27 MARCH 1915, Page 15

THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S HEIGHT. [To Ten Eorros or Tea

..BriteraT0a..] Szn,—Like your correspondent who signs himself "Seventy. eight" in the letter printed in your issue of March 20th, I feel sure that the writer of your article on "The ' Willing' Badge" is mistaken in believing that the Duke of Wellington " was very little, if at all, taller than Napoleon." As a child I saw the great Duke frequently in London riding in the parks. My brothers and I used to stand at the end of the Green Park to watch for him. I also had the privilege of being a spectator of the great military pageant of the Duke's funeral procession from a stage or balcony erected outside the Athenaeum Club, as the members of the club—of whom my father was one—each had tickets for two ladies. The Duke had the appearance of a man of 5 ft. 8 in. or 5 ft. 9 in. in height. Of course a child would not be an accurate judge, but the Duke was my father's greatest hero, and all par- ticulars of his character and appearance were constantly related to us children, so that my early recollections of the Duke of Wellington are very vivid.—I am, Sir, de, A. CONSTANT READER OF THE g' SPECTATOR "

FOR MORE THAN FORTY YEARS.