New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-02-04

the camp Court Clubs and Society. lSlo,iS 49,,
tmnoraJv Sour r ea bv Joseph Gregg. New |
Edition In Two Volumes 0 Gbar,es scrbner's
Sons.
In the Memoirs of Villemessant there al
some illusions to Captain Gronow VINO i"eU
for a number of years in aPris. III WIS OO
airy in certain circles" runs one OF the Jou'
iet,s notes "to Law wagers that he slept with the
top of his gold headed cane between his '.p'
This action was characteristic. Aiso an IN
pulsive reader might be inclined to observe TINS
action was inane, exactly expressive oil the u''.'
dvism for which Gronow was famous. yet III
Cronou,,s own "Recollections' one may ma
s,,cb valuable material as this first hand de-
scription of Waterloo:
Ahout 4 n m the enemy's artillery in front OF
us ceased firing all of sudden anu we So
large masses of cavalry ADVANCE hot a me- -
present who survived could nave loi st
after life the awful grandeur of that charge
You perceived at a distance what appeared TO
| he an overwhelming. long, moving iine' "IllCi'
evar advancing glittered like a stormy wave
of The sea when it catches the Suhlisht. vi
| oano the mounted host until they got near
| enough whilst the very earth seemed 10 Niprate
| beneath their laundering tramp one mlsht
! suppose that nothing could have resisted tnF
shock of this terrible moving mass. Ihey We,
tto lannon's cuirassiers almost all old soldiers
| who had distinguished themselves on most ol
the batteields of Europe. In an almost III III
| credbly short period they were Wilhln t"Gm ~,
| yards of us shouting ''Vive PEmpereur! Ihe
| word of command, prepare to receive cavalry,
had been given every man in the 'front.' ranks
itna,t and q wall bristIing with steel. held to-
gether by steady hands, presented ltseiI 10 lhe
Infatuated cuir2ss1ers.
The contrast between the author of this elo-
quent passage and the gentleman VINO couId sit
all day looking out of window with the heau Vi
his cane pressed against his lips IS OBVIOUS
though unexpected. Gronow was a curious type
A new edition of his memoirs is welcome LOT
they have the charm of writing done not oh'y
out of A wide acquaintance with the world at
large but out of inner resources which ms con-
temporaries probably never suspected Like
Byron. for whose character. by the way, he had
no liking he was capable of absurd eXtraVa-
gances and of kindIfng emotions He was porn
with the traditional golden spoon in his mouth
: His family. though without any title, coulu ciaIil
| a proud descent, and when he emerged IRON
/ Elton in his teens he was presented with com
? mission in the Grenader Guards The doors OF
= fashionable society flew open to him at the out
$ set but he soon passed through sterner expert
ences He proceeded to Spain, mad with JOY
: over the privilege of serving under wellington
S His life in camp was a strange mixture o
n pleasure and rough peril He tells on one pag
- of dining with an ensign who accompanied
K bv a host of servants and possessed such Stor
o of provisions and wines that his menage wa
n more luxurious than that of the commander II
n chief He then describes himself at Bayonne
r stretching himself out on top of the breastWorR
Y the only dry place he could find, and sleepln
v peacefully while the bullets of the enem
h whistled around him. He tells this anecdotf
/ too with not the fantest suggestion of swaggel
O He was simply of those clever, reckless
o | happv-go-lucky English youths who went TO tn
4 wars as a matter of course and forgot. unit
/ they were veterans to use any of the veteran
/ prudence.
q He began life with a certain strength of char
4 acter and this he never lost despite the trlVls
o interests which dominated most of his caree
- | In the PeninsuIar War and later in France n