Maxims and Opinions of Field-Marshal His Grace the Duke of Wellington, Selected From His Writings and Speeches During a Public Life of More Than Half a CenturyWellington, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of
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Maxims and Opinions of Field-Marshal His Grace the Duke of Wellington, Selected From His Writings and Speeches During a Public Life of More Than Half a Century
Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of
Great Britain -- Politics and government -- 19th century; Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of, 1769-1852
These reciprocity treaties were adopted with a view to decrease the
price of freight in this country to our merchants, and with a view to
their taking in abroad, and bringing home, their commodities at a
cheaper cost of transit. These treaties were, my Lords, framed with a
foresight of the state of commerce which was likely to ensue in the
world in future times which were then immediately before us. We were,
therefore, to diminish the expense of shipping to meet the new
contingencies; and to enable those engaged in commerce to carry on their
trade under all the difficulties of a new situation; and the object of
those laws was to lower the price of commodities for that purpose. What
was the result?--profits upon specific articles became reduced; but
since the year 1814 the trade in them has nearly doubled. What the
shipping interest then lost in the reduced amount of freight per
tonnage, they regained in the greater number of voyages which commerce
opened to them.
_May 13th, 1830._
* * * * *
_Eulogium on George IV._
My lords, our late Sovereign received the best education which this
country affords. He had, also, the singular advantage of having passed
all the earlier period of his life, and the greater part of his manhood,
under the superintendence of the King, his father, and subsequently in
the society of the most eminent men whom this country possessed; and he
likewise enjoyed the society of the most distinguished foreigners who
resorted to this country. His Majesty's manners accordingly received a
polish, his understanding acquired a degree of cultivation, almost
unknown in any other individual. My Lords, he carried those advantages
to the Government to which he was afterwards called, first as a Regent,
and afterwards as reigning sovereign. During the whole course of his
government no man ever approached him without having evidence of his
dignity, his condescension, his affability, and his fitness for the
exalted station which he occupied. But these advantages, which shewed so
conspicuously the polish of manner which he possessed, were not only
observed by persons immediately around him, for I appeal to many of your
Lordships who have transacted the business of the country which required
an interview with the sovereign, whether his Majesty did not upon every
occasion display a degree of knowledge and talent not to be expected of
an individual holding his high station, and a profound acquaintance with
public business even in its most minute details. But this is not all, he
was a most munificent patron of the arts in this country and the whole
world. He possessed a larger collection of the eminent productions of
his own country's artists, than any individual, and it is as an
individual, of him I here speak. The taste and judgment he displayed in
these collections have never been excelled by any sovereign.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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