Page:The genius - Carl Grosse tr Joseph Trapp 1796.djvu/6

 siege of Gibraltar, when the gallant Veteran Elliot defeated the combined forces of France and Spain, and gathered immortal laurels by forcing us to make a sudden and disgraceful retreat. I was then in my twenty-third year, and so disgusted at the pursuit of martial glory, that I bade adieu to the army for ever.

Though inglorious in point of martial fame, still the eventful course of my past career has certain trophies to show, which, gathered as they are in the myrtle-groves of love, or in the wild mazes of romantic adventure, will appear full as memorable and interesting to some, as the gigantic feats of many a huge cut-throat, champion, or conqueror. The whole of my education seems to have been purposely planned to render me conspicuous in the sphere of gallantry; and my quitting the banners of Mars at the age of twenty-three, may justly be considered as the effect of that system of juvenile breeding.

The amiable qualities and accomplishments of my mother had a striking influence on my own improvement, and on the manner of acquiring the agreeable talents of a young man