Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1864-08-10
WATERLOO.
FRoM " A SUMNER IN EUROPE" IN THE DAY
TON EMPIRE.

I'm ---AAAAN--'
THE day we visited the field of Waterloo
was one of the few that we experienced in
Europe on which we realized fully that the
"dog days" were upon us. The mercury
stood at 80, and as The horses toiled slowly
and perspirngly along over that paved road,
we hoisted our umbrellas and wondered again
and again with many misgivings, whether the
trip would pay" The road aforesaid, which
extends from Brussels out through Waterloo
toward Paris, is made of blocks Of granite
about six inches square; and is now in perfect
order although it is an hundred years old,
and has borne the passage OF the heavy wa
rons and artillery of more than one great
army. Wellington's army went out from
Brussels upon It, and when he formed his liue
Of battle the wary old chleftain evidently took
into consideration the importance Of keeping
possession Of it, as his line of retreat On
each side Of it there are smooth dirt roads
but it was only at rare intervals that we could
induce our driver to take them, and after be-
ing very indignant and abusing him in all
! languages that we knew, we became convin-
ced, from the composure with which he bore
it all, and the obstinacy with which he con
tinued upon the stones, especially when there
was any other team in sight, that there was
! some penalty which he feared to incur by a
compliance with cur wishes, more than our
displeasure. We resigned ourselves therefore,
to our fac, and sought amusement in watch
ing the little rascals, attired in a single loose
garment who came running out Of every
house we passed, to turn handsprings" and
&" cartt wheels" for our delectation and surplus
coppers. We had found beggars in abundance,
plying their vocation in other countries, but
this was a new phase, and such a comical one
that we were inclined to think that It was nc
begging at all, but rather an exhibition that
was worth all it cost.
The ride was a very quiet one, and as we
logged along at snai's pace, we could moi
but think Of the feelings of those who hurried
from the brilliant salons Of the Duchess o.
Richmond, ovel this very road to the field o.
battle, which was, to many of them, to be
the field Of death, when
" The mastering squadron and the gathering cal
We're pouring forward with impetuous speed,
And swiftly forming in the ranks Of war"
No one in all that "mass Of living valOr
rolling on the foe, was thinking of such ia
sigDifie5Dss- circumstances as the heat, tn,
rough road or Illus gymnasts tumbling b.
the wayside.
About ten miles out, we came to the-ifiisstli
village Of Waterloo where Wellington passed
| the night before the battle, and shert dis
| tancs beyond, we saw the great mound, two
handred feet high and surmOunted by th
Belgian lion, which has been erected as
i, memorial and a sepulcbre on the spot whicl
was the centre of the allied line Of battle
We continue on the paved road until W
reach another road intersecting it at righ
angles, and running along the crest OF a sma
elevation, not much higher than one OF tn
undulations Of a western prairie, and then W
turn to the lett to stand upon the spot wher
the gallant PictOn fell, pierced by Frenc
lance. and to look at the monuments reare
: to the officers Of the German Legion, and tn
young Lieutenant Colonel, Alexander Gordor
who also gave their lives back to the Give
S here. The inscription upon the monumer
Of the latter, is in fine taste and tOuchingl
worded He was but twenty-seven year
old when he fell, and had passed uuscathe
and with high honor, through all the battle
n in Spain as Aid to Wellington. As my ey
~ ran over the enumeration of brilliant virtue
I hoped to read that he was a Christian, bl
q that he had~gs sincere respect for religion
is all that even an eTitaPh could claim.