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 PERCY BLAKE; 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE YOUNG RIFLEMAN 
 
 BY 
 
 CAPTAIN RAFTER, 
 
 AVTHOE OP ' - THE GUARDS,'" " OUR IXD1AN ARMY," &C. 
 
 •• There was an ancient sage philosopher. 
 Who had read Alexander Ross over ; 
 And swore the world, as he could prove, 
 Was made of fighting and of love."— HuDtRRA*. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS, 
 
 SUCCESSORS TO HENRY COLBURN, 
 
 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 
 1855.
 
 LONDON : 
 
 Printed by Schulze and Co., 13, Poland Street.
 
 8c^ 
 v. 3- 
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE IRISH BRIGADE. 
 
 . It is customary, I believe, with authors 
 
 who have but little to relate, to press into 
 their service every possible resource of the 
 
 § literary art ; that, by the charm of their elo- 
 
 {^ quence, they may hide the paucity of their 
 
 material. The contrary, however, being my 
 
 case, I trust the reader will be content to 
 
 C^ receive a plain, unvarnished tale of military 
 
 life, instead of a flowing dissertation de omni- 
 
 \ bus rebus, which I have neither ability nor 
 •j 
 
 inclination to cook up for his amusement. 
 
 & 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 2 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 I was born in a small country town, in the 
 south of Ireland, which has furnished more 
 officers to the army, than any place in the 
 United Kingdom of thrice its importance. I 
 leave it to casuists to determine whether this 
 was owing to the proverbial pugnacity of the 
 Tipperary boys, or to the idle and unoccupied 
 life of the small gentry, whose family pride 
 made them scorn that trade which was best 
 calculated to repair their family indigence. 
 Certain it is, however, that the soil of many 
 lands has been moistened by the blood, or 
 has witnessed the sufferings of many of my 
 townsmen and school-fellows ; who began their 
 career in life as I did myself, about the com- 
 mencement of that tremendous struggle, in 
 which the genius and good-fortune of Napo- 
 leon sank, at length, under the wealth, the 
 power, and the energies of Great Britain. 
 
 My family is traditionally said to be of 
 Spanish descent ; but, without looking so far 
 back into the misty days of Eld, it will be 
 sufficient, as an appropriate introduction to
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 3 
 
 the sayings and doings of my own checquered 
 existence, to state that it was one of the nu- 
 merous T^rish families ruined by a too faithful 
 adherence to the cause of the Stuarts ; the 
 battle of the Boyne having effectually disposed 
 of a handsome estate, which had belonged to 
 the catholic branch of the Blakes for many 
 preceding ages. 
 
 After that celebrated " passage of arms," 
 my pugnacious ancestor, William Blake, who 
 had exchanged his " dirty acres " for the 
 doubtful honour of following King James to 
 the field, obtained a company from the French 
 monarch in the Irish Brigade, and continued 
 to serve in that glorious band of expatriated 
 heroes for several years, till an ardent 
 desire to see his family and native seat once 
 more, brought him again to Ireland. His 
 relations, however, were all dispersed or dead, 
 his estate forfeited to the crown by that loyalty 
 to his sovereign which, under the new reign, 
 was called rebellion ; and marrying soon 
 after a lady in London, with whom he 
 
 B 2
 
 4 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 received a moderate fortune, he gave up 
 foreign adventure and settled for the re- 
 mainder of his days in his native country. 
 From this gentleman I am lineally descended. 
 
 One brother, a sister and myself were the 
 last living of thirteen children. We loved 
 one another with great affection ; but as I 
 was the youngest by ten years, their love 
 for me had more of a parental character, 
 while mine for them was mingled with that 
 deep respect necessarily inspired by their 
 more advanced age and superior attainments. 
 They were both married, and immersed in 
 the cares of the world, when my infant 
 memory first began to dawn ; and at a very 
 early period of my boyhood, I was led to 
 think myself a person of some consequence, 
 by having several playfellows of my own 
 age and size, who invariably saluted me as 
 their uncle, and treated me with all the 
 deference due to so revered a title. 
 
 Whether this early habit of authority and 
 protectorship had any influence in imparting
 
 PERCY BLAKE, O 
 
 to me the steadiness and decision of character, 
 and principle of self-reliance which have marked 
 my suhsequent careen I leave to the discussion 
 of metaphysicians and ideologists; sufficient 
 for me is the conviction that, without this 
 upholding principle, mercifully implanted in 
 my nature, I must have sunk long since 
 under the strange trials that have signalized 
 my scramble through life. 
 
 At an early period of my existence, though 
 I read with unbounded voracity such works 
 as pleased my fancy and captivated my ima- 
 gination, I held everything in the shape of a 
 task in horror ; having a special aversion to 
 the confinement, and, as I foolishly deemed 
 it, the drudgery of schools. Hence I took 
 every opportunity of playing truant, and 
 never felt myself completely happy but when 
 roving at liberty through the fields, by the 
 banks of the river, over bog, heath, and 
 mountain ; indulging in dreams and reveries 
 without end, fighting over again the battles 
 of the Greeks and Trojans, or dwelling with
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 delight on the adventures of Romulus and 
 Remus, the fortitude of Mutius Scsevola, the 
 magnanimity of Horatius Codes, but, above 
 all, on the glorious self-devotion of Leonidas. 
 With these classical reminiscences, were mixed 
 up the mongrel compositions of a later age, 
 such as Don Belianis of Greece, the Seven 
 Champions of Christendom, and other speci- 
 mens of what may be called mediseval fiction ; 
 but not without some little appreciation of 
 their respective merits, as compared with the 
 pure and classic models. 
 
 With the exception of the injury I was 
 unconsciously doing myself by the neglect of 
 my school duties, these solitary rambles were 
 of a perfectly innocent character ; for, absorbed 
 as I was in heroic and poetical imaginings, 
 the idea of anything in the shape of depreda- 
 tions on orchards or gardens never once 
 entered my mind. On the contrary, I always 
 left home with some creature comfort in my 
 pocket, in the shape of a cake, or a few apples, 
 with which I was perfectly content for the
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 7 
 
 whole day ; caring little for any other nourish- 
 ment, till night brought me back, tired, 
 hungry, and penitent, to the casa paterna. 
 As Lamartine says of himself, " J'avais la 
 fl&vre perpetuelle de la liberte ; j'avais le 
 delire de la nature." Such, indeed, was the 
 extreme simplicity of my enjoyment, con- 
 sisting in little more than the mental excite- 
 ment occasioned by incessant locomotion, 
 which is to this day a favourite luxury of 
 mine, that the country-people looked upon 
 me generally as a respectable and harmless 
 sort of lunatic, and I was universally known 
 amongst them by the title of the " fairy- 
 hunter." 
 
 This soubriquet arose, no doubt, from 
 the partiality I always evinced for those conical, 
 round-headed hills so numerous in many parts 
 of Ireland, and which are commonly called 
 Danish forts and fairy-mounts. The tradi- 
 tionary lore connected with these curious 
 elevations is redolent of " Faery," and some 
 of our Irish romancists have made ample
 
 8 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 use of it. Their great attraction to me was 
 their commanding height, their green velvet 
 sod, and the uninterrupted day-dreams I 
 indulged in on their lofty summits, so far 
 removed from the small-beer doings of this 
 work- day world. 
 
 Here, also, my schoolfellows and I had 
 many a pleasant sham fight when, mustering 
 in large numbers, " on a sunshine holiday," 
 and dividing our forces into two equal bodies 
 of Danes and Irish, under distinguished leaders, 
 of whom I had always the honour of being 
 one, we struggled hard in many a fierce 
 assault for the mastery of the fairy-mount. 
 Nor were these pastimes always of a sham 
 description ; for we not unfrequently had to 
 do battle in good earnest with boys not be- 
 longing to our clique ; who, envious of our 
 real, or fancied superiority, often provoked us 
 with taunts and other hostile demonstrations. 
 We accordingly fought many a desperate 
 action with the young ragamuffins of two 
 notorious suburbs — one very properly called
 
 PERCY BLAKE. y 
 
 " Dirty Lane," and the other the " Spital ;" the 
 latter of which, from the showers of stones 
 always flying there, we christened " The 
 Dardanelles." 
 
 These battles of ours' were sometimes 
 fought in the church-yard, when every tomb- 
 stone became a redoubt, and the church 
 itself a citadel ; and sometimes in the " old 
 gardens." These were spacious wastes which 
 had once been the gardens of houses and 
 of families long since gone to decay, but 
 which now lay either entirely open, or badly 
 fenced against the intrusion of idlers, who 
 resorted thither at all hours of the day, either 
 to play pitch-and-toss, or to enjoy those gym- 
 nastic exercises, such as running, jumping, 
 putting the stone, &c, &c, in which the 
 Irish have been always considered to excel. 
 
 It is not, however, to be supposed that I 
 enjoyed this truant disposition of mine with 
 impunity. Though indulged by my father as 
 his last and favourite child, with more than 
 usual freedom, my frequent absence from 
 
 b 3
 
 10 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 school was a source of great uneasiness to 
 him ; but, unwilling to punish me himself, 
 he generally left the disagreeable task to the 
 schoolmaster, who had frequently to send a 
 detachment of boys in search of me, with 
 stern directions to bring me back vi et armis, 
 if necessary, to the hateful confinement and 
 drudgery of the school-room. 
 
 This academy, to which I had been sent as 
 a boarder, by my own desire, in preference to 
 entering business, as my father wished, was 
 an establishment of high repute, to which the 
 principal gentry of the town and neighbour- 
 hood sent their sons for education. Here, 
 though passionately fond of the literature 
 of the ancients, which I devoured incessantly 
 through the medium of translations, I never 
 made much progress in their languages, 
 having acquired from my school studies, 
 like many other great men, " little Latin and 
 less Greek." But what was infinitely more 
 useful to me in after life, I became thoroughly 
 grounded in French, and even respectably
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 1 1 
 
 acquainted with Spanish ; our French teacher 
 who had. been originally intended for the 
 Catholic priesthood, having graduated at St. 
 Omer, and also at Salamanca.
 
 12 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE RECRUITING SERGEANT. 
 
 I often look back with mingled feelings 
 of pleasure and regret on my first false step 
 in rejecting my father's wish that I should 
 go into business : regret at the wanton 
 sacrifice I made of comfort, independence, 
 and perhaps wealth and civic honours ; and 
 pleasure at the career I thus opened for my- 
 self of strange and foreign adventure, and 
 practical knowledge of those singular vicissi- 
 tudes with which the world abounds, and of 
 which I have had a share sufficiently ample 
 to satisfy the most romantic imagination.
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 13 
 
 I must, however, say, in extenuation of 
 my folly, that the scenes and recollections of 
 my childhood were all of a martial character, 
 calculated to unfit the mind for the ordinary 
 routine and sober relations of life. Then our 
 domestic traditions were all of a military cast, 
 the decline of our family having sprung from 
 a too heroic adherence to the fortunes of a 
 fallen race. My father himself was an old 
 retired officer of the army, and loved to 
 indulge in relations of foreign adventure ; 
 especially in connection with Prince Fer- 
 dinand and the Battle of Minden, where he 
 had been desperately wounded. His ordinary 
 costume was somewhat allied to the Keven- 
 huller-hat and Ramilies-wig style of the 
 Marlborough military dandies ; while instead 
 of an ordinary walking-stick, he generally 
 carried over his shoulder a long, gold- 
 headed cane, a faint vestige of the old 
 espontoon ; and when of an evening, by 
 his own fireside, he indulged in a sober glass, 
 and a sons: that smacked of the German
 
 14 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 wars, I listened delighted to strains that fired 
 my young blood, but of which I can now 
 recollect nothing more than such scraps as 
 this : 
 
 " All hail to great Caesar ! 
 Long life, love, and pleasure ! 
 May the King live for ever ! 
 
 'Tis the better for us, boys ! 
 
 Or else the following jovial chorus : 
 
 " Then why should we quarrel for riches, 
 
 Or any such glittering toys ? 
 A light heart and a thin pair of breeches, 
 Will go through the world, my brave boys.'" 
 
 When I add to these incentives, the abso- 
 lute manner in which I was allowed to 
 indulge in my taste for chivalrous reading, to 
 the total exclusion of everything practically 
 useful; and the unrestrained freedom with 
 which I was permitted to ramble over moor 
 and mountain, field and meadow, absorbed 
 in day-dreams, and thick-coming fancies ; the
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 15 
 
 reader will not be surprised that my young 
 mind should have received a bias so decided 
 and so durable, that, even to this hour, it 
 imparts a tinge to the sere and yellow leaf 
 into which my days have fallen. 
 
 But my wayward imagination was further 
 impressed, fascinated as it were, with the 
 daily occurrences of a pugnacious character 
 springing from the semi-barbarous state of 
 society which then prevailed in Ireland, and 
 of which a mere English reader can have no 
 adequate conception. Long before Father 
 Matthew had ever dreamt of the modern 
 miracle he has since accomplished, when the 
 unlimited abuse of ardent spirits kept up to 
 fever heat the passions of an excitable people, 
 private feuds and quarrels were of constant re- 
 currence ; the pistol of the gentleman and the 
 wattle of the plebeian making frequent inroads 
 on the peace of society, and carrying mourn- 
 ing and desolation into many a dwell- 
 ing. 
 
 In addition to these occasional interludes,
 
 16 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 the grand drama of factious warfare was 
 carried on with a degree of method and 
 martial tactics, unknown, perhaps, in any 
 other country beneath the sun. A register, 
 something like an adjutant's roister, seems 
 to have been kept by the infatuated leaders 
 of the two great factions which divided the 
 country for miles around ; and in this not only 
 the numbers, names, and physical qualities 
 of their respective adherents were carefully 
 registered, but also the days of battle ap- 
 pointed for months previous, to admit of 
 necessary preparations. During this interval, 
 the most active partisans on both sides were 
 in constant requisition ; beating up for re- 
 cruits, lecturing on military science, inspiring 
 the timid and exhorting the brave, to prepare 
 for the glorious day that was to crown with 
 triumph their respective clans ; for defeat or 
 dishonour never seems to have formed a part 
 of their anticipations. 
 
 During this period of combustion every 
 description of business was, of course, sadly
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 17 
 
 neglected ; irregularity and drunkenness in- 
 creased, and the whole framework of society 
 was disorganized, till, at length, the day, 
 " big with the fate" of one or other of the 
 contending factions arrived. This, as a matter 
 of course, was a fair-day, when vast numbers 
 of the peasantry arrived from all quarters, 
 with horses, black cattle, pigs, poultry, and 
 other country produce for the market; and 
 at the same time, ready for all-glorious war 
 as soon as the vulgar business of sale and 
 purchase should be despatched. 
 
 Innumerable wounds and occasional deaths 
 were the sad results of these ferocious battles, 
 in the course of which deeds of individual 
 heroism were performed that would have 
 immortalized the actors in a worthy cause : 
 but alas ! the strength and courage that 
 might have wrought miracles under the 
 sacred inspiration of patriotism produced 
 nothing in these suicidal struggles but private 
 misery, general wretchedness, and dissolute 
 habits, which laid a sure foundation for the
 
 18 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 fearful ruin that has since fallen upon the 
 unhappy land. 
 
 Breathing thus, as it were, a martial atmos- 
 phere, where every individual thought himself 
 justified in taking the law into his own hands ; 
 and the family idiosyncracy being, moreover, 
 essentially bellicose, my longing for a military 
 life was natural enough. But the culminating 
 point of my destiny, which gave the finishing 
 touch to my incipient military mania, was the 
 arrival in our town of my maternal uncle ; 
 who, having run away from school several 
 years before, and enlisted as a private sol- 
 dier, had returned to his native place in 
 all the seductive glory of a recruiting-ser- 
 geant. 
 
 In these degenerate days, when one hears 
 of nothing but temperance societies and peace 
 congresses, when the military virtues seem to 
 be scouted, and manhood cried down, as if by 
 general consent ; it is refreshing to cast a glance 
 back upon those gallant fellows, whose united 
 valour gave a splendour to the British arms
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 19 
 
 which they had never attained before, and 
 perhaps never will again. 
 
 Mick Flaherty was one of those old war 
 bull-dogs, who were so accustomed to sport 
 with death, and to brave the grim tyrant to 
 his very teeth, that enterprise and danger 
 never came amiss to them ; though their 
 actions in civil life, were too often looked 
 upon by the ordinary run of mankind, as the 
 result of madness or intoxication. 
 
 On many trying occasions, Mick had dis- 
 played such admirable courage and address, 
 that, even at the commencement of his career, 
 he would have been elevated far beyond his 
 humble position of a private soldier ; but 
 unfortunately he had two propensities, which 
 always operated as a drag-chain to his ambi- 
 tion, and a stumbling-block to his valour. 
 Most unfortunate men, when lamenting their 
 evil destiny, and anathematising some besetting 
 vice to which they attribute it, are in the 
 habit of exclaiming, "That's the rock upon 
 which I split !" Now my poor uncle had
 
 20 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 two rocks to split upon, one of which was 
 women, and the other wine : either is enough, 
 heaven knows, to do any man's business ; 
 but Sergeant Flaherty was never thoroughly 
 satisfied, unless he combined both, and then 
 the consequences were what any rational 
 man may anticipate. 
 
 In spite of all this, however, his distin- 
 guished conduct in the field was rewarded 
 with the worsted epaulette ; and as Sergeant 
 Flaherty he was sent home to recruit, at a 
 period when the urgency of the service called 
 for redoubled exertion on the part of all who 
 were interested in the glory of the British 
 arms. 
 
 A better theatre could not possibly be 
 chosen for the trial of my uncle's wheedling 
 powers, than the town of Tipperary ; and 
 here on a market-day, at the head of his 
 recruiting party, he exhibited his martial 
 figure, and bunches of beautiful ribbons, to 
 the admiration of rural belles, and the envy 
 and jealousy of their beaux and spouses. All
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 21 
 
 acknowledged that he was a brave-looking 
 man, a beautiful-elegant man, aye, and a fine- 
 spoken man to boot, as evinced in his 
 numerous harangues to the public ; but when 
 he entered a tavern, and invited all to partake 
 of his hospitality, there were no bounds to 
 rustic enthusiasm, and all joined uproariously 
 in the burthen of his well-known song — 
 
 THE RECRUITING SERGEANT. 
 
 •" Come, take these ribbons, then," said he, 
 " And give me no denial : 
 You may rise to the rank of a great grandee, 
 
 Or a prince of the blood royal ;* 
 And have an empress for your wife, 
 With a coach and six, and a very merry life !" 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 Huzza ! huzza ! huzza ! 
 
 * This is not so purely imaginative as may, at 
 first sight, appear ; for by a recent decree of the 
 Emperor of Austria, that soldier of fortune, Ra- 
 detzky, has been (very properly, we think) created a 
 prince of the blood. — Ed.
 
 22 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 II. 
 
 " A wooden leg, or a golden chain, 
 
 Is the maxum of the brave ; 
 And if you are King of France and Spain, 
 
 What more would you wish to have ? 
 Unless for India you'd like to pull, 
 And there you may be the Great Mogul !" 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 Huzza ! huzza ! huzza ! 
 
 In short, nothing could exceed the popu- 
 larity of Sergeant Flaherty, especially amongst 
 the fair sex ; and though he picked up more 
 recruits than all his predecessors put together, 
 he might have carried off a wife for every one 
 of them, if the regulations had allowed him 
 to beat up for petticoats. 
 
 It could not be expected that so fascinating 
 a man should be free from enemies ; for as 
 the poet truly sings, "Envy doth merit 
 as its shade pursue," and some snarling 
 critic is always at hand to tarnish the 
 fairest fame. Some of this class contented 
 themselves with shrugs and shakes of the head,
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 23 
 
 as the safest mode of expressing their senti- 
 ments and opinions : others hinted that 
 " talk's cheap, and that ' many a bowld word 
 comes off a weak stomach.' The sergeant, 
 no doubt, spoke very slightingly of battle, 
 murder and sudden death, which the prayer- 
 book taught all sober people to look upon 
 with becoming reverence ; but, for all that, 
 when the hour of trial came, he might not be 
 a whit better than other men who held their 
 tongues and minded their own affairs." Of 
 this a proof was very soon afforded. 
 
 One market-day, when the main street of 
 Tipperary was more than usually crowded, 
 and the recruiting party was parading up and 
 down, with ribbons flying, and drums and 
 fifes playing " Rory O'More," the most 
 inspiring quick step that ever was composed ; 
 while hundreds, I may say thousands, of the 
 admiring rabblement surrounded and accom- 
 panied their glorious march ; Sergeant 
 O'Flaherty (for he had recently tagged the 
 great O to his otherwise vulgar patronymic)
 
 24 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 thinking it a good opportunity to display his 
 eloquence, gracefully waved his flashing sword, 
 and cried out with stentorian lungs : " Recruit- 
 ing party, halt !" Then, hemming signifi- 
 cantly thrice to clear his manly voice, he was 
 about to address the smiling multitudes of 
 males and females who crowded around him, 
 with his customary eloquence. 
 
 Suddenly a terrific shout arose at the top 
 of the main street, which increased rapidly in 
 volume, intermingled with shrieks and yells 
 of terror; till at length the words "Mad 
 bull ! mad bull !" were distinguished in the 
 gathering tumult. All fled in horror and con- 
 fusion ; men, women and children, tumbling 
 headlong over each other, in their heedless 
 hurry to escape the fury of the savage 
 monster; soldiers, drummers, fifers, all, in 
 short, fled, except the bold O'Flaherty, who, 
 to the general amazement, stood there alone 
 in his glory. 
 
 The bull, raging mad with the noise and 
 confusion he himself had caused, was now
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 2o 
 
 seen tearing down the street, goring some, 
 and tossing others head over heels on the 
 rough pavement; till the tall, motionless 
 figure of the recruiting-sergeant met his 
 sight glowing in all the colours of the 
 rainbow. 
 
 With a bellow of intense and concentrated 
 rage, he made directly at him, while hundreds 
 of pitying voices cried out : " Run sergeant ! 
 Run for the love of God, and save your- 
 self!" 
 
 Firm as a rock, however, stood the bold 
 O' Flaherty, as if determined to take the bull 
 by the horns, literally and in downright 
 earnest ; while the crowd, forgetting their 
 own terror, gazed in stupid wonder at the 
 inevitable destruction of their universal 
 favourite. 
 
 My uncle, however, had witnessed a few 
 bull-fights while he was a prisoner of war in 
 Spain (for Jie was captured in Whitelock's un- 
 happy expedition to Buenos Ayres) and had 
 seen with delight the perfect sang froid with 
 
 vol. i. c
 
 26 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 which the matador awaits the onset of the 
 savage monster, and the dexterity with which 
 he gives him the coup de grace. With 
 equal coolness he now stood erect, alert and 
 ready for action. 
 
 Just as the hull, with a furious hound, 
 and a savage hellow, lowered his head 
 to toss him in the air, O'Flaherty stept 
 aside ; and, as the animal passed him in 
 headlong haste, he seized him hy the tail 
 with his left hand, holding on firmly, in spite 
 of the violent lunges of his enraged enemy ; 
 then with two rapid and well-directed blows 
 of his sabre, he cut the tendons of both hind 
 legs ; and the ham-strung animal, in a vain 
 attempt to rush forward, fell helpless and 
 exhausted upon the pavement, while a shout 
 of joy and triumph rang through the air, 
 from the astonished and delighted multi- 
 tude. 
 
 Before the close of that eventful day, fifty 
 young fellows, in the ardour of their en- 
 thusiasm, took the King's shilling from
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 27 
 
 Sergeant O' Flaherty ; and I made a secret, 
 but a solemn vow, that I would never adopt 
 any other profession than that of my gallant 
 uncle. 
 
 c 2
 
 28 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE GAGE D AMOUR. 
 
 For a long time the whole country rang 
 with the exploit of the brave O'Flaherty: 
 he was deified by the mob, courted by the 
 middle-classes, and even visited by the 
 gentry, and feasted at their houses ; being 
 himself of gentle blood, though a wild scion 
 of an ancient race. It was actually proposed 
 to get up a subscription to purchase him an 
 ensigncy ; but he disdained the idea of ac- 
 quiring the silver epaulette through the medium 
 of filthy lucre, exclaiming that " he'd win it on 
 the breach, or not at all." For my part, I 
 became wild to " follow to the field," so re-
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 29 
 
 nowned a leader ; and day and night worried 
 my poor brains to accomplish this first, and 
 only wish of my heart. 
 
 Fortune at length, whether for good or evil, 
 seemed disposed to favour my juvenile 
 aspirations ; and an opportunity was afforded 
 me, when I least expected it, of escaping 
 from the loathed drudgery of civil life. My 
 brother, who was in business, and evidently 
 on the high road to fortune, having occasion 
 to go to London, offered to take me with 
 him, and procure me a commission ; while I 
 was so delighted with the idea, that I never 
 gave my father a moment's peace till he 
 consented to let me go, with the proviso, 
 however, that I should limit my ambition 
 to the militia ; and thus, as the phrase is, 
 he abandoned the last prop of his declining 
 age, to gratify my boyish propensity. 
 
 Behold me, then, scarcely in my fifteenth 
 year, about to launch on the great unknown 
 world, in a profession, the difficulties of 
 which I had no possible means of ascertain-
 
 30 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 ing, and whose splendour alone occupied my 
 thoughts. Great, indeed, was the envy of 
 my school-fellows at the fame and fortune 
 that awaited me, in that ever-glorious career 
 which first enlists the sympathies of the youth- 
 ful heart ; and greater still was their admira- 
 tion at the pictures I drew from reading 
 and imagination, alas ! how unlike the 
 reality of a soldier's life. I became to them 
 an object of intense interest; many vowed 
 they would embrace no other profession than 
 the military, while several made me promise 
 to correspond with them, and give them 
 a regular account of all the battles, sieges, 
 and single combats in which I might be 
 engaged. Thrice happy age ! when the 
 banquet of life is enjoyed in advance, and 
 the writing on the wall is lost in the 
 splendour of imagination, and the dreams 
 of a heated fancy ! 
 
 I shall never forget the day I rode out of 
 Tipperary on this my first start in life, at a 
 period when other boys were immersed in
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 31 
 
 the drudgery of school, and possessing no 
 other knowledge of the world than what 
 I had gleaned from books of imagina- 
 tion ; which, like the flimsy novels of our 
 penny periodicals, contained any thing but 
 faithful pictures of real life and manners. 
 My brother had preceded me to Clonmel, about 
 twenty miles distant, where he had some 
 business to transact, and where I was to join 
 him. For this purpose, I was mounted on 
 a large powerful horse which, though I had 
 frequently ridden him after the stag-hounds, 
 was big enough for a general's charger. 
 My holsters contained a very tidy brace. of 
 brass-barrelled pistols, the last gift of my 
 poor father, and my clothes were packed 
 in a large valise fixed upon the crupper ; on 
 the top of which w r as also strapped an old sil- 
 ver-hilted sword of formidable length, which 
 had decorated my father's thigh at the battle 
 of Minden. This deadly weapon, protrud- 
 ing at either end far beyond the dimensions 
 of the valise, seemed to indicate that its
 
 32 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 owner was a sort of person that was never 
 to be taken alive. 
 
 Having bade my parents a last farewell, 
 very affecting on their part, and very light- 
 hearted on mine, I rode, thus accoutred, 
 through the main street of Tipperary, accom- 
 panied by my most attached playfellows, to 
 the admiration and amusement of the towns- 
 folk. Some of these affected to be frightened 
 at my martial aspect, some offered me friendly 
 advice and scraps of proverbial wisdom for 
 my future guidance, while others laughed 
 heartily at my curious equipage, and one 
 graceless varlet exclaimed : 
 
 "I'll roast on my finger all that you'll kill 
 in the wars." 
 
 Too happy, however, in my own thoughts 
 to regard their idle bantering, I proceeded 
 onward at an easy pace, till I finally bade 
 adieu to my school-companions, with renewed 
 protestations and promises of mutual corres- 
 pondence. 
 
 But my greatest trial was yet to come.
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 33 
 
 Amongst my young relatives, I had a little 
 cousin, Honoria Blake, a child of extraordinary 
 sensibility and intellect ; who, though several 
 years younger than myself, had formed such 
 a singular attachment to me that she could 
 scarcely be said to exist out of my presence. 
 She was singularly precocious, and had con- 
 tracted at a very early age such a fondness 
 for reading, that a book was in reality 
 the only rival I had in her affections, though 
 even that always yielded to my superior 
 claims. 
 
 My great delight was in ministering to 
 this early passion of my little cousin's for 
 literature, and all my pocket-money went in 
 purchasing food for its gratification. To 
 this, and the facility with which I invented 
 fairy tales for her amusement, may be attri- 
 buted, I suppose, her excessive partiality for 
 me ; but, whatever may have been the cause, 
 the poor little soul was never happy unless 
 walking, running, or riding her little pony by 
 the side of her cousin Percy ; or lying in his 
 
 c 3
 
 34 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 arms, while he recounted to her the marvellous 
 legends of Fion McCoul, Mouldewarp, and 
 the Headless Coach. 
 
 The trial I had now to undergo was the 
 parting with this dear little cousin of mine. 
 Gladly would I have avoided the scene alto- 
 gether, but it was impossible to evade her 
 vigilance. Ever since she had heard of my 
 expected departure, she had never ceased 
 weeping. Like Niobe, all tears, she hung 
 upon my footsteps, followed me like my 
 shadow, and on the morning of my departure, 
 was up at daybreak, planted herself at her 
 parlour window, which I must necessarily 
 pass, and for whole hours kept watch and 
 ward for her cousin Percy, who was going to 
 the wars to be killed by the naughty French- 
 men. 
 
 But I must spare the gentle reader the 
 misery I myself experienced in this harrow- 
 ing interview. Poor little Honoria absolutely 
 wept herself into convulsions, which threw 
 us all into a terrible fright, and nothing could
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 35 
 
 pacify her but my solemn promise to return 
 from the wars in a week, and not to allow 
 myself to be killed by any naughty French- 
 man whatever. She then clasped upon my 
 left wrist a bracelet of her own hair, which 
 she had woven for the occasion, our united 
 cipher being engraved upon the gold clasp. 
 She exacted from me a vow that this gage 
 d 'amour should never be lost, stolen, or given 
 away ; and, singular to relate, this gift of a 
 child only six or seven years old, was so 
 sacred in my eyes, that in all my vicissitudes 
 by sea or land, it never left the spot on which 
 she had placed it. 
 
 To the dreadful renewal of her sorrow, I 
 at length tore myself away from my poor 
 little cousin, and setting spurs to my horse, I 
 galloped off to Clonmel, where my brother 
 and I took the coach for Dublin, and pro- 
 ceeded to London, via Holyhead, every inch 
 of the way producing to my enraptured eyes 
 fresh objects of wonder and delight. 
 
 Yes ! let the world-weary traveller boast of
 
 36 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 the miracles of art and nature he has seen ; 
 let him discourse eloquently to admiring 
 auditors of the various lands he has traversed, 
 and the many strange sights and startling 
 events with which his memory is fraught, I 
 very much question if the enjoyment he finds 
 in descanting for the hundredth time on 
 " the Alps, the Apennines, and River Po," 
 can at all equal the ecstacy with which 
 the unsophisticated mind of youth sees the 
 veil of ignorance and inexperience first rent 
 asunder, and the world, in all its wonders, 
 opening in endless succession to his enrap- 
 tured vision. 
 
 At length we reached the " never-ending, 
 stOl-beginning" metropolis ; and were hurried, 
 as night fell, through innumerable streets, 
 where the lights of shops and street-lamps 
 flashed incessantly into the windows of our 
 stage-coach ; while the interminable crowds 
 hurrying on, as it were, for life and death, in 
 opposing tides, and the steady and incessant 
 roar of the " Great Babel," more than realised
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 37 
 
 the image I had formed in my own mind of 
 Pandemonium. At length we were driven 
 under a gloomy and narrow gateway, into a 
 still more gloomy court-yard, when the car- 
 riage suddenly stopped, the door was opened, 
 the step let down, and two or three smart- 
 looking waiters, with napkins tucked under 
 their arms, ushered us into that w T ell-known 
 hostelry of ancient times, " The Bull and 
 Mouth." 
 
 After an early breakfast the following 
 morning, I quitted this singular old dungeon 
 of an hotel, so fearfully enveloped amidst 
 narrow lanes and lofty buildings, that I verily 
 believe the sun had never once fairly shone 
 upon it, and fought my way manfully through 
 the crowded and bustling streets to the Park. 
 But I shall never forget the delight I expe- 
 rienced when the glories of the Horse Guards 
 burst upon my view, and Life Guards and 
 Foot Guards, in their dazzling panoply, were 
 passing and repassing before my eyes, with 
 all the admirable precision of military move-
 
 38 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 ments; while the towers of Westminster 
 Abbey rose majestically above the surrounding 
 foliage, and the joy-bells poured forth a 
 glorious peal in honour of Vimeira, the 
 first of our immortal series of Peninsular 
 triumphs. 
 
 Then, indeed, did my bosom swell with 
 military ardour ; and so unreasonable did it 
 appear that my father should object to my 
 choice of the army as a profession, that I 
 actually wondered how any human being 
 could ever think of any other. Apprehend- 
 ing, now, that all the battles would be won 
 before I had time even to buckle on my 
 armour, I urged my brother not to lose a 
 moment in preparing me for the field ; and 
 he, smiling at my boyish enthusiasm, accord- 
 ingly addressed himself to this high emprise. 
 Nor did he experience much difficulty in the 
 matter. Through the influence of the 
 member for our county, who reckoned on 
 a quid pro quo from my father at the next 
 general election, I was appointed to an
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 39 
 
 ensign cy in the Hereford Militia, and lost 
 no time, when my outfit was completed, in 
 starting for Chelmsford, the head-quarters of 
 the regiment.
 
 40 PERCY BLAKE, 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE THREATENING LETTER. 
 
 It was about two o'clock in the afternoon 
 when I arrived at Chelmsford; and having 
 somewhat arranged my outward man, after my 
 journey, at the inn where the coach stopped, 
 I inquired my way to the barracks. 
 
 On entering the gateway, the smart slap 
 of the sentry on the butt of his musket, as he 
 carried arms to a young officer who was 
 entering at the same moment, attracted my 
 attention to the latter, and I begged he would 
 be kind enough to direct me to the quarters 
 of Sir George Cornwall, the commanding 
 officer. He very politely offered to conduct
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 41 
 
 me thither, and we accordingly walked across 
 the barrack-yard, where several squads of 
 recruits and defaulters were at drill; two or 
 three horses in body-clothes being trotted 
 about by a groom in livery, and some buglers 
 and drum boys practicing the roll call and 
 tattoo on their respective instruments. 
 
 We found Sir George amusing himself in 
 his barrack-room with his violoncello, which 
 he played remarkably well. He was a tall, 
 elegant looking man, with a pleasing aristo- 
 cratic countenance, but very deaf. He 
 received me most graciously ; and after 
 chatting a few moments, consigned me to the 
 care of my conductor, Lieutenant Richardson, 
 to show me the lions, and assist me in my 
 barrack arrangements. 
 
 This task Richardson undertook con amove, 
 being a lively good-natured fellow in the main, 
 with some crotchets of his own, however, 
 which showed themselves on further acquaint- 
 ance. He introduced me to the quarter- 
 master, who immediately furnished me with a
 
 42 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 barrack-room, and to the adjutant who sup- 
 plied me with a servant. We then proceeded 
 to the mess-room, where I was introduced to 
 several other young fellows, with whom I 
 lunched, and we were speedily on the best 
 possible terms with each other. My fidus 
 Achates next accompanied me into town, 
 where he introduced me to Solomon Levi, 
 from whom I purchased some barrack furni- 
 ture ; to the billiard-room, where we had a 
 rubber or two, and to some pretty milliners 
 with whom we flirted till the first bugle 
 warned us to dress for dinner. 
 
 It was a day to be remembered amongst 
 the res gestce of the Blakes, when I first donned 
 my regimentals with apple-green facings, 
 Herefordshire being proverbially the " Land of 
 Cider." On this great occasion, my servant 
 Tom King, was materially assisted in his 
 multifarious duties of valet by my friend 
 Richardson, who really seemed to take a pride 
 in his new protege ; for it was his great hobby 
 to chaperon and patronize all recent arrivals,
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 43 
 
 by inducting them into all the vices and follies 
 of military life, till he either got tired of them, 
 or they of him. Accordingly, after some 
 learned discussions between my two assist- 
 ants, as to the exact quantity of pomatum 
 and powder, the regulated length of my false 
 queue, and the tying of my sash before, or 
 behind, I was at length turned out, it was 
 admitted on all hands, a most unexceptionable 
 recruit. 
 
 The mess-room was crowded as we en- 
 tered, with the officers of the regiment and 
 several civilians, as guests of the day ; and I 
 was presented, in succession, to every one of 
 any consequence, being received by all with 
 the utmost kindness and urbanity. Our 
 regiment was highly aristocratic : Sir George 
 Cornwall was an old baronet ; the Honour- 
 able Thomas Foley was our lieutenant-colonel, 
 Lord Rodney captain of the light company, 
 and his brother, the Honourable (and truly 
 amiable) Thomas Harley, captain of grena- 
 diers, besides several other off-shoots of noble
 
 44 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 houses. The mess was richly furnished with 
 plate ; we ate off china ; and champagne, at 
 that time a luxury confined to certain classes, 
 encouraged the " feast of reason and the flow 
 of soul," on " stranger days " especially, such 
 as the present ; while an excellent band alter- 
 nately played opera airs and overtures, or 
 sang madrigals, glees, and catches in full 
 chorus for our entertainment. 
 
 Nothing could be more delightful than 
 this my coup d'essai in my new career, and 
 pleasant dreams that night, in my comfort- 
 able camp bed, seemed to augur a happy 
 future. In the morning, Tom King lit my 
 fire, made my breakfast, prepared my clothes 
 for dressing, and called me just ten minutes 
 before the first bugle had sounded for parade. 
 Everything, in short, was done with the most 
 perfect regularity and precision, and I had 
 little or no occasion to exercise any thought 
 myself ; my wants being all supplied, and my 
 w T ishes anticipated as if I had been some fa- 
 voured prince in fairy-land.
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 45 
 
 On parade, I underwent a more critical 
 scrutiny, with reference, at least, to personal 
 appearance, than on the previous evening; 
 and I was happy to find that the tacit verdict 
 was favourable ; for, on being posted to a 
 battalion company, Lord Rodney applied to 
 have me in the Light Bobs, and his wishes 
 being acceded to, I was directed to supply 
 myself forthwith with wings and a sabre and 
 sling belt, in lieu of the epaulette, frog belt, 
 and straight sword with which I had joined. 
 The good-natured reader will, I hope, excuse 
 me for dwelling on such trifles as these ; 
 but they were my halcyon days, an oasis 
 in the broad desert of my chequered exis- 
 tence. 
 
 I spent that evening at a barrack soiree, 
 given by our major's lady ; and though we 
 were somewhat restricted for room, we were 
 not the less happy. Several of the Chelms- 
 ford belles being amongst the company, the 
 card-tables were voted a bore, and consigned 
 to the passage ; a carpet-dance was impro-
 
 46 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 vised, our hostess sat down to the piano, I 
 occasionally assisted her with the violin, while 
 Sir Roger de Coverley and the boulanger, 
 those venerable relics of the olden time, were 
 danced with grace and spirit, in spite of the 
 intervening obstacles of tables, chairs, sofas, 
 and book-shelves. 
 
 This was all, in turf parlance, going upon 
 velvet; but the reader is not, therefore, to 
 infer that I met with no checks in my 
 career, to remind me of the common lot of 
 humanity. Though still comparatively happy, 
 I soon began to find I was not exempt from 
 these; for as my old favourite Hudibras so 
 pathetically sings : 
 
 " Ay, me ! what perils do environ 
 The man that meddles with cold iron ! 
 What plaguy mischiefs and mishaps 
 Do dog him still with after-claps !" 
 
 In the first place, I was handed over to the 
 drill-sergeant, who put me through the goose- 
 step and firelock drill, with the most stern and 
 unbending rigour ; and as these diabolical
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 47 
 
 evolutions were all performed in public, I had 
 the gratification of seeing drum-boys and camp- 
 colour men constantly sneering at my awkward- 
 ness ; while occasionally a pretty girl would 
 pass the barrack gate, when I was in the crisis 
 of a " right-go !" in the goose-step, with one 
 leg stuck out behind in a most ungraceful angle 
 of incidence with the remainder of my body. 
 
 To the drill-sergeant succeeded the ad- 
 jutant, with company and skeleton-drill, while 
 the major stood by, picking holes in my 
 jacket for losing my distance, or directing 
 rne to hold up my head and throw back my 
 shoulders ; he himself being the most clumsy 
 and mishapen mass of flesh that could be 
 imagined. On one occasion, this functionary 
 hurt my amour propre in a manner that I 
 can never forget or forgive. 
 
 It was our Sunday evening parade, and all 
 
 the belles and beaux of Chelmsford were 
 
 walking up and down the barrack-yard, 
 
 istening: to our beautiful band. I had, it 
 
 seems, ventured to deviate from the ordinary
 
 48 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 routine in some trifling matter of parade 
 etiquette, when this " bustling botherby" of a 
 major, desirous of showing the world that he 
 had something to do for his money, rode 
 furiously up to me, and demanded my reason 
 for so heretical a deviation from the Law and 
 the Prophets. 1 very innocently replied that 
 I thought my manner of performing the 
 duty in question was an improvement on 
 the old method. 
 
 " You thought, Sir I" cried the major, 
 foaming at the mouth. " How dare you 
 think, Sir ? never let me hear of your 
 thinking again, Sir !" 
 
 The reader may judge of my confusion, 
 mortification and wrath, when I saw Miss 
 Julia Densham, a rich heiress, with whom 
 I had lately fallen in love, show her beautiful 
 teeth in a most unequivocal smile, which I 
 thought anything but comme ilfaut, under 
 the circumstances. In the agony of the 
 moment, I made a mental vow never again 
 to think upon any subject whatever connected
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 49 
 
 with my military duties ; and, after mature 
 experience, I now recommend this as a very 
 safe rule to begin with, to the junior branches 
 of the army, especially those military tyros 
 who are familiarly denominated "Five-and- 
 threepenny targets." 
 
 But all these rebuffs, serious as I then 
 thought them, were " trifles light as air" to 
 the next " untoward event," to which I was 
 very nearly falling a victim. 
 
 Having taken offence at my commanding 
 officer for supplanting me, one evening, at a 
 ball, in the honour of dancing with Miss 
 Julia Densham, the heiress upon whom, as I 
 before said, I had last fixed my somewhat 
 erratic affections ; I took up my pen, de- 
 termined to chastise him for his pre- 
 sumption, and wrote him a letter of three 
 foolscap pages, of a most inflammatory and 
 " aggravating " description. In this I larded 
 the leanness of my own composition by 
 copious quotations from Lindley Murray and 
 
 vol. I. D
 
 50 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 Tooke's " Pantheon ;" all tending to liken 
 him to one of those powerful and ruthless 
 tyrants who, in the olden time, took a 
 pleasure in baffling the wishes and blighting 
 the happiness of sighing Strephons and of 
 ladies fair. 
 
 The consequence of this precocious and 
 pugnacious proceeding, was that I found my- 
 self, one fine morning, in close arrest ; a sentry 
 was placed at my door, and old Rivet, the 
 adjutant, having marched off with my sword, 
 soon after marched back with a list of charges 
 to be preferred against me, as long as my arm. 
 Sir George had doubtless laughed at my boyish 
 folly, for I had actually only completed my 
 fifteenth year, but thought it necessary to give 
 me at least a salutary fright on the occasion. 
 
 In the pride of composition, and to give 
 due force to my philippic, I had written 
 it in a very antithetical style, which has 
 since been adopted by the erudite author 
 of " Lacon ;" so that it was, in fact,
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 51 
 
 nothing more or less than a string of about 
 twenty epigrams put together as chance 
 directed. 
 
 My own style was now retorted on me ; 
 every epigram produced a separate charge, 
 and every charge began with the awful pre- 
 amble : " For conduct unbecoming the 
 character of an officer and a gentleman, 
 and highly subversive of military discipline." 
 Every paragraph of my unfortunate epistle 
 was ingeniously discovered to be an infraction 
 of some specific article of war ; in short, the 
 whole mutiny-act seemed to have been de- 
 vised and invented solely to preclude the 
 possibility of my becoming commander-in- 
 chief, or marrying an heiress. 
 
 I leave my readers to judge of the con- 
 sternation I was in at the formidable array of 
 pains and penalties I had so inadvertently 
 incurred ; for I had never anticipated a legal 
 proceeding on the part of Sir George, who 
 was certainly bound by all the laws of honour 
 to settle the affair in a gentlemanly manner, 
 
 D 2 
 
 DIVERSITY OF 
 
 ILLINOIS ,,n .
 
 52 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 with coffee and pistols. As the case stood, 
 however, shooting and quartering was the 
 most merciful sentence I could possibly ex- 
 pect ; and the idea of quitting this best of 
 all possible worlds, when I was only, as it 
 were, on the very threshold, put me into a 
 most horrible fright. My hair, it is true, did 
 not turn grey, at least perceptibly, owing to 
 the quantity of powder I wore ; but I'll ven- 
 ture to say that, w r ere it not for the stringent 
 mass of pomatum which was then de 
 rigueur, it would have stood on end, " like 
 quills upon the fretful porcupine," even to 
 the very extremity of my false queue. 
 
