Richmond was given as his chief secretary Colonel Arthur Wellesley, a man who would perform any work there was to do. In the circumstances the duke and duchess crossed over and inaugurated their reign with a brilliant ball which foreshadowed a very gay time for the metropolis. The viceroy was not interested in Catholic Emancipation or in any of the subjects that intimately concerned the country he was supposed to govern, but, to his great annoyance, Colonel Wellesley, in his anxiety to obtain further military service, neglected Ireland, and spent much of his time in London interviewing responsible ministers. Richmond complained of his chief secretary's neglect, but Wellesley excused himself by pointing out that his civil appointment had been accepted on the understanding that he was at liberty to vacate it whenever there was a prospect of service in the field. Wellesley was nominally chief secretary for two years, and he did some good work during that time, but his sojourn in Ireland is merely an episode {214} in a splendid life. Richmond's other famous secretary was Sir Robert Peel, who practised the arts of the statesman at twenty-four as chief secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. Despite Wellesley's neglect of his Dublin duties he became a warm friend of the viceroy and his wife. It will be remembered that it was the Duchess of Richmond who gave the celebrated ball at Brussels on the historic night that preceded Quatre Bras. At the Battle of Waterloo the duke was one of the suite in attendance on the Duke of Wellington. [Illustration: Duke of Richmond and Lennox] The Duke of Richmond was bitterly attacked by the Catholic party, and a libel action against the editor of the _Dublin Evening Post_ in 1813 provided Daniel O'Connell with his first great opportunity for a public display of his oratory. McGee, the editor in question, had published a daring article on the Lord-Lieutenant in which it was declared 'that he was not the superior of the worst of his predecessors--the profligate and unprincipled Westmoreland, the cold-hearted and cruel Camden, and artful and treacherous Cornwallis. They all insulted, they oppressed, they murdered, and they deceived.' The reference to murder was held sufficient to justify the Government in arresting McGee on the charge of having accused the Duke of Richmond with that crime. [Sidenote: O'Connell and the Duke] Daniel O'Connell took up the case for the imprisoned editor when no other member of the bar dare run the risk of offending the viceregal court. The result was a foregone conclusion, and McGee was considered lucky to get off with two {215} years' imprisonment and a fine of L500, but the case was rescued from obscurity by the accused's advocate's introduction of the ultra-political speech for the defence. In those days they allowed a degree of irrelevancy in counsels' speeches that would not be tolerated for a moment in the twentieth century.