Page:Life of the Duke of Wellington.pdf/6

6 Arthur was appointed to the command of a home district; and upon the death of Marquis Cornwallis, was made Colonel of the 33rd regiment, in which he had served for thirteen years as Lieutenant-Colonel. In 1806, he became a member of the House of Commons, having been elected representative for Newport, in the Isle of Wight. In the same year, he married the Hon. Catherine Pakenham, sister to the Earl of Longford.

In April, 1807, he was appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland, and a Privy Councillor under the Duke of Richmond. One of the chief measures introduced by him in the former capacity, was the establishment of a police in the city of Dublin, which, though violently opposed, was at length carried, and has since proved an important benefit. Several other arrangements of a civil and municipal nature, were likewise adopted at his suggestion.

But his exertions in the military service of his country, were now to be claimed anew. The restless ambition of Napoleon, incessantly directed against the commerce and prosperity of Britain, was bent upon the creation of a power that might rival her upon the seas. In furtherance of his object,—by the establishment of a continental system to place England in a state of blockade, by all the European powers,—he had resolved to close the Baltic ports against our ships. He seems to have formed the design of seizing the Danish fleet, probably to make it the basis of a future navy, with which, not only to blockade the ports, but also to be used in the invasion of England. It appeared nccessarynecessary [sic], therefore, that this formidable weapon of mischief should be taken out of his hands.

An armament, consisting of twenty-seven ships of the line, got ready in secresy, was wisely planned upon a large scale. The troops, amounting to 20,000 men, were commanded by Lord Cathcart. Sir Arthur Wellesley was at the head of the reserve. The fleet