* Stocqueler’s “Life of Wellington,” p. 23.
“It was in March, 1769, that Arthur Wellesley first saw the light. Biographers differ as to the date and the locality; but it appears by the evidence taken before a parliamentary committee in 1791, to inquire into a petition against his return for the borough of Trim, on the ground of his being a minor, that he was really born at Dangan Castle, in the county of Meath, Ireland, at the time alleged above. His father was the second Earl of Mornington, who enjoyed much celebrity for his nice musical taste; his mother, Anne, the eldest daughter of Viscount Dungannon. Early in life Arthur Wellesley was sent to Eton College for his education, in conjunction with his afterwards distinguished brother, Richard.
“Being desirous for the military profession he was sent to the college of Angiers, directed by Pegnard, a celebrated French engineer.
“At the age of eighteen, after he had gone through a course of French military instruction, Arthur Wellesley was gazetted to an ensigncy in the 73rd regiment. This was in March, 1787. Nine months later he was promoted to a lieutenancy in the 76th. Subsequent exchanges carried him into the 41st foot, and the 12th Light Dragoons.
“In 1791 (30th of June), being then twenty-two years of age, he procured a company in the 58th Foot, whence, four months later, he exchanged to a troop in the 18th Light Dragoons. Under the system in force in the British army, officers, avid of rapid promotion, must seek it in other regiments than their own, if their immediate seniors are prepared to purchase advancement. As Arthur Wellesley had had no opportunities of displaying zeal and gallantry in the field during these four years of service, his quick progress may be fairly set down to the combined action of ministerial favour, and a sufficiency of pecuniary means. Neither at school, nor college, nor in the performance of the easy regimental duty peculiar to a time of peace, and incidental to five exchanges, did he display any of those qualities which developed themselves in so remarkable a manner a few years later.
“Previous to obtaining his company, Lieutenant Wellesley was returned a member of the Irish parliament. He sat for three years, during a portion of which time he was an aide-de-camp to the Earl of Westmoreland, then Lord-lieutenant of Ireland.
“The young member occasionally spoke, always in opposition to liberal measures; and his oratory was characterised more by a curt and decided form of expression than by the efflorescence then popular among the Grattans, Cuffs, Parnells, and other members of the legislature. His opinions were of the tory cast; and, even at that early period he opposed himself to any consideration of the Catholic claims, and to schemes of parliamentary reform. As an aide-de-camp, and a member of a Protestant family, his sentiments were, of course, coloured by the opinions of the noblemen and statesmen with whom he associated.”
The early military services of Arthur Wellesley, both in Europe and in India, were brilliant. Some of his first exploits in action were marked by promptitude and genius rivalling in lustre the feats of his proudest days. In India, his conquests of the refractory chiefs, Dhoondiah and the Peishwah, and his successes in the Mysorean war, under Baird, were full of daring and of glory.*
* For an extended account of General Wellesley’s Indian campaigns see “Nolan’s History of the British Empire in India and the East.” Virtue; City Road and Ivy Lane, London.
As a general officer, he showed every quality which commanded respect from his seniors, reverence from his juniors, confidence alike in those whom he commanded, and those who devolved responsibility upon him, and the astonishment and admiration of his enemies. The treatment he received in India was not just nor considerate, and to the latest period of his life he felt that neither by his brother the Marquis Wellesley, the East India Company, nor the government at home, was he requited as his merits deserved, nor did he deem that their conduct to him while on actual service was what it should have been. The self-mastery and loyalty with which he endured slights and injustice while rendering great services, have probably never been exhibited equally by any soldier of ancient or modern times. On the occasion of his being superseded at Bombay by General Baird, he wrote:—“My former letters will have shown you how much this will annoy me; but I have never had much value for the public spirit of any man who does not sacrifice his private views and convenience when it is necessary.” **