Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 58, No. 362, December 1845Various
History
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 58, No. 362, December 1845
Various
England -- Periodicals; Scotland -- Periodicals
Chagrined by disappointment, and fully convinced, as Wellington was
after his campaign with Cuesta and the Spaniards at Talavera, that it
was in vain to attempt any thing further with such impediments, on the
part of the Allies, thrown in his way, Marlborough retired, in the
beginning of September, to Tirlemont, the mineral waters of which had
been recommended to him; and, in the end of October, the troops on
both sides went into winter quarters. His vexation with the Dutch at
this period strongly appeared in his private letters to his intimate
friends;[10] but, though he exerted himself to the utmost during the
suspension of operations in the field, both by memorials to his own
government, and representations to the Dutch rulers, to get the
direction of the army put upon a better footing, yet he had
magnanimity and patriotism enough to sacrifice his private feelings to
the public good. Instead of striving, therefore, to inflame the
resentment of the English cabinet at the conduct of the Dutch
generals, he strove only to moderate it; and prevailed on them to
suspend the sending of a formal remonstrance, which they had prepared,
to the States-general, till the effect of his own private
representation in that quarter was first ascertained. The result
proved that he had judged wisely; his disinterested conduct met with
the deserved reward. The Patriotic party, both in England and at the
Hague, was strongly roused in his favour; the factious accusations of
the English Tories, like those of the Whigs a century after against
Wellington, were silenced; the States-general were compelled by the
public indignation to withdraw from their commands the generals who
had thwarted his measures; and, without risking the union of the two
powers, the factious, selfish men who had endangered the object of
their alliance, were for ever deprived of the means of doing mischief.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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