though thrice as numerous. The British, after this, soon reached the capital, and vigorously commenced siege operations. Seringapatam, which stood on an island at the junction of the rivers Cauvery

and Coleroon, was considered by the Sultan to be impregnable. On the night of the seige Colonel Wellesley had a narrow escape of falling into the enemy's hands: he was struck on the knee by a spent ball, and got separated from his men. After wandering about for several hours he at length found his way back, and the next morning, renewed the assault, carried the enemy's entrenchments, and succeeded in dislodging their defenders, after a short but brilliant encounter. After the storming, on the 3rd of May, 1799, he greatly exerted himself to restrain plunder and to restore order.

Colonel Wellesley was now appointed commandant of Mysore. At Bombay he took a command in Egypt, under General Baird; but just as he was about to leave, he was invalided, and being left behind, repaired on his recovery to Mysore, and resumed his command there.

The submission of Scindia brought the war to a brilliant and prosperous termination. On the 9th of March, 1805, he published a notification to the troops that his resignation of the command he had held in the Deccan had been accepted. MajorGeneral Wellesley was now created an extra Knight Companion of the Bath. Many addresses were presented to him by the various public bodies in India, a splendid gold vase, valued at 2000 guineas, was given to him by the officers of his division of the Indian army, and a sword, worth £1,000, was presented to him by the inhabitants of Calcutta. Sir Arthur embarked for England on the 10th of March.

On his arrival he was appointed to the command of the troops at Hastings; and on the death of the Marquis of Cornwallis, on the 5th of October, 1805, to the colonelcy of the 33rd. On the 8th of April he was sworn of his Majesty's Privy Council: and on the 10th of April, 1806, he married Catherine, third daughter of the second Earl of Longford.

In 1807 Sir Arthur accepted in the Portland administration the situation of Chief Secretary for Ireland, under the Duke of Richmond.

In the summer of 1807 he was once more on active service. In the expedition to Denmark he held a distinguished post under Lord Cathcart. For his services during this campaign he was publicly thanked by the House of Commons.

Sir Arthur Wellesley's next scene of action was the Peninsula, At Lisbon, though prematurely forced to action, and injudiciously arrested before its completion, his success is described as most signal.

The treaty of Cintra concluded this campaign, and excited in England the utmost wonder and disgust. Sir Arthur Wellesley, who had strenuously opposed its principal provisions, in a fit of indignant chagrin had immediately returned home. His ever active mind, equally elastic in peace and war, at home and abroad, led him at once to resume his official duties as Irish Secretary. He had taken once more his seat in parliament, and had received for the mortification and unpopularity which the conduct of his colleagues had brought upon him, some compensation in the very flattering panegyric which both houses in January, 1809, passed upon his first services in the Peninsula.

After the defeat of Sir John Moore, on whom the command of the Peninsular army had devolved, Sir Arthur Wellesley transmitted to the ministry so able and encouraging a memorandum on the defence of Portugal, dated March 9, 1809, that they determined on another effort. A strong reinforcement was sent out, and Sir Arthur was named to the chief command. He, therefore, embarked on the 16th of April, arriving at the Tagus on the 22nd. His arrival caused the most intense joy among the Portuguese, who named him Marshal-General of the native forces.

Here his antagonists were Victor, Joseph Buonaparte, and the brave Marshall Soult, afterwards Duke of Dalmatia, whose recent visits to this country, a time-honored and limping veteran, are remembered by many. In the details of this campaign we feel no particular interest. In addition to the usual accidents of war, Sir Arthur had to suffer all the inconveniences attendant on a military chest indifferently supplied, and sometimes empty, as well as on the mock heroism of the Spaniards, who acquitted themselves admirably when there was no danger, but blustered and ran away when danger came. On the whole, however, his success was scarcely adequate to the consummate skill he displayed on all occasions.

In England, the news respecting the war produced a conflict of opinion. Sir Arthur received a letter from the Duke of

Portland, dated August 22, 1809, intimating that the King had created him Baron Douro, of Wellesley, and Viscount Wellington, of Talavera, and of Wellington, in the county of Somerset. At the opening of the session of 1810, he was violently attacked by the opposition, who denounced his victories as

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At the battle of Busaco, in 1810, Wellington was in the hottest of the fight, directing the movements, advising with his generals, and animating his soldiers.

Early in October of the preceding year, Lord Wellington had visited Lisbon, to take measures for the protection of the capital. The great problem was the defence of Portugal against an overwhelming force. Looking at the frontier, this was declared to be impossible; but Wellington's discriminating eye discerned a mode; and he forthwith planned the celebrated lines of Torres Vedras, which are admitted to be, without exception, the most astonishing efforts of military science that the whole history of war can boast.

"Honor to whom honor," is a sentiment of so wide application, that we need not stay to enquire whether as Christians and sincere lovers of goodwill it ought to be awarded here. Many advocates of the Peace question, with more zeal than discretion, condemn the generals of an army to signal and unqualified displeasure, as if the rank and file were really the only useful and efficient part of that army, while the leaders generally stood aloof out of harm's way, and nevertheless received all the credit of a victory. But little versed as we are in military tactics, we can see in perusing a career like that of the Duke of Wellington, the pre-eminent importance of good generalship, so remarkable in the instance just spoken of, in directing the time and manner of an engagement, in foreseeing and providing against contingencies, or in balancing between headstrong valor and the discretion that should dictate a retreat. Hence, looking at the conquests of the great Duke in the same light through which our nation has regarded them, we should be exceedingly unwilling to pluck one leaf from the laurels that adorn his brow.

So successful were the measures of Wellington, that on the 5th April, 1811, the French evacuated Portugal, and on the

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