When Sir John Steel, the sculptor, had the Duke of Wellington posing for a statue, he wanted to get him to look warlike. All his efforts were in vain, however, for Wellington seemed, judging by his face, never to have heard of Waterloo or Salamanca.
At last Sir John lost patience, somewhat. "As I am going to make the statue of Your Grace," he said, "can you not tell me what you were doing before, say, the battle of Salamanca? Were you not galloping about the fields, cheering on your men to deeds of valour?"
"Bah," said the duke. "If you really want to model me as I was on the morning of Salamanca, then do me crawling along a ditch on my stomach, with a telescope in my hand."
雕塑家約翰．斯蒂爾爵士給威靈頓公爵作雕像，要他擺姿勢時，露出勇武神氣，但怎樣都不成功。威靈頓看來似乎連滑鐵盧、薩拉曼卡等戰役都沒有聽過。
最後，斯蒂爾爵士有點不耐煩，說道：「公爵，我給你作雕像的時候，你可不可以告訴我，在薩拉曼卡等戰役即將開戰時，你做過什麼？你不是策馬戰場之上，四處奔馳，鼓勵將士奮勇向前嗎？」
威靈頓回答說：「呸！假如你想雕出薩拉曼卡戰役那天早上我的樣子，那雕像應是伏在地上，沿着溝渠向前爬行，手裏拿着望遠鏡。」