Wellington as PM
From Professor C. Bell Sir: In reviewing Andrew Roberts's recent volume Napoleon and Wellington (Books, 25 August), Jane Ridley summarises the Duke's prime ministership as a 'disastrous episode'. This must not be left uncorrected, It was certainly not a period of political unanimity even within the ruling party, and the Duke was clearly not the most popular of leaders. Nevertheless, he single-handedly achieved one of the major reforms of the last 300 years in forcing Parliament to accept Catholic emancipation. He also had the insight to recognise that sectarian hatred was an artifice created by minorities; and to legislate against both Protestant and Catholic extremist organisations in Ireland. If he failed to prevent the many subsequent years of conflict on this island, he failed no more than his successors have.
C. Bell
Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
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