ll that I brought back with me; but
if my trophies were small, I had gained considerably both in habits
of discipline and obedience. I had learned to endure, ably and without
complaining, the inevitable hardships of a campaign, and, better still,
to see that the irrepressible impulses of the soldier, however prompted
by zeal or heroism, may oftener mar than promote the more mature plans
of his general. Scarcely had my feet once more touched French ground,
than I was seized with the ague, then raging as an epidemic among the
troops, and sent forward with a large detachment of sick to the Military
Hospital of Strasbourg.

Here I bethought me of my patron, Colonel Mahon, and determined to
write to him. For this purpose I addressed a question to the
Adjutant-General's office to ascertain the colonel's address. The reply
was a brief and stunning one--he had been dismissed the service. No
personal calamity could have thrown me into deeper affliction; nor had
I even the sad consolation of learning any of the circumstances of this
misfortune. His death, even though thereby I should have lost my only
friend, would have been a lighter evil than this disgrace; and coming as
did the tidings when I was already broken by sickness and defeat, more
than ever disgusted me with a soldier's life. It was then with a feeling
of total indifference that I heard a rumour which at another moment
would have filled me with enthusiasm--the order for all invalids
sufficiently well to be removed, to be drafted into regiments serving in
Italy. The fame of Bonaparte, who commanded that army, had now surpassed
that of all the other generals; his victories paled the glory of their
successes, and it was already a mark of distinction to have served under
his command.

The walls of the hospital were scrawled over with the names of his
victories; rude sketches of Alpine passes, terrible ravines, or
snow-clad peaks, met the eye everywhere; and the one magical name,
'Bonaparte,' written beneath, seemed the key to all their meaning. With
him war seemed to assume all the charms of romance. Each action was
illustrated by feats of valour or heroism, and a halo of glory seemed to
shine over all the achievements of his genius.

It was a clear, bright morning of March, when a light frost sharpened
the air, and a fair, blue sky overhead showed a cloudless elastic
atmosphere, that the 'invalides,' as we were all called, were drawn
up in the great square of the hosp