The events which marked the personal history, and developed themselves during the career of the illustrious subject of these Memoirs, were of no ordinary occurrence ; in some respects they stand unparalleled in modern history. The transactions in which he was concerned were of the gravest importance ; influencing materially the destiny of both Europe and Asia, and transmitting to posterity maxims and principles of government which modify the civilization of the nineteenth century, and which will long be felt in every part of the British Empire.

The times in which the Marquess Wellesley lived were signal ; the men amongst whom he moved, and with whom he acted, were among the most distinguished and renowned that this nation ever produced.

When, by the early death of his father, this remark able man was called from those classical studies in which he took delight, to enter upon the business of life, Great Britain and Ireland, though united under one Crown, were separate and distinct kingdoms. Under the anomalous constitution then existing, he sat as a peer in the upper legislative chamber in Ireland, and contemporaneously was the representative of a borough in the British House of Commons.