VINGOJEVO

NARRATIVE,

&c.

CHAPTER I.

Original destination-Early visions of greatness-Hanover and its Military Academy-A commission obtained, and its first effects on the mind-The depôt and its occupations-Preparations for India, and advice to young

officers.

GREAT individuals are often ushered into the world by strange events. None of these portentous signs, I believe, occurred at my nativity. I entered upon this busy universe of ours in a very common-place manner, without shewing any particular signs of one day being likely to set the Thames on fire, or of performing any equally extraordinary feat.

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My dear mother intended me for the Church, in which, of course, I was to be a shining light; in fact, nothing but the Archbishopric of Canterbury seemed to her fond imagination to be the goal which I was destined to attain. Reading I delighted in as a child; but the lives of Lord Nelson, our illustrious Duke, and Napoleon Buonaparte were the themes on which I doated; and while my kind parents delighted their fond hearts with the idea of what a scholar their dear studious boy would one day be, I was treasuring up in my young mind the accounts of all my heroes' battles, and hugging the thought, foolish child as I was, that one day my achievements might rival theirs, and England ring again with the story of my victories. That was the age of romance, and it passed away; but when I arrived at maturer years, I still determined to be nothing but a soldier. Then, however, instead of leading armies and ruling the destinies of empires, the command of a regiment was the summit of my hopes.

My kind parents, although disappointed in their anticipations of my becoming a learned prelate, lent their best endeavours to forward my views in the only profession that I would hear of. But a commission was not quite to be had for the asking; and on application they heard that some months, perhaps years, must

PASSAGE TO HAMBURG.

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elapse before I had any chance of obtaining a legitimate right to be shot at for five and threepence a-day, which, be it known to my nonmilitant readers, is the pay of an ensign in the army.

An old friend of my father, a distinguished military officer, recommended my being sent to spend the intervening time in Germany, there to lay the foundation of a military education, which might be of service to me in after years. Accordingly, I was started in a steamer to Hamburg, whence, for the first time master of my own actions, I was to find my way to Hanover where I was duly expected at a species of military academy kept by an officer formerly, I believe, belonging to the German Legion. To effect this object, my indulgent father had given me more money than I ever dreamt of so soon possessing; and as I paced the deck, and jingled the gold in my pocket, I fancied myself a millionnaire about to create no little sensation in the weak minds of the foreigners among whom I was to sojourn.

On board the vessel I had a small division allotted to me for a bed, much resembling one of the shelves in my dear mother's linen-closet, and in which I could neither lie down nor sit upright; while above me I had a Russian officer who suffered dreadfully with the maladie de mer, and

a German underneath who never got out of bed during the whole time we were on board, and did nothing but drink schnapps, and follow the example of my northern friend in the upper shelf. This was rather too much of a good thing, and as I suffered none of the inconvenience to which my fellow voyagers were martyrs, I remained on deck and picked out the softest plank I could find for a couch, decidedly preferring a bivouac in the open air to the vile atmosphere below.

Most persons have been on board a steamer, and all steamers are very much alike, the same rumbling, grumbling, and groaning of machinery; the same thump, thump, thump of the paddlewheels; the same abominable smells in every part of the vessel; and the same odd-looking people among the passengers. In due course of time we arrived at Hamburg, where I remained a few days, and then proceeded to my destination.

Hanover is, or was in my time, a dull place, inhabited by dull people, who gave dull parties, with a great deal of ceremony, and very little to eat. But there was a nice little theatre there, and the music was superlatively good. This is generally the case in Germany, the musical taste of the people being too well cultivated to allow of their listening to any but the best performances.