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 the finances in a sound condition. For this purpose he selected Henry St. George Tucker [q. v.], a Bengal civil servant, who performed the duty with marked success.

Wellesley sailed from India on 15 Aug. 1805, and arrived in England early in 1806. The change from the autocratic position which he had filled in India to that of a retired ruler but little known to the multitude caused him a degree of chagrin which he was unable to conceal. Shortly after his arrival his mortification was increased by learning that he was to be attacked in parliament in connection with his policy regarding Oudh. His accuser was James Paull [q. v.], who had made a fortune by trade in India and obtained a seat in parliament. Paull moved for papers in January 1806, and in May of that year formulated his charges, in which he accused Wellesley of having incited the subjects of the Nawáb Vazir of Oudh to rebel against him, and then by means of threats compelled the Náwab Vazir to give up a large portion of his territory. Paull having lost his seat at the general election in 1806, the charges which he had brought were taken up by Lord Folkestone; but it was not until 1808 that they were brought to a division. The result was that Wellesley's policy was approved by the House of Commons by a large majority (182 to 31), and a subsequent motion of impeachment made by Sir Thomas Turton was rejected by a still larger one. In the meantime Wellesley, a few days after his arrival, had been cordially received by his friend Pitt, then very near his end, and had been welcomed at a public dinner given at Almack's, at which the chair was taken by General Harris, the captor of Seringapatam, supported by some of the leading statesmen of the time. Wellesley spoke for the first time in the House of Lords on 8 Feb. 1808, when, in an eloquent and convincing speech, he supported the ministers in their refusal to produce papers relating to the seizure of the Danish fleet. In the following year (1809) Wellesley was despatched as ambassador-extraordinary to Seville to concert measures with the Spanish junta for carrying on the war in the Peninsula, his brother, Sir Arthur Wellesley, being entrusted with the command of the troops on 2 April. The course taken by the government in sending the expedition to Walcheren, to which Wellesley strongly objected as being certain to interfere with the efficiency of the army under his brother, led him to resign his appointment; but at the instance of Canning, then foreign secretary, he withdrew his resignation upon an assurance that the force under Arthur Wellesley should not be unduly weakened. At the end of July the victory of Talavera took place; but the British force was so ill-supplied, and the Spanish government so utterly failed to fulfil their promises, and their assertions proved to be so untrustworthy, that Wellesley was compelled to threaten the withdrawal of the British army into Portugal, which produced some improvement in the situation. Shortly afterwards the retirement of Canning from the ministry after his duel with Castlereagh resulted in Wellesley's appointment as foreign secretary under Perceval. Wellesley assumed this office at an important crisis. Every government in Europe was under the sway of Napoleon or was in alliance with him. England was absolutely isolated. Napoleon by his Berlin and Milan decrees had seriously threatened British trade. There were grave differences with the United States. The intercourse between the British envoy in America and the government of the United States had been suspended. The great work accomplished by Wellesley in India had not then been fully recognised. A large party in England doubted the policy of the Peninsular war, the success of which still hung in the balance. The cabinet at home was by no means unanimous. The ministry was so weak in debating power that both Lord Liverpool and Wellesley offered to vacate office to make room for Canning and Castlereagh; but neither of the latter would at that time join the government. Wellesley entertained but a poor opinion of the fitness of Perceval for the post of prime minister, and did not attempt to disguise it. Indeed his autocratic antecedents seriously affected his intercourse with his colleagues in the cabinet, whose meetings he seldom attended, managing his department without consulting them. During 1811 he seldom attended a cabinet council. At the same time he was so much affected by constitutional nervousness that, notwithstanding his great oratorical power, he seldom spoke in parliament. On one memorable occasion of a debate on the regency bill, when he had led his colleagues to suppose that he would give them a cordial and effective support, he maintained an absolute silence, the cause of which has never been fully explained. It is generally attributed to an invincible nervousness, and is said to have caused great annoyance to Wellesley himself.

On 16 Jan. 1812 Wellesley tendered his resignation to the prince regent, who, however, more than once pressed him to retain his office. On 18 Feb. he was offered, but refused, the lord-lieutenancy of Ireland, and