Picton

“ Picton rallied scattered forces of Opposition, and led them to attack. Slashing speech; soaring eloquence; trenormous energy.
"Reminds me," said Admiral Field, "of his grandfather, General Picton, who fell at Waterloo. Remember him very well; was in charge of Brigade of Marines there, you know; attached to Picton's Division. Never look on Member for Leicester without thinking of my old comrade in arms;" ”

“ But General Picton was not the character which we, by prejudice, were led to think him. Convinced of the baneful effects of allowing his men to plunder, he set his face sternly against it, but in other respects he was indulgent; and although no man could blame with more severity when occasion required, he was no niggard of his praise when it was deserved. Nothing could surpass his calm intrepidity and bravery in danger; and his presence in battle had the effect of a talisman, so much had his skill and valour gained the confidence of the men under his command. ”

“ Picton has cleft through the materialistic jungle be arduous for ordinary mortals to tread, it is, in my opinion, the best that has yet been cleared. "Narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." ”

“ At noon Picton was directed to force the passage of the river and carry the heights in the centre, a manœuvre which was so rapidly executed that he was in possession of the commanding ground before the enemy were aware of his design. They soon attempted, with greatly superior numbers, to dislodge him, and with some success, as his right flank was not covered by any other troops. ”

“ The race needs little description; there were three runners, and Dick's horse won comfortably.
At Torwood that evening there were great rejoicings; but as Picton wished to sleep on the Sea-mew he and Ben were driven to Torquay.
Before he left, Picton said to Rita: "Next time I am here I have a very important question to ask you."
"Have you?" she said. "I wonder what it is."
"Cannot you guess?"
"I'll try," she answered, smiling happily.
"It's too important to put in a hurry," laughed Picton, "and I haven't the courage to do it now." ”

“ Mr. Picton never forgets me. He's a good sort too. So are you; so's everybody to me."
"Tearaway's stock are doing wonders," wrote Picton. "Her best are by Tristram, and Runaway is a champion. I think he will turn out the best [265] she has had, and he is by Sir Robert's old favorite, and will probably be the last he will get, as he is very weak and ailing but hobbles about in his paddock. I am sending you out as a present a six-year-old horse by Tristram-Tearaway. He should make a splendid stallion. You can expect him landed in Melbourne in about eight weeks from now. ”

“ Picton, in his mackintosh, was an impervious representative of the nineteenth century; but I was as fully saturated with water as if I were living in the place under the old French régime.
"Let us go down," said Picton, "and see the jolly old fishermen outside the walls. What is the use of staying here in the rain after you have seen all that can be seen? Come along. Just think how serene it will be if we can get some milk and potatoes down there."
There are about a dozen fishermen's huts on the beach outside the walls of the old town of Louisburgh. ”

“ Many anecdotes of individual prowess have been preserved: but of all the brave men who were in the British army on that eventful day, none deserve more honour for courage and indomitable resolution than Sir Thomas Picton, who, as has been mentioned, fell in repulsing the great attack of the French upon the British left centre. It was not until the dead body was examined after the battle, that the full heroism of Picton was discerned. He had been wounded on the 16th, at Quatre Bras, by a musket-ball, which had broken two of his ribs, and caused also severe internal injuries ”

“ JAMES ALLANSON PICTON, the author of "The Mystery of Matter," is one of those rare persons who, to use his own quaint phrase, have "gone through materialism, and come out at the other side." Such an explorer, it will readily be admitted, well deserves a place in this or any other series of pioneers of progress. But I would rather not be the chronicler of his toilsome journey. No wonder if the St. Thomas'ssquare congregation, Hackney, found difficulty in following their spiritual guide on his dim and perilous way. ”

