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just as regularly as if a battle might have been from hour to hour expected. The orders to the sentries were, whenever two boats should seem to threaten a passage,-to fire upon them, turn out the guards, and offer every possible resistance to the landing of their

crews.

We suffered a good deal this winter from the absence of greatcoats, articles with which in 1793 the British soldiers were not supplied. The weather was intensely cold, and to keep watch beside the broad Rhine, while sleet and snow swept over the surface of its waters, was to men unprovided with any extra clothing not a very agreeable pastime. To be sure our commandant, General Lake, did his best to remedy the evil, by purchasing, and causing to be issued to us, the pilot-coats of the country. But these did not come down as far as the middle of the thigh, and therefore very imperfectly fulfilled the purpose for which they were given. In other respects, our time passed agreeably enough. We were weak in point of numbers, it is true; that is to say, the brigade of guards, and no more had been concentrated. Indeed, my impression is, that in addition to our own, there was only one other British brigade at this time in the country. But we did not calculate on suffering molestation by the enemy; and our allies did all which their means would allow to render our situation comfortable. It was with a feeling, therefore, akin to regret that on the last day of March we received the route for the morrow; nor could the sense of novelty quite reconcile us to the movement, when on the first of April we arranged ourselves again in schuyts, and set out, by a process peculiarly their own, for Bergem-op-zoom.

Our sojourn in this place was not very protracted; I think that it fell short of a month; and at the termination of that period we again took boat, and passed through the canal to Antwerp. We found it crowded with French prisoners, who being permitted to go at large, picked frequent quarrels with our men, which in one or two instances ended fatally. One of our people was thrown by them over the ramparts, and perished in the ditch; another lost an eye by a stab from some sharp instrument, which was dealt, as he assured us, by an unseen hand. As may be imagined, our situation was not a pleasant one; for we never could count on freedom from insults, which, for obvious reasons, we were disinclined to avenge. But an order to pass over to Bevelen promised to set us free from the annoyance, and thither we accordingly went. Moreover, the change was not the less agreeable as, instead of making all our movements in schuyts, we were given to understand that thenceforth we should act entirely on shore. It may be that, in treating this announcement as a subject of congratulation, we were guilty of a grievous blunder; but at the moment we never thought of long and toilsome marches, and scanty fare; we desired only a little novelty even in the mode of conducting the war, and to our heart's content we got it.

We made a halt at Bevelen, for what reason I do not know,-unless, indeed, that some calamity had overtaken the military chest, under the pressure of which individuals sustained very serious inconvience. There was no money among us; and as the system of a commissariat was then unknown in the British army, our sufferings, but for a certain device on which we fell, might have been great. Let it be borne in mind that rations, whether of meat or bread, were things

of which we had never heard. We got our pay, when there was pay to be had, regularly enough; while the quarter-master of each battalion bought sheep, and oxen, and bread, which he served out at stated hours to the different messes, the sergeant of each mess giving in exchange a certain quantity of ready money. But it was with him as with the keeper of a chop-house, -no coin, no cooked victuals; and hence when our pay ceased, as it did in Bevelen, we ran some risk of absolute destitution. In this emergency somebody thought of an expedient, which being found to answer very well, was universally adopted. We cut the bright buttons from our coats, and forcing off the eyes, passed them upon the simple boors as English shillings. Far be it from me to vindicate the morality of this practice, which, when called by its right name, is not, I am afraid, much better than swindling. But some portion at least of the blame surely attached to the defective arrangements of those at headquarters, and we were quite willing that they should have it all, so long as we derived benefit from the proceeding. It was impossible, however, in the nature of things, that such a practice could long be continued. Colonel Pennington, our commanding officer, happening on one occasion to ask for change of a guinea in an eating-house where he had been dining, was astonished to find some six or seven old buttons tendered to him as silver coins. An investigation took place, as was to be expected, and our newly-discovered mine of wealth became worked out on the instant.

