Excerpt from The Marquess Wellesley: Architect of Empire, An Historic PortraitOf the eminent men whom in earlier years I had many opportunities of closely observing, none seem to me so characteristically representative of the two races long alienated by evil laws as those whose likeness I have sought to trace in these volumes. The ideas and usages of a dominant caste, taught from childhood to believe themselves indispensable to the maintenance of authority, and alone qualified for the duties and privileges of freedom, have passed away, and with them the mute subjection, murmuring complaint, deferential remonstrance, partial enfranchisement, and at length organised agitation, by which the two estranged communities were rendered one in the eye of the law. Wellesley and O'Connell, each in his separate way, signally contributed to the gradual revolution which occupied in its accomplishment well-nigh the whole period of their lives, and to which their best efforts were devoted. Yet a greater contrast cannot be conceived than that presented by their dissimilar ways of life, habits of thought, and impressive powers of expression.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.