The Irish troops in the service of France covered themselves with glory, as the Scots had done under Gustavus of Sweden; and by the Memoir of their last Colonel, Count O'Connell, it will be seen that they were faithful and true, as they had been valiant, to the end. They filled Europe with the fame of their exploits, and have left their bones on many a hard-fought battle-field; and, as their song has it,—
"They who survived fought and drank as of yore,
But the land of their heart's hope they never saw more;
For on far foreign fields, from Dunkirk to Belgrade,
Lie the soldiers and chiefs of the Irish Brigade!"
Under the happier influences of the present time, our people are no longer forced to seek their bread in foreign camps. The restless military spirit which produced the Soldier of Fortune is now on the wane; yet it is impossible, without emotion, to look back on the exploits of those brave fellows who led the armies of Europe in so many "king-making victories," and won by their swords those honours which were denied them in the land of their forefathers.
26, Danube Street,
Edinburgh, 1858.
CONTENTS.
THE
CAVALIERS OF FORTUNE.
GENERAL OF THE TROOPS OF LOUIS XV. IN THE EAST INDIES.