"I cannot," said he, " express to you the regret and sorrow with which I contemplate the losses th country and the service have sustained; none more severe, than that of General Sir William Gordon. The glory resulting from such actions, so dearly bought, is no consolation to me, and I cannot imagine that it is any to you. But I trust the result has been so decisive, that little doubt will remain, that our exertions will be rewarded by the attainment of our first object; then it is that the glory of the actions in which our friends have fallen, may be some con solation."

Lord Wellington spoke from his heart. The victory had been too severely purchased, to bring with it any of that exhilaration, with which victory is usually accompanied. The friends with whom he had so often rejoiced after victory, had fallen by his side and during the greatest part of the ensuing day, he was in tears.