Excerpt from The Military Life of Field Marshal, the Duke of Wellington, K. G. &C. &C. &C, Vol. 1 of 2 It does not always follow that the opinion formed of an eminent individual by his cotemporaries is confirmed by that of posterity; but there can be little hazard in affirming that the Duke of Wellington must be recorded in British annals as the most illustrious man the empire has produced. His military fame rests on a broad and imperishable foundation, while as a statesman he has long stood foremost in general estimation. Nothing is more surprising than the almost uniform success that has attended him throughout a varied and eventful career: as Midas by a touch converted all to gold, so did every thing prosper under the hand of Wellington.

And although great and extraordinary acts have characterized his whole life, yet nothing connected with his Grace ought to excite a higher degree of admiration than the publication of his voluminous despatches and letters. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.