The Sun.
London, England, 1852-11-19 00:00:00

(From the Morning Chronicle.)

Panegyric may well be thought to have ex-
Lausted itself on the Duke of Wellington. All that
was to be said, it may be supposed, has been said ;
and the very unanimity of salutation has become,
perhaps, wearisome. The world tires of Aristides
—the presence of a hero, and the acclamations
which attend him, are a reproof and a rebuke to
men of common mould. Still, with the sight of
yesterday's magnificent array of military pomp
fresh in our recollection—before the roll of the
muffled drum, the clang of trumpet, and the wail-
ing chorus of the funeral anthems have faded—we
shall only express the popular sentiment if we once
more add another voice to an expression of grati-
tude and respect for the departed, more unani-
mous, perhaps, than ever, in the world's history,
saluted the tomb of soldier or citizen—of patriot or
conqueror.
" His body is buried in peace, but his name
liveth for evermore ;" and not his name alone, but
his influence. We mistake and under-estimate the
Wellington we have lost, if we restrict his value,
or even his presence, to a cold historical example,
and to a mere ethical commonplace. That he is so
widely appreciated shows what his life has actually
done for the English mind. It teaches and animates
national character, while it reflects it. Like is
alone appreciated by like—example is thrown away
except on congenial minds. This general apprecia.
tion of Wellington makes us confident in ourselves.
Something heroic and patriotic is required to un-
derstand the patriot and hero ; and that common-
wealth must be sound in heart which has decreed
and paid such honours to him who but reflects its
general spirit and character.
All that panegyrists of all time have selected
as topics of congratulation for the departed, seems
to have concentrated in the Duke of Wellington.
His very figure and gesture were those of an his-
torical man. Posterity will recognise, as familiarly
as his contemporaries, one who, in the presence of
State affairs, exhibited in his very aspect the great
man, and in all social intercourses the good man.
Severe in discipline, yet warm-hearted in the cause
of charity—the friend alike of children and of Kings
—punctual in religious, and untiring in official
duties—sage in counsel, and successful in the
field—no democrat was ever more the idol of the
common people, and no dictator ever more com-
pletely, or for a longer and more eventful period,
swayed the political destinies of his country. With
enough of inflexibility to pursue what he deemed
duty at the risk and loss of popularity, he had the
rare fortune to be at length appreciated even by
his detractors, and to recover the general affection
which lie had lost. His life, though prolonged to
extreme old age, exhausted neither his glory nor
his capacities ; and the strong will triumphed to the
last over the infirmities of years. And though
decorated and rewarded as never subject was be-
fore him, envy never grudged him his fortune,
nor did detraction even attempt to sully his in-
tegrity. Twenty years of the most brilliant mili-
tary career left him in the highest ranks of Eng-
lish nobility, and the adopted marshal of every
European State ; and at an age when his great rival
was sinking into an unhonoured grave, and when
those who are generally considered his historical
parallels had finished their course, he commenced
an administrative life which was crowned by en-
twining the civic oak with the conqueror's laurel,
and was rewarded by his achievement of a title
prouder than that of Prince of Waterloo--the Father
of his Country. And if we cannot, of Wellington,
pronounce what they of old considered the soldier's
highest honour, that he died for his country, a
higher, if a simpler, inscription can be placed on
his tomb—that he lived for it—and for it alone.
No Pericles will deliver a studied oration over his
remains ; but the universal voice of his country-
men, and the earnest sympathy which yesterday
throbbed in hundreds of thousands of mourning
yet hearts, far outweigh all the cold
succehstisi-obr the rhetorician's art, or the purchased
and glittering phrases of the sophist's common.
Place book.

(From the Morning Post.)

It is over. The " good grey head" lies low.
The great name rises, as did the constant purpose
of its glorious bearer, higher and yet higher. Above
earth there is now nothing left of our Duke—Our
honoured Duke—our loved Duke—except the heir-
looms of his house—the trophies which he won—
the
prize
er eafluedc tsitoenr fg hwehiwchore--the
he left
tuhsee
egfl o
tr ihees
legacies
to his country.
The account which lay open in daily life before
all men for comment, lies now before its last tri-
bunal for judgment. On the one side are written,
no doubt, failings, without which no human soul
has passed through its ordeal here since our fall
from the image of the Maker—on the other stand
excellencies which none but the dull or base can
think of without referring them to the diviner part
of man.
In that solemn and final triumph which we wit-
nessed yesterday, there were noble monuments of
the qualities and deeds of him whom the great
estates of a great country were gathered together to
honour. There were the chosen ranks from the
army which he formed with consummate sagacity
and patience—which he directed with perfect
honesty of truth and purpose. There were the
dignitaries of the Church, whose ordinances were
the earliest portion in the daily work of one, than
whom no man ever worked harder. There were
the Peers, among whom the Duke won his leading
place by the highest achievements, and kept it by
the worthiest conduct that even that noble,body
has ever known ; there were the Commons, from
and, in his c a among
times
afterwards,themselves aat the
ofaugdloeryerdiasaiprithnacueksanedf
dwahwonmotfwhiicse
eisd.ftullhe solemn peer,atten dhiengreieneivh
that great assembly, couched in terms worthy of
the occasion which called them forth, and of the
potential voice which spoke. There were the
judges, whose high office might well draw support
from the example of a man, great in station in
bound y
genius, and in achievements, and b station,
the