HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE. [281 



will the military name of Lord Paget be united with that of Moore, 

 and both be recorded together as having conducted and success- 

 fully concluded the most masterly retreat on modern record." 



Lord Paget shortly afterwards returned to England, and passed 

 some years in the bosom of his family. His father dying on the 

 13th of March 1812, he succeeded him in the Earldom of Ux- 

 bridge. It is probable that his Lordship felt somewhat chagrined 

 at the public discussion which the retreat of Sir John Moore had 

 created : but no blame could possibly attach to either of the com- 

 manders upon that occasion, who, as we have already, seen, con- 

 ducted themselves with a degree of heroic firmness under the most 

 trying difficulties, that has perhaps never been surpassed. Much 

 ill-humour was apparent at the time, and the obloquy intended to 

 be fastened upon Ministers was unjustly extended to those gallant 

 men who had so nobly fulfilled their trust. It is well known that 

 the Peninsular war was at this time very unpopular in England : 

 it had commenced under unfavourable auspices, and much of its 

 equivocal character might undoubtedly be traced to an ill-calcu- 

 lated policy at home. It is the more unnecessary for us to en- 

 large upon this subject, as the leading events of the campaign are 

 fresh in the memory of all. To whatever cause attributable, we 

 do not find Lord Paget again employed on foreign service during 

 the war. But a yet more noble distinction awaited him : the Earl 

 of Uxbridge was destined to become an instrument in the final 

 overthrow of that frightful despotism which he had been one of 

 the first to curb and chastise in the desolated fields of Spain. The 

 important and almost unparalleled train of events that preceded 

 the day of Waterloo need not be re-capitulated. The nation as to 

 a man viewed with silent awe the gathering storm that darkened 

 the horizon, and threatened to engulph the fairer part of Europe 

 in one common ruin. The Moloch ot devastation was abroad, and 

 England, in conjunction with her allies, was driven to wage with 

 him a war of existence. The whole moral and physical strength 

 of the country was called forth to meet the exigency of the mo- 

 ment. The Sovereign summoned his legislators and his warriors 

 to their posts : they threw the gauntlet to the tyrant, and the peo- 

 ple applauded their wisdom. After Wellington, the Prince Regent 

 evinced his sense of the former services of the EARL OF UXBRIDGE 

 by selecting him to second that great commander in the tremen- 

 dous struggle about to be commenced. He cheerfully obeyed the 

 mandate; and the legions of Britain were again marshalled to punish 



