The Forlorn Hope: A Tale of Old Chelsea

The Forlorn Hope: A Tale of Old Chelsea

p. 1Chelsea Hospital, or, as the old soldiers prefer to call it, Chelsea College, appears much the same at all seasons of the year; its simple, dignified, and, if the phrase may be permitted, healthful and useful, style of architecture, suggests the same ideas, under the hot sun of June and amid the snows of bleak December; bringing conviction that the venerable structure is a safe, suitable, comfortable, and happy, as well as honourable, retreat for the brave men who have so effectually kept the foreigner from fooling us. The simple story I have to tell, commences with a morning in April, 1838. It was a warm, soft morning, of the first spring month; the sun shone along the colonnade of the Royal College. Some of the veteranswho, fearing rheumatism more than they ever feared cold steel or leaden bullet, had kept close quarters p. 2all the winter, in their comfortable nooks up stairswere now slowly pacing beside the stately pillars of their own palace, inhaling the refreshing breeze that crossed the water-garden from the Thames, and talking cheerfully of the coming summer. Truly the pensioners seem, to the full, aware of their privileges, and of their claimsfar less upon our sympathies than upon our gratitude and respect. The college is THEIRS; they look, walk, and talk, in perfect and indisputable consciousness that it is their house, and that those who cross its courts, loiter in its gardens, or view its halls, chapel, and dormitories, are but visitorsgraciously admitted, and generously instructed by them. And who will dare to question their right? ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 50078
Author: Hall, S. C.
Release Date: Sep 29, 2015
Format: eBook
Language: English