and then in your quarters at you expect to kill one now the presence of even a few bottles. Had the original party remained there, a plan was about to be adopted to test the truth of his reiterated story. This man prowled about the garrison, collected what information he could obtain, suspected every person; tried to alarm us in a contemptuous way at what we soon found too true-the approaching sickly season,-and at last, being caught in attempting to convey intelligence to the enemy, was most leniently punished by not being allowed to quit the fort. A French general would have had him shot. I fear he lived to bring the unfortunate Burgomaster to disgrace, having in my presence vowed vengeance against him as a partisan of the English, because he did not show equal ill-will with his own, and, from having seen the moderation of the officers, good discipline of the soldiers, and the absence of all oppressive measures, had shown the kindly feelings of an honest man to prove he was sensible of worth even in an enemy. I remember, when I shook hands with him on being about to leave the place, the warm grasp he gave me, and with eyes full of tears he said, "I have done what I considered my duty, but I fear I shall suffer for it, as the pastor's influence will again be powerful when you are all gone, and he has not the Christian charity which his cloth bespeaks." In all ranks we find agreeable conduct and the contrary. From the first arrival of the British, this man of peace took us en grippe. He had been treated with as much consideration as could be shown, but having trusted to his cloth as an exemption from billet, could not forgive us, and though it would be impossible to meet with more gentlemanly men than the officers I came to relieve, yet it was a constant attempt on his part to prove that had he the power he would be happy to lend a hand, as sailors say, in drowning us all in his cellar, which he took care to let us know was inundated, and consequently contained no wine, which he would not believe could have been safe had he acknowledged For some time we remained in the expectation of coming into contact with the enemy. one The duties of the day were we could now and then see trifling to inspect the bat- some scattered detachments on teries, examine the ammuni- the dykes. Their fleet and tion, and see that all was in gunboats were all securely order, was soon over-a short defended in the harbour of drill which I gave my men to Antwerp, which presented a correct some slovenly habits forest of masts to our view, was, I believe, laughed at, but and seemed to bid us defiance. I carried my point. Perhaps Of Bergen-op-Zoom we could it was time thrown away. Our distinctly see the exterior only trying duty was being fortifications: of Antwerp under arms at our posts for only the steeples and high hour before daybreak, buildings. Each of these gulping down the thick, un- towns, properly defended, wholesome morning fog which might defy all our strength. enveloped the country and It was only by a series of sowed the seeds of that terrible active movements at first that disease by which so many of any hope of success could be our brave men were hurled to entertained, and that season their grave. Yet, as long as Yet, as long as had passed. At last we heard our ships of war remained off of the fall of Flushing, after Flushing, it was a necessary a most furious bombardment precaution, for the branch of but not an obstinate defence, the Scheld running near for had the dykes been cut on Bergen op Zoom was, I be- our our first approach, however lieve, considered fordable, or much the buildings might have at least was not safe from a suffered, all further land operasudden irruption of an active tions must have ended. Partial enemy, of whose movements I attempts at inundation had do not believe we had much been made, and some of our knowledge. Many were our batteries had been erected in conjectures as to future opera- the midst of water. That the tions, but there was evidently French General was supposed a gloomy feeling as to their not to have done his utmost success. An English admiral was proved by his having been seemed to have been sent for- degraded by Buonaparte from ward to prepare some plan to his rank. be executed as soon as Flushing had fallen-parties of seamen were advanced and made to ford the Bergen op Zoom branch of the Scheld, and had been able at a particular point of the tide to cross nearly to the opposite bank, and their movements were watched with intense anxiety, though little notice seemed to be taken of them by the enemy, of whom As the French at that time affected to despise our military prowess, the success was attributed to the tremendous fire of the Navy, which took the town in flank as the fleet forced the passage up the Scheld, while it was bombarded from the land. Had the French General remained behind his ramparts, which were untouched, and trusted to the inundation, the success. fatal fever of the island would soon have compelled us to raise the siege. This, however, does not diminish the honour due to the exertions of the besiegers: whatever zeal and courage could effect was done, and it was fortunately crowned with After the surrender, such troops as were not wanted for the defence of Walcheren were sent forward to rendezvous before Batz, which became the headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief, and all the attendant bustle of the high and mighty followers made it a place of importance. We soon found there was no intention of advancing, though the newspapers were spouting glory, predicting and as it were demanding fresh torrents of blood to gratify their readers. From the absurd comments which I remember reading in the descriptions of those days I learnt to give a just value to the accounts furnished them by their paid correspondents. We were then young in military adventures, and both army and newspapers have since learnt to see things in their true light, therefore I trust the latter will not owe me a grudge for this criticism of events so long past. As long as the troops were actively engaged they were tolerably free from sickness; it had already attacked the regiments in the inactive quarters; even Batz, from presenting rather more excitement than other parts of Beveland, had few sick. But the work of death had begun, the reports of the progress of the disease came with such forcible truths, and the knowledge that our enemies had had time to organise superior forces forces to what we could bring against them if we advanced, and that the fever would soon enable them to begin offensive measures to drive us away if we remained where we were, soon urged the necessity of abandoning everything but the dear-bought island of which Flushing