 Old Rivet, the adjutant, whose heart was 
 as hard as the nether millstone, and unfeeling 
 as the halbert from which he had just been 
 promoted, " grinned horribly a ghastly smile " 
 at the impression he had made, and duly 
 reported my fallen estate to my powerful 
 oppressor. This fell tyrant, as I deemed 
 him, had the cruelty to leave me in an agony 
 of suspense for a whole week ; during which
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 53 
 
 I was quizzed to death by my brother officers, 
 and confined to my barrack-room, which 
 seemed worse than Trenck's dungeon, or 
 Dante's " Inferno," " where hope never 
 comes." Talk of the Black Hole of Calcutta ! 
 it was a breezy mountain top compared to my 
 den ; for though door and window were thrown 
 open, the grim aspect of the sentinel at my 
 threshold, and the wicked leering of the 
 drummer-boys as they passed, made my 
 heart swell like a mountain in my breast ; 
 till, at length, I actually felt as if the atmos- 
 pheric air had been totally exhausted by an 
 air-pump, as I had recently seen done to a 
 poor frog in an experiment, and that the 
 elastic fluids contained in the finer vessels of 
 my agonised frame were every instant on the 
 point of explosion. 
 
 When the vengeance of my ruthless foe 
 was at length fully satiated, I was allowed to 
 sing my Palinodia; and, at a full mess-meeting, 
 I had the gratification of swallowing my con- 
 founded epistle, paragraph by paragraph; every
 
 54 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 gulp being accompanied by a suitable repri- 
 mand and admonition from my triumphant 
 rival ; who soon after, to cap the climax of 
 my defeat, had the additional pleasure of 
 marrying the heiress who had been the inno- 
 cent cause of my disgrace.
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 55 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 BARRACK SCENES. 
 
 The sufferings occasioned by this " heavy 
 blow and great discouragement "of my first 
 attempt at literary composition, wrung from 
 me, in the bitterness of my soul, a vow never 
 to be guilty of a similar transgression ; and 
 so violent was the shock my nervous system 
 underwent on the occasion, that for many 
 months after, I never committed myself to 
 paper in any more elaborate production than 
 a guard-report, or an innocent love-letter — I 
 say innocent — for as yet all my effusions in 
 this way were of the high-heroic cast, and
 
 56 PERCY BLAKE, 
 
 but little calculated to do any mischief, even 
 to the most tender-hearted inamorata. 
 
 But I shall not trouble the reader with all 
 the absurdities I committed, before contact 
 with the world had somewhat licked me into 
 shape ; for it was now but too apparent that 
 I had rushed into a superior phase of existence, 
 with all the ignorance and conceit of those 
 precocious boys embalmed in Punch's im- 
 mortal page. One practical joke, however, I 
 must not omit, which was played off against 
 me at this time, and which was not altogether 
 devoid of salutary consequences. 
 
 I had taken such a disgust to my barrack- 
 room, from my recent confinement, that I 
 went to reside for a time in lodgings ; and, 
 as ill-luck would have it, pitched upon one 
 not far from the barracks, which was kept by 
 a buxom little grass widow, whose husband 
 had recently left her, and who was, therefore, 
 compelled, as a pis aller, to take in single 
 gentlemen, and do for them. 
 
 I take heaven to witness, that my thoughts
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 57 
 
 were most particularly innocent when I entered 
 upon the establishment of Mrs. Dawkins ; for 
 the idea of trespassing on the domain of 
 another, never once tarnished my imagina- 
 tion. My brother officers, however, who 
 were constantly dropping in upon me, to have 
 a chat with my hostess, either were, or affected 
 to be, of a different opinion ; and were con- 
 stantly rallying me on my good taste, on the 
 tact with which I could choose a quarter, on 
 the tidy manner in which my menage was 
 conducted, and a variety of other topics of a 
 similar tendency. I must, however, admit 
 that my little grass widow gave some colour 
 to these insinuations, by unguardedly praising 
 to my wild companions the gentleness of my 
 manners, and the beautiful style in which I 
 played the flute. 
 
 All this came in due time to the ears of 
 our lieutenant-colonel, the Hon. Thomas 
 Foley, who, not to speak irreverently of the 
 aristocracy, was the most perfect devil I ever 
 met with ; that is to say, though a high- 
 
 D 3
 
 58 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 principled, talented, and well-educated man, 
 he drank more wine than a dozen, without 
 being tipsy ; he was a desperate, but most 
 honourable gambler, and he talked in his 
 cups more horrible stuff than ever was uttered 
 at a " boozing ken " in St. Giles'. He was, 
 however, a general favourite, who loved to 
 play the boy as well as any of us ; and such 
 was the singularly juvenile cast and expression 
 of his features, that, when surrounded, as he 
 generally was, by a host of young fellows, he 
 might very well be taken for an overgrown 
 junior ensign. 
 
 This eccentric scion of nobility thought it 
 was an opportunity not to be overlooked to 
 have a little fun at my expense ; for he had 
 taken a fancy to me, and loved to get me 
 into scrapes, for the pleasure of getting me 
 out of them. He led me into a duel once, 
 and was my friend on the occasion, when 
 my adversary and I fired seven shots each 
 without hitting, though at ten paces. The 
 considerate Foley then declared that enough
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 59 
 
 had been done for honour, and insisted on 
 our shaking hands, which we accordingly 
 did. The sagacious reader will doubtless 
 understand that the seconds, in loading, had 
 left out the bullets ; a fact of which all 
 parties were cognizant but myself. 
 
 In this present scheme against my happi- 
 ness, Colonel Foley found a ready assistant 
 in our paymaster, Davis, who had originally 
 been an attorney at Leominster, and who, in 
 the hope of one day or other representing that 
 snug borough in parliament, was always de- 
 lighted to be the agent of a little safe devilry to 
 gratify men who had paramount interest there- 
 in. This cunning accountant prepared the 
 scenery and machinery of the drama, and by his 
 legal knowledge effectually completed my 
 mystification. 
 
 Accordingly, one evening when Colonel 
 Foley, Davis, two or three others and myself 
 had outsat the moderates, and were just 
 commencing on our fourth whip — by the 
 way, it may be necessary to explain the
 
 60 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 meaning of this term. Know then, gentle 
 reader, that, on ordinary days when no 
 strangers were present, and the usual mess 
 allowance of a pint of wine each had heen dis- 
 cussed, of which due notice was always given 
 by signal from the vice-president, a second 
 would perhaps be placed upon the table, and 
 those only who chose to partake of it would 
 remain. After this an empty wine glass 
 was sent round, and those who wished to 
 sit longer put in a shilling each for an addi- 
 tional allowance. This was called " whipping ;" 
 the mess-waiter took the money, fresh bottles 
 were placed upon the table, and the company 
 closed up to the president, to enjoy a still 
 more social chat till bed-time. 
 
 This was the position in which we were 
 on the present occasion: the generous juice 
 had made me eloquent, and I was discours- 
 ing very largely on the ordinary topics of 
 women, war and wine; when the mess- 
 room door opened, and in walked two very 
 suspicious-looking fellows, muffled up in
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 61 
 
 wrap-rascals, with each a huge bludgeon in 
 his hand. They made directly up to me, 
 and each tapping me on a shoulder, as if 
 " to make assurance doubly sure," one of 
 them, handed me a partly printed, partly 
 written paper, and said : 
 
 " Ensign Blake, I arrests you in the king's 
 name, and in wartue of this here latitat." 
 
 I mechanically took the paper, the awful 
 title of which gave me a considerable shock, 
 though I was by no means clear as to its signi- 
 fication. It might be a mittimus to Newgate 
 for robbery, or a state-w T arrant to the Tower 
 for high treason ; but which of these two 
 delinquencies I had been guilty of, I could not 
 at the moment tell : in my perplexity I kept 
 gazing with mouth wide open on the intruders 
 and on my brother officers alternately, but I 
 could not utter a word to save my life. 
 
 At length Colonel Foley very kindly in- 
 terfered in my behalf, and sternly rebuked 
 the men for daring to intrude on the mess- 
 room of his Majesty's troops : but they very
 
 62 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 stiffly said they knew what they were about ; 
 they had the law on their side, and they never 
 cared nothing, not they, for nobody's big looks. 
 
 " Let us hear then, what it's all about," 
 said the colonel. 
 
 " Had you not better read the latitat ?" 
 suggested Davis. 
 
 " Good gracious !" said the colonel, perusing 
 it, and mumbling to himself, " distrain ye the 
 goods and chattels — criminal conversation — 
 Dorothy Dawkins, &c, &c, that is altogether 
 beyond my interference. I was in hopes it 
 was only a simple caption for a paltry debt or 
 so, instead of an action by Jeremiah Dawkins. " 
 
 " Very serious, Sir," said Davis, shaking 
 his head and sipping his wine. " Banco 
 regis, a very serious matter indeed." 
 
 " Unlawful communication," said the 
 colonel, " with a femme converter 
 
 " Destitution of marital rights and com- 
 forts," chimed in Davis. 
 
 " Damages laid at five thousand pounds !" 
 said the colonel.
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 63 
 
 " But my dear colonel," I at length 
 gasped out, " my dear Davis, I know no 
 more about Dorothy Dawkins than you do." 
 
 " Pray, Sir," said the colonel, drawing him- 
 self up with great hauteur; " don't attempt to 
 implicate me in so disgraceful a transaction." 
 
 " For my part," said Davis, " I wash 
 my hands of the shocking affair altogether." 
 
 " My dear Richardson, my dear Jenkins," 
 I said, appealing to the others. 
 
 " It's a very ugly business," said Richard- 
 son ; " that I must say, though you are my 
 friend." 
 
 " Hang me," said Jenkins, " if I'd stand 
 in your shoes for a trifle." 
 
 " My good fellows," I exclaimed turning 
 round to the bailiffs, " I'm perfectly innocent, 
 'pon my honour." 
 
 " Gammon !" said one, putting his ongue 
 in his cheek. 
 
 " You look like it," said the other, with a 
 diabolical leer. 
 
 "I take heaven to witness," I exclaimed,
 
 64 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 casting up my hands and eyes devoutly to 
 the ceiling, that Dorothy Dawkins may be a 
 Vestal-virgin for anything I know to the 
 contrary." 
 
 "Oh, oh, oh!" cried some. "Shame! 
 shame !" cried others. 
 
 " But where on earth," I exclaimed, with 
 a look of profound despair, " where am I to 
 get five thousand pounds ?" 
 
 " There's the Kilkenny estate, you know/' 
 said the colonel, " of which you talked so 
 much this evening." 
 
 " Tis gone long ago," \ replied, " with 
 that humbugging James the Second." 
 
 " And that beautiful piece of bog land on 
 Slieve na Muck" observed Davis. 
 
 " It's mortgaged," I said, " for more than 
 it's worth." 
 
 " Come, come," said the principal bailiff, 
 " we can't wait here no longer, not for no- 
 body. So put on your hat, and go along 
 with us ; we have a po-chay at the door, 
 quite handy."
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 65 
 
 " But my good fellows, I'm innocent," I 
 exclaimed. 
 
 " You can tell that to the judges, or the 
 marines, if you like," said the tipstaff, " but 
 in the meanwhile you must go to quod." 
 
 I threw another imploring glance upon the 
 colonel, upon Davis, upon Richardson, upon 
 Jenkins ; but they all sat like so many 
 statues, with their eyes fixed upon the 
 ceiling, and J saw that the case was hopeless. 
 
 ". Confound the fellow!" I said, "why 
 doesn't Jeremiah Dawkins call me out, and 
 vindicate his injured honour, like a man ?" 
 
 " There, gentlemen," said the bailiff, " I 
 call you all to witness he has confessed his 
 guilt." 
 
 " I have done no such thing," I cried. 
 
 " Yes you did," said the bailiff's assistant ; 
 " you said as how you injured the poor man's 
 honour." 
 
 " Oh ! oh ! shame ! shame !" exclaimed 
 my brother officers una voce, 
 
 " I said nothing of the kind," I cried,
 
 66 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 tears of shame and indignation starting from 
 my eyes ; " but if he fancies I have injured 
 his honour, I'll give him satisfaction this 
 instant ; and I'll give him three shots to 
 one, rather than go to your infernal banco 
 regis." 
 
 " We have nothing to do with that ;" 
 said the bailiff doggedly. " Our orders is 
 to seize your corpus, and go with us you 
 must." 
 
 With a heavy heart, I accordingly pre- 
 pared to accompany the myrmidons of the 
 law ; and we had actually reached the door, 
 when the colonel called out in a voice 
 evidently stifled with deep emotion : 
 
 " Stop for a moment." 
 
 The bailiffs accordingly stopped, and came 
 to where the colonel was sitting. 
 
 "After all," said Foley, when he had 
 somewhat recovered himself, " this is a bail- 
 able offence, even supposing it to have been 
 committed." 
 
 " It never was committed, my dear colonel,"
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 67 
 
 I exclaimed ; " I pledge you my word of 
 honour." 
 
 " Pray," resumed the colonel, " what 
 amount of security do you require for Mr. 
 Blake's appearance, when called upon to 
 answer the charge in the Court of King's 
 Bench ?" 
 
 " We cannot take a farthing less, your 
 worship," said the bailiff, " than the full 
 amount of the damages laid." 
 
 " Tis a heavy sum to be bound in," said 
 the colonel, with a deep sigh ; " but rather 
 than see my friend in jail, I'll risk it, though 
 'tis every fraction of ready I have in the 
 world." 
 
 I threw myself into the arms of the 
 generous Foley, and vowed eternal gratitude 
 for his goodness. 
 
 " Davis," said the colonel, " be good enough 
 to go and draw up the bail bonds, and I'll 
 sign them at once, before the affair gets 
 wind." 
 
 The paymaster accordingly withdrew with
 
 68 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 his worthy instruments, and, to my great 
 comfort, I saw no more of them. I sat 
 down, of course, to another bottle with my 
 generous deliverer; to whom, in the over- 
 flowings of my heart, I made an ample con- 
 fession of all my peccadilloes. 
 
 I was assisted home about the small hours 
 by Tom King, who put me to bed ; and the 
 next morning I awoke with a splitting head- 
 ache, and a misty consciousness of something 
 like a frightful night-mare.
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 69 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 NORMAN CROSS. 
 
 In a few days the roguery oozed out ; and 
 as Dr. Prolix would say, it caused a great 
 laugh at the time. I had my revenge, how- 
 ever, at a subsequent period, at least on the 
 paymaster, for his accomplice was too good a 
 fellow to bear malice against ; but for a long 
 time after I was never called anything but 
 Dorothy Dawkins. 
 
 This custom of giving nick-names, by 
 the bye, prevailed very much amongst us 
 young fellows at that time, as indeed it may 
 to this day for anything I know to the
 
 70 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 contrary. One of my brother subalterns, who 
 walked in a strange sidelong manner, we 
 always called Right-shoulders-forward ; an- 
 other who, with his hands in his pockets, 
 made an incessant jerking motion with his 
 elbows, we called Shuffle-the-wind : a third, a 
 tall, lanky fellow, with a receding forehead and 
 a wide mouth always open, and uttering turkey- 
 like sounds, we called Hobble-gobbleum ; and 
 a fourth, who was certainly more like 
 a pioneer than a gentleman, we nicknamed 
 Shoulder-your-shovel. Our quarter-master 
 was a remarkably stiff skeleton figure, and 
 had several deep blue marks on his face, from 
 the explosion of a cartridge when he was in 
 the ranks : we called him Starch-and-blue ; 
 and the sobriquet derived considerable 
 piquancy from the fact that his wife had been 
 a washerwoman ; while our adjutant never 
 went by any other name than that of Mind- 
 to-move-forward ! this being the very mystical 
 caution with which he invariably prefaced 
 the word " march I" We were so much in
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 71 
 
 the habit of calling our drill-sergeant Marshal 
 Saxe, that it rather mystified a young fellow 
 who had recently joined, and who, in all 
 seriousness begged the colonel one day on 
 parade, to exempt him from further drill, as 
 he had been told he was quite perfect. 
 
 " Who told you so ?" asked the colonel, 
 incredulously. 
 
 " Marshal Saxe, Sir/' replied Johnny New- 
 come, amidst a general roar of laughter. 
 
 But these are boyish recollections unworthy 
 of this scientific and utilitarian age ; when the 
 youth of Great Britain, though still in their 
 teens, are deep in the mysteries of steam- 
 ships, rail-roads and money questions ; work- 
 ing to a thread-paper their organ of acquisi- 
 tiveness, and deigning to converse, in their 
 convivial moments, about nothing but nuggets, 
 cast iron, and gold dust. Yes, boyish recol- 
 lections they doubtless are ; but I can never 
 forget that they refer to those beardless youths 
 who smote the hairy warriors of Gaul, and 
 broke their golden idol with the feet of clay
 
 72 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 — those laughing, tender offspring of fond 
 mothers, who bore with unflinching spirit 
 the march, the bivouac, and the battle-field ; 
 and whose blood, freely and fearlessly shed on 
 many a distant soil, has preserved to " merrie 
 England " her happy homes and altars free, 
 her maids and matrons unscared by the rude 
 glance of foreign soldiery, and her countless 
 treasures safe from the greedy grasp of con- 
 tinental despots. 
 
 The first few months of my noviciate passed 
 thus pleasantly at Chelmsford, in the per- 
 formance of easy duties, and the society of my 
 brother officers, and the wives of the few who 
 were married; for we had but little inter- 
 course with the surrounding gentry, who, 
 generally speaking, kept aloof from us birds of 
 passage with the cold formality peculiar to the 
 English character. This was a circumstance 
 that struck me with amazement, accustomed 
 as I had been from my earliest years to see 
 the military courted and caressed in my own 
 country, and treated with that unbounded
 
 PERCY BLAKE. / o 
 
 hospitality for which it was so remarkable in 
 its days of comparative prosperity ; for there, 
 alas ! prosperity is a comparative, not a 
 positive good. 
 
 Much of this precious period was, I shame 
 to confess it, squandered in idle pleasures and 
 trivial amusements ; but our youth is spent in 
 killing time, and our age in repenting of the 
 murder. Amongst these, the billiard-room 
 had its usual attractions ; and there I was 
 fleeced by my friend Richardson and others, 
 till at length I myself became an adept, and 
 might have fleeced tyros in turn, which I am 
 happy to say I never did. 1 loved the game 
 for its own sake, as one essentially military in 
 its character, being highly suggestive of 
 thought, combination and enterprise ; but 
 when it was debased to a mere money- 
 grubbing speculation, it lost its noble impulse, 
 in my eyes, and its fascination greatly 
 diminished, though it still made deep inroads 
 on my time. 
 
 Fortunately, however, from my earliest 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 74 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 recollection 1 have been under the influence of 
 three great passions, or hobbies, call them 
 which you will, viz., books, music, and 
 painting ; and I cannot recommend to young 
 military men three safer, or more agreeable 
 companions. My absolute devotion to these 
 amusements, for I dare not call them studies, 
 saved me from becoming a mere vapid idler ; 
 and I can safely say that the long hours I 
 passed in my own barrack-room during the 
 winter evenings, when others were at the 
 bottle, or the billiard-room, were, at once, the 
 most delightful and instructive of my other- 
 wise monotonous existence. At first, I was 
 somewhat quizzed and laughed at by my 
 young companions, for this solitary indulgence 
 in what they called gammon ; but in time I 
 came to be considered a clever sort of fellow, 
 being smart at repartee, fearless in expressing 
 my opinions, and an especial good scribe at a 
 court-martial. I soon became very expert in 
 this way, principally from the idleness of my 
 fellow members, who were always glad
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 75 
 
 to give me a monopoly of this " horrid 
 bore." 
 
 By the time I was dismissed from drill, and 
 declared by Marshal Saxe to be a very credit- 
 able specimen of a Light Bob, we got the 
 route for Norman Cross. This being a new 
 phase in my existence, I was all in a bustle to 
 prepare for the march ; packing and unpacking 
 my trunks, so that, on a sudden emergency, 
 they might not resemble the midshipman's 
 chest where everything was uppermost, and 
 nothing at hand ; and arranging my canteen so 
 as to make the greatest quantity of breakfast 
 and tea-equipage fit into the smallest possible 
 compass. Then I had to get a box made for 
 my camp-bed and bedding ; and to have it 
 painted of a deep slate colour, with my name, 
 rank and regiment at full length in large white 
 letters on the top. Then I bought a hollow 
 boot-tree, in whose capacious womb my 
 boot-jack, brushes and blacking were com- 
 pactly stowed ; while for my pistols and gun- 
 case, T had strongcanvass covers manufactured, 
 
 E 2
 
 76 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 and painted the exact ditto of my bed-box. 
 In all these matters, which served me for a 
 sort of jubilee, I was eminently assisted by my 
 valet in ordinary, Tom King, who was a most 
 handy, experienced and obliging fellow ; 
 though he did possess one or two unpleasant 
 peculiarities, of which hereafter. 
 
 But the most disagreeable part of all this 
 was the delivering over of my barrack-room ; 
 a ceremony very repugnant to my rooted 
 prejudice against every thing that had an air 
 of business, but which I was recommended 
 by some of the old hands to superin- 
 tend myself, and I soon found out the reason 
 why. 
 
 The evening before we marched, in walked 
 the barrack-master sergeant, with an ominous 
 aspect, and note-book and pencil in hand, to 
 take an inventory of breakages, deficiencies 
 and holes in the wall. He was accompanied 
 by our quarter-master sergeant, who might be 
 looked upon as plenipotentiary for my behoof ; 
 though I thought I detected something like
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 77 
 
 collusion and undue fellow-feeling in the course 
 of the proceedings. 
 
 These two high functionaries having first 
 taken a general survey of my establishment 
 which was, I confess, in an awful state of con- 
 fusion, looked at each other with a furtive 
 smile, and then proceeded to note down the 
 discrepancies in detail. 
 
 " This coal-box," said the barrack-sergeant, 
 " is broken all to smash, with something like 
 shot holes." 
 
 " Yes," I said, " last rainy day we set it up 
 as a target for a pistol match. T wasn't bad 
 practice, as you see ; I hit the bull's eye five 
 times running." 
 
 " One, two, five, seven, eleven, fifteen, five 
 and twenty," said the honest sergeant as he 
 counted, " it must have a new bottom alto- 
 gether." 
 
 " Very well," I said, " put that down to me, 
 and go on." 
 
 " This table is all ricketty," said the
 
 78 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 sergeant, " and two of the chairs have only 
 three legs between them." 
 
 " Well," I said, " charge me with the 
 repairs, for they're very useful in our gym- 
 nastics : but make haste, for there goes the 
 first dinner bugle." 
 
 This injunction, I thought, had an opposite 
 effect ; for the barrack-sergeant began very 
 deliberately to count the holes in the wall 
 where I had nailed up pictures of all sorts and 
 sizes, changing their position every now and 
 then as whim or fancy dictated. 
 
 " As I am a living man," said the sergeant, 
 with a deep inspiration, " there are one 
 hundred and fifty nail-holes in this wall alone." 
 
 " Well," I said, " clap 'em all down, and 
 don't bother me any more about them." 
 
 " And on the opposite wall," said the 
 sergeant, " are three large frisky paintings, 
 red, yellow, green and black." 
 
 " Those fresco paintings," I said, " as you 
 are pleased to call them, I leave there for
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 79 
 
 the amusement and instruction of the next 
 comer." 
 
 " 'Twill cost me three shillings in yellow 
 oker and whitewash," said the sergeant, " to 
 rub them all out." 
 
 This was the cavalier manner in which the 
 Vandal treated my artistic lucubrations; which, 
 though very tolerable landscapes, were not, I 
 confess, anything to be compared to some 
 beautiful chalk drawings I often subsequently 
 admired in a barrack-room at Ipswich ; the 
 production of Sir Robert Kerr Porter, when a 
 captain in the Leicester militia, and which 
 were allowed to remain on the walls as fine 
 specimens of his genius. 
 
 "Now, here are three panes of glass 
 cracked," said the sergeant, " and one out 
 altogether." 
 
 " I flung my boot through that an hour 
 ago," I said, " at Hobble-Gobbleum, for 
 making faces at me." 
 
 " Then," said the sergeant, " the poker is 
 bent like the letter S ; the tongs are minus
 
 80 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 one leg ; the fender is crushed down as flat as 
 a pancake, and the bellows has lost its nozzle, 
 and has fifty air-holes in it besides." 
 
 It was, in fact, a wheezy and asthmatical 
 old concern, that gave out wind everywhere 
 but where it was wanted. 
 
 " And I'm dashed !" said the sergeant with 
 a fearful oath, " if this fire-shovel isn't burnt 
 down to the size of a mustard spoon. All 
 along, I dare to say, of melting lead to cast 
 bullets with." 
 
 "Well," I replied, "'twas the handiest 
 thing I could find for the purpose." 
 
 " And somebody," continued the sergeant, 
 " has been boring a lot of holes in the floor, 
 making ghosts, I suppose, with the red-hot 
 poker." 
 
 At this moment the second bugle sounded 
 for dinner : snatching up my forage cap, for 
 I had some friends at the mess, I ran off, 
 leaving the two sergeants alone in their glory ; 
 and under their considerate management my 
 barrack damages cost me only fifty shillings !
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 81 
 
 1ST imp or te ! We're on the road, and hey 
 for change and variety, new scenes, new faces, 
 and fresh adventures; all so delightful to 
 unreflecting youth — yea, and to sober age also, 
 as I myself can testify in this my grand 
 climacteric, when the tap of the drum, or the 
 merry bugle note, echoing through the wood- 
 land, sends the blood in a tumultuous current 
 back to my heart, and I long for the times of 
 old — " the deeds of the days of other 
 years !" 
 
 Of all parties of pleasure, give me a march 
 in happy England ; not, as it is now too 
 often performed, on the abominable railway, 
 but along the smooth carriage roads of 
 ancient times ; with their toll-bars, their 
 smiling cottages, their way-side inns en- 
 veloped in vines, their honeysuckle hedges, 
 their bordering meadows and overhanging 
 elms and beeches ; amidst which the soldiers 
 tramp along at a steady pace in column of 
 subdivisions, singing their quaint songs, or 
 laughing with reckless glee at some biting 
 
 e 3
 
 82 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 jest or merry story ; their officers jogging on 
 beside them in little groups, indulging in 
 friendly chat, or flirting with the rosy-cheeked 
 maidens, whose road may happen to lie in 
 the same direction; while, ever and anon, 
 entering some village or rural town, the 
 ranks close up, stragglers hasten to join their 
 companies, the officers resume their places, 
 arms are sloped, and the band in front striking 
 up some merry quick-step, fatigue and sore feet 
 are forgotten, and every man is a hero, at 
 least in his own unprejudiced mind. 
 
 Our marches, which rarely exceeded 
 twenty miles a day, were generally com- 
 pleted before breakfast; though we some- 
 times breakfasted at some rural hostelry, 
 which was in itself a source of no small 
 amusement, from the bustle and confusion 
 into w T hich all were thrown to provide for so 
 large a party. The remainder of the day we 
 had for rest and amusement ; and our excel- 
 lent mess being established at the principal 
 hotel of our halt, we spent our evenings like
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 83 
 
 gentlemen who devoted their hearts to the 
 fair, and their lives to their king and country. 
 In this manner, we were not long in reaching 
 Norman Cross, that once-celebrated military 
 station, whose extensive site is now, doubt- 
 less, crowned with waving fields of corn, or 
 bristly stubble, as the season may happen to 
 be ; though it was then a cantonment occu- 
 pied' by twelve thousand .beings full of life, 
 high hope, and unconquerable spirit. 
 
 Of these, upwards of eight thousand were 
 French prisoners, of all ranks, naval and 
 military, horse, foot, and artillery : the rest 
 were their guards ; consisting of five or six 
 splendid regiments of militia, of which mine 
 was by no means the least conspicuous, for 
 its numerical strength and superior discipline. 
 This celebrated station covered many acres 
 of ground, the inner portion of which, con- 
 stituting the prison, was divided into four 
 quadrangles ; these were surrounded by high 
 palisades, placed one foot apart, and were 
 separated from each other by broad avenues ;
 
 84 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 the whole being commanded by a lofty 
 wooden building, mounting a dozen four- 
 pounder swivel guns, which was called the 
 block-house, and was situated in the centre, 
 at the intersection of the avenues. The 
 barracks of the garrison formed external 
 quadrangles of vast extent, palisaded also 
 towards the country. They comprised 
 quarters for four thousand men, with large 
 barrack-yards, stables, cooking-houses, and 
 other out-offices ; the whole establishment 
 being built of wood, tarred and painted, and 
 looking compact and comfortable. 
 
 Each of the inner quadrangles was so 
 extensive as to permit the prisoners to 
 amuse themselves by walking, jumping, 
 fencing, and other healthful exercises, during 
 the day ; and at night they were all locked up 
 in lofty and well ventilated apartments, where 
 the only inconvenience they experienced was 
 want of room. From the great increase in 
 their numbers latterly, this inconvenience at 
 length amounted to a positive evil. Their
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 85 
 
 mattresses were laid upon the floor, and when 
 they retired to rest, they were jammed so close 
 together that no individual person could turn 
 from one side to the other, without the con- 
 currence of the whole. 
 
 To remedy so great an evil, these ingenious 
 fellows entered into a treaty offensive and 
 defensive ; by virtue of which a timesman was 
 appointed by general consent, whose duty it 
 was when they had lain for a certain period on 
 one side, to cry out with a loud voice 
 " Tournez !" on which the whole company by 
 a simultaneous movement, was to make an 
 immediate change of position. This was 
 certainly not very pleasant during the heat of 
 the weather, and it was particularly irksome 
 to those who did not awake at the critical 
 moment of turning : but custom soon recon- 
 ciled them to it ; and they at length became so 
 expert, that frequently the word of command 
 was given, and the change of position made, 
 without a single individual being disturbed 
 from his slumbers by the operation.
 
 86 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 With the exception of being thus packed up 
 as close as sprats in a barrel, our prisoners 
 were comfortable enough at Norman Cross ; 
 and instead of fretting themselves to fiddle- 
 strings by reflecting on their helpless condi- 
 tion, and vainly attempting to escape, as is the 
 case with Englishmen similarly situated, they 
 endeavoured to banish care by employment. 
 Some of them taught French, dancing and 
 fencing, while others manufactured a variety 
 of toys from the bones of their meat, and the 
 straw of their mattresses, which were eagerly 
 purchased by the visiters of the prison. These 
 were numerous, and comprised all the gentle 
 and simple inhabitants of the country round ; 
 the officers of the garrison and their wives and 
 daughters, together with casual travellers, 
 whose curiosity led them to view a place of 
 such celebrity. 
 
 With all these, the prisoners held constant 
 communication, between the palisades of their 
 respective quadrangles ; whither fond mothers 
 went to purchase a spinning-jenny, or a rattle
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 87 
 
 for their noisy darlings ; doting fathers to buy 
 an ivory guillotine, or ship model for their 
 hopeful heirs ; country Strephons to present 
 their rural belles with a gage d? amour, a 
 needle-case in the shape of Cupid's quiver, 
 or a work-box of sandal-wood beautifully 
 ornamented in classical designs with painted 
 straw and bits of looking-glass ; while curious 
 travellers flocked thither to pick up a memo* 
 rial of the strange sights they had seen. 
 All the world, in short, went to see the 
 French prisoners, to profit by their instruction, 
 or to avail themselves of their ingenuity ; and, 
 at the time we arrived there, Norman Cross 
 presented less the appearance of a prison than 
 a fair. 
 
 Amongst others, I availed myself of the 
 opportunity to renew my French studies, 
 which I prosecuted with much success. I 
 also became a good fencer, and made con- 
 siderable progress in Spanish, many of the 
 prisoners having served in the first army of 
 occupation sent by Napoleon to the Peninsula.
 
 88 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 But that which I found of most essential 
 service to me at a subsequent period was 
 Freemasonry, into the sovereign mysteries of 
 which 1 was duly inducted in an excellent 
 Lodge held in the garrison. I am somewhat 
 particular in noticing all these points, which I 
 strongly recommend to the consideration and 
 adoption of such aspiring young heroes as 
 may honour this book with a perusal. 
 
 At Norman Cross we were close to that 
 great hunting country Leicestershire ; and but 
 a few miles from Whittlesea Mere, whose 
 sedgy surface I have often ploughed with 
 adventurous punt, while shooting ducks and 
 widgeons. At Peterborough, we enjoyed all 
 the amusements of that pretty little city, and 
 danced and flirted with its lovely fair ones ; 
 while, within one mile of our barracks lay the 
 village of Stilton, world-renowned for its 
 cheeses; though none of that excellent edible 
 is therein manufactured, being entirely the 
 produce of the neighbouring county of Leices- 
 ter. Stilton still occupies a verdant spot in
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 89 
 
 my memory's waste, as there for the first 
 time I fell seriously, deeply and irrevocably in 
 love. But this important epoch of my chequered 
 life is worthy of another chapter.
 
 90 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE FRENCH PRISONER. 
 
 This world, after all, is a mere phantasma- 
 goria ; or, as Lord Denman said of something 
 else, " a mockery, a delusion, and a snare." 
 When you fancy you are standing upon firm 
 ground, and have all your earthly wishes 
 within your grasp, the quicksand upon which 
 you build your " airy nothings" slides from 
 under your feet, and you are engulfed in a 
 maelstrom of blighted hopes, ardent longings 
 and anticipated joys. 
 
 When, or how it was that I first became 
 acquainted with Harriet Sibley I now forget,
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 91 
 
 but she soon became the ruling star of my 
 destiny. She was serious, romantic, and of a 
 high heroic cast of thought ; being thus, as it 
 were, a counterpart of myself. Her beauty 
 was not brilliant, but her features were pleasing 
 and expressive, and her figure symmetry 
 itself. Her sister Jane, on the contrary, was 
 very handsome, a pure blonde, and gay and 
 lively as the lark while it soars aloft and 
 " at heaven's gate sings" amidst ethereal sun- 
 shine. 
 
 These two fair sisters used frequently to 
 walk up to Norman Cross, which was situated 
 on a considerable elevation above the village 
 of Stilton, where they dwelt with their 
 widowed mother; and thus I had oppor- 
 tunities enough to advance my suit, which I 
 did with all the ardour of a boy of sixteen, 
 but without any of the dexterity that most 
 speedily wins the favour of the fair. I was, 
 however, the chosen beau and preux chevalier 
 of la belle Harriette, as she was denominated 
 by the French prisoners ; and though many of
 
 92 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 my brother officers tried to cut me out, by all 
 those means which are proverbially fair in love 
 and war, she still manifested a decided pre- 
 ference for me, which was repaid on my part 
 by the most delicate attentions and devoted 
 attachment ; but I never once ventured to ask 
 either her or myself how it was all to termi- 
 nate. 
 
 I remarked that in their progress with 
 other company through the avenues of the 
 prison, these dear sisters generally stopt for 
 some time at one particular stall; for the 
 prisoners were permitted to fix up narrow 
 boards, or counters, on the outside of their 
 palings, upon which they exposed their toys 
 of bone and straw for sale. This T at first 
 imagined was for the purpose of making 
 purchases; but I soon found there was 
 something else on the tapis, and that a certain 
 young Frenchman always gave them the ren- 
 dezvous at that identical spot, though ap- 
 parently, poor fellow, he had nothing either to 
 buy or sell.
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 93 
 
 He was a handsome, soldier-like fellow, 
 with a very threadbare frock coat, a smart 
 moustache, and a gold-laced forage cap, stuck 
 with a jaunty air on the side of his head. He 
 spoke English with fluency, and was evidently 
 altogether a person of superior rank to those 
 around him. In fact, I became jealous of this 
 Frenchman ; and for the first time in my life I 
 felt those pangs of the green-eyed monster 
 which have never been so truly and so fearfully 
 depicted as by the poet of all times and 
 nations. 
 
 My feelings soon became too powerful for 
 restraint ; they were speedily perceived by 
 Harriet, and were as speedily allayed by that 
 delightful tact which is peculiar to the sex. 
 By a fascinating freedom of tone and manner 
 in the presence of my fancied rival she, in a 
 moment, dispelled my fears ; and taking my 
 arm, the first time she had condescended to 
 so much familiarity, she walked up and down 
 the avenue with me, while I could perceive 
 her sister and Adolphe Berton, for so the
 
 94 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 Frenchman was called, in animated and 
 delighted conversation, tete-a-tete. 
 
 Thenceforward I became more reconciled 
 to and more intimate with the poor prisoner, 
 who had lost his liberty at the battle of 
 Vimiera, and was now pining his soul away 
 for the field of honor and the clash of arms. 
 One only source of comfort, if not of happi- 
 ness, he possessed in the love of Jane Sibley, 
 which he repaid with interest ; not only as a 
 means of present enjoyment, but as the instru- 
 ment of some ulterior advantage which he 
 doubtless had in contemplation. 
 
 Time now flew with me on eagle's pinions, 
 for I was perfectly happy and free from care. 
 My regimental and garrison duties were 
 performed with zeal and assiduity ; I was high 
 in estimation with the heads of the regiment, 
 and a favourite with my brother officers 
 generally : nay, I began to be talked of in the 
 garrison as a first-rate billiard and racket 
 player, a linguist, a good fencer, a crack-shot, 
 and a dashing horseman ; for though I kept
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 95 
 
 no cattle of my own, I hunted frequently 
 in Leicestershire with Colonel Foley and Lord 
 Rodney, and always rode their matches at the 
 Stamford races, where " Percy Blake" soon 
 became a " Household Word." Add to this, 
 there were few men in the garrison who could 
 out-walk, out-run, or out-jump me ; and 
 though my figure was slight and wiry, I could 
 pitch a light or a heavy stone with any 
 grenadier in the regiment, this being one item 
 in that system of specious idleness, the beset- 
 ting sin of the youth of Ireland. Then again, 
 I was the envy of my brother subs for being 
 all on velvet, as they termed it, with la belle 
 Harriett e ; and though my old tormentor 
 Davis now and then reminded me that I was 
 on the debit side of his ledger, an occasional 
 remittance from my brother always enabled 
 me to book up in time to save my credit, as 
 a guarantee for a future advance. 
 
 But still there was some little hitch in my 
 happiness that, like the ruthless gnaw in the 
 liver of an old Indian, I could not get over ;
 
 96 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 for it had been insinuated to me by some 
 good-natured friend, who was jealous of my 
 good fortune, that there was actually some 
 sort of engagement between Harriet and a 
 cousin of hers at Stamford ; a rich farmer and 
 manufacturer of the real, ripe and palmy Stil- 
 ton. It is true, he was represented to me as 
 very plain, round and squat, like his own 
 cheeses, with a huge shock head of red hair, 
 large green spectacles, and otherwise a guy ; 
 but the intelligence made me so uneasy that I 
 actually questioned Jane on the subject of this 
 reputed engagement. 
 
 " Well," she replied, "there is, or was some- 
 thing in the matter; for mamma was very 
 anxious about it, my cousin being very wealthy, 
 and having quite a splendid establish- 
 ment." 
 
 "And does he presume to aspire to Harriet?" 
 I demanded. 
 
 " Oh, most ardently," she replied with a 
 smile ; " even though he has heard of a certain 
 Hotspur from the sister island."
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 97 
 
 " And how does Harriet receive his ad- 
 dresses ?" I asked. 
 
 " She doesn't care about him," said Jane 
 naively, " especially since — ahem — but you 
 needn't trouble yourself about him." 
 
 " Especially since when ?" I eagerly de- 
 manded. 
 
 " I'll tell you another time," she replied in 
 some confusion, " but there's mamma calling 
 me in the garden." And off she ran. 
 
 " Especially since — !" Oh ! that excruci- 
 ating hiatus, which left me suspended between 
 the heaven of hope and the gulf of despair. 
 There was, however, something encouraging 
 in the half confidence with which I had been 
 favoured, and I mustered impudence enough, 
 when I met Harriet, to utter some stupid 
 witticisms about Wigsbys, milk-pans, cheese 
 vats, &c. ; which made her look excessively 
 grave, and put a sudden stop to our conversa- 
 tion. 
 
 For three or four days after this, I could not 
 get even a glimpse of my divinity, till at last I 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 98 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 began to think I had given her mortal offence, 
 and was revolving in my own mind whether 
 I should shoot myself or Wigsby, when a little 
 urchin from Stilton put a note into my hand, 
 and walked off without waiting for an answer. 
 
 I opened the missive, and found, to my 
 great delight, that it was from Harriet, 
 asking me to meet her that evening at a well- 
 known stile, midway between the village and 
 the Cross. 
 
 True to the touch, I was there at the 
 appointed hour, and had not long to wait for 
 my belle. She was accompanied by a little 
 brother and a huge Newfoundland dog, and 
 held out her hand to me as she approached ; 
 her charming face all radiant with mantling 
 smiles. We took a few turns across the 
 fields, and after mutual explanations and 
 concessions on my part, were once more 
 happy in each other's society. 
 
 " By the bye," she said, at parting, " I 
 have a small favour to ask of you." 
 
 " To command you mean, my dear Harriet,"
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 99 
 
 I exclaimed with energy, " Am I not your 
 knight, bound to obey your behest at peril of 
 life and limb ?" 
 
 " Nay, nay," she hastily replied ; " I would 
 not put you in peril for the world ;" and she 
 laid her hand upon mine with a gentle pres- 
 sure, smiling in my face as only a fond 
 woman knows how. 
 
 " Well, then," I said, as I conveyed her 
 hand to my lips, " tell me at once what I can 
 do for you." 
 
 " Tis merely," she replied, rather hesitating, 
 " to procure me the countersign for to-mor- 
 row night." 
 
 " Oh !" I cried laughing, " is that your 
 mighty request ? I confess you mortify me 
 most exceedingly." 
 
 " Nay," she said, " if it be inconvenient — " 
 
 " Not in the least, dearest," I replied. 
 " You shall have it to-morrow afternoon, the 
 moment I receive it myself." And we 
 parted. 
 
 It may, perhaps, be known to the reader 
 
 f 2
 
 100 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 that, in garrison towns duriug the war, and 
 especially at a place of so much consequence 
 as Norman Cross, all persons approaching 
 the post of a sentinel at night are challenged 
 to give the countersign, in default of which 
 they are arrested till they can satisfactorily 
 account for themselves. At the Cross, 
 where a tenfold vigilance was necessary, the 
 countersign for the night was not issued by 
 General Williams, the Commandant, till 
 late in the afternoon ; and then it was com- 
 municated' to the officers of the garrison 
 through their respective commanding officers, 
 in a little note sent to the mess-room. At 
 a convenient moment, when this note had been 
 seen by a sufficient number to give it circula- 
 tion, I seized it, galloped down to Stilton, put 
 the magic scroll into the fair hand of my 
 Harriet, and was amply repaid by a profusion 
 of thanks, and a shower of ethereal smiles. 
 
 It was stranger-night, and I sat late at the 
 mess, making arrangements for joining Sir 
 Gilbert Heathcote's hounds the following
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 101 
 
 day with Colonel Foley, and dining with 
 " The Hunt " after. When at last I sallied 
 forth to go to my own quarters, I found it 
 was blowing a gale of wind, and the old 
 wooden buildings were creaking in the blast. 
 It was, however, a fine clear night otherwise ; 
 the moon w T as struggling through a mass 
 of clouds that seemed shattered by the 
 tempest, and lit up the surrounding objects 
 with fitful gleams that vanished as suddenly 
 in the deepest gloom. Now I dearly love 
 this warring of the elements, when the 
 atmosphere is free from rain, while the 
 blustering wind braces the relaxed frame, and 
 stimulates the blood to redoubled action ; 
 therefore wrapping my cloak around me, 
 and strapping my forage-cap under my chin, 
 I determined to take a stroll to cool me a 
 little after a more than usual devotion to the 
 rosy god. 
 
 As I sauntered on, not knowing whither 
 to direct my steps, my ear was saluted by the 
 deep challenge of a sentry.
 
 102 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 " Who goes there ?" 
 
 " Friend !" I replied. 
 
 " Advance, friend," said the sentry, " and 
 give the countersign." 
 
 I advanced close up to the sentry, and 
 whispering the countersign in his ear, walked 
 on. 
 
 " Pass, friend !" cried the sentry, "and 
 all's well !" 
 
 This little scene reminded me of Harriet ; 
 and insensibly I strolled down the road to 
 Stilton ; cogitating, as I breasted the gale, on 
 the pleasant posture of my affairs, and com- 
 paring every sudden puff that assailed me to 
 some rude shock of fortune which it was my 
 duty and my pride to conquer. By the time 
 I had got to the end of a long imaginary 
 concatenation of fortuitous events, I passed 
 close in front of my charmer's residence, 
 which was only separated from the road by 
 an ornamental railing, and a narrow slip of 
 flower garden. 
 
 It was very late, but I could perceive
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 103 
 
 through a chink in the shutters, a light in 
 the parlour ; and wondering what could keep 
 them up at such an unseasonable hour, I 
 stopped for a moment. To my astonishment, I 
 heard a man's voice within ; and, instantly, 
 the demon of jealousy seized upon my soul, 
 for I could not suppose it to be any other 
 than my rival, Wigsby. 
 
