The Life of Colonel Fred Burnaby (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from The Life of Colonel Fred Burnaby It has generally been assumed that the age of Romance, in so far as England is concerned, disappeared with the last of the Plantagenets, and that Henry the Seventh's Coronation Service was at once its farewell and requiem; but a more romantic career than that of Frederick Gustavus Burnaby, though it was passed in the reign of Victoria, can scarcely be conceived. He was a Coeurde-Lion in physique, strength, courage, and magnanimity; and though he lived in what he himself regarded as a tame and pusillanimous era, when Englishmen were inclined to surrender without protest to the first bully who presented himself the benefits which had come down to them from their clearer-eyed and more heroic fathers, he managed to crowd into a life of only forty-two years as many exciting incidents, accompanied by hair-breadth escapes, as would have satisfied even a Knight Templar. Moreover, the stirring events of that life follow one another with the rapidity of a swiftly moving panorama; brave deed succeeding brave deed, until lastly there comes the most thrilling scene of all - the terrible passage at arms on the field of Abou Klea - and the hero dead. "He was the only man whom I have ever met," says his old Harrow friend, Mr. H. H. Finch, "who was totally devoid of fear." To Burnaby stagnation was insufferable. For years he was one of the most popular men in England. He united in his person precisely those qualities which Englishmen most admire. Of a fertile invention, he never hesitated to take the initiative. He was perspicacious, determined, resourceful, tenacious, amazingly daring. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.