They lived happily together
for eighteen years, and then she died, leaving him inconsolable.
To forget his sorrow--and, as some thought, to get rid of the
weariness of his life without her--Graham joined Lord Hood as a
volunteer, and distinguished himself by the recklessness of his
bravery at the siege of Toulon. He served all through the
Peninsular War, first under Sir John Moore, and afterwards under
Wellington; rising through the various grades of the service,
until he rose to be second in command. He was commonly known as
the "hero of Barossa," because of his famous victory at that
place; and he was eventually raised to the peerage as Lord
Lynedoch, ending his days peacefully at a very advanced age. But
to the last he tenderly cherished the memory of his dead wife, to
the love of whom he may be said to have owed all his glory.
"Never," said Sheridan of him, when pronouncing his eulogy in
the House of Commons--"never was there seated a loftier spirit
in a braver heart."
And so have noble wives cherished the memory of their husbands.
There is a celebrated monument in Vienna, erected to the memory of
one of the best generals of the Austrian army, on which there is
an inscription, setting forth his great services during the Seven
Years' War, concluding with the words, "NON PATRIA, NEC IMPERATOR,
SED CONJUX POSUIT." When Sir Albert Morton died, his wife's grief
was such that she shortly followed him, and was laid by his side.
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