 Warmed with wine, and excited by exercise, 
 I felt my passion mastering my reason, and I 
 determined to be satisfied, on the instant, 
 about this mysterious affair. I accordingly 
 rushed up to the door, and gave a loud single 
 knock, that I might not put them on their 
 guard, and enable Wigsby to escape. I had 
 to repeat it, however, before it was answered ; 
 and, when the servant girl saw who stood 
 before her, she gave a squeak, threw the door 
 in my face, and bolted off into the parlour. 
 1 instantly followed; and, before she had 
 time to fasten the door, I was in the apart- 
 ment, and found myself face to face with la 
 belle Harriette and that detestable Wigsby !
 
 104 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 I had never seen the fellow before, but 
 there could be no mistake in the matter, for 
 there was the punchy figure, with the large 
 green spectacles, and the horrid shock head of 
 red hair. They had been indulging, forsooth, 
 in a tete-a-tete, Miss Harriet being determined 
 to have two strings to her bow ; but, though 
 so palpably caught in flagrant delit, they 
 stood calm and collected before me. 
 
 " So, madam !" I exclaimed, as well as pas- 
 sion would permit my utterance, " I have at 
 length discoveredyour treachery and falsehood." 
 " Pray, sir," said Harriet, with the most 
 dignified hauteur, " how dare you presume 
 to enter this house at such an hour, and with 
 so little ceremony ?" 
 
 Her effrontery, I confess, somewhat abashed 
 
 me ; but, sustained by my passion, I replied : 
 
 " It was Providence that directed me 
 
 hither, to save me from misfortune and 
 
 disgrace." 
 
 " And now that you have attained your 
 object," retorted Harriet, while fire flashed
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 105 
 
 from her eyes, " be good enough to retire ; 
 for I have never given, and never shall give 
 you, any right whatever to dictate to me what 
 company I shall keep." 
 
 " Then, farewell," I cried, " for ever ; 
 false, perjured woman, since you have got 
 one that is evidently nearer and dearer to you 
 than I am." 
 
 " He is," she replied, with a faint, ambi- 
 guous smile, "justly dear; and, I hope, will 
 soon be nearer to me than he is at present." 
 
 " Harriet !" I cried, while tears of agony 
 gushed from my eyes, " you have em- 
 bittered my existence ; but I forgive, and 
 hope I shall soon forget you. As for this 
 cheese-making snob, I have all the mind in 
 the world to shake him out of his shoes." 
 
 Here 1 put my hand on Wigsby's breast, 
 to show how easily I could carry my threat 
 into execution ; but he grappled with me in 
 turn, and no longer master of myself, I shook 
 him till his red wig and green spectacles fell 
 off, and Adolphe Berton stood before me, 
 
 f 3
 
 106 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 while Harriet's shrieks brought in her mother 
 and sister. The latter exclaiming, " all is lost 
 and ruined !" fainted in the arms of her 
 lover. 
 
 For my part, I felt as if the crash of 
 thunder that was pealing outside had fallen 
 upon my devoted head ; and I stood amidst 
 the ruin I had caused in mute astonishment. 
 At length, Jane, having recovered from her 
 swoon, threw herself at my feet, and implored 
 my pity for her hapless lover, and her still 
 more unhappy self. Her mother knelt by 
 her side ; and finally Harriet, sinking on her 
 knees, took my hand, and bedewed it with 
 her eloquent tears. 
 
 I could hold out no longer : I grasped the 
 hand of the young Frenchman, who had 
 hitherto stood aloof in proud defiance, and 
 said: 
 
 " Berton, my duty forbids me to assist you 
 to escape, but I never, never will betray you." 
 
 " Generous enemy !" cried Berton, warmly 
 pressing my hands in his, " 1 thought you
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 107 
 
 had a noble heart. I now only hope that 
 fortune may one day put -it in my power to 
 requite you for this, and I swear to heaven 
 that I will not let the opportunity slip." 
 
 Fortune did put it in his power at a subse- 
 quent period in the Peninsula, and he nobly 
 redeemed his pledge. 
 
 We all sat down now, to calm our agitated 
 spirits, and wait the arrival of the mail which 
 was to bear Adolphe to London, where he 
 hoped to conceal himself till an opportunity 
 offered for returning to the continent. Mean- 
 while I was let into the secret of his escape. 
 
 When his fellow-prisoners were locked up 
 for the night, he had contrived, to evade the 
 vigilance of the turnkey, who, as it very often 
 happened, was somewhat fuddled; and he 
 remained outside in the quadrangle, concealing 
 himself, and awaiting a favourable moment to 
 proceed. Another piece of good fortune was 
 the sudden tempest that came on ; for amidst 
 the hurly-burly of the elements, he sawed 
 through one of the palings without being
 
 108 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 heard by any of the sentries. He was now 
 in the main central avenue of the prison, but 
 still he had many barriers, gateways, and lines 
 of sentinels to pass. Being furnished, how- 
 ever, through my unconscious means, with 
 the countersign, he boldly proceeded, and 
 passed all impediments without exciting the 
 least suspicion. He then hurried down to the 
 house of his mistress, which he entered in the 
 disguise of her cousin, in order to baffle the 
 surmises of all who might see him ; and so 
 well had he assumed the semblance of that 
 monster, that the servant girl herself was 
 imposed upon : hence her confusion, and the 
 squeak she gave on seeing me ; expecting a 
 disturbance, of course, when I should surprise 
 Miss Harriet with her country beau. 
 
 The mail at length arrived ; Berton de- 
 parted for London, and I bade adieu to my 
 sweet mistress, who said to me archly, as she 
 pressed my hand : 
 
 " I hope you are now effectually cured of 
 the ' green-eyed monster V "
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 109 
 
 CHAPTER VTTL 
 
 THE LANCASHIRE WITCHES. 
 
 Waking happiness does not always pro- 
 duce pleasant dreams, otherwise mine that 
 night would have been redolent of bliss ; for 
 I was conscious T had done a generous action, 
 by which two deserving individuals were 
 saved from misery, and I had a firm con- 
 viction in the attachment of my mistress. 
 Still, however, the spirit, as if prescient of 
 evil, struggled under its mystic conjunction 
 with matter, and the result was nightmare 
 and all the hag's attendant horrors. 
 
 In the morning, I was roused from a deep
 
 110 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 slumber by the voice of Richardson, who 
 rushing into my room, cried out in joyous 
 accents : 
 
 " Well, Percy my boy, you're in for a row 
 at last, when you least expect it." 
 
 " Good heavens !" I exclaimed, starting out 
 of my bed, " what is the matter ?" 
 
 " Don't be frightened," he replied, laughing 
 at my agitation. " It's only a small matter of 
 fighting, which I know won't come amiss to 
 you." 
 
 " Oh ! if that be all," I said, wonderfully 
 relieved ; for at first it struck me that Berton 
 had been retaken, and a discovery made of 
 my connivance at his escape. 
 
 " The Lancashire weavers," resumed my 
 friend, " are in open rebellion, burning power- 
 looms, factories, and Cotton-Lords' palaces ; 
 and we are off, at a forced march, for the 
 scene of action." 
 
 " Oh, Lord !" I exclaimed, sitting down 
 disconsolately on my bed side, " what on 
 earth am I to do ?"
 
 PERCY BLAKE. Ill 
 
 " What's the matter ?" demanded Richard- 
 son. 
 
 " My poor Harriet !" I exclaimed with a 
 sigh. 
 
 " Nonsense, man I" said my friend. " You 
 take the distemper like a pointer pup, pardon 
 the simile ; but 'twill go off after three days' 
 march. Moreover, between you and me, 
 you are not yet fit for marriage." 
 
 " You think then," I said slyly, " that I 
 want a little more schooling at billiards." 
 
 " Well," he replied, " you may make a 
 better hazard than matrimony just now ; and, 
 depend upon it, your church canons are by 
 no means so pleasant as those of the board of 
 green cloth. But, come, dress and take your 
 breakfast : your toast would have been all 
 burnt to a cinder, if I hadn't ate it myself." 
 
 I got up with a heavy heart, dressed, 
 breakfasted, and walked over to the orderly- 
 room, where the adjutant was dictating to a 
 dozen clerks and orderly-sergeants ; and there 
 I learned that we were to march at five o'clock
 
 1 1 2 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 the following morning for Rochdale in Lan- 
 cashire. All the guards were being relieved, 
 baggage waggons loading, mess-plate packing, 
 orderlies running in all directions, and the 
 quarter-master drawing sixty rounds of am- 
 munition per man from the garrison maga- 
 zine; it was, in short, the first outbreak of 
 what has since been termed " the Luddite 
 War." 
 
 There was now no time to be lost ; so giving 
 Tom King the necessary instructions to pre- 
 pare for the road, I walked down to Stilton ; 
 ruminating all the way on the best method of 
 communicating this sad intelligence to Harriet, 
 and thinking how I, who so much wanted 
 consolation myself, could impart any to her. 
 
 I found Mrs. Sibley, and her daughters, 
 sitting at work, and all were very grateful to 
 me, for my conduct the night before. The 
 two girls were sadly shocked, however, when 
 I told them the news, especially Harriet, 
 whose fine eyes kept filling with tears, till, at 
 length, she was compelled to retire. Her
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 113 
 
 mother, I fancied, bore the matter with great 
 philosophy. Perhaps, with the calculating 
 coolness of age and experience, she thought 
 Wigsby, with his wealthy establishment, 
 would be a more eligible match than Ensign 
 Blake, with his shifting inheritance of bar- 
 rack-yard, and his personal chattels of camp 
 furniture. She was right, I have now no 
 doubt; but, at that time, I regarded her in 
 the light of a cruel and remorseless step- 
 mother. 
 
 1 shall not trouble the reader with all the 
 tender misery of leave-taking, for love scenes 
 are only interesting to the parties concerned. 
 
 Suffice it to say, that Harriet and I vowed 
 interminable affection, exchanged keepsakes, 
 and promised to write to each other, at least, 
 twice a week. We then kissed and parted ; 
 but such were the ever-springing changes 
 in my " strange, eventful history," that I have 
 never seen her since. Time, the great soother 
 of all human calamities, which has left nothing 
 more in my seared heart than a tender recol-
 
 114 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 lection of my early love, has, I trust, been 
 equally bountiful to poor Harriet ; and if she 
 still live, the happy mother of a host of young 
 cheese-makers, perhaps her eye, as it wanders 
 o'er my humble page, may yet drop a tear on 
 this last sad tribute to her worth. 
 
 But, hurrah ! the road is before us ; the 
 battle of life, the field of destiny invite us on ; 
 and the misty future, like Indra's heaven 
 in the Hindoo mythology, spreads its banquets 
 of delusions to our longing eyes. We com- 
 menced our march at daylight on the following 
 morning ; but before I quitted Norman Cross, 
 I was gratified to learn that Berton had not 
 left a single trace of his flight, and that he 
 had every prospect of getting clear off to the 
 continent. 
 
 My first march from Chelmsford was mere 
 child's play, compared to the one I was now 
 engaged in : forty miles a day, and this con- 
 tinuously for six days, tried our stamina very 
 severely ; but the weather was fine, and 
 waggons were pressed every now and then to
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 115 
 
 carry the men's knapsacks and give an occa- 
 sional lift to the weary and foot-sore. At length 
 we reached the lofty and rugged eminence of 
 Blackstone Edge, where we piled our arms 
 and halted for half-an-hour ; looking down 
 upon one of those broad and verdant valleys 
 of the manufacturing district, which w T ould be 
 eminently beautiful, if the gawky factories and 
 smoky chimneys did not mar their picturesque 
 outlines. As we again got under arms, and 
 prepared to descend this lofty boundary be- 
 tween two such immense counties, a mad dog 
 ran in amongst us ; and while every one was 
 endeavouring to get out of his way, as he 
 gnashed his teeth and snapped at us with 
 rabid fury, one of our mounted officers took a 
 pistol from his holster and shot him ; at the 
 same time expressing a hope, that it would be 
 the only blood we should have to shed in this 
 domestic campaign. The omen, however, 
 was not altogether vain. 
 
 On arriving at Rochdale, a large manu- 
 facturing town at the other extremity of the
 
 1 ] 6 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 valley, the regiment was partly distributed in 
 billets, and partly lodged in an old factory, 
 where a miscellaneous collection of barrack 
 furniture was supplied, for the nonce, by 
 general contribution of the inhabitants. The 
 officers were accommodated in the large 
 private mansion of a great Cotton-Lord, who 
 had quitted the country in alarm and disgust, 
 when the disturbances had gained such a head 
 as to threaten life and property. Here we 
 had scarcely effected a lodgment, when we 
 were inundated with visitors ; the Entwistles, 
 the Royds, the Walmsleys, the Vavasours, 
 the Holts, the Smiths ; in short the heads of 
 all the principal families in the town and 
 neighbourhood called on us, and so over- 
 whelmed us with civilities and invitations to 
 dinners, balls, concerts, pic-nics, &c, that I 
 began to fancy myself suddenly transported 
 to my native land, in its palmiest days of 
 prosperity and social enjoyment. 
 
 A great deal of this hospitable feeling, 
 altogether so novel in England, must, of
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 117 
 
 course, be ascribed to the disturbed state of 
 the country, which invested the arrival of an 
 armed force with so much real importance in 
 the eyes of all who had anything to lose ; but 
 it would be unjust not to give the people 
 credit for a great share of sincerity in the 
 good feeling they professed. For my part, 
 having been constantly received with almost 
 parental kindness by many wealthy families, 
 doubtless from a regard for my boyhood, for 
 I was yet but sixteen, I shall ever entertain a 
 grateful recollection of this my first and hap- 
 piest campaign in the manufacturing district 
 of Lancashire. 
 
 " And the Lancashire witches ?" I think I 
 hear a reader exclaim. Ah ! thereby hangs 
 a tale ; and I fear it will not redound to the 
 honour of my fidelity. But let me not an- 
 ticipate, for I really did still adore my far- 
 distant Harriet, and had already exchanged 
 letters with her ; giving, in return for her 
 simple and natural effusions, a somewhat 
 melo-dramatic history of my " moving acci-
 
 1 1 8 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 dents by flood and field " in the course of my 
 northern peregrinations ; descanting on the 
 stubborn fortitude with which, in spite of 
 tortured feet and muscular suffering, I had 
 walked the whole way to set a due example 
 to the soldiery, while the greatest veterans 
 and hugest grenadiers had knocked-up and 
 been glad to take refuge in the waggons ; 
 how I waded through rivers and rivulets, and 
 clambered over rocks and mountains ; how I 
 volunteered to lead the advanced guard, and 
 kept a sharp look-out with my Light-Bobs 
 for lurking Luddites : in short, I fear my 
 letter must have excited laughter instead of 
 sympathy ; for Harriet must have looked on 
 her preux chevalier as a little of the romantic, 
 and a great deal of the Gascon. 
 
 But the war is afoot, and I must sharpen 
 my pen and nerve my style for the martial 
 despatch rather than the effeminate love- 
 letter. In one place, a steam-engine and a 
 dozen power-looms are destroyed ; in another 
 a factory with three hundred windows burnt
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 119 
 
 to the ground ; night and day we are on the 
 alert, defending chateaux, extinguishing in- 
 cendiary fires, putting mobs to the rout, 
 apprehending Luddites, &c. &c. And then 
 such scenes of squalid poverty and wretched- 
 ness as we had unwillingly to witness : fathers 
 of families daily thrown out of work by the 
 increase of steam machinery, incapable of 
 earning food for their families by any other 
 employment than the one to which they had 
 been all their lives accustomed ! Mothers 
 with infants perishing at their breasts, through 
 the exhaustion of the maternal fount ! Chil- 
 dren in the agony of starvation gazing on 
 their hapless parents with looks of mingled 
 reproach and pity ! Alas ! alas ! Holbein, 
 to harrow up the soul, has painted the 
 " Dance of Death," but still more frightful 
 is the Dance of Life ! 
 
 Meanwhile, unbounded hospitality reigned 
 in the houses of the rich, and the gallant 
 defenders of accumulated wealth were every- 
 where the welcome and the favoured guests.
 
 120 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 For them, the table groaned under its load of 
 luxury ; for them, beauty lavished its count- 
 less fascinations ; for them, vocal and instru- 
 mental harmony filled the echoing concert- 
 room, and the mazy dance spread its bland 
 allurements. Billiard-rooms we had in 
 abundance, and no markers to pay; horses 
 we had to ride, preserves to shoot, and 
 hounds to follow ; while the worthy cotton- 
 spinners, smothering in a "plethora of wealth, 
 seemed delighted with the healthy drain of 
 w 7 hich we were the willing instruments. 
 
 On a day, " alack the day !" it should be 
 blotted from the stainless almanack of true 
 love, I had accepted an invitation to dinner at 
 the princely mansion of a mill-owner on the 
 outskirts of the town. I had been up all 
 night with a party of Light-Bobs, charging a 
 gang of poor Luddites over moss and moun- 
 tain, and had only got to bed at six o'clock 
 in the morning, sleepy and fatigued beyond 
 everything. I, therefore, did not wake till 
 five o'clock in the afternoon ; and as the
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 121 
 
 dinner-hour was somewhat early, I had to 
 hurry my preparations. Three or four others 
 were also going, and we walked up together ; 
 but rinding the time was rapidly decreasing, 
 we set to and had a run for it. I distanced 
 my companions ; but, not satisfied with this, 
 when I arrived at the entrance to the domain, 
 I made a spring, and jumping over a very 
 handsome gate of ornamental iron-work, 
 about five feet high, found myself on the 
 other side in the presence of a bevy of ladies, 
 who had been screened from view by the 
 boughs and foliage of a splendid acacia. 
 
 A general scream evinced the terror of 
 these flushed birds of paradise ; for they 
 looked upon my saltatory entrance as the 
 advent of a gang of Luddites. The fair 
 hostess, however, who was one of the party, 
 and some other ladies of my acquaintance, 
 received me with smiles of welcome ; and I 
 was presented to three strangers, a widow 
 lady with two daughters, just arrived from 
 Bath. 
 
 VOL. I. G
 
 122 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 A widow lady with two daughters ! 
 Strange coincidence ! Fluellin found a 
 sympathetic chord between the river in 
 Wales and the river in Macedon; but 
 how, were I to discover an equally cogent 
 reason for attaching myself to these lovely 
 strangers, for lovely they certainly were ? 
 Mrs. Netherby was in full possession of those 
 three great requisites once so essential to the 
 Mahommedan Elysium of Carlton Palace. 
 Her eldest daughter, Theodosia, was full of 
 grace, liveliness, and badinage; but the 
 younger, and by far the lovelier, was quiet, 
 amiable, and reposed, like Harriet. Go to ! 
 there's more sympathy for you. 
 
 Her movements were grace itself, her voice 
 ethereal melody, her smile an embodied af- 
 fection ; you almost looked after it as in 
 imagination, it soared aloft to seek its na- 
 tive heaven. I know not how I felt when I 
 took wine with her at dinner ; but this I 
 know, that the humble juice of the Bur- 
 gundian grape was suddenly changed to that
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 123 
 
 super-celestial liquid which, according to the 
 Koran, Soliman-ben-Daoud has sealed with his 
 own wise signet for the lips of True Believers ; 
 and when I touched her hand in the dance I 
 distinctly felt my love for poor Harriet oozing 
 out, like the courage of Bob Acres, at my 
 fingers' ends. Yet but a month, " a little 
 month," had elapsed since 1 vowed inter- 
 minable love to that injured fair one. A 
 month ! — nay not a month — the very ink 
 was scarcely dry of my last amorous epistle 
 — and yet — 
 
 " Oh, frailty ! thy name is Percy Blake!" 
 
 Mrs. Netherby and her fair daughters were 
 natives of Lancashire, but had lived some 
 years at Bath, where Mr. Netherby had re- 
 cently died, leaving his brother, a wealthy 
 mill-owner, joint guardian with his widow of 
 the two young ladies. With this crusty old 
 bachelor, for such I heard he was, they were 
 now residing, being only on a visit of a few 
 days with the family where I met them. 
 
 G 2
 
 124 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 I slept but little that night, thinking of the 
 fair vision I had encountered ; and the next 
 morning, at the very earliest of all possible 
 visiting hours, I was on my way to the shrine 
 of my new divinity, in whose celestial presence 
 the impression of the previous evening was 
 more than strengthened, it was irrevocably 
 confirmed : — yes, irrevocable is the word ; for 
 who of mortal mould could withstand such a 
 galaxy of charms ? 
 
 We walked through the grounds, the 
 garden, the conservatory together ; laughed 
 and chatted, talked of horticulture and flower 
 exhibitions; but, to my shame, it became 
 evident that I scarcely knew the difference 
 between a lily and a carnation. Poetry and 
 the belle arti, and romance then succeded ; 
 and I was delighted to find that Mary had read 
 nearly as much, and could appreciate quite as 
 well as myself; which was, however, not 
 saying a great deal for either of us. In short, 
 time flew with more than proverbial velocity ; 
 " with her conversing, I forgot all seasons,"
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 125 
 
 and parades ; and at six o'clock I was seated, 
 
 I knew not how, by her side at the dinner- 
 table : nay, so utterly oblivious was I of the 
 " outward barbarians" who composed the 
 world around us, that having asked her to 
 take wine, and fancying myself at home with 
 
 II the apple-greens," 1 called out in a voice of 
 command : " Mess-waiter, champagne !" 
 
 This, of course, caused an explosion of 
 laughter at my expense; but I joined the 
 merriment with all my heart and soul, while 
 the face and neck of my ineffable Mary were 
 suffused with blushes, for on her every eye 
 was fixed as the sufficing cause of my blunder. 
 In short, I had paid a morning visit to my 
 kind friends, and it was long past midnight 
 before I could tear myself away. As I 
 tumbled into bed, that fellow Richardson thrust 
 in his ugly phiz, and cried out loud enough to 
 alarm the main guard : " In for it again, old 
 fellow ! I told you how quick you would 
 take the distemper." 
 
 The short visit of the Netherbys was about
 
 126 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 to terminate, but I begged hard for a respite. 
 I represented to them the really dangerous 
 state of the country about Mr. Netherby's 
 mill, the most disturbed portion of the district. 
 I told them we were getting up races, sub- 
 scription balls, and private theatricals ; and, at 
 length, I prevailed on the dear mamma to get 
 invited to another friend's house in the very 
 town of Rochdale, actually only a few hundred 
 yards from my own quarters ! Only fancy 
 my delight ! 
 
 But, poor Harriet ! Alas ! the thought of 
 poor dear Harriet came over my heart, like a 
 withering blight ; and 1 was compelled, as I 
 fancied, in self-defence, to plunge into every 
 sort of dissipation. I had not written to her for 
 some time, and I reproached myself bitterly for 
 my neglect, promising my accusing conscience 
 that I would speedily make up for all by 
 writing her a very voluminous and affectionate 
 epistle, worth a dozen scribbled in the ordinary 
 manner; but I fear that my countrymen, 
 according to the Portuguese proverb, contribute
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 127 
 
 more to the paving of a certain place than all 
 the other " peoples" (to use a recently-adopted 
 Gallicism) of the old world or the new. This 
 plaguy epistle was put off from hour to 
 hour, and from day to day, till at last it was 
 dismissed altogether from my mind, like a 
 hateful and unnecessary school task.
 
 128 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE COTTON-LORD. 
 
 About this time we gave a splendid ball, 
 in return for the many civilities we had 
 received ; and as the committee, of which I 
 was one, had carte-blanche, we certainly 
 spared neither trouble nor expense, as the 
 managers say, in getting it up. 
 
 The ground floor of our mansion consisted 
 of two splendid drawing-rooms, in one of which 
 we generally messed : these were tastefully 
 laid out for dancing ; the floors were chalked 
 by a London artist, and the walls, hung with 
 festoons of flowers, sparkled with brilliant
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 129 
 
 girandoles, which shed a perfumed light 
 around. The lawn was occupied by a suite 
 of marquees, wherein a magnificent supper 
 was spread for our numerous guests ; and 
 while a portion of our band played some of 
 the fine old airs from Don Juan, the Zauber- 
 flote, Cosi fan tutti, &c, a select few, in civilian 
 full dress, well trained to the violin and bass, 
 and led by our bandmaster, played exquisitely 
 for the dancers. That night, that happy 
 night, 1 had the unspeakable pleasure of 
 walking a minuet with my beloved Mary ; 
 for this last remnant of courtly elegance had 
 not as yet entirely disappeared. 
 
 I think I now see myself, in this age of 
 short crops and other vulgarities, with my 
 hair curled up in a lofty toupee, pomatumed 
 and powdered with the most delicate art ; my 
 long queue clasped to the collar of my coat* 
 and hanging down lower than my very long 
 waist ; my coat buttoned back, my white 
 flowered Marseilles waistcoat, white casimere 
 small-clothes, flesh-coloured silk stockings 
 
 G 3
 
 130 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 and shoes with silver buckles ; my opera hat 
 under my arm, and a white silk waist-belt 
 supporting a handsome dirk by my side ; did 
 I not fancy myself the " glass of fashion and 
 the mould of form 1" Eheufugaces ! Half 
 a century has nearly elapsed since that happy 
 period ; and even at the risk of being classed 
 amongst the laudator temporis acti tribe, I 
 must express my regret that the glories of 
 ancient costume should be so totally eclipsed 
 by Blucher boots, Wellington overalls, and 
 ruffianly hats called wide-awakes ! 
 
 It was, however, a period of transition in 
 the regime of the ball-room ; the stately 
 dresses and dances of the olden time, the 
 minuet de la cour, the embroidered coat, the 
 bag wig and sword, and laced ruffles and 
 frills, were reluctantly giving way before the 
 prim and finical costume, the frisky waltz, 
 and flirting quadrille of the succeeding period; 
 Sir Roger de Coverley and the Boulanger 
 being a sort of commonwealth interregnum. 
 
 As I had acquired the continental dances
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 131 
 
 at Norman Cross, and Mary and her sister 
 had been acustomed to them at Bath, we got 
 up a very successful quadrille ; and even flew 
 through the room in la sauteuse, to the as- 
 tonishment of the cotton-spinners, who had 
 never seen anything of the kind before. 
 Thus, I may say that, through our means, 
 the introduction of the waltz was coeval in 
 Lancashire with that of the power-loom. 
 What a revolution in arts and manners has 
 been caused by both ! 
 
 It is needless to say that the whole of this 
 grand entertainment passed off with decided 
 eclat, and we were universally voted to be an 
 immense acquisition to the manufacturing 
 district in every respect. It was succeeded 
 by races, at which I had the good fortune to 
 ride two winning horses, and to be hailed 
 each time as I came in triumphantly by the 
 immense assemblage of beauty and fashion 
 that crowded our temporary stand ; displaying, 
 as I conspicuously did upon my left arm, a 
 circlet of violets and rose-buds, gathered for
 
 132 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 me that morning by the fair hands of the 
 beautiful Mary. 
 
 In the evening we had, of course, a race- 
 ball; and this was succeeded by a series of 
 subscription assemblies, which were attended 
 by every one of any consequence in the whole 
 district. They were, however, productive of 
 something that was not quite pleasant to me : 
 for some " good-natured friend " wrote to old 
 Netherby, strictly confidential, of course, that 
 his favourite niece, with her large fortune and 
 great expectations, was actually throwing her- 
 self away on an Irishman whom nobody knew, 
 and who, in all probability, was nothing but 
 a mere fortune-hunter, that had nothing to 
 settle on his wife but his portion of the 
 barrack-yard. All this came to my ears long 
 after, when it was too late to remedy the evil. 
 
 Old Netherby came into town in an im- 
 mense fluster, and insisted on his wards going 
 off with him instantly to the country, with 
 which arbitrary command they were, it seems, 
 bound to comply. I caught them just as
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 133 
 
 they were stepping into the carriage ; but 
 when I ran up to salute them as usual, the 
 old cot ton- twister called out in a gruff voice, 
 " keep your distance, Sir !" Shocked and as- 
 tonished as I felt, I was prevented from chas- 
 tising him on the spot by an imploring look 
 from Mary, whose eyes filled with tears as 
 she held out her hand, and indulged me with 
 a gentle pressure ; while Mrs. Netherby kindly 
 bade me farewell, and Theodosia favoured me 
 with a warmer adieu as she playfully hummed 
 the well-known refrain from " Joconde," 
 
 " Et Ton revient toujours 
 A ses premiers amours '•" 
 
 which fortunately was all Arabic to the ig- 
 norant old factory-boy. 
 
 Thus unjustly and cavalierly was I treated 
 by this money-grubbing old hunks ; but I 
 had a glorious revenge not long after. 
 
 During all these gay doings in town, the 
 country continued in a dreadful state of dis- 
 turbance, in spite of all our efforts ; and no
 
 134 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 troops were ever worked harder on actual 
 service than we were at this period. But 
 our proceedings against the unhappy and 
 misguided Luddites were always marked with 
 clemency; and it was with pity, almost 
 amounting to horror, that we ever came into 
 actual collision with them, from which, of 
 course, they always suffered severely. Yet 
 we had a stern duty to perform to the 
 government, and the community at large ; 
 and I am happy to say that we did so to the 
 entire satisfaction of the authorities, and of 
 all rational and reflecting persons who were 
 witnesses of our conduct- 
 One night, when I had gone to bed, hoping 
 to dream of my absent Mary, I was suddenly 
 roused from my first sleep by Tom King, 
 bearing an order for me to start immediately 
 with a detachment of twenty rank and file to 
 protect Mr. Netherby's mill. 
 
 " Burn old Netherby !" I exclaimed in my 
 wrath. " I hope they'll set fire to his mill, 
 and stick him on the top of it."
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 135 
 
 Strange to say, this was precisely the feat 
 they attempted to perform. 
 
 I set off, however, with my detachment in 
 light spring-waggons, which were always kept 
 ready for such emergencies ; and, though the 
 distance was nearly thirty miles, we galloped 
 it in three hours. It was fortunate that we 
 did so, for the attack was already commenced, 
 and the Luddites were breaking in the hall- 
 door of the dwelling-house with sledge ham- 
 mers. The entrance to the grounds being 
 obstructed by an abattis of young trees, 
 uprooted for the purpose, we dismounted, 
 and, forming in sections, went up the avenue 
 at double quick. I had given my men orders 
 not to fire, and to do as little mischief as 
 possible. Consequently, the Luddites, whom 
 we instantly scattered, escaped with a few 
 bayonet wounds. Having some old guns 
 and pistols amongst them, they had the mad- 
 ness, however, to fire, and wound two of my 
 party j but I effectually dispersed them with a 
 volley, which brought down two or three
 
 136 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 half-naked wretches, happily, without killing 
 them. 
 
 I leave the reader to judge of my delight, 
 when I opened the door of the parlour, 
 whence issued several female screams, in every 
 tone and cadence, caught the trembling 
 and almost fainting Mary in my arms, and 
 was actually kissed by her mother and 
 sister. 
 
 After all, I was still a mere youth ; and 
 might, without any imputation on their dis- 
 cretion, be treated by these dear ladies, in 
 such an emergency, as a son, and a brother. 
 I restored their confidence, by assuring them 
 that every danger had vanished ; and was 
 overwhelmed with grateful thanks by all, for 
 my timely assistance. I then inquired for 
 Mr. Netherby, who was nowhere to be found, 
 but, while we were engaged in searching for 
 him, some one cried out, " the mill ! the mill 
 is on fire !" 
 
 Looking; towards this source of wealth, in 
 which the soul of old Netherby was wrapped
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 137 
 
 up, and which stood over a brook three or 
 four hundred yards from the house, we saw 
 the flames bursting out from some of its 
 numerous windows. Leaving a guard to 
 protect the dwelling-house, I formed the rest 
 in line, gave the word " double !" and we were 
 speedily alongside the mill, which was now 
 burning at a furious rate, while old Nether- 
 by, at one of the second-floor windows, 
 was shouting for assistance with all his 
 lungs. 
 
 The Luddites, not satisfied with destroying 
 his property, had actually locked him up in his 
 own mill, to perish by the most horrible of 
 all deaths. The sufferings, whether real, or 
 imaginary, of such people, must have been 
 great, indeed, to drive them to such extre- 
 mities. 
 
 The moment the old man recognized me 
 by the light of the flames, he cried out, in a 
 voice of agony, — 
 
 " Oh ! Captain, Captain, save my life ! save 
 my life !"
 
 138 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 " Excuse me, sir," I coolly replied, " I know 
 how to keep my distance." 
 
 " Nay, nay, Captain dear," he exclaimed, 
 " 1 heartily beg thee pardon. Dontee, 
 dontee, let me perish in this awsome manner, 
 and I'll do anything for thee in t' varsal 
 world." 
 
 But I turned a deaf ear to his entreaties, 
 and had the cruelty to look on unmoved, till he 
 was thoroughly frightened, when he began to 
 curse and blaspheme at an awful rate. I then 
 directed the men to place a long ladder up 
 against the window, and the half delirious 
 wretch descended ; but not a moment too 
 soon, for his coat-tails w r ere actually singed 
 with the devouring element. 
 
 The mill, however, was burnt to the 
 ground ; but, as the cunning old curmudgeon 
 was fully insured, he lost little or nothing by 
 the night's transaction. He never forgave 
 me for not saving him five minutes sooner 
 than I did; and when he and his nieces 
 moved into Rochdale, for protection, till the
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 139 
 
 storm blew over, he had influence enough 
 to get me sent on detachment to Oldham, 
 where I was recommended to keep close, 
 and study — patience, and the eighteen 
 manoeuvres.
 
 140 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE FACTORY HOP. 
 
 At that period, Oldham was, I think, the 
 most detestable hole I had ever put my foot 
 into ; what it may be since it was promoted 
 to the rank of a borough, and has got a man 
 of sense and eloquence to represent it in 
 parliament, I can't say ; but an inference 
 may be drawn from that circumstance to its 
 advantage. It was a mean, ugly, il]-built, 
 straggling, dirty, dingy, gloomy-looking old 
 place; the very refuse and dust-hole, so to 
 speak, of the entire manufacturing district. 
 It was always enveloped in rain, or drizzle, or 
 mist, and its inhabitants were cross, ill-
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 141 
 
 tempered, sour, and suspicious ; if a dog only 
 barked in the street — and they were always 
 barking — this vocal expression of thought, or 
 instinct, was sure to terminate in a half-frantic 
 howl, or a melancholy whine ; and even the 
 very cats, as they made love in the gutters of 
 the steep, sombre, puritanical house-tops, 
 vented their amorous wishes in a combination 
 of diabolical yells and screams, that often 
 drove me distracted. 
 
 I was quartered in an old deserted man- 
 sion, a little way in the fields off the main 
 street ; and the magistrate, as he put me in 
 possession, hinted that it was large enough 
 for all my detachment, if I chose to have 
 them with me, to defend me from the Lud- 
 dites. I cared nothing at all about the Lud- 
 dites, I said ; they and I were very good 
 friends till we came to blows, and then we 
 always paid off old scores till the next day of 
 reckoning. I therefore requested the magis- 
 trate to put the men into billets, which 
 would be more agreeable to them, and keep
 
 142 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 them more au courant as to what was pass- 
 ing amongst the enemy. The magistrate 
 complied with my wishes, and I was thus 
 left in peaceable possession of .the old casa, 
 with my orderly, and Tom King, who was a 
 very good cook in a small way, and expert 
 and handy in all other respects. 
 
 It was now the depth of winter (1808), 
 and the snow lay thick upon the earth ; its 
 pure white mantle, which wrapped in its 
 ample fold the country round, as far as the 
 eye could reach, bringing out in more grim 
 and startling relief the hunch of dark, shape- 
 less buildings that constituted the town of 
 Oldham ; while the tall chimneys of its 
 numerous factories sent forth in rapid suc- 
 cession huge volumes of thick, black smoke, 
 that looked like vast blotches of London mud 
 dashed against the cold, leaden background 
 of the sky. 
 
 The prospect was, indeed, dreary beyond 
 description ; but I exerted myself to make 
 all snug in my own especial quarter, which
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 143 
 
 was a room on the first floor, fortunately 
 wind and water-tight. Here I laid down my 
 carpet, wheeled my camp-bed within a few 
 paces of the fire-place, which always blazed 
 and crackled cheerfully ; piled my table with 
 books, drawings, and musical instruments ; 
 then, with my pointer and water-spaniel re- 
 posing on the rug, and my fishing-rod, 
 double-barrelled Manton, shot-belt, and game- 
 bag, arranged artistically over the mantle- 
 piece, I boldly bade defiance to the foul fiend. 
 My servant and orderly made themselves 
 equally comfortable in the kitchen, whither 
 my pay-sergeant, and two or three other old 
 hands, resorted of an evening, to smoke a 
 pipe and have a gossip, under pretence of 
 asking for orders, which they very well knew 
 I never troubled them with, as everything in 
 this delectable old regiment went like a patent 
 chronometer. 
 
 I must not, however, forget my " stranger's 
 room ;" a large, lofty, gloomy apartment, im- 
 mediately over mine, with a huge, yawning
 
 144 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 fire-place, and elevated mantel-piece, alto- 
 gether displaying a grim and ghastly aspect 
 It was, however, the only inhabitable 
 room in the whole building, except my 
 own and the kitchen ; but when I had it 
 cleaned out, and hired a comfortable, capa- 
 cious bed, with some other articles of furni- 
 ture for it, it didn't make a bad bivouac for 
 any chance visitors from head-quarters, who 
 might come over for a day's sport on the 
 extensive moors, or mosses, as they are called, 
 that lay around us. 
 
 Over this stranger's room was a suite of 
 uninhabitable garrets; and as the sky-lights 
 were frequently blown off by the wind, the 
 cats held high carnival therein, very often to 
 the total banishment of sleep, even after a 
 long day's fag on the moors. 
 
 With all my anxiety to see my beloved Mary 
 again, I never went over to head-quarters; 
 for though I was not forbidden to do so, Sir 
 George knew perfectly well that, where a 
 point of duty wag concerned, I stuck like a
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 145 
 
 burr to my post, even to the sacrifice of my 
 own dearest wishes. My brother officers, 
 however, frequently came over to see me ; 
 and even Colonel Foley took it into his head 
 one night to send a case of Claret to my 
 quarters, and bring over a whist party with 
 him, to enjoy, as he said, a quiet rubber of five 
 guinea points sub rosd. I gave them a good 
 out-post supper of spatch-cocks, devilled 
 drumsticks, fried bacon and eggs, and roasted 
 potatoes ; and the Claret case having been 
 emptied, we finished the sederunt with Irish 
 whiskey, of which I had recently received a 
 dozen bottles from my brother, who had paid 
 a short business visit to Liverpool. My 
 guests, who were all top-sawyers of the regi- 
 ment, were highly gratified with their enter- 
 tainment; and J thought Foley would have 
 gone into fits, when I gave him a description 
 of the roasting of old Netherby. 
 
 Still, however, " with all appliances and 
 means to boot," the long, long evenings being- 
 somewhat irksome, I sighed for a return 
 
 VOL. i. H
 
 146 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 to that Elysium from which I had been 
 unjustly banished by the jealousy of an ogre ; 
 and though I felt immense pleasure in 
 scribbling " sonnets to my mistress' eye- 
 brow," all of which were duly inscribed to 
 " the belle of all Lancashire witches !" I would 
 occasionally throw down the pen in dull 
 despair that I was not rather playing duets, 
 or dancing the boulanger with the fair 
 enslaver herself. 
 
 It thus, occurred to me one evening about 
 the middle of December, when unable any 
 longer to bear the burthen of my own 
 thoughts, I determined to sally out and visit 
 my billets; just to ask, pro forma, if there were 
 any complaints, though nothing ever went 
 amiss with the old " apple-greens." Tom 
 King had received permission to spend the 
 evening at a Christmas merry-making ; for 
 the factory boys and girls began their Christ- 
 mas, as they did their day's work, betimes ; 
 so, leaving the cats and the orderly to 
 keep house, forth I went, accompanied
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 147 
 
 by my dogs, and wrapping my cloak 
 about me, to keep off the biting wind 
 of the bleak hill-side on which Oldham 
 is built. 
 
 Having gone my rounds, and found all 
 snug and ready for emergencies, I sauntered 
 towards the outskirts of the town, and was 
 about to return to my quarters ; when, on 
 turning a corner, the music of a violin, ac- 
 companied by loud laughter, and the sound of 
 merry voices, struck my ear ; issuing from a 
 public-house a little off the road, the windows 
 of which were all in a blaze of luminous 
 tallow. 
 
 I strolled up to the scene of merriment, 
 which was on the ground-floor, and as doors 
 and windows were all wide open, I had no 
 difficulty in gaining a complete view of this 
 factory-hop. The room was crowded to excess 
 with young men and women, dressed out in 
 their best toggery, footing it right and left 
 with all the noise and velocity of a steam- 
 engine; while some of the seniors of both 
 
 H 2
 
 148 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 sexes were pledging each other in quarterns 
 of gin and pots of ale ; and the concentrated 
 smoke of three dozen pipes hovered, like a 
 semi-diaphanous canopy, over the heads of the 
 dancers. 
 
 All this part of the entertainment I could 
 understand perfectly, but there was one circum- 
 stance that puzzled me exceedingly. In the 
 midst of the dancers stood, with his back to 
 me, an officer in the uniform of my regiment, 
 apple-green facings, silver lace, &c. Nay, as 
 T live, he had wings on his shoulders instead 
 of epaulettes, and bore other unmistakable 
 signs of belonging to my own company. 
 Who could he possibly be ? He was not like, 
 in figure at least, any of my brother subs ; 
 and I could not at all fancy Lord Rodney taking 
 a frisk in this unsophisticated fashion. The 
 mysterious stranger, however, as if determined 
 to baffle my curiosity, never once turned 
 round, but kept his eyes fixed on his partner, 
 a very pretty girl, who returned him glance 
 for glance, and with interest.
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 14 D 
 
 • 
 
 At length, in the evolution of " cross hands 
 and back again," I got a full view of my 
 gentleman ; and " may I never die a sinner !" 
 as they say in Ireland, if it was not the 
 identical Tom King, dressed in full ball 
 costume; with my second best coatee, white 
 waistcoat, casimere small-clothes, silk stockings 
 and shoes, and silver buckles ; his head one 
 mass of pomatum and powder, and his left 
 breast decorated with sundry pinch-beck 
 crosses and copper medals, duly burnished 
 for the great occasion ! 
 
 I was, at first, terribly enraged at this 
 desecration of my cherished uniform ; but I 
 could not help being amused when I saw 
 the fellow's airs and graces, his dignified 
 demeanour, and patronising smiles ; while 
 factory-boys looked on with jealous eye, and 
 factory-girls with bursting envy at the superior 
 luck of her who had drawn this capital prize 
 in the lottery of the festival. At length, 
 when Mr. King had got to the top of the 
 dance, and was about to go down the middle
 
 150 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 with his fair partner, I walked in, seized him 
 by the ear, "wheeled him round, and said : 
 
 " Get out, you rascal ! I'll finish the dance 
 for you." 
 
 The amazement that seized on all present 
 cannot be described ; but when they saw their 
 late " admired of all admirers" slink out of 
 the room, they began to suspect the real state 
 of the case. Every one crowded round me, 
 putting a thousand questions ; but I laid my 
 cloak aside, made my bow to the destitute 
 fair one, the Ariadne of the night, and said 
 if she did not prefer the man to the master I 
 would be most happy to lead her down the 
 dance. 
 
 I now took the hand of my partner who, 
 " nothing loth," seconded my efforts, and we 
 went down the dance to the admiration of all 
 present. Many slapped me on the back, ex- 
 claiming, I was " a rum un to look at, but a 
 good un to go I" while others handed me pots 
 of ale and glasses of British gin, a beverage 
 just one degree less atrocious than Spanish
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 151 
 
 aguardiente. In short I was the hero of the 
 festival, a sort of honorary Luddite at a Grand 
 Orient of the craft; and I would have 
 willingly given my next month's balance in 
 the paymaster's hand, if Foley could have seen 
 me in the midst of my glory.
 
 152 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE CAT-ASTROPHE. 
 
 I said nothing to Mr. King, in the way of 
 rebuke, for some days after, the poor devil 
 looked so crest fallen and repentant ; but as 
 muster- day (the 24th) was now drawing nigh, 
 I thought it would be a good opportunity to 
 employ him in a little scheme of revenge 
 which I meditated on the paymaster for his 
 share in the adventure of Dorothy Dawkins. 
 Poor Davis, with all his cleverness and cun- 
 ning, was decidedly the greatest coward I 
 ever met with in the shape of a man, and he 
 had an especial horror of the Luddites and
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 153 
 
 their doings, scarcely ever venturing a mile 
 from head-quarters without a competent escort 
 to guarantee his precious existence. On this 
 failing I built my enterprise. 
 
 Davis would gladly have brought the de- 
 tachment over to head-quarters to be muster- 
 ed ; indeed, he had the folly to propose this 
 measure to the commanding officer, and met 
 with a very just rebuke. He had nothing 
 for it, therefore, but to face the danger ; and 
 he wrote me word that as the roads were 
 fairly snowed up and impassable for a carriage, 
 he would ride over early, that he might get 
 back in good time for dinner, having some 
 friends at mess. This arrangement, however, 
 did not suit my tactics ; so I sent Tom King, 
 to the different billets, to order the men to 
 keep close, and not to stir out on any account, 
 till they heard my bugle in the evening for 
 muster. I then directed him to leave the 
 sky-lights open, and to decoy all the cats he 
 could into the attic exactly over the "strangers' 
 room/' where he was then to shut them up. 
 