It was towards the end of April,-if my memory do not play me false, about the twenty-first, that we may be said to have fairly taken the field. We marched, too, with what was then considered all the pomp and circumstance of war around us; that is to say, each battalion was accompanied by its bat-horses, its tents, and its artillery, while each company carried its own intrenching tools and implements of cookery. Of the tents a sufficiently minute description will be given, when I say that they were so constructed as to be capable of containing five men a-piece, and that, when pitched, they resembled in shape two cards piled longitudinally one against the other. Each was supported by three poles, of which one went across between the other two; and while the canvass was transported from position to position on horses, we ourselves carried the poles. Then again, being divided into messes, so that for every mess a tent should be supplied, we had the additional satisfaction of sharing among five, not only the burthen of these three poles, but a huge camp-kettle, a bill-hook, and a tomahawk into the bargain. Now, when it is borne in mind that we performed all our marches in tight breeches and gaiters, and that his musket, bayonet, pack, and ammunition, laid on each man's shoulders a good forty pounds weight at the least, it can scarcely be wondered at if the burthen of these poles and kettles, when superadded to that which seemed fairly and legitimately to belong to him, should have chafed the soldier's spirit in no trifling degree. I declare that there were many whom no other consideration than the dread of punishment hindered from casting these incumbrances to the dogs; so little did the shelter of the tent at night compensate for the labour and the annoyance of carrying the poles throughout the day.

So moved the battalion,-while in its rear came first two pieces of cannon, then a string of bat-horses, and last of all, under a guard,

the quarter-master's drove of bullocks and sheep. The guns, both in form and mounting, resembled in all essential points those still in use; but the train, why a modern artilleryman would laugh it to scorn. Each piece had its three horses, which being harnessed at length, like those which drag a country waggon in Somersetshire, never moved except at a foot's pace, and very often made that of the slowest; for the drivers walked beside the horses, each armed with a long whip, and very sure, if not very rapid, were all their evolutions. Of the bat-horses again why should I speak. They were like bat-horses in general, necessary, doubtless, but always unwieldy, and not unfrequently very much in the way; while with the cattle, not less than with the herdsmen, so long as all remained quiet in front, it proved well enough; but the slightest alarm sent all scampering, and the chances were as two to one that we should ever see them again. Certainly we were not in 1793 a military nation, if by that expression be meant a people whose tastes led to war; for, though always brave, and now and then enterprising, in the enemy's presence, in all that had reference to the equipment of an army for the field we were deplorably ignorant.

In this order we marched through Thielt and Courtray, towards Tournay. The French fell back as we drew on, and we entered Tournay without having as yet had an opportunity of exchanging shots with them. Here a corps of Austrians joined us, and the whole, commanded by his Royal Highness the Duke of York, took post at a village, of which I believe the proper name is Orcq, but which we, on account of the huge store-houses that belonged to it, called Oak Barns. And here I must be permitted to observe on the excellent feeling which subsisted between us and our allies the Austrians. We mixed very much together at all times, and on outpostduty we were not separated; indeed, the practice was to place double sentries along the chain, of whom one was invariably an Englishman, the other an Austrian. I suspect that the motive for this arrangement was a desire on the part of our officers that we should learn that most important part of a soldier's duty, how to conduct ourselves at the outposts; and if such were their design, they could not have fallen upon more certain means of securing its accomplishment; for of all the troops with which I have come in contact, the Austrians seem to me to be the most vigilant. They would never permit an attempt at conversation when on sentry. The slightest noise appeared to catch their ears, and then they were down with head to the ground in a moment; while their powers of vision seemed to my inexperienced fancy to set the darkness of the darkest night at defiance. Better troops on picket I cannot well conceive; and their readiness to impart knowledge to us who needed it was remarkable.

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I should say that, in point of appearance, the Austrian infantry, which served at that time in the Low Countries, were more than respectable. Than the grenadiers, nothing can be imagined more superb; and their dress dark grey clothing which was worn alike by grenadier and battalion companies, struck me as being in every point of view very becoming. The cavalry likewise was good; for the horses, though small, seemed to be abundantly hardy, and the men, like their dismounted comrades, were all up to their work. It was the fashion of that age to make every military movement in

VOL. VI.

