The Wilmingtonian., 1884-11-08
The Late Duke of Wellington.

During the last decade of his life the
Duke ceased to spend what is called the sea-
son, or even portion of it, in London. He
Iesited ssiziosG efCifeiy ut A56Iathfieidsaye.
paying occasional visits to his estate in Hert-
fordshire, and to his friends in other coun-
ties. He was preserver of game, but not
rigid one, and went to considerable expense
in breeding trout and stocking with them
yielded to none Of the many guests whom at
the proper seasons he gathered around him
in love Of field sports. Even after the sym
toms of glaucoma began to develop themselves
he abated nothing of his desire to afford
amusement to others, and so far as might be
of premature old age grew upon him rapidly.
In 1879 he submitted to the removal of one
eye, in the hope that the spread Of the mall
ady to the other might be arrested, 1t was
not arrested, aid therefore under the skillful
hands of Mr. Critchett an operation was
performed which at least retarded the pro-
gress of the disease. Still there was con.
stantly before him the prospect of total
blindness at no remote period, while of
deafness growing day by day more dense, he
was perhaps too conscious. With eXtraOr-
dinary courage he faced these deepening
evils. That they should have had the effect
of rendering him occasionally irritable is not
| to be wondered at; the marvel would have
been had they not so operated And when
the fit came upon him, all who We're near at
hand got the benefit of it, for in such cases
the Duke was no respecter of persons. But
harsh words spoken under such circum-
stances, though they might sting at the mo-
ment, were soon forgotten When the abil-
| ity to take part in rougher sports failed him,
and reading became next to impossible, the
Duke sought escape from epnui in whist. 1t
was his well-nigi daily custom, especially
when the sun set early, to repair to the
house of friend and neighbor considerably
older than himself and scarcely less blind
and there to spend the time between and
in the evening at the card table. Nevei
surely was gambling more innocent Bet'
were prohibited and the stakes fixed at ;
|
there was unfailing eagerness and as mucl
skill as a careful study Of the best authori
ties on tile game enabled the combatants t,
acquire. When the house was empty o
guests, as during the London season it oftel
happened to be, the Duchess was his fire
quent companion at the river side. She wa
also his reader in the evening, till growing
deafness made it imp6 ssible fol- him, sentenc
by sentence, to follow her, and then til
village schoolmaster was called in. Thes
exercises he sometimes varied by dinin
with one or two of his country neighbOrs, o
entertaining them at his own table, whe
whist, with occasional concerts some Of til
latter of no mean order, took the place Q
reading. Ills correspondence likewise wa
by this time largely carried on, SO to speak
f at second hand BY far the greater numbe
of his letters were written from dictatio
because every one who approached and a
who surrounded him were eager to do lii
service, But why go on? Gradual
! though surely, the inevitable hour Dire
' near. lie never complained, except 10y d.
. nouncing at times, in forcible terms, ba
night he had spent, while those VII
watched him most closely saw that thei
bad nights were by no means the accden
c which he affected to regard them. He wi
e now n years old, yet looking at his feeb
n frame and his countenance, pale and refine
into absolute beauty, a stranger would ha'
> guessed his age at 81 or more. He hi
It lived his allotted time-7He Fortnight
s. RepieN.