and got his yellow-brown complexion in consequence of liver-complaint. He had always a reason for everything;he was, in fact, a philosopher.

About a year after I joined the regiment, we were ordered to the continent. Bonaparte had broke loose from Elba, and was organizing his armies to try once more the fate of war with the congregated powers of Europe. Our voyage affords nothing worth relating. Suffice it to say, we marched to Brussels, and enjoyed for a time the luxuries and amusements of that pleasant city. My uncle had here occasion to fight a duel with a French officer, who thought fit to cast some practical jokes on the obliquity of his vision. The Frenchman insisted on fighting with the small-sword, and the Colonel gratified his desire. The result was singular enough. Mounseer lost an eye,-his adversary's foil having penetrated nearly an inch into that valuable organ. My uncle, with his usual philosophy, imputed the whole as a punishment from Heaven upon his presumptuous enemy, for insulting the optics of his neighbour.

This pleasant life could not last for ever. The storm was gathering around us, and we daily expected to commence" war's bloody game." How ever, we thought of it as little as possible, and drank the rich wines of Belgium, and sung merry catches, with as much apparent unconcern as if we had been in quarters at home. I be lieve there was not a mess like ours, for humour and brotherly feeling, in the whole army.

I remember the particular time when all this gay scene was changed into bustle and lamentation. My uncle had invited the officers to supper, and placed before them the firstlings of a large supply of capital Volnay and Champagne, which he had purchased from a French marchand de vin. Never did I behold him in better spirits. He related, with infinite humour, his exploits in India against serpents, tigers, and Pindarees; and varied the tales, which he had often told before, with such consummate ingenuity, that they no longer seemed the same things. The whole mess was convulsed with laughter. His wine, which they laid in in proper style, they pronounced to be "devilish good;" but his stories were "a d-d deal better." Fity that such delightful moments should be broken

in upon-but so it was. In the midst of one of his most interesting adventures he stopped short, as if something caught his ear. He listened, and heard the distant report of firing. In a moment after, the bugles were sounded through the streets, calling to arms. "Gentlemen," said he, 66 we must move; the enemy is at hand.-I will finish my story at some other time." Alas! we never all met together again. Many gallant fellows, who that evening laughed at the eccentricities of their worthy Colonel, were in a few hours stretched out cold and lifeless upon the field of honour.

I shall not attempt to describe the appearance which Brussels presented on this memorable night. All was deafening noise and confusion. We were taken unawares ;-the French, with their characteristic promptness of movement, had come upon us sooner than we expected, and we cursed their unmannerly intrusion from the bottom of our souls. We did not mind fighting; but to be taken away from our wine was more than could be easily endured-and we swore sundry deadly oaths to be straightway revenged upon them for their impertinence. Let no one blame my uncle for being off his guard; if he was so, so was every one else. The Duke of Wellington was quadrilling it at a ball, and the Colonel was amusing his friends with wine and mirth at his own supper-table.

We were marched to Waterloo. I must candidly confess, that my sensations were far from being of a pleasant kind, and I believe those of my comrades were not much more agreeable. We knew that a doubtful battle had been fought at Quatre Bras, and were assured that the Prussians had sustained a signal defeat at Ligny. This knowledge did not contribute much to raise our spirits; and when we observed the remnants of the gallant Scotch regiments, which were almost annihilated at the former place, and the number of wounded brought in, we became convinced that we had our work cut out for us, and that the French were not to be so easily beaten as we had expected. However, no one said a word. Each moved on in dubious silence, resolved to do his best; but inwardly cursing the ill luck which brought him there, and wishing himself at Dan or Beersheba.

