The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 20, No. 570, October 13, 1832Various
History
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 20, No. 570, October 13, 1832
Various
Popular literature -- Great Britain -- Periodicals
Old C----, one of the "all-talented Whigs," who you know is half a
buffoon, was a torment to us during the fearful period of the three
days--running to and fro, standing in every body's way, seeking and
reporting news, exclaiming, "but the battle cannot be lost--I do not
see the army in retreat," &c. &c. At length, the battle over, England
victorious, the Duke on Monday rode quietly into Bruxelles, to make
arrangements for the wounded, &c. C---- rushes to his apartment to
make his compliments.
"Thirty thousand men lost!" replied the Duke.
"But what a victory!"
"Thirty thousand men killed!--hard case!"--still answered the Duke,
with his usual simplicity of expression when speaking of his own
exploits. C----, who knew not what diffidence was, nor could discover
its merits in another, retreated in evident disappointment at his
compliments of felicitation having the appearance of being so little
appreciated; almost doubtful, whether Wellington was in truth a hero,
or whether the battle was really gained!
The interiors of the churches are divided in stalls, the wounded
placed in them on layers of straw, and women and surgeons are seen
administering to their ills. The Belgians have thrown open their
houses, and officers and soldiers are promiscuously placed in their
decorated _salons_, and served with equal assiduity. The French seemed
to have fought with redoubled rancour on these terrible days; even the
nature of the wounds are without parallel in history. The light carts
I saw preparing some weeks since, were sent off to the frontiers;
therefore, to add to the sufferings of these brave men, they are
brought in upon the rough wagons employed in agriculture. This is the
sixth day, and they are still arriving in all kinds of conveyances.
Our carriage was stopped in la Rue de Montagne last evening; the cause
originated in two wagons filled with the wounded and the dying,
recently discovered! Some of the inhabitants, with candles, were
groping anxiously, in search of their relations, and administering
various restoratives to those they knew not, until another church
could be hastily prepared to receive them. Hundreds of French
prisoners are brought in,--many of them quite boys, and in peasants'
habits, apparently forced by cruel conscriptions to become warriors
_malgré eux_, and forming a remarkable contrast to those hardy and
athletic frames, who seem destined by nature for the military career.
Here were these poor recruits, a few weeks since dragged from their
native hearths, constrained by regal power to illustrate themselves by
the sword--when their hearts and characters were formed for domestic
cares, and those agricultural labours which sweetened their rustic
meal, and only trying to evade their direst enemy--the recruiting-sergeant
of Napoleon!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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