XIX. Thou, too, whose deeds of fame renew'd Bankrupt a nation's gratitude, To thine own noble heart must owe Was ever drawn for public weal; Ne'er sheathed unless with victory!' XX. Look forth once more with soften'd heart, Ere from the field of fame we part; His orphans to his heart again; Or mark'st the matron's bursting tears Stream when the stricken drum she hears; Or see'st how manlier grief, suppress'd, Is labouring in a father's breast,- XXI. Period of honour as of woes, For laurels from the hand of Death, Through his friends' hearts to pierce his own! XXII. Forgive, brave Dead, the imperfect lay! Who may your names, your numbers, say? What high-strung harp, what lofty line, To each the dear-earn'd praise assign, From high-born chiefs of martial fame To the poor soldier's lowlier name? Lightly ye rose that dawning day, From your cold couch of swamp and clay, To fill, before the sun was low, Shroud her thin form and visage pale; The bed that morning cannot know. Oft may the tear the green sod steep, And sacred be the heroes' sleep, Till time shall cease to run; And ne'er beside their noble grave, May Briton pass and fail to crave A blessing on the fallen brave Who fought with Wellington! XXIII. Farewell, sad Field! whose blighted face Wears desolation's withering trace; mont! Yet though thy garden's green arcade The marksman's fatal post was made, Though on thy shatter'd beeches fell The blended rage of shot and shell, Though from thy blacken'd portals torn, Their fall thy blighted fruit-trees mourn, Has not such havoc brought a name And Blenheim's name be new ; STERN tide of human Time! that know'st not rest, But, sweeping from the cradle to the tomb, Bear'st ever downward on thy dusky breast Successive generations to their doom; While thy capacious stream has equal room Notes to the Field of Waterloo. NOTE I. The peasant, at his labour blithe THE reaper in Flanders carries in his left hand a stick with an iron hook, with which he collects as much grain as he can cut at one sweep with a short scythe, which he holds in his right hand. They carry on this double process with great spírit and dexterity. NOTE II. Pale Brussels! then what thoughts were thine.-P. 621. It was affirmed by the prisoners of war, that Bonaparte had promised his army, in case of victory, twenty-four hours' plunder of the city of Brussels. NOTE III. 'On! On!' was still his stern exclaim. -P. 622: The characteristic obstinacy of Napoleon was never more fully displayed than in what we may be permitted to hope will prove the last of his fields. He would listen to no advice, and allow of no obstacles. An eyewitness has given the following account of his demeanour towards the end of the action: 'It was near seven o'clock; Bonaparte, who till then had remained upon the ridge of the hill whence he could best behold what passed, contemplated with a stern countenance the scene of this horrible slaughter. The more that obstacles seemed to multiply, the more his obstinacy seemed to increase. He became indignant at these unforeseen difficulties; and, far from fearing to push to extremities an army whose confidence in him was boundless, he ceased not to pour down fresh troops, and to give orders to march forward-to charge with the bayonet-to carry by storm. He was repeatedly informed, from different points, that the day went against him, and that the troops seemed to be disordered; to which he only replied,-"En-avant! En-avant!"' One general sent to inform the Emperor that he was in a position which he could not maintain, because it was commanded by a battery, and requested to know, at the same time, in what way he should protect his division from the murderous fire of the English artillery. "Let him storm the battery," replied Bonaparte, and turned his back on the aide-de-camp who brought the message.'-Relation de la Bataille de MontSt. Jean. Par un Témoin Oculaire. Paris. 1815, 8vo, p. 51. NOTE IV. The fate their leader shunn'd to share. It has been reported that Bonaparte charged at the head of his guards, at the last period of this dreadful conflict. This, however, is not accurate. He came down indeed to a hollow part of the high road, leading to Charleroi, within less than a quarter of a mile of the farm of La Haye Sainte, one of the points most fiercely disputed. Here he harangued the guards, and informed them that his preceding operations had destroyed the British infantry and cavalry, and that they had only to support the fire of the artillery, which they were to attack with the bayonet. This exhortation was received with shouts of Vive Empereur, which were heard over all our line, and led to an idea that Napoleon was charging in person. But the guards were led on by Ney; nor did Bonaparte approach nearer the scene of action than the spot already mentioned, which the rising banks on each side rendered secure from all such balls as did not come in a straight line. He witnessed the earlier part of the battle from places yet more remote, particularly from an observatory which had been placed there by the King of the Netherlands, some weeks before, for the purpose of surveying the country. It is not meant to infer from these particulars that Napoleon showed, on that memorable occasion, the least deficiency in personal courage; on the contrary, he evinced the greatest composure and presence of mind during the whole action. But it is no less true that report has erred in ascribing to him any desperate efforts of valour for recovery of the battle; and it is remarkable that during the whole carnage, none of his suite were either killed or wounded, whereas NOTE VII. The British shock of levell'd steel.-P. 623. No persuasion or authority could prevail upon the French troops to stand the shock of the bayonet. The Imperial Guards, in particular, hardly stood till the British were within thirty yards of them, although the French author, already quoted, has put into their mouths the magnanimous sentiment, scarcely one of the Duke of Wellington's The Guards never yield-they die.' The personal attendants escaped unhurt. NOTE V. England shall tell the fight!-P. 622. In riding up to a regiment which was hard pressed, the Duke called to the men, 'Soldiers, we must never be beat, what will they say in England?' It is needless to say how this appeal was answered. NOTE VI. As plies the smith his clanging trade. A private soldier of the 95th regiment compared the sound which took place immediately upon the British cavalry mingling with those of the enemy, to a thousand tinkers at work mending pots and kettles.' same author has covered the plateau, or eminence, of St. Jean, which formed the British position, with redoubts and retrenchments which never had an existence. As the narrative, which is in many respects curious, was written by an eye-witness, he was probably deceived by the appearance of a road and ditch which run along part of the hill. It may be also mentioned, in criticising this work, that the writer mentions the Château of Hougomont to have been carried by the French, although it was resolutely and successfully defended during the whole action. The enemy, indeed, possessed themselves of the wood by which it is surrounded, and at length set fire to the house itself; but the British (a detachment of the Guards, under the command of Colonel Macdonnell, and afterwards of Colonel Home) made good the garden, and thus preserved, by their desperate resistance, the post which covered the return of the Duke of Wellington's right flank. |