"I have never been in Ireland, general," said I, not without some shame at the avowal coming so soon after my eloquent exhortation.

"Ah, I perceive," said he, blandly, "of Irish origin, and a relative probably of that very distinguished soldier, Count Maurice de Tiernay, who served in the Garde-du-Corps."

"His only son, general," said I, blushing with eagerness and pleasure at the praise of my father. "Indeed!" said he, smiling courteously, and seeming to meditate on my words. "There was not a better nor a braver sabre in the corps than your father a very few more such men might have saved the monarchy-as it was, they dignified its fall. And to whose guidance and care did you owe your early training, for I see you have not been neglected?"

2: A few words told him the principal events of my early years, to which he listened with deep attention. At length he said, "And now you are about to devote your acquirements and energy to this new expedition ?"

Again he was silent and thoughtful.

"Mr. Madyett would say yes," said he scornfully, "though, certes, he would not volunteer to bear it company."

"Colonel Cherin, general!" said the valet, as he flung open the door for a young officer in a staff-uniform. I arose at once to withdraw, but the general motioned to me to wait in an adjoining room, as he desired to speak with me again. Scarcely five minutes had elapsed when I was summoned once more before him.

"You have come at a most opportune moment, Tiernay," said he; "Colonel Cherin informs me that an expedition is ready to sail from Rochelle at the first favorable wind. General Humbert has the command; and if you are disposed to join him I will give you a letter of presentation."

Of course I did not hesitate in accepting the offer; and while the general drew over his desk to write the letter, I withdrew towards the window to converse with Colonel Cherin.

"You might have waited long enough," said

"All, general! Everything that I have is too he, laughing, "if the affair had been in other little for such a cause.' ""

"You say truly, boy," said he, warmly; "would that so good a cause had better leaders. I mean," added he hurriedly, "wiser ones. Men more conversant with the actual state of events, more fit to cope with the great difficulties before them, more ready to take advantage of circumstances, whose outward meaning will often prove deceptive. In fact, Irishmen of character and capacity, tried soldiers, and good patriots. Well, well, let us hope the best. In whose division are you?"

hands than Humbert's. The delays and discus sions of the official people, the difficulty of anything like agreement, the want of money, and fifty other causes, would have detained the fleet till the English got scent of the whole. But Humbert has taken the short road in the matter. He only arrived at La Rochelle five days ago and now he is ready to weigh anchor."

"And in what way has he accomplished this?" asked I, in some curiosity.

"By a method," replied he, laughing again, "which is usually reserved for an enemy's country. Growing weary of a correspondence with the minister, which seemed to make little prog

the Irish refugees, he resolved to wait no longer; and so he has called on the merchants and magistrates to advance him a sum on military requisition, together with such stores and necessaries as he stands in need of."

"And they have complied?" asked I.

"I have not yet heard, sir. I have presented myself here to-day to receive your orders." "There again is another instance of their in-ress, and urged on by the enthusiastic stories of capacity," cried he, passionately. "Why, boy, I have no command, nor any function. I did accept office under General Hoche, but he is not to lead the present expedition.' "And who is, sir?"" "I cannot tell you. A week ago they talked of Grouchy, then of Hardy; yesterday it was Humbert; to-day it may be Bonaparte, and tomorrow yourself! Ay, Tiernay, this great and good cause has its national fatality attached to it, and is so wrapped up in low intrigue and falsehood, that every minister becomes in turn disgusted with the treachery and mendacity he meets with, and bequeathes the question to some official underling, meet partisan for the mock patriot he treats with."

"But the expedition will sail, general?" asked I, sadly discomfited by this tone of despondency. He made me no answer, but sat for some time absorbed in his own thoughts. At last he looked up, and said, "You ought to be in the army of Italy, boy; the great teacher of war is there."

"I know it, sir, but my whole heart is in this struggle. I feel that Ireland has a claim on all who derived even a name from her soil. Do you not believe that the expedition will sail?"

"Parbleu! that have they. In the first place, they had no other choice; and, in the second, they are but too happy to get rid of him and his 'Legion Noir,' as they are called, so cheaply. A thousand louis and a thousand muskets would not pay for the damage of these vagabonds cach night they spent in the town."

I confess that this description did not tend to exalt the enthusiasm I had conceived for the expedition; but it was too late for hesitation-too late for even a doubt. Go forward I should, whatever might come of it. And now the general had finished his letter, which, having sealed and addressed, he gave into my hand, saying-"This will very probably obtain you promotion, if not at once, at least on the first vacancy. Good bye, my lad; there may be hard knocks going where you will be, but I'm certain you'll not disgrace the good name you bear, nor the true cause for which you are fighting. I would that I had youth and

strength to stand beside you in the struggle. Good | mit to a series of salutations, which led to every bye."

form, from hand-shaking and embracing to kissing; while, perfectly unconscious of any cause for my popularity, I went through the ceremonies like one in a dream.