 H 3
 
 154 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 He was, in the next place, to buy me a quantity 
 of squibs, crackers, and blue lights, and to pro- 
 vide a few bags of damp shavings, such as would 
 give more smoke than flame. Thus prepared 
 for action, I awaited the coming of the evening. 
 
 At twelve o'clock, Davis arrived in great 
 bustle, exceedingly anxious to get over this 
 indispensable piece of duty ; but he looked 
 terribly blank when I told him the men 
 were all absent. 
 
 " I have a sergeant and six out towards 
 Manchester/' I said, " where a fine cotton- 
 mill was burnt down last night; a corporal 
 and four in the direction of Middleton, chasing 
 some prisoners that have broken out of our 
 jail; another corporal's party has just been 
 applied for by Higginbottom down there at 
 the saw-mills, which are threatened with im- 
 mediate conflagration ; and I hold the rest 
 in hand to repel an attack of Luddites 
 which the magistrates anticipate in the course 
 of the night." 
 
 " Oh, good heavens !" cried Davis, " what
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 155 
 
 am I to do ? Stay — let me see — I have it : 
 I'll muster all the men you have present, and 
 return all the rest absent on duty." 
 
 " You shall do no such thing," I replied ; 
 " at least, I'll not sign your muster-roll, for I 
 expect the men in every hour." 
 
 " My dear Blake," he said in a wheedling 
 tone, " you will not, surely, make a difficulty 
 with me in such a trifle as this." 
 
 " Duty is duty," I replied, " and must be 
 attended to, m spite of friendship. If it 
 were a private affair, now, such as placing 
 you properly before the muzzle of an adver- 
 sary's pistol in the champ-clos, the case 
 would be different." 
 
 " Good gracious !" he cried, apparently but 
 little pleased with my hypothesis, " what is to 
 be done ? I have all the Royds, Entwistles, 
 Walmsleys, and Clutterbucks to dine with 
 me to-day at the mess." 
 
 " You will still be in sufficient time," I 
 said ; "for I told the men to make haste 
 back to muster."
 
 156 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 " I say, my dear fellow," cried the cunning 
 attorney, taking me lovingly by the arm, 
 " you know, there's an old balance, that's 
 always a bone of contention between us." 
 
 "Well," I said, "what of it?" 
 
 " I'll draw a pen through it," said Davis, 
 " if you will only oblige me this once." 
 
 " Oh !" I exclaimed, with a look of of- 
 fended dignity, "if you think to bribe me 
 from the stern path of rectitude, you don't 
 know your man, Mr. Davis," and turning 
 on my heel, I left him to his cogita- 
 tions. 
 
 These were, doubtless, "bitter enough ; for 
 hour followed hour in dull succession, and 
 yet none of my absent parties came in. At 
 last, Davis ran up to me, as I walked back- 
 wards and forwards before the door with a 
 cigar in my mouth, and cried : 
 
 " Percy, my boy, have you nothing to eat 
 in this old Castle Rackrent of yours ?" 
 
 " Dinner will be on the table in ten 
 minutes," I replied, looking at my watch;
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 157 
 
 " and while we are enjoying ourselves, I have 
 no doubt the parties will arrive." 
 
 We accordingly sat down to table; but, 
 in spite of creature comforts and generous 
 old port, Davis was chap-fallen and down- 
 hearted ; for I kept plying him with ima- 
 ginary stories of Luddite outrage and fearful 
 conflagrations, in which 1 burnt more people 
 than were ever accounted for in the bills of 
 mortality. I described to him, also, the 
 Lancashire system of gouging and heel- 
 tapping. 
 
 " This Oldham," I said, " is the wickedest 
 place in the whole manufacturing district. 
 If a fellow here once gets you down, Davis, 
 he'll twist his forefinger into that dandy side- 
 lock of yours, and scoop out your eye with 
 his thumb, as clean as a whistle." 
 
 " Good gracious ! what savages !" cried 
 Davis, with a shudder. 
 
 "That is when they mean to be merciful," 
 1 continued; "but, when really bent on 
 mischief, they have recourse to heel-tapping."
 
 158 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 " What's that ?" demanded Davis. 
 
 " You have remarked the thick wooden- 
 soled shoes they wear ?" I said. 
 
 " Yes," replied Davis, " and am as- 
 tonished how they can walk in such 
 things." 
 
 " If a fellow gets you down here," I said, 
 " with one of those wooden shoes he'll soon 
 reduce your head to the consistency of a 
 squashed egg-shell." 
 
 These tales totally prostrated the small 
 modicum of courage that fluttered in the 
 breast of the paymaster. At last, when 
 it began to grow dusk, and his patience 
 and spirits were alike exhausted, enter 
 Tom King to inform me that Sergeant 
 Edwards had arrived with his party, and 
 sixteen wounded prisoners. A little time 
 after, a similar announcement was made 
 of the arrival of Corporal James, without 
 any prisoners, having shot four Luddites 
 dead. 
 
 " Then tell the bugler to sound for parade,"
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 159 
 
 I said ; " the other party may arrive while 
 the men are falling in." 
 
 The streets of Oldham soon resounded 
 with the " too-to-to-too," and in less than ten 
 minutes my detachment marched into the 
 court-yard, and drew up in front of my 
 quarters. 
 
 " Bless my soul !" said Davis, who was 
 fortunately near-sighted, " your men look 
 very fresh and clean after such hard ser- 
 vice." 
 
 " Oh, yes," I answered, " I keep my de- 
 tachment always in prime order; we pride 
 ourselves on that point at Oldham." 
 
 "Now," said Davis, "let us proceed at 
 once, for I have not a moment to 
 lose." 
 
 We accordingly descended to the court- 
 yard ; and fortunately, Davis was so intent 
 on despatch, that he made no more observa- 
 tions on the appearance of the men, whose 
 names he called over as fast as he could 
 gabble. But, with every effort, night came
 
 160 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 on before the conclusion, and the last half- 
 dozen he had to call over by the light of a 
 lantern. 
 
 " Good heavens !" cried the mystified pay- 
 master, as he raised his eyes from the 
 muster-roll, " 'tis quite dark. What on earth 
 am I to do ?" 
 
 " You had better get a chaise from the 
 inn," I replied. " Run over, King, and order 
 a chaise for Mr. Davis. They have one, I 
 know, to my cost, for it broke down with me 
 the other day, and nearly stopped my promo- 
 tion." 
 
 "Thank you, my dear fellow," said the 
 grateful paymaster. " 'Twas a lucky 
 thought; it quite escaped me, I'm so be- 
 wildered." 
 
 In a few minutes, Tom King returned, 
 with intelligence that their only chaise was 
 snowed up three miles on the road to Roch- 
 dale. 
 
 "The post-boy has just returned, Sir," 
 said King, telling a very circumstantial lie,
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 161 
 
 " and his nose is so frost-bitten 'tis thought 
 he'll lose it, poor fellow." 
 
 " Dear me ! dear me !" cried Davis, wring- 
 ing his hands, " I must ride, then." 
 
 " But if you should go astray, my dear 
 friend, in the dark," I suggested. 
 
 " True, true," said he, ruminating. 
 
 " Then, again," I observed, " those vil- 
 lainous Luddites 'know you to be the pay- 
 master ; and if they should fancy you have a 
 money-bag, or a bundle of notes about 
 you—" 
 
 " Oh dear ! oh dear !" sighed poor 
 Davis. 
 
 " A chance shot from behind a hedge," I 
 said, " may kill Lucifer himself, according to 
 the proverb." 
 
 "But, my dear fellow," gasped out the 
 poor wretch, " can't you send a party of 
 six men with me ? One can lead my horse, 
 you know, and the rest keep off the Lud- 
 dites." 
 
 " What !" I exclaimed, " after they have
 
 162 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 been all night and all day crossing the 
 country in every direction !" 
 
 B But some,"' said the cunning fellow. 
 " havn't been out at all, you know." 
 
 M These," I replied, " I hold at the magis- 
 trate's disposal in the anticipated attack. It 
 would be as much as my commission is 
 worth to part with a man of them." 
 
 Poor Davis threw himself down upon my 
 bed, utterly exhausted in mind and body ; 
 till, at length, after turning over every expe- 
 dient again and again, he finally concluded 
 on stopping for the night as a choice of 
 evils ; entreating me, however, to order a 
 party into the house for his especial protec- 
 tion, which I promised to do. After supper, 
 when he had imbibed a sufficient quantity of 
 Dutch courage. I showed him to his bed- 
 room, the grim aspect of which made him 
 shudder ; and it was not till I had repeatedly 
 assured him of protection against all dangers, 
 that he ventured to creep under the bed- 
 clothes.
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 163 
 
 About two o'clock in the morning I gently 
 opened Davis's room door, which of course 
 had no lock to it ; and igniting a bundle of 
 damp shavings I pushed it inside ; this was 
 succeeded by another,, and another, till the 
 room was tilled with a dense oppressive 
 smoke, which soon affected the lungs of the 
 sleeper, who began to cough violently, and 
 to exclaim : 
 
 " Bless my soul ! I am choking ! W I 
 can be the matter with me ? How oppres- 
 sive it is ! What a smoke ! I smell some- 
 thing burning. Oh Lord I the house is on 
 tire ! murder ! murder !" 
 
 At that instant a tremendous explosion 
 took place of squibs and crackers, rever- 
 berating like so many twenty-four poun 
 in the empty rooms overhead. This was 
 succeeded by the hissing, spitting and yelling 
 of a dozen cats, in the midst oi which the 
 explosion had taken place ; while two or 
 three empty arm-chests came thundering 
 down stairs, as if the whole house was tailing
 
 164 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 to pieces. In a state of horror poor Davis 
 jumped out of bed, bawling at the top of his 
 lungs for assistance, and praying the gentle- 
 men Luddites in his confusion, like Scrub in 
 the play, to take his life and spare all he had. 
 Bang ! bang ! went a dozen crackers at his 
 bed side, while a blue light sailing across the 
 room, threw an unearthly glare on a variety 
 of objects which, in the bewildered fancy of 
 poor Davis, were either fiends or Luddites, 
 and he screamed in actual frenzy " murder ! 
 murder ! save me ! save me !" 
 
 At this moment, I rushed into the room, 
 with a candle in one hand and a pistol in the 
 other ; and calling *. ut to Davis to run for his 
 life, I let the candle drop and fired off my 
 pistol close to his ear ; while a fresh ex- 
 plosion of crackers overhead, the renewed 
 yelling of the cats, and the furious barking 
 of the dogs, which were now giving tongue 
 in full chorus, actually made an infernal din 
 that would have frightened myself, if I had 
 not known the nature of it.
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 165 
 
 " Oh ! for Heaven's sake," cried Davis, 
 " where is the door ? Show me the door 
 for the sake of mercy !" 
 
 " Here it is," I replied : " take my hand ; 
 there is the staircase ; run for your life ! the 
 villains have come in at the top of the house ; 
 but we're peppering them." 
 
 Another tremendous explosion of crackers 
 overhead confirmed my words ; while the cats 
 driven to a state of frenzy burst open the 
 door of the room in which they were con- 
 fined ; but finding the sky-lights all closed, 
 they charged down stairs in a body, at the 
 heels of poor Davis, like a gang of fiends 
 fresh from the regions of eternal fire. 
 
 How he got down without tumbling head 
 over heels I can't imagine ; but down he got, 
 bolted out of the front door, which was 
 left open for the exit of the cats, and though 
 he had literally nothing on but his shirt, he 
 ran off in the snow, regardless of consequen- 
 ces, shouting " murder ! murder !" like a mad- 
 man, through the streets of Oldham. He
 
 166 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 was at last overtaken half a mile off by Tom 
 King and the orderly, whom I sent in 
 search of him, with a couple of blankets. 
 They conveyed him, shivering with cold, and 
 groaning with horror, to the inn, where he 
 was put to bed, wrapped up in blankets, 
 with a bottle of hot water to his feet; and 
 before I myself was up in the morning, he 
 had departed for Rochdale. 
 
 I fear, however, I carried my vengeance too 
 far against poor Davis, for he had an attack 
 of quinsey, in consequence, that nearly cost 
 him his life ; and he soon after went on leave 
 of absence, to avoid the anticipated bantering 
 of his brother officers.
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 167 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 VOLUNTEERING. 
 
 Such, in brief, were the incidents of my 
 early career : a period during which I certainly 
 enjoyed life in its most attractive form; 
 receiving on all hands a kind, considerate 
 indulgence, which was in some degree, 
 perhaps, due to my extreme youth and 
 boyish habits. But a change now came over 
 the spirit of my dream, and I was speedily 
 hurried into the vicissitudes of foreign service ; 
 which, though differing in character from 
 those I had already experienced, were even 
 still more rife with amusing incident and 
 picturesque variety.
 
 168 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 Some of my readers, perhaps, will recollect 
 the extensive volunteering from the militia 
 to the line, which took place in the Spring of 
 1809; and which enabled government not 
 only to put Sir Arthur Wellesley at the head 
 of a gallant army in Portugal, but also to 
 send one of the finest armaments that ever 
 left the shores of Great Britain, to perish 
 miserably in the swamps of Walcherem 
 This volunteering I had been long anxiously 
 anticipating, as the only certain means of 
 advancement in my profession : for I could 
 not imagine any pursuit so preposterous as 
 that of playing at soldiers in the militia, 
 which seemed to be the utmost stretch of so 
 many men's ambition ; and though I dearly 
 loved my charming mistress, yet so far w 7 as I 
 from coveting her wealth, or speculating on 
 enriching myself through her means, that I 
 longed with intense ardour for an opportunity 
 of distinguishing myself in the field, that I 
 might, on the contrary, load her with riches 
 and honour.
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 169 
 
 This opportunity now presenting itself, 
 I eagerly turned it to account, by canvassing 
 for volunteers amongst my detachment ; and 
 such was either their personal regard for me, 
 or their real desire for foreign service, that 
 every man of them declared his intention of 
 going with me into the line. This was the 
 flattering aspect of my affairs when the 
 Oldham detachment was called in ; and, with 
 infinite joy, we marched out of that detest- 
 able hole, on a fine spring morning, for 
 head-quarters. 
 
 Midway between Oldham and Rochdale, 
 we halted at a public-house, where I ordered 
 every man a pint of ale ; and a travelling 
 pedlar happening to pass, I purchased all the 
 ribbons he had in his box, which I distributed 
 amongst my volunteers, whose caps were 
 speedily decorated with flaunting streamers. 
 We then resumed our march ; the bugle 
 occasionally throwing out martial blasts 
 before us, or our fifer playing " the Girl I 
 left behind me," that immortal melody, so 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 ] 70 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 redolent of tender recollections and martial 
 inspiration. 
 
 Luckily, before we reached head-quarters, 
 we met Captain Baker and another brother 
 officer taking a ride. The former, a steady 
 good old fellow whispered to me ; " for 
 heaven's sake, Percy, my boy, halt your men, 
 and take those ribbons out of their caps, or 
 you'll drive Sir George Cornwall distracted." 
 
 I accordingly halted my detachment, and 
 walking aside with Baker, I asked him what 
 he meant. 
 
 " My dear boy," he replied, " you fancy, 
 perhaps, that these men are going with you 
 to the line." 
 
 " Certainly," I replied, " they have all 
 promised." 
 
 " You won't have one of them," said 
 Baker. 
 
 " Why not?" I demanded in amazement. 
 
 " Can you imagine for a moment," he 
 asked, " that Sir George, who has taken so 
 much pains to make this regiment what it is,
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 171 
 
 will suffer the loss of his very best men ? or, 
 that Lord Rodney can brook the idea of 
 having his [hobby of a crack company so 
 completely knocked on the head, as to allow 
 the elite of his Light Bobs to slip through 
 his fingers in this way ?" 
 
 " They may not, perhaps, like it," I said ; 
 " but how can they prevent it, if the men 
 wish to go ?" 
 
 " Oh ! trust me," he replied, " that will not 
 be difficult. There are many ways of damp- 
 ing this martial ardour, that you are not 
 aware of; and a commanding officer has it 
 always in his power to send to the line just 
 the subjects he wishes to get rid of, and no 
 others." 
 
 " You open my eyes to a chapter in volun- 
 teering," I said, " that gives me -infinite pain ; 
 for I have become so well acquainted with 
 these men, in this mock warfare of ours, that 
 I really did hope to have the pleasure of 
 leading them into the field of real service." 
 
 "There is no one of my acquaintance 
 
 I 2
 
 172 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 more capable of doing it," said Baker, to 
 soothe my chafed spirit ; " but take my advice, 
 Percy, and let Sir George manage the matter 
 his own way, for, at all events, you are sure 
 of attaining the object of your ambi- 
 tion." 
 
 Thus, the splendid picture I had been so 
 long feasting my imagination with, of future 
 battles, at the head of my cherished Light 
 Bobs, was knocked on the head ; and I re- 
 sumed the march of my detachment, shorn of 
 their " blushing honours," in a desponding 
 mood to head-quarters. 
 
 But fortune, as if to make amends for this 
 unexpected check, afforded me, soon after, at 
 least a temporary glimpse of happiness ; for, 
 as we were descending into Rochdale, a tra- 
 velling carriage, with imperials, and maid and 
 footman in the rumble, came tearing up the 
 road at full speed. It passed me like light- 
 ning ; but I caught a glimpse of my dear 
 Mary, who waved her handkerchief to me out 
 of the window, and, either through accident
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 173 
 
 or design, let it drop. I caught the dear 
 missive before it reached the ground, and 
 pressing it to my lips, buried it in my breast, 
 close to my heart. 
 
 But an agonizing thought flashed, for an 
 instant, across my brain. Where could she 
 be going to at such top-speed, and with every 
 appearance of commencing a long journey ? 
 Could she be leaving Rochdale for ever? 
 Pshaw ! the idea was too ridiculous, but it 
 was also exquisitely painful. Tt could only 
 be for a short trip to Manchester, or to some 
 friend's house in the neighbourhood. But I 
 would soon learn the reality ; and, somewhat 
 reassured by my own hopeful suggestions, I 
 marched my detachment to the barracks, 
 reported my arrival personally to the com- 
 manding officer, and by the time I reached 
 my own quarters, the first bugle was sounding 
 for dinner. 
 
 My brother officers were all glad to see me 
 again, and Foley cried out, — 
 
 " Come and sit by me, Mr. Blake ; I want
 
 174 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 to catechise you somewhat stringently on the 
 nature of your recent services/' 
 
 I accordingly took post by my worthy 
 friend, who kept plying me with wine during 
 dinner, as if he thought I wanted, or might 
 in the course of the evening, require some 
 stimulus of more than ordinary effi- 
 cacy. 
 
 When the mess waiters had retired, I gave 
 him a round unvarnished tale of, my late 
 adventures. He was delighted with the fac- 
 tory hop, and the metamorphosis of Tom 
 King ; but I thought he would have gone 
 into convulsions when I described the frightful 
 adventure of the cats and crackers. All these 
 doings I had to repeat for the general amuse- 
 ment, and great, indeed, were the explosions 
 of laughter at the expense of poor Davis. 
 The customary placid smile of Sir George 
 Cornwall, was heightened to a most unaristo- 
 cratical broad-grin ; and Lord Rodney, who 
 invariably turned down his glass when he had 
 taken his diurnal pint of wine, absolutely
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 175 
 
 committed the debauch of a whole bottle, to 
 enjoy the fun. 
 
 Unluckily, the young fellow whom I had 
 met on the road with Baker in the morning, 
 anxious to contribute his share of amusement 
 aux frais de la fete, heedlessly asked Sir 
 George, if he had seen the splendid recruiting 
 party which marched into Rochdale that after- 
 noon. 
 
 " No," replied Sir George. " Have they 
 commenced beating up in Rochdale ?" 
 
 " Yes, Sir George," replied young Roberts, 
 " but not among the weavers though." 
 
 " Where else can they find recruits in 
 Lancashire ?" demanded Sir George. 
 
 " Amongst the Apple-greens, to be sure," 
 replied Roberts. 
 
 "What, what, what?" cried Sir George, 
 hastily. " What do you say, sir ?" 
 
 Here this silly young man, in spite of 
 Baker's signs, frowns, and winks, gave a 
 ludicrous account of mv volunteer exhibition, 
 which caused an immediate explosion. 
 
 " Good gracious, Sir George," cried Lord
 
 176 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 Rodney, " I must appeal to you to put a stop 
 to such proceedings. I cannot suffer my 
 company to be broken up in this manner with 
 impunity." 
 
 I never saw Sir George frown before, but 
 he did on this occasion ; and, fixing his eyes 
 on me, he said, — 
 
 " I hope, Mr. Blake, you have not been 
 tampering with the men." 
 
 " Sir George," I replied, somewhat chafed 
 at the question, " I never tamper. T always 
 go straight to my point, as becomes a gen- 
 tleman ; and if any one has a doubt on the 
 subject, he knows how and when he may be 
 satisfied." 
 
 " Mr. Blake, I must apologize," returned 
 Sir George, with that delicate sense of honour 
 he really entertained, " for having inadver- 
 tently used a term that was remote from my 
 intention ; but I must request you to state 
 explicitly, whether you have spoken with the 
 men of your detachment, on the subject of 
 volunteering." 
 
 " Unquestionably I have," I replied ; " and
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 177 
 
 I thought myself fully justified in so doing, 
 until I was undeceived by my friend Baker." 
 
 " That is the simple fact, Sir George," 
 added Baker ; " the moment I hinted the 
 irregularity of the proceeding, it was abandoned 
 with the most praiseworthy alacrity." 
 
 " Oh ! 'tis all a mistake," said Foley, " a 
 muscipular abortion of Mr. Roberts's wit. 
 My friend Blake is altogether incapable of 
 doing anything disingenuous or clandestine." 
 
 " 1 am quite satisfied that it is so," returned 
 Sir George. " But in fact, Mr. Blake has no 
 occasion in the world to take any trouble in 
 the matter. I undertake to send men enough 
 to the line to insure him his commission ; 
 and I have this day received from the Horse 
 Guards the numbers of six capital regiments 
 from which he may make a selection." 
 
 This was, indeed, highly gratifying. I 
 expressed my thanks for his kindness, and the 
 numbers of the regiments being mentioned, 
 my friends were all eager to assist me in mak- 
 ing a good choice. After many pour parlers, 
 
 I 3
 
 178 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 I finally fixed on the Fifty-second ; because, 
 in the first place, it was a Light-Infantry 
 regiment, and secondly, it was under orders 
 for the Peninsula. 
 
 " This point being settled," resumed Sir 
 George, " I propose to give Mr. Blake leave 
 of absence from all parades and duties whatso- 
 ever till he is gazetted ; that he may have full 
 opportunity to revel in the field of Venus 
 before he embarks in the field of Mars." 
 
 " And, that," said Foley sotto voce to me, 
 " reminds me of a point upon which I have 
 been anxious to speak to you this evening." 
 
 " What, my dear Colonel," I said gaily, 
 " are you also about to abandon the ivy- 
 crowned god, for the meretricious daughter 
 of Neptune ? To disclaim your ' Evoe 
 Bacche f for the 
 
 " ' Bella Venere, 
 Che sola sei 
 Piacer degli uomini, 
 E degli Dei !' " 
 
 He looked, however, so grave on the
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 179 
 
 matter that my mind misgave me, and I 
 awaited an explanation in breathless im- 
 patience. 
 
 " You are about to enter on a career," said 
 Foley, " that will exact your undivided energy, 
 both mental and physical." 
 
 " I trust," I said, " that I feel a just con- 
 viction of its importance." 
 
 " Of that," he replied, " I am fully assured, 
 and therefore the sacrifice of other ties will 
 come all the more easy to you." 
 
 " What on earth are you driving at, my 
 dear friend ?" I demanded. 
 
 " The affections of a young heart," con- 
 tinued Foley, with more feeling than I had 
 ever thought he possessed, " cannot, perhaps, 
 be all at once subdued ; but they may, at 
 least, be kept in abeyance, till time and the 
 paramount calls of duty, can in some degree 
 soften the blow." 
 
 "The blow!" J exclaimed open-mouthed, 
 
 " You have not, then," he said with a look 
 of pity, " heard the news ?"
 
 180 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 " News !" I cried, " what news ?" 
 " The Netherbys," he said, " are gone/' 
 "Gone!" I cried with a shout, starting 
 from my chair. 
 
 " Hush ! hush I" said Foley, pressing me 
 down again. " Don't betray yourself — be more 
 a man ! When old Netherby heard you 
 were coming back, he sent them off to Bath, 
 with orders, indeed, to fly to the ends of the 
 earth to avoid you." 
 
 I had suffered greatly during the day ; my 
 ambition had been checked, my pride hurt, 
 my hopes damped; and now the fondly 
 cherished bliss of my heart was crushed and 
 trampled on. Words were rushing to my 
 lips, struggling in vain for utterance ; thoughts 
 were racking my brain, feelings rending my 
 heart — but the storm of contending passions 
 found no vent, a stream of blood gushed from 
 my nostrils, and I sank into a swoon upon the 
 floor. 
 
 When I came to my senses, I found myself 
 in bed, my left arm bandaged, where the
 
 PERCY BLAKE^ ] 8 1 
 
 doctor had breathed a vein, my head light, 
 my thoughts confused, and Foley, with three 
 or four kind-hearted fellows sitting by my 
 side. 
 
 When at length I began to recollect all 
 that had occurred, I felt in my left breast ; but, 
 finding all vacant there, I began to fumble 
 about the bed-clothes, as if in search of 
 something. Foley, who saw what I wanted, 
 unlocked my table- drawer, took out a small 
 parcel, nicely folded in silver paper, and put 
 it into my hand, whispering, at the same 
 time, — 
 
 " This dropped out when they were un- 
 dressing you. I saw the initials, and, gues- 
 sing the secret, put it safely by for you." 
 
 I warmly pressed his hand, while the tears 
 started to my eyes ; and I placed the precious 
 relic, the last token of my lost Mary, on my 
 heart, where it lay for three years, till 1 lost 
 it — and my life nearly with it — at the storm- 
 ing of Ciudad Rodrigo. 
 
 In a few davs I was about once more, and
 
 182 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 having no military duties to perform, I should 
 have enjoyed my liberty, but she who would 
 have made that and every other good tenfold 
 sweet to my heart, was no where to be found. 
 It was in vain that 1 visited in succession, and 
 repeatedly, every family, every spot where I 
 had once enjoyed her dear company, now 
 hallowed in my thoughts as the shrine in the 
 desert to the pilgrim, though deprived of its 
 presiding deity. Society at length became 
 hateful to me ; I plunged into the country, 
 lonely and sad, and rambled over moss and 
 mountain, venting my sighs to the unconscious 
 wind, or indulging in day-dreams of future 
 glory and happiness with the loadstar to which 
 my thoughts invariably reverted. 
 
 But, alas ! she was gone for ever, and 
 once more were my affections doomed to be 
 blighted. The reader may, perhaps, be dis- 
 posed to impugn my fidelity, for thus trans- 
 ferring these affections so lightly from one to 
 another ; but, at least, he will do me the 
 justice to say that I really had no choice in
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 18 3 
 
 the matter, and that I was by no means a 
 willing deserter. Neither could it be cor- 
 rectly called a transfer of affection from 
 Harriet to Mary, for Heaven is my witness 
 that I loved them both sincerely, even after 
 I had lost them. This, indeed, is so truly 
 the case, that, if ever I am tempted to invent 
 a new religion, it shall so far resemble Ma- 
 hommed's, that in my Paradise we shall meet 
 again the pretty girls we have loved in this 
 nether sphere, and espouse them all ; whether 
 individually, or collectively, in distinct and 
 separate portions of bliss, or embodied in one 
 form and spirit with varied attractions, 1 
 leave for future consideration. The latter, 
 perhaps, would be most conducive to the 
 peace and unanimity of the domestic hearth. 
 But, hurrah ! Mars armipotent beckons 
 to the field, and Venus, no longer Victrix, 
 must strike her silken flag of dalliance. I 
 am gazetted ! " Lieutenant Blake, from the 
 Hereford regiment of Militia, to be Ensign in 
 the 52nd, or Oxfordshire regiment of Light
 
 184 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 Infantry." Bravo ! bravissimo ! Ah ! let 
 Cobden and Elihu Burrit broach their peace 
 doctrines, and twine their sandy rope of uni- 
 versal brotherhood round the ever-shifting 
 mass of humanity, antagonistic in principle 
 and discordant in material, but still there is 
 something all-absorbing in the excitement of 
 glorious war — soul- elevating in the clash of 
 arms : and whether it be " the divinity that 
 stirs within us," or the impulse of the fiend, 
 urging us on to the work of destruction, the 
 effect is still the same; for, if a man have 
 but a heart as big as a hazel-nut, it is sure 
 to expand with a throb of triumph on the 
 field of battle. 
 
 A few days before 1 left Rochdale, Foley 
 came into my room, and said, in his usual 
 playful manner : 
 
 " Percy, my boy, I have something to say 
 to you, if you promise not to call me out, 
 for you Irishmen are always taking the bull 
 by the wrong horn." 
 
 " My dear colonel," I replied, " the promise
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 185 
 
 is so utterly needless, that I must decline the 
 restriction. " 
 
 " Well," said my excellent friend, " here is 
 a bit of rag that I found lying idle in the 
 corner of an old pocket-book ; it may be of 
 some use to you in your present under- 
 taking, and it is of none in the- world to me." 
 
 The bit of rag was a Bank of England 
 note for fifty pounds ! 
 
 " And Rodney," he continued, " Thomas 
 Harley, I mean — for though George is an 
 excellent fellow in the main, he wants every 
 stiver to keep up his dig ; Rodney desired 
 me to say that he has a flimsy exactly like it, 
 which you can send your alter idem, Tom 
 King, for, any moment you please. He 
 would have sent it by me, but he is deuced 
 shy, to use his favourite term, of Irish 
 pride." 
 
 " My excellent friend !" I replied, " I have 
 received a remittance this morning from my 
 father, which is more than adequate to my 
 present requirements ; for, after all, I am not
 
 156 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 a fellow of expensive habits, putting my three 
 hobbies out of the question." 
 
 " Oh ! that confounded fiddle !" exclaimed 
 Foley, with a ghastly reminiscence of my 
 Corelli exercises. " Often have I wished 
 you in the celestial regions, singing Hosannahs 
 with that thundering savage, Handel." 
 
 " Therefore," I resumed, " there is not 
 the slightest occasion for this munificence on 
 the part of yourself and the excellent major, 
 which I beg permission to decline with the 
 deepest gratitude; but if you will give me 
 this little shirt-pin, I'll wear it, as a souvenir 
 of your friendship, when I open the ball in 
 the first action of the Oxfordshire Light 
 Bobs." 
 
 And thus I parted with the dear old 
 " Apple-greens," a gentlemanly and a bro- 
 therly band, which, in all my experience, I 
 have never seen surpassed, and but seldom 
 equalled.
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 187 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE FLOATING BIVOUAC. 
 
 I joined my new regiment at Ipswich ; 
 but, unfortunately, it was a second battalion 
 just embodied, through which 1 had to work 
 up before I could become effective in the first, 
 which was then in the Peninsula, one of the 
 crack regiments of the Light Division. 
 
 I was, however, in a fair way of seeing 
 service somewhere or other very soon ; for 
 fresh rumours of war were multiplying hourly, 
 and immense preparations making throughout 
 the kingdom for the coming struggle. We 
 were all strangers to each other in my new
 
 188 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 regiment, some having been promoted into it 
 from the line, and others, like myself, ap- 
 pointed to it from the militia. We soon, 
 however, got shaken into our places, and be- 
 gan to feel as if we had long been friends and 
 companions. But it was some time before I 
 forgot the dear old " Apple greens ;" not only 
 on account of their own real, sterling worth, 
 but for the association of ideas, dear to my 
 heart, inseparably connected with them. 
 
 We had four or five thousand men in gar- 
 rison at Ipswich, including a fine heavy 
 cavalry regiment of the German legion ; and 
 drills, parades, and field days, following each 
 other in rapid succession, led to the very 
 natural inference that foreign service was not 
 far distant. In the midst of all this bustle, 
 however, amusement was not forgotten. 
 Exclusive of plays, cricketting, races, and 
 race-balls, we had a weekly garrison concert 
 in which I was enrolled, amongst other 
 amateurs ; and on such occasions when we 
 had played out our programme, seats, and
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 189 
 
 music stands were removed, and a pleasant 
 dance always concluded the evening. 
 
 At length, the order for service arrived ; 
 and one universal feeling of joy pervaded all 
 those young hearts that were now panting for 
 the field. We were not, as yet, acquainted 
 with our destination, hut there was a general 
 impression that it was not, at all events, the 
 Peninsula ; a circumstance which, at the time, 
 excited but little regret ; for the paramount 
 importance of the Spanish war was by no 
 means so generally felt then, as it ought to 
 have been, in England. 
 
 We marched, at length, for Harwich ; and, 
 by the time we arrived there, the secret of 
 our destination had partly oozed out, It was, 
 in fact, the ill-fated W T alcheren expedition, the 
 finest that ever left the shores of Great Britain ; 
 consisting of forty thousand land troops, 
 besides a noble fleet of thirty-nine sail of the 
 line, and thirty-six frigates, with innumerable 
 gun-boats, bomb vessels, and transports. 
 
 The object of this armament was the
 
 190 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 occupation of Flushing, with the destruction 
 of the French ships, arsenals, and dockyards, 
 at Antwerp ; and, by these means, to create a 
 powerful diversion in favour of Austria, then 
 vigorously pressed by Bonaparte, after his 
 triumphs at Abensburg, Landshut, and 
 Eckmuhl, prior to the decisive battle of 
 Wagram. The period was certainly critical ; 
 and the fortune of that disastrous campaign 
 might have been changed, had our enterprise 
 succeeded, as it ought to have done. But the 
 unhappy dissensions between the Earl of 
 Chatham, our Commander-in-chief, and 
 Admiral Sir Richard Strachan, who com- 
 manded the fleet, totally defeated the great 
 object for which this immense armament 
 was got together ; and some thousands of 
 brave soldiers were thus doomed to perish 
 miserably from malaria, in the swamps of 
 that little molehill, on which they had scarcely 
 more than standing room. But let me not 
 anticipate. 
 
 This enormous fleet and armv, sailed in two
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 191 
 
 divisions for the coast of Holland, on the 
 28th and 29th of July, 1809. Our regi- 
 ment, which formed part of the second 
 division, had been embarked for several days, 
 and we were thus, in some degree, reconciled 
 to the transport, if anything can be said to 
 reconcile sentient beings to so deplorable a 
 state of existence. 
 
 Let the reader then fancy, if he can, an 
 old tub of a collier, employed for the last 
 thirty years in the Newcastle trade; ill- built, 
 ugly, confined, inconvenient, adapted for 
 nothing in the world but carrying coals, and 
 altogether inadequate for the purpose to 
 which it was now devoted. The cabin, in 
 which twelve or fifteen gentlemen of liberal 
 education, refined habits, and aspiring hopes 
 were to stow themselves as best they might, 
 was about ten feet by eight, very low, con- 
 fined, gloomy, ill- ventilated ; with an over- 
 powering aroma of tar, rotten cheese, onions, 
 garlic, rusty bacon, salt fish, and a variety of 
 other undefinable smells, enough to drive any
 
 192 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 one distracted who possessed olfactory nerves 
 of the least possible sensibility. 
 
 Then the various noises that constantly 
 broke upon the ear; the grinding of the 
 rudder at every pull of the tiller-rope, the 
 creaking of bulkheads, the swaying of the 
 mizen boom, the flapping of wet sails, the 
 eternal hawling of ropes, the cries of the 
 sailors, the stamping on the deck, together 
 with the cursing, swearing, scolding, shouting, 
 bellowing, and blaspheming of the captain, 
 (save the mark !) an ignorant, ill-tempered, and 
 insolent sea going monster. All these formed a 
 never-ending chorus with the kindred horrors 
 of wind and waves, which made every one of 
 us eager to jump at any land-perils or priva- 
 tions that might offer themselves, merely to 
 escape the literal Inferno, where we were 
 now " cribbed, cabin'd, and confined ;" very 
 little better, I imagine, than so many negroes 
 bound from the Gold coast to that especial 
 land of liberty, the United States. 
 
 After striking on a sand-bank ofT Land-
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 193 
 
 guard Fort, and bumping there for an 
 hour or two, we at length fairly got 
 to sea, and arrived the following day in 
 the Room-Pot ; as the Dutch call that 
 portion of the Scheldt's capacious mouth, 
 wherein Walcheren and its congeries of 
 sub-aqueous neighbours are situated. Here 
 we came to anchor, and preparations were 
 made for landing : the men were paraded 
 on deck; knapsacks, arms, and accoutre- 
 ments, put in order ; and three days' 
 provisions cooked and stowed away in the 
 mess- tins, the havre- sacks receiving the 
 biscuit, and the round wooden canteens 
 the allowance of rum. Nor did the officers 
 disdain these humble accoutrements, but 
 furnished themselves in a similar manner 
 with creature comforts for the approaching 
 bivouac. 
 
 The main body of the French army of 
 occupation being concentrated in the fortified 
 city of Flushing, we landed without oppo- 
 sition at the town of Terveer; the small 
 
 vol i. K
 
 194 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 garrison of which had been driven out the 
 day before by the 71st and 85 th, forming 
 a part of the first division of our army. It 
 was the 1st of August, and a beautiful 
 evening, when we got on shore, all eager 
 for our first lesson in actual warfare ; and 
 towards nightfall we were marched in the 
 direction of Middleburg, the capital, a couple 
 of miles beyond which we were to take up 
 our alignment. 
 
 Our progress, though slow, was fatiguing, 
 from our long confinement on board ship ; 
 and the weather being excessively warm, 
 we were soon covered with dust and 
 perspiration. Our advance, however, was 
 uninterrupted by the enemy, till we got 
 nearly within range of the guns at Flushing ; 
 and then, occasionally, a spent eighteen or 
 twenty-four pounder would bury itself in the 
 ground, near our line of march ; or, after 
 striking the earth, go bounding over the 
 head of the column. Occasionally, also, a 
 party of jolly tars would come along, singing
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 195 
 
 and huzzaing as they dragged after them 
 heavy guns for our breaching batteries ; 
 cracking jokes with our men as we opened 
 out to make way for the " say-horses," as 
 Pat called them : and sometimes, also, a 
 waggon with wounded soldiers would meet us 
 from the opposite direction, on its way 
 to the hospital, at Middleburg ; a significant 
 indication of the glory that lay before 
 us. 
 
 These little incidents served to beguile the 
 road, till, at length, we arrived at our position ; 
 which, like the rest of the island, was a 
 dead flat, intersected by wide ditches filled 
 with water to the brim. The quarter and rear 
 guards being established, under the guidance 
 of a staff officer, and sentinels posted, we 
 bivouacked in open column as we stood : 
 arms were piled, knapsacks unslung, havre- 
 sacks, mess-tins, and canteens, brought 
 into requisition ; and all supped heartily 
 in the highest glee, at the novelty of our 
 situation, for we were still very young soldiers ; 
 
 K 2
 
 196 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 sharing good- hum ouredly our respective 
 prog, and cracking jokes on the round-shot 
 from Flushing, which now and then shattered 
 the stones and branches of the trees in our 
 immediate vicinity. We at length stretched 
 our weary bodies on the sod, and were 
 speedily in the lap of " nature's soft nurse," 
 dreaming of anything but " imminent peril 
 in the deadly breach." 
 
 We had not, however, been very long in 
 this happy state of oblivion, when a shout 
 suddenly arose, mingled with oaths, impre- 
 cations, and bursts of wild laughter, which 
 effectually broke our heavy slumber, and 
 made us imagine we were beset by ten 
 thousand fiends. My first impression, on 
 coming to my senses, and finding myself, 
 nearly covered with some fluid, the colour of 
 which I could not distinguish, was that our 
 whole division had been suddenly massacred 
 by some diabolical stratagem of the enemy, 
 and that I was actually swimming in a sea 
 of blood.
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 197 
 
 But the now fast advancing daylight 
 speedily undeceived me, and to my ex- 
 ceeding great comfort, I found that it 
 was nothing but water; in which we 
 were all splashing, floundering and disap- 
 pearing one after another, in ditches and 
 gullies ; whilst every one, as he emerged 
 from the mysterious element, was hailed 
 with shouts of laughter by his reckless com- 
 panions. 
 
 It then occurred to me that the landing 
 had been all a dream, and that we had been 
 wrecked on some horrible shoal or sand-bank, 
 at the mouth of the Scheldt ; though I could 
 not satisfactorily account for the presence of 
 trees and bushes, and occasional farm-houses 
 peeping between. At length, with some 
 difficulty, having got out of this unaccount- 
 able dilemma, we scrambled on to the main 
 road, which was raised above the surrounding 
 fields ; and then the enigma was solved by 
 some of our Dutch guides. The island of 
 Walcheren, it seems, being many feet under
 
 198 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 the level of the sea at high water, is sur- 
 rounded by an artificial embankment : this 
 being cut through in several places by the 
 French, to accommodate us with a bath, 
 after our dusty march ; the ditches, with 
 which the whole island is intersected, over- 
 flowed their banks, and occasioned the 
 unheard-of catastrophe I have just re- 
 lated. 
 
 The pioneers of the brigade were now im- 
 mediately mustered ; and these being assisted 
 by numerous fatigue parties, canals and drains 
 were speedily cut in all directions, to let off our 
 unwelcome visitant into some lower grounds 
 in the vicinity ; by which means in a few 
 hours it had so far subsided, that we were 
 enabled to take up our encampment. Mean- 
 while, under the influence of a brilliant sun, 
 (for the Low Countries,) our dripping gar- 
 ments were dried upon our backs, and we 
 set to, with redoubled energy, to build huts 
 for ourselves, of the young trees in a neigh- 
 bouring plantation; while some foraging
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 199 
 
 parties brought in sundry bundles of hay and 
 straw, with which we made excellent beds for 
 the night, though not without many a mis- 
 giving of another swimming bath.
 
 200 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 A NIGHT IN THE TRENCHES. 
 
 The city of Flushing was now regularly 
 invested by sea and land ; the great energies 
 of " the late " Lord Chatham, as we called 
 him from his dilatory habits, being drowsily 
 devoted to the work, as if the capture of so 
 comparatively unimportant a place had been 
 the sole object of this stupendous enterprise. 
 He was ably seconded by Admiral Sir 
 Richard Strachan ; who, when it came to the 
 push, found himself so deplorably ignorant of 
 the channel of the Scheldt, that the precious
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 201 
 
 time of his officers and men was frittered 
 away in taking soundings and laying down 
 buoys ; when he ought to have been dismant- 
 ling the French ships at Antwerp, and con- 
 veying us to the proper sphere of action before 
 the enemy had time to improve his defences, 
 and ultimately to baffle the real object of the 
 expedition. 
 
 Flushing, however, instead of being masked 
 and passed by, was to be regularly besieged, 
 bombarded, and captured ; before another step 
 could be taken to relieve our friends the 
 Austrians, who were falling daily in thou- 
 sands before the lightning-speed, and gigantic 
 footsteps of the Man of Destiny. Our en- 
 gineers accordingly broke ground, and work- 
 ing parties and outlying pickets were the 
 order of the day. Great, indeed, w T as then the 
 bustle and excitement amongst us ; one half 
 of the besieging force being employed, with 
 very few intermissions of rest, on outlying 
 picket, within pistol-shot of the enemy's 
 tirailleurs ; covering themselves as well as 
 
 k 3
 
 202 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 they could behind bushes and stumps of 
 trees; or stretched in the damp trenches, 
 laying in a stock of rheumatism and ague 
 for the amusement of winter- quarters : the 
 other half was occupied, unarmed and in 
 fatigue dress, in manufacturing fascines and 
 gabions, and filling sandbags for the forma- 
 tion of breaching batteries, and in conveying 
 the same upon their shoulders from the lines 
 to the" trenches ; getting knocked over in 
 their progress by twos and threes, under 
 what military writers are pleased to call 
 the galling operation of grape shot and 
 rifle-balls. 
 
 During the siege, the French made fre- 
 quent sorties in the night-time to retard the 
 progress of the works we were throwing up 
 against the town, which often produced san- 
 guinary combats between the besieged and 
 our outlying pickets ; and on these occasions, 
 when anything serious was likely to occur, 
 the whole besieging force was generally 
 turned out to meet contingencies. I shall
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 203 
 
 never forget my last night in the trenches ; 
 not only from the novelty and excitement of 
 the scene, but from a serio-comic incident, 
 which happily intervened to enliven the 
 monotony of this otherwise disagreeable 
 duty. 
 
 Captain Tomkins of ours, who com- 
 manded the picket of which I was one of the 
 subalterns, was equally inexperienced in ac- 
 tual warfare with the rest of us ; though, in 
 virtue of his rank, he made great pretensions 
 to generalship in choosing a good position, 
 whence we could observe the motions of 
 the enemy, and shelter ourselves at the 
 same time from those confounded long shots 
 which so startled the oozing courage of 
 Bob Acres. 
 
