Chapter 7

by William Makepeace Thackeray

　　BARRY LEADS A GARRISON LIFE, AND FINDS MANY FRIENDS THERE.After the war our regiment was garrisoned in the capital, the leastdull, perhaps, of all the towns of Prussia: but that does not saymuch for its gaiety. Our service, which was always severe, stillleft many hours of the day disengaged, in which we might take ourpleasure had we the means of paying for the same. Many of our messgot leave to work in trades; but I had been brought up to none: andbesides, my honour forbade me; for as a gentleman, I could not soilmy fingers by a manual occupation. But our pay was barely enough tokeep us from starving; and as I have always been fond of pleasure,and as the position in which we now were, in the midst of thecapital, prevented us from resorting to those means of levyingcontributions which are always pretty feasible in wartime, I wasobliged to adopt the only means left me of providing for myexpenses: and in a word became the Ordonnanz, or confidentialmilitary gentleman, of my captain. I spurned the office four yearspreviously, when it was made to me in the English service; but theposition is very different in a foreign country; besides, to tellthe truth, after five years in the ranks, a man's pride will submitto many rebuffs which would be intolerable to him in an independentcondition.The captain was a young man and had distinguished himself during thewar, or he would never have been advanced to rank so early. He was,moreover, the nephew and heir of the Minister of Police, Monsieur dePotzdorff, a relationship which no doubt aided in the younggentleman's promotion. Captain de Potzdorff was a severe officerenough on parade or in barracks, but he was a person easily led byflattery. I won his heart in the first place by my manner of tyingmy hair in queue (indeed, it was more neatly dressed than that ofany man in the regiment), and subsequently gained his confidence bya thousand little arts and compliments, which as a gentleman myselfI knew how to employ. He was a man of pleasure, which he pursuedmore openly than most men in the stern Court of the King; he wasgenerous and careless with his purse, and he had a great affectionfor Rhine wine: in all which qualities I sincerely sympathised withhim; and from which I, of course, had my profit. He was disliked inthe regiment, because he was supposed to have too intimate relationswith his uncle the Police Minister; to whom, it was hinted, hecarried the news of the corps.Before long I had ingratiated myself considerably with my officer,and knew most of his affairs. Thus I was relieved from many drillsand parades, which would otherwise have fallen to my lot, and camein for a number of perquisites; which enabled me to support agenteel figure and to appear with some clat in a certain, though itmust be confessed very humble, society in Berlin. Among the ladies Iwas always an especial favourite, and so polished was my behaviouramongst them, that they could not understand how I should haveobtained my frightful nickname of the Black Devil in the regiment.'He is not so black as he is painted,' I laughingly would say; andmost of the ladies agreed that the private was quite as well-bred asthe captain: as indeed how should it be otherwise, considering myeducation and birth?When I was sufficiently ingratiated with him, I asked leave toaddress a letter to my poor mother in Ireland, to whom I had notgiven any news of myself for many many years; for the letters of theforeign soldiers were never admitted to the post, for fear ofappeals or disturbances on the part of their parents abroad. Mycaptain agreed to find means to forward the letter, and as I knewthat he would open it, I took care to give it him unsealed; thusshowing my confidence in him. But the letter was, as you mayimagine, written so that the writer should come to no harm were itintercepted. I begged my honoured mother's forgiveness for havingfled from her; I said that my extravagance and folly in my owncountry I knew rendered my return thither impossible; but that shewould, at least, be glad to know that I was well and happy in theservice of the greatest monarch in the world, and that the soldier'slife was most agreeable to me: and, I added, that I had found a kindprotector and patron, who I hoped would some day provide for me as Iknew it was out of her power to do. I offered remembrances to allthe girls at Castle Brady, naming them from Biddy to Beckydownwards, and signed myself, as in truth I was, her affectionateson, Redmond Barry, in Captain Potzdorffs company of the Bulowischregiment of foot in garrison at Berlin. Also I told her a pleasantstory about the King kicking the Chancellor and three judgesdownstairs, as he had done one day when I was on guard at Potsdam,and said I hoped for another war soon, when I might rise to be anofficer. In fact, you might have imagined my letter to be that ofthe happiest fellow in the world, and I was not on this head at allsorry to mislead my kind parent.I was sure my letter was read, for Captain Potzdorff began asking mesome days afterwards about my family, and I told him thecircumstances pretty truly, all things considered. I was a cadet ofa good family, but my mother was almost ruined and had barely enoughto support her eight daughters, whom I named. I had been to studyfor the law at Dublin, where I had got into debt and bad company,had killed a man in a duel, and would be hanged or imprisoned by hispowerful friends, if I returned. I had enlisted in the Englishservice, where an opportunity for escape presented itself to me suchas I could not resist; and hereupon I told the story of Mr. Fakenhamof Fakenham in such a way as made my patron to be convulsed withlaughter, and he told me afterwards that he had repeated the storyat Madame de Kamake's evening assembly, where all the world wasanxious to have a sight of the young Englander.'Was the British Ambassador there?' I asked, in a tone of thegreatest alarm, and added, 'For Heaven's sake, sir, do not tell myname to him, or he might ask to have me delivered up: and I have nofancy to go to be hanged in my dear native country.' Potzdorff,laughing, said he would take care that I should remain where I was,on which I swore eternal gratitude to him.Some days afterwards, and with rather a grave face, he said to me,'Redmond, I have been talking to our colonel about you, and as Iwondered that a fellow of your courage and talents had not beenadvanced during the war, the general said they had had their eyeupon you: that you were