They were the duties of each day, but he not only
did them thoroughly, he also learned through them the larger grasp of
the next day's problems.
A contemporary pen picture of "the Sepoy General," on his return to
England in 1805, will serve to show us what manner of man he appeared
to be, to his subordinates. Captain Sherer, who has left this
portrait, says:
"General Wellesley was a little above the middle height, well limbed
and muscular; with little incumbrance of flesh beyond that which gives
shape and manliness to the outline of the figure; with a firm tread, an
erect carriage, a countenance strongly patrician, both in feature,
profile, and expression, and an appearance remarkable and
distinguished. Few could approach him on any duty, or, on any subject
requiring his serious attention, without being sensible of a something
strange and penetrating in his clear light eye. Nothing could be more
simple and straightforward than the matter of what he uttered; nor did
he ever in his life affect any peculiarity or pomp of manner, or rise
to any coarse, weak loudness in his tone of voice. It was not so that
he gave expression to excited feeling."
His reputation as a great soldier will stand for all time, not because
he defeated Napoleon, but because his whole military career was built
upon duty.
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