Value Of A Wife To A Historian

The lite Sir W l!i:im Niipiui-'s ''Ilistory of tlie War in tho Península," has ])isuil timiuííh soveral edilions, and is now a standard tvork. üf lili tho wurs in which Graat Britaio bus cvit been engaged, that war ! six y e ars was thé nioft important, diffioiilt, and expensive, and Sir NYilliain's history ifj orthy of the transactions it records, and tho skili and b roi.-m It celobratea, Perhapa no military history f equhl excellence has eyflr buen wiittcn. It yoat tbeauthor 16 yeurs of cnotioual labor, Ho was hiiiisolf a witness of several oí the sorica oí operations, and was engaged in many of the b liles. Ili.s wiue acquajntuii,ce vyiíh military men enabled bim to üonnilt with many diotinguisheU oüicers Énglbh and French, and l.e waa especially supplied with material and documenta hy the Duke of Wellington and Marshal Soult. The ordinarv sourpea of iiifonnation víate einbarrdosin2 írom their ubuiuiunuc. One mass ol roatei:Ua dcoerves espociai men tion. WTicn JoFerh Bonaparte tlcd írom Viotoria, he !oft behind him a very largo collcction of !o'.ors, which, hoever, were ■nithout ordrr, in three hinguages, many almost illegiMc, v.r.d the the most Unpor tant in cypher, f vihich thero wad no key. It was tho correspondenco of Joseph Bonapnrte whilo noininally Kind of Spain. Sir Willintïl was in a state ol ptívplexi ty aDd iilicont in despaVr ií being ablo to rnake nsa f tliese viiluabie mutoriiil-, when his wife andertóok to arrange the letters acv rding to dates and subjuc's, to mate a tablo of rt ference, and to trans laie and epitomize tlie oontents of caeh. Mnny f the most important doentnents ■wero entirely vrittc;n in cypher, and othora liad a few words 60 '.vritten interppersed. All '-hoe dooutnenti Lady Napier airangfd, and with sagaciïy and pationee she deciphered the secret writing Tho entiro oorröspondonce was then msde availublo for the historian'." purpose. - öhe aleo n;ade out all Sjir "Willium Naj)ier3 roiigh interlioed manusopipta, whiuh vvi re almost ilk-giülu to himseif, and wrole out the whole work fair for the ]rin or - it may be snid three times, so frequent were the ohaDges inade. Sir William mentioDB these facts in tlie edi tion of 1851. and in paying this tributo to Lady Naf)ier obst-rves that this fttnonut f labor was ace implished without her having for a inoineüt neglected the care and educati n f a lal ge iainily.