Page:Memoirs of the Lady Hester Stanhope.djvu/279

 Then, doctor, when I recollect the letter he wrote to Edward Bouverie, in which he said that he could not come down to the ball which Bouverie had invited him to, for that his only corbeau coat was so bad he was ashamed to appear in it, I reflect what a rise he has had in the world. Bouverie said—'You would like to dance with him amazingly, Lady Hester: he is a good fellow.'

"He was at first, doctor, nothing but what hundreds of others are in a country town—a man who danced, and drank hard. His star has done every thing for him; for he is not a great general. He is no tactician, nor has he any of those great qualities that make a Caesar, or a Pompey, or even a Buonaparte. As for the battle of Waterloo, both French and English have told me that it was a lucky battle for him, but nothing more. I don't think he acted well at Paris: nor did the soldiers like him."