Garde

“ Nowadays we're scared not to be avant-garde—so anything goes, especially obscurity. Don't you dare question me because I am avant-garde. It's a camouflage. There's a difference between an oracle and in being oracular, a stuttering Ouija board. When you say a rose is a rose, you are saying nothing three times, and admit you don't know what to say about a rose. ”

“ The King then spoke to the captain of the guard, saying, ‘Shall not a man pass the day in a garden with his wife? Wherefore should they be put in prison? Behold, since thou hast done this thing, thy life is in this man’s hand.’ And he delivered the captain of the guard to the minister to deal with him as he listed. ”

“ The old and tattered colours of a regiment, for which men have laid down their lives—though replaced perhaps by something newer and more durable—cannot be relegated to obscurity without a pang. And any sensitive or sympathetic person, contemplating such relics hereafter, may feel some echo of the feeling with which they were regarded, and may become acquainted with their history and the scenes through which they have passed. ”

“ The group of figures, lighted by two lamps and united by one great shadow, comprised a perfect composition of one large form revealing remarkable discoveries of weights and balances and nuances of facial expression. A round blind spot was Tessie's quivering mouth.
Vedder was still brooding over the financially disquieting thought that advanced painting might become old hat. "You seem to condemn avant-garde art."
"Not at all," Vermillion said, surprised to find the subject still open. "I only object to those who show you nothing and want you to find something in their nothingness. ”

“ The politics of the women went no farther than a few couplets in praise of liberty, and the patriotism of the men was confined to an habit de garde nationale, the device of a button, or a nocturnal revel, which they called mounting guard.—Money was yet plenty, at least silver, (for the gold had already begun to disappear,) commerce in its usual train, and, in short, to one who observes no deeper than myself, every thing seemed gay and flourishing—the people were persuaded they were happier ”

“ If an officer or a constable, who is in a garrison of the king, be captured, and afterward they give his field and garden to another and he conduct his business—if the former return and arrive in his city, they shall restore to him his field and garden and he himself shall conduct his business. ”

“ Those who wish to see a more particular narrative of their exploits will find it in the 'History of the First Foot,' and L'Escosse Française of A. Houston. In 1717 the Guard had dwindled down to four-and-twenty Scottish gentlemen, who were commanded by the Comte de Maillé. The following letter or bond of service, given in 1625 by the heir of Ardlogie to 'my Lord Gordon,' styled Marquis of Gordon in France, will best explain the constitution of the Garde du Corps Ecossais at the time of our story. ”

“ I happened to be Corporal of the Guard the other evening—a delightful position. For the first time I had a little authority. True I sometimes give the man next to me a prod in the wind and whisper, "Form fours, idiot," but it is an unofficial prod, designed to save him from the official fury. Now for the first time I was in power, with the whole strength of military law behind me. So of course I got busy. As soon as the first guard had been set, and the rest of them, with their distinguished corporal and commonplace sergeant, were in the guard tent, I let meself go. ”

“ The lovely gardens, the gracious architecture, the myriads of lights just twinkling into existence, the hum of life, the moaning and plashing of the waves on the rocky shores beneath, and, above, a canopy of palms lifting their heads to the sky, all unite to produce this unparalleled charm.
When one considers that fifty years ago the Monte Carlo rock was as bald and bare as Mont Blanc or Pike’s Peak, it speaks wonders for art, or artificiality, or whatever one chooses to call it, that it could have been made to blossom thus. ”

“ Griffith withdrew a few steps. It was one of those mild nights, when the air is heavy with the scent of flowers. My head swam with the intoxicating delight of finding myself all but alone with him in the friendly shade of the lime-trees, beyond which lay the garden, shining all the more brightly because the white facade of the house reflected the moonlight. The contrast seemed, as it were, an emblem of our clandestine love leading up to the glaring publicity of a wedding. ”

