my pocket-book.

"I have just returned from seeing the French wounded
received in their hospital; and could you see them laid out
naked, or almost so--100 in a row of low beds on the
ground--though wounded, exhausted, beaten, you would still
conclude with me that these were men capable of marching
unopposed from the west of Europe to the east of Asia.
Strong, thickset, hardy veterans, brave spirits and
unsubdued, as they cast their wild glance upon you,--their
black eyes and brown cheeks finely contrasted with the fresh
sheets,--you would much admire their capacity of adaptation.
These fellows are brought from the field after lying many
days on the ground; many dying--many in the agony--many
miserably racked with pain and spasms; and the next mimics
his fellow, and gives it a tune,--_Aha, vous chantez bien!_
How they are wounded you will see in my notes. But I must
not have you to lose the present impression on me of the
formidable nature of these fellows as exemplars of the breed
in France. It is a forced praise; for from all I have seen,
and all I have heard of their fierceness, cruelty, and
bloodthirstiness, I cannot convey to you my detestation of
this race of trained banditti. By what means they are to be
kept in subjection until other habits come upon them, I know
not; but I am convinced that these men cannot be left to the
bent of their propensities.

"This superb city is now ornamented with the finest groups
of armed men that the most romantic fancy could dream of. I
was struck with the words of a friend--E. 'I saw,' said he,
'_that_ man returning from the field on the 16th.' (This was
a Brunswicker, of the Black or Death Hussars.) 'He was
wounded, and had had his arm amputated on the field. He was
among the first that came in. He rode straight and stark
upon his horse--the bloody clouts about his stump--pale as
death, but upright, with a stern, fixed expression of
{p.042} feature, as if loath to lose his revenge.' These
troops are very remarkable in their fine military
appearance; their dark and ominous dress sets off to
advantage their strong, manly, northern features and white
mustachios; and there is something more than commonly
impressive about the whole effect.

"This is the second Sunday after the battl