I found this man in confinement,
rendered harsher to him by his habits of life, his natural dignity of
feeling, and--forgive me, Mr. Waverley--by the cause through which this
calamity had come upon him. I cannot disguise from you my feelings upon
this occasion; they were most painfully unfavorable to you. Having by my
family interest, which you probably know is not inconsiderable, succeeded
in obtaining Sir Everard's release, I set out for Scotland. I saw Colonel
Gardiner, a man whose fate alone is sufficient to render this
insurrection for ever execrable. In the course of conversation with him I
found that, from late circumstances, from a reexamination of the persons
engaged in the mutiny, and from his original good opinion of your
character, he was much softened towards you; and I doubted not that, if I
could be so fortunate as to discover you, all might yet be well. But this
unnatural rebellion has ruined all. I have, for the first time in a long
and active military life, seen Britons disgrace themselves by a panic
flight, and that before a foe without either arms or discipline. And now
I find the heir of my dearest friend--the son, I may say, of his'
affections--sharing a triumph for which he ought the first to have
blushed.
Pages:
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670