 Our position was in a damp and muddy 
 ditch; overshadowed on the side next the 
 enemy by a screen of willows, through which 
 we peeped eagerly into the palpable obscure, 
 in expectation every moment of getting a 
 rifle-ball through the brain, or a bayonet
 
 204 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 through the body. Fortunately, a party of 
 sailors, who had been employed in dragging 
 up some twenty-four pounders for the seven- 
 gun battery, had forgotten to carry off the 
 main-sail of their long-boat, which they had 
 brought with them for some purpose or 
 other : this we seized upon as a spoil of war ; 
 and laying it under us in the wet ditch, we 
 wrapped it about our legs to make ourselves 
 cozy, while we ate our supper of junk-beef 
 and biscuit, and passed the canteen from one 
 to another; indulging in occasional remi- 
 niscences of feather-beds and savoury viands, 
 with other creature-comforts of the casa 
 paterna. 
 
 Meanwhile, the scene around was one 
 that kept us effectually on the qui vive, 
 in spite of those drowsy indications which 
 nature gave of exhausted strength and 
 weary watching. Every now and then a 
 rifle-ball whistled past our ears ; or a 
 round shot from the ramparts of the 
 beleaguered city came bounding over us,
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 205 
 
 shattering the willow-trees in its remorseless 
 passage : or a shell winging its way, 
 like a revolving star, in a threatening 
 parabola, and either bursting innocu- 
 ously over our heads, or plunging into the 
 earth, and scattering on every side frag- 
 ments of rocks and soil in its fearful ex- 
 plosion. 
 
 In our front, at a distance of two hundred 
 yards, lay the enemy's pickets ; ensconced, 
 like ourselves, behind hedges, and keeping 
 up a desultory fire on our position ; shots 
 from each side telling at intervals, and elicit- 
 ing a yell, or a groan from the luckless 
 recipients : while, in a distant part of the line, 
 a long and angry roar of musketry would 
 indicate an attack on a working party, or the 
 repulse of a sortie from the town. These 
 agreeable incidents, as my readers may sup- 
 pose, kept our nervous system in a state of 
 perpetual tension, and made us all long 
 heartily for the dispersion of those deep 
 nocturnal shadows which cast a mys-
 
 206 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 terious and threatening aspect over the 
 gloomy scene. 
 
 Such was the feverish state of excitement 
 in which we were; when, about an hour 
 before day-break, one of our advanced sen- 
 tinels, having discharged his musket and 
 retired, as usual in such cases, informed 
 Captain Tomkins that three huge, dark-look- 
 ing objects were seen advancing from the 
 town. The matter, indeed, appeared of such 
 serious and pressing emergency that Torn- 
 kins, without waiting to sift the accuracy of 
 his information, instantly sent a report to 
 the division head-quarters, that three heavy 
 columns of infantry were advancing in sortie, 
 and the whole line was consequently turned 
 out ; immediate and general action being con- 
 sidered inevitable. 
 
 Fortunately, however, for us poor souls, 
 who would have been the first victims of 
 this " untoward event," it proved to be 
 a false alarm ; upon which, General Acland, 
 who was Brigadier of the day, rode out to
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 207 
 
 the advanced posts, in a towering passion. 
 He instantly ordered Captain Tomkins to 
 parade his picket in front of their position, 
 careless of their exposure to the enemy ; for 
 daylight was then somewhat advanced, and 
 round shot from the ramparts of Flushing 
 were flying about us, too thick to be plea- 
 sant ; attracted, no doubt, by the glittering 
 of the muskets, which, in those days, were 
 not " done brown," as at present. 
 
 My readers are aware, from what I have 
 already said, that it is sharp work for the 
 eyes on outlying picket, in front of an active 
 enemy; and that the apparition even of a 
 single individual is apt to draw a dozen shots 
 about his ears. It must, therefore, have been 
 a matter of great moment that could induce 
 a general officer to expose both himself 
 and a whole platoon to the risk of a 
 murderous fire. Tomkins accordingly felt 
 the critical nature of his position, and 
 even had some misgivings about a drum- 
 head court-martial on the spot, for his false
 
 208 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 alarm. Judge, then, his astonishment, when 
 the General addressed him with the utmost 
 coolness and deliberation, in the following 
 manner : 
 
 " Captain Tomkins, did you ever hear the 
 story of the three crows ? " 
 
 " Good gracious, sir ! " replied the bewil- 
 dered Tomkins ; " I never did." 
 
 "Then, sir, I'll tell it you," said the 
 General, taking a pinch of snuff, with all the 
 nonchalance of a hackneyed raconteur. " Once 
 upon a time, Captain Tomkins, a sick man 
 dreamt that he had swallowed a black 
 crow — " 
 
 Here an eighteen pound shot from the 
 ramparts tore up the earth at the heels of 
 the General's charger, and went ricocheting 
 over the heads of the picket; but he pro- 
 ceeded undisturbed as follows : 
 
 " Steady, men! no movement in the ranks. 
 Though round shot generally kills, it isn't 
 always sure to hit. This sick man, Captain 
 Tomkins, having told his dream to a friend,
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 209 
 
 that friend told it to another ; with this im- 
 provement, however, that his poor, dear, sick 
 friend had actually swallowed a black crow !" 
 A shell, which followed the eighteen- 
 pounder, at this moment lodged midway 
 between me and the general ; and, partly 
 burying itself in the earth, exploded with a 
 loud crash, scattering rocks and rubbish 
 around in all directions. 
 
 " Good heavens, sir ! " cried Tomkins, 
 venturing to interrupt the story-teller; "there's 
 a man struck down in the ranks ! " 
 
 " Well, sir ! " exclaimed the imperturbable 
 general, " did you never see a man struck 
 down in the ranks, before? Let him be 
 carried to the rear, sir; and listen, if you 
 please, to the sequel of my story. The sick 
 man's friend, who may be compared to your 
 sentry, Captain Tomkins, having told the 
 marvellous tale of the black crow to a 
 greater fool than himself, who may be 
 likened, Captain Tomkins, to you; the 
 latter immediately magnified the wonder
 
 210 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 into three black crows, with which he horri- 
 fied every one that would listen to him. 
 
 " Now, had you, Captain Tomkins, had 
 the coolness to inquire into this matter before 
 you had recourse to so serious a measure as 
 turning out the whole line, you would have 
 discovered that the three weighty columns, 
 or black crows, which haunted your imagi- 
 nation, were nothing more than two 
 drunken men and a pig ! The men were 
 made prisoners, and the pig was shot by a 
 hungry rifleman. You may now turn in 
 your picket, Captain Tomkins; and I sin- 
 cerely hope I may never have the pleasure of 
 being on duty with you again, Sir."
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 211 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE PROVOST MARSHAL. 
 
 The readers of heroic romance, who are 
 so accustomed, in the pages of Tasso and 
 Ariosto, to rich pavillions and snowy-tented 
 fields, will doubtless be disgusted at my 
 humble description of our Walcheren en- 
 campment ; but, bad as it was, I have been 
 in worse since then. Indeed, in all my cam- 
 paigns I cannot be fairly said ever to have 
 slept under canvass till I went to the gorgeous 
 east ; and there, as my friend Jack Dillon 
 remarked, canvass is cotton. But of this, 
 and of Dillon also, more hereafter.
 
 212 PERCY BLAKE 
 
 The weather being fine and warm, very 
 few of our soldiers took the trouble to build 
 huts to shelter them ; preferring rather to 
 throw themselves down on the bare earth, 
 when their day's work was done, and sleep 
 in the open air : and though Flushing kept 
 us humbugging for one-and-twenty days with 
 open trenches, there never was a more healthy 
 army during that period, though they cer- 
 tainly paid for it afterwards. 
 
 The officers, on the contrary, being more 
 luxuriously inclined, built huts for themselves 
 according to their respective fancies, but 
 without much attention to symmetry, or due 
 order of alignment : the materials which 
 surrounded us on every side, were simply the 
 boughs and branches of trees, interwoven 
 with luxuriant foliage, flowering shrubs, 
 straw, &c, as convenience dictated ; archi- 
 tectural design, or tasteful ornament being 
 studied only by a select few, of whom I 
 happened to be one. 
 
 In the construction of my hut, chance had
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 213 
 
 befriended me ; for Tomkins and I having 
 shared between us the sail mentioned in my 
 last chapter, I was. enabled thereby to add to 
 my ordinary sleeping hut a splendid verandah, 
 or rather saloon, of canvass stretched hori- 
 zontally on half-a-dozen upright posts, which 
 effectually shaded us from the sun. I also 
 manufactured a rough sort of table, and two 
 or three seats, out of some old boards that 
 were found for me by my servant, Conolly ; 
 a raw Irish recruit, but a singular compound 
 of cunning and simplicity. 
 
 Mr. Conolly, by the way, was rather famous 
 at finding things that nobody ever seemed to 
 have lost, for nobody ever came to claim 
 them ; and though strict orders were issued, 
 forbidding everything in the shape of plunder, 
 and making unpleasant allusions to the pro- 
 vost-marshal, he scarcely ever returned from 
 a rural walk without bringing something or 
 other useful or ornamental in our simple 
 menage. One article, amongst others, was a 
 cuckoo-clock, which he set up in a small hut
 
 214 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 that he had built for himself adjoining mine ; 
 and there his great delight was to make it 
 strike all sorts of hours in rapid succession, 
 for the purpose of hearing the " cuckoo ! 
 cuckoo !" and wondering at the mystic spirit 
 that gave it utterance. 
 
 My grand marquee soon became an object 
 of general attraction; and almost every one 
 of ours brought his wine, or his grog there 
 after dinner, to have a smoke and a chat, as 
 at a regimental, or garrison club. Indeed, 
 it was generally denominated " Blake's Club 
 House ;" and even strangers from other regi- 
 ments gave their friends the rendezvous 
 there, being always sure of a hospitable 
 reception. 
 
 As the characters of my new brother- 
 officers opened upon me, I began to like 
 them exceedingly; for, though I did not 
 find in them quite so much polish as in the 
 dear old " Apple-greens," yet, there was a 
 degree of manly fervour and unaffected good- 
 fellowship about them, which harmonized
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 215 
 
 delightfully with my own temperament. 
 Many of them were old officers, possessing 
 brevet rank beyond their regimental : 
 amongst others was Sontag ; who, though a 
 full colonel in the service, yet, from a restless 
 disposition and a love of change, he had only 
 attained the regimental rank of captain. In 
 the army, more, perhaps, than anywhere else, 
 the proverb holds, that " A rolling stone 
 gathers no moss." 
 
 Sontag was an eccentric fellow, and a 
 humourist ; very slovenly in his person, and 
 careless in his habits, but excessively touchy 
 on points of dignity or precedence, and par- 
 ticularly stringent in exacting from the 
 private soldier unbounded obedience and 
 respect. He used to sing a droll song for us, 
 occasionally ; and one evening, especially, he 
 volunteered his favourite ditty, when we 
 mustered pretty strong: — every man with his 
 meerschaum in hand, and his tumbler of 
 punch before him ; replenished, when neces- 
 sary, from a fine large china soup tureen,
 
 216 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 which had been found by Mr. Conolly ; he, 
 the said Conolly, standing, on the present 
 occasion, a little in the rear, to be ready 
 when wanted. 
 
 Silence being proclaimed by a loud noise 
 of knocking on the table, our worthy colonel 
 began his song ; at the same time gracefully 
 waving the soup-ladle, as Jullien waves his 
 magic baton before the dazzled eyes of his 
 wondering auditors : 
 
 i. 
 Fair Marian sat in her maiden bower, 
 As the bell of the castle was tolling the hour. 
 Hi calloo, calisti, calan ! 
 Su-san was a little old man, 
 Su-san was a little old man. 
 
 ii. 
 There came an old trooper riding by, 
 And at the young maiden he cocked his eye, 
 Hi calloo, calisti, calan ! etc. 
 
 But the wind was high and the wind was strong, 
 And it blew like a bellows both loud and long : 
 Hi calloo, calisti, calan ! etc
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 217 
 
 IV. 
 
 Till it tore the trees all up by the roots, 
 And blew the trooper out of his boots. 
 Hi calloo, — 
 
 " Haw ! Haw ! Haw !" shouted Conolly, 
 unable any longer to suppress the laughter 
 with which he was bursting. 
 
 " You scoundrel !" cried the Colonel, 
 turning round in a rage ; " how dare you 
 laugh r 
 
 " Holy Mary ! " exclaimed Conolly, 
 " wouldn't you make the very pigs laugh, 
 Colonel, dear ! " 
 
 Up jumped Sontag, and rushed at Conolly, 
 to annihilate him with the soup-ladle; but 
 the delinquent, being too nimble for him, 
 slipped under his arm, and ran for his life. 
 The Colonel flew after him, determined, with 
 his own hand, to chastise so gross a breach 
 of discipline ; and then ensued a chase royal, 
 which very soon attracted every one to the 
 scene of action : Conolly doubling on his 
 pursuer, and running a figure of eight amongst 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 218 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 huts, or diving under horses' bellies, while 
 the Colonel would occasionally trip against, 
 and overturn, a stand of arms ; or upset a 
 cooking-pot, and scatter the fire to the four 
 winds; peals of laughter, and shouts of en- 
 couragement, echoing far and near. 
 
 Sontag at length overtook the fugitive, close 
 to one of the ditches, and broke the soup- 
 ladle on his bare head : but Conolly sprang 
 to the other side ; and the Colonel, unable 
 to control the impetus of his pursuit, tum- 
 bled headlong in, while a universal roar of 
 merriment shook the very heavens. We 
 fished out poor Sontag, at last, looking like 
 a river-god with all his sedges about him j 
 but nobody laughed more heartily than he 
 himself did, at the ludicrous exhibition he 
 had made. 
 
 I was on picket with the Colonel, a few 
 days after, when he said to me, 
 
 " How is it, Blake, that your man Friday 
 hasn't mounted picket with you to-day ? " 
 
 " I got him excused," I replied, " having
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 219 
 
 something for him to do in the cleaning 
 way." 
 
 " I'm glad of it," said Sontag, with a 
 chuckle. " That will just do ; I'll hang him 
 this very evening." Here he began to walk 
 backwards and forwards, rubbing his hands 
 — his usual custom when in a state of ex- 
 citement, and laughing heartily at the drol- 
 lery of his own conceptions. 
 
 " Well," I observed, " you are the first 
 merry hangman I have ever met with." 
 
 " I owe it to the fellow," said Sontag, still 
 laughing, " for the trick he played me the 
 other day. I'll have him before the Provost- 
 Marshal this very evening." 
 
 This announcement, I confess, somewhat 
 startled me; for, after all, Conolly's pecca- 
 dilloes were but trivial, and it seemed a harsh 
 measure of revenge, to subject him to so 
 summary and severe a tribunal. 
 
 " Don't be alarmed, Percy my boy," said 
 the Colonel ; " 'tis all morvogga, as they say 
 in Ireland — nothing but blank cartridge and 
 
 L 2
 
 220 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 sham-fight. Joe Blow, one of my company, 
 who is about the ugliest fellow in the divi- 
 sion, will make a capital Provost. I'll dress 
 him up in a wig and cocked hat, and we'll 
 have a regular trial of the delinquent—that 
 is, if you have no objection." 
 
 " Not the least in the world," I said, 
 " indeed, I think a little fright may do him 
 good, and save him, perhaps, from the Pro- 
 vost-Marshal in reality." 
 
 " Not a doubt of it," returned Sontag, 
 who laughed like a child, at his anticipated 
 fun. " We have a quiet, retired picket-house, 
 here, if you will only send for him." 
 
 " I expect him out in the evening," I said, 
 " with some things from camp, and I will 
 then submit him to your discretion." 
 
 Accordingly, about night-fall, Mr. Conolly 
 ventured to come out to the treriches — for he 
 was almost as great a coward as Davis him- 
 self; and, while he was actually describing 
 a nice little copper skillet he had found by 
 the road-side, that would do beautifully to
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 221 
 
 stew mushrooms in, a corporal and a file of 
 the picket marched up and summoned him 
 to appear before the Provost-Marshal. 
 
 A deadly paleness overspread poor Co- 
 nolly's face : his limbs shook as if he had the 
 palsy ; and, falling on his knees, he besought 
 me, with tears in his eyes, to save him from 
 the clutches of that awful functionary. 
 
 " Oh ! masther Percy ! masther Percy ! " 
 he exclaimed ; " for your mother's sowl, don't 
 let me go before the Provo." 
 
 " I cannot prevent it," I replied. " He 
 has his orders from the Commander-in-chief 
 direct, and no one can interfere with him." 
 
 Thus, finding I couldn't assist him, he 
 was compelled to accompany his guards, 
 weeping all the way, and supplicating them 
 to let him escape. At length, he was ushered 
 into a room that was dimly lighted by a 
 single candle ; where the Provost-Marshal was 
 seated, with a cocked hat, and a tow wig, 
 manufactured for the occasion; while, on 
 each side of him were ranged four or five
 
 222 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 of the picket, dressed up as executioners, 
 with cat-o'-nine-tails and pioneers' axes in 
 their hands. The door and windows were 
 crowded with others, who had stolen out of 
 the trenches to see the fun ; and, altogether, 
 it had a dismal look, calculated to frighten 
 a culprit of stronger nerves than poor Conolly, 
 who fell on his knees the moment he en- 
 tered. 
 
 " Stand up, and give an account of your- 
 self," said the judge, with a stern voice. 
 
 " Yes, your honour," replied Conolly, in 
 a whimpering tone, as he obeyed the 
 order. 
 
 " I understand you have a cuckoo-clock 
 in your possession," said the judge. 
 
 " Is it me, Sir ?" said Conolly. " Where 
 on earth should I get such a thing as a 
 cuckoo-clock, your honour ?" 
 
 " That's what I want to know," said the 
 judge, with a frown and a squint, of the most 
 ominous description. 
 
 " Faix, then," returned Conolly, " it's my-
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 223 
 
 self that can't tell you. Sure I never seen 
 sich a thing in all my life." 
 
 " Do you see these cats and hatchets ?" 
 demanded the judge, with a terrible glance. 
 
 " Ye — ye — yes, my Lord," stammered the 
 culprit, as they were flourished before his 
 eyes. 
 
 " Then I ask you, by virtue of the oath 
 you have taken," shouted the judge, " or woe 
 be to your sinful body, how you came by that 
 cuckoo-clock." 
 
 " Then it's from a pedlar I bought it one 
 day, Sir," replied Conolly. 
 
 " Where was that ?" demanded the 
 judge. 
 
 i( Forenint the dure of the masther's tint," 
 replied Conolly. 
 
 " That's false !" cried the judge, with a 
 frown. " Pedlars are not allowed to enter 
 the camp." 
 
 " Sure, 'twas outside the camp I bought it, 
 your honour," said Conolly. 
 
 " You just now told me," cried the judge,
 
 224 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 "that it was at the door of your master's 
 tent. Did you take the tent outside with 
 you, then ?" 
 
 " Av coorse I did," replied Conolly, get- 
 ting bewildered in his cross-examination. 
 
 "What did you do with the tent after 
 that?" demanded the judge. 
 
 " I left it where it was," said the culprit ; 
 " what would you have me do with it ?" 
 
 " And what did you do with the clock ?" 
 demanded the Provost-Marshal. 
 
 " I tuk it home with me," said Conolly. 
 
 "Then the tent was in one place," 
 observed the judge, " and the clock in 
 another." 
 
 " Jest so, Sir," replied the culprit. 
 
 "And where were they both, when you 
 got home ?" asked the judge. 
 
 " They were both together, " replied 
 Conolly. 
 
 " Was that inside, or outside, or on both 
 sides of the camp ?" demanded the judge, 
 with a thundering voice.
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 225 
 
 " Then the divil a one ov me can tell," 
 said Conolly. " Your honour has so bothered 
 me intirely, that I don't know whether I'm 
 standin' on my head or my heels, this blessed 
 minute." 
 
 " Oh, it's a clear case," said the Provost- 
 Marshal. " Tis flat forgery and felo-de-se 
 by the 99th article of war, which declares 
 that he who steals a clock, especially a 
 cuckoo-clock, is to receive five hundred 
 lashes." 
 
 " Oh, murther !" cried Conolly, lifting up 
 his clasped hands. " I wish I was up to my 
 neck in the bog of Allen." 
 
 " The same article," continued the judge, 
 " further declares that he who would steal 
 a clock, wouldn't hesitate to steal a cock." 
 
 " Is it me, your honour ?" cried the too 
 conscious Conolly. " Divil resaive the cock 
 did I ever steal in all my born days, your 
 honour." 
 
 " What is that peeping out from the breast 
 of your great coat ?" demanded the judge. 
 
 L 3
 
 226 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 Every eye was directed to the spot 
 indicated by the sharp-witted Joe Blow, where 
 the head of a fine young cock was just 
 visible, peering out between two of the wide- 
 set buttons of Conolly's great coat. But, as if 
 this was not enough, the moment chanticleer 
 saw the light of the candle, he set up a 
 lusty crow, that made the hall of justice 
 ring again. 
 
 " There's evidence against you, you thief !" 
 exclaimed the judge, shaking his tow wig, 
 and cocked hat. " You, and the cock, shall 
 go to pot together; so, down on your 
 marrow-bones, and say your Padheren- 
 Avy." 
 
 " Oh ! the Lord have mercy on my sinful 
 sowl !" cried poor Conolly, in his tribulation. 
 " Oh, colonel dear, won't you pray for me, 
 and you peeping in there at the window. 
 Sure av I did laugh at the song, every one 
 else did the same ; an if you tumbled into 
 the ditch, 'twasn't all along ov me, but the 
 fault of your own bandy legs."
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 227 
 
 " Silence in the court !" cried the judge, 
 " while I pass the sentence." 
 
 " On the neck ov your mother's sowl !" 
 cried the culprit, " give me a long day, your 
 honour ?" 
 
 " Do you see that beam over your head ?" 
 sternly demanded the judge. 
 
 Conolly cast a rueful glance up at the 
 roof-trees. 
 
 " In five minutes more," said the judge, 
 " you'll dangle at that beam, where you may 
 dance upon nothing and show your steps 
 to the mob, before you go out of this dirty 
 world." 
 
 Totally overcome by this direful sentence, 
 poor Conolly fell groaning upon the floor ; 
 but, at this critical juncture, the farce was 
 suddenly cut short by a dozen shots outside 
 the picket-house, while a sentry shouted, in a 
 voice of thunder, ' Sortie ! Sortie ! Picket, 
 turn out !' " 
 
 " What on earth is a salt.eel ?" cried 
 Conolly.
 
 228 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 But, before he could have an answer, 
 judges, executioners, and spectators, were 
 tumbling over each other in headlong haste 
 to get into the trenches ; where, in three 
 minutes more, we were wrapt in a blaze of 
 musketry, that drove Conolly, and his 
 cuckoo-clock, totally out of our heads. 
 
 It was, in fact, a sortie of some conse- 
 quence ; the object being to destroy one of 
 our breaching batteries, and spike the guns, 
 but it totally failed : for though, in 
 consequence of the darkness, there was 
 more noise than mischief in the affair, the 
 enemy were repulsed as day began to dawn, 
 and driven back, leaving about twenty killed 
 and wounded behind them, on the field. 
 
 When all was quiet, I returned to the 
 picket-house, where I found poor Conolly in 
 a paroxysm of fever, from the double fright 
 he had undergone. I sent a fatigue party 
 with him immediately to the hospital, whither 
 he went raving of the salt-eel and the Provost- 
 Marshal ; and it was not till his head was
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 229 
 
 shaved and blistered, and the doctor had put 
 him through a course of black draughts and 
 croton-tiglum, that he was at length restored 
 to his senses. The joke was a severe one, 
 but it served as a salutary lesson, for Mr. 
 Conolly never after got into the clutches of 
 the Provost- Marshal.
 
 230 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE DUTCH VROW. 
 
 One of the standing jokes of that very 
 " slow" period, of which I am now treating, 
 was that Lord Chatham could never after 
 hear the subject of his expedition broached 
 without a flushing in the face ; and the fol- 
 lowing epigram, written on the occasion, 
 gives too true a picture of the ridiculous state 
 of affairs, to claim even the merit of poetical 
 invention. 
 
 " Lord Chatham, with his sabre drawn, 
 Stood waiting for Sir Richard Strachan ;
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 231 
 
 Sir Richard, longing to be at 'em, 
 Stood waiting for the Earl of Chatham. 5 
 
 But though slow, and by no means sure, 
 seemed the maxim of our commanders, 
 nothing could surpass the zeal, energy and 
 enterprising spirit of the troops composing 
 this noble expedition. The same animus 
 inspired both men and officers ; and in spite 
 of the disheartening circumstances under 
 which they laboured, the universal feeling 
 was, like that of the gallant Scotchman, how T 
 they could best kill " twa at a blow !" 
 
 So many years had elapsed since the 
 troops of England had seen anything like 
 active service, and the expedition comprised 
 so many raw soldiers, who had never seen a 
 shot fired in anger, that much could not 
 fairly be expected from their efforts in this 
 their first campaign. And yet the facility 
 with which they comprehended and performed 
 its various and unwonted duties was truly 
 wonderful ; trenches being dug, fascines and
 
 232 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 gabions manufactured, and batteries erected, 
 with the utmost excellence and rapidity, by 
 men who, ten days before, had never seen 
 or heard of either one or the other. 
 
 By these means the siege works soon 
 made a rapid progress ; the line of circum- 
 vallation was completed, several formidable 
 batteries erected, and our battering train 
 nearly got into position. Our incessant 
 activity kept us all in excellent health and 
 spirits; and the vicinity of Middleburg, 
 though we were not 'allowed to partake of 
 its amusements, afforded a constant supply of 
 little luxuries, to enable us to relish and eke 
 out our rations. Being the only one in the 
 regiment who spoke French with any fluency, 
 I was generally requested by my brother 
 officers to be their purveyor, when camp 
 supplies began to fail; a piece of service 
 which, of course, I always rendered with 
 pleasure. 
 
 The last time I paid a visit of this kind 
 to Middleburg, before the surrender of
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 233 
 
 Flushing, was on a fine afternoon about the 
 middle of August. Followed by my two 
 fatigue-men, with hampers on their backs, 
 I passed the Stadthaus, and strolled down 
 the Vlessingue-Strasse, and alongside one of 
 the canals that intersect the city; looking 
 out for a new dealer, the last one not having 
 supplied us with good articles. I had not 
 long to search before I came to a shop of a 
 very tempting appearance indeed ; being 
 beautifully painted and varnished inside and 
 out, and displaying in its crystal windows al- 
 most every commodity of which I was in want. 
 There was, however, one object of para- 
 mount attraction, that fixed my attention 
 more than all the others: this was a very 
 pretty little Dutch- woman, with eyes like 
 black beads, a smart French cap on her glossy 
 round head, and a coquettish air that did 
 not seem at all racy of the swamps and 
 quagmires of her native soil. I hope the 
 indulgent reader will pardon this fresh 
 instance of infidelity, as he will doubtless
 
 234 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 call it ; but there is something so fascinating, 
 so mesmeric, as it were, in the smile of a 
 pretty woman, that no man who is once 
 placed within its maddening focus can thence- 
 forward be looked upon as an accountable 
 being. 
 
 In this predicament 1 felt myself, as I 
 entered the shop where my little Dutch- 
 woman was serving behind the counter, 
 assisted by a shop-boy. To my great delight, 
 she spoke French fluently, and it sounded 
 from her lips like music to my ears ; for I 
 never cared much about German, either 
 high or low, with its soapy pronunciation, 
 and its alphabet of spiders and grass- 
 hoppers. 
 
 I addressed myself immediately to my 
 task, while she evinced equal assiduity in 
 assisting me ; and between us, my hampers 
 were speedily filled, and my purse emptied, 
 whole volleys of smiles, and volumes of 
 honied words and expressions being, in the 
 meantime, interchanged between us.
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 235 
 
 When the bill was made out and duly 
 paid and receipted, Madame (for she told me 
 she was married, though T persisted in calling 
 her Mademoiselle), asked me if I would like 
 some refreshment, and invited me into a 
 small parlour behind the shop, which was 
 the most singularly neat and clean little 
 compartment of domestic comfort I had ever 
 seen. The floor was scrubbed as white as 
 snow, being uncarpeted through the heat of 
 the weather ; the stove and fire-irons shone 
 like silver, the mahogany tables, chairs, 
 and chiffoniers were polished to a painful 
 degree of lucidity, while an equally trans- 
 parent cabinet, made of some curiously 
 variegated foreign wood, was literally crammed 
 with little plates, dishes, tea-pots, cups, 
 saucers and cream jugs, with a thousand 
 other little articles more curious than useful, 
 of the most rare and delicate china, and the 
 most singular varieties of shape and pat- 
 tern. 
 
 My fair hostess seemed to enjoy my sur-
 
 336 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 prise at what I saw ; and, having rung for 
 refreshments, she sat down beside me on the 
 sofa, without any affectation of prudery or 
 bashfulness ; but also without the slightest 
 appearance of unbecoming freedom, or in- 
 discretion. We were, in fact, like a brother 
 and sister, who had accidentally met after a 
 long separation. 
 
 Sweetmeats, confectionary, and coffee were 
 speedily served ; the latter without sugar, in 
 excessively small, transparent China cups, 
 encased in silver fillagree. Though it was 
 the purest Mocha, I begged for a little sugar, 
 which she immediately produced, with a 
 smile at what to her, at least, was an inno- 
 vation : for the Dutch drink coffee inces- 
 santly, without any saccharine admixture ; 
 the ladies sitting with their feet on little 
 charcoal stoves, and the gentlemen with the 
 eternal meerschaum in their capacious 
 mouths. 
 
 When the coffee cups were removed, they 
 were succeeded by one of those delicious
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 237 
 
 liqueur cases for which the Low Countries are 
 famous. It was a square box of sandal- 
 wood, inlaid with ivory, highly polished, and 
 diffusing around a delightful aroma. It was 
 lined with crimson velvet, and held four 
 small decanters, curiously carved and gilt ; 
 one containing creme de noyeau, another 
 parfait amour , and a third huile de Venus : 
 what was in the fourth I cannot now re- 
 collect ; for the ineffable smile my fair hostess 
 bestowed upon me, as we touched glasses, 
 drove everything else out of my head but 
 her own perfect beauty. 
 
 And it really w 7 as beauty of the highest 
 order : a Grecian contour, a clear bright 
 forehead, a sparkling complexion, pouting 
 lips, and finely modelled chin, with a match- 
 less bust, and a full round form, that would 
 have exceedingly puzzled any of our P.R.B's 
 to twist into their diabolical lines of beauty. 
 All, in fact, was perfect except one particular 
 feature : what that w T as I'll tell you presently ; 
 but never, my dear reader, as long as
 
 238 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 you live, look into the mouth of a Dutch- 
 woman. 
 
 I myself was a novice at the time, 
 and took everything for granted that only 
 offered a fair outside. It is true, that my 
 hostess had hitherto kept her lips, as it were 
 glued together, allowing her words to slide 
 out through the smallest possible aperture : 
 this T thought was rather too niminy-piminy ; 
 but it was an imperceptible flaw in the koh- 
 i-noor, and vanished amidst the blaze of her 
 loveliness. 
 
 I felt I cannot tell how ; it must be that 
 I was then and there, for the first time in my 
 life, struck with all-consuming, all-absorbing 
 love. I pressed her delicate fingers, which 
 gently returned the pressure ; I drew that 
 dear little hand to my lips, while her face and 
 neck were suffused with blushes. Like Rory 
 O'More, I " looked in her eyes that were 
 beaming with light." Nay, in imitation of 
 that rollicking gentleman — pardon, dear 
 reader, if 1 shock the unspeakable purity of
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 239 
 
 your delicate mind — but I feel myself, so to 
 speak, at an imaginary confessional : whether I 
 shall ever be brought to one in reality depends 
 on the success of Cardinal Wiseman ; but, 
 as I said, in imitation of that rollicking country- 
 man of mine, I was on the point of — 
 
 Fortunately, there was a little glass window 
 in the partition, through which we could see 
 what was going on in the shop ; and just as I 
 was on the point of desperately snatching a 
 kiss, an elderly gentleman entering the front 
 door, my lovely hostess started up, exclaiming 
 — " Bon Dieu ! c'est mon mari /" 
 
 Ah ! that fatal exclamation ! In all my 
 previous trials and disappointments, my real, 
 internal, heartfelt happiness had never been 
 tampered with before ; but in uttering these 
 few insignificant words, my sweet hostess had 
 inadvertently opened her mouth, and displayed 
 between those ruby lips of hers, two fright- 
 ful rows of stunted, black, discoloured — 
 tobacco pegs ; I can call them nothing else, 
 in short. In a moment, they dispelled my
 
 240 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 celestial delusion, and called up hideous 
 images to my mind ; which Holbein or 
 Fuseli would have delighted in transferring 
 from the palette to the canvass, could their 
 genius have attained the full amount of my 
 horror. 
 
 I had heard of women who were said to be 
 beautiful in spite of their teeth, but I rejected 
 the theory as untenable. I thought of strange, 
 repulsive images, and I could think of nothing 
 else ; of painted sepulchres — of green mossy- 
 banks, that so often spring from a putrid 
 source — of skeletons clothed with transparent 
 flesh. I thought of the apples of the Dead 
 Sea, and of those waxen representations of 
 plague, which I had then read of, and have 
 since seen in such perfection at the Boboli 
 Palace (if I mistake not) at Florence. In 
 the midst of these horrible images, I was 
 presented to " mon mari" 
 
 " Monsieur," said my fair hostess, " has 
 been kind enough to lay out ever so many 
 guilders in refreshments for the camp."
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 241 
 
 " I am much obliged to him," said mon 
 mari ; " but don't you think, my dear, he 
 looks ill, or frightened at something or 
 other ?" 
 
 " Poor young gentleman !" she replied, 
 " I fear he is going to have an attack of our 
 terrible endemic." 
 
 " Well," said the elderly gentleman, " he 
 does look as if he was going to have the cold 
 fit." 
 
 " I have it already," I replied, " and with 
 a vengeance too." 
 
 " I was not wrong then," said the elderly 
 gentleman, as he handed me a paper of bark : 
 "chew this, my dear Sir," he continued, 
 " on your way back to camp, and you'll get 
 over it." 
 
 I took my leave at length, and marching 
 off with my fatigue men, arrived in due time 
 at our encampment. 
 
 And now arose a difficulty which I had 
 never anticipated. In the midst of my deli- 
 rium, I had lost the memorandum of my 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 242 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 various commissions, and it was in vain I 
 strove to recollect its items. I could think 
 of nothing but Dead Sea apples, and painted 
 sepulchres. What was to be done ? I might, 
 it is true, have asked all my friends to come 
 and select their own ; but some were on 
 picket, some were foraging, and some were 
 visiting friends in other parts of the align- 
 ment ; so, in my anxiety to get rid of my 
 cargo, I sent it off hap-hazard, and made of 
 course a variety of blunders. To one who 
 wanted a pound of coffee, I sent an equal 
 quantity of snuff; to another who was dying 
 for a Stilton cheese, I sent a roll of tobacco, 
 and so on : all these mistakes were soon 
 rectified amidst laughable explanations, but 
 one was nearly productive of mischief. 
 
 Arthur of our's had given me money to 
 buy him a telescope ; but this, in the con- 
 fusion of my mind, 1 sent to another, sup- 
 plying him instead with a bottle of brandy. 
 Now, poor Arthur was terribly " addicted," 
 as the saying is; and, taking my innocent
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 243 
 
 mistake for a deliberate insult, he sent me a 
 message. Some of my friends would have 
 had me pooh-pooh the affair ; but, at that 
 time, there was no such thing as a news- 
 paper correspondence to patch up a hole in a 
 man's honour ; so I went out with him, but 
 with a firm determination not to return his 
 fire. 
 
 Fortunately for all parties, Arthur's hand 
 was very unsteady from his overnight's po- 
 tations : instead of me, therefore, he hit his 
 own second, as he was gracefully retiring 
 from the line of fire ; and hit him, too, in 
 that part of the human frame which is said 
 to have formerly so much redounded to the 
 honour and profit of the learned Taliocotius. 
 As soon as he had performed this notable 
 exploit, iVrthur turned on his heel and 
 marched off, declaring that his honour was 
 satisfied; while I took deliberate aim at 
 a crow, that came sailing along over his 
 head, and brought it down, in spite of my 
 laughter. 
 
 M 2
 
 244 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE BOMBARDMENT. 
 
 But now, at length, the tug of war came 
 on, at least for the poor inhabitants of Flush- 
 ing, which we bombarded for three or four 
 days, by sea and land, with four or five 
 hundred pieces of ordnance, more or less ; 
 exclusive of Shrapnell-shells and Congreve- 
 rockets, which had just then come into 
 fashion, and made a pretty flare-up in the 
 night, to the admiration of all unconcerned 
 spectators.
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 245 
 
 The Shrapn ell- shell, or, as it is technically 
 called, spherical case shot, has this advantage 
 over the ordinary canister, that, whereas the 
 latter explodes immediately on leaving the 
 gun, and spreads its bullets so wide that few 
 of them will take precise effect at three 
 hundred yards, the Shrapnell may be thrown 
 two miles, and then explode within a calcu- 
 lated distance of the object to be attained ; 
 scattering, with murderous effect, not only 
 its own splinters, but the two or three hundred 
 musket balls with which it is charged. These 
 terrible missiles were principally directed, at 
 Flushing, against any uncovered bodies of 
 the enemy's troops who might have been 
 within range ; and who were sorely galled and 
 sadly puzzled by such excellent rifle practice, 
 as they deemed it to be, from an outlying 
 picket a couple of miles distant from them. 
 
 The Congreve-rockets were equally new 
 and astounding to the garrison of Flushing, 
 but infinitely more destructive. The tre- 
 mendous rush with which they soared aloft,
 
 246 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 and the trail of flame that marked their course 
 during the night, must have had a terrifying 
 effect on the trembling inhabitants of that 
 doomed city : but when they saw their pointed 
 tubes irrevocably fixed wherever they struck* 
 pouring forth innumerable jets of fire that 
 ignited everything inflammable within their 
 terrible compass, they must indeed have 
 looked upon them as a rare production of 
 that infernal gentleman, who, according to 
 Milton, astonished the angels themselves 
 with the invention of gunpowder. Such, in 
 fact, was the horror they occasioned, that 
 General Monnet, the French commandant, 
 made a formal remonstrance to Lord 
 Chatham against their being used in the 
 bombardment ; which, however, his Lordship 
 paid very little attention to. 
 
 While these, and the ordinary shells and 
 guns of every calibre, kept up an incessant 
 fire upon Flushing from the land side, our 
 numerous ships of war assailed it on the 
 sea-face, which extended the whole length of
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 247 
 
 the city ; pouring in a perpetual succession 
 of broadsides, with showers of shells from 
 the bomb-ketches, whose repeated explosions 
 among the streets and houses increased the 
 infernal din, and materially added to the 
 wide-spread destruction. The result was, 
 that this most unfortunate city was knocked 
 all to atoms, to the consternation and dismay 
 of its helpless inhabitants, with whom we all 
 the while expressed repeated wishes to be on 
 the most friendly terms; though, doubtless, 
 as they crept from the fiery torrent, into 
 holes, and cellars, and bomb-proofs, they 
 uttered curses, both loud and deep, at such 
 overtures of friendship. 
 
 Meanwhile, we, who were committing all 
 this havoc, suffered literally nothing from 
 the fire of the enemy, which was speedily 
 silenced : but, with the unreflecting curiosity 
 of youth, 1 fear we rather enjoyed the novelty 
 and martial splendour of the bombardment ; 
 especially as we were too far off to witness 
 its frightful results to the inhabitants, or to
 
 248 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 hear the groans and shrieks of the mutilated 
 and wretched sufferers. 
 
 Certain it is, that, during the night, we all 
 crowded upon the roofs of the neighbouring 
 farm-houses, to witness the star-like progress, 
 and the final bursting of the shells : the 
 rushing flame of the Congreve rockets, and 
 the numerous fires that were constantly 
 breaking out in every part of the town, 
 shooting up their spiral volumes of smoke 
 and flame to heaven ; while, at intervals, the 
 dreadful explosion of a magazine would send 
 a thrill of mingled pity, awe, and admiration 
 through our hearts. One casualty we par- 
 ticularly lamented, which was occasioned by 
 an unlucky shell, that carried off the belfry 
 of the principal church, and effectually silenced 
 its beautiful chimes, which had often soothed 
 our angry spirits in the trenches with a 
 celestial melody ; very different, indeed, from 
 those triple bob-majors that make such a 
 savage disturbance in this unmusical island 
 of ours.
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 249 
 
 The town, at length, becoming too hot for 
 the garrison, they hung out the white flag, 
 and beat the chamade on the ramparts. After 
 a parley, they agreed to surrender with the 
 honours of war ; and the principal gateway 
 was put in possession of Pack's gallant corps, 
 the 7 1st, till the definitive treaty should be 
 signed by the respective commanders-in- 
 chief. 
 
 In the afternoon of the same day, three 
 or four brother officers and myself, urged by 
 an unconquerable curiosity to see the town in 
 its actual condition, walked out of the trenches ; 
 and made the best of our way, through ruined 
 farm-houses, and over the dead bodies of once 
 jolly-tars, fatigue-men, and out-lying pickets, 
 in all stages of decomposition, till we arrived 
 at the Middleburg gate. There, with some 
 difficulty, we obtained permission to enter, 
 from Captain Law, the officer in command ; 
 who cautioned us, however, to avoid carefully 
 anything that might lead to a misunderstand- 
 ing with the French troops, still in possession 
 
 m 3
 
 250 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 of the arsenal, and other strong positions in 
 the town ; and espeaially to shun the Dutch, 
 who were fearfully exasperated against the 
 English, for what they deemed a cruel and 
 wanton destruction of their families and 
 property. 
 
 Thus warned, we proceeded with due 
 circumspection through streets and lanes, 
 blocked up with fragments of ruined houses, 
 broken furniture, and shattered property of 
 every description ; sad tokens of the des- 
 tructive nature of our cannonade. Very few 
 human beings were visible ; for the frightened 
 inhabitants had not yet ventured out of their 
 hiding holes, and the French troops were kept 
 close in their quarters, until the final arrange- 
 ment took place. 
 
 Occasionally we met a small picket, or 
 working party, carrying ammunition, or dead 
 bodies, from one place to another; and 
 whether it was that they had not shaved for 
 a week, or were terribly gruelled at the idea 
 of surrendering to the " sacre G — d dems"
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 251 
 
 as they very politely called us, they all looked 
 as savage as if they could have eaten us with- 
 out salt. 
 
 It being near the end of August, the 
 weather was excessively hot ; and the stench 
 and dust arising from the smouldering ruins, 
 added to the fiery nature of the atmosphere, 
 caused a most intolerable thirst amongst us ; 
 which, with all our prying, we could not 
 perceive any feasible mode of allaying. 
 
 " Surely," said one of our party, " all the 
 wine shops cannot be blown up, or knocked 
 down by that confounded bombardment ; if 
 we could only light upon some good fellow 
 now, that would show us the way to one." 
 
 " I am absolutely suffocating," I exclaimed, 
 as my tongue knocked like a piece of dry 
 leather against the roof of my mouth, " and 
 would willingly give a guinea at this moment 
 for a bottle of sour wine." 
 
 " Yonder's a Dutchman," cried Captain 
 O'Driscol, " standing on a bridge, and spitting 
 into the water for want of better employment.
 
 252 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 Let us ask him the way to the nearest 
 tavern." 
 
 Here, however, a difficulty occurred ; for 
 on comparing notes, not one of us, we found, 
 could speak a word of Dutch. 
 
 " Never mind," said Jack Crossley, an old 
 subaltern, who fancied himself a particularly 
 clever fellow ; " come on, my boys ; I'll soon 
 make the Dutchman understand what we 
 want." 
 
 " How so ?" demanded we, una voce. 
 
 " By speaking broken English to the 
 fellow," replied Crossley, with an air of un- 
 doubting confidence. 
 
 We all laughed at the absurdity of the 
 idea. Captain O'Driscoll, being the senior 
 officer amongst us, said the Dutchman 
 would take it as an insult, and we should get 
 into a scrape in consequence. 
 
 " No such thing, my dear fellow," said 
 Crossley. " I have always found broken 
 English a sort of universal language both 
 with Dutchmen and Frenchmen ; and I'll bet
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 253 
 
 you a rump and dozen, he will understand 
 me perfectly well, though I cannot speak 
 a word of Dutch to him." 
 
 " Done !" said O'Driscoll, " I'll take your 
 bet, just to show you what a budhgai* you're 
 going to make of yourself." 
 
 Anxious to witness the decision of a 
 bet, which now began to interest us for more 
 reasons than one, we proceeded in a body 
 towards the Dutchman; who, seeing us ap- 
 proach, folded his arms as he leaned against 
 the parapet of the bridge, and reconnoitred 
 us with an air of mingled insouciance and 
 defiance. 
 
 He was a fine-looking man, in a sort of 
 undress uniform, with a huge pair of mous- 
 tachios, and a humorous twinkle of the eye, 
 that seemed to encourage Crossley in his 
 attempt ; for he went boldly up, and addressed 
 him in the following jargon, which very much 
 deranged the gravity of our party. 
 
 * An Irish expression of ridicule, expressive but 
 untranslateable.
 
 254 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 " You standy where get eaty, drinky, 
 brandy, cum watery wine-o ?" 
 
 If this specimen of Crossley's universal 
 language excited our merriment, the answer 
 to it threw us into convulsions of laughter. 
 
