thing, the
corporal, whose principal strength lay in invention, supplied by an
entire new system of battering of his own,--without which, this had been
objected to by military critics, to the end of the world, as one of the
great desiderata of my uncle Toby's apparatus.

This will not be explained the worse, for setting off, as I generally
do, at a little distance from the subject.

Chapter 3.LXVII.

With two or three other trinkets, small in themselves, but of great
regard, which poor Tom, the corporal's unfortunate brother, had sent him
over, with the account of his marriage with the Jew's widow--there was

A Montero-cap and two Turkish tobacco-pipes.

The Montero-cap I shall describe by and bye.--The Turkish tobacco-pipes
had nothing particular in them, they were fitted up and ornamented as
usual, with flexible tubes of Morocco leather and gold wire, and mounted
at their ends, the one of them with ivory,--the other with black ebony,
tipp'd with silver.

My father, who saw all things in lights different from the rest of the
world, would say to the corporal, that he ought to look upon these
two presents more as tokens of his brother's nicety, than his
affection.--Tom did not care, Trim, he would say, to put on the cap,
or to smoke in the tobacco-pipe of a Jew.--God bless your honour, the
corporal would say (giving a strong reason to the contrary)--how can
that be?

The Montero-cap was scarlet, of a superfine Spanish cloth, dyed in
grain, and mounted all round with fur, except about four inches in the
front, which was faced with a light blue, slightly embroidered,--and
seemed to have been the property of a Portuguese quarter-master, not of
foot, but of horse, as the word denotes.

The corporal was not a little proud of it, as well for its own sake, as
the sake of the giver, so seldom or never put it on but upon Gala-days;
and yet never was a Montero-cap put to so many uses; for in all
controverted points, whether military or culinary, provided the corporal
was sure he was in the right,--it was either his oath,--his wager,--or
his gift.

--'Twas his gift in the present case.

I'll be bound, said the corporal, speaking to himself, to give away
my Montero-cap to the first beggar who comes to the door, if I do not
manage this matter to his honour's satisfaction.

The completion was no further off, than the very next morning; which was
that of the storm of the counterscarp betwixt the Lower Deule, to the
r