Tom Burke Of "Ours", Volume I

dogos - Charles James Lever

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Publié par	dogos
Publié le	08 décembre 2010
Nombre de lectures	41
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The Project Gutenberg EBook of Tom Burke Of
"Ours", Volume I (of II), by
Charles James Lever
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no
cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it,
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re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg
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Title: Tom Burke Of "Ours", Volume I (of II)
Author: Charles James Lever
Illustrator: Phiz.
Release Date: April 6, 2010 [EBook #31901]
Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK
TOM BURKE OF "OURS", VOLUME ***
Produced by David WidgerTOM BURKE OF "OURS."
By Charles James Lever
With Illustrations By Phiz. and Browne
IN TWO VOLUMES
VOL. I
Transcriber's Note: Two print editions have been
used for this Project Gutenberg Edition of "Tom Burke
of 'Ours'": The Little Brown edition (Boston) of 1913
with illustrations by Phiz; and the Chapman and Hall
editon (London) of 1853 with illustrations by Browne.
Illegible and missing pages were found in both print
editions.DW
VOLUME TWO
frontispiece
titlepage
TO
MISS EDGEWORTH.
Madam,—This weak attempt to depict the military life
of France, during the brief but glorious period of the
Empire, I beg to dedicate to you. Had the scene of
this, like that of my former books, been laid chiefly in
Ireland, I should have felt too sensibly my own
inferiority to venture on the presumption of such a
step. As it is, I never was more conscious of the
demerits of my volume than when inscribing it to you;
but I cannot resist the temptation of being, even thus,
associated with a name,—the first in my country's
literature.
Another motive I will not conceal,—the ardent desire I
have to assure you, that, amid the thousands you
have made better, and wiser, and happier, by your
writings, you cannot count one who feels more proudlywritings, you cannot count one who feels more proudly
the common tie of country with you, nor more
sincerely admires your goodness and your genius,
than
Your devoted and obedient servant,
CHARLES J. LEVER.
Temple-O, Nov. 25, 1848.
PREFATORY EPISTLE FROM MR. BURKE.
My dear O'Flaherty,—It seems that I am to be the
"next devoured." Well, be it so; my story, such as it is,
you shall have. Only one condition would I bargain for,
—that you seriously disabuse your readers of the
notion that the life before them was one either of
much pleasure or profit. I might moralize a little here
about neglected opportunities and mistaken opinions;
but, as I am about to present you with my narrative,
the moral—if there be one—need not be anticipated.
I believe I have nothing else to premise, save that if
my tale have little wit, it has some warning; and as
Bob Lambert observed to the hangman who soaped
the rope for his execution, "even that same 's a
comfort." If our friend Lorrequer, then, will as kindly
facilitate my debut, I give him free liberty to "cut medown" when he likes, and am,
Yours, as ever,
TOM BURKE.
To T. O'Flaherty, Esq.
PREFACE.
I WAS led to write this story by two impulses: first, the
fascination which the name and exploits of the great
Emperor had ever exercised on my mind as a boy;
and secondly, by the favorable notice which the Press
had bestowed upon my scenes of soldier life in
"Charles O'Malley."
If I had not in the wars of the Empire the patriotic spirit
of a great national struggle to sustain me, I had a field
far wider and grander than any afforded by our
Peninsular campaigns; while in the character of the
French army, composed as it was of elements derived
from every rank and condition, there were picturesque
effects one might have sought for in vain throughout
the rest of Europe.
It was my fortune to have known personally some of
those who filled great parts in this glorious drama. Ihad listened over and over to their descriptions of
scenes, to which their look, and voice, and manner
imparted a thrilling intensity of interest. I had
opportunities of questioning them for explanations, of
asking for solutions of this and that difficulty which had
puzzled me, till I grew so familiar with the great names
of the time, the events, and even the localities, that
when I addressed myself to my tale, it was with a mind
filled by my topics to the utter exclusion of all other
subjects.
