WELLINGTON 



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WELSBACH 



general and was given command of the forces 

 operating against the French in Portugal and 

 Spain. There he defeated the French army 

 under Junot in the Battle of Vimeiro, and the 

 campaign closed with the convention at Cintra, 

 by which the French agreed to evacuate Portu- 

 gal. 



In 1809 he was given chief command of the 

 British forces in the Peninsular War. Receiv- 

 ing little aid from the inefficient troops and the 

 governments of Spain and Portugal, with his 

 small army he gradually drove the French 

 forces under Massena, Soult and Marmont from 

 the peninsula, winning notable victories in the 

 battles ofTalavera, Salamanca, Busaco, Fuentes 

 de Onoro and Vittoria. In the Battle of Tou- 

 louse in 1814, he opeped the way for the Brit- 

 ish troops into the heart of France. The war 

 was brought to a close by the abdication of 

 Napojeon in April, 1814. For this masterful 

 campaign and its brilliant successes, Wellesley 

 received many Spanish and Portuguese titles, 

 official thanks and large gifts from Parliament, 

 and was created successively, viscount, marquis 

 and Duke of Wellington. 



In July, 1814, he was appointed ambassador 

 to France, and the following year represented 

 Great Britain in the Congress of Vienna. When 

 Napoleon returned, Wellington took command 

 of the allied forces in the Netherlands, and in 

 the Battle of Waterloo he rode at the head of 

 the army which shattered the last vestiges of 

 Napoleon's power. He was placed in command 

 of the army occupying France from 1815 to 

 1818, and became one of the most influential 

 men in Europe. 



After returning to England he occupied vari- 

 ous positions of importance in the Cabinet. In 

 1827 he succeeded the Duke of York as com- 

 mander-in-chief of the army, but resigned the 

 next year to become Premier. His government 

 became highly unpopular through its opposi- 

 tion to the Reform Bill, and in 1830 he was 

 forced to resign. In 1841 Wellington again oc- 

 cupied a seat in the Cabinet, and the following 

 year resumed command of the army. During 

 the last years of his political career he favored 

 reform and regained his popularity. At the 

 time of his death, September 14, 1852, he was 

 the idol of the British nation. He is buried 

 under the dome of Saint Paul's. E.B.P. 



Consult Hooper's Wellington, in English Men of 

 Action Series; Morris's Wellington, in Heroes of 

 the Nations Series. 



Related Subjects. In this connection the 

 reader may consult the following articles : 



BlUcher, Gerhard 

 Napoleon I 



Vienna, Congress of 

 Waterloo, Battle of 



WELLS, DAVID AMES (1828-1898), an Ameri- 

 can educator, author and political economist, 

 born in Springfield, Mass. He was educated at 

 Williams College and at the Lawrence Scien- 

 tific School of Harvard. His reputation as a 

 political economist began in 1864 by the pub- 

 lication of his essay Our Burden and Our 

 Strength, in which he discussed the nation's 

 ability to pay debts and the resources of the 

 United States. In 1866 he was appointed spe- 

 cial revenue commissioner, and he was the 

 first to collect economic and financial statistics 

 for Federal use. Other published works include 

 Why We Trade and How We Trade, A Primer 

 of Tariff Reform, Practical Economics and Re- 

 'cent Economic Changes, published in the year 

 of his death. 



WELLS, HERBERT GEORGE (1866- ), an 

 English author whose very original and vigor- 

 ous writings are a notable addition to modern 

 literature. He was born at Bromley, Kent, of 

 middle-class parents. As a schoolboy he made 

 a brilliant record and won scholarships that 

 enabled him to continue his education through 

 London University. Before he became widely 

 known as a writer for magazines he taught 

 biology for a number of years. 



In 1895 Wells produced the first of a series 

 of fantastic stories of a purely imaginary char- 

 acter The Time Machine. This was followed 

 by The War of the Worlds, depicting the world 

 invaded by gigantic creatures from Mars ; When 

 the Sleeper Wakes, showing the people enslaved 

 by a huge trust; The Food of the Gods, a 

 story of giants; and In the Days of the Comet, 

 in which the human race suddenly reaches a 

 higher moral plane. His interest in socialistic 

 ideals is shown in A Modern Utopia and First 

 and Last Things. The novels of Wells are en- 

 joyable because the author makes his charac- 

 ters real and his narratives interesting. The 

 fact that he presents many of his ideas on soci- 

 ology and morality under the guise of a story 

 does not detract from the charm of his books. 

 His other works include Tono Bungay, The 

 History * of Mr. Polly, The World Set Free, The 

 Passionate Friends, The Research Magnificent, 

 What is Coming? and Mr. Britling Sees It 

 Through. The latter, a story of an English 

 soldier in the War of the Nations, was one of 

 the best books inspired by the conflict in Eu- 

 rope. 



WELSBACH, vels'bahK, KARL AUER, Baron 

 von (1858- ), the man who invented the 



