Note I.
_The peasant, at his labour blithe,_
_Plies the hook’d staff and shorten’d scythe._--P. 195.
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 spirit and dexterity.
Note II.
_Pale Brussels! then what thoughts were thine._--P. 203.
It was affirmed by the prisoners of war, that Buonaparte had promised
his army, in case of victory, twenty-four hours plunder of the city of
Brussels.
Note III.
“_Confront the battery’s jaws of flame!_
“_Rush on the levell’d gun!_”--P. 204.
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
eye-witness has given the following account of his demeanour towards the
end of the action:--
“It was near seven o’clock; Buonaparte, 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 Buonaparte, and turned his back on the
aid-de-camp who brought the message.”--_Relation de la Bataille de
Mont-Saint-Jean. Par un Temoin Occulaire._ Paris, 1815, 8vo. p. 51.
Note IV.
_The fate their leader shunn’d to share._--P. 205.
It has been reported that Buonaparte 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 l’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
Buonaparte 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.[3] It is
not meant to infer from these particulars that Napoleon shewed, 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 scarcely one of the Duke of
Wellington’s personal attendants escaped unhurt.
Note V.
_England shall tell the fight._--P. 205.
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,_
_Against the cuirass rang the blade._--P. 208.
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_.”
Note VII.
_Or will thy Chosen brook to feel_
_The British shock of levell’d steel._--P. 210.
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, “The guards never yield--they die.” The same author has
covered the plateau, or eminence, of St Jean, which formed the British
position, with redoubts and entrenchments 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 runs along part of the hill. It may be also mentioned, in
criticising this work, that the writer states the Chateau 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.