Sentence:  ... I retreated—retreated, Colonel, and without confusion or dishonour, and took post behind worthy Master Holdenough, who, with the spirit of a lion, threw himself in the way of the supposed spectre, and attacked it with such a <WSD>siserary</WSD> of Latin as might have scared the devil himself ... 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A severe rebuke or scolding.