“ The bulk of his fortune was left to Picton, who was determined, when the time came, to surrender to Hector his proper share. Captain Ben Bruce left the service soon after the Admiral he had loved and served. He was, so to speak, a poor man, and when he came to Haverton, to his old chief's funeral, Picton begged him to stay with him for a few months to relieve his loneliness. This he readily consented to do. The months extended, and Picton would not let him go; he relied on the stronger man, who had carved his way upward by his own exertions. Ben Bruce protested, all to no purpose. ”

“ During the fight Picton was hit by a ball, which broke his ribs; but, determined to lead his division to the end, he kept the knowledge of the wound from all but his servant, who assisted him to bind it up. At night the allies were left in undisturbed possession of the field, where they lay down to sleep among the wounded and the dead. On the morning of the 17th June, in consequence of the defeat of the Prussians at Ligny, Picton fell back on Waterloo, and by night the allied army was formed up on the plains of Waterloo, and slept on their arms. ”

“ Although barely recovered from the effects of their recent fighting at Quatre Bras, Picton's 3000 gallant men responded to the call, and advanced in two thin lines to meet the 12,000 Frenchmen, already flushed with victory. Nearer the columns approached, and the British lines halted to receive them. Then, when within a few yards, Ney ordered his columns to deploy into line, Picton, taking advantage of the momentary check, delivered a withering volley and then charged in with the bayonet. ”

“ Then suddenly, so suddenly that Fenella and her grandma both leapt, there sounded from behind the largest wool shed, that had a trail of smoke hanging over it, Mia-oo-oo-O-O!
“First whistle,” said her father briefly, and at that moment they came in sight of the Picton boat. Lying beside the dark wharf, all strung, all beaded with round golden lights, the Picton boat looked as if she was more ready to sail among stars than out into the cold sea. People pressed along the gangway. First went her grandma, then her father, then Fenella. ”

“ With all deference to Mr Grattan, we cannot but think that the Eighty-eighth were very appropriately placed under Picton's orders. Excellent fighting men though they were, they certainly, according to their champion's own showing, needed a strict hand over them. ”

“ He rises on his hind legs, and conducts an imaginary band with his fore legs, but he's got a rare turn of speed, and he ought to win the West of England Handicap Steeplechase to-morrow, and the Torbay and South Devon Steeplechase the next day."
"Then you expect to bring off the double with him?" said Picton.
[22]
"Yes, and if you do not, Sis says she'll never speak to you again."
"Then I'll do it if I die in the attempt," said Picton.
"Don't be heroic, no one wants you to die. You can kill The Rascal if you like, but promise me to come off unscathed," said Dick, laughing. ”

“ This attack was feeble in comparison with the one directed against Wallace, and, besides, Picton’s force was vastly superior to 38that commanded by Wallace, while the troops opposed to him were little, if anything, more numerous. Picton had at this point five companies of the 45th under Major Smyth, all the light companies of the 3rd Division, one company of the 60th Rifles, the 74th British and the Portuguese brigade of Champlemond, besides Arentschildt’s battery of guns. ”

“ Picton took much interest in Deer's Castle and Chezzetcook, but slily and satirically. I do not think this the best way for a young man to begin with; but nevertheless, Picton managed so well to keep his sarcasms within the bounds of good humor, that before eleven o'clock we had become pretty well acquainted. At eleven o'clock the gas is turned off at Hotel Waverley. We went to bed, and renewed the acquaintance at breakfast. Picton had travelled overland from Montreal to take the "Canada" for Liverpool, and had arrived too late. ”

“ Lord Sidmouth had conceived the idea of putting the government of the different West India islands into commission, and the commission appointed for Trinidad consisted of Fullarton, Captain Samuel Hood of the royal navy, and Lieutenant-colonel Thomas Picton, who had ruled that island ever since its capture by Sir Ralph Abercromby in 1797. It is ridiculous to suppose that Fullarton went to Trinidad with the express intention of attacking Picton's administration, since even Picton's biographer admits that there had been no previous acquaintance between the two men. ”

