Southern Christian Advocate

"THE DUKE'S" VERSION OF "UP, GUARDS, AND AT 'EM."

The authenticity of the following anecdote may be relied on:—

“The Duke of Wellington recently honoured one of the most distinguished of living sculptors, by sitting to him for his bust. The artist, wishing to observe the full play of the Duke's features, engaged him in conversation on the best attitude for the figure on which he was at work, and suggested, that if it could be made to represent his Grace at the moment when he uttered the memorable words, "Up, Guards, and at 'em," at Waterloo, the statue would be more popular at the present day, and be more highly valued by antiquity. The Duke laughed very good-humouredly at this observation, and said, "Ah! the old story. People will invent words for me. Poets will write, and painters will paint, and I suppose we must give them some license, but really I don't know what I said. I saw that the moment for action was come, and I gave the command for attack. I suppose the words were brief and homely enough, for they ran through the ranks, and were obeyed on the instant. I never saw sharper work. But as to the exact words I used at such a moment, I am sure I don't recollect them, and I very much doubt whether any one else can." We have been careful to retain the exact expressions employed by the illustrious Duke on the occasion, as the moment to which they refer is one of the most important and interesting in the whole range of history.”

—Britannia