The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1852-10-04

THE GRATITUDE OF MONARCHlES.-
WELLINGTON AND NELSON.-THE
CONTRAST.
We have heard much about the ingra,itude
ofRepublcs, and we have, in our day, seen
much to convince us that they are sometimes
ungrateful. We have heard much, also' OF the
gratitude Of monarchies, and it mast be admit
ted that where the bepefactor has powerful
friends. is powerfully connected, and belongs,
by right Of birth, to the aristocracy, the mon
archy, at least of Great Britain, is sometimes
very grateful.
Arthur Wellesley was sprig of the nobli-
~. For his services in India, he was Knight
ed, and became Sir Arthur Wellesley. For
the battle Of Talavera, and the passage of the
Douro, at one stroke, the Prince Regent made
him Baron Douro and Earl Of Wellington, and
Parliament voted him a pension of 1000
pounds sterling per annum. For the battle of
Salamanca, he was made a Marquis, and Par
lament gave him 100000 pounds to buy an es-
tate. At the end of the war, he was created
Marquis of Douro and Duke of Wellington,
and received f400,000 in cash by vote of the
two Houses. For the battle of Waterloo, he
received 100000 sterling, making, in all,
f700000 sterling, which he received in cash.
Besides, he held innumerable sinecures. He
was Warden of the Tower, Colonel of the
Horse Guards, Governor Of the Cirque Ports,
and was Field Marshal in the service of al
most every sovereign in Europe, some of
whom, as the King of Spain, gave him large
estates. Never were services SO rewarded, and
yet not one of them was Of any real service TO
England though they certainly were to the
despotisms on the continent. This recalls the
famous lines of Lord Byron, at the opening of
one of the cantos of Don Juan, addressed to the
Duke.
Though England owes, and pays you too SO much
Yet Europe, doubtless. owes you greatly more,
You have repaired legitimacy crutch,
prop not quite certain as before,
The Spanards, and the French too, and the Dutch,
Have seen and felth ow strongly you restore,
And Waterloo has made the world your debtor,
/ wish your bards would sing in rather better.
His children wallow in wealth.
Now, mark. the contrast. Horatio Nelson
was the son of an obscure country curate. He
was small of stature, and weak of body, with
constitution of extreme delicacy; but he pos
sessed all the elements that constitute hero,
and he declared, when he was a mere child,
that he meant TO be a hero. Entering the navy
at thirteen, as a mere powder-monkey, during
the American war, he fought his way to the
command of frigate before he was twenty
two years of age. Sent, after the war, to the
West Indies for several years, in that fatal eli
mate, he braved all its hardships, and all its
dangers. Pr ostrated by the yellow fever, he
still stuck to his post. He returned home with
a shattered constitution, but With mind as
resoutely bent as ever on becoming hero -
The opportunity was soon afforded him. Sent
to the Mediterranean in 1898, at the breaking
out of the war with France, during four years
he was engaged lao times with the enemy
His daring character became proverbial all
through the fleet, and there was not a sailor
who would not have followed him to the death.
In the battle of st. Vincent's, he made Admi-
lal Jervis' fortune for him, capturing himself,
with the crew of his own ships, three out of
the four line of battle ships that formed the
trophies of that day. He was baffled at Bas-
tia, where he lost an eye, and again at Tene-
rife, where he lost an arm.
In 1898 all Europe was alarmed OF the pre-
parations made in the Port of Touon. The
British ministry sent orders to Sir John Jervis
u send Nelson, now an Admiral, and also a
knight, with fleet to watch the squa-
dron. In spite ofeverything they escaped him.
and reached the Nile. He pursued them,
and after long search, found and destroyed
the squadron in the bay of Aboukir. This was
the most important victory for England she
had ever gained. But for it her East India
possessions would have been entirely lost, for
TO reach them was Bonaparte's object, when
ne landed in Egypt. That squadron would
have brought him re-inforcements in any num-
Der, and it is probable that he might have en-
tered India with 100000 men. As the English
were at that time engaged in war with Tip
poo Sab, with Holkar, and with several other
powers, who together with several other hos
tile princes could bring 100000 men into the
heid, disciplined and commanded by European
ofhcers, and as there were not $4,000 British
soldiers in India, and they scattered over q
space OF thousand miles square, there could
be no doubt that LOG. 900 Frenchmen, added to
'he native hostile forces, and led by the great
est military chieftan the world ever saw, must
nave decided the victory. The battle of the
Nhe' oy cutting off all communication with
france, arrested the career of Bonaparte. left
ann with no more men than were necessary IN
'a'n'a'n his position, deprived him of all hope
., fenorcements, aud in one word, saved the
ahg'sh possessions in India. For this. one IF
."e "ios' glorious victories ever gained. nreu-
"'n consequences of more importance
:" England Than any battle her armies or hsr
ra''es nad ever fought, Nelson was mads
Baron the very lowest order of no h;;,, -
a pension OF f2oOo, while Wellington G.. ~.
battle OF Talavera, which was Of ~ ~ ."'
OF service to England, whatever i, m;nh, I .'