_The Duke's first Victory._--Perhaps it may interest the future author of
the life of the Duke of Wellington to be informed of his _first victory_.
It was not in India, as commonly supposed, but on Donnybrook Road, near
Dublin, that his first laurels were won. This appears from the _Freeman's
Journal_, September 18th, 1789, where we learn that in consequence of a
wager between him and Mr. Whaley of 150 guineas, the Hon. Arthur Wesley
walked from the five-mile stone on Donnybrook Road to the corner of the
circular road in Leeson Street, in fifty-five minutes, and that a number of
gentlemen rode with the walker, whose horses he kept in a tolerable smart
trot. When it is recollected that those were Irish miles, even deducting
the distance from Leeson Street to the Castle, whence the original
measurements were made, this walk must be computed at nearly six English
miles.