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Article THE GUIDE. Page 1 of 8 →
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The Guide.
THE GUIDE .
An Episode of the French Campaign in Spam m 1808 . BY JIISS PAEDOE . DURING one of my frequent sojourns in France , I made the acquaintance of a veteran officerivho had long retired from the
, service , ancl who was living on a small estate which he had inherited from , his father , honoured and respected by the whole neighbourhood , as a brave soldier and a worthy man . Like most of his gallant profession , he was fond of relating past scenes whenever he found a congenial auditor ; and among his many reminiscences was that which I am about to give in his
oivn words , to my reader , in the full conviction that its simplicity of style would only suffer by any attempt at verbal ornament . " At the passage of the Tagus , near Almaraz , by the first corps d'armee , under the order of the marshal-duke de Belluno , Mademoiselle , " he said , as on a fine summer evening we sat together under the vine-trellised portico of his snug dwelling ,
" I commanded a light company , which preceded the vanguard , with orders to clear the line of march . " Among the inhabitants of the opposite bank of the river , where I endeavoured to obtain information on the nature of the country , my attention was attracted towards an individual of colossal height and proportions , who replied to all my questions
with a precision and promptitude such as 1 had never before encountered in one of his class . His costume was that of a simple muleteer , ( arriero ) , and his figure the finest specimen of strength and symmetry that I ever remember to have looked upon . He was upwards of six feet in height , and his complexion tairny , rather , as it appeared to me , however , from
exposure to vicissitudes of weather , than from actual temperament ; the expression of his countenance was grave and gentle , and his voice singularly melodious ; altogether , the man fascinated me , and while conversing with him I was to the full as much engaged in speculating upon so extraordinary a freak of nature , as in listening to the information that he volunteered . "While we were together , a staff-officer galloped up , demanding a guide , and I immediately pointed to mv new
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Guide.
THE GUIDE .
An Episode of the French Campaign in Spam m 1808 . BY JIISS PAEDOE . DURING one of my frequent sojourns in France , I made the acquaintance of a veteran officerivho had long retired from the
, service , ancl who was living on a small estate which he had inherited from , his father , honoured and respected by the whole neighbourhood , as a brave soldier and a worthy man . Like most of his gallant profession , he was fond of relating past scenes whenever he found a congenial auditor ; and among his many reminiscences was that which I am about to give in his
oivn words , to my reader , in the full conviction that its simplicity of style would only suffer by any attempt at verbal ornament . " At the passage of the Tagus , near Almaraz , by the first corps d'armee , under the order of the marshal-duke de Belluno , Mademoiselle , " he said , as on a fine summer evening we sat together under the vine-trellised portico of his snug dwelling ,
" I commanded a light company , which preceded the vanguard , with orders to clear the line of march . " Among the inhabitants of the opposite bank of the river , where I endeavoured to obtain information on the nature of the country , my attention was attracted towards an individual of colossal height and proportions , who replied to all my questions
with a precision and promptitude such as 1 had never before encountered in one of his class . His costume was that of a simple muleteer , ( arriero ) , and his figure the finest specimen of strength and symmetry that I ever remember to have looked upon . He was upwards of six feet in height , and his complexion tairny , rather , as it appeared to me , however , from
exposure to vicissitudes of weather , than from actual temperament ; the expression of his countenance was grave and gentle , and his voice singularly melodious ; altogether , the man fascinated me , and while conversing with him I was to the full as much engaged in speculating upon so extraordinary a freak of nature , as in listening to the information that he volunteered . "While we were together , a staff-officer galloped up , demanding a guide , and I immediately pointed to mv new