Neither before nor since have I ever enjoyed to the
same extent the sense of being so entirely engrossed
by a single theme. A great tableau of the Empire, from
its gorgeous celebrations in Paris to its numerous
achievements on the field of battle, was ever
outspread before me, and I sat down rather to record
than to invent the scenes of my story. A feeling that,
as I treated of real events I was bound to maintain a
degree of accuracy in relation to them, even in fiction,
made me endeavor to possess myself of a correct
knowledge of localities, and, so far as I was able, with
a due estimate of those whose characters I discussed.
Some of the battlefields I have gone over; of others, I
have learned the particulars from witnesses of the
great struggles that have made them famous. To the
claim of this exactness I have, therefore, the
pretension of at least the desire to be faithful. For my
story, it has all the faults and shortcomings which
beset everything I have ever written; for these I can
but offer regrets, only the more poignant that I feel
how justly they are due.The same accuracy which I claim for scenes and
situations, I should like, if I dared, to claim for the
individuals who figure in this tale; but I cannot, in any
fairness, pretend to more than an attempt to paint
resemblances of those whom I have myself admired in
the description of others. Pioche and Minette are of
this number. So is, but of a very different school, the
character of Duchesne; for which, however, I had what
almost amounted to an original. As to the episodes of
this story, one or two were communicated as facts;
the others are mere invention.
I do not remember any particulars to which I should
further advert; while I feel, that the longer I dwell upon
the theme, the more occasion is there to entreat
indulgence,—an indulgence which, if you are not
weary of according, will be most gratefully accepted by
Your faithful servant,
CHARLES LEVER
Casa Capponi, Florence, May, 1867.
Contents
PREFACE.TOM BURKE OF "OURS."
CHAPTER I. MYSELF
CHAPTER II. DARBY THE "BLAST."
CHAPTER III. THE DEPARTURE
CHAPTER IV. MY WANDERINGS
CHAPTER V. THE CABIN
CHAPTER VI. MY EDUCATION
CHAPTER VII. KEVIN STREET
CHAPTER VIII. NO. 39, AND ITS FREQUENTERS
CHAPTER IX. THE FRENCHMAN'S STORY
CHAPTER X. THE CHURCHYARD
CHAPTER XI. TOO LATE
CHAPTER XII. A CHARACTER
CHAPTER XIII. AN UNLOOKED-FOR VISITOR
CHAPTER XIV
THE JAIL
.
CHAPTER XV. THE CASTLE
CHAPTER XVI
THE BAIL
.
CHAPTER XVI
MR. BASSET'S DWELLING
I.
CHAPTER XVI
THE CAPTAIN'S QUARTERS
II.
CHAPTER XIX
THE QUARREL
.
CHAPTER XX. THE FLIGHT
CHAPTER XXI
THE ÉCOLE MILITAIRE
.
CHAPTER XXI
THE TUILERIES IN 1803
I.CHAPTER XXI
A SURPRISE
II.
CHAPTER XXI
THE PAVILLON DE FLORE
V.
CHAPTER XX
THE SUPPER AT "BEAUVILLIERS'S"
V.
CHAPTER XX
THE TWO VISITS
VI.
CHAPTER XX
THE MARCH TO VERSAILLES
VII.
CHAPTER XX
THE PARK OF VERSAILLES
VIII.
CHAPTER XXI
LA ROSE OF PROVENCE
X.
CHAPTER XX
A WARNING
X.
CHAPTER XX
THE CHÂTEAU
XI.
CHAPTER XX
THE CHÂTEAU d'ANCRE
XII.
CHAPTER XX
THE TEMPLE
XIII.
CHAPTER XX
THE CHOUANS
XIV.
CHAPTER XX THE REIGN OF TERROR UNDER TH
XV. E CONSULATE
CHAPTER XX
THE PALAIS DE JUSTICE
XVI.
CHAPTER XX
THE TRIAL
XVII.
CHAPTER XX
THE CUIRASSIER