Looking for references to the Byron quote in the previous post, I came across two unlikely biographical sites on the net: this one seems to have taken the early Wikipedian route of lifting large chunks from out of copyright reference works and wedging them into a modern frame: it is difficult to imagine that the same man who wrote “In suppressing Lord Edward Fitzgerald’s conspiracy, and the rebellion which followed in 1798, Castlereagh’s vigilance and firmness were invaluable. His administration was denounced by a faction as harsh and cruel—a charge afterwards repudiated by Henry Grattan and Plunket—but he was always on the side of lenity.” was responsible for the “Executive summary”:
Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Politician, Diplomat
Nationality: Ireland
Executive summary: Architected Napoleon’s defeat
On the other hand, this one appears to have been written by real live history undergraduates,a nd contains the information that Castlereagh was instinctively opposed to the plan to send Napoleon to Elba. After the latter’s escape, and subsequent final defeat at Waterloo, it was Castlereagh who chose St Helena, safely in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, as the Emperor’s final place of incarceration. (My italics. His ocean)
“Architected”?
Groovy!
I still remember, with deep horror, the moment, five years ago, when I read in an essay written for my introductory political theory class: ‘Confucius was a major figure in the early development of Western Europe.’ I also recall wondering how he got there.