We were placed, as ill luck would have it, in the very front of the battle. Our regiment was known to be a good one, and the Colonel steel to the back-bone; and, in truth, we needed all our qualities, for we were drawn out opposite to a formidable artillery, backed by a strong body of foot and cuirassiers. My uncle rode up to me. "Tom, you dog, mind your colours."-"I wish you and the colours were at the devil," said I to myself I could not help it, for I began to feel confoundedly uncomfortable. The battle, a considerable time before this, had commenced in various parts of the line: the rest was joining in it rapidly; and it now became our turn to take part, as the enemy opposite was advancing his iron front to the attack. At last his artillery, succeeded by showers of musketry, opened upon us. We returned these compliments in the same style, and doubtless with good effect. I shall never forget my feelings on the first discharge of the French guns. In every quarter of our line an opening was made, and a number of men seen to drop, some killed outright, and some desperately wounded. The gaps were instantly filled by others, who stepped forward from the rear ranks. It was the first of my battles, and I felt, in spite of all my efforts, the trepidation and anxiety of a noviciate. The noise, smoke, confusion, and destruction, were horrible. "Keep steady, my brave boys-fire away," was heard on all sides from the officers encouraging their men. The gallant fellows needed no encouragement: they fought like lions. Not a man thought of flinching the same indomitable British spirit animated them all.

During the whole of this time I stood in the very heart of the fight, the King's colours waving over my head. The men were dropping fast around me. I heard the balls whizzing like hail past my ears. In a little longer I was so stupified that I hardly knew what I did, or where I was. At last I heard the voice of my uncle calling out, "Well done, Tom-that's a brave boy. Take care of your colours, and stand fast." His words aroused me, and I looked up, and saw him in the act of leading on his men to the charge. At this moment the ensign who bore the regimental colours fell dead about ten yards from my side.

The standard was raised by a serjeant, who was almost instantly killed. "Fine encouragement,” thought I, " for flag-bearers; I suppose my turn will be next." I now began to reflect how much better I should have been at home, following after some pacific profession, than standing here to be pinked by any rascally Frenchman who fancied me for a shot. Honour is a very pretty thing to talk of on the peace establishment, but during war it is one of the ugliest things in the world: and so little of a soldier am I, that I would rather, any day, die like a Christian on my bed, than be killed in battle in any manner, however honourable. But this is a digression.

My uncle, as I said, was leading us on to the charge, but the smoke was so thick that I could perceive nothing but his long, gaunt physiognomysurmounted with his cocked hat and white feather-rising above it. The lower part of his body, and the whole of Rozinante, were enveloped in darkness. We were guided entirely by his upper region, and followed him en masse. I advanced with the rest, because I knew that staying behind would serve no purpose. Don't suppose it was valour that led me on-devil a bit. It was rather the blind impulse of insensibility which rushes to danger, without knowing what it is about. I rushed forward as if the French were at my heels. I was so confused that I verily believed our men to be the enemy, and that I was endeavouring to get out of the way. We had not proceeded far when I perceived my uncle's head, cocked hat and feather, which towered above the smoke, disappear like the snuff of a candle. "The Colonel is gone," cried several voices: they were mistaken. It was only Rozinante that had been shot under him. He was extricated by two grenadiers, and got upon his legs in the twinkling of an eye. He did not wait to be remounted, but led the attack on foot

rushing with such immense strides towards the foe, that his men could scarcely keep pace with him. "All is over now," I thought, "the Colonel is taking to his heels, and why should not I do the same?" Still did I, in my stupefaction, suppose that the French were behind us, and that it was a duty to get out of the way as soon as possible. I therefore redoubled my speed, but I never let go the colours-being

fold that the honour of the regiment consisted in their preservation. My uncle, long as his strides were, was left behind. No sooner had I passed him than he shouted out, "Well done, Tom! There is a gallant boy! You'll be promoted for this!" The soldiers who were advancing after me with fixed bayonets, set up at the same time a cry of admiration. "Hurrah for Ensign Fogarty," resounded along the whole line. "What the deuce," said I to myself," do the French speak English? They are mocking my flight, no doubt, but I care nothing about it if I only get clear of their cursed clutches." So away I went, improving my speed at every step, when all at once I was brought to a pull up, by coming in front of a forest of bayonets, bristling from a dense body of infantry before me. I was close upon them ere I noticed my mistake: they were the enemy, and stood prepared to receive the shock of our soldiers who were coming up to meet them. What took place here I know not. I have merely a dim recollection of a dreadful shock between two bodies of men. I seemed to be the centre of a struggle which ensued, and was levelled to the earth by a violent blow on the temple. This is all that I saw of the battle of Waterloo.