formed part. The Fort was dismantled, the magazines destroyed, every thing that could be carried away embarked. My detachment was put on board a frigate, and we dropped down to Flushing. Though only two days on board, I could have given a fair example of the difference to be observed in a man-of-war when subjected to a capricious and tyrannical commander, both to officers and men, to what I have elsewhere witnessed when discipline was upheld by the union of the officers with their captain on steady principles of justice to the men. It was appalling. I loathed the hospitality to which I was admitted, and can readily believe that men and officers may be driven to that state so fearfully described by Captain Hall in his second series of fragments of voyages travels, where the men of a frigate, obeying their ill-fated commander till he had brought his ship to action, stood to their guns with arms folded and allowed the enemies' fire to destroy them without attempting to return a shot, and thus in one moment revenged them and selves on their tyrant, who lived only to witness his dishonour and the capture of his ship, which he had boldly led against a superior force. On casting anchor at Flushing I landed to report myself to the General Commanding the Artillery, whose headquarters were at Middleburgh. I was accompanied by a midshipman who had obtained leave to visit some friends he had made under peculiar circumstances. He had been taken prisoner with Captain Wright, whose death in the Temple was ascribed, and perhaps justly, to the agents of Buonaparte's police, and it may be right to observe that, on being separated from this young man, he said to him: "Remember they will put me to death, and say I have committed suicide. Be assured it will be false: I have too much religion to be capable of committing such an act." After this, and the known character of Captain Wright, it will be difficult to absolve the French police from the crime of which they are accused. His fellowprisoner, however, was sent off to Verdun, where he formed an intimacy with a Frenchman of his own age, and they became sworn friends, sported and made excursions into the country together, and he was enabled to pass his apparently hopeless imprisonment agreeably. In the course of time his French friend was called on to enter the medical branch of the army, to which he had been bred, and left Verdun. The Englishman was tired of his imprisonment, committed some act by which of he lost the advantages of his parole, and was sent to Bûhe, the place in which all English were confined who transgressed certain rules, and whence all schemes of liberation were put in execution by those who considered their parole of some consequence previous to an attempt at liberty. His knowledge of French giving him greater facility than others, he started alone, underwent the greatest hardships, living in the woods and obtaining precarious nourishment, till, at the end of six weeks, he arrived at Flushing, then in the power France. One of the first persons he met was his French friend, now a surgeon in the French service, who recognised him immediately, addressed him as mon cousin, and in that way, with all the warmth of a generous friend, enabled him to remain undiscovered for several weeks, during which he supplied him with money and clothes, and introduced him into the society which Frenchmen of that rank in life frequent. At last, the danger of longer concealment being evident, it was necessary to find an opportunity of escape. The mouth of the Scheld was known to be blockaded, and it would not be difficult to reach it in an open boat. One with a single boatman was hired for the avowed purpose of crossing to Beveland. The Englishman, provided with a brace of pistols by his friend, who gave him a hearty farewell, took his departure. The weather was foggy; therefore, as soon 88 the boat was half-way in the stream, and could not be seen from either shore, he produced his pistols, promised a reward, and was conveyed safely to an English vessel. After a short visit to his friends he was appointed to the frigate. We landed at Flushing at dusk, and had scarcely been on shore five minutes before mutual exclamations of delight and recognition took place between the midshipman and a melancholy young Frenchman who was lounging along near a public building. It was the surgeon, a prisoner, where we were now masters. It was delightful to see the happiness they both expressed. I was a silent spectator, but not an uninterested one. We all jogged on together to Middleburgh. I heard exeorations without number on the cowardice and treachery of the French general for his surrender, which was, as usual, ascribed to bribery. They talked over old stories, while I ruminated on the chances of war. It was dark before we arrived at Middleburgh, and as we approached the gates I had a dire proof of the havoc disease was now making amongst our soldiers: we had seen only sickness at Batz, but here death had completed her task. Eight coffins borne on the shoulders of men came mournfully out of the gates, a single lantern preceded and brought up the rear of the party, a first, second, then a third, and like the magic glass of Macbeth's witches, half bewildered our senses when the number followed so closely one after the other. Our enemies had ample vengeance, for the gate we entered was only one outlet for the dead, whose numbers were so great that it was necessary to commit them to the grave when the absence of light should throw a veil over the sickening scene. Pits were dug thirty feet deep to receive the bodies, and were left open till the cold pile had reached the surface, which was then closed. I was pleased to think that our French companion seemed to feel as much as ourselves, and joined with us in lamenting the fate of men cut off in so inglorious a manner. I took leave of him and his friend at a small inn, where the landlady, having recognised the young Englishman, took him round the neck and gave him the true foreign salutation, a hearty kiss on each cheek, afterwards holding him at arm's-length to contemplate ce ce cher enfant. name of the Frenchman and the circumstances relating to him I took down in writing, trusting that by making them known to the proper authority he would be set free, which, I believe, was done. The I found my kind-hearted General in a comfortable house at Middleburgh, who, congratulating me on my return and on my company being one of those that would not be detained at Walcheren, after the usual questions relative to my detachment and that warmth of welcome which his friends received from him, put me into the hands of his aide-de-camp, one of my old friends, to find me a bed, which he soon obtained for me at the house |