were triumphant; while, to many a mind of the higher cast, the future
was, perhaps, more glittering than either. In the same imperishable
eloquence of poetry--

"For now sits expectation in the air,
And hides a sword, from hilt unto the point,
With crowns imperial, crowns and coronets,
Promised to Harry and his followers."

The ambition of the English soldier may be of a more modified order than
that of the foreigner; but the dream of poetry was soon realized in the
crush of the Republicans, who had trampled alike the crown and the
coronet in the blood of their owners. Twenty-seven thousand men were
appointed for the attack of the French lines; and on the first tap of
the drum, a general shout of exultation was given from all the columns.
The cavalry galloped through the intervals to the front, and parks of
the light guns were sent forward to take up positions on the few
eminences which commanded the plain; but the day had scarcely broke,
when one of those dense fogs, the customary evil of the country, fell
suddenly upon the whole horizon, and rendered action almost impossible.
Nothing could exceed the vexation of the army at this impediment; and if
our soldiers had ever heard of Homer, there would have been many a
repetition of his warrior's prayer, that "live or die, it might be in
the light of day."

But in the interval, important changes were made in the formation of the
columns. The French lines had been found of unexpected strength, and the
Guards were pushed forward to head a grand division placed under command
of General Ferrari. The British were, of course, under the immediate
orders of an officer of their own, and a more gallant one never led
troops under fire. I now, for the first time, saw the general who was
afterwards destined to sweep the French out of Egypt, and inflict the
first real blow on the military supremacy of France under Napoleon.
General Abercromby was then in the full vigour of life; a strongly
formed, manly figure, a quiet but keen eye, and a countenance of
remarkable steadiness and thought, all gave the indications of a mind
firm in all the contingencies of war. Exactly at noon, the fog drew up
as suddenly as it had descended, and we had a full view of the enemy's
army. No foreign force ever exhibits so showy and soldierly an
appearance as the British. The blue of the French and Prussians looks
black, and the white of the Austrian looks faded and feeble, compared
with th