"Where's Kilmaine?" "What of Hardy?" "Is Grouchy coming?" "Can the Brest fleet sail ?" "How many line-of-battle ships have "What's the artillery force?" "Have you brought any money?" This last question, the most frequent of all, was suddenly poured in upon me, and with a fortunate degree of rapidity, that I had no time for a reply, had I even the means of making one.

side.

LA ROCHELLE is a quiet little town at the bot- they?" tom of a small bay, the mouth of which is almost closed up by two islands. There is a sleepy, peaceful air about the place—a sort of drowsy languor pervades everything and everybody about it, that tells of a town whose days of busy prosperity, have long since passed by, and which is "Let the lad have a seat and a glass of wine dragging out life, like some retired tradesman- before he submits to this interrogatory," said a too poor for splendor, but rich enough to be idle. | fine, jolly-looking old chef-d'escadron at the head A long avenue of lime-trees encloses the harbor; of the table, while he made a place for me at his and here the merchants conduct their bargains, "Now tell us, boy, what number of the while their wives, seated beneath the shade, dis- Gardes are to be of our party?" cuss the gossip of the place over their work. All is patriarchal and primitive as Holland itself; the very courtesies of life exhibiting that ponderous stateliness which insensibly reminds one of the land of dykes and broad breeches. It is the least "French" of any town I have ever seen in France; none of that light merriment, that gay volatility of voice and air, which form the usual atmosphere of a French town. All is still, orderly, and sombre; and yet, on the night in which -something more than fifty years back-I first entered it, a very different scene was presented to

my eyes.

I looked a little blank at the question, for in truth I had not heard of the corps before, nor was I aware that it was their uniform I was then wearing. "Come, come, be frank with us, lad,' " said he; "we are all comrades here. Confound secrecy, say I."

Ay, ay," cried the whole assembly together -"confound secrecy. We are not bandits nor highwaymen; we have no need of concealment." "I'll be as frank as you can wish, comrades," said I; “and if I lose some importance in your eyes by owning that I am not the master of a It was about ten o'clock; and, by a moon nearly single state secret, I prefer to tell you so, to atfull, the diligence rattled along the covered ways tempting any unworthy disguise. I come here, by of the old fortress, and, crossing many a mote and orders from General Kilmaine, to join your expedrawbridge, the scenes of a once glorious strug-dition; and, except this letter for General Humgle, entered the narrow streets, traversed a wide bert, I have no claim to any consideration whatplace, and drew up within the ample portals of ever." "La Poste."

Before I could remove the wide capote which I wore, the waiter ushered me into a large salon where a party of about forty persons were seated at supper. With a few exceptions they were all military officers, and sous-officiers of the expedition, whose noisy gayety and boisterous mirth sufficiently attested that the entertainment had begun a considerable time before.

A profusion of bottles, some empty, others in the way to become so, covered the table, amidst which lay the fragments of a common tabled'hôte supper-large dishes of cigars and basins of tobacco figuring beside the omelettes and the salad.

The noise, the crash, the heat, the smoke, and the confusion-the clinking of glasses, the singing, and the speech-making, made a scene of such turmoil and uproar, that I would gladly have retired to some quieter atmosphere, when suddenly an accidental glimpse of my uniform caught some eyes among the revellers, and a shout was raised of" Holloa, comrades! here's one of the Gardes' among us." And at once the whole assembly rose up to greet me. For full ten minutes I had to sub

The old chef took the letter from my hands and examined the seal and superscription carefully, and then passed the document down the table for the satisfaction of the rest.

While I continued to watch with anxious eyes the letter on which so much of my own fate depended, a low whispering conversation went on at my side, at the end of which the chef said—

"It's more than likely, lad, that your regiment is not coming; but our general is not to be balked for that. Go he will; and let the government look to themselves if he is not supported. At all events, you had better see General Humbert at once; there's no saying what that dispatch may contain. Santerre, conduct him up stairs."

A smart young fellow arose at the bidding, and beckoned me to follow him.

