ish troops by the raw Colonials must
have been a bitter blow. There came an insistent demand for more and
better schools for the officers. England seems to have been poorly
equipped in this respect. Wellesley himself, like many another English
boy, was sent across the channel to France. The chosen school was at
Angers on the Maine, and was conducted by the Marquis of Pignerol, a
celebrated military engineer of the time. In connection with the
school was a fine riding academy.

It was in 1785 that Arthur entered this school. He was then sixteen, a
thin gangly-looking boy, who perhaps because he had grown too rapidly
could not be persuaded to take much interest in anything. He felt out
of his element and ill at ease, although he was not the only English
lad here. He is described by General Mackenzie, who was a schoolmate,
as "not very attentive to his studies, and constantly occupied with a
little terrier called Vick, which followed him everywhere."

This is about as definite a glimpse of him as we can get, but it does
enable us to picture him as idling about the streets of this
picturesque old town, or climbing the steep cliffs which rise from the
water's edge, at the confluence of the streams which flow by Angers.
At the top of the hill we can see him whistling to Vick, and tossing
down one of the gentler slopes a stone or stick for the faithful
terrier to retrieve.

Did this idle schoolboy dream dreams of future greatness on the
battlefields of the land that was now teaching him to draw the sword?

Who shall say.

Although at Angers only a short time, about twelve months, it was by no
means time wasted. He perfected his French and learned many things
about manners and customs that were to be of good service. Likewise,
through his family's influence, he made the acquaintance of several
French noblemen, who must undoubtedly have given him a broader point of
view, and perchance some good advice on the subject of soldiering.

His father had died in 1781, but his oldest brother, who had made his
mark as a soldier and man of letters, took a lively interest in him and
constantly urged him on. England is indebted no little to this brother
Richard, who, probably more than any other, was the guiding star in the
making of her great soldier.

In the days just after the American War, the British army was not well
organized or officered. Instead of the fighting machine that it
afterward became, it was a sort of g