bly at that moment might be out of lease, or in some instances the desire to have the yeomen called out on permanent duty—occasions a representation that the disturbances are much more serious than the facts would warrant. Upon these occasions letter after letter is written to the commanding officer and to the Government; the same fact is repeated through many different channels; and the result of an enquiry is generally, that the outrage complained of is by no means of the nature or of the extent which has been stated. … It frequently happens that the people who do commit outrages and disturbances have reason to complain; but in my opinion that is not a subject for the consideration of a general officer." Sir Arthur added considerably to his military reputation in the descent on Denmark in 1807, where he held a command. It has been said that his predilection in the Peninsular sieges for assaults rather than bombardments arose from his experiences of the horrors of the bombardment of Copenhagen, and the subsequent excesses of the victorious British troops. In July 1808, mainly through the influence of Lord Castlereagh, Sir Arthur was despatched from Cork in command of a small expeditionary force, to challenge the French occupation of the Peninsula. It is unnecessary to recount by what series of events this small armament, at first almost unnoticed and probably despised by France, was by Wellesley's genius increased and welded into a force against which the resources and prestige of Napoleon were shattered within a few short years. It is unnecessary to recount how, overcoming a thousand difficulties, and at first badly supported from home, he defeated Napoleon's greatest generals at Talavera, Torres Vedras, Albuera, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajos, Salamanca, the Pyrenees, and in a hundred minor engagements, and how Sir Arthur Wellesley, who left Cork in 1808, on 14th February 1814 had beaten the French entirely out of Spain, and entered Paris on 4th May as Duke of Wellington, acknowledged to be the second captain in Europe, the recipient of rich estates in both England and the Peninsula, and of almost every honour that it was in the power of two nations to bestow. On 24th June he took his seat in the House of Lords by the titles of Baron, Viscount, Earl, Marquis, and Duke, and received the thanks of both Houses of Parliament. In August he went to Paris in the capacity of ambassador from the United Kingdom, and proceeded thence to take part in the Congress of Vienna. On the 8th March 1815 the of Napoleon's escape from Elba reached the representatives of the great powers at Vienna, and on the 5th April Wellington was at Brussels, actively engaged in forwarding the military preparations to oppose him. The Duke's correspondence shows that by the 10th June, whilst ignorant of Napoleon's plans,. he was fully informed of the real force at his disposal. Judging of the Emperor's dispositions by those which he would have made in his place, he inclined to believe that he would act on the defensive, but that if he did attack it would be on the allies' right. On the night of the 15th Wellington was at a ball given by the Duchess of Richmond in Brussels, when the news reached him of Napoleon's having attacked the Prussians at Charleroi. Before the ball was ended the troops at Brussels were on their march to the front, and early in the morning they were overtaken by the Duke at Quatre Bras, where they successfully sustained an attack from Marshal Ney with a large French division. In another part of the field the French were successful in an attack upon the Prussians. On the 17th there was some heavy fighting; but to maintain communications with the Prussians Wellington fell back on a position already chosen in front of the village of Waterloo. This movement was conducted in such a masterly manner that all Napoleon's efforts to bring the British to an engagement during the 17th were unsuccessful, and the following wet and stormy night found Wellington in a strong position, where he proposed to await the arrival of the Prussians. It is unnecessary to enter into the particulars of the battle of Waterloo, fought on the 18th of June 1815. The allied force, of which 25,000 were British, under Wellington, numbered 72,000 men, with 1 86 pieces of artillery. From eleven to four o'clock, they sustained the assaults of Napoleon's army, numbering 80,000, with 252 pieces of artillery. Foiled in his efforts to force the British positions, Napoleon's defeat was accomplished by the arrival, at half-past four o'clock, of 36,000 Prussians under Blucher, with 100 guns. The loss of the allies under Wellington has been computed at 15,000, that of the Prussians at 7,000, and that of the French, in the battle and pursuit, at 40,000. The Duke wrote to a friend soon after the engagement: "You will have heard of our battle of the 18th. Never did I see such a pounding match. Both were called what the boxers call gluttons. Napoleon did not manoeuvre at all. He just moved forward in the old style, in columns, and was driven
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