with insulting exclamations. In this spirit the
whole act of surrender was met. I forbear
details. Arms having been laid down, we were
led by an officer and a strong guard through
the main ditch into the largest of three
forts of Rastadt. Our horses were taken
from us, note being made of them, and of
their owners' names; my carriage with our
luggage, since it could not follow through the
ditch, had gone round by the town gate,
where it was plundered by the Prussian
soldiers. The commandant, however, who was
a brave and honest major, procured restitution.
The fortress not being known to the
Prussians, they were at a loss how to find
quarters for us of the general staff; and we
were kept waiting till dark before a locked-
up wooden barrack. At last, there came up
a Baden man, an officer, who for his petty
tyranny had been both turned out and
cudgelled by his troops. "So!" he said, "I can
find fitter quarters than this barrack for the
gentlemen of the staff." By his directions,
we were led through a dark postern down a
stone staircase to the lowest casemates;
namely, those which served for the defence
of the main ditch. Two little dens were
there assigned to us; while, on our right
hand, two hundred men were driven and
penned like sheep in the casemates situated
in the escarpe beneath the courtine. These
places, never meant for human occupation,
were dripping with water, and the unpaved
floors were simply pools of mud. With
nightfall, heavy rain set in, and the wind blew
through the open loopholes, so that, although
these events were happening in the mid-
summer season—for which reason many of
us were clad thinly—we were very cold, and
we felt severely the want of straw, light, bread,
and water—severely, but not seriously. We
chose to keep ourselves alive with song and
laughter. Some of us had good store of
cigars about us, and we bore our trouble
well until we dropped one by one into
our beds of mud, and slept. I did not like
to throw myself on the ground without
some little circumspection, and lighted a
match, to get a brief glimpse of the corner
I had chosen. A pair of fine large toads
looked at me gravely with their brilliant
eyes, whereat my exclamations awoke several
sleepers, of whom one or two could tell of
mysterious touches on the face and hands.
We made no great stir, and I went to bed
upon two majors. They, being sound asleep,
I laid my head on one and my feet on the
other, without putting them to any inconvenience.

Next morning, we were all in wretched
plight. Major W—, always the trimmest man
of the whole staff, was chattering with fever,
moaning in French for coffee, roaring in
Polish for destruction upon Prussians. Many
of our men had taken, on the last day of
their liberty, unwise draughts of the sour
Baden wine, and were enduring agonies of
thirst; while the whole atmosphere was
thick and sultry from the breathing and
smoking of so many people in so damp and
narrow a den. The door was thundered at for
water, and at last the Prussian sentinel brought
us a bucket full, and set it on the staircase.
Dirty as this water was, there was a rush
for it—a fight for it. Many poor fellows
crept back unsatisfied, with parched lips and
throbbing heads. All this was little in
accordance with the promises of General G—
and the accepted terms of the capitulation.
I wrote, therefore, a note to him in pencil,
asking for dog's allowance, simply straw and
water. Towards night, we got plenty of
water, and some very bad bread. We had
made friends with some Prussian soldiers,
who procured for us a jug of wine. The
cigars still held out, and we held out too,
singing ourselves to sleep, as defiantly as
ever.

On the morning following, my note produced
its effect. We officers of the staff were
ordered up to two small casemates situated
on the berme of the main rampart. The
berme being the brim of the main ditch on
the escarpe, these casemates were above
ground, and reasonably dry. Their loopholes
were glazed, and a large window
that opened on a little yard lying between
them gave sufficient air and light. Straw,
and a few coverlets and small comforts
obtained for money, made this place of
durance tolerable enough. In the course of
a few more days, also, our relations with the
Prussian soldiers underwent considerable
change. They had been taught to regard
the democrats as ruffians; they found that,
if misguided, our common soldiers (with
exceptions such as are to be found on both
sides) were, on the whole, brave and kindly
folk, sons of farmers and others—persons, in
fact, of the same rank with themselves; while
the leaders who misguided them—if it must
be that they did misguide—were gentlemen,
in fact, more courteous and humane than
many of the officers they were themselves
accustomed to obey. They found that we
had treated kindly all the prisoners we had
in Rastadt. Good-will sprung up, therefore,
between us and many of the men appointed
to keep watch about us. This happened the
more easily, since, of the regiments that had
been brought against us, several were
notoriously disposed to sympathise with our
opinions and efforts, and had been marched
to Baden, with the cannon, ready loaded, at
their backs. One regiment, not to be quelled,
was disarmed upon the road and marched
back into Prussia.

We were most annoyed by the conceit of
the young officers, lieutenants and others,
who took pleasure in coming among us to
enforce homage, and, at a cheap rate, prove
their dignity by a safe insolence towards
their elders and their betters. Major W.,
commandant—though he was firmly of opinion