There is here a blank of some weeks in my existence. I awoke as from a long sleep, and found myself stretched upon a bed, in a darkened chamber. A moment before I seemed to be'in the midst of slaughter: now I lay in the quietness of a sick-bed. I was certainly ill, for I felt weak beyond measure, and could scarcely turn upon my couch. My head swam, a faint cloud floated before me, and ringings and whisperings fell upon my ears. On looking around more attentively, I perceived a beautiful female form seated beside me. I gazed on her as on a vision from heaven, and attempt ed to speak. She observed my endeavours, and, rising up, placed one slender finger upon my lips, in token of silence. I repeated my attempt at utterance, when she shook her head, and whispered, with a smile of the most affectionate tenderness, "Ne parlez pas, mon cher. Vous êtes encore trop faible." For some time I could

do nothing but gaze at this lovely apparition. Her countenance was lighted up with the beauty not only of form but of feeling; and appearing, as she did, under such strange circumstances, she seemed to my wandering imagination more a creature of the sky than of this earthly planet.

Days passed, and I was still waited on by this ministering angel. She sat by the bedside, bathing my heated temples and administering nourishment. Nor was she the only one who performed such offices of kindness. A lady older than herself, and seemingly her mother, would frequently enter the room and lend her helping hand. I had also the consciousness of being waited on by a physician, who came to visit me often during the day. At times, also, I perceived through the thin curtains at the foot of the bed, the shadow of a tall military officer with a cocked hat, and a lofty feather which towered almost to the roof of the chamber. My senses rallied. I began to think correctly, and was at last by my gentle nurse permitted to speak. I found that both she and her mother were French, and understood no other language. Fortunately I was well versed in that tongue, by which means our intercourse was easy and agreeable. In the course of ten days I was permitted by the physician to sit up; and it was then I was told by my kind attendants, in answer to my anxious inquiries, that I had been wounded in the battle of Waterloo, and lodged in their house by a strange English officer, who also resided there, but of whom they knew nothing.

I now began to reflect whether my uncle was in the land of the living, and came to the melancholy conclusion, that he must be killed, or he would have made some inquiry after me, and doubtless found me out. Scarcely had these painful ideas crossed my mind, when, the door of the chamber happening to be opened, I heard shouts of laughter in a room apparently at some distance. "Excellent, Colonel-Devilish good-ha, ha!-Here's to your health in another bumper of your Burgundy." These words I distinctly heard among the laughter, and knew they could come only from one source, viz., from some of the members of our mess. right; they were not all dead; and the Colonel still survived, to amuse

I was

them with his Hindoo adventures, and share with them his wine.

My uncle was at last admitted to see me. He complained mightily of being kept out so long by the two ladies and the medical attendant. There was not the least alteration in his appearance since I last saw him, with the exception of his cocked-hat, which was somewhat battered about the tips, and his Hessians, which were beginning to look rather the worse of the wear; his regimental coat and buckskins were nearly as good as ever. Till I introduced him as my connexion, the ladies were ignorant of his relationship or degree. He understood nothing of French, and did not think it necessary to let it be known that he was my kinsman. He was the strange officer to whom they alluded, who had caused me to be transported hither. The physician was a friend of his own, belonging to another regiment, and had been employed by him to wait upon me during my illness.

My uncle gave me a piece of information, which surprised me a good deal. I had been promoted to a Lieutenancy for my good conduct. Good conduct indeed! It would be too much to relate all the praises which he bestowed upon me. My valour he described as beyond all belief. The act of leading on the regiment after he had been dismounted, and rushing forward with the colours in face of the enemy, he looked upon as one of the gallantest things ever done. He recollected nothing to equal it, except an exploit once performed by himself in India, when he run his sword down the throat of a boa constrictor, after his assistants, twenty in number, took to flight. I learned, moreover, that I was gazetted in the English papers. The regiment, in truth, was proud of its standard-bearer; and nothing was talked of among the men but the valour of Ensign Fogarty. It appeared farther, from his discourse, that when I approached the French line there was an immediate attempt made by Mounseer to dispossess me of the coours. In this they would certainly have succeeded but for the coming up of our men, between whom and them a furious struggle commenced. The French resolved to take the standard, the British were determined they should not. I was thus the centre of a conflict, and gallantly, according to

