GREAT MEN'S BODIES
he himself described them, induced him to seek civil employment, 'some post in the Revenue or under the Treasury; something more lucrative, in short, than the command of a regiment.' He did so with reluctance. It was departing from a life he preferred, but he was driven to it by the seeming hopelessness and narrowness of his military prospects. Yet, within a couple of years the wheel of fortune lifted him into a position of splendid opportunity. The Thirty-third went to India; he followed it to arrive almost simultaneously with his brother, Lord Mornington. One Wellesley was but a simple colonel of a regiment; the other was Governor-General.
"Almost at once, although but twenty-eight, he was called upon to consider matters the most varied and momentous. He became the confidant and trusted counsellor of men who wielded the highest authority, and were weighted with the heaviest responsibilities; the most burdensome and anxious cares. His brother, the Governor-General; the Governor of Madras; the military commander-in-chief; officials high and low, referred their difficulties to Wellesley; and gladly took his advice. He had a rare faculty of going to the very heart of things. The papers and minutes he drew up on subjects the most diverse and intricate contained sound, sagacious opinions, couched in clear language, based upon wide, deep knowledge; and brimful of common-sense. His correspondence, at that early period, on the very threshold of his career, is perhaps the most interesting part of all his voluminous despatches." It demonstrates "his soldierly qualities; his fortitude under adverse circumstances; his coolness and self-possession; his unwearied patience when waiting on events, many of which he had slowly prepared; his prompt, unerring decision when the time for action had arrived. Harassed with doubts; tormented with difficulties; but ever sanguine; self-reliant; self-contained.
"'Lord Wellington,' said Larpent, 'reads and looks into every-thing. He hunts almost every other day; and then makes up for it by great diligence and instant decision in the intermediate days. He works until about 4 p.m., and then for an hour or two parades with any one he wants to talk to, in his gray coat.'…
"Here was a spare hour to be utilized by this man of iron nerves in restoring his jaded mental and physical faculties. The advancing French must cover yet a couple of miles before they were in striking distance. 'I shall have a little rest. Watch the French315