It was not without difficulty that we forced our way up stairs, down which porters, and sailors, and soldiers were now carrying a number of heavy trunks and packing-cases. At last we gained an ante-room, where confusion seemed at its highest, crowded as it was by soldiers, the greater number of them intoxicated, and all in a state of riotous and insolent insubordination. Amongst these were

"Where are they stationed?"

a number of the townspeople, eager to prefer complaints for outrage and robbery, but whose sub- "Of that also I am ignorant, sir." dued voices were drowned amid the clamor of "Peste!" cried he, stamping his foot passiontheir oppressors. Meanwhile, clerks were writ-ately; then suddenly checking his anger, he asked, ing away receipts for stolen and pillaged articles," How many are coming to join this expedition? and which, signed with the name of the general, Is there a regiment, a battalion, a company? Can were grasped at with eager avidity. Even personal | you tell me with certainty that a sergeant's-guard injuries were requited in the same cheap fashion, is on the way hither?" orders on the national treasury being freely issued I cannot, sir; I know nothing whatever about for damaged noses and smashed heads, and grate-the regiment in question." fully received by the confiding populace.

"You have never seen it?" cried he, vehe

"Never, sir."

"If the wind draws a little more to the south-mently. ward before morning, we'll pay our debts with the top-sail sheet, and it will be somewhat shorter, and to the full as honest," said a man in a naval uniform.

"This exceeds all belief," exclaimed he, with a crash of his closed fist upon the table. "Three weeks' letter-writing! Estafettes, orderlies, and special couriers to no end! And here we have an unfledged cur from a cavalry institute, when I asked for a strong reinforcement. Then what brought you here, boy?"

"To join your expedition, general.”

"Have they told you it was a holiday-party that we had planned? Did they say it was a junketting we were bent upon?"

General Humbert, whose age might have been thirty-eight or forty, was a tall, well-built, but somewhat over-corpulent man; his features frank and manly, but with a dash of coarseness in their “If they had, sir, I would not have come. expression, particularly about the mouth; a sabre- "The greater fool you, then! that's all," cried cut, which had divided the upper lip, and whose he laughing; "when I was your age I'd not have cicatrix was then seen through his moustache, hesitated twice between a merry-making and a heightening the effect of his sinister look; his bayonet charge.' carriage was singularly erect and soldierlike, but all his gestures betrayed the habits of one who had risen from the ranks, and was not unwilling to revive the recollection.

While he was thus speaking, he never ceased to sign his name to every paper placed before him by one or other of the secretaries. No, parbleu !" he went on, "La maitresse before the mitraille any day for me. But what's all this, Girard? Here I'm issuing orders upon the national treasury for hundreds of thousands without let or compunction."

He was parading the room from end to end when I entered, stopping occasionally to look out from an open window upon the bay, where by the clear moonlight might be seen the ships of the fleet at anchor. Two officers of his staff were writing busily at a table, whence the materials of a supper had not yet been removed. They did "I know it, lad; I know it well," said the not look up as I came forward, nor did he notice | general, laughing heartily; "I only pray that all me in any way for several minutes. Suddenly our requisitions may be as easily obtained in fuhe turned towards me, and, snatching the letter I ture. Well, Monsieur le Garde, what are we to

The aide-de-camp whispered a word or two in a low tone.

"Not refuse me, I hope, general," said I, dif

held in my hand, proceeded to read it. A burst do with you?"
of coarse laughter broke from him as he perused
the lines; and then, throwing down the paper on fidently.
the table, he cried out-

"Not refuse you, certainly; but in what ca"So much for Kilmaine's contingent. I asked pacity to take you, lad, that's the question. If for a company of engineers and a battalion of 'les you had served-if you had even walked a camGardes,' and they send me a boy from the cavalry-paign—

He took the book, and, casting his eye hastily over it, exclaimed—

school of Saumur. I tell them that I want some "So I have, general-this will show you where fellows conversant with the language and the peo- I have been ;" and I handed him the "livret” ple, able to treat with the peasantry, and acquainted which every soldier carries of his conduct and with their habits, and here I have got a raw, youth, career. whose highest acquirement in all likelihood is to daub a map with water-colors, or take fortifications with a pair of compasses! I wish I had some of these learned gentlemen in the trenches for a few hours. Parbleu! I think I could teach them something they'd not learn from Citizen Carnot. Well, sir," said he, turning abruptly towards me, "how many battalions of the 'Guides' are completed ?""

"I cannot tell, general," was my timid answer.

"Why, what's this, lad? You've been at Kehl, at Emenendingen, at Rorshach, at Huyningen, through all that Black Forest affair with Moreau ! You have seen smoke, then. Ay! I see honorable mention of you, besides, for readiness in the field and zeal during action. What! more brandy! Girard. Why, our Irish friends Įmust have been exceedingly thirsty. I've given

them credit for something like ten thousand' velts' | been seen off Oleron that morning; and, although already! No matter, the poor fellows may have there was not even the shadow of a foundation to put up with short rations for all this yet and there goes my signature once more. What does that blue light mean, Girard?" said he, pointing to a bright blue star that shone from a mast of one of the ships of war.

for the belief, it served to increase the alarm and confusion. Whether originating or not with the Irish, I cannot say, but certainly they took advantage of it to avoid embarking; and now began a schism which threatened to wreck the whole

"That is the signal, general, that the embark- expedition, even in the harbor. ation of the artillery is complete."

