Page:How to Get Strong (1899).pdf/364

, in Paris, soon after the battle. 'I tell them it was hard pounding on both sides, and we pounded the hardest. There was no manœuvring. Bonaparte kept up his attacks, and I was glad to let it be decided by the troops.' 'It was a battle of giants,' he said, on another occasion. 'Many of my troops were new; but the new fight well—though they manœuvre ill—better perhaps than many have fought and bled. As to the way in which some of our ensigns and lieutenants braved danger—the boys just come from school—it exceeds belief. They ran as at cricket. Again 'Waterloo was won in the playing-fields at Eton.'

"At the summit of his career, immediately after Waterloo, his popularity was unbounded. In Paris crowds followed him and almost kissed the ground at his horse's feet. He was all powerful in councils of the nations. The arbiter of France's fate. In politics he was never a party-leader; he was no party-man. He was ever guided by large principles of duty, disinterestedness, and perfect honesty. And he could never subordinate these to political exigencies. He was pre-eminently a great national servant, always intent on promoting what, according to his cool judgment, was best for the commonweal.

"He rode twenty miles after a hard day's fighting to visit the bedside of a wounded aide, the son of his dearest friends, and stood there affected to tears when the case seemed hopeless. Of all likenesses he preferred Count D'Orsay's, 'who always made him look like a gentleman.' To be an English gentleman was in Wellington's mind the highest title of honor. It was his religion almost, and he adhered most scrupulously to the rules of conduct that guided the class in his days. He absolutely worshipped punctuality, and prided himself on never being late for a train. To the last the Duke retained his fondness for field-sports and life in the open air. The general would ride to hounds as his chief relaxation in Spain. He hunted regularly in England whenever and wherever he could. He was very fond of shooting, and a good shot. He walked a good deal, even when infirm and at a very advanced age.