an, has not been so
universally admitted as his military merit, is that, in the imaginations
of a large portion of the public, he has been identified with a party.
This, in a country where party spirit is so strong and so universal,
would alone be sufficient to secure his being misunderstood by all those
who are not of the party to which he is alleged to be devoted. But it
is a mistake to call the Duke of Wellington a party man; that is to say,
in the ordinary sense of the word. It is true that, during the greater
part of his life he has acted with what is called the conservative
party, because in England no man can expect to serve his country
efficiently, unless he enlists under some political banner or other. But
there is a great difference between acting generally with a party, and
the adoption of all its animosities and prejudices: and this difference
the Duke of Wellington appears always to have perceived and acted upon.
Wherever the choice has lain between the opinions of his party and the
general good of his country, the Duke has always preferred his country
to his party; and if that is the character of a party man, may all
politicians be speedily imbued with the same sentiments!

Notwithstanding this distinction, however, it is certain that the known
opinions of the Duke of Wellington, and his ultimately taking office as
the prime minister of the tory party, did lead to the belief that he was
a party man, and directed towards him all those animosities and all that
depreciating rancour which party spirit engenders, and which party
tactics perpetuate; so that during a period of some four or five years
his distinguished reputation as a soldier was obscured in the minds of
many millions of his country, who,--and this remark applies more
particularly to the years 1829, 1830, and 1831,--laid themselves open to
the charge of being guilty of that meanest and basest of all crimes,
ingratitude.

Happily, within the last ten years, a total change has come over the
public mind. Those ill-grounded animosities are forgotten: the long and
unparalleled services of the Duke are remembered: and a re-action,
produced by a sense of shame acting upon early affections, has made him
more popular, more beloved, more admired than ever he was before.

Look at the course of business in the House of Lords during the last few
years, and you will observe that the Duke of Wellington has been the
presiding spirit of that assembly. Nothing wa