The French Army Too Was Beloved By The People, Instead Of Being Dreaded By
Them As The Armies Of Most Other European Nations Are.
In short, whenever I
met with and held conversation with soldiers of this army, I was always
tempted to address them in the words of Elvira to Pizarro when she seeks to
console him for his defeat:
Yet think another morning shall arise,
Nor fear the future, nor lament the past.[50]
The French Major was very much inclined to take up a quarrel with an
Austrian officer, on my account, but I dissuaded him. The cause was as
follows. A young Austrian boy, servant to one of the officers of Artillery,
had entered the coche d'eau at Chalon, some minutes before his master,
and began to avail himself of the right of conquest by taking possession of
the totality of one of the cabins and endeavouring to exclude the other
passengers; among other things he was going to thrust my portmanteau out of
its place. I called to him to let it alone, when the French Major stepped
forward and said that if he dared to touch any of the baggage belonging to
the passengers, he would punish him on the spot and his master also, for
that he longed to measure swords with those "Jean F - - d'Autrichiens."
Fearful of a serious quarrel between them and being unwilling that any
dispute should occur on my account, I requested the Major not to meddle
with the business, for that I was sure the Austrian officer would check the
impertinence of his servant when he came on board; and that if he did not,
I was perfectly able and willing to defend my own cause.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 143 of 558
Words from 38903 to 39190
of 151859
