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out of it —-- of the farmer Lacoste, in his pinioned situation
beside Buonaparte —-- or, if I may venture so
to speak, of the commandant of that nameless corps
of Gentlemen light horse volunteers, when he received
the unwelcome hint from Lord Wellington’s
aid-du-camp, that an opportunity occurred for them
to charge the French cavalry ; their colonel, in great
surprise objected the enemy’s strength -- -cuirasses, ---
and the consideration, which had unaccountably,
he said, escaped the Commander in chief, that his
regiment were "all gentlemen ǃ!" This diverting
response was carried back to Lord Wellington ; who
dispatched the messenger again to say that if the
gentlemen would take post upon an eminence,
which he pointed to in the rear, they would have
an excellent view of the battle ; and he would leave
the choice of a proper time to charge, entirely to
their own sagacity and discretion, in which he had
the fullest confidence. The colonel actually thanked
the aid-du-camp for this distinguished post of
honor, and followed by his gallant train, with their
very high plumes, (the present great point of continental
military foppery), was out of danger in a
moment.
VISIT TO THE FIELD OF BATTLE.
IN the course of the Monday, the news of the defeat of the French arrived ; and on the following day my friend and his wife returned to Brussels. On the Wednesday he visited the field of Waterloo. His account of it is dreadful ǃ —-- The first thing which struck him at a distance, was the quantity of caps and hats strewed on the ground. It appeared as if the field had been covered with crows. When he