 " Och ! to be sure then I do, your honor," 
 promptly replied the supposed Dutchman. 
 " You've only to go down the kay there, to 
 the * Orange Boven,' where you'll find the 
 best of aiting and dhrinking, and good dhry 
 lodgings to boot, whether you're a man or 
 a horse." 
 
 " There I" said Crossley, with a look of 
 triumph that very much increased our 
 laughter ; " I told you that every Dutchman 
 understood broken English." 
 
 The man, on inquiry, proved to belong 
 to the Irish Brigade, in the service of 
 Napoleon; some companies of which had 
 been detached from Antwerp, to do duty at 
 Flushing during the siege. My readers, 
 perhaps, know that this gallant and dis- 
 tinguished corps was exclusively composed of
 
 PERCY BLAKE, 255 
 
 Irishmen, whose religious scruples and dis- 
 abilities had sent them into voluntary exile 
 from their native land, to avoid the pressure 
 of laws, which now happily no longer exist : 
 laws that had long doomed some of the best 
 blood of Ireland to be shed in the service of 
 France, Spain, and Austria ; and had given 
 to whole generations of Blakes and 
 O'Donnells the wealth and honours of every 
 country but their own. As the reader also 
 knows that an ancestor of mine was one of 
 the original members of this distinguished 
 body, I felt a more than ordinary sympathy 
 for my poor countryman ; and, pressing a 
 Spanish dollar into his hand, I passed on 
 with my comrades to the " Orange 
 Boven." 
 
 This patriotic sign, which had lain hidden 
 during the domination of the French, 
 amongst the archives of the cautious inn- 
 keeper, was hung up by him the moment 
 the town surrendered ; while its predecessor, 
 " Napoleon le Grand," was ignominiously
 
 256 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 bundled into the coal-hole. The joy of 
 Mynheer will, therefore, be readily surmised, 
 on seeing, for the first time in his life, some 
 English officers under his hospitable roof; 
 and he accordingly treated us to everything 
 excellent in the way of refreshment, duly 
 charging for the same six times as much as 
 he would have dared to demand from the 
 French, during their day of power. 
 
 In a week after this, the besieging force 
 was drawn up on a range of sandhills, ex- 
 tending in a northerly direction from the 
 walls of Flushing ; the original foundation on 
 which this artificial island may be said to 
 have been constructed. In their presence 
 the garrison marched out, with the honours 
 of war ; and I felt, in common with my 
 brothers-in-arms, a justifiable triumph in 
 seeing six thousand Frenchmen lay down 
 their arms at our feet, and embark, sorrow- 
 fully enough, Heaven knows, in transports, 
 to be conveyed to England. Some, doubt- 
 less, were destined for Norman Cross ; and,
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 257 
 
 as the idea struck me, I felt a pang of re- 
 morse and sorrow, at having so speedily for- 
 gotten my still admired Harriet Sibley. 
 
 But, alas ! our triumph ended here. For, 
 between the utter ignorance, the tardy pro- 
 ceedings, and the scandalous dissensions of 
 our naval and military commanders, Antwerp 
 was forgotten, the power and honour of Eng- 
 land were alike overlooked, and the troops, 
 who would have nobly served their country 
 on the battle-field, were doomed to perish 
 ingloriously by lingering disease ; while their 
 country looked on, as if spell-bound, at this 
 fruitless sacrifice of several thousands of lives, 
 and this shameful expenditure of many millions 
 of pounds sterling ! 
 
 Some of our regiments were marched into 
 quarters, at Terveer and Arnemuyden, and 
 others at Middleburg, until it should be 
 decided what was eventually to be done with 
 them ; for they were evidently poor Lord 
 Chatham's great embarrassment. Willingly 
 would he have seen them all comfortably
 
 258 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 laid at the bottom of the Room-Pot, could 
 the thing be done without any trouble ; but, 
 as this was not feasible, he took the next 
 best course, and went off to England, leaving 
 them to get out of the mess the best way 
 they could. 
 
 He was received by his brother imbeciles, 
 the ministers of the day, as Noodle might 
 be supposed to receive Doodle, at the court 
 of King Arthur, under similar circumstances: 
 they embraced, danced a rigadoon, and washed 
 their hands of so disagreeable an affair alto- 
 gether; declaring to John Bull, when he 
 began to grumble, that it was all right, and 
 he knew nothing at all about the matter.
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 259 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE WALCHEREN AGUE. 
 
 Meanwhile, our hospitals at Middleburg, 
 Flushing and Terveer, were filling daily, 
 hourly, with burning and shivering wretches ; 
 wasting, pining, and dying, under the influence 
 of a deadly disease, and the inadequacy and 
 ignorance of our medical staff. 
 
 It was pitiable to see the strongest and 
 finest men in this devoted army, for they 
 were the first to fall victims to the insidious 
 malady, emaciated, pale, and visibly withering 
 away; — their teeth chattering, their limbs
 
 260 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 shaking, as if their noble spirits were quailing 
 at the approach of the grim tyrant, whom 
 they had so often braved in the field : while, 
 with faint and quavering voices, they called 
 for more blankets, in the vain hope of im- 
 parting a little warmth to their ice-stricken 
 frames ; or, in the paroxysm of the hot fit, 
 screaming for drink to allay the quenchless 
 thirst that was racking their vitals, and 
 shrivelling up their parched and burning 
 throats. 
 
 I kept up for a long time, owing, principally, 
 to my great animal spirits, and active habits ; 
 but, at last, I felt the insidious approaches 
 of the foe, and prepared for a formidable 
 attack. My regiment being quartered in 
 Middleburg, I was billeted on an old Scotch 
 gentleman, who had been so long in the 
 country that he had very nearly forgotten to 
 speak English ; and, during my illness, I was 
 often amused at the dialogues that ensued 
 between him and Conolly ; the Irish phra-
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 261 
 
 seology of the one, harmonizing beautifully 
 with the Anglo-Dutch of the other. 
 
 This canny old Scot, however, made me 
 very comfortable. I had a fine light airy 
 room, on the ground floor, nicely furnished j 
 and scrupulously clean ; the floor being as 
 highly-polished as the tables and chairs, while 
 on each side of the window, externally, was 
 fixed a looking glass, by which I could see 
 every individual coming up and down the 
 street, without stirring from my chair inside. 
 
 But, my greatest luxury was a handsome 
 French bedstead, with elegant curtains, 
 depending from a lofty gilt canopy, affixed 
 to the wall. The bed itself was a huge 
 mountain of feathers, in which I sank so 
 deep, that I disappeared altogether from the 
 wondering eyes of Conolly, as he laid over 
 me a sort of second bed of beautifully 
 quilted silk ; under which I lay, as he said, 
 like a crow in a clover field. 
 
 This was such a change from the bed of 
 earth on which I had been stretched for so
 
 262 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 many weary hours during the siege, that the 
 whole night I could not sleep a wink from 
 absolute enjoyment. 
 
 But I soon got tired of my delicious bed, 
 and heartily wished myself back once more 
 on the cold earth of my old encampment ; 
 where my blood flowed in a genial current, 
 and health, strength, and activity enabled 
 me to spurn with contempt all cares that 
 flesh is heir to. The very morning after I 
 had entered my cozy billet, when I sat down 
 to breakfast, I began to loathe my tea ; and 
 as I pushed the cup and saucer from me with 
 unaccountable dislike, I observed that my 
 finger nails had all turned as blue as indigo. 
 Conolly, who had also observed the dismal 
 symptoms, exclaimed in a voice of con- 
 dolence : — 
 
 " Masther, honey, you're in for it." 
 
 " In for it !" I repeated. 
 
 " That same, Sir," replied Conolly. " You're 
 going to have a fit ov the shakes. That's 
 just the way the men are seized in the hos-
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 263 
 
 pital, and they're dying by dozens there every 
 day." 
 
 In a few moments after, I felt an un- 
 wonted chill creeping all over my frame. 
 Where it commenced I could not say; but 
 from the crown of my head to the ball of 
 my foot, I was speedily reduced to a mass of 
 ice, of living, breathing, sentient ice. The 
 warm current of my blood was suddenly 
 arrested by the finger of a Polar frost ; and, 
 within three feet of a blazing wood fire 
 on the hearth, I felt not its influence ; nay, 
 when I desperately thrust my hand into the 
 blaze, it pained and burnt, but it warmed 
 me not. 
 
 So I made the best of the matter, and 
 tumbled into bed, while Conolly piled 
 blankets upon blankets over me, and heaped 
 huge logs upon the fire ; but still I remained 
 cold and frost-bitten in the midst of all. Our 
 surgeon paid me a flying visit, and said I 
 must have patience, for I should soon be 
 able to write a thesis on the philosophy of
 
 264 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 contrast. With these enigmatical words he 
 hurried off to his hospital ; where six hundred 
 men of our battalion, which had recently 
 marched into Middleburg eight hundred 
 strong, were now lying in as helpless a con- 
 dition as I was myself. 
 
 " Patience and shuffle the cards, then, 
 Conolly," I said, " that's all we have for it," 
 and my voice shook and jibbered between my 
 teeth ; while my limbs and body underwent 
 a convulsive tremolando y as if the whole 
 anatomy of my frame was falling into count- 
 less icicles. "Wheel that table over here, 
 close by the fire-side," I continued, " and 
 put the doctor's stuff within my reach ; I'll 
 take it when I can find courage enough to 
 face a dose of salts." 
 
 While Conolly was wheeling the table — a 
 sort of writing-table, with two deep drawers 
 in it, close between the head of my bed and 
 the fire-place, something rolled inside of the 
 drawers, and on opening it, he exclaimed with 
 a sort of a grunt : —
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 265 
 
 " Well, by the powers, I never seen any- 
 thing like that afore." 
 
 " What do you see ?" I demanded. 
 
 " A dozen eggs,", he replied ; " fine, fresh 
 ones, too," as he held one between him and 
 the light. " Well, that accounts for the old 
 Dutchman's saying you wor as poor as a 
 church mouse; he has left them for your 
 breakfast, sir." 
 
 " Nonsense," I said, in a peevish tone, 
 the invariable attendant of the cold fit. " Be- 
 sides, he's not a Dutchman, Conolly ; he's a 
 Scotchman." 
 
 " Dutchman, or Scotchman," responded 
 Conolly ; " 'tis six ov one, and half a dozen 
 ov another : they're birds of the same feather, 
 and sure the only differ there is betune 'em 
 is, one is spelt with a C, and the other with 
 aD." 
 
 I couldn't help smiling at this orthogra- 
 phical discovery, in spite of the icy torments 
 under which I was suffering. 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 266 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 " I have a great mind," said Conolly, " to 
 throw 'em all in the old fellow's face." 
 
 " On no account," I said ; " for it shows, 
 at least, a kind feeling, if it be not a mistake 
 altogether — but oh, good heavens ! " 1 ex- 
 claimed, as a new phase of my disorder 
 supervened. 
 
 " What is it, masther Percy ? " cried 
 Conolly, in a fright, as he pushed in the 
 drawer with the eggs. " What's the matter 
 wad ye, masther dear ? " 
 
 " This change is so delightful," I exclaimed, 
 as a gentle glow at length began to pervade 
 my shivering frame ; and the frozen horrors 
 of the first fit were gradually disappearing, 
 before the " flattering unction " that ushers 
 in the second. 
 
 I think it is Colonel Crocket who so 
 graphically describes the delightful transition 
 he experienced ; when, on being almost frozen 
 to death, one night, amongst the lakes and 
 backwoods, he lay down the next morning 
 in a spring of running water, to be dissolved
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 267 
 
 from his icy fetters. Something equally, if 
 not more delicious, I felt, as kind nature 
 seemed to pour a fluid of reviving warmth 
 through my veins ; which not only restored 
 my original temperament, but soon began to 
 excite my imagination to a splendid luxu- 
 riance of castle-building ; in which 1 drew 
 such pictures of sublunary bliss, as Mahom- 
 med himself never surpassed, in his dreamy 
 visits to the Seventh Heaven. 
 
 Had it stopped here, it would have been 
 really transcendent : but the fluid, which before 
 was warm and vivifying, became gradually 
 hot and hotter, till it actually began to scald 
 me internally; while the outer surface of my 
 body was burnt to as dry and arid a con- 
 sistency as a hot cinder. 
 
 Meanwhile, the torrid condition of the 
 flesh began to operate on the mind. My 
 brain was whirling in a countless series of 
 concentric ravings : I was swimming in hot 
 water ; struggling for my life, in boiling oil ; 
 gasping for breath, in a sea of molten lead, 
 
 N 2
 
 268 PERCY BLAKE. ' 
 
 while fiends, of every shape and hue, were 
 skirling along its glistening surface ; flourish- 
 ing their whips of scorpions over my devoted 
 head, and stunning my ears with fiendish 
 yells, that may find some faint resemblance 
 in the railway-whistle. 
 
 It was in vain that I kicked off blankets 
 and bed-clothes ; it was in vain that I begged 
 Conolly to roll me naked in the snow, or to 
 plunge me into an ice-bath. Nothing could 
 avail me, in my hopeless condition : the 
 powers of medicine were set at nought ; 
 Galen and Paracelsus were alike baffled, and 
 no balm could be found for my infernal suf- 
 ferings in the three hundred volumes of the 
 one, or the elixir vitce of the other. 
 
 Nature, at length, came to my relief, when 
 I was on the point of suffocation : my skin, 
 hitherto like shrivelled parchment, became 
 soft and moist ; a gentle perspiration oozed 
 through the pores ; the fluid-fire, which had so 
 long been coursing through my veins, 
 gradually subsided to a tepid heat, and I
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 269 
 
 went off insensibly into a long and tranquil 
 sleep. 
 
 Such was my first attack of the Walcheren 
 ague ; and I never, before or since, felt anything 
 like that cruel disease. But though it was, 
 happily, not what Mrs. Quickly calls a " Quo- 
 tidian-Tertian" it was nearly as bad, from 
 the still-impending gloom of anticipative 
 horrors, — for every third morning, as fixed 
 as fate, the blue nails cast a frightful shadow 
 of the coming event. 
 
 Thousands upon thousands of fine fellows, 
 who ought, at that moment, to have been 
 combing down the Gallic cock in the Penin- 
 sula, were literally floored by this awful dis- 
 ease ; for bedsteads could not be found in 
 sufficient numbers, and they lay upon the 
 ground, in the hospitals, in every stage of 
 lingering death. 
 
 Our medical men were actually bewildered ; 
 for, though they were all skilful enough at 
 bayonet or gun-shot wounds, they knew not 
 how to cope with so insidious an enemy.
 
 270 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 They were, moreover, worked off their legs ; 
 till, the Commander-in-chief applying for 
 an increased medical staff, we w 7 ere inundated 
 with a host of hospital-mates ; — young men 
 fresh from their studies, raw, inexperienced, 
 and presuming ; who killed a great many 
 more, by their wild experiments, than they 
 cured, by their book-learned skill. 
 
 I was delivered over to the tender mercies 
 , of one of these alumni of Apothecaries' 
 Hall ; who put me through more manoeuvres 
 than Sir David Dundas ever dreamt of, in 
 the vain hope of discovering the fountain- 
 head of the disease. Solutions of arsenic, 
 and other rank poisons, I recollect, were 
 amongst the arcana of his juvenile art. 
 Whether these infinitesimal doses laid the 
 foundation of the Homoeopathic system, I 
 cannot say ; but one of his remedies certainly 
 led to an ingenious discovery, similar to one 
 that has long been immensely attractive to the 
 curious and sight-seeing public of this vast 
 metropolis.
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 271 
 
 My young medical friend, with a view to 
 kill the cold fit instanter, prescribed repeated 
 fomentation of the extremities, on its ap- 
 proach. Conolly, therefore, went out and 
 bought a huge roll of flannel; he then piled 
 logs of wood upon the fire, and hung kettles 
 of water over them, in active preparation to 
 meet the enemy. 
 
 Accordingly, when the nails began to as- 
 sume the cerulean tinge, Mr. Conolly tore off 
 sundry strips of the flannel, plunged them 
 into hot water, and wrapped them, scalding 
 hot, about my legs, feet, hands, and arms ; — 
 with many eulogiums, at the same time, on 
 the cuteness of them London chaps, who 
 seemed to know ever} 7 thing, from the con- 
 struction of a Thames punt, to the inflation 
 of an air-balloon. 
 
 With intense assiduity and care, poor 
 Conolly went on fermenting me, as he called 
 it ; tearing off a piece of fresh flannel for 
 every change, and, like a, true Irishman, 
 poking the one just used into the nearest
 
 272 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 hole at hand, which happened to be the deep 
 drawer of the table before-mentioned, in 
 which rny good old Scotchman had placed his 
 dozen eggs. 
 
 By this process, we were speedily enveloped 
 in an atmosphere of steam, something like 
 the sulphur-baths at the Lago d'Agnano, 
 while perspiration rolled down Conolly's face; 
 and the table-drawer, which was close to the 
 huge fire, actually smoked with the vapour 
 engendered therein from the damp flannels. 
 
 But, alas ! this wondrous remedy was 
 fruitless altogether, as regarded me per- 
 sonally, for the icy-hearted disease bade 
 defiance to the powers of steam ; but it led 
 to a result altogether new and stupendous, 
 which far surpassed even the boundless genius 
 of the young conjuror who had medical 
 charge of me. 
 
 One morning, after a week's perseverance 
 in the hot water cure, my attention was 
 attracted by a curious sort of fluttering and 
 scratching at the head of my bed; which
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 273 
 
 puzzled me as much as the spiritual tapping-: 
 puzzle the gobe-mouches of the present 
 day. 
 
 Ringing the bell, for Conolly, I desired 
 him to look about for a rat or a mouse, that 
 appeared to be gnawing some of the bed- 
 furniture. He, accordingly, listened for 
 awhile, and, thinking he had ascertained the 
 point of attack, he opened the table-drawer 
 slowly, that he might the more certainly 
 pounce upon the enemy ; when, suddenly, 
 with an exclamation of fright, he started 
 back, pointing in terror at the table-drawer. 
 
 I looked towards the spot indicated ; and, 
 to my utter astonishment, saw a dozen little 
 yellow-bellied chickens hopping up, one after 
 another, on the edge of the drawer, and 
 thence down upon the floor ; with a consecu- 
 tive sort of motion, that certainly bore some 
 resemblance to the convolutions of a " fiery 
 serpent," as Conolly had called it, in his first 
 alarm. 
 
 The fright of my poor valet, instead of 
 
 N 3
 
 274 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 being dissipated by the mot cTenigme, which 
 was now quite apparent to me, became still 
 more ludicrous than before. Fancying 
 himself beset by a whole desert of "fiery 
 serpents," he fled from one corner of the 
 room to another, in an agony of fright, and 
 bellowing for assistance ; while the " unfledged 
 bipeds" hopped after him, with a natural 
 instinct in search of food; fluttering their 
 tiny wings, and jumping over each other's 
 backs, as if they were playing at leap-frog, 
 for our amusement. 
 
 The scene, altogether, was so strange, and 
 so irresistibly comic, that I actually roared 
 with laughter to such a degree, that the noise 
 Conolly and I made between us brought in 
 my host and all his family, to see if we were 
 not both in a state of raging frenzy. 
 
 " My dear Mr. McCracken," I said, when 
 I was at length able to articulate, " you were 
 good enough to give me a dozen eggs ; and 
 I now return the compliment with as many 
 chickens."
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 275 
 
 The old Scotchman was shrewd enough to 
 comprehend the real state of the case, after 
 a little explanation, and marched off in tri- 
 umph with his young stock of poultry : but 
 Conolly, to the very last, looked upon it as 
 the trick of some Dutch fiend, to cheat him 
 out of his blessed religion ; and I never could 
 make him understand the mysteries of steam- 
 incubation. 
 
 "You may say what you like, Sir," said 
 Conolly ; " but them chickens belong to the 
 1 Good People/ and I'd no more ate one of 
 'em than I'd ate my own grandfather."
 
 276 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE LINE OF-BATTLE-SHIP. 
 
 At length, when one-fourth were utterly 
 destroyed, and another fourth rendered unfit 
 for service, of the finest expedition that ever 
 left the shores of Great Britain, the wise men 
 who planned it, and who ought to have been 
 duly whipped at the cart's tail for the same, 
 thought proper to bring back the sad 
 remains ; thus verifying the nursery rhyme : 
 
 " The King of France, with twenty thousand men, 
 March'd up the hill, and then — marched down 
 again." 
 
 Orders were accordingly issued to embark 
 the troops for England, and to blow in the
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 277 
 
 docks and basins of Flushing ; this being the 
 mighty result of an enterprise which cost 
 England several thousand men, and many 
 millions of money. 
 
 The troops were embarked in November, 
 on board the ships of war and transports 
 then lying off Flushing and Terveer, the rem- 
 nant of my regiment being easily disposed of 
 in the ' Vengeur/ 74 ; and towards the end 
 of that month we bade adieu, with unanimous 
 and infinite satisfaction, to a scene of so much 
 misery and mortification. 
 
 " Oh, by the powers !" said Conolly, as he 
 brought my luggage down to the cabin allotted 
 to me, on the main-deck ; " we have got into 
 a fine vessel, now, anyhow ; as much like the 
 dirty ould transport we kem over in, as a 
 pewter spoon is like a silver goblet. Only 
 see what a fine large window you've got in 
 your cabin, Master Percy ; with a beautiful 
 big gun in it, all as clean and as bright as a 
 new pin ; and the Lord be marciful to me ! if 
 there isn't a lock and trigger upon it, all the
 
 278 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 same as if it was a natural-born musket. 
 Then, the decks are as smooth and as white 
 as a sheet of paper ; with a kitchen, and a 
 fire-place, and mess coppers, all big enough 
 for Fune-a-ma-cool. Sure, it's wishing I am 
 that our passage may last for a month of 
 Sundays, there's such elegant aiting and 
 drinking goin on, day and night; and the 
 men are so silent and well-behaved when 
 they're pulling the ropes, you'd think it was 
 the Lord Mayor's drawing-room, or a levee 
 at Dublin Castle ; with the boatswain, there, 
 like the Lord Lieutenant, giving his orders, 
 
 with a whistle in his mouth " 
 
 Here I cut Mr. Conolly short in his ram- 
 bling description of the agremens of a 
 seventy-four ; and told him he must be on 
 his p's and q's, now that he was in a king's 
 ship ; a piece of advice which he promised 
 to follow to the letter. I did not see him 
 again for four-and-twenty hours, and supposed 
 he was sea-sick, as we were now lying our 
 course with a spanking breeze ; but when he
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 279 
 
 did make his appearance, he looked terribly 
 chapfallen. 
 
 " What's the matter, now," I said , 
 " Conolly ? You look as if you couldn't 
 help it." 
 
 " And no wondher for me, Sir," replied 
 Conolly. " Tear-an-ages ! did any one ever 
 see such a savage place as this we've got into, 
 now ?" 
 
 " You were all in its praise," I observed, 
 " the last time I saw you." 
 
 " I was young and foolish then, your 
 honour," said Conolly ; " but Pm wiser and 
 sadder, now, as you say yourself." 
 
 " What has happened to you, Conolly ?" 
 I demanded, pretty well conjecturing the 
 state of the case. 
 
 " Plenty, and more of it, sir," replied 
 Conolly. " First and foremost, I was stand- 
 ing paicefully and quietly yesterday, on a 
 place they call the quarter-deek, when a 
 mighty cross-looking chap, with a cocked hat
 
 280 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 on his head, and a long telescope under his 
 arm, suddenly called out : 
 
 " Midshipman of the watch ! " 
 
 " Ay, ay, sir," said another, jumping down 
 from the Lord knows where, with a little bit 
 of a caubeen on his head, covered with 
 tarpaulin, that they call a sou'wester. 
 
 " Here's a marine adrift," said the one 
 with the telescope. 
 
 " It's only a young lobster, sir," said the 
 other, catching a hoult of me by the ear; 
 " he's only parboiled as yet, sir," says he. 
 And with that he lugged me forward to the 
 fokesal, as they call it ; and there he let me 
 go, saying, ' That's your place, young man : 
 never let me see you abaft the main hatch- 
 way again.'" 
 
 " I told you, Conolly," I said, " that you 
 must be very particular in a king's ship. 
 What happened next ? " 
 
 " Well, sir," replied Conolly, " thinking to 
 make myself useful, when the word was given
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 281 
 
 to haul taut the lee braces, I tackled to a rope, 
 along with the rest, and began pulling away, 
 and singing out as they used to do in the 
 transport, ' Yo, heave O, Yo ho — ' 
 
 " ' Silence, you lubber ! ' cried the bosen, 
 giving me a crack of a rope on the back ; 
 1 silence, and learn to hold your jaw in a 
 king's ship ! ' 
 
 " Well, sir, myself didn't like to be knocked 
 about, and pulled about in this way, so I 
 gave up pulling and hauling, and sat down 
 on a big cannon to hide my vexation ; when 
 the bosen's mate, just like his master, came 
 across my back with another rope's end, 
 crying out, 
 
 " ' Don't you ever dare to sit on a gun, 
 you lubber, in this here ship again.' 
 
 " ' I ax pardon, sir,' says I ; ' where am I 
 to sit, then ? ' 
 
 " ' In lubber's hole, to be sure,' says he 
 with a grin. 
 
 " Then I asked a daisent young man, 
 where lubber's hole was, and he pointed to
 
 282 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 the top ov the mast. So, thinking that was 
 the place fixed for the soldiers to be out of 
 the way like, I climbed up the rope ladders, 
 fearing every moment I'd fall into the sea. 
 But, just as I put my head through a hole 
 in the big flure at the top of the mast, two 
 sailors caught a hoult of me by the ears; 
 and says one, says he, 
 
 " ' Avast, you lubber ! where be you a 
 going to ? ' 
 
 " * I'm going to lubber's hole, sir,' says I. 
 
 " ' Then you must pay your footing/ says 
 the other — ' so fork out ! ' 
 
 " But I said, I wouldn't pay no footing, for 
 I had only a dollar about me, and that 
 belonged to you, sir. So they caught hoult 
 of me, and tied me up to the rope ladder, 
 legs and arms, like a spread-aigle ; and there 
 the villians left me for two mortial hours 
 till at last I was obliged to pay them the 
 dollar to let me go. Well, sir, when I came 
 down, three or four fellows gother about me, 
 a nd says one, says he :
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 283 
 
 " ' Where did you come from ? ' says he. 
 " ' I come down from the ropes, sir,' 
 s ays I. 
 
 " * What do you call the ropes ?' says 
 he. 
 
 " ' All them ropes that's flying about over 
 our heads,' says I. 
 
 " * There's only three ropes in the ship, 
 you lubber,' says another ; ' and this is one 
 of 'em,' giving me at the same time a lick 
 across the back with a rope's end. 
 
 "'And this is another of them,' said a 
 second fellow, giving me another crack when 
 I turned round to ask the first what he meant 
 by it. 
 
 " Well, Sir, to make a long story short, 
 as the saying is, there 1 was betune 'em all ; 
 and every time I turned round to face one 
 enemy, another behind would give me a 
 crack of a rope's end, till at last my back 
 was all full of ridges and furrows, like a 
 praty field. 
 
 " But that was cakes and ale to what
 
 284 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 happened at night ; for when I was fast 
 asleep in my hammock, the villians cut the 
 strings, and down I came, whack upon the 
 deck : faith, I thought every bone in my 
 body was bruck to smithereens. 
 
 " Well, Sir, at last I got up, and lay down 
 upon the deck, for fear of another hoist, 
 covering myself up in my blanket, snug and 
 cozy; when one of the invisible devils, for 
 they were no more to be seen than the good 
 people* themselves, let dhrive a bucket of 
 water souse upon me, that wet me to the 
 very skin. 
 
 " ' What's that ?' I said, as soon as I got 
 the water out of my mouth. 
 
 " ' That's a salt-eel for your supper," said 
 the villian, as he ran off with his brother 
 scamps, all ready to split their sides with 
 laughing. 
 
 " Well, Sir," continued Conolly, " very 
 little sleep did I get that blessed night, what 
 wid the cutting down, and the salt-eel, and 
 * Fairies.
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 285 
 
 the cockroaches that were crawling over my 
 face and into my ears, with their sticky legs 
 and fingers, till daylight ; when, just as I 
 was getting into a nice little doze, I heard a 
 rumbling sort of a noise like distant thunder, 
 and a dashing of water about, as if we were 
 going to Davy's locker in earnest. Up I 
 jumped, and opening my eyes, I saw some 
 of the say-going divils hauling a large square 
 stone backwards and forwards on the deck, 
 while others were dashing buckets of water 
 about like mad, and others again, with huge 
 swabs, sopping it up after 'em. 
 
 " ' Come here, you lubber,' says one, ' and 
 take a spell at this holy-stone.' 
 
 " ' He's a papist,' says another, ' and only 
 believes in holy-water.' With that he let 
 dhrive a bucket, and set me afloat again. 
 
 "'To the divil I pitch ye,' I said, 'for 
 English heretics, that don't believe in holy- 
 stones or holy-water either, till ould Nick 
 gets a hoult o' ye.' 
 
 " Well, Sir, off I ran, till the carpenter's
 
 286 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 mate, a countryman ov my own, took com- 
 passion on me, and gave me a place in his 
 birth, and a breakfast, too, though I spoilt 
 the tay by boiling salt water for it." 
 
 Such were the trials of Mr. Conolly in a 
 line-of-battle ship ; which, though vastly su- 
 perior to others in cleanliness and accommo- 
 dation, is a mode of conveyance by no means 
 a favourite with our troops, who generally 
 prefer the free-and-easy system of the filthy 
 old transport.
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 287 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE WELLINGTON OVER-ALL. 
 
 Our passage, fortunately, was a short one, 
 and in due time we were landed at Chatham, 
 where there was an extensive depot. It was 
 with great delight that we once more trod 
 upon English ground ; but I had the morti- 
 fication of going into the sick-list again, 
 from a relapse of the Walcheren ague, a 
 misery which was entailed upon many thou- 
 sands long after the termination of that pesti- 
 lential enterprise. 
 
 In six or eight weeks, however, after my 
 return from the land of frogs, and frows,
 
 288 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 and agues, I felt myself, though still rather 
 weak, well enough to go to mess; and I 
 really did enjoy society once more, after so 
 long a seclusion in my barrack-room, with all 
 its attendant horrors of bark and arsenic, 
 blue nails, shakings, and hot fits. 
 
 It being a garrison-mess, many of the 
 members were utter strangers to me ; for we 
 had detachments and recruiting companies 
 from several of the regiments then in the 
 Peninsula, where also was my first battalion, 
 in which I had recently become effective. 
 But military men are a gregarious race, by 
 habit, at least, if not from nature, and we were 
 soon intimate enough with one another. 
 
 My new companions were, generally speak- 
 ing, an excellent set of fellows : light- 
 hearted, free from care, and averse to thought; 
 for, though a few of them had seen a little 
 service, the majority were fresh from 
 school, or just released from their mother's 
 apron strings. Our pranks and follies, were, 
 therefore, not of a very sage or prudential cha-
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 289 
 
 racter ; but they won us no ill-will amongst 
 the inhabitants of Chatham, or its neighbour, 
 Rochester, who looked upon them rather as 
 the ebullitions of unthinking youth, than the 
 indications of depraved or malignant dis- 
 positions. 
 
 There was, however, one amongst us by no 
 means a general favourite ; who, so far from 
 mingling in our little sprees, seemed to 
 move in a higher sphere, and kept himself 
 rather ostentatiously aloof from our occasion- 
 ally boisterous merriment. This was Captain 
 F. W. B. A. C. D. Hopkins, or as we called 
 him for brevity, Alphabet Hopkins ; a sobri- 
 quet which, by no means harmonized with 
 his own notions of self-importance, or the 
 respect that was due to his superior merit and 
 rapidly progressive promotion. 
 
 He was a very handsome young fellow, so 
 far at least as regularity of features may be 
 so termed, though devoid of expression ; and 
 of great symmetry and personal grace, mingled 
 however with intolerable conceit and super- 
 
 vol. i. o
 
 290 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 cilious manners, which effectually marred the 
 impression he seemed at all times anxious to 
 make. He was accomplished in the ordinary 
 acceptation of the word ; that is, he had a 
 showy smattering of French and Italian, 
 danced and fenced well, sang, played the 
 guitar, and drew vapid landscapes in water- 
 colours. 
 
 But, above all, he was an admirable shot 
 with the pistol ; and, indeed, rather prided 
 himself on the character of a duellist, 
 which he had successfully sustained in two 
 or three rencounters. He had been but 
 recently promoted to a company in the 
 28th, from the India staff of Sir Arthur 
 Wellesley ; and the ordinary tenor of his 
 conversation was a perpetual ringing of the 
 changes on the Governor-General, the Delhi 
 durbar, the Commander-in-chief, the India 
 staff, and the Bengal artillery. 
 
 I was speedily disgusted with the affecta- 
 tion and presumption of this ineffable person ; 
 but fancying that my dislike might have
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 291 
 
 arisen from prejudice, I did all in my power 
 to conquer it, and even made some overtures 
 towards an intimacy with him. These 
 were received as usual with a super- 
 cilious smile, a haughty condescension, and 
 a patronizing air ; which so effectually checked 
 my advances, that I very soon left him to 
 the undisturbed enjoyment of his own 
 upereminent position. Evidently piqued at 
 this, he condescended in turn to court my 
 acquaintance; but I received his overtures 
 with a cold disdain which I did not attempt 
 to qualify, and which ultimately stung him 
 into the bitterest animosity. 
 
 One evening, after dinner, the orders, as 
 usual, were brought in by our respective 
 orderly sergeants ; and as I cast my eyes over 
 the book that was presented to me, a young 
 fellow near me called out : 
 
 " Confound it all ! I am for a garrison court- 
 martial to-morrow. Blake, my dear fellow, will 
 you take it for me, as I am engaged to go 
 on a pleasant excursion up the Medway ?" 
 
 o 2
 
 292 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 "With all my heart," I replied. " Will 
 it be a long affair ? Who's to be 
 tried ?" 
 
 " I'm sorry to say," observed Captain 
 Wallis of the 28th, " that my pay-sergeant 
 is one of the culprits." 
 
 " What, O'Flaherty ?" demanded another 
 of the same regiment. 
 
 " Yes," answered Captain Wallis : " as fine 
 a fellow as ever stepped ; but he has unfortu- 
 nately got himself into a scrape, and is minus 
 in his accounts." 
 
 The name at first did not strike me ; but 
 on hearing it repeated, with a variety of com- 
 ments generally of a favourable character, I 
 felt convinced that it could be no other than 
 my poor uncle, whose adventure with the 
 mad bull I trust the reader has not yet 
 forgotten. I had lost sight of him for some 
 years; but his regiment, I now fully recollected, 
 was the twenty-eighth. 
 
 The pang this conviction gave me, actually 
 shook my frame, and made me sick at heart :
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 293 
 
 for, under the most favourable circumstances, 
 the idea of having an uncle in the ranks, in 
 the very same garrison with me, was by no 
 means flattering. But to see that uncle tried 
 as a public delinquent; nay, to be actually 
 one of his judges, compelled by duty, perhaps, 
 to sentence him to a degrading punishment, 
 forced to stand by while he received it, to 
 hear his groans, to see my mother's brother 
 writhing in agony, his noble heart breaking 
 under the atrocious infliction, while he vented 
 reproaches, perhaps curses, against the un- 
 natural nephew who had doomed him to so 
 indelible a disgrace — all these thoughts rushed 
 with the speed of lightning through my brain, 
 and I was compelled to swallow a tumbler of 
 water to prevent me from fainting. 
 
 In the midst of my confusion, my eye fell 
 upon Alphabet Hopkins; who seemed to be 
 looking at me with a sardonic grin, as if he 
 was absolutely conscious of what was passing 
 in my mind. Fortunately, I had sufficient 
 command over myself to check the rising
 
 294 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 passion that urged me to hurl a decanter at 
 his head ; for it subsequently appeared that 
 he was only enjoying the anticipated pleasure 
 of revenge on the luckless O 'Flaherty, who 
 had lost, or made away with, his favourite 
 case of duelling pistols. 
 
 In a state of mind that beggars description, 
 I now got up \ and making the best excuse I 
 could to my friend, for not taking his tour of 
 duty as I had promised, I staggered out of 
 the mess-room : nothing, indeed, but the 
 fresh breeze that was blowing pretty strong 
 outside, prevented me from falling to the 
 ground. 
 
 I took a few turns in the barrack-yard, 
 till my thoughts had become more settled; 
 and, having decided on the line of conduct 
 which honour and the claims of kindred 
 called upon me to adopt, I proceeded with 
 a firm and collected mind towards the 
 guard-room, where my uncle was in dur- 
 ance, and easily obtained admission to his 
 presence.
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 295 
 
 I found him sitting on the guard-bed, in 
 an inner room, at some distance from the 
 other prisoners ; and leaning in a melancholy 
 mood on a small table, whereon a candle was 
 dimly burning. His tall, athletic figure- 
 bent in unwonted humility, his manly and 
 somewhat stern features clothed in sorrow 
 and unavailing contrition, he presented a 
 figure that a lover of high art would be de- 
 lighted to study for a Samson Agonistes, or a 
 Judas Maccabeus. The strong man was 
 overthrown by the allurements of the syren, 
 the noble fighter was betrayed by the deceit- 
 ful smiles of fortune. 
 
 I sat down by the side of my hapless 
 relative, and took his hand in mine before he 
 was aware of my presence: but when he 
 saw that his unexpected visitor was an officer, 
 he started up with habitual respect ; and car- 
 rying his hand to his forage-cap, he stood 
 staring at me with an expression of mingled 
 surprise and curiosity. 
 
 " My dear uncle," I said, as well as my
 
 296 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 emotion permitted, " sit down. I wish to 
 talk with you." 
 
 " Uncle !" he exclaimed, in utter amaze- 
 ment. 
 
 " Do you not recollect Percy Blake ?" I 
 said, taking his hand again, and looking up 
 into his face, with my eyes brimful of tears. 
 
 " Percy Blake," he cried, clasping his 
 hands together. " And are you, then, En- 
 sign Blake, of whom I have heard so much, 
 and of whom I have such reason to be 
 proud ? Ah ! 'tis true," he continued, as he 
 gazed eagerly in my face. " There is the 
 exact image, sure enough, of my poor sister 
 Jane." Then, falling upon the guard-bed, he 
 buried his face in his broad hands, and wept 
 and sobbed as if his heart would burst. 
 
 There is something in the uncontrolled 
 passion of a powerful man, that affects us 
 more than the feeble wailings of less muscular 
 persons ; and, though not much given my- 
 self to the melting mood, except at the well- 
 wrought imaginary sorrows of the novelist,
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 297 
 
 I could not refrain, on such an occasion, 
 from sharing the grief of my gigantic relativ . 
 and for smiic time we mingled our b 
 together. 
 
 Fortunately, his fellow-prisoners, who were 
 
 at the other end of the room, gave audible 
 
 indications of being far advanced in the land 
 
 Jreams. and our sad communion was 
 
 undisturbed. 
 
 A: 1 :._-th. when our mutual passioo had 
 subsided, and my poor uncle had indulged in 
 numerous self-reproaches, at having reduced 
 himself to such a condition that he could not 
 d look his own nephew in the face, I ob- 
 led from him an explanation of the cruel 
 dilemma in which he was placed. From the 
 account he gave me, and subsequent dis- 
 closures during his trial, the following appears 
 to be a correct narrative of the tragi- 
 comic adventure which had led to his 
 incarceration. 
 
 o 3
 
 298 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 CAPTAIN O FLAHERTY. 
 
 To his own amazement, and that of all 
 others who knew him, my poor uncle had 
 been for a long time getting on with a steadi- 
 ness and sobriety that were winning him 
 golden opinions from the constituted author- 
 ities ; when his evil destiny threw into his 
 pocket the sum of £21 5s. 6d., old prize 
 money, and from that period his ruin may 
 be safely dated. 
 
 It was not for the money, per se, that he 
 cared a rush ; nor was he dazzled by the
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 299 
 
 large amount, having frequently had much 
 more in his possession ; but then it was 
 company's money, which my uncle always 
 justly considered as a sacred deposit. Now T , 
 however, he had twenty guineas of his own, 
 honourably and dearly earned ; on which 
 there was no earthly claim, and which, in 
 fact, was a perfect superfluity, his pay being 
 fully adequate to all his wants and wishes. 
 Having, also, no poor relation with whom to 
 share this treasure, his first thought was to 
 give a grand entertainment to the whole 
 garrison ; but this he found was inadmissible. 
 He then hit upon some other equally pru- 
 dent schemes ; but finally resolved, as a 
 dernier resort, to make a trip to London, 
 which city he had only once had a misty 
 glimpse of, as he marched through it 
 on a wet day with a body of recruits to 
 Chatham. 
 
 Accordingly, having obtained a week's 
 furlough, O'Flaherty purchased a suit of 
 mufti ; including a handsome frock-coat,
 
 300 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 frogged, braided, and tasselled according to 
 the military fashion of the day. He then 
 booked himself an inside passenger in the 
 stage, and started for London ; having first 
 taken the precaution to pin up the mouth of 
 that pocket in which he had deposited a 
 green silk purse containing the remainder of 
 his prize money, together with five or six 
 pounds belonging to the company of which 
 he was pay-sergeant. He had also under his 
 charge, I must not forget to state, a 
 handsome mahogany case, containing the 
 favourite duelling pistols of Alphabet Hop- 
 kins, which he was commissioned to get cleaned 
 and put in order by the maker in London. 
 
 My uncle, on arriving in the metropolis, 
 having walked up one street and down 
 another, till he was well nigh tired ; dropped 
 into a coffee-house, ordered a chop and 
 a pint of madeira, to which was subse- 
 quently added a pint of port (for he was 
 determined on being very moderate) ; and he 
 concluded with a bottle of champagne, just
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 301 
 
 to try the merits of that boasted tipple, to 
 which he had hitherto been a stranger. 
 When he had discussed these creature com- 
 forts and paid his bill, my uncle got up, in 
 his own conceit as sober as a judge; and 
 putting the case of duelling pistols under 
 his arm, he sallied forth to execute his 
 commission. 
 
 The fresh air, however, produced its usual 
 effects : my uncle began to feel queer, and 
 even suspected once or twice that he was 
 not so steady as he ought to be. He there- 
 fore looked about for a place to sit down till 
 the swimming in his head should pass away ; 
 and a billiard -room being the first asylum 
 that offered itself, he walked in. 
 
 Strange to say, there was no one in the 
 room but the marker, who handed my uncle 
 a cue, and asked him if he would like to 
 knock the balls about till some one arrived. 
 My uncle had played this fascinating game 
 in his youth : indeed, it was one of the idle 
 and expensive habits which had driven him
 
 302 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 to enlist as a private soldier ; but several 
 years had elapsed since then, and he was now 
 somewhat astonished to find with what facility 
 he made hazards and cannons after so long an 
 interval. 
 
 " Egad, sir, you're a clipper," said a young 
 fellow, who entered just as O' Flaherty had 
 holed all the balls and made a cannon. 
 
 " Oh, that's a trifle," said my uncle, 
 strangely elated by his success and the wine 
 he had drunk. " There was a time," he 
 added with becoming modesty, "when I 
 could make game off the balls three times 
 out of five ; but I am out of practice 
 now." 
 
 " Per Bacco /" replied the stranger, with 
 a pretty little Italian oath, " I should say the 
 contrary. I should be sorry to take a red 
 hazard from you for five guineas a game and 
 twenty the rub." 
 
 " Suppose you try a pool, gentlemen," 
 said the marker, as two or three more 
 strangers now dropt in one after another.
 
 PERCY BLAKE. - 303 
 
 "With all my heart/' said my uncle, "I don't 
 mind if I lose a few shillings with you." 
 
 " Shillings !" exclaimed one with a stare. 
 
 " Shillings !" cried another with a laugh. 
 
 " The gentleman," said the marker quietly, 
 " is perhaps not aware that this is a sub- 
 scription table, and that half-guinea pool 
 is the lowest limit allowed by the rules." 
 
 " Oh ! that alters the case," said my uncle, 
 heartily ashamed of his paltry stake, and 
 anxious to retrieve his character in the eyes 
 of his new friends ; who were all stylish - 
 looking fellows, dressed in the very acme of 
 fashion, with gold watches, chains, rings, 
 snuff-boxes and eye-glasses sparkling about 
 them, quite enough to stock a jeweller's shop 
 in Cheapside. 
 
 "What say you, gentlemen," said the 
 marker, " do you think it would be safe to 
 lower the stake a little ?" 
 
 " I don't know what Lord John would say- 
 to it," replied one. 
 
 " I know," said another, "that Sir
 
 304 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 Humphrey would cut me dead, if he ever 
 heard of it." 
 
 " I could never show my face at Long's 
 again," cried a third. 
 
 " There's no occasion in life to put your- 
 selves to any trouble, gentlemen," said my 
 uncle, somewhat " flabbergasted," as he said 
 himself, at these great names. " Sure I'm 
 agreeable to anything in raison." 
 
 A pool was accordingly determined on, 
 and two or three of the strangers threw down 
 half-a-dozen guineas each, to be exchanged 
 for markers to pay for their live| as they fell ; 
 while my uncle, being now put on his mettle, 
 and full of confidence in his own good play, 
 took ten guineas from his green silk purse, 
 for a similar purpose. 
 
