The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1841-11-16
THE FIELD OF WATERLOO.
BY WASHINGTON IRVING.


| have spoken heretofore with some levty OF
the contrast that exists between the English
and French character; but il deserves more Sc
rious consideration. They are the two great
nations of modern times, most Numerically op
posed and most worthy Of each others rivalry
essentially distinct in their characters, excelilng
in opposite qualities, and rejecting luslre on
each other by their very opposition. In nothing
is this contrast more strkingy evinced than in
their military conduct. For ages have they
been contending, and for ages have they crowd
ed each others history with acts OF splendid
heroism.
Take the battle of Waterloo, for instance, the
last and most memorable trial OF their rival Prov
ess. Nothing could surpass the brilliant daring
on the one side, and the steadfast enduring on the
other. The French cavalry broke like waves
on the compact squares of English infantry
They were seen galloping round those serried
walls of men, seeking in vain for an entrance,
tossing their arms in the air in the heat of their
enthusiasm, and Drawing the whole front Of bat
tle The British troops on the other hand, for
hidden TO move or fire, stood firm and enduring.
Their columns were ripped up by cannonry
whole rows were swept down at shot; the
survivors closed their ranks, and stood through
the pelting Of the iron tempest without firing a
shot, without any action TO stir their blood OF
excite their spirits. Death thinned their ranks,
but could not shake their souls.
A beautiful instance of the quick and gener-
Gus impulses to which the French are prone, is
given in the case Of French cavalier, in the
hottest of the action, charging furiously upon a
British officer, but perceiving in the moment OF
assault that his adversary had lost his sword arm,
dropping the point of his sabre, and courteously
riding on. Peace be with that generous warri-
or, whatever were his fate If he went down
in the storm of battle, with the laundering for
tunes Of his chieftaiD, may the turf OF Waterloo
grow green above his grave and happier
far would be the fate of such spirit to sink
amidst the tempest, unconscious of defeat, than
to survive and mourn over the blighted laurels OF
his country.
In thisway the two armies fought through a
long and bloody day--the French with enthusi-
astic valor, the English with cold, inflexible
courage; until Fate, as if to leave the question
of superiority still undecided between two such
adversaries, brought up the Prussans TO decide
the fortunes of The field.
II was several years afterward that visited
the field of Waterloo The ploughsare had been
busy with its oblivious abors, and the frequent
harvest had nearly obliterated the vestges of war.
Still the blackened ruins of Hugumont stood, a
monumental pile to mark the violence Of thisve-
hement struggle. Its broken walls, pierced by
bullets and shattered by explosions, showed the
deadly strife that had taken place within, when
Gaul and Briton, hemmed in between narrow
walls, hand TO hand and foot to foot, fought from
garden to courtyard, from courtyard to cham
Der, with intense and concentrated rivaship.-
Columns of smoke fumed from this vortex of
battle as from volcano il was" said my
guide, like hell upon earth" Not far off, two
or three broad spots Of rank, unwholesome green,
still marked the places where these rival warri-
ors, after their fierce and itful struggle, slept
quietly together in the lap Of their common mo.
ther, Earth. Over all the rest of the field peace
had resumed its sway. The thoughtless whis-
tie of the peasant foated in the air, instead Of
the trumpet's clangor; the team slowly labored
up the hill side, once shaken by the hoofs Of
rushing squadrons; and wide fields of corn
waved peacefully over the soldiers graves, as
summer seas dimple over the place where many
a lall ship lies buried