Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

“ My lords, it is perfectly true that Ireland has been disturbed during the long period I have stated; but within the last year or two political circumstances have, in no small degree, occasioned that agitation. Besides that, my lords, I must say, — although I have no positive legal proof of the fact, — I have every reason to believe, that there has been a considerable organization of the people, for the purposes of mischief. ”

“ You have vast influence on public opinion; you may have great confidence in your own principles; but without the Crown or the House of Commons you can do nothing — till the connexion with the Crown and the House of Commons is revived, there is an end of the functions of the House of Lords. But I will take your Lordships a step further, and let you see what will be the immediate consequences of rejecting this Bill. ”

“ In fact, if they were to restore the King, and His Majesty were to return to Paris, the troops remaining there, His Majesty would be entirely in the hands of the Assemblies and of the army, who cannot be considered in any other light than as the creatures and instruments of Napoleon. We must get rid of the army, therefore, and we may then hope that the King will be recalled without conditions, and that he will have it in his power to carry on his Government without the assistance of foreign Powers. ”

“ The Commissaries will be authorised either by the Field Marshal, or by the Generals who command the troops of the respective Nations, in cases where their provisions are not supplied by an English Commissary, to make the proper requisitions, for which regular receipts will be given; and it must be strictly understood that they will themselves be held responsible for whatever they obtain in way of requisition from the inhabitants of France, in the same manner in which they would be esteemed accountable for purchases made for their own Government in the several dominions to which they belong. ”

“ My noble and learned friend will excuse me, I hope, for saying, that notwithstanding all the pains which he took to draw up the act of 1791, yet the fact is, — of which there cannot be the smallest doubt, — that large monastic establishments have been regularly formed, not only in Ireland, but also in this country. The measure which I now propose for your lordships' adoption will prevent the increase of such establishments, and, without oppression to any individuals, without injury to any body of men, will gradually put an end to those which have already been formed. ”

“ English I make known to the French that I enter their country at the head of an Army already victorious, not as an Enemy (except of the usurper, declared to be the Enemy of Mankind; with whom may be had neither Peace nor Truce) , but to help them to shake off the Yoke of Iron with which they are oppressed. ”

“ It is true we shall not have the vain triumph of entering Paris at the head of our victorious troops; but, as I have already explained to your Highness, I doubt our having the means at present of succeeding in an attack upon Paris; and, if we are to wait till the arrival of Marshal Prince Wrede to make the attack, I think we shall find the Sovereigns disposed, as they were last year, to spare the capital of their ally, and either not to enter the town at all, or enter it under an armistice, such as it is in your power and mine to sign this day. ”

“ I left them at Etrées and went to the headquarters at Le Plessis to give the orders for the movement of the troops in the morning, and I overtook them again in the night at Louvres. I then told them that I had considered their last question since I had seen them, and that I felt no objection to give them my opinion upon it, still as an individual; that, in my opinion, Europe had no hope of peace if any person excepting the King were called to the throne of France; that any person so called must be considered an usurper, whatever his rank and quality ”

“ I have already made known, in writing, to the French Commissioners sent to the Allied Powers, and verbally, to the Commissioners sent to me, the reasons which have prevented me from suspending my operations; which reasons, I have cause to believe, are fully adopted by the Allies of my Sovereign, and of those whose Armies I have the honour of commanding. ”

“ At this time the enemy commenced an attack upon Prince Blücher with his whole force, excepting the 1st and 2nd corps, and a corps of cavalry under General Kellermann, with which he attacked our post at Les Quatre Bras.
The Prussian army maintained their position with their usual gallantry and perseverance against a great disparity of numbers, as the 4th corps of their army, under General Bülow, had not joined; and I was not able to assist them as I wished, as I was attacked myself, and the troops, the cavalry in particular, which had a long distance to march, had not arrived. ”

“ Since the 15th instant, when Napoleon Buonaparte [sic] , at the head of the French Armies, invaded the dominions of the King of the Netherlands, and attacked the Prussian Army; the Field Marshal has considered his Sovereign, and those Powers whose Armies he commands, in a state of war with the Government of France ”

“ The enemy repeatedly charged our infantry with his cavalry, but these attacks were uniformly unsuccessful; and they afforded opportunities to our cavalry to charge, in one of which Lord E. Somerset's brigade, consisting of the Life Guards, the Royal Horse Guards, and 1st dragoon guards, highly distinguished themselves, as did that of Major General Sir William Ponsonby, having taken many prisoners and an eagle. ”

“ I say that there is nothing which destroys property and prosperity, and demoralizes character, to the degree that civil war does: by it the hand of man is raised against his neighbour, against his brother, and against his father ”

“ All those who shall absent themselves from their homes, after the entrance of the army into France, and all those who shall be absent in the service of the usurper, shall be considered enemies and his adherents, and their shall be appropriated to the army. ”

“ It must be obvious to their Excellencies that the Field Marshal can neither prevent nor aid their Excellencies in reaching their Majesties; but if he has it in his power, or if their Excellencies think proper to pass through the countries in which the troops are under his command, the Field Marshal begs they will let him know in what manner he can facilitate their journey.
The Field Marshal was not aware that any Officer commanding an Advanced Post had agreed verbally, or in any other manner, to a Suspension of Hostilities. ”