LORD DUDLEY ON NAPOLEON. (To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR.")
Sin,—Having permitted me in the Spectator of November 17th to ask a question as to the authorship of the remarkable appreciation of Napoleon—" He has thrown a doubt on all past glory ; he has made all future renown impossible "—you will, I doubt not, he good enough to find room for a reply which appears to be conclusive in favour of Lord Dudley. Mr. A. S. Raikes, writing to me from Brussels, refers me to the following passage from the diary of his great-uncle, T. Raikes, Esq., VoL L, p. 295 :— "When my poor friend Lord Dudley was at Vienna (it must have been about the year 1817, before his father's death, when he was Mr Ward), he was dining one day at the table of Prince Metternich, with a large party, when the conversation turned on the merits of Napoleon as a great general. Every one gave hie opinion acc .rding to his own impressions except Ward, who re- mained silent. Prince Metternich then addressed himAelf to him, and asked what he thought of the hero's career, when W4rd, eliding up his lip as was his prnotice when he said anything emphatic, made that reply which, for its finesse, has been often quoted and admired in Europe. 'Mon Prince, je ne Buis pas
nrais II me semble qu'il a rendu la gloire pass& douteuse et la renommee future impossible.'"
Larchfield, Bickley, Kent
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