 Several pools were now played in rapid 
 succession, in which fortune favoured the 
 brave O' Flaherty to such a degree that, 
 besides numerous hazards, he actually won 
 the three first pools that were played. Then, 
 whether his companions were getting more
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 305 
 
 into play, or whether he was bothered by 
 such a succession of lords, dukes, and earls, 
 German Barons, and Counts of the Holy 
 Roman Empire, as beat incessantly upon his 
 ear ; certain it is, that my poor uncle lost not 
 only his winnings, but also every one of the 
 markers, for which he had paid his ten 
 guineas. Heated, vexed, and mortified, he 
 now declared his intention of playing no 
 more. 
 
 " No more !" exclaimed one with a stare. 
 ' " No more !" cried another with a 
 whistle. 
 
 " Well, I'm bio wed," said a third, a stout, 
 bullet-headed fellow, " I'm blowed if that 
 ain't a regular do." 
 
 " What's that you say ?" cried my uncle, 
 with a sudden explosion of wrath. 
 
 " I say 'tis a regular do," repeated the 
 bully ; M to come for to go for to win our 
 money in this here fashion, without giving 
 us a chance for it again." 
 
 " I have won none of your money," said
 
 306 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 my uncle, " but I have lost a good deal of 
 my own." 
 
 " Hark to the Irish gold-finder !" ex- 
 claimed one of the party. 
 
 " If you dare say that again — " cried my 
 uncle. 
 
 " Come, come," said bullet-head ; " none of 
 your big looks here, Mr. Irishman, or I'll 
 pitch into you, though you are such a hulk- 
 ing fellow, and polish you off in less than no 
 time." 
 
 To show that he really meant what he 
 said, he threw off his coat, turned up his 
 wrist-bands, and put himself into an attitude 
 that indicated the perfection of science. 
 
 " See here now," cried my uncle, giving 
 the table a slap with his huge palm that 
 shook the whole tenement. " Just see here 
 now ; I could smash you as easy as an egg- 
 shell, if I chose to make a blackguard of 
 myself, which I shall not do, for it would be 
 as much as my commission is worth. But 
 if you are really for fighting, as you pretend,
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 307 
 
 I'm your man, and this instant too, but it 
 must be as a gentleman." 
 
 " Oh ! oh !" cried all, una voce. 
 " There is my card," said my uncle, who, in 
 the vanity of his heart, had written himself 
 down, " Captain O'Flaherty of the Slashers." 
 The strangers gazed in silence on this 
 formidable piece of pasteboard, and looked 
 at one another as if uncertain how to treat 
 the announcement. 
 
 " And these," continued my uncle, unlock- 
 ing the pistol-case, which he had placed on 
 the billiard-table, " these are my weapons." 
 
 Here an indistinct whispering took place 
 amongst the strangers, who seemed to look 
 rather blank at sight of the splendid duelling 
 pistols. 
 
 " Now," resumed my uncle, " if you really 
 feel disposed for a fight, take one of these 
 beautiful barkers, and load it to your own 
 taste. There is a flask of glazed powder; 
 the balls and wadding all ready, cut, and 
 dry; the flints transparent as crystal, and a
 
 308 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 hair trigger that won't stand the brushing 
 of a fly's wing. Then take your post at 
 the other end of the table, unless, indeed, 
 you prefer fighting across it; and if I 
 don't make a box of cold meat of you 
 in three jiffeys, my name isn't Captain 
 O'Flaherty." 
 
 This, of course, settled the affair. The 
 serious tone of my uncle, and the unmistake- 
 able expression of his countenance, proved 
 to the sharpers the necessity of a change in 
 their tactics. They, accordingly, one and all, 
 pressed round O'Flaherty, with expressions of 
 regret at having mistaken his rank, &c. &c, 
 and the pugilist made a handsome apology 
 for his rudeness, which was immediately 
 accepted by my uncle, who was as easily 
 pacified as roused to anger. It was then 
 proposed that they should shake hands, and 
 drown all animosity in the generous juice of 
 the grape. Some bottles of champagne were 
 accordingly procured from a neighbouring 
 tavern, which healed all sores, and gave an
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 309 
 
 additional stimulus to my poor relative's 
 excited imagination. 
 
 From this period, my uncle could give no 
 connected account of his London adventure ; 
 it being all buzz with him, as he said, after 
 he had partaken of another bottle of cham- 
 pagne. 
 
 Certain gleams of recollection he had, 
 however, from which he begged me to make 
 out something like a continuous narrative, in 
 the hope of discovering some clue or other 
 out of the terrible labyrinth in which he was 
 involved; for instance, he recollected that 
 when called on to pay his bill, at the tavern 
 where he put up, he found himself minus 
 of his green silk purse and its contents. 
 
 Naturally concluding that his pocket had 
 been picked by some of his quondam friends 
 of the billiard- table, he was about to start 
 back for its recovery ; or, in default thereof, 
 to take it out in a sound thrashing, indis- 
 criminately bestowed upon the shoulders of 
 the knaves who had plundered him. To
 
 310 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 this, however, the waiter and the landlord, 
 and the landlord's wife, put in a demurrer, 
 until the bill, amounting to £3 155., was 
 liquidated. This was a poser for my poor 
 uncle, who was fairly at his wit's end ; when, 
 luckily, the landlady opened the pistol-case, 
 and exclaimed, with a gesture of surprise, 
 
 " Lauk ! only think ; I declare to my 
 gracious if it ben't a box full of young guns. 
 Suppose you pop them." 
 
 My uncle, who had no idea of any sort of 
 popping but one, was here let into popping 
 of another description ; and, at length, with 
 great reluctance, consented to the only expe- 
 dient that could now release him from durance 
 vile. The porter, accordingly, took charge 
 of the implements ; and, after a short absence, 
 very honestly brought him back £5 10s., 
 and a square bit of pasteboard ; on which 
 were written certain hieroglyphics that seemed 
 to dance the hayes before his astonished eyes, 
 as he gazed on them. 
 
 When mv uncle next came to his recollec-
 
 * 
 PERCY BLAKE. 311 
 
 tion, he found himself half-naked and fighting 
 in the streets, somewhere in the precincts of 
 Old Drury, but with whom and for what, he 
 could not possibly imagine. As he was literally 
 " an Irishman in a row, every one's customer," 
 he maintained the pass against all comers, 
 and floored fifteen Charleys in succession, till 
 at last he was captured by a rush of a dozen 
 from all points of the compass ; and being 
 handcuffed, and ankle- cuffed, he was borne 
 off to Bow Street. Thence he was duly 
 transmitted to his regiment; all bruised, and 
 battered, as he said, like an old tin kettle 
 that had gone the rounds at the tail of a mad 
 dog. 
 
 " I shouldn't care a pinch of snuff," said 
 my uncle, " for all the beatings in the world, 
 for mine has been a give-and-take sort of life 
 from my youth upwards: neither should I 
 care for reduction to the ranks ; for the first 
 forlorn-hope will give me back the worsted 
 epaulette again ; but the disgrace, nephew, the 
 disgrace of the halberts will break my heart."
 
 312 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 When my poor relative was a little more 
 composed, I asked him how much of the 
 company's money he was deficient in. 
 
 " About six pounds," he replied, with a 
 heavy sigh. 
 
 " Well," I said, "I'm pretty sure I can 
 make that up before the court sits to- 
 morrow." 
 
 " My poor dear nephew," said he, squeezing 
 my hand, affectionately, " it will ruin you ; 
 and I shall never forgive myself for involving 
 you in my troubles. Besides, 'tis of no use ; 
 for I shall be equally disgraced on account of 
 the pistols." 
 
 " How much were they pawned for ?" 
 1 demanded. 
 
 " Five pounds ten shillings," he replied. 
 
 " Well, give me the ticket," I said. " It 
 may not be yet too late to redeem them." 
 
 " It's lost," he replied with a heavy sigh. 
 " I cannot find it high or low." 
 
 This was, indeed, a serious blow to my 
 hopes, and I now began really to despair of
 
 PERCY BLAKE, 313 
 
 saving my poor uncle from the disgrace he so 
 justly dreaded. 
 
 " Do you think," I asked, " that Captain 
 Hopkins would consent to receive from me 
 an equally valuable case, in lieu of the one he 
 has lost ?" 
 
 " Not he, the puppy ;" replied my 
 uncle. " He was in a towering passion 
 when he heard of the loss, and swore a 
 dreadful oath that he would take ample 
 vengeance out of my back." 
 
 This w T as just as I expected, and perfectly 
 in keeping with the character of the man. 
 I knew not, therefore, what course to pursue ; 
 and sat silent and melancholy, gazing upon 
 my unhappy relative w 7 ith a woe-begone 
 countenance, even worse than his own. 
 
 "Well," he said, with an effort to rouse 
 himself; " there's no use in sighing and 
 dying, anyhow, and 1 must keep up my 
 courage for the trial. My dear nephew, just 
 hand me a dhudheen* that you'll find in my 
 * A short pipe. 
 
 VOL. I. P
 
 314 PERCY BLAKE. 
 
 jacket pocket ; it's hanging up on the naij 
 yonder." 
 
 I searched accordingly, but couldn't find 
 the comforter he wanted. 
 
 "Then it must be in the pocket of my 
 new frock-coat," he said. "Just see how the 
 villains tore it off my back." 
 
 It was, indeed, pretty well reduced to 
 ribbons, and it was with difficulty I could 
 ascertain which was a sleeve and which was a 
 pocket. At last after a long search I 
 said : 
 
 " I cannot find your pipe, uncle, though I 
 have searched every pocket carefully — stop, 
 there's a hole in this one, perhaps it has fallen 
 down — yes, here's something between the 
 coat and the lining — huzza ! huzza ! 'tis the 
 pawnbroker's ticket doubled up !" 
 
 " God be praised !" cried my poor uncle, 
 elevating his hands and eyes ; " there is at 
 least a glimmering of hope." 
 
 " Now," I said cheerfully, " keep up your 
 courage, and leave the rest to me. I shall
 
 PERCY BLAKE. 315 
 
 start for town immediately, and you will 
 probably not see me again till the Court 
 opens to-morrow, when you must ask the 
 president to allow me to defend you." 
 
 He squeezed my hand affectionately as the 
 tears rolled down his cheeks, and exclaimed 
 in a voice broken by sobs : 
 
 " God bless you, my only comforter ! Sure 
 it was Providence that sent you to me in my 
 extremity." 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 Printed by Schulze and Co., 13, Poland Street.
 
 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH ST., LONDON. 
 MARCH 1855. 
 
 NEW AND INTERESTING WORKS 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 MESSRS. HURST AND BLACKETT, 
 
 SUCCESSORS TO MR. COLBURN.
 
 HURST AND BLACKETT S NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 THE MEMOIBS AND CORRESPONDENCE OF WIL- 
 
 LIAM LISLE BOWLES; Late Canon Residentiaby or Salisbury 
 Cathedral, Rector of Bremhill, &c. By JOHN BOWLES, D.D., 
 assisted by ALARIC A. WATTS. 3 vols, post 8vo. with Portrait, &c. 
 {In the press.) 
 
 Anion? the Correspondents of the Poet of Bremhill, including many of the 
 most distinguished persons of his time, may be enumerated the following: — 
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 — Crabbe — Rogers— Milman — Warton — Heber — James Montgomery — The 
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 Wilson — W. Roscoe — W. S. Landor — Madame de Stael — Joanna Baillie — Mrs, 
 Opie — Mrs. Southey, &c. &c. 
 
 LORD GEORGE BENTINCK: A POLITICAL BIO- 
 
 GRAPHY. By the RIGHT HON. B. DISRAELI, M.P. Fifth and cheaper 
 Edition, Revised. Post 8vo. 10s. 6d. 
 
 " This biography cannot fail to attract the deep attention of the public. We are bound 
 to say, that as a political biography we have rarely, if ever, met with a book more dexterously 
 handled, or more replete with interest. The history of the famous session of 1846, as 
 written by Disraeli in that brilliant and pointed style of which he is so consummate a master, 
 is deeply interesting. He has traced this memorable struggle with a vivacity and power 
 unequalled as yet in any narrative of Parliamentary proceedings." — Blackwood's 3Iag. 
 
 " Mr. Disraeli's tribute to the memory of his departed friend is as graceful and as 
 touching as it is accurate and impartial. No one of Lord George Bentinck's colleagues 
 could have been selected, who, from his high literary attainments, his persona! intimacy, and 
 party associations, would have done such complete justice to the memory of a friend and 
 Parliamentary associate. Mr. Disraeli has here presented us with the very type and embodi- 
 ment of what history should be. His sketch of the condition of parties is seasoned with 
 some of those piquant personal episodes of party manoeuvres and private intrigues, in the 
 author's happiest and most captivating vein, which convert the dry details of politics into a 
 sparkling and agreeable narrative." — Morning Herald. 
 
 LORD PALMERSTON'S OPINIONS AND POLICY; AS 
 
 Minister, Diplomatist, and Statesman, during more than Forty Years 
 of Public Life. 1 vol. 8vo with Portrait, 12s. 
 
 " This work ought to have a place in every political library. It gives a complete view 
 of the sentiments and opinions by which the policy of Lord Palmerston has been dictated as 
 a diplomatist and statesman." — Chronicle. 
 
 " This is a remarkable and seasonable publication ; but it is something more— it is 8 
 valuable addition to the historical treasures of our country during more than forty of the 
 most memorable years of our annals. We earnestly recommend the volume to general 
 perusal."— Standard.
 
 ~'RY AND BIOGRAPHY. 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE COURTS AND CABINETS OF 
 
 THIRD. From Origixal Family Documext*. By 
 the DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM AND CHANDOS, KG.. . 
 
 8ro^ with Portraits. 30a. 
 
 opixioxs or 
 
 1 These volumes contain much valuable matter. The letters which George, first 
 
 Z .::•;: i i-i i- . ..:i ":;•• --s T.r.iy ::' : -i-rrri: :n i i.t s:~e :'.i!~ :: rtt : it '.:?'-:, 
 :';::::;:-:-:•.-•.':- :i f :t '.it ~.i.:t. ••:::-^;. : ::.y ! ;:::-.; u:r.:-..: : :i: .- -..:":. 
 i f:i: :..---.-• • i --.; • :i ;t-- - ijr«. H: :.::•:.:' ■ -= -. .t L:::-l e .:;:.!-.: .:' Ir'.-'L, 
 -..-=: .-:,•:._•: 7. . . - -.■-.-.- -- . --: . :r. 1.7. -.r. ;tr ? '-.: : ':. = : . -: .::.«:!-.: : . rr~; :: iii:« 
 were his two brothers, Wiiiiam and Thomas Grenrille, both of whom spent the chief part of 
 their lires hi official employments, and of whom the former is sufficiently known to fame as 
 Lord Grenrille. The staple of the book is made op of these family documents, bat there are 
 also to be found int e rsp e rs ed with the Grenrille nawatit e, letters from every man of note, 
 :i: \iz :•::_- ^ -. -,:: ::' it t.t: J v. :: -.it -_-..i ::' :it :?::. — . Tift ,--_ :i ■--. -~.r::~.\ 
 npon which they shed a good deal of fight. The formation of the Coalition afinistry in 1783 
 the illness of the King in 1788, and the first war with Republican France. Lord Grenrille's 
 -•■.--. :. 5 '. -. :-: if ..-: i .•:■:: ------ :: ■-.:' r~ ■.:::-. :l :i- ~i:i : ii: :.; .: :it ?.- ~:-'5 
 
 party, and the condnct of the Prince and Duke of York during the King's illness."— Times. 
 
 . ■ - ■ 
 
 undertaken the task of forming a history from the papem of his grandfather and great- 
 ancle, the Earl Temple (first Marquis of Buckingham), and Lord Grenrille, of the days of 
 the second Wm. Pitt. The letters which are giren to the public in these volumes, extend 
 over an interral commencing with 1782; and ending with 1800. In that interval, erects 
 occurred which can never lose their interest as incidents in the histor y of England. The 
 K-yL :::z V. : :?-.: ■■-■ : :-.; . = r — \y :'l- ':'. ::--.:= -~:-v.-. :t ::" :it v/r.vr: i'i ?.-.: 
 to the efforts of the discarded ministers to force tln'uuwlwLS again into office — the great cou- 
 «:;::::-.".. :;:;r. :: :: :.- F.-i-f :y :. . i -■ •-. :: r. -.it '-- - ~ :---:-. -• :. - - - , — "it 
 :'.:.'.r-:-.;-.:::i: - ;-: — : .-. .-:-.-; z -'. :.--. it.- --: : i.-tr.: ~r : -.it - : ;:--; ::' -.it C-: ••■-—-.':.» 
 -.rti> r.z : .: ::" • t E-t: .i ?.^.: _-. . . ■■- . -.-.t ::-~:-t~: tr.:-i: :t : Err! i'i -; :-. :it 
 gnat E ur o p e an war, — these, with the Union with Ireland, are political movements every 
 detail of which p osse ss*» the deepest interest. In these volumes, details, then guarded with 
 :it -:;: ir.i ..-..-- :'•.- it.-; : '. '.: ;: : :' -.it : - • - .y- ; :'- -• •, -•- • - ■ '.: -.it -••::-: - 
 -•:vt- :: v-.t : . : 7:.- -• . ,-. ,t ..-: v.- - : ry : f - :. - : : :':. -. :■-:.• . .: : ■ • i . - : l.-» I: : = 
 :.:: ;:;r t v - :- t : :- >- - -i-y -. •: : -7 ~ : -t : :~ : f.t.v tTtr ; it: E.-.n 5 :\ 
 materials it was not possible to form a work that 1 
 Tit 1 -it ::.-..■•: ? ii:.- -;. ... •.,.-•. 
 
 skilL The connecting narratire is written both \ 
 
 in a style which comes up to the highest order of historical « 
 
 of the sketches of personal character. There is scarcely a single individual of celebrity 
 
 throughout the period from 1782 to 1800 who is not introduced into these pages ; 
 
 others, besides the King and the various members of the royal family, are 
 
 SheDmrne, North, Thorlow. Loughborough, Fox, Pitt, Sheridan, Burke, Portland, Sydney, 
 
 Fittwiluam, Tierney, Buckingham, Grenrille, Grey, Jialmesbory, Wilberforce, Burdett, 
 
 Fitzgibbon, Grattan, Flood, Cornwallis, the Beresfords, the Wellesleys, &c."— Herald. 
 
 " Tir^t :—-.:•- --■-. ---: ;■■---- ~ V. ~ -- --. -.::.-.:-.■ - :'.: . •: ■/ '.. .: ..-■■- :-;--■■■ 
 
 been brought to light out of the archives of any of our great families."— JS^auaaaer. 
 
 %* Thx Third and Fourth Volumes, comprising the period from 1800 
 © 1810, and completing this important work, are also just published.
 
 HURST AND BLACKETT S NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 MEMOIKS AND CORRESPONDENCE OF MAJOR 
 
 GENERAL SIR W. NOTT, G.C.B., Commander of the Army of Can- 
 
 DAHAR AND ENVOY AT THE COURT OF LuCKNOW. EDITED BY J. H. 
 
 STOCQUELKR, Esq., at the request of the Daughters of the late General, 
 from Private Papers and Official Documents in their possession. 2 vols. 
 Svo., with Portrait. 28s. bound. 
 
 " One of the most valuable and interesting books that can ever claim a permanent place 
 in a British library."— Standard. 
 
 " These highly interesting volumes give a valuable contribution to the history of India 
 and an admirable portrait of a most distinguished officer."— John Bull. 
 
 " These Memoirs with the Correspondence included in them will do that justice to the 
 part played by Sir W. Nott in the Affghan war, which it is undeniable preceding works have 
 failed to do."— Atkenceum. 
 
 "These memoirs of General Nott, whom the editor very justly describes as a * model 
 officer,' have been given to the world at the instigation of the hero's surviving daughters. A 
 more graceful tribute of dutiful affection to the memory of a departed parent it would be 
 difficult to name. It is at once a graphic picture of the soldier's career, and a noble monu- 
 ment of his fame. The work issues from the press at a very fortunate moment. The life of 
 an officer who followed in the footsteps of Wellington, making the Despatches of that 
 illustrious warrior his continual study, will be welcomed by many an aspirant for military 
 renown at this exciting crisis. The volumes form a valuable contribution to the biographical 
 stores of the age. To the young soldier, in particular, they will form a most valuable guide, 
 worthy to be placed by the side of the Despatches of the great Duke of Wellington." — Messenger. 
 
 " When the late General Nott died, the ' Quarterly Review' expressed a hope that some 
 means would be taken for giving publicity to his private letters and official correspondence, 
 because they so completely illustrated his high and chivalrous character, while a memoir of 
 his life would hold out so admirable a lesson to British statesmen, and so good an example to 
 young officers. We are happy, therefore, to find that, under the able editorship of Mr. 
 Stocqueler, the whole of the most valuable portion of the general's correspondence has just 
 been published in two handsome volumes, which comprise also a most interesting memoir of 
 the gallant hero of Candahar, giving a complete account of the stirring campaign in Afghan- 
 istan, and throwing much light upon many important points hitherto left in obscurity. The 
 work will be eagerly welcomed by all — more particularly by military readers and those in- 
 terested in our Indian dominions." — Globe. 
 
 " A biography of a first-rate soldier, and a highly honourable man. The book will often be 
 appealed to as a standard authority. A valuable and most authentic adition is here 
 furnished to the true history of transactions which will ever hold a prominent place in the 
 annals of our Indian rule." — Dublin University Mag. 
 
 " We know not a book after the Wellington Despatches, more deserving of the study of 
 a young officer. It might be made one of the standard manuals of military education." — 
 Literary Gazette. 
 
 This book is one of the most interesting records of military life that we possess, and 
 a genuine memorial of one who has achieved a right to be reckoned among England's greatest 
 men."— Daily News. 
 
 NARRATIVE OF A RESIDENCE AT NEPAUL. BY* 
 
 CAPTAIN THOMAS SMITH, late Assistant Political-Resident at 
 
 Nepaul. 2 vols, post 8vo. 21s. 
 » 
 " No man could be better qualified to describe Nepaul than Captain Smith ; and his 
 concise, but clear and graphic account of its history, its natural productions, its laws and 
 customs, and the character of its warlike inhabitants, is very agreeable and instructive 
 reading. A separate chapter, not the least entertaining in the book, is devoted to anecdotes 
 of the Nepaulese mission, of whom, and of their visit to Europe, many remarkable stories 
 are told."— Post.
 
 HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 
 
 TURKEY: ITS HISTORY AND PROGRESS; FROM 
 
 THE JOURNALS AND CORRESPONDENCE OF SIR JAMES PORTER, 
 Fifteen Years Ambassador at Constantinople, continued to the Present Time, 
 with a Memoir of Sir James Porter, by his Grandson, SIR GEORGE 
 LARPENT, Bart. 2 vols. 8vo., with Illustrations. 30s, bound. 
 
 " These volumes are of an authentic character and enduring interest." — Atheneeum. 
 
 "This book forms a very valuable repertory of information in regvrd to the past and 
 present state of Turkey. Altogether the information is completely given, and for ail pur- 
 poses of reference during the continuance of the struggle in the East, the book will be 
 valuable." — Exa?niner. 
 
 " To any of our readers desirous of forming an opinion for himself on the condition 
 and prospects of Turkey, we would advise a careful perusal of this work. No work on the 
 subject could have been better timed, while the information which it contains— unlike the 
 great bulk of those hasty compilations which a sudden demand has called into existence — is 
 not only accurate, but valuable." — Morning Chronicle. 
 
 "A most interesting, instructive, and valuable work. In no other book that we are 
 aware of, will the reader find the same amount of reliable information respecting the actual 
 condition and resources of the Sultan's dominions." — Morning Post. 
 
 " In these volumes we have the most complete and accurate description of the past and 
 present position of the Turkish Empire to be found in our language." — Britannia. 
 
 " These volumes constitute a work for the future as well as for the present, in other 
 words, a valuable library book as well as a book of great contemporaneous interest. Their 
 permanent value they derive chiefly from the deep research and extensive and minute in- 
 vestigation of their first author, Sir James Porter, their present interest from the acute and 
 lively treatment of the events of the day by his grandson and continuator. In fact, we know 
 not where to find so perfect an account of Turkey in all its relations with the rest of the 
 world, military, political, and, above all, commercial." — Standard. 
 
 "This highly interesting work consists of two parts. The first volume, after a memoir 
 of Sir James Porter, proceeds to give a general description of the Turkish Empire, of its 
 natural and industrial productions, and its commerce, a sketch of its history from the in- 
 vasion of Europe to the reign of Sultan Mahmud II., and an account of the religion and 
 the civil institutions of the Turks, and of their manners and customs, chiefly from the 
 data supplied by the papers of Sir James Porter. In the second volume we are made ac- 
 quainted with Turkey as it is ; the religious and civil government of Turkey, its Legislature, 
 the state of education in the Empire, its finances, its military and naval strength, and the 
 social condition of the Turks, are all in succession brought under review. The work gives a fuller 
 and more life-like picture of the present state ot the Ottoman Empire, than any other work with 
 which we are acquainted." — John Bull. 
 
 " No publication upon the state and prospects of the Ottoman Empire, with which we 
 are acquainted can compare with the work now under notice for general utility. In addition 
 to investigations into the legislature of Turkey, its civil and religious government, its 
 educational institutions, and the system of instruction, its finances, military and naval 
 resources, and the social condition of the people, ample details are given of its history, and 
 a short account of the progress of the actual struggle. These researches are interspersed with 
 "journals and letters, which impart a charming interest to the volumes. We hail the appear- 
 ance of these volumes with satisfaction, as accurate information both on the history and the 
 actual condition of Turkey i3 much needed. Good books are ever welcome, and this is a good 
 book, coming into our possession at the critical moment when it is most required." — Messenger.
 
 HURST AND BLACKETT S NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 THE LIFE OF MARIE DE MEDICIS, QUEEN OF 
 
 FRANCE, Consort of Henry IV., and Regent under Louis XIIL 
 By MISS PARDOE, Author of "Louis XIV, and the Court of France, in 
 the 17th Century," &c. Second Edition. 3 large vols. 8vo. with fine 
 Portraits. 
 
 " A fascinating book. The history of such a woman as the beautiful, impulsive, earnest, 
 and affectionate Marie de Medicis could only be done justice to by a female pen, impelled by 
 all the sympathies of womanhood, but strengthened by an erudition by which it is not in 
 every ,case accompanied. In Miss Pardee the unfortunate Queen has found both these 
 requisites, and the result has been a biography combining the attractiveness of romance with 
 the reliableness of history, and which, taking a place midway between the ' frescoed galleries ' 
 of Thierry, and the ' philosophic watch-tower of Guizot,' has all the pictorial brilliancy of 
 the one, with much of the reflective speculation of the other." — Daily News. 
 
 " A work of high literary and historical merit. Rarely have the strange vicissitudes of 
 romance been more intimately blended with the facts of real history than in the life of Marie 
 de Medicis ; nor has the difficult problem of combining with the fidelity of biography the 
 graphic power of dramatic delineation been often more successfully solved than by the 
 talented author of the volumes before us. As a personal narrative, Miss Pardoe's admirable 
 biography possesses the most absorbing and constantly sustained interest ; as a historical 
 record of the events of which it treats, its merit is of no ordinary description." — 
 John Bull. 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE BARONESS D'OBERKIRCH, 
 
 Illustrative of the Secret History of the Courts of France, 
 Russia, and Germany. Written by HERSELF, and Edited by Her 
 Grandson, the COUNT DE MONTBRISON. 3 vols, post 8vo. 31s. 6d- 
 
 The Baroness d'Oberkirch being the intimate friend of the Empress of Russia, 
 wife of Paul I., and the confidential companion of tbe Duchess of Bourbon, her 
 facilities for obtaining information respecting the most private affairs of the 
 principal Courts of Europe, render her Memoirs unrivalled as a book of interest- 
 ing anecdotes of the royal, noble and other celebrated individuals who flourished 
 on the continent during the latter part of the last century. Among the royal per- 
 sonages introduced to the reader in this work, are Louis XVI., Marie Antoinette, 
 Philip Egalite, and all the Princes of France then living — Peter the Great, the 
 Empress Catherine, the Emperor Paul, and his sons Constantine aud Alexander, 
 of Russia — Frederick the Great and Priuce Henry of Prussia — the Emperor 
 Joseph II. of Austria — Gustavus III, of Sweden — Princess Christina of Saxony 
 — Sobieski, and Czartoriski of Poland — and the Princes of Brunswick and 
 Wurtemburg. Among the most remarkable persons are the Princes and 
 Princesses de Lamballe, de Ligne and Galitzin — the Dukes and Duchesses de 
 Choiseul, de Mazarin, de Bouftiers, de la Valliere, de Guiche, de Penthievre, and 
 de Polignac — Cardinal de Rohan, Marshals Biron and d'Harcourt, Count de 
 Staremberg, Baroness de Krudener, Madame Geoffrin,, Talleyrand, Mirabeau, and 
 Necker — with Count Cagliostro, Mesmer, Vestris, and Madame Mara ; and the 
 work also includes such literary celebrities as Voltaire, Condorcet, de la Harpe, 
 de Beaumarchais, Rousseau, Lavater, Bernouilli, Raynal, de l'Epee, Huber, 
 Gothe, Wieland, Malesherbes, Marmontel, de Stael and.de Genlis ; with some 
 singular disclosures respecting those celebrated Englishwomen, Elizabeth Chud- 
 leith, Duchess of Kingston, and Lady Craven, Margravine of Anspach. 
 
 "A keen observer, and by position thrown in the high places of the world, the 
 Baroness d'Oberkirch was the very woman to write Memoirs that would interest future 
 generations. We commend these volumes most heartily to every reader. They are a- 
 perfect magazine of pleasant anecdotes and interesting characteristic things. We lay 
 down these charming volumes with regret. They will entertain the most fastidious 
 readers, and instruct the most informed."— Examiner.
 
 HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 
 
 THE LIFE OF MARGUERITE D'ANGOULEME, 
 
 QUEEN OF NAVARRE, SISTER OF FRANCIS I., from numerous Original 
 Sources, including MS. Documents in the Bibliotheque Imperiale, and the 
 Archives du Royaume de France, and the Private Correspondence of Queen 
 Marguerite with Francis I. By MISS FREER. 2 vols., with fine Portraits, 
 engraved by Heath, 21s. bound. 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 "This is a very complete and cleverly-written life of the illustrious sister of Francis I., 
 and it may be said of her that the varied and interesting stores of French history offer no 
 theme more worthy of research and study than the career of this great princess, who exer- 
 cised so potent an influence over the politics and manners of the age of which she was 
 herself the brightest ornament. The published and manuscript documents and letters 
 relating to the life of Marguerite of Navarre, and which are indispensable to a correct 
 biography of this queen, are widely dispersed. The author has spared no cost or trouble in 
 endeavouring to obtain all that were likely to elucidate her character and conduct. She has 
 furnished us with a very interesting and graphic sketch of the singular events and the 
 important personages who took part in them during this stormy and remarkable period of 
 French and English history."— Observer. 
 
 "This is a very useful and amusing book. It is a good work, very well done. The 
 authoress is quite equal in power and grace to Miss Strickland. She must have spent a 
 great time and )labour in collecting the information, which she imparts in an easy and 
 agreeable manner. It is difficult to lay down her book after having once begun it. This is 
 owing partly to the interesting nature of the subject, partly to the skilful manner in which it 
 has been treated. No other life of Marguerite has yet been published, even in France. 
 Indeed, till Louis Philippe ordered the collection and publication of manuscripts relating to 
 the History of France, no such work could be published. It is difficult to conceive how, 
 under any circumstances, it could have been done better." — Standard. 
 
 " There are few names more distinguished that that of Marguerite d'Angoul£me in the 
 range of female biography, and the writer of this work has done well in taking up a 
 subject so copious and attractive. It is altogether an interesting and well-written 
 biography." — Literary Gazette. 
 
 " A work of high literary and historic merit. It is full of absorbing and constantly 
 sustained interest. In these volumes will be found not alone an incalculable amount of 
 historical information, but a store of reading of a charming and entrancing character, and we 
 heartily commend them as deserving general popularity." — Sunday Times. 
 
 " A work which is most acceptable as an addition to our historical stores, and which will 
 place the author in a foremost rank among our female writers of the royal biography of their 
 own sex."— John Bull. 
 
 " A candidly, carefully, and spiritedly written production, and no one who peruses it 
 with the attention it merits can fail to acquire a complete and accurate knowledge of the 
 interesting life of the best and most graceful woman who ever filled a conspicuous place in 
 the history of mankind." — Morning Herald. 
 
 " This life of Marguerite d'Angouleme is entitled to high rank amongst the many excel- 
 lent memoirs of illustrious women for which we have been largely indebted to female 
 authorship. The subject is eminently attractive." — Morning Post. 
 
 "Throughout these volumes the most intense interest is maintained. Like Carlyle, 
 Miss Freer has written as one whose thoughts and sympathies became assimilated to the 
 age. The biography of Marguerite of Navarre is a work upon which the author has 
 lavished all the resources of her geniuB. "—Britannia.
 
 HURST AND BLACKETT's NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 MEMOIRS OF JOHN ABERNETHY, F.R.S. WITH A 
 
 View of his Writings, Lectures, and Character. By GEORGE 
 MACILWAIN, F.R.C.S., author of " Medicine and Surgery One Inductive 
 Science," &c. Second Edition. 2 vols., post 8vo., with Portraits, 21s. 
 
 " A memoir of high professional interest."— Morning Post. 
 
 "These memoirs convey a graphic, and, we believe, faithful picture of the celebrated 
 John Abernethy. The volumes are written in a popular style, and will afford to the general 
 reader much instruction and entertainment." — Herald. 
 
 " This is a book which ought to be read by every one. The professional man will find 
 in it the career of one of the most illustrious professors of medicine of our own or of any 
 other age— the student of intellectual science, the progress of a truly profound philosopher— 
 and all, the lesson afforded by a good man's life. Abernethy's memory is worthy of a good 
 biographer, and happily it has found one." — Standard. 
 
 "We hope these volumes will be perused by all our readers. They are extremely 
 interesting, and not only give an account of Abernethy, which cannot fail to be read with 
 benefit, but they discuss incidentally many questions of medicine and medical polity. Mr. 
 Macilwain is fond of anecdotes, and has inserted a great number; this does not render his 
 work less pleasant reading. We recommend it most strongly as an interesting, and, at the 
 same time, instructive treatise." — Medico-Chirurgical Review. 
 
 THE LITERATURE AND ROMANCE OF NORTHERN 
 
 EUROPE ; constituting a complete History of the Literature of Sweden, 
 Denmark, Norway, and Iceland, with copious Specimens of the most cele- 
 brated Histories, Romances, and Popular Legends and Tales, old Chivalrous 
 Ballads, Tragic and Comic Dramas, National Songs, Novels and Scenes from 
 the Life of the Present Day. By WILLIAM and MARY HOWITT. 2 vols, 
 post 8vo. 21s. 
 
 "English readers have long been indebted to Mr. and Mrs. Howitt. They have now 
 increased our obligations by presenting us with this most charming and valuable work, by 
 means of which the great majority of the reading public will be, for the first time, made 
 acquainted with the rich stores of intellectual wealth long garnered in the literature and 
 beautiful romance of Northern Europe. From the famous Edda, whose origin is lost in 
 antiquity, down to the novels of Miss Bremer and Baroness Knorring, the prose and poetic 
 writings of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Iceland are here introduced to us in a manner 
 at once singularly comprehensive and concise. It is no dry enumeration of names, but the 
 very marrow and spirit of the various works displayed before us. We have old ballads and 
 fairy tales, always fascinating; we have scenes from plays, and selections from the poets, 
 with most attractive biographies of great men. The songs and ballads are translated with 
 exquisite poetic beauty." — Sun. 
 
 RULE AND MISRULE OF THE ENGLISH IN 
 
 AMERICA. By the Author of " SAM SLICK." 2 vols, post 8vo. 21s. 
 
 " We conceive this work to be by far the most valuable and important Judge Haliburton 
 has ever written. While teeming with interest, moral and historical, to the general reader, 
 it equally constitutes a philosophical study for the politician and statesman. It will be found 
 to let in a flood of light upon the actual origin, formation, and progress of the republic of 
 the United States."— Naval and Military Gazette.
 
 HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 
 
 THE JOURNALS AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 GENERAL SIR HARRY CALVERT, Bart., G.C.B. and G.C.H., Ad- 
 jutaxt-Gexeral of the forces under H.R.H. the Duke of York, 
 comprising the Campaigns in Flanders and Holland in 1793-94; with an 
 Appendix containing His Plans for the Defence of the Country in case of 
 Invasion. Edited by His Son, SIR HARRY VERNEY, Bart." 1 vol. royal 
 8vo., with large maps, 14s. 
 
 " Both the journals and letters of Capt. Calvert are full of interest. The letters, in 
 particular, are entitled to much praise. Not too long, easy, graceful, not without wit, and 
 everywhere marked by good sense and good taste — the series addressed by Capt. Calvert to 
 his sister are literary compositions of no common order. With the best means of observing 
 the progress of the war, and with his faculties of judgment exercised and strengthened by 
 experience — a quick eye, a placid temper, and a natural aptitude for language rendered 
 Capt. Calvert in many respects a model of a military critic. Sir Harry Verney has per- 
 formed his duties of editor very well. The book is creditable to all parties concerned in its 
 production."— Atkerueum. 
 
 RECOLLECTIONS OF MY MILITARY LIFE. BY 
 
 COLONEL LANDMANN, Late of the Corps of Royal Exgixeers, 
 Author of " Adventures and Recollections." 2 vols, post 8vo. 21s. 
 
 "Much as has been written of late years about war and Wellington, we know of nothing 
 that contains so striking a picture of the march and the battle as seen by an individual, or so 
 close and homely a sketch of the Great Captain in the outset of the European career of Sir 
 Arthur Wellesley."— Spectator. . % 
 
 " The deserved popularity with which the previous volumes of Colonel Landmann's 
 adventures were received will be increased by the present portion of these interesting and 
 amusing records of a long life passed in active and arduous service. The Colonel's 
 shrewdness of observation renders his sketches of character highly amusing."— Britannia. 
 
 COLONEL LANDMANN'S ADVENTURES AND Re- 
 collections. 2 vols, post 8vo. 21s. 
 
 " Among the anecdotes in this work will be found notices of King George III., the Dukes 
 of Kent, Cumberland, Cambridge, Clarence, and Richmond, the Princess Augusta, General 
 Garth, Sir Harry Mi ldm ay, Lord Charles Somerset, Lord Edward Fitzgerald, Lord Heath- 
 field, Captain Grose, &c. The volumes abound in interesting matter. The anecdotes are 
 one and all amusing." — Observer. 
 
 "These 'Adventures and Recollections' are those of a gentleman whose birth and 
 profession gave him facilities of access to distinguished society. Colonel Landmann writes 
 so agreeably that we have little doubt that his volumes will be acceptable." — Athenceum. 
 
 ADVENTURES OF THE CONNAUGHT RANGERS, 
 
 Second Series. By WILLIAM GRATTAN," Esa., late Lieutenant 
 
 CONNAUGHT RANGERS. 2 vols. 21s. 
 
 " In this second series of the adventures of this famous regiment, the author extends 
 his narrative from the first formation of the gallant 88th up to the occupation of Paris. All 
 the battles, sieges, and skirmishes, in which the regiment took part, are described. The 
 volumes are interwoven with original anecdotes that give a freshness and spirit to the whole. 
 The stories, and the sketches of society and manners, with the anecdotes of the celebrities of 
 the time, are told in an agreeable and unaffected manner. The work bears all the character- 
 istics of a soldier's straightforward and entertaining narrative."— Sunday Times.
 
 10 HURST AND BLACKETT's NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 PAINTING AND CELEBRATED PAINTERS, AN- 
 
 CIENT and MODERN ; including Historical and Critical Notices of the 
 Schools of Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. Edited by 
 LADY JERVIS. 2 vols, post 8vo. 21s. 
 
 " This book is designed to give to the general public a popular knowledge of the History 
 of Painting and the characters of Painters, with especial reference to the most prominent 
 among those of their works which are to be seen in English galleries. It is pleasantly written 
 with the intention of serving a useful purpose. It succeeds in its design, and will be of real 
 use to the multitude of picture seers. As a piece of agreeable reading also, it is unex- 
 ceptionable." — Examiner. 
 
 " This useful and well-arranged compendium will be found of value to the amateur, and 
 pleasing as well as instructive to the general reader ; and, to give it still further praise, the 
 collector will find abundance of most useful information, and many an artist will rise from 
 the perusal of the work with a much clearer idea of his art than he had before. We sum up 
 its merits by recommending it as an acceptable handbook to the principal galleries, and a 
 trustworthy guide to a knowledge of the celebrated^ paintings in England, and that this 
 information is valuable and much required by many thousands is a well-proven fact." — 
 Sunday Times. 
 
 " In turning over Lady Jervis's pages, we are astonished at the amount of knowledge 
 she has acquired. We can testify to the accuracy of her statements, and to the judiciousness 
 of her remarks. The work will deserve to take rank with those of Waagen and Passavant. 
 To the art-student's attention it is in every respect to be commended." — Messenger. 
 
 " It is not overstating the merits of the work to describe it as the most complete, and, at 
 the same time, one of the most trustworthy guides to a knowledge of the celebrated paintings 
 in England that has hitherto been published." — Observer. 
 
 CLASSIC AND HISTORIC PORTRAITS. BY JAMES 
 
 BRUCE. 2 vols, post 8vo. 21s. 
 
 This work comprises Biographies of the following Classic and Historic Per- 
 sonages : — Sappho, iEsop, Pythagoras, Aspasia, Milto, Agesilaus, Socrates, Plato, 
 Alcibiades, Helen of Troy, Alexander the Great, Demetrius Poliorcetes, Scipio 
 Africanus, Sylla, Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Germanicus, 
 Caligula, Lollia Paulina, Caesonia, Boadicea, Agrippina, Poppaea, Otho, Commodus, 
 Caracalla, Heliogabalus, Zenobia, Julian the Apostate, Eudocia, Theodora, 
 Charlemagne, Abelard and Heloise, Elizabeth of Hungary, Dante, Robert Bruce, 
 Ignez de Castro, Agnes Sorrel, Jane Shore, Lucrezia Borgia, Anne Bullen, Diana 
 of Poitiers, Catherine de Medicis, Queen Elizabeth, Mary Queen of Scots, 
 Cervantes, Sir Kenelra Digby, John Sobieski, Anne of Austria, Ninon del'Enclos, 
 Mile, de Montpensier, the Duchess of Orleans, Madame de Maintenon, Catherine 
 of Russia, and Madame de Stael. 
 
 *' A book which has many merits, most of all, that of a fresh and unhacknied subject. 
 The volumes are the result of a good deal of reading, and have besides an original spirit and 
 flavour about them, which have pleased us much. Mr. Bruce is often eloquent, often 
 humorous, and has a proper appreciation of the wit and sarcasm belonging in abundance to 
 bis theme. The variety and amount of information scattered through his volumes entitle 
 them to be generally read, and to be received on all hands with merited favour." — Examiner. 
 
 " We find in these piquant volumes the liberal outpourings of a ripe scholarship, the 
 results of wide and various reading, given in a style and manner at once pleasant and pictu- 
 resque." — Athenaeum.
 
 HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 11 
 
 MILITARY LIFE IN ALGERIA. BY THE COUNT P. 
 
 DE CASTELLANE. 2 vols, post 8vo. 21s. 
 
 " We commend this book as really worth perusal. The volumes make us familiarly 
 acquainted with the nature of Algerian experience. St. Arnaud, Canrobert, Changarnier, 
 C&vaignac, Lamoriciere, are brought prominently before the reader." — Examiner. 
 
 " These volumes will be read with extraordinary interest. The vivid manner in which 
 the author narrates his adventures, and the number of personal anecdotes that he tells, 
 engage the reader's attention in an extraordinary manner." — Sunday Times. 
 
 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN ENGLISH SOLDIER IN 
 
 THE UNITED STATES' ARMY. 2 vols, post 8vo. 21s. 
 
 ** The novelty characterising these interesting volumes is likely to secure them many 
 readers. In the first place, an account of the internal organization, the manners and customs 
 of the United States' Federal Army, is in itself a novelty, and a still greater novelty is to 
 have this account rendered by a man who had served in the English before joining the 
 American army, and who can give his report after having every opportunity of comparison. 
 The author went through the Mexican campaign with General Scott, and his volumes 
 contain much descriptive matter concerning battles, sieges, and marches on Mexican 
 territory, besides their sketches of the normal chronic condition of the United States' soldier 
 in time of peace." — Daily News. 
 
 CANADA AS IT WAS, IS, AND MAY BE. BY THE 
 
 late LIEUTENANT-COLONEL SIR R. BONNYCASTLB. With an Account 
 of Recent Transactions, by SIR J. E. ALEXANDER, K.L.S., &c. 2 vols., 
 post Svo. with maps, 6cc, 21s. 
 "These volumes offer to the British public a clear and trustworthy statement of the 
 affairs of Canada, and the effects of the immense public works in progress and completed ; 
 with sketches of locality and scenery, amusing anecdotes of personal observation, and gene- 
 rally every information which may be of use to the traveller or settler, and the military and 
 political reader.— Messenger. 
 