all accounts, did I demean myself in it; holding the staff like the very devil, till one of the enemy gave me a blow on the temple with the butt-end of his musket, and I lay for dead. My uncle, however, assured me, by way of consolation, that he thrust the fellow through with his sword, who committed this assault upon my person. What became of me till after the battle, nobody knew. I was given over for lost; but on searching for my body, he found me lying, with some sparks of life, among a heap of slain. With much difficulty, he managed to have me conveyed to Brussels, and lodged in the house of a benevolent lady, who, with her daughter, were my constant attendants ever since. Such was the sum of his information, which he communicated with a gesticulation peculiar to himself. It may be added, that the greater part of the regiment had by this time gone on to Paris, but he had obtained permission from the Commander-in-Chief to stay where he was till my recovery. Never was praise less deserved, or more absurdly obtained, than mine. The very mention of it became loathsome to me; but, as confessing the true state of things would serve no purpose, I kept it to myself.

I was now heartily tired of a military life, and resolved to quit the army. Indeed, I would have been obliged to do so, as my right arm was materially injured, one of the bones having been broken during the battle, but in what manner I never could learn. For this I obtained a pension, which, with my half pay, I conceived sufficient for all my wants. My uncle also resolved to sell out and retire. This he did, three months after returning to Ireland. But before bidding adieu to the Continent, an event took place which I must mention-I took a wife to myself. The reader will probably think of the beautiful creature, whose presence first greeted my return to sensation in the sick chamber; it was indeed she. I had no merit in loving her, as anybody who saw her would have done the same thing; but I of course was bound to her by a thousand ties of a more attractive nature than usual. She was both a Protestant and an anti-Bonapartist; and we were joined together in the Lutheran church of St Etienne, at Brussels, my uncle giving away the bride. I

daresay she was very fond of me; she was, at least, proud of getting so valiant a man for her husband.

Shortly after our marriage, we went, in company with the Colonel, to England, and from thence to Ireland. My uncle hesitated for some time, whether, as he was a bachelor, he would take up house himself, or live with my father in Dublin, or with me. The former was too dull and monotonous a life for him, and he soon therefore laid the idea aside. He would have liked very well to live with his sister, but unfortunately my father's ways of thinking and his were so dissimilar, that there was no prospect of their harmonizing together, the former being Whiggish in his principles, and the Colonel a staunch Tory. He, therefore, resolved to ensconce himself under my roof. I forgot to say, that, the week after our arrival, he made me a present of two thousand pounds. It is now ten years since these events have taken place. My pretty Louise and I live very happily together, and she now speaks English as well as her native tongue. We have a couple of fine boys and a handsome girl-quite as many children as a military man has any occasion for. The Colonel lately made his will, in which he has left the whole of his property, with

the exception of some small legacies, to me and my two sons. He says I must provide for my daughter as I think proper. Among the countrypeople round about-for we live in the country, six miles to the north of Belfast-he is much liked. He is still the Squinting Colonel of the children, whom he sometimes amuses, by grinning in their faces, and telling frightful stories. The farmers around think him a man of prodigious valour-as he undoubtedly is-and stare woundily at his extraordinary exploits in India, which he still relates with unimpaired humour and veracity. He is, in fact, a favourite with everybody, and with none more than my wife and children. His mind is a perfect storehouse of military marvels, which my boys are perpetually urging him to relate. It is, indeed, delightful to see the young rogues staring, wonderstruck at the old gentleman, while he is pouring forth upon their imaginations his miraculous deeds. Sometimes we have a visit from such of our messmates as survive-and then the old affair of "Capital, Colonel-devilish good," is sure to be renewed, as when, ten or eleven years before, we sat at the regimental table.

A MODERN PYTHAGOREAN.

BURNS.

he had been at Dominie Threshim's for four year, he had learned to read Barrie's Collection aemaist as weil as the maister could do for his lugs; and was up to all manner of accounts, from simple addition and the multiplication table, up to vulgar fractions, and a' the lave of them.

At the yearly examine o' the schoolroom by the Presbytery and Maister Wiggie, he aye sat at the head of the form, and never failed getting a clap on the head and a wheen carvies. Them that are faithers will no won