1185. Benjamin Robert Haydon to EBB
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 7, 18–19.
[London]
[Postmark: 24 March 1843]
My dearest Friend /
You mistake my studies for future use—for relics—nothing of the Sort—they are measured essentials of the Duke’s figure.
You think higher of Napoleon than the Duke– I do not—my reasons are Napoleon with the resources of Europe gained a Throne, & so mismanaged them he lost it–
Wellington (a subject) with most limited resources, first beat all his Marshalls & then himself–
An ounce of morality & honor is worth a lb of Genius–
560 officers of Napoleon’s broke their parole in one year, and were welcomed by Napoleon[.] 7 I believe of ours did so, & were sent back. The result of such a system could be foreseen–
Perhaps you were not born—I have no time I will go into the whole thing for you, with all my Soul– I thank God I was always a believer in the Duke from the moment he gave up the Irish Secretaryship nearly 7000 a year because it interfered with their military pursuits! [1] —that’s a Great Genius said I– I believed in him for ever–
I reviewed the Manuscrit venu de St Helene and did him Glory [2] —in alluding to Napoleon I predicted all that happened & when Napoleon stamped his foot on the shore at Cannes & said “Voila le congrès déssous” [3] I said—it is—for you are but an instrument for the greater glory of my hero– Leigh Hunt laughed– I said wait—it will only be a working up for Wellington–
After the Battle of Waterloo, I called on Hunt—& fought him & Hazlitt [4] & beat ’em for two hours on the relative Military Skill—& I mean to write an article in U. S. Gazette on this battle, which you shall see—— [5]
Lord Fitzroy [6] has seen it & says it is the strongest thing & best put he has seen—he told me so–
I venerate the Hero, as De Stael says coming down to the House of Commons without a single attendant—uncovering his grand head, & receiving the thanks of the Speaker! [7] —no drum—no trumpet—no Cannon—no imposture!
I’ll wish ye well now you have roused my Wellingtonian Fury– God bless ye & may you survive it.
BRH
Address: Miss B. Barrett / 50. Wimpole St.
Publication: EBB-BRH, pp. 50–52.
Manuscript: University of Vermont.
1. Wellington (then Sir Arthur Wellesley) had entered Parliament in 1806, after returning from eight years’ service in India. He was appointed Chief Secretary of Ireland in the Duke of Portland’s administration in 1807, but stipulated that the appointment be no bar to his employment on military duty. When his absence with the army gave rise to criticism of his drawing the salary but neglecting the duties of the Secretaryship, he resigned the office in 1809 (DNB).
2. Manuscrit Venu de St. Hélène, d’une Manière Inconnue, purporting to be the autobiography of Napoleon, was the subject of articles by Haydon in The Examiner (27 April and 4 May 1817, pp. 262–263, 275–276) in which he expressed his belief in the authenticity of the document. However, the author was later found to be Jacob Frédéric Lullin de Chateauvieux (1772–1841). In the second part (p. 276), Haydon expresses surprise that there is not one mention of Wellington, whom Haydon eulogizes as a “Great and glorious man!… abused as rash when he was daring, and spoken of with contempt when he was prudent; how calmly, how quietly, in how dignified a manner did he bear it all!… Glorious Wellington!”
3. “There is the congress beneath [my foot].” The Congress of Vienna (1814–15) was called by the victorious powers after Napoleon’s first abdication to settle the question of national boundaries. Napoleon landed at Antibes after escaping from Elba in 1815 and passed through Cannes on his way to Paris; his return forced the Congress to suspend its deliberations.
4. William Hazlitt (1778–1830), essayist and philosopher, was a prolific author and contributor to magazines. His works included The Spirit of the Age (1825), The Plain Speaker (1826) and The Life of Napoleon Buonaparte (1828–30).
5. A letter from Haydon, disputing those detractors of Wellington who claimed that the outcome of the battle was due more to luck than strategy, appeared in Colburn’s United Service Magazine in February 1844 (pp. 279–281). He described it as “a capital letter” in his diary for 14 January 1844 (Pope, V, 341).
6. Lord Fitzroy James Henry Somerset (1788–1855), later (1852) 1st Baron Raglan, Wellington’s military secretary, lost his right arm at Waterloo.
7. After Napoleon’s abdication, Wellington appeared in the House of Commons on 1 July 1814 to receive the nation’s thanks. Mme. de Staël’s comment may be found in Considérations sur les Principaux Événemens de la Révolution Françoise (1818), pt. 6, ch. 4.
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