 ATLANTIC AND TRANSATLANTIC SKETCHES. BY 
 
 CAPTAIN MACKINNON, R.N. 2 vols, post Svo. 21s. 
 
 "Captain Mackinnon's sketches of America are of a striking character and permanent 
 value. His volumes convey a just impression of the United States, a fair and candid view of 
 their society and institutions, so well written and so entertaining that the effect of their 
 perusal on the public here must be considerable. They are light, animated, and lively, full 
 of racy sketches, pictures of life, anecdotes of society, visits to remarkable men and famous 
 places, sporting episodes, &c, very original and interesting." — Sunday Times. 
 
 SPAIN AS IT IS. BY G. A. HOSKINS, ESQ. 
 
 2 vols, post Svo. 21s. 
 " To the tourist this work will prove invaluable. It is the most complete and interesting- 
 portraiture of Spain that has ever come under our notice." — John Bull. 
 
 HISTORY OF CORFU; AND OF THE REPUBLIC 
 
 OF THE IONIAN ISLANDS. By LIEUT. H. J. W. JERVIS, Royal 
 Artillery. 1 vol. post Svo. 10s. 6d. 
 " Written with great care and research, and including probably all the particulars of 
 any moment in the history of Corfu." — Athcncstim.
 
 12 HURST AND BIACKETr's NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 THE MOSLEM AND THE CHRISTIAN; OR, ADVEN- 
 
 TURES IN THE EAST. By SADYK PASHA. Revised with original 
 Notes, by COLONEL LACH SZYRMA, Editor of "Revelations of 
 Siberia." 3 vols, post 8vo. 31s. 6d. 
 
 " Sadyk Pasha, the author of this work, is a Pole of noble birth. He is now commander 
 of the Turkish Cossacks, a corps organised by himself. The volumes on the Moslem and 
 the Christian, partly fact and partly fiction, written by him, and translated by Colonel 
 Szyrma, display very well the literary spirit of the soldier. They are full of the adventures 
 and emotions that belong to love and war; they treat of the present time, they introduce 
 many existing people, and have the Danubian principalities for scene of action. Here are 
 sources of popularity which the book fairly claims. As a translation, it is excellent. — 
 Examiner. 
 
 HOME LIFE IN RUSSIA. REVISED BY COL. LACH 
 
 SZYRMA, Editor of " Revelations of Siberia." 2 vols, post 8vo. 21s. 
 
 "This work gives a very interesting and graphic account of the manners and customs of 
 the Russian people. The most interesting and amusing parts of the work will be found to be 
 those interior scenes in the houses of the wealthy and middle classes of Russia upon which 
 we have but scanty information, although they are some of the most striking and truthful 
 indications of the progress and civilization of a country. As such we recommend them to the 
 study of our readers." — Observer. 
 
 "A curious, extraordinary, and very entertaining memoir is contained in these volumes, 
 and at the present crisis cannot but command an eager perusal. The special recommenda- 
 tion of the work to us is the novel view and clear insight it affords Englishmen of the real 
 character of the Russians. Their sayings and doings, and the machinery of their society, are 
 all laid unsparingly bare."— Sunday Times. 
 
 "So little is known in this country of the internal condition of Russia, or the state of 
 society in that enormous empire, that the contents of tliesee volumes will naturally be perused 
 with great curiosity. The volumes abound in lively dialogue, and are enlivened by satirical 
 and humorous touches, and the manners and customs of the individuals composing what is 
 called the middle rank in Russia are graphically described." — Morning Herald. 
 
 REVELATIONS OF SIBERIA. BY A BANISHED 
 
 LADY. Edited by COLONEL LACH SZYRMA. Thud and cheaper 
 Edition. 2 vols, post 8vo. 16s. 
 
 " A thoroughly good book. It cannot be read by too many people." — Dickens's House- 
 hold Words. 
 
 " The authoress of these volumes was a lady of quality, who, having incurred the 
 displeasure of the Russian Government for a political offence, was exiled to Siberia. The 
 place of her exile was Berezov, the most northern part of this northern penal settlement ; and 
 in it she spent about two years, not unprofitably, as the reader will find by her interesting 
 work, containing a lively and graphic picture of the country, the people, their manners and 
 customs, &c. The book gives a most important and valuable insight into the economy of 
 what has been hitherto the terra incognita of Russian despotism."— Daily Nevus. 
 
 " Since the publication of the famous romance the ' Exiles of Siberia,' we have had 
 no account of these desolate lands more attractive than the present work."— Globe.
 
 VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 13 
 
 NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY ROUND THE WORLD, 
 
 Comprising A Winter Passage across the Andes to Chili, with a 
 Visit to the Gold Regions of California and Australia, the South 
 Sea Islands, Java, &c. By F. GERSTAECKER. 3 vols, post 8vo. 
 31s. 6d. 
 
 opinions of the press. 
 
 " Starting from Bremen for California, the author of this Narrative proceeded to Rio, 
 and thence to Buenos Ayres; where he exchanged the wild seas for the yet wilder Pampas, 
 and made his way on horseback to Valparaiso across the Cordilleras — a winter passage full of 
 difficulty and danger. From Valparaiso he sailed to California, and visited San Francisco, 
 Sacramento, and the mining districts generally. Thence he steered his course to the South 
 Sea Islands, resting at Honolulu, Tahiti, and other gems of the sea in that quarter, and from 
 thence to Sydney, marching through the Murray Valley, and inspecting the Adelaide district. 
 From Australia he dashed onward to Java, riding through the interior, and taking a general 
 survey of Batavia, with a glance at Japan and the Japanese. An active, intelligent, observant 
 man, the notes he made of his adventures are full of variety and interest. His descriptions of 
 places and persons are lively, and bis remarks on natural productions and the phenomena of 
 earth, sea, and sky are always sensible, and made with a view to practical results. Those 
 portions of the Narrative which refer to California and Australia are replete with vivid, 
 sketches ; and indeed the whole work abounds with living and picturesque descriptions of 
 men, manners, and localities." — Globe. 
 
 "Independently of great variety — for these pages are never monotonous or dull — a 
 pleasant freshness pervades Mr. Gerstaecker's chequered narrative. It offers much to 
 interest, and conveys much valuable information, set forth in a very lucid and graphic 
 manner." — Athenceum. 
 
 "A book of travels of a superior kind, both as regards the varied information it con- 
 tains and the spirited style in which it is written." — Literary Gazette. 
 
 A SKETCHER'S TOUR ROUND THE WORLD. BY 
 
 ROBERT ELWES, Esq. Second Edition, 1 vol. royal 8vo., with 21 
 Coloured Illustrations from Original Designs by the Author. t 21s. elegantly 
 hound, gilt edges. 
 
 " Combining in itself the best qualities of a library volume with that of a gift-book, is 
 Mr. Elwes' ' Sketcher's Tour.' It is an unaffected, well-written record of a tour of some 
 36,000 miles, and is accompanied by a number of very beautiful tinted lithographs, executed 
 by the author. These, as well as the literary sketches in the volume, deal most largely with 
 Southern and Spanish America,— whence the reader is afterwards taken by Lima to the 
 Sandwich Islands, is carried to and fro among the strange and exciting scenes of the 
 Pacific, — thence sails to the Australian coast, — passes to China, — afterwards to Singapore 
 and Bombay, — and so home by Egypt and Italy. The book is pleasantly written throughout, 
 3nd with the picturesque variety that cannot but belong to the description of a succession of 
 such scenes, is also full of interesting and instructive remarks."— Examiner. 
 
 "The garment in which this book comes forth seems to point out the drawing-room table 
 as its place of destination. The nature of its contents, — cheerful, lively letter-press— will 
 assure it a ready welcome there. Yet it is not, therefore, ineligible for the library shelf— even 
 for that shelf which is devoted to ' Voyages Round the World.' Pleasanter reading, we 
 repeat, need not be offered than our sketcher bringsS'—Athenaum.
 
 14 HURST AND BLACKETr's NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 AUSTRALIA AS IT IS : ITS SETTLEMENTS, FARMS, 
 
 AND GOLD FIELDS. By F. LANCELOT, Esq., Mixeralogical Sur- 
 veyor in the Australian Colonies. Second Edition, revised. 2 vols, 
 post 8vo. 21s. 
 " This is an unadorned account of the actual condition in which these colonies are found, 
 by a professional surveyor and mineralogist, who goes over the ground with a careful glance 
 and a remarkable aptitude for seizing on the practical portions of the subject. On the 
 climate, the vegetation, and the agricultural resources of the country, he is copious in the 
 extreme, and to the intending emigrant an invaluable instructor. As may be expected from 
 a scientific hand, the subject of gold digging undergoes a thorough manipulation. Mr. 
 Lancelot dwells with minuteness on the several indications, stratifications, varieties of soil, 
 and methods of working, experience has pointed out, and offers a perfect manual of the new 
 craft to the adventurous settler. Nor has he neglected to provide him with information as to 
 the sea voyage, and all its accessories, the commodities most in request at the antipodes, and 
 a general view of social wants, family management, &c, such as a shrewd and observant 
 counsellor, aided by old resident authorities, can afford. As a guide to the auriferous regions, 
 as well as the pastoral solitudes of Australia, the work is unsurpassed." — Globe. 
 
 " We advise all about to emigrate to take this book as a counsellor and companion." — 
 Lloyd's Weekly Paper. 
 
 A LADY'S VISIT TO THE GOLD DIGGINGS OF 
 
 AUSTRALIA. By MRS. CLACY. 1 vol. 10s. 6d. 
 
 " The most pithy and entertaining of all the books that have been written on the gold 
 diggings." — Literary Gazette. 
 
 " Mrs. Clacy's book will be read with considerable interest, and not without profit. 
 Her statements and advice will be most useful among her own sex." — Athenaum. 
 
 " BIrs. Clacy tells her story well. Her book is the most graphic account of the diggings 
 and the gold country in general that is to be had." — Daily News. 
 
 " We recommend this work as the emigrant's vade meeum." — Home Companion. 
 
 LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF AUSTRALIAN LIFE. 
 
 By MRS. CLACY. Author of " A Lady's Visit to the Gold Diggings." 
 2 vols, post 8vo. 21s. 
 
 " In these volumes Mrs. Clacy has presented life in Australia in all its varied aspects. 
 An intimate acquaintance with the country, and with the circumstances in which settlers and 
 emigrants find themselves, has enabled the writer to impart to her narrative a character of 
 truthfulness and life-like animation, which renders them no less instructive than charming. 
 The book is throughout exceedingly attractive." — John Bull. 
 
 "While affording amusement to the general reader, these • Lights and Shadows of 
 Australian Life,' are full of useful hints to intending emigrants, and will convey to friends at 
 home acceptable information as to the country where so many now have friends or relatives." 
 — Literary Gazette. 
 
 " These volumes consist of a series of very interesting tales, founded on facts, in which the 
 chief features of a settler's life are shown. To intending emigrants the work will be specially 
 attractive, but the ordinary novel reader will find that these narratives are more likely to 
 amuse an idle hour than more ambitious productions — possessing, as they do, the charm of 
 truth with the fascination of fiction." — Sim.
 
 VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 15 
 
 TRAVELS IN EUROPEAN TURKEY: THROUGH 
 
 Bosnia, Servia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Roumelia, Albania, and 
 Epirus ; with a Visit to Greece and the Ionian Isles, and a Home- 
 ward Tour through Hungary and the Sclavonian Provinces of 
 Austria on the Lower Danube. By EDMUND SPENCER, Esa. 
 Author of " Travels in Circassia," etc. Second and Cheaper Edition, in 
 2 vols. 8vo., with Illustrations, and a valuable Map of European Turkey 
 from the most recent Charts in the possession of the Austrian and Turkish 
 Governments, revised by the Author, 18s. 
 
 "These important volumes describe some of those countries to which public attention 
 is now more particularly directed : Turkey, Greece, Hungary, and Austria. The author has 
 given us a most interesting picture of the Turkish Empire, its weaknesses, and the embar- 
 rassments from which it is now suffering, its financial difficulties, the discontent of its 
 Christian, and the turbulence of a great portion of its Mohammedan subjects. We cordially 
 recommend Mr. Spencer's valuable and interesting volumes to the attention of the reader." — 
 U. S. Magazine. 
 
 " This interesting work contains by far the most complete, the most enlightened, and 
 the most reliable amount of what has been hitherto almost the terra incognita of European 
 Turkey, and supplies the reader with abundance of entertainment as well as instruction." — 
 John Bull. 
 
 A TOUR OF INQUIRY THROUGH FRANCE AND 
 
 ITALY, Illustrating their Present Social, Political, and Religious 
 Condition. By EDMUND SPENCER, Esa., Author of " Travels in 
 European Turkey," " Circassia," &c. 2 vols, post 8vo. 21s. 
 
 ** Mr. Spencer has travelled through France and Italy, with the eyes and feelings of a 
 Protestant philosopher. His volumes contain much valuable matter, many judicious remarks, 
 and a great deal of useful information." — Morning Chronicle. 
 
 ARCTIC MISCELLANIES, A SOUVENIR OF THE 
 
 LATE POLAR SEARCH. By the OFFICERS and SEAMEN of the 
 EXPEDITION. Dedicated by permission to the Lords of the 
 Admiralty. Second Edition. 1 vol., -with numerous Illustrations. 
 10*. 6d. 
 
 " This volume is not the least interesting or instructive among the records of the late 
 expedition in search of Sir John Franklin, commanded by Captain Austin. The most 
 valuable portions of the book are those which relate to the scientific and practical observations 
 made in the course of the expedition, and the descriptions of scenery and incidents of arctic 
 travel. From the variety of the materials, and the novelty of the scenes and incidents to 
 which they refer, no less than the interest which attaches to all that relates to the probable 
 safety of Sir John Franklin and his companions, the Arctic Miscellanies forms a very 
 readable book, and one that redounds to the honour of the national character."— The Times-
 
 16 HURST AND BLACKETT's NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 FOREST LIFE IN CEYLON. BY W. KNIGHTON, M.A., 
 
 formerly Secretary to the Ceylon Branch Royal Asiatic Society. 
 Second Edition, 2 vols, post 8vo. 21s. 
 
 " A very clever and amusing book, by one who has lived as a planter and journalist many 
 years in Ceylon. The work is filled with interesting accounts of the sports, resources, pro- 
 ductions, scenery, and traditions of the island. The sporting adventures are narrated in a 
 very spirited manner." — Standard. 
 
 " We have not met with a more delightful book for along time past." — Lit. Gaz. 
 
 "We have no recollection of a more interesting or instructive work on Ceylon and the 
 Cingalese than that which Mr. Knighton has just given to the world. It displays a great deal of 
 acuteness and sagacity in its observation of men and manners, and contains a vast deal of 
 useful information on topics, historical, political, and commercial, and has the charm of a 
 fluent and graphic style."— Morning Post. 
 
 TROPICAL SKETCHES; OR, REMINISCENCES OF 
 
 AN INDIAN JOURNALIST. BY W. KNIGHTON, M.A., Author of 
 " Forest Life in Ceylon." 2 vols, post 8vo. 21s. 
 
 " When Mr. Knighton's pleasant volumes on Ceylon were published, we freely gave his 
 publication the praise which it appears to have well deserved, since another edition has been, 
 called for. Amongst the writers of the day, we know of none who are more felicitous in hitting off 
 with an amusing accuracy, the characters he has met with, and his descriptive powers are first- 
 rate. Take his Sketches up and open where you will, he touches upon topics of varied 
 nature— now political, anon historical or commercial, interspersed with traits of society and 
 manners, every page teeming with information, combined with lively detail. His style, indeed, 
 is eminently attractive. There is no weariness comes over the reader with Mr. Knighton's 
 work before him — all is vivacity. The Tropical Sketches contains the result of the author's 
 experience in the East in various capacities, but he is chiefly at home when he enters upon 
 the narrative of his mission as a journalist. His revelations of his labours in an educational 
 capacity, are highly amusing, and there is an added charm to the volumes that the impress 
 of fidelity is stamped on every page. In short, Tropical Sketches maybe set down as the work 
 of a man of education and refinement, gifted with a keen observation for all that is passing 
 around him; such a publication cannot fail in being both amusing and instructive."— Sunday 
 Times. 
 
 FIVE YEARS IN THE WEST INDIES. BY CHARLES 
 
 W. DAY, Esa. 2 vols, post 8vo. 21s. 
 "It would be unjust to deny the vigour, brilliancy and varied interest of this work, the 
 abundant stores of anecdote and incident, and the copious detal of local habits and peculiarities 
 in each island visited in succession." — Globe. 
 
 TRAVELS IN INDIA AND KASHMIR. BY BARON 
 
 SCHONBERG. 2 vols, post 8vo. 21s. 
 
 " This account of a Journey through India and Kashmir will be read with considerable 
 interest. Whatever came in his way worthy of record the author committed to writing, and 
 the result is an entertaining and instructive miscellany of information on the country, its 
 climate, its natural production, its history and antiquities, and the character, the religion , 
 and the social condition of its inhabitants." — John Bull.
 
 VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 17 
 
 EIGHTEEN YEARS ON THE GOLD COAST OF 
 
 AFRICA; including ax Account of the Native Tribes, and their 
 intercourse with Europeans. ByBRODIE CRUICKSHANK, Member 
 of the Legislative Council, Cape Coast Castle. 2 vols, post 8vo. 
 21s. 
 
 "This is one of the most interesting works that ever yet came into our hands. It 
 possesses the charm of introducing us to habits and manners of the human family of which 
 before we had no conception. Mrs. Beecher Stowe's work has, indeed, made us all familiar 
 with the degree of intelligence and the disposition of the transplanted African ; but it has 
 been reserved to Mr. Cruickshank to exhibit the children of Ham in their original state, and 
 to prove, as his work proves to demonstration, that, by the extension of a knowledge of the 
 Gospel, and by that only can" the African be brought within the pale of civilization. We 
 anxiously desire to direct public attention to a work so valuable. An incidental episode in 
 the work is an affecting narrative of the death of the gifted Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. £. L.) 
 written a few months after her marriage with Governor Maclean." — Standard. 
 
 EIGHT YEARS IN PALESTINE, SYRIA, AND ASIA 
 
 MINOR. By F. A. NEALE, Esq.., Late Attached to the Consular 
 Service in Syria. Second Edition, 2 vols, post 8vo. with Illustrations, 
 21s. 
 
 " A very agreeable book. Mr Neale is evidently quite familiar with the East, and writes 
 in a lively, shrewd, and good-humoured manner. A great deal of information is to be found 
 in his pages." — Athenceum. 
 
 KHARTOUM AND THE NILES. BY GEORGE MELLY, 
 
 Esq.. Second Edition. 2 vols, post 8vo., with Maps and Illustra- 
 tions, 21s. 
 
 " Mr. Melly is of the same school of travel as the author of ' Eothen.' His book 
 altogether is very agreeable, comprising, besides the description of Khartoum, many in- 
 telligent illustrations of the relations now subsisting between the Governments of the Sultan 
 and the Pacha, and exceedingly graphic sketches of Cairo, the Pyramids, the Plain of Thebes, 
 the Cataracts, &c."— Examiner. 
 
 TRAVELS IN BOLIVIA; WITH A TOUR ACROSS 
 
 THE PAMPAS TO BUENOS AYRES. BY L. HUGH DE BONNELI, of 
 
 Her Britannic Majesty's Legation. 2 vols, post 8vo. 21s. 
 
 " Mr. Bonelli's official position gave him great opportunities of observation, of which 
 
 he has freely availed himself, and he has furnished us with a very interesting and amusing 
 
 book of travels respecting a country whose political and commercial importance is becoming 
 
 every day more obvious." — Observer. 
 
 THE ANSYREEH AND ISMAELEEH : A VISIT TO 
 
 THE SECRET SECTS OF NORTHERN SYRIA, with a View to the 
 
 Establishment of Schools. BY THE REV. S. LYDE, M.A., Late 
 
 Chaplain at Beyroot. 1 vol. 10s. 6d. 
 
 " Mr. Lyde's pages furnish a very good illustration of the present state of some of the 
 
 least known parts of Syria. Mr. Lyde visited the most important districts of the Ansyreeh, 
 
 lived with them, and conversed with their sheiks or chief men. The practical aim of the 
 
 author gives his volumes an iuterest which works of greater pretension want."— Athenceum.
 
 18 HURST AND BLACKETT's NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 SAM SLICK'S NEW WORK, NATURE AND HUMAN 
 
 NATURE. 2 vols, post 8vo. 24s. 
 
 " Since Sam Slick's first work he has written nothing so fresh, racy, and genuinely 
 humorous as this. Every line of it tells some way or other ; instructively, satirically, 
 jocosely, or wittily. Admiration at Sam's mature talents, and laughter at his droll yarns, 
 constantly alternate, as with unhalting avidity we peruse these last volumes of his. They 
 consist of 25 Chapters, each containing a tale, a sketch, or an adventure. In every one of 
 them, the Clockmaker proves himself the fastest time killer a-going." — Observer. 
 
 SAM SLICK'S WISE SAWS AND MODERN 
 
 INSTANCES ; or, What he Said, Did, or Invented. Second Edition. 
 2 vols, post 8vo. 21s. 
 
 " We do not fear to predict that these delightful volumes will be the most popular, as 
 beyond doubt, they are the best, of all Judge Haliburton's admirable works. The ' Wise 
 Saws and Modern Instances' evince powers of imagination and expression far beyond what 
 even his former publications could lead any one to ascribe to the author. We have, it is true 
 long been familiar with his quaint humour and racy narrative, but the volumes before us 
 take a loftier range, and are so rich in fun and good sense, that to offer an extract as a 
 sample would be an injustice to author and reader. It is one of the pleasantest books we 
 ever read, and we earnestly recommend it." — Standard. 
 
 " Let Sam Slick go a mackarel fishing, or to court in England — let him venture alone 
 among a tribe of the sauciest single women that ever banded themselves together in electric 
 chain to turn tables or to mystify man — our hero always manages to come off with flying 
 colours — to beat every craftsman in the cunning of his own calling — to get at the heart of 
 every maid's and matron's secret. The book before us will be read and laughed over. Its 
 quaint and racy dialect will please some readers — its abundance of yarns will amuse others. 
 There is something in the volumes to suit readers of every humour." — Atheneeum. 
 
 " The humour of Sam Slick is inexhaustible. He is ever and everywhere a welcome 
 visitor ; smiles greet his approach, and wit and wisdom hang upon his tongue. The present 
 is altogether a most edifying production, remarkable alike for its racy humour, its sound 
 philosophy, the felicity of its illustrations, and the delicacy of its satire. We promise our 
 readers a great treat from the perusal of these 'Wise Saws and Modern Instances,' which 
 contain a world of practical wisdom, and a treasury of the richest fun." — Morning Post. 
 
 THE AMERICANS AT HOME; OR, BYEWAYS, 
 
 BACKWOODS, A^D PRAIRIES. Edited by the Author of "SAM 
 SLICK." 3 vols, post 8vo. 31s. 6d. 
 
 " In the picturesque delineation of character, and the felicitous portraiture of national 
 features, no writer of the present day equals Judge Haliburton. ' The Americans at Home ' 
 will not be less popular than any of his previous works." — Post. 
 
 TRAITS OF AMERICAN HUMOUR. EDITED BY 
 
 the Author of " SAM SLICK." 3 vols, post 8vo. 31s. 6d. 
 
 " No man has done more than the facetious Judge Haliburton, through the mouth of 
 the inimitable ' Sam,' to make the old parent country recognize and appreciate her queer 
 transatlantic progeny. His present collection of comic stories and laughable traits is a 
 budget of fun full of rich specimens of American humour." — Globe.
 
 HURST AND BLACKETT's NEW PUBLICATIONS. 19 
 
 THE DRAMATIC WORKS OF MARY RUSSELL 
 
 MITFORD. Author of " Our Village," " Atherton," &c. 2 vols, post 8vo. 
 with Portrait of the Author and other Illustrations. 21s. 
 
 " We recommend Miss Mitford's dramas heartily to all by whom they are unknown. A 
 more graceful addition could not be made to any collection of dramatic works." — Blackwood's 
 Magazine. 
 
 " Miss Mitford has collected into one chaplet the laurels gathered in her prime of author- 
 ship, and she has given it to the world with a graceful and loving letter of reminiscence and 
 benediction. Laid by the side of the volume of dramatic works of Joanna Baillie, these 
 volumes suffer no disparagement. This is high praise, and it is well deserved." — Athenaeum. 
 
 " Miss Mitford's plays and dramatic scenes form very delightful reading." — Examiner. 
 
 ** The high reputation which Miss Mitford has acquired as a dramatist will insure a 
 hearty welcome to this collected edition of her dramatic works." — John Bull. 
 
 DARIEN; OR, THE MERCHANT PRINCE. BY ELIOT 
 
 WARBURTON. Second Edition. 3 vols, post 8vo. 
 
 "The scheme for the colonization of Darien by Scotchmen, and the opening of a com- 
 munication between the East and West across the Isthmus of Panama, furnishes the founda- 
 tion of this story, which is in all respects worthy of the high reputation which the author of 
 the ' Crescent and the Cross' had already made for himself. The early history of the * Merchant 
 Prince' introduces the reader to the condition of Spain under the Inquisition ; the portraitures 
 of Scottish life which occupy a prominent place in the narrative, are full of spirit ; the scenes 
 in America exhibit the state of the natives of the New World at that period ; the daring deeds 
 of the Buccaneers supply a most romantic element in the story ; and an additional interest 
 is infused into it by the introduction of the various celebrated characters of the period, such 
 as Law, the French financier, and Paterson, the founder of the Bank of England. All these 
 varied ingredients are treated with that brilliancy of style and powerful descriptive talent, by 
 which the pen of Eliot Warburton was so eminently distinguished." — John Bull. 
 
 THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A MISSIONARY. BY 
 
 THE REV. J. P. FLETCHER. 2 vols, post 8vo. 21s. 
 " We conscientiously recommend this book, as well for its amusing character as for 
 the spirit it displays of earnest piety." — Standard. 
 
 SCENES FROM SCRIPTURE. BY THE REV. G. 
 
 CROLY, LL.D. 10s. 6d. 
 
 "Eminent in every mode of literature, Dr. Croly stands, in our judgment, first among 
 the living poets of Great Britain — the only man of our day entitled by his power to venture 
 within the sacred circle of religious poets." — Standard. 
 
 "An admirable addition to the library of religious families."— John Bull. 
 
 THE SONG OF ROLAND, AS CHANTED BEFORE 
 
 THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS, BY THE MINSTREL TAILLEFER. 
 
 Translated by the Author of "EMILIA WYNDHAM." Small 4to., 
 
 handsomely bound, gilt edges, 5s. 
 ** * The Song of Roland' is well worth general perusal. It is spirited and descriptive, 
 and gives an important, and, no doubt, faithful picture of the chivalric manners and feelings 
 of the age." — Morning Herald.
 
 20 HURST AND BLACKETT's NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 FAMILY ROMANCE; OR, DOMESTIC ANNALS OF 
 
 THE ARISTOCRACY. BY SIR BERNARD BURKE, Ulster King of 
 Arms. 2 vols, post 8vo. 21s. 
 
 Among the many other interesting legends and romantic family histories com- 
 prised in these volumes, will be found the following : — The wonderful narrative 
 of Maria Stella, Lady Newborough, who claimed on such strong evidence to be 
 a Princess of the House of Orleans, and disputed the identity of Louis Philippe — 
 The story of the humble marriage of the beautiful Countess of Strathmore, and 
 the sufferings and fate of her only child — The Leaders of Fashion, from Gramont 
 to D'Orsay — The rise of the celebrated Baron Ward, now Prime Minister at 
 Parma — The curious claim to the Earldom of Crawford — The Strange Vicissitudes 
 of our Great Families, replete with the most romantic details — The story of the 
 Kirkpatricks of Closeburn (the ancestors of the French Empress), and the re- 
 markable tradition associated with them — The Legend of the Lambtons — The 
 verification in our own time of the famous prediction as to the Earls of Mar — 
 Lady Ogilvy's escape — The Beresford and Wynyard ghost stories correctly told — 
 &c. &c. 
 
 " It were impossible to praise too highly as a work of amusement these two most in- 
 teresting volumes, whether we should have regard to its excellent plan or its not less ex- 
 cellent execution. The volumes are just what ought to be found on every drawing-room table. 
 Here you have nearly fifty captivating romances with the pith of all their interest preserved 
 in undiminished poignancy, and any one may be read in half an hour. It is not the least of 
 their merits that the romances are founded on fact — or what, at least, has been handed down 
 for truth by long tradition — and the romance of reality far exceeds the romance of fiction. 
 Each story is told in the clear, unaffected style with which the author's former works 
 have made the public familiar, while they afford evidence of the value, even to a work of 
 amusement, of that historical and genealogical learning that may justly be expected of the 
 author of ' The Peerage.' "Standard. 
 
 " The very reading for sea-side or fire-side in our hours of idleness."— Athenmum. 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF THE FORUM; OR, NARRA- 
 TIVES, SCENES, AND ANECDOTES FROM COURTS OF JUSTICE, 
 SECOND SERIES. BY PETER BURKE, Esa., of the Inner Temple, 
 Barrister-at-Law. 2 vols, post 8 vo. 21s. 
 
 PRINCIPAL CONTENTS :— Lord Crichton's Revenge— The Great Douglas 
 Cause— Lord and Lady Kinnaird — Marie Delorme and Her Husband — The 
 Spectral Treasure— Murders in Inns of Court — Matthieson the Forger — Trials 
 that established the Illegality of Slavery — The Lover Highwayman — The 
 Accusing Spirit— The Attorney-General of the Reign of Terror — Eccentric 
 Occurrences in the Law — Adventuresses of Pretended Rank — The Courier of 
 Lyons— General Sarrazin's Bigamy — The Elstree Murder — Count Bocarme and 
 his wife — Professor Webster, &c. 
 
 " We have no hesitation in recommending this, as one of the most interesting works 
 that have been lately given to the public." — Morning Chronicle. 
 
 " The favour with which the first series of this publication was received, has induced 
 Mr. Burke to extend his researches, which he has done with great judgment. The incidents 
 forming the subject of the second series are as extraordinary in every respect, as those which 
 obtained so high a meed of celebrity for the first. Some of the tales could scarcely be believed 
 to be founded in fact, or to be records of events that have startled the world, were there not 
 the incontestable evidence which Mr. Burke has established to prove that they have 
 actually happened." — Messenger.
 
 WORKS OF FICTION. 
 
 21 
 
 BY MRS. TROLLOPE 
 
 THE LIFE AND ADVEN- 
 
 TUKES OP A CLEVER 
 
 WOMAN. 
 
 " The ' Clever Woman ' is of the same 
 class with the 'Vicar of Wrexhill,' and 
 ' Widow Barnaby.' It is the best novel 
 the season has produced. No person can 
 fail to be amused by it." — Critic. 
 
 "Mrs. Trollope has done full justice to 
 her well-earned reputation as one of the 
 cleverest novelists of the day in this 
 new production of her fertile pen." — 
 John Bull. 
 
 UNCLE WALTER- 
 
 3 vols. 
 '" Uncle Walter' is an exceedingly en- 
 tertaining novel. It assures Mrs. Trollope 
 more than ever in her position as one of 
 the ablest fiction writers of the day." — 
 Morning Post. 
 
 THE YOUNG HEIRESS. 
 
 3 vols. 
 
 " The knowledge of the world which 
 Mrs. Trollope possesses in so eminent a 
 degree is strongly exhibited in the pages 
 of this novel." — Observer. 
 
 BY MRS. GORE. 
 
 MAMMON; OR, THE HARDSHIPS OF AN HEIRESS. 
 
 3 vols. 
 
 THE DEAN'S DAUGHTER. PROGRESS & PREJUDICE. 
 
 3 vols. 3 vols. 
 
 "One of the best of Mrs. Gore's "This entertaining and particularly 
 
 stories. The volumes are strewed with clever novel is not to be analysed, but 
 
 smart and sparkling epigram."— Morning to be praised, and that emphatically."— 
 
 Chronicle. Examiner. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF MARGARET MAITLAND, 
 
 MAGDALEN HEPBURN; 
 
 A STORY OF THE SCOTTISH REFORMATION. 
 
 3 vols. 
 
 " * Magdalen Hepburn will sustain the 
 reputation which the author of * Margaret 
 Maitland' has acquired. It is a well 
 prepared and carefully executed picture 
 of the society and state of manners in 
 Scotland at the dawn of the Reforma- 
 tion. John Knox is successfully drawn." 
 — Athenaeum. 
 
 " ' Magdalen Hepburn ' is a story of the 
 Scottish Reformation, with John Knox 
 prominently introduced among the dra- 
 matis personse. The book is thoroughly 
 enjoyable, pleasant women move to and 
 fro in it, characters are well discrimi- 
 nated, and there is a sense everywhere of 
 the right and good, as well as the pictu- 
 resque." — Examiner. 
 
 ADAM GRAEME, 
 OF MOSSGRAY. 
 
 3 vols. 
 
 "A story awakening genuine emotions 
 of interest and delight by its admirable 
 pictures of Scottish life and scenery." — 
 Post. 
 
 HARRY MUIR. 
 
 Second Edition. 3 vols. 
 
 " We prefer « Harry Muir ' to most of 
 the Scottish novels that have appeared 
 since Gait's domestic stories. This new 
 tale, by the author of ' Margaret Mait- 
 land,' is a real picture of the weakness of 
 man's nature and the depths of woman's 
 kindness. The narrative, to repeat our 
 praise, is not one to be entered on or 
 parted from without our regard for its 
 writer being increased." — Athenoeum. 
 
 " This is incomparably the best of the 
 author's works. In it the brilliant pro- 
 mise afforded by « Margaret Maitland • 
 has been fully realised, and now there 
 can be no question that, for graphic pic- 
 tures of Scottish life, the author is en- 
 titled to be ranked second to none among 
 modern writers of fiction."— Caledonian 
 Mercury. 
 
 CALEB FIELD. A TALE. 
 
 1 vol. 6s. 
 
 " This beautiful production is every way 
 worthy of its author's reputation in the 
 very first rank of contemporary writers.''— 
 Standard.
 
 22 
 
 WORKS OF FICTION. 
 
 CONSTANCE HERBERT. 
 
 By Geraldine Jewsbury. 
 
 Author of "Marian Withers," " Zoe," 
 &c. 3 vols. 
 
 OAKLEIGH MASCOTT. 
 
 By L. Howe. 
 Dedicated to Professor Aytoun. 2 vols. 
 
 "A very clever romance. The style 
 throughout is fluent and forcible, and 
 many of the scenes are sketched with 
 considerable graphic power." — Morning 
 Post. 
 
 ANTIPODES; 
 
 Or, THE NEW EXISTENCE. 
 
 A TALE OF REAL LIFE. 
 
 By a Clergyman. 3 vols. 
 
 HERBERT LAKE. 
 
 By the Author of "Anne Dysart." 
 
 3 vols. 
 " Many and various are the cross pur- 
 poses of love which run through this 
 cleverly-written tale, from the pen of the 
 talented author of * Anne Dysart.' While 
 administering largely to the entertainment 
 of the reader, the Author has added to 
 a well-earned reputation." — John Bull. 
 
 THE YOUNG HUSBAND. 
 
 By Mrs. Grey, Author of "The Gam- 
 bler's Wife," &c. 3 vols. 
 
 "In this fascinating novel Mrs. Grey 
 has surpassed her former productions, 
 talented and powerful as they were."— 
 John Bull. 
 
 "The merit of producing an admirable 
 story may be justly awarded to Mrs. 
 Grey." — Sunday Times. 
 
 THE CURATE OF OVERTON. 
 
 3 vols. 
 
 "A powerfully written story, the cha- 
 racters and incidents of which are por- 
 trayed with great skill." — John Bull. 
 
 "The startling secession of such men 
 as Newman, Manning, and Wilberforce, 
 renders the revelations which the author 
 has made in these interesting and instruc- 
 tive volumes extremely well-timed." — Bri- 
 tannia. 
 
 CONFESSIONS 
 OF AN ETONIAN. 
 
 By C. Rowcroft, Esq. 
 3 vcls. 
 
 VIVIA. 
 
 By Mrs. J. E. Dalrymple. 
 Dedicated to Sir E. Bulwer Lytton. 2 vols. 
 
 " ' Vivian is an excellent novel. Mrs. 
 Dalrymple paints society in its true 
 colours. We heartily congratulate her 
 upon a production which displays such 
 high purpose, wrought out with so much 
 ability." — Post. 
 
 MATHEW PAXTON. 
 
 Edited by the Author of " John Dray- 
 ton," " Ailikford," &c. 3 vols. 
 " ' Mathew Paxton ' bears a strong 
 generic resemblance to those clever stories 
 'John Drayton' and 'Ailieford,' and 
 awakens in the perusal a kindred gratifi- 
 cation. It displays the same simple 
 pathos, the same homely humour, the 
 same truth to nature, and the same fine 
 sense of national peculiarity." — Post. 
 
 AILIEFORD. 
 
 A FAMILY HISTORY. 
 By the Author of " John Drayton." 3 v. 
 
 "'Ailieford ' is the biography of the 
 clever writer of 'John Drayton.' It is a 
 deeply interesting tale." — Britannia. 
 
 A PHYSICIAN'S TALE. 
 
 3 vols. 
 
 " A vast amount of thought and know- 
 ledge is displayed in this work. Many 
 various phases of society, and different 
 gradations of character, are dexterously 
 given to sight." — Sun. 
 
 CREWE RISE. 
 
 By John C. Jeaffreson. 3 vols. 
 
 "A clever novel, and one that, without 
 any great wealth or diversity of incident, 
 contrives to be deeply interesting. The 
 career of a brilliant young man at college 
 — his temptations, errors, and resolute 
 self-redemption from evil courses— makes 
 the main interest of the story, which is set 
 forth with a vigour and reality that looks 
 like a daguerreotype from facts." — Athe- 
 ?teeum. 
 
 EDWARD WILLOUGHBY. 
 
 By the Author of "The Discipline of 
 Life." 3 vols. 
 " We like all Lady Emily Ponsonby's 
 novels, and this is, in our judgment, the 
 best of them." — Morning Post. 
 
 PHEMIE MILLAR. 
 
 By the Author of " The Kinnears." 3 v. 
 " We feel obliged to the author for 
 giving us such a fresh pleasant story as 
 • Phemie Millar.' Out of the homeliest of 
 details a certain fascination is evoked 
 which ensures the reader interest to the 
 end."— Athenaeum.
 
 WORKS OF FICTION. 
 
 23 
 
 REGINALD LYLE. 
 
 By Miss Pardoe. 3 v. 
 " An excellent novel, containing a great 
 variety of well-drawn characters, and 
 keeping up the interest of the reader to 
 the last page." — Atlas. 
 
 FLORENCE, 
 THE BEAUTIFUL. 
 
 By A. Baillie Cochrane, Esq. 2 v. 
 "The best story that has yet appeared 
 from the pen of the talented author." — 
 
 THE SECRET HISTORY 
 OF A HOUSEHOLD. 
 
 By the Author of 
 "Alice Wentworth." 3 vols. 
 
 ALICE WENTWORTH. 
 
 3 vols. 
 "This novel reminds us of the tales by 
 Lady Scott, which had power and pathos 
 enough to get a hearing and keep a place, 
 even though Lister. Ward, and Bulwer 
 were all in the field, with their manly 
 experiences of modern life and society." — 
 Atheneeum, 
 
 JANET MOWBRAY. 
 
 By Caroline Grautoff. 3 v. 
 : 'This very pleasant tale of 'Janet 
 Mowbray ' is a love story— and a very 
 good one — full of agreeable variety and 
 interest." — Examiner. 
 
 THE ROSES. 
 
 By the Author of " The Flirt." 3 v. 
 
 "'The Roses ' displays, with the polish 
 always attending a later work, all the 
 talent which appeared in 'The Flirt,' and 
 'The Manoeuvring Mother.'" — Standard. 
 
 CHARLES AUCHESTER. 
 
 3 vols. 
 " Music has never had so glowing an 
 advocate as the author of these volumes. 
 There is an amazing deal of ability dis- 
 played in them." — Herald. 
 
 THE KINNEARS- 
 
 A SCOTTISH STORY. 3 V. 
 
 THE LADY 
 AND THE PRIEST. 
 
 By Mrs. Maberly. 3 vols. 
 
 THE COLONEL. 
 
 By the Author of "Perils of Fashion." 
 3 vols. 
 
 THE VILLAGE 
 MILLIONNAIRE. 
 
 By the Author of "The Fortunes of 
 Woman." 3 vols. 
 "Great diversity of character and an 
 endless succession of surprising incidents 
 and vicissitudes impart an absorbing inte- 
 rest to this new production of Miss 
 Lamont's pen." — John Bull. 
 
 MARY SEAHAM. 
 
 By Mrs. Grey. 3 vols. 
 " Equal to any former novel by its 
 author." — Atheneeum. 
 
 AUBREY. 
 
 By the Author of "Emilia Wyndham." 
 
 3 vols. 
 
 "This novel is worthy of the author's 
 reputation. The interest of the story is 
 powerfully kept up, and there is much 
 truthful and discriminating depicting of 
 character." — Literary Gazette. 
 
 CASTLE AVON. 
 
 By the Author of "Emilia Wyndham." 
 3 vols. 
 
 " One of the most successful of the au- 
 thor's works." — Post. 
 
 "These volumes abound in delicate 
 and passionate writing." — Examiner. 
 
 THE DAUGHTER 
 OF THE SOUTH. 
 
 By Mrs. Clara Walbey. 3 vols. 
 Dedicated to the Earl of Carlisle. 
 
 ANNETTE. A TALE. 
 
 By W. F. Deacon. 
 
 With a Memoir of the Author, by the 
 Hon. Sir T. N. Talfourd, D.C.L. 3 vols. 
 "'Annette' is a stirring tale. The pre- 
 fatory memoir of Sir Thomas Talfourd 
 would be at all times interesting, nor the 
 less so for containing two long letters from 
 Sir Walter Scott to Mr. Deacon, full of 
 gentle far-thinking wisdom." — Examiner. 
 
 LADY MARION. 
 
 By Mrs. W. Foster. 
 
 THE BELLE 
 OF THE VILLAGE. 
 
 By the Author of "The Old English 
 Gentleman." 
 
 3 vols.
 
 THE ARMY AND THE NAVY. 
 
 COLBUKN'S UNITED SERVICE MAGAZINE, AND 
 
 NAVAL AND MILITARY JOURNAL. Published on the first of every 
 month, price 3s. 6d. 
 
 This popular periodical, which has now been established a quarter of a century, 
 embraces subjects of such extensive variety and powerful interest as must render 
 it scarcely less acceptable to readers in general tban to the members of those pro- 
 fessions for whose use it is more particularly intended. Independently of a suc- 
 cession of Original Papers on innumerable interesting subjects, Personal Nar- 
 ratives, Historical Incidents, Correspondence, etc., each number comprises 
 Biographical Memoirs of Eminent Officers of all branches of service, Reviews of 
 New Publications, either immediately relating to the Army or Navy, or involving 
 subjects of utility or interest to the members of either, full Reports of Trials 
 by Courts Martial, Distribution of the Army and Navy, General Orders, Circulars, 
 Promotions, Appointments, Births, Marriages, Obituary, etc., with all the Naval 
 and Military Intelligence of the month. 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 "This is confessedly one of the ablest and most attractive periodicals of which the 
 British press can boast, presenting a wide field of entertainment to the general as well as 
 professional reader. The suggestions for the benefit of the two services are distinguished 
 by vigour of sense, acute and practical observation, an ardent love of discipline, tempered by 
 a high sense of justice, honour, and a tender regard for the welfare and comfort of our soldiers 
 and seamen." — Globe. 
 
 " At the head of those periodicals which furnish useful and valuable information to 
 their peculiar classes of readers, as well as amusement to the general body of the public, 
 must be placed the * United Service Magazine, and Naval and Military Journal.' It numbers 
 among its contributors almost all those gallant spirits who have done no less honour 
 to their country by their swords than by their pens, and abounds with the most interesting 
 discussions on naval and military affairs, and stirring narratives of deeds of arms in all 
 parts of the world. Every information of value and interest to both the Services is culled 
 with the greatest diligence from every available source, and the correspondence of various 
 distinguished officers which enrich its pages is a feature of great attraction. In short, the 
 • United Service Magazine' can be recommended to every reader who possesses that attach- 
 ment to his country which should make him look with the deepest interest on its naval and 
 military resources." — Sun. 
 
 " This truly national periodical is always full of the most valuable matter for professional 
 men." — Morning Herald. 
 
 " To military and naval men, and to that class of readers who hover on the skirts of the 
 Service, and take a world of pains to inform themselves of all the goings on, the modes and 
 fashions, the movements and adventures connected with ships and barracks, this periodical 
 is indispensable. It is a repertory of facts and criticisms — narratives of past experience, and 
 fictions that are as good as if they were true— tables and returns— new inventions and new 
 books bearing upon the army and navy — correspondence crowded with intelligence — and 
 sundry unclaimed matters that lie in close neighbourhood with the professions, and contribute 
 more or less to the stock of general useful information." — Atlas. 
 
 HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS, 
 
 SUCCESSORS TO HENRY COLBURN, 
 
 13- GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.
 
 ,^RSfTYO F(U(No , s . 
 
 URBANA 
 
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