[42] The modesty,—the singular abstinence from a boast or a vaunt,—which is perceptible in this exclamation, is wonderfully characteristic of the man. The same quietness of manner distinguished him through life; and it contrasts strongly with the constant strut and proud assumption of Napoleon.
[43] Hist. Memoir, book ix, p. 203.
[44] I cannot conclude this article on Waterloo without inserting the following: Many years ago a prize poem on the Duke of Wellington was announced at one of the English Universities, I forget which. The gainer took for his subject the life of Napoleon, and finished an elaborate description of that great commander, in the following couplet, which gained him the prize:
“So great a man, the world scarce ever knew,
Bent to thy Genius, Chief of Waterloo.”
J. D. B.
[45] “Mitraille,” grape shot, with scraps of metal, and all sorts of small missiles.