The Irish, as indifferent to the call of discipline "Parbleu !" said he, with a laugh, "it need as they were ignorant of French, refused to obey not have taken long; they've given in two bat- orders save from officers of their own country; teries of eights, and one of them has not a gun fit and although Lerrasin ordered two companies to for service. There goes a rocket, now. Is n't" load with ball and fire low," the similar note that the signal to heave short on the anchors? for preparation from the insurgents induced him Yes, to be sure. And now it is answered by the to rescind the command and try a compromise. other! Ha! lads, this does look like business In this crisis I was sent by Lerrasin to fetch what at last!" was called the "Committee," the three Irish

The door opened as he spoke, and a naval offi- deputies who accompanied the force. They had cer entered.

"The wind is drawing round to the south, general; we can weigh with the ebb if you wish it."

66

already gone aboard of the Dedalus, little foreseeing the difficulties that were to arise on shore.

by suicide, but leave to the English government all the ignominy and disgrace of their death.

Seated in a small cabin next the wardroom, I found these three gentlemen, whose names were "Wish it-if I wish it! Yes, with my whole Tone, Teeling, and Sullivan. Their attitudes heart and soul I do! I am just as sick of La were gloomy and despondent, and their looks anyRochelle as is La Rochelle of me. The salute thing but encouraging, as I entered. A paper, on that announces our departure will be a 'feu-de- which a few words had been scrawled, and signed joie' to both of us? Ay, sir, tell your captain with their three names underneath, lay before that I need no further notice than that he is ready. them, and on this their eyes were bent with a sad Girard, see to it that the marauders are sent on and deep meaning. I knew not then what it board in irons. The fellows must learn at once meant, but I afterwards learned that it was a that discipline begins when we trip our anchors. compact, formally entered into and drawn up, that As for you," said he, turning to me, you shall if, by the chance of war, they should fall into the act upon my staff with provisional rank as sous-enemy's hands, they would anticipate their fate lieutenant time will show if the grade should be confirmed. And now hasten down to the quay, and put yourself under Colonel Lerrasin's orders." Colonel Lerrasin, the second in command, was, in many respects, the very opposite of Humbert. Sharp, petulant, and irascible, he seemed quite to overlook the fact, that, in an expedition which was little better than a foray, there must necessarily be a great relaxation of the rules of discipline and many irregularities at least winked at, which, in stricter seasons, would call for punishment. The consequence was, that a large proportion of our force went on board under arrest, and many actually in irons. The Irish were, without a single exception, all drunk; and the English soldiers, who had procured their liberation from imprisonment on condition of joining the expedition, had made sufficiently free with the brandy-bottle, to forget their new alliance, and vent their hatred of France and Frenchmen in expressions whose only alleviation was that they were nearly unintelligible.

They seemed scarcely to notice me as I came forward, and even when I delivered my message they heard it with a half indifference. "What do you want us to do, sir?" said Teeling, the eldest of the party. "We hold no command in the service. It was against our advice and counsel that you accepted these volunteers at all. We have no influence over them."

"Not the slightest," broke in Tone. "These fellows are bad soldiers and worse Irishmen. The expedition will do better without them."

"And they better without the expedition," muttered Sullivan drily.

"But you will come, gentlemen, and speak to them," said I. "You can at least assure them that their suspicions are unfounded."

66

we can

If you

"Very true, sir," replied Sullivan, do so, but with what success? No, no. can't maintain discipline here on your own soil, you'll make a bad hand of doing it when you have your foot on Irish ground. And, after all, I for one am not surprised at the report gaining credence."

Such a scene of uproar, discord, and insubordination never was seen. The relative conditions of guard and prisoner elicited national animosities that were scarcely even dormant, and many a "How so, sir?" asked I indignantly. bloody encounter took place between those whose Simply that when a promise of fifteen thousand instinct was too powerful to feel themselves any-men dwindles down to a force of eight hundred; thing but enemies. A cry, too, was raised, that when a hundred thousand stand of arms come to it was meant to betray the whole expedition to be represented by a couple of thousand; when an the English, whose fleet, it was asserted, had expedition, pledged by a government, has fallen CCCXLVI. LIVING AGE. VOL. XXVIII. 3