“ The other guard found me asleep at my post, and you know the rest. (The boy hesitates, and then goes on.) I want to ask you a favor, sir. Can you fix it up so that the firing party who are to shoot me to-morrow morning shall be picked from another regiment? It would be very hard to die at the hand of one's own comrades. ”

“ If any commander of any garrison, fortress, or post, shall be compelled, by the officers and soldiers under his command, to give up to the enemy, or to abandon it: the commissioned officers, non-commissioned officers, or soldiers, who shall be convicted of having so offended, shall suffer death, or such other punishment as shall be inflicted upon them by the sentence of a court-martial. ”

“ The serjeant or corporal's guard in the best disciplined military garrison of his Majesty's dominions, cannot be more precise, more critically exact to time, than the training lads are to stable hours. ”

“ Then there were the Guards, in full Uniform on Horseback, with their Helmets on their Heads and their Swords drawn, about one under each Lamp Post, mounting Guard, very warlike to look upon, and I believe this is the heaviest Part of their Duty. ”

“ When we hurried home, and took the general to task for making us face the solemn orderly, he only replied by asking if we had intended to stay forever, pointing to his open watch, and speaking of the terrors of solitary confinement!
It was the custom at guard mount every morning to select the cleanest, most soldierly-looking man for duty as orderly for the post-commander. ”

“ As a rule, there are enough soldiers on garrison duty, who do not go on scouts, to protect the post, but in the mad haste of the morning, and impelled by indignant fury at having the herd swept away from under their very noses as it were, all this home-guard had precipitately left without permission. ”

“ So the guards carried him to the jail, thinking to lay him by the heels there for the night; but, when the warders saw his beauty and loveliness, they could not find it in their hearts to imprison him: they made him sit with them without the walls; and, when food came to them, he ate with them what sufficed him. ”

“ The guards, who were appointed to the care of the prisons, in which these innocent persons were confined, declared themselves incapable of securing those who were under their charge, and were apprehensive that they would on some occasion escape by force, the number being so great. ”

“ In this fight was the constable taken, together with fifty and five other lords, who owned themselves prisoners, and were given to the keeping of the squires. Great was the spoil in horse and harness, and marvellous was the wealth they gained in gold and ransom. ”

“ I here allude to the royal signature, 'Nasr-ed-Din, Shah, Kajar.' These superior guardsmen have all the rank of gentleman, and may be called the mounted 'gentlemen at arms' of the guard. They have the customary right of appointment to Court and palace posts, such as door-keeper, usher, messenger, etc. Their service is for life, and is hereditary, a son succeeding his father, and taking his place in the guard when promotion, age, illness, or death creates a vacancy. ”

“ I was once upon this guard, it was in the spring, after the snow had gone off the ground; myself and another young man took for our tour of duty to patrol upon a certain road during the night. About midnight or a little after, our guard being then at the farmer's house, which was the farthest back from the water's side of any of the houses we occupied; this distance caused some of our sentinels to be three miles from the guard. We patroled from the guard to the farthest sentries which, were two, (or in military phrase, a double sentinel,) who were standing upon a bridge. ”

“ Some times the whole detail for guard—first, second and third relief—would make it a point of honor to sit up the entire night, and watch and listen as though the enemy might pounce on them at any moment, and hurry them off to prison. ”

“ Guard of Honor, Fatigue Guard, and the General’s Guard. That was called a guard of honor in which the officers and men were most exposed to danger; for the quintessence of military honor is to be often in peril, and either to fall courageously in the discharge of duty, or to return from the field after having exhibited proofs of valor, prudence and perseverance. A fatigue guard belonging to a garrison or to a camp. A general’s guard was mounted before the door or gate of the house in which the commanding officer resided. ”

“ I saw a man arrested once, the most innocent looking party imaginable, as meek as Moses, and at sight I’d swear he was an itinerant circuit rider, a 'saddlebags,’ as we call ’em; yet when they came to search him they found seven packs of cards on his person, and enough revolvers and bowie knives to fit out a whole regiment of Rangers. So you see when a fellow’s spent some time among such scenes, he naturally imbibes the same ideas. ”

