The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1843-08-15
Miscellaneous.

lelleTs nome Wo descriptive oil me
horrid scenes which preceded the downfall Of the
greatest warrior of modern times
TIE FIELD OF WATERLOO.
WATERLOO, May 1913.
Like good pilgrim have put my feet tho soil
Of Waterloo -travcrsng its fields, visiting its mohu-
mcnts, and tracing, step by step, those memorable
movements Of n day gone by, which in all time TO
come will distinguish tho place where / am 1t is
impossible for any man TO risit like this, |
care not how cold his temperament, with the same
feelings that control him in the every day affairs of
life. II is true that nature wears the same smiling
face here that puts elsewhere, that your eyes
are greeted with fruitful and beautiful felds,thut
hillside and valley, the and tho distant land
Mike TEEN with an abundance ofthe treasures Of the
earth The labor OF the husbandman is made almost
peniiuy visible in the severity Of the task 10 be per
formed by him 10 bring forth whatever the sum- the
rains and dess Of heaven fails TO accomplish without
the industry Of mar, and if TO dc,ract much as
possible from spot like this, 10 the stranger from
land like ours, you that even the drudgery of
vice is npportoned to those of finer aud weaker
limbs, which the least able TO endure the bur.
dcns assigned them by those who here at least are lit
orally their lords and masters. 1t is not, therefore,
place like this. The fields ofWaterloo are OF them
selves like thousand other fields. They wear the
rich drapery of nature--are covered with the fruits
and flowers Of the season, and charm the eye with
their extended verdure. The lands, too, are only
rich and penteous by cultivation, and the day has
passed, if has been-as probably has been
when The blood and bones Of the thousands OF VIC
Tins who fell here sacrifice to the fate ofwar snrv-
y Il
Waterloo rather with the soldiers enthusiasm or the
travellers romance have read with interest that
made the blood thrill quicker in the veins the deeds
Of day to endure forever in the memory of man, s.
survey now at this distance of time, tho where
this great drama enacted las would the spot had
the cuitan risen but yesterday to it performed.
Waterloo though OF itself all in the past, is visible
here 10 The eye the recollections of its
chievmens to those who have just risen from the Pc
rusal Of the results OF the battle here fought.
1t is morning in June, and the contending ar
mics upon the ground Of Waterloo. Napoleon is
there, and Wellington is there the master spirits Of
great and rival nations. The fate of empires there
Also and empires and kingdoms are represented upon
the field. day, one little day, almost the foot
space Of time in the life Of man, is destroy or save
Men are TO be mown down like autumn leaves but
ngcontending nations 10 obtain peace and quiet
the sacrifice lie, whose star for years had been
far in the ascendant who had given kings to nations
and exacted obedience from subjects who were here
and there and everywhere, and in all feas conquer
or, whose genius transcendant, whose power ir-
resistable, and the mention Of whose name was like
the waRd of magicun,-now the soldier, the
Consul, the Emperor, and the invincble, is
doomed like the haunted beast ofihc field or bird OF
the air, TO fly for his life, and at last TO be caught in
the Of the enemy. Here STOOD too, where just
now stood, upon what is the Of the high
way and cross road, the only man who had been
more successful than Napoleon 1t is easy TO imng-
inc with what feelings, upon day like that eventiul
one commemoraed around by monuments innumer
able, Wellington stood here, entrusted with his own
fame and the fortune of his own and other nations
all around him. Undaunted as the angel Of death,
ready do TO die, he is early at his post, fearing
no evil for HIMSELF but seeking to avert it from 9TH
crs. Both commanders the very antipodes of
each other in their schemes of military tactics,-or
different schools Of different mnds,-,hc one the
very inspiration of a wild and daring genius,ev
wing on like meteor in its course, and the other al
most of plodding irmncss, seeking not much how
he may destroy the ranks of the foe gain, through
men, one con see here, il he knew it not before, the
world had never seen, and successful as both had
been, from time to time, in their peculiar modes of
warfare would be presumption, pehaps,f success is
truly to be the test of ability to say who was the bet
ter soldier At Waterloo, honest Engishman will
readily admit that Napoleon would have been the vic
tor had Wellington and his army been the only oppo-
nents to contend with The advantages Of position
which Wellington had on the field of battle twice
made up for the disparity Of force of ten or twelve
thousand between the two armies, and no one can
dream of the extent of this advantage of position
which had been long before selected by Wellington,
who had not for himself surveyed the ground where
the battle was fought. There could not have been
selected from all the country around so good natu-
raj defence for the allied army and there coutd not
well have been a worse position for the army of the
French. Wellington relied upon the superiority of
his force the courage of his men, and the coolnesss
of himself and others in command. In 6rmness he
hot ntocb elf Tho