“Mr. Coltman—a well-known barrister now alive—remembers to have distinctly heard his father, then Mr. Justice Coltman of the Common Pleas, tell the story, and say that he had heard it from the Duke’s own mouth during a particular visit to the Duke at Strathfieldsaye in a named year, 1838. He wrote to me, giving the story substantially, though not with quite as much detail, and making the horse’s kicking out in reply to the caress take place on the 18th instead of on the 17th, as it appears in Young’s narrative. He had at the time never seen Young’s book. Obviously, the difference as to the day of the kick is just such a lapse as would naturally occur in a narrative not written down at the time. Either may be right.” Notwithstanding the improbable features in these accounts,—and there are many,[558]—it is at first sight difficult to account for the existence of this evidence, except on the supposition that the story is true. But a close examination of the so-called Diary of the Rev. Mr. Young shows that it is not, strictly speaking, a diary at all, for the stories and remarks contained in it were not set down at the time, as in an ordinary journal. Thus, this very story, the date of which is given as 1833, is entered under the date of October 7, 1832. (Diary, p. 153.) Take another instance. The writer is speaking of Mr. John Wilson Croker, and he says, under date of March, 1832 (pp. 144, 145), that “for forty years he [Croker] filled a prominent position in the world of letters.” Now forty years before 1832, Croker was only twelve years old. Again, in this very story of the ride to Wavre, which is said to have been told in 1833, the Duke is made to say of his horse Copenhagen that he had then “been long dead.” But, in fact, Copenhagen did not die till 1836; the date of his death is given on the grave-stone erected over his remains at Strathfieldsaye. As for the letter of Mr. Coltman to Colonel Maurice, which is a statement recently made of the former’s recollection of what he had heard his father say that the Duke of Wellington told him in 1838, it clearly cannot have much weight, unless corroborated. There is, moreover, some newly-discovered evidence. It consists of notes taken by the late Baron Gurney, of the Court of the Exchequer, of conversations with the Duke of Wellington. In one of these, the Duke was asked “whether a story was true of his having ridden over to Blücher the night before the battle of Waterloo and returned on the same horse. He said: ‘No; that was not so. I did not see Blücher the day before Waterloo.’” This seems to settle the question. 3. We have spoken briefly of Napoleon’s opinion, that the Duke of Wellington and Marshal Blücher ought to have retired on Brussels. The passage to which we referred reads as follows:—[559]