These promotions were chiefly by purchase, and the lieut.-colonelcy (of
the 33rd) was bought for him by his brother. He was returned to the
Irish parliament at the general election of 1790, for Trim, a borough
belonging to his brother.

Brilliant as was the reputation which, within a very few years, he
acquired as a soldier and a politician in the East, it will not excite
surprise to hear that his parliamentary displays did not in his early
life excite much attention. A friend of the writer of this memoir, a
gentleman who was in the habit of being present, almost daily, in the
Irish House of Commons, and who took critical notice of the remarkable
men of his time, states that the Duke never made any striking impression
as a speaker; indeed; there was nothing whatever to distinguish him from
the herd of young parliamentary nominees, except a certain simple,
straightforward, firm, though unassuming statement of his opinions; and
even this took place but seldom. The recollection of this gentleman
confirms the account of Sir Jonah Barrington, that--"His address was
unpolished; he spoke occasionally, and never with success; and evinced
no promise of that unparalleled celebrity which he reached afterwards."

The following anecdote is not inconsistent with that reputation for
inflexible honour which, in successive eras of his life, procured for
the Duke of Wellington the confidence of the Indian government, of the
British army, and ultimately of the whole English nation. It is taken
from the excellent detailed account of the Duke's military career,
recently published by Mr. Maxwell:--

"The appointment of Captain Wellesley to the staff of the Earl of
Westmorland, had placed him in the household of the viceroy, and as
aid-de-camp required his constant attendance at the castle. The Irish