New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-02-18

idly as they have been called for. prodigies a.,
valor have been performed; the action has been
modified by Unforeseen conditions and guided by
sudden determinations. But Wellington loom,
above it with none OF the pIcturesqueness OF 80.
nance or individual spIendor which We assoei.
ate with the great captains OF ancient times ~
OF the Middle Ages. He is the incarnation ls
modern warcraft. arithmeticaI scientific. prac-
teal. looking to the harness for his mules
studying his cOmmissariat as carefully as n
studies the position o1 the enemy. and. at Va
terloo, never drawing his sword from its ssa5-
bard.
There IS an amusing anecdore pertinent % tas
Dukes ingrained opposition 10 thinking 0f any,
thing but the practical side OF the work bafora
him. Writing to Lady Frances Webster Jus,
after Waterloo, he mentioned the losses Of his
army, and then added: The finger y Provi-
dence was upon me and escaped unhurt"
Long afterward when Colonel Gu-vood was
editing the Dukes dispatches Cor publication. he
asked whether he should include rhe letter u
Lady Frances. Wellington was ar first not IN
willing, but, he said the finger ~ Providence
ought to be omitted" IF he lost a battle he was
not in the habit Of blaming the Almighty When
he was victorious it was because he had taken
pains. and he was too genuinely reverent 100
Battles That this sense Of tndivlsI5Ia response
biIity was part of his nature from his earliest
years is shown by Sir Herbert Naxveus u
usually full account OF WeLiuston's Indian ser
vice The young officer went out under favor
able auspices-in fact, the author does not pre-
tend to disguise the value Of family and caste
influence in those days. an influence by which
Wellington constantly prohted-and all during
.ais elder brothers tenure OF office as Governor
General he was sure of sympathy and II potent
cooperation in his military transactions But
while the glories Of Assaye I'LL the record o.
WeuingtOn's Indian campaign in the popular
imagination to the exclusion Of nearly every
thing else. save perhaps Seringapacarn. the pres
ent biographer is at pains 10 point out how
much more there is to consider besides feats q
arms. When Wellington was not fighting he
was nursing his troops. diplOmadzing for A.s
brother working like day laborer at thou
sand points in order 70 consolidate the fruits Of
victory and make the British power more secure
than it was before.
II is worth noting that while he played the
part of a good soldier in the invasion OF IIysore
and in the Mahratta campaign he vas anxious
in both cases TO secure a serviceabIe peace He
tried to soften the terms for SinGh.a. be ID
everything in short 70 demonstrate that If he
was first an officer. he was next an adn.nis-ra-
tor and one of rare wisdom and industry Lady
Salisbury once asked him if. on riding back 70
Brussels after Waterloo it had mot occurred %
him that ne had placed himself on pinnacle o.
glory" He protested that he was entirely oc-
Cupied with what was necessary TO be done"
His tnterlOcutOr was not satisfied 7 can't
conceive" she persisted how 1T did not take
possession Of your mind immediately-that y0u
did not think how infinitely you had raised
your name above every other" The Dukes
answer was prompt. That is feeling Of van
ity ones first thought is for the public service
This attitude of his comes out necessarily in
the Peninsular War. to which Sir Herbert Max
well devotes the bulk OF his first volume. earn
ing our gratitude. by the way. as in his recital
of the Indian campaign. by his careful eluci1s-
tiOn OF all those administrative and political
measures with which Wellington fortified AMI
supplemented his actions in the field Here z
we are grateful We are also disposed 70 question
the impartiality OF the author We are bound
TO be with him in his panegyric OF the creates,
military invention of the war. the lines Of Torres
Vedras, and over all the famous deeds Of those
years, Taavera, Ciudad Rodrigo salamanca
VittOria the Pyrenees and the rest We canno,
help but unger in much the same mood Of al