a gallant soldier, and had evidently come ofa good stock; that no man in the regiment had had less fault foundwith him; but that no man merited promotion less. You were idle,dissolute, and unprincipled; you had done a deal of harm to the men;and, for all your talents and bravery, he was sure would come to nogood.''Sir!' said I, quite astonished that any mortal man should haveformed such an opinion of me, 'I hope General Bulow is mistakenregarding my character. I have fallen into bad company, it is true;but I have only done as other soldiers have done; and, above all, Ihave never had a kind friend and protector before, to whom I mightshow that I was worthy of better things. The general may say I am aruined lad, and send me to the d---l: but be sure of this, I would goto the d---I to serve you.' This speech I saw pleased my patron verymuch; and, as I was very discreet and useful in a thousand delicateways to him, he soon came to have a sincere attachment for me. Oneday, or rather night, when he was tete-a-tete with the lady of theTabaks Rath von Dose for instance, I--But there is no use in tellingaffairs which concern nobody now.Four months after my letter to my mother, I got, under cover to theCaptain, a reply, which created in my mind a yearning after home,and a melancholy which I cannot describe. I had not seen the dearsoul's writing for five years. All the old days, and the fresh happysunshine of the old green fields in Ireland, and her love, and myuncle, and Phil Purcell, and everything that I had done and thought,came back to me as I read the letter; and when I was alone I criedover it, as I hadn't done since the day when Nora jilted me. I tookcare not to show my feelings to the regiment or my captain: but thatnight, when I was to have taken tea at the Garden-house outsideBrandenburg Gate, with Fraulein Lottchen (the Tabaks Rathinn'sgentlewoman of company), I somehow had not the courage to go; butbegged to be excused, and went early to bed in barracks, out ofwhich I went and came now almost as I willed, and passed a longnight weeping and thinking about dear Ireland.Next day, my spirits rose again and I got a ten-guinea bill cashed,which my mother sent in the letter, and gave a handsome treat tosome of my acquaintance. The poor soul's letter was blotted all overwith tears, full of texts, and written in the wildest incoherentway. She said she was delighted to think I was under a Protestantprince, though she feared he was not in the right way: that rightway, she said, she had the blessing to find, under the guidance ofthe Reverend Joshua Jowls, whom she sat under. She said he was aprecious chosen vessel; a sweet ointment and precious box ofspikenard; and made use of a great number more phrases that I couldnot understand; but one thing was clear in the midst of all thisjargon, that the good soul loved her son still, and thought andprayed day and night for her wild Redmond. Has it not come acrossmany a poor fellow, in a solitary night's watch, or in sorrow,sickness, or captivity, that at that very minute, most likely, hismother is praying for him? I often have had these thoughts; but theyare none of the gayest, and it's quite as well that they don't cometo you in company; for where would be a set of jolly fellows then?--as mute as undertakers at a funeral, I promise you. I drank mymother's health that night in a bumper, and lived like a gentlemanwhilst the money lasted. She pinched herself to give it me, as shetold me afterwards; and Mr. Jowls was very wroth with her. Althoughthe good soul's money was very quickly spent, I was not long ingetting more; for I had a hundred ways of getting it, and became auniversal favourite with the Captain and his friends. Now, it wasMadame von Dose who gave me a Frederic-d'or for bringing her abouquet or a letter from the Captain; now it was, on the contrary,the old Privy Councillor who treated me with a bottle of Rhenish,and slipped into my hand a dollar or two, in order that I might givehim some information regarding the liaison between my captain andhis lady. But though I was not such a fool as not to take his money,you may be sure I was not dishonourable enough to betray mybenefactor; and he got very little out of me. When the Captain andthe lady fell out, and he began to pay his addresses to the richdaughter of the Dutch Minister, I don't know how many more lettersand guineas the unfortunate Tabaks Rathinn handed over to me, that Imight get her lover back again. But such returns are rare in love,and the Captain used only to laugh at her stale sighs andentreaties. In the house of Mynheer Van Guldensack I made myself sopleasant to high and low, that I came to be quite intimate there:and got the knowledge of a state secret or two, which surprised andpleased my captain very much. These little hints he carried to hisuncle, the Minister of Police, who, no doubt, made his advantage ofthem; and thus I began to be received quite in a confidential lightby the Potzdorff family, and became a mere nominal soldier, beingallowed to appear in plain clothes (which were, I warrant you, of aneat fashion), and to enjoy myself in a hundred ways, which the poorfellows my comrades envied. As for the sergeants, they were as civilto me as to an officer: it was as much as their stripes were worthto offend a person who had the ear of the Minister's nephew. Therewas in my company a young fellow by the name of Kurz, who was sixfeet high in spite of his name, and whose life I had saved in someaffair of the war. What does this lad do, after I had recounted tohim one of my adventures, but call me a spy and informer, and beg menot to call him DU any more, as is the fashion with young men whenthey are very intimate. I had nothing for it but to call him out;but I owed him no grudge. I disarmed him in a twinkling; and as Isent his sword flying over his head, said to him, 'Kurz, did everyou know a man guilty of a mean action who can do as I do now?' Thissilenced the rest of the grumblers; and no man ever sneered at meafter that.No man can suppose that to a person of my fashion the waiting inantechambers, the conversation of footmen and hangers-on, waspleasant. But it was not more degrading than the barrack-room, ofwhich I need not say I was heartily sick. My protestations of likingfor the army were all intended to throw dust into the eyes of myemployer. I sighed to be out of slavery. I knew I was born to make afigure in the world. Had I been one of the Neiss garrison, I wouldhave cut my way to freedom by the side of the gallