Thomas Picton

“ General Picton was a man of action, not of words. There was no palaver about him, nothing superfluous in the way of orations, but he spoke strongly and to the point. Long harangues, as Mr Grattan justly observes, are not necessary to British soldiers. Metaphor and flowers of rhetoric are thrown away upon them. Something plain, pithy, and appropriate is what they like; the shorter the better. "Rangers of Connaught!" said Picton, as he passed the Eighty-eighth, drawn up for the assault of Ciudad Rodrigo, "it is not my intention to expend any powder this evening. ”

“ 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.” ”

“ Leger," said Picton, smiling. He liked the doctor, fancied he resembled some one he knew. "Will you come to Haverton and have a shot on the moor?" he asked.
"You are very kind, Mr. Woodridge, but perhaps when you hear my name you may be prejudiced against me."
"A name can make no difference," said Picton. "What is it?"
"Bernard Elroy."
Picton started; he was much surprised.
"I am the brother-in-law of Mrs. Elroy. Now do you understand?"
"Yes," said Picton. "It makes no difference; all that is past." ”

“ 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;" ”

“ Punctual to the appointed time, General Picton reached the ground, accompanied by his staff; every eye was turned towards him, and, as first impressions are generally very strong and very lasting, his demeanour and appearance were closely observed. He looked to be a man between fifty and sixty, and I never saw a more perfect specimen of a splendid-looking soldier. In vain did those who had set him down in their own minds as a cruel tyrant, seek to find out such a delineation in his countenance. ”

“ 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." ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ It is alleged that the Highlanders were thrown into confusion, and it is certain that Picton's last words to his aide-de-camp, Captain Seymour, were, "Rally the Highlanders!" Pack, too, appealed to the 92nd. "You must charge," he said; "all in front have given way." However this may be, the British regiments charged, and the swift and resolute advance of Picton's lines—though it was a charge of 3000 men on a body four times their number—was irresistible. The leading ranks of the French opened a hurried fire, under which Picton himself fell shot through the head ”

“ I ran to M. Picot's house; he was not up; I made such a fine racket that I awakened him.
"Oh! oh!" he said, as he got into his corduroy breeches and fine leather gaiters, "you here already, lad?"
"It is late, Monsieur Picot; it is seven o'clock."
"Yes, but it has been snowing, and the larks will not rise before noon."
"What! must we wait till noon?" I cried.
[Pg 434]
"Well, not quite so long as that; but we will have breakfast first."
"What for?"
"Why, to eat, child," M. Picot replied. "I am far too old a sportsman to set out on an empty stomach; it is well enough at your age." ”

“ 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. ”

“ Being very near-sighted and erratic, the prey of his thieving servant, Madame Lambert, his family thought that he needed a protector. Being instructor of Felix Phellion, with whom he took a trip to England, Picot made known his pupil's great ability, which the boy had modestly kept secret, at the home of the Thuilliers, Place de la Madeleine, before an audience composed of the Collevilles, Minards and Phellions. Celeste Colleville's future was thus determined. As Picot was decorated late in life, his marriage to a wealthy and eccentric Englishwoman of forty was correspondingly late. ”

“ 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." ”

“ 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. ”

“ On the contrary, my admiration for him kept growing; for that Ghoul Feeding was a tremendous achievement. As you know, the club wouldn't exhibit it, and the Museum of Fine Arts wouldn't accept it as a gift; and I can add that nobody would buy it, so Pickman had it right in his house till he went. Now his father has it in Salem—you know Pickman comes of old Salem stock, and had a witch ancestor hanged in 1692.
I got into the habit of calling on Pickman quite often, especially after I began making notes for a monograph on weird art. ”

“ This was just what James Pitkin did not believe in, and now as he is walking over hill and dale from Cambridge College to his father's house he is gathering up a decided resolution to tell Diana that he is not and will not be to her as a brother—that she must be to him all or nothing. James is the brightest, the tallest, and, the Mapleton girls said, the handsomest of the Pitkin boys. He is a strong-hearted, generous, resolute fellow as ever undertook to walk thirty-five miles home to eat his Thanksgiving dinner. ”

“ Picton soon took an active part in public life as an uncompromising radical of an advanced type. A champion of secularism in education, he represented Hackney on the London school board from 1870 to 1879. For three years he was chairman of the school management committee. In 1883 he was accepted as a radical candidate for parliament for the Tower Hamlets, but withdrew in 1884, when in June he entered parliament as member for Leicester, succeeding Peter Alfred Taylor [q. v.] ”

“ 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. ”

“ In [174] the lower hall he met Charlie Pickett. He went up to him with outstretched hand, for he was generous as well as impetuous.
“Pickett,” he said, “if I made any fool remarks on the witness stand to-day reflecting on you in any way, I want to ask your pardon. You know there’s no man in the profession, nor anywhere else, for that matter, whom I esteem more highly than I do you. My quick tongue always did get me into no end of trouble, and I’m afraid it always will. It wasn’t two minutes ago that I was crushed in repartee by that wise fool from Pickett’s Gap, Gabriel, by name. ”

“ He turned aside to consult with his foreman. Nicholson, the engineer, observing the situation from a distance, hurried back with his men. The laborers had already congregated about their employer. Abner Pickett, with grim determination stamped upon every line of his face and every muscle of his body, still sat upon the wall holding his gun in readiness for action. Dannie, white faced and fearful, but with never a thought of desertion, sat beside his grandfather, while Gabriel, standing near by, gripped two cobblestones tightly in his hands. ”

“ Pickwick cared not for appearances in such an extreme case, and urged on by Sam Weller, he kept at the very top of his speed until he reached the door of Manor Farm, where Mr. Tupman had arrived some five minutes before, and had frightened the old lady into palpitations of the heart by impressing her with the unalterable conviction that the kitchen chimney was on fire—a calamity which always presented itself in glowing colours to the old lady’s mind, when anybody about her evinced the smallest agitation. ”

“ 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. ”

“ I had a right to take him, Gabriel; I wanted to take him; but I knew it would break Father’s heart, and I couldn’t do that, I couldn’t do it.”
“Well,” replied Gabriel, slowly, “I ain’t got nothin’ to say aginst Abner Pickett. He’s treated me like a white man fer eighteen year an’ up’ards; but ef I had a son like you, an’ a gran’son like Dannie Pickett, I’ll be everlastin’ly gee-hawed ef I wouldn’t git down off’n my high hoss once’t in a w’ile, say once’t in a year to start on, an’ treat ’em both like human bein’s. Not to say but w’at he’s good to Dannie. W’y good ain’t no name fer it. ”

“ Gabriel recalled, with startling distinctness, that night on his employer’s porch, when the old man declared with such terrible emphasis that no person could do a better deed than to pull out all the stakes and throw them into the brook. And there was Abner Pickett now, sitting on the front bench, head and shoulders above the crowd, piercing him through with those clear blue eyes. ”

“ Jean. Clausewitz’s view that the halt there was designedly made until after the interview with Blucher is, as Colonel Chesney remarked, “obviously inconsistent” with the known time of Picton’s appearance with the leading division at Quatre Bras. As a matter of fact, he apparently overrated his power of concentration and the movement of his brigades, though there seems no reason to doubt but what they might have been, on the whole, very nearly in the positions assigned had they moved with ordinary speed. ”

“ Pickwick and his friends were stationed. Man is but mortal; and there is a point beyond which human courage cannot extend. Mr. Pickwick gazed through his spectacles for an instant on the advancing mass, and then fairly turned his back and—we will not say fled; firstly, because it is an ignoble term, and, secondly, because Mr. Pickwick’s figure was by no means adapted for that mode of retreat—he trotted away, at as quick a rate as his legs would convey him ”