Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1898-01-20
TIE BALL OF WATERLOO.

York Courier Des Etats- Gnis writeH
the following interesting "reminiscences
OF the famous ball given by The Duchess
Of Richmond on the eve Of the battle
OF Waterloo, adding come curious annc-
dotes about tho Duke OF Wellington.
The little Belgian village. which the
victory OF Wellington over Napoleon
bns rendered famous, :s place of pill
Rrimage for the descendants OF the con-
orerors, az well as for those OF the con.
auered. II fortune we're that day |
asainst us, our soldiers fought with |
admirable courage. When, later, Wal |
lineton was aaked Whist was the hravsst
action he had ever soon III battle, he
replied: 1.-THE repeated charge of tie
French cavalry al Waterloo. The
evening after the battle he dino1 in the
village, anu, during the renast, now
and then repeated twice over: THANK
God! | have mot him" lilo had, in
deed, Just measured strength, for the
first time, will the warrior whom.
until that time, victory bad constantly
favored, hut who. few weeks later,
was TO surrenhr to the English.
What drama Who will over ok.
press its irony and nnguish2 While the
fate Of tho w,rld was about TO be do
cided in ha,tls which cost the Frsnch
10, 900 men u killed Or wounded, and
the allies 10000, Brussels was dancing.
The Duchess Of Richmond was giving
q hall, without doubt at the inHtiGntinn
OF wellington and the list of gueuts ia
docunrnt which, happily, history
has preserved. Thpre are to be found
the two Princes of Orange, ono of whom
commanded division OF Mellington's
army, me Duke of Brunswick, who was
TO die at Quatre- Bras. and the Prince
OF Nassau; sume French names, the
Dula and Duchess of Beaufort, the
Cont anu Countess OF Mercy Argen
tefl, Count de la RoehefouGauld; then
Ira Fitzroy Somerset, who lost an
Elm in the battle, and Lord Uxbridge,
sho lost leg there, Lord Hay, who
WIS killed, and Sir Alexander Gordon,
who died from his wounds, Sir William
Ponsonby and Sir Thomas Fiction, who
were also killed, as we'll as others,
whose names figure in that list, which
terminates With the name Of clergy
man, tine Rev. MIR. BriscRll.
1t was thought for long timB. that
the building in which the ball took
place had disappeared. az well as the
street, even, in which it was situated,
hut Sir William Fraser. whose father
figured among the guests of the ball of
June 18th, 1915, has found both of
them. The street is the Rue de la
Blanchisserie; the building was occu.
pied by a manufacturer of carriages,
and the Duke of Richmond rented of
the latter. for the ball, the long, barn
like room. with pillars supporting the
rouf, in which he housed his carriages
Finally, the building, No. 40 Of the
Rue dc la Blanchisserie. is still occu-
pied by n carriage builder, who, how
ever, has replaced the inclined plane,
which served Tor running the carriages
into the showroom, by a bole Or trap
cut through the floor of the middle oil
this now famous room for the passage
of platform elevator.
Sir William Fraser is deserving oil
praise for his discovery, and OF thanks
for the modest little book which he has
entitled 1.-The Ball of Waterloo. Z" We
will not read with any less pleasure tht
admirable third canto OF Childe llar-
old, in which Lord Byron describes tbs
ball, which he places in room Of the
city hall. He speaks of blanching
checks, of eyes filling with tears. lr
reality, when the young ladies present
had BID adieux to their partners, who
ia obedience to the orders of Yelling
ton, left the ball at 10 O'Clock, himael
leaving at midnight, they continued
Sir William Fraser ia passionate
ndmirer of Wellington, and has somt
interesting anecdotes about him. Ont
day the duke was asked if he had eve
been annoyed by the numerous carica
lures which had been made of him, AM
he instantly replied: 'Nnt at all
there is hut one caricature that eve
annoyed me, and that is Douro." Th
Marquis of Douro was his son.
At Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington
wore the dark blue cloak lined witt
white in which the painter LawrsnG
has represented him. In the Spans
campaign. the duke wore white cloak
Sir William Fraser has an unpublishe
portrait of him, in generals suit
with full length pAntaluons, ridin
boots, the high collar which was the
prescribed, and a curious thing, ha
OF citizen's dress, no doubt in order I
,siguify that Wellington occupied, .
that time. an important situation j
the government; hn was, in fact, SET
rotary for Ireland. Apropug of tina
portrait, the second Duke of Wellint
ton said to Sir William: Are you ce
tain that it ia my father?" :" 1t can |
no one but he." .'Has he tusK
"What do you mean by that, pre-
truding tooth?' "Yes.n ''Then yo
can swear that it Is lie.
Sir William Fraser also possesses til
sabre, with silver sea bbard, golt
mounted and rcpoussed. which 70
merly belonged to Mourad Bey, Ma
meluke chief. Captured by Mura
and given by him to Napoleon, th
arm was carried by the latter in II
campaign of 1916. The allies found
in the Emperor's carriage. iiluchl
gave it to Wellington, who presented
TO Lord Uxbridge, who gave it to b
aids.de camp, Sir James Fraser. ~
hilt is of ivory; the blade, crowd,
with jewels, is as sharp as on tho d.
when Mourad Bey surrendered it to b
conqueror.
Another anecdote, Wellington,
course. had muny decorations.
never travelled without a case contai
ing his insignia of orders. Invited
Windsor one day, on the occasion
the visit Ut sovereign of minor raj
no could not remember what order
should wear to do homage to that mo
arch. lie, therefore, sent his valet
ask the information OF the monar Oh
\ valet. Unhappily the foreign va.
u knew nothing about it. and he CARR
"a the case of orders to his master, viii
% had rather bad effect.
h Quarter Found by X-Rays.
S Georgetown, Jan. l6. -Seven wee
Y Heo the 2-years- old son OF John L. VII
aman swallowed silver quarter. 4