Wellington, soldier and statesman, and the revival of the military power of England . ntinterest the events of the first great Sikh war afterthe disappearance of our old ally, Runjeet Singh ;he fully appreciated the desperate battles that werethen fought; the Harding of Albuera, one of hisPeninsular officers, who almost saved India at aterrible crisis, was rightly singled out for the praisehe deserved. In 1849, when Gough, a dashing butimprudent soldier, and, perhaps, too harshly con-demned at the time, was defeated at Chillianwalla,with heavy loss, the Duke insisted that Napiershould be sent
Wellington, soldier and statesman, and the revival of the military power of England . ntinterest the events of the first great Sikh war afterthe disappearance of our old ally, Runjeet Singh ;he fully appreciated the desperate battles that werethen fought; the Harding of Albuera, one of hisPeninsular officers, who almost saved India at aterrible crisis, was rightly singled out for the praisehe deserved. In 1849, when Gough, a dashing butimprudent soldier, and, perhaps, too harshly con-demned at the time, was defeated at Chillianwalla,with heavy loss, the Duke insisted that Napiershould be sent out to retrieve the disaster; other-wise he declared he would embark for India himself;the veteran had then passed his eightieth year. Oneof his best services at this period was his admirableplan of defending London against a Chartist out-break, threatened in the year of revolutions, 1848;his arrangements were masterly and skilfully con-cealed ; Chartism sank in ignominious collapse. Hewas also desirous, about this time, to transfer thecommand of the army to Prince Albert; but the. SIR HENRY HARDING.(After the painting by E. Eddis.) Dec I in ing Yea rs—Dea th— Character 373 Prince for weighty reasons declined; the veteranremained at his glorious post until his death. As Wellingtons declining years rolled on, he be-came an object of national veneration perhaps un-equalled in England. The renown of his militaryexploits remained undimmed ; a new generation re-cognised his great services in the field ; it was feltthat he was a principal author of the long peacewhich followed the French Revolutionary War; asNapier wrote, the Empire reposed under the Gloryof Waterloo. He was still distinctly the first soldierof the time; Soult, Paskievitch, Radetsky, wereillustrious names, but they could not be comparedto him in the opinion of Europe. The unpopularityof 1831-32 had passed away ; the voice of factionhad been hushed; his sagacity, his wisdom, aboveall, his single-minded and patriot
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