2 K

slow time. We, not less than they, marched, and wheeled, and shifted our ground with a deliberation which would now excite laughter; yet I should misstate the case were I not to acknowledge, that the tardiness of our friends' evolutions, when assembled on parade, surprised us exceedingly. Still we were taught to regard them as our masters in the art of war; and therefore tried to persuade ourselves, not that they manoeuvred too slow, but that we manœuvred a great deal too rapidly. There was, however, one point in the military system of which, as it entirely contradicted all our received opinions, we could not approve. Their discipline was stern and prompt to a degree; indeed, punishment which invariably followed on an offence, however trivial came so sharply, and with such effect, that we turned away from the spectacle with abhorrence. A man who might fail in ever so minute a part of exercise, or brought a soiled belt or a stained knapsack to parade, was taken out of the ranks and flogged on the spot; no form of trial having been gone through, but the corporal wielding his stick with all the zeal, and more than the severity of one who relished the operation.

We did duty in this manner with the Austrians, occupying all the while our position at Orcq, till the 17th of May, when orders reached us to pack, and be in readiness for moving at a moment's notice. We obeyed, of course; and of the results which followed, both to ourselves and the cause which we were under arms to support, a connected account will be given in the next chapter.

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On the wings of your breath to the outside wave,
And saw it expire on the misty blue

Of the wild Lough Lena† it found its grave!
Alas! and can the world's distress
Blight e'en the name of Happiness?

J. AUGUSTINE WADE.

* O'Donoughoe Prince of the Lakes.
The ancient name of the Lake of Killarney.

THE TOLEDO RAPIER.

A TALE.

BY R. B. PEAKE.

"I'll tell you as near as I can what it is. Let me see: 'tis fighting, loving, sleeping, rhyming, dying, dancing, singing, crying, and everything but thinking and sense."

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DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM'S Rehearsal.

CHAPTER I.

MONSIEUR PERPIGNAN was a highly-respected merchant of Paris at the period now recorded, anno 1690. He had his house of business and of pleasure in the good city; and he had his house of pleasure, and to him also of business, at St. Cloud. Monsieur Perpignan's grand hobby, whenever he could steal away from Paris to his chateau in the country, was the delightful occupation of gardening. He was no florist - horticulture was his passion; and, though he rarely succeeded in his sowings, he would slave in his garden from morning until night, and generally to no better purpose than as a living scarecrow, frightening away the birds from the peas and the fruit-trees. He was blessed with a wife and daughter. Madame Perpignan prided herself a little on birth. Her stock had been (at any rate in her own opinion) of a superior grade to that of her husband; she was fond of admiration and society, which he abominated; and when she invaded his rural retreat, it was only to completely disturb the simple order, serenity, and (to its good-natured proprietor) the perfect comfort of the little chateau at St. Cloud. Madame Perpignan never condescended to visit it excepting in the summer months, and then she attired herself as a theatrical or chimney-ornament shepherdess, highly rouged, and discriminately patched. She would also give fêtes, which almost drove her husband mad, quiet as he was. Monsieur Perpignan was so exceedingly absent, that he seldom noticed the extravagances of his spouse: his mind was absorbed in his garden, his thoughts were trained on his espaliers, and his ideas rooted on his carrots and artichokes. He was very fondly attached to his daughter Sophia. Sophia Perpignan was the offspring of a former wife, and lovely, graceful, and amiable. Pages might be filled in describing her charms; but we are contented with despatching them in a line. Sophia was seated in her dressingroom, and her favourite maid, Justine, was in the act of binding up the beautiful hair of her mistress, when she seized the opportunity, knowing that Sophia could not escape from her hands, of endeavouring to gratify her curiosity.

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"Mademoiselle Sophia, may I ask you a very, very serious question?"- "What do you mean, Justine? presume, mademoiselle, that I have eyes and ears.”- -"A tongue also," remarked Sophia, archly.- "Then I will make use of it, and speak out.". loud, if you please, Justine."

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"Not too

Now, mademoiselle, when you were fourteen years of age, you were affianced to your excellent and agreeable cousin, Monsieur Auguste le Blond. Your mamma-in-law tells me that you are very soon to be united to him, and everything is arranged."

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