Well, England sure showed us.
This tiny island nation has had one of the most extraordinary histories of any country on earth. It not only succeeded, repeatedly, in becoming a great nation, England achieved the status of one of the greatest civilizations that ever existed. At one point in its history, England actually ruled over 1/5 of the world. In recent memory, however, having been taken over by the idiotic left, the greatness had evaporated, and managed decline seemed to be the extent to which this once greatest of nations was capable. The fiercely independent spirit was gone, it was said of the English.
Actually, no, that is not the case. England just showed the world why it achieved all that it has achieved, and now, after the Brexit vote last Thursday, what it will resume achieving. England, against all prognostications, just threw off the yoke of tyranny, and the feel of joy and liberation is palpable from across the sea. That extraordinary and unique spirit that has been ever present in our English cousins (though a little blurred from time to time) has been resuscitated brilliantly, and will work to make that nation shine again on the world stage, as it has done so many times in the past.
One of those times was in fact a party – a ball, actually, in Brussels, in 1815, given by the Duchess of Richmond. It was the eve of the battle of Quatre Bras, which led right into one of the decisive battles in history, Waterloo, and the ball was given in honor of Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington, and his officers. All the allied powers, gathered to fight against the forces of Napoleon in a battle to decide who was going to rule the world, basically, were represented by certain of their officers, and a good time was had by all.
Actually, ‘no’ applies in this case, as well.
In 1815, in Brussels, the military leaders of the allied powers, i.e., those who opposed Napoleon, had gathered to await the next move of the former Emperor of France who had just escaped from Elba approximately 100 days before and was yet again leading his nation’s forces to recapture power in Europe. The Duke and Duchess of Richmond were among these notables, and since they had three sons serving in the military, (as officers, of course, dukes’ sons would never do otherwise), they had as a family decamped to Brussels, rented a rather grand home on the rue de la Blanchissierie, and decided to do the civilized thing and have a party. They did check with the leader of the British, both societally and militarily, the Duke of Wellington, and he was all for it. So the ball was planned in all its extravagance, and elegance, and was slated to occur on the evening of June 15th. The invitation list included notables not only from the British officer ranks, but also similar elevated types from each of the allied powers represented in the coalition to fight against the hated Napoleon. This included appropriately titled folk from the Netherlands, Prussia, Portugal, Belgium, Royal Saxony, Oldenberg, Denmark, Hanse Towns and Saxe-Weimar.
The Duchess was an elegant and well-thought-of 47 year old English aristocrat, and did parties of this sort extremely well. She had arranged for the elaborate and quite beautiful decoration of a portion of her rented manse: “The original ball room, situated on the ground floor of the Richmonds’ rented house…had been transformed into a glittering palace with rose-trellised wallpaper, rich tent-like draperies and hangings in the royal colours of crimson, gold and black.”
Her Grace had also asked that certain reels and the unique Scottish sword dance be performed by the Gordon Scots for her guests’ entertainment. The performance was extremely well-received, though it was reported later that a large contingent of the Scottish performers was killed in at the battles of Quatre Bras and Waterloo in the ensuing days.
“It was to be a night of dancing, music, drinking and eating, honouring the Allied commanders,” and indeed it was. Just about everyone invited came, and appeared in their finest. It was a time of particular elegance, sartorially, in western history, as the men appeared in their magnificent high-collared scarlett regimentals, and the women were equally pleasing to the eye in flowing gowns in pale shades in the high-waisted Empire style. It was truly a magnificent gathering, and the spirit of the event was heightened by the knowledge of what possibly awaited each and every one of them on the morrow.
That is until some rather muddied and possibly bloodied officers from the recent battle fought by the Prussian commander Blucher against a swiftly moving Napoleon and his forces arrived at the ball with a message for the commander of the Dutch contingent, the rather foolish young Prince of Orange. He really was having a lovely time, so he chose not to read his message until later and put it, unopened, in his pocket. Wellington, having seen the arrival of this message, immediately took it and opened and read it. He then asked the Duke of Richmond, his host, if he had a good map. The duke said yes, he did, and then His Grace accompanied His Grace into the host’s study, where Wellington said, “Napoleon has humbugged me, by God; he has gained 24 hours march on me…I have ordered the army to concentrate at Quatre Bras; but we shall not stop him there, and so I must fight him there” – pointing on the map to a small village nearby, known as Waterloo.
The Duchess inquired of Wellington if she should stop the ball, as guests were beginning to understand that something significant was happening. In fact, some were already leaving, either to join their regiments, or to give an emotional goodbye to their loved one. Wellington, in his inimitable style, said to carry on, and ordered that the music and dancing be continued. He even stayed on to dinner. Georgiana, the Dowager Lady de Ros (the daughter of the Duchess of Richmond) was reported to have said later: “While some of the officers hurried away, others remained at the ball, and actually had not time to change their clothes, but fought in evening costume.”
Nothing could say it better about the English spirit, that several attendees at the Duchess of Richmond’s ball fought the decisive battle of the 19th century in knee breeches and dancing pumps. It was said, indeed, that this fact alone captured the imaginations of generations.
The world knows what happened in the next few days in the towns and fields of Charleroi, Quatre Bras and, finally, Waterloo. Thousands and thousands of the best young men in six nations fought and died, as given testament by Waterloo’s hero:
“My heart is broken by the terrible loss I have sustained in my old friends and companions and my poor soldiers. Believe me, nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won,” said Arthur Wellesley, the 1st Duke of Wellington.
As additional information, this what many call the greatest man in English history did go on to become England’s Prime Minister, for two terms. It did not go well, and this single quote from Wellington vis a vis his new political colleagues might provide an inkling as to why this was the case:
“Extraordinary affair. I gave them their orders and they wanted to stay and discuss them.”
After last week, in England, the spirit of the Duke of Wellington, and of the English patriot, does indeed live on.
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Susan Smith brings an international perspective to her writing by having lived primarily in western Europe, mainly in Paris, France, and the U.S., primarily in Washington, D.C. She authored a weekly column for Human Events on politics with historical aspects.. She also served as the Staff Director of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Children, Family, Drugs and Alcoholism, and Special Assistant to the first Ambassador of Afghanistan following the initial fall of the Taliban. Ms. Smith is a graduate of Wheeling Jesuit University and Georgetown University, as well as the Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris, France, where she obtained her French language certification. Ms. Smith now makes her home in McLean, Va.