The Bible in Spain, Vol. 1 [of 2]: Or, the Journeys, Adventures, and Imprisonments of an Englishman in an Attempt to Circulate the Scriptures in the PeninsulaBorrow, George
Religion
The Bible in Spain, Vol. 1 [of 2]: Or, the Journeys, Adventures, and Imprisonments of an Englishman in an Attempt to Circulate the Scriptures in the Peninsula
Borrow, George
Borrow, George, 1803-1881 -- Travel -- Spain; Spain -- Description and travel; Spain -- History -- 19th century
_Luigi_.—My prospects are a blank, _Giorgio_; my prospects are a blank.
I propose nothing but to die in Corunna, perhaps in the hospital, if they
will admit me. Years ago I thought of fleeing, even if I left all behind
me, and either returning to England, or betaking myself to America; but
it is too late now, _Giorgio_, it is too late. When I first lost all
hope I took to drinking, to which I was never before inclined, and I am
now what I suppose you see.
“There is hope in the Gospel,” said I, “even for you. I will send you
one.”
There is a small battery of the old town which fronts the east, and whose
wall is washed by the waters of the bay. It is a sweet spot, and the
prospect which opens from it is extensive. The battery itself may be
about eighty yards square; some young trees are springing up about it,
and it is rather a favourite resort of the people of Corunna.
In the centre of this battery stands the tomb of Moore, built by the
chivalrous French, in commemoration of the fall of their heroic
antagonist. It is oblong, and surmounted by a slab, and on either side
bears one of the simple and sublime epitaphs for which our rivals are
celebrated, and which stand in such powerful contrast with the bloated
and bombastic inscriptions which deform the walls of Westminster Abbey:—
“JOHN MOORE,
LEADER OF THE ENGLISH ARMIES,
SLAIN IN BATTLE,
1809.”
The tomb itself is of marble, and around it is a quadrangular wall,
breast-high, of rough Gallegan granite; close to each corner rises from
the earth the breech of an immense brass cannon, intended to keep the
wall compact and close. These outer erections are, however, not the work
of the French, but of the English government.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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