“ Our child has lifted the shadow from our lives. We must think of the past no more; we must live for him and the future."
Picton received frequent letters from his brother, [264] and answered them. In one he wrote to Hector that it was evident he never intended returning to England, and that the only chance of seeing him again was to go out to Australia. "Rita says she would like the trip, and it would do us both good. Captain Ben is a trustworthy friend to leave in charge of Haverton, so don't be surprised if some day we arrive at Willaura." ”

“ The check, however, was only temporary, and as soon as troops arrived to protect his exposed flank, Picton rapidly pushed the enemy from his positions, forced him to abandon his guns, and drove him in confusion beyond the city of Vittoria, until darkness intervened to protect his disorderly flight. The third division was the most severely and permanently engaged of any part of the allied army, and sustained a loss of nearly eighteen hundred men in killed and wounded, which was more than a third of the total loss of the army in this battle. ”

“ The Picton boat was due to leave at half-past eleven. It was a beautiful night, mild, starry, only when they got out of the cab and started to walk down the Old Wharf that jutted out into the harbour, a faint wind blowing off the water ruffled under Fenella’s hat, and she put up her hand to keep it on. It was dark on the Old Wharf, very dark; the wool sheds, the cattle trucks, the cranes standing up so high, the little squat railway engine, all seemed carved out of solid darkness. ”

“ As regards the effect of vaccination in reducing the prevalence of, and mortality from, small-pox, the following conclusions were arrived at, Dr Collins and Mr Picton alone dissenting: “ (1) That it diminishes the liability to be attacked by the disease. (2) That it modifies the character of the disease and renders it (a) less fatal, and (b) of a milder or less severe type. (3) That the protection it affords against attacks of the disease is greatest during the years immediately succeeding the operation of vaccination. ”

“ He was fond of the breed, and fond of the mare, and she repaid his kindness by being as obedient as a child.
"She's the sweetest-tempered filly I ever handled," he said. "Her temper's just lovely. She never flares up, or misbehaves; a perfect lady, that's what she is."
Everybody who saw the filly agreed with him, and in the Haverton district Tearaway was regarded as a good thing for the St. Leger.
"It's a long way off to September," said Picton as he and Ben sat on their hacks and looked at her after a morning gallop. ”

“ How alike we are in worth and merit! How untrue all these tales told by our papers of the French being broken and spent! Just as untrue as all that the Temps writes about us. And all he said, this French colleague of mine, betrayed so much independent thought and respect for German mind and character. Why should we, fated to be friends, always be divided? ”

“ Wilhelm Herzog in the Munich Forum has attacked the intellectual fire-eaters, the patriots who insult other peoples and the Chauvinists generally. He defends France, the French army and French civilisation, against the brilliant novelist, Thomas Mann. Above all does he condemn the intellectual babble: “The wrong that these privy councillors and professors have done us with their ‘Aufklärungsarbeit’ can hardly be measured. They have isolated themselves from humanity by their inability to realise the feelings of others.” ”

“ The community of Europe is at present apparently destroyed. Is it not the duty of all of us who are not bearing arms to live from to-day onwards according to the dictates of our conscience, as it will be the duty of every German when once the war is over? ”

“ Never was there a more generous, soft-hearted, kindly people. Germany, the land of the Christmas tree and folk songs, and hearthsides and gay childish laughter, turned into a relentless fighting machine! But each individual is a cog firmly fixed in the machine, which will go ever on as long as the ruling power turns the crank. ”

“ Such jealousy is a strangely short-sighted mistake. No valuable or lasting peace will come till jealousy is exorcised. There are ominous signs of the possible triumph of a deadly Saxon insularity, but there are other signs that give us hope. When so ardent a combatant as Mr. Lloyd George can speak well of the services of Germany to the world, all is not lost. It is pleasant to be able to quote these passages from an interview reported in the Daily News of January 25, 1916:
“Mr. Lloyd George is not among those who imagine they are doing their country a service by decrying everything German. ”