Arthur Wellesley entered the army at an early age, and obtained a commission in the 41st Foot; in 1793 he purchased the lieutenant-colonelcy of the 33d regiment, and made part of the expedition to Ostend against the French republic, where he commanded, at the age of twenty-four years, a brigade in the retreat from Holland under the Duke of York. The English dominions are so vast, that it is by no means uncommon to see men even of the noblest families sent from one extremity of the earth to the other in the service of their country, and young Arthur Wellesley embarked for Jamaica; but the fleet was driven back by a tempest, and after recruiting his regiment in Ireland, the young officer found his destination had been altered; and he was now directed to proceed with it to the banks of the Ganges, with his brother, the Marquis Wellesley, who had been appointed governor-general of India. He distinguished himself greatly in the war with Tippoo, that noble ally of France and of Louis XVI; and was present at the taking of Seringapatam, at the head of the auxiliary troops furnished by the Nizam; he was afterwards acting as governor of the conquered city in 1800, when Dhoondiah Waugh, an Indian adventurer, made an incursion into the Company's territory at the head of 5000 horse. Imagination carries us back to the times of the "Arabian Nights," when we turn our attention upon the power of the English in India, with their immense establishments among the Hindoos and Mahrattas, and the vast capitals of Calcutta and Madras, almost as highly civilised as Paris or London; where habits of extreme softness and indolence prevail in the midst of active military life. Shall we long continue to be dazzled by that fairy land, sparkling with diamonds and rubies? I think so; for no government possesses all the qualities necessary to insure the colonisation of distant countries in so eminent a degree as the noble and elevated system pursued by England. People constantly talk of the projects of Russia: what need has she of extending her conquests? These are dreams only fit for the period of the empire under Napoleon. Russia and England are united by the most powerful of all bonds, that of commerce. Sir Arthur Wellesley distinguished himself in the war against the Mahrattas, and was appointed to the command of 12,000 men destined to attack the enemy's country. Owing to the sagacity of the measures he pursued, in order to secure the movements and subsistence of the troops during his long march, he accomplished this difficult campaign, though undertaken at a very unfavourable season, with hardly any loss.