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By HAROLD F. B. WHEELER, F.R.Hist.S. With 16 full-page Illustrations.
THE STORY OF NELSON By HAROLD F. B. WHEELER, F.R.Hist.S. With 16 full-page Illustrations.
FAMOUS VOYAGES OF THE GREAT DISCOVERERS By ERIC WOOD. With 16 full-page Illustrations.
THE STORY OF THE CRUSADES By E. M. WILMOT-BUXTON, F.R.Hist.S. With 16 full-page Illustrations by M. MEREDITH WILLIAMS.
STORIES OF THE SCOTTISH BORDER By Mr and Mrs WILLIAM PLATT. With 16 full-page Illustrations by M. MEREDITH WILLIAMS.
[Illustration: The Duke writing his Waterloo Despatch
MEMBER OF THE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION JOINT-AUTHOR OF ‘NAPOLEON AND THE INVASION OF ENGLAND’ ETC. AUTHOR OF ‘THE MAXIMS OF NAPOLEON’ ‘THE MIND OF NAPOLEON’ ‘THE STORY OF NAPOLEON’ AND ‘THE STORY OF NELSON’
‘_For this is England’s greatest son, He that gain’d a hundred fights, Nor ever lost an English gun_’
LONDON GEORGE G. HARRAP & COMPANY 3 PORTSMOUTH STREET KINGSWAY W.C. MCMXII
_Illustrations by Ballantyne & Co., Ltd., London_ _Printed by Turnbull & Spears, Edinburgh_
DEDICATED TO C. ALFRED HAMILTON, ESQ MY LIFE-LONG FRIEND
In this, the last of a trio of volumes dealing with three great contemporary men of action, I have attempted to tell the story, in its main lines, of the crowded life of Wellington. The narrative provides as substantial a view of Wellington as is possible within the limits of my space, but I hope that readers of my book will be so interested that they will go on to the perusal of its companions, for the careers of Napoleon, Nelson, and Wellington should be studied together. They are the three sides of a triangle of which Napoleon is the base.
The Duke’s career, when compared to the others, is “a plain, unvarnished tale,” not altogether devoid of romance, certainly not of adventure, but lacking in many of the qualities which have endeared less notable men. It would be obviously untrue to state that Wellington lacked humanity, but he was certainly deficient in that attractive personal magnetism so evident in Nelson. Speaking broadly, he did not repose that confidence in his subordinates which was one of the great sea-captain’s most marked characteristics, and he often said hard things of the men under him. Nelson is “the darling Hero of England”; Wellington will always be known as the Iron Duke. If it ever became the fashion to canonize military and naval men, Nelson’s nimbus would be of rosemary, Wellington’s of steel. The mob never broke the windows of Merton Place, but it shattered every exposed pane in Apsley House. The incident arose from his conscientious opposition to reform, and occurred in 1831, sixteen years after the battle of Waterloo. A little over a decade later, an immense mob cheered him as he proceeded up Constitution Hill. His acknowledgment was to point to the iron shutters of his house when he reached Hyde Park Corner. They had been put up after the bombardment by brickbats, and were never taken down during his lifetime.