Welland Canal

an artificial waterway constructed on Canadian soil from Port Colborne on Lake Erie to Port Dalhousie on Lake Ontario. It enables ships to pass by the Falls of Niagara. It is twenty-seven miles long and maintains a channel fourteen feet deep. Ships ascend or descend 363 feet by means of twenty-six locks. The canal was opened in 1833. It has been enlarged twice at a total cost of $25,000,000. It is closed by frost about one-third of the year. Between 2,000 and 3,000 vessels pass through annually and pay toll to the amount of about $225,000. The customary cargo is wheat or iron ore. The canal is operated by the Canadian government, but it is open for commercial purposes to the ships of all nations. See Canal; Suez; Sault Ste. Marie

Wellesley (welzli) College, an undenominational institution of higher learning for women, at Wellesley, Massachusetts. It was founded by Henry F. Durant, a wealthy lawyer. The doors were opened to students in 1875. Various gifts by John D. Rockefeller and others have raised the endowment fund to near $1,000,000, exclusive of the buildings. The college has maintained a high reputation for scholarship. There are not far from 100 instructors and 1,000 students.

Wellington (1769-1852), a famous English soldier and statesman. His full name is Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington. He was the son of an earl. Originally the family name was Wesley. He was born near Dublin. He was educated at Eton in sight of Windsor Castle and in a military academy. He had little love for study. In 1787 he entered the British army as an ensign. He rose rapidly and saw service at the head of his regiment in Bengal. He proved so efficient that he was promoted repeatedly and rose to be a major general. On the restoration of quiet in India he was welcomed home in 1805 with a vote of thanks by both houses of Parliament. Before going to India he had sat in the House of Commons. On his return he was made secretary for Ireland, but the Napoleonic wars demanded the exercise of his undoubted military talent. In 1807 he accompanied Nelson to Danish waters in command of the land forces. The next year he was made lieutenant general and sent with an English army to the Spanish peninsula to oppose the French occupation. Here he carried on a series of remarkable campaigns. He managed to gain an ascendency over the jealous and suspicious Spanish and Portuguese commanders and juntos; he fed his army without taking the property of the natives save by paying for it; and, though inadequately supported from home by supplies and reinforcements, he out-marched, out-fought and out-generaled such famous French marshals as Ney, Soult, and Massena. He fairly drove the French out of Portugal into Spain, and out of Spain into France. He had already taken the French city of Toulouse when the news arrived of Napoleon's abdication. He was a member of the congress sitting at Vienna when Napoleon escaped from Elba. He was made commander-in-chief of the forces raised to oppose Napoleon, and won the battle of Waterloo. In gratitude Parliament made him Duke of Wellington and granted him an estate and a pension, together valued at over $3,000,000.

At the conclusion of peace Wellington returned to politics. His wealth and social position made him irresistible. He rose to be prime minister and again held the position of foreign minister under Robert Peel. His political career was not successful. He opposed reforms or yielded to them only when forced to do so. On one occasion he was actually assaulted by a London mob and his life was in danger. He was a soldier, not a statesman, one of the world's great commanders, a man who rendered eminent military service, but he was not a sympathetic friend of the people.

At his death his great victories were recalled. His favorite horse was led in the funeral procession with empty boots in the stirrups. His remains were laid at rest in St. Paul's amid universal regret. Alfred Tennyson, poet laureate, wrote a magnificent Ode on the Death of Wellington:

Wellington has been remembered variously. In military circles, a tall cavalry boot is known as the Wellington. Numerous cities, including the capital of New Zealand, have been named for him. It is evident that he was no such graceless scamp as John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough. Queen Victoria named her son Arthur in honor of the "Iron Duke," as he was called. A Wellington statue guards the entrance to Hyde Park, and his marble sarcophagus in St. Paul's is overshadowed by a rich marble canopy resting on twelve Corinthian pillars.

See Marlborough; Waterloo