New-York tribune., 1902-10-26

',cbr,an IS merely comic when' In describing the
III in Brussels as altogether French he
"a hat II has shade enough 10 afford con-
'.o,iept cover for a profgate people This por-
,o,,ous fling at the innocent landscape gar
sr Is as Artemus Ward would have said,
% nutch" But the French are always TO
rortbev this accursed race; he never tires of
.,,lng The conversations with Flemings in which
~ 5enouuce the French and praise his own
sa,r,r,rnen. and he gloats over Napoleon with
,-u+alitv amazing in a man the whole so
,la and so loyaIle. His description Of the
battlefield is Interesting here and there as de-
.-intion Sometimes he gives us a crudeiy
,listje detail. as when he describes a wall
mich for about FIVE feet in a perpendicular
,,,e WAS covered with blood; some poor fellow
,et have been knocked TO pieces against il 10y
cannon bali He tells Us Of the pigeons that
took flight from their house near 10y soon as
,bs action began and returned two or three
davs afteru ard to find their refuge unhurt. He
ri,tures the poppies and pansies in bloom over
,,o whole field even " here the footsteps of cav
airy were still uneffaced; the grass and grain
rising so rapidly from the bloodsoaked earth
nat only the caps, shoes and other relics lying
about recalled the battle that had ragged upon
the scene. Sometimes. though rarely, he has an
anecdote He met Dresky, The officer who Was
ridden over with Eucher at Ligny He and
servant ana lilt elO Sfitis4 hlltN AiltN AilCII
only chance of escaping Was TO lie as il they
we're dead After a while he rentured 10 look
mn and asked his men if the coast were clear.
7 am glad 10 hear you speak, the reply"
But what interests Southey most is TO hear tales
of British lroWe~s and insulting comments on
Napoleon. when the latter are not forth,onl-
ing he makes them himself
Al Ghont a young Librarian rleass him 10y
showing him a passage i'm the "Acta SanctorIm'
in which Napoleon occurs a. The name of
devil IL IS pleased again when, AT Waterloo,
his guide is asked 10y some Pruss.ans where
the Emperor was durine The battle, and, in his
rlain honest sense Of right and wrong, did not
understand that they meant EuouaIarte 10y that
supellat.an til they explained II was very
rroper feeling lie thinks. that inspired this
guide e. ASK "Why Gid not you Tut him 10
5aath.~ and to say that he himself youId
sadly, with his own hand. have performed that
act Of Justice Southey himself was fully per
suaded that The execution of that tyraut would
have been the most usefu! act Of justice that
ever was performed" and it is plain that he
does not like the silence u one Of the ladies he
meets when ] said that he ought 10 have been
rut TO death IT is all vastly interesting TO the
student Of Southey's career. The spectacle Of
that mild hammered man foaming At the mouth
and demanding the blood Of his enemy is GER
tanly amusing But the humane side Of
Southey is not without representation in this
Journal. His bookishness is constantly coming
10 he surface he is always exploring the shops,
and IS happicst when he has added some new
treasure 10 his library. When he finds hand
some edition Of the complete works of Vondel
"a great prize" he is urlifted, and observes that
this purchase viii always make recollect
Ypres with pleasure The few comments he
makes on art are unimportant, and if the poet
IN him reused in the course Of his travels
he says little about IT, When his sleep is broken
In the tavern at Huy by a stamping horse.
whose rider calls with impatience in the night,
he is reminded OF the ghost on horseback in the /
ballad Of LenOre. His exploration of the sub
terranean Quarries at Maestricht with his emo
tons On emerging from them into the sunlight
lead him 10 say that ii was from the recollec-
ions Of having felt thus at Wokey Hole some
twenty years before. that / wrote the begin
ming OF the last canto but one in 'Kehama.'"
We read OF his bestoWing a copy Of "Roderick"
upon ore Of the Netherlanders who gratified him
by his detestatiOn Of Napoleon. But the only
thing in the book that hints at Southey's pos
session Of the poetic temperament is this ap- !
preciatiEe account Of a scene in church, which
must have been profoundly impressive:
After mass the Belgian soldiers marched in by
beat Of drum 10 mass Of their own. Never
dd hear anything 50 digging, terrific,
terrible the sound-no fife or other instru-
ment 10 attemper il. Ii could not be initiated
N theatre, for no theatre could give the dread
tu reYerberat0n which the arches here pro- 4
cuc-d on every side. TWO men with axes stood