“ Indignant Lady (shrieking) . Guard! Guard! Come here instantly. Look at this dreadful Scotchman forcing his way into the compartment.
Guard (remonstratingly) . Now then, sir, what are you up to? What d'you want, aye? You mustn't go interfering with these ladies, you know. ”

“ There is your horse pawing the ground at our door, and your soldier in uniform, attracting the attention of everyone. You know very well what a little provincial town is. In one hour from now, all the world will know that a brilliant officer has been here to threaten a little lawyer, who is conducting a suit against him, and you may be pretty sure that, to-morrow, when I shall have observed for you and yours all the consideration I look upon as your due, more than one malicious soul will accuse me of being afraid of you, and will laugh at the contemptible figure I will cut beside you. ”

“ The Guards Came Through
And other Poems
The Guards Came Through
MEN of the Twenty-first, Up by the Chalk Pit Wood, Weak from our wounds and our thirst.
Wanting our sleep and our food After a day and a night. ”

“ As for myself, on the next day, I ordered two of the guards of my body, whom I esteemed the most courageous and most faithful, to hide daggers under their garments, and to go along with me, that we might defend ourselves, if any attack should be made upon us by our enemies. ”

“ As guardsman, volunteer, magistrate, lord-lieutenant, member—for the sake of his name and his acres—of various important commissions, as military attaché even, for a short space, to an important embassy, he had acquired, by mere living, that for which his intellectual betters had often envied him—a certain shrewdness, a certain instinct, as to both men and affairs, which were often of more service to him than finer brains to other persons. ”

“ You take the sense of the army from the conduct of the guards, with the same justice with which you collect the sense of the people from the representation of the Ministry. Your marching regiments, Sir, will not make the guards their example either as soldiers or subjects. ”

“ Particularly I remember one bronzed guardsman, a handsome, well-set-up fellow, who went a little out of the line to make room betwixt himself and his khakied neighbour for a fatherly, grey-bearded civilian who had shouldered the guardsman's rifle so as to leave him free to carry his little girl, a child of two, whilst his wife, with a tremulous smile about her lips, kept pace with him, linked to his arm. ”

“ SCENE II. Enter the Guard, 3 or 4 Boys, then the Sheriff, Cook, Yeoman of the Cellar, Butler, Pantler to execution.
1 Guard. Come, bring in these fellows, on, away with 'em.
2 Guard. Make room before there, room for the Prisoners.
1 Boy. Let's run before, Boys, we shall have no places else.
2 Boy. Are these the youths?
[Pg 284]
Cook. These are the youths you look for,
And, pray my honest friends, be not so hasty,
There will be nothing done till we come, I assure you.
3 Boy. Here's a wise hanging; are there no more? ”

“ Oh, our guards were brutes! And under their treatment we had to harden to brutes in order to live. Hard work makes calloused hands. Hard guards make hard prisoners. We continued to talk, and, on occasion, to be jacketed for punishment. Night was the best time, and, when substitute guards chanced to be on, we often talked through a whole shift.
Night and day were one with us who lived in the dark. We could sleep any time, we could knuckle-talk only on occasion. ”

“ Before I pass from the recollections and favorable impressions produced by the almost uniform good conduct of the gallant members of our garrison, I am disposed to give my readers a short narrative, without any other comment than the expression of an opinion that it is one of the many instances in which fact appears stranger than fiction. A lady, the widow of a medical officer, having presented a memorial soliciting a commission for her son, received a reply appointing him to a regiment in one of our most distant colonies, and involving the necessity of his speedy departure from this country. ”

“ It soon became known that a young lady was with the regiment, and the story of her and the Old Guard was told to almost every one, and that she once lived in that beautiful village, and was found on the battle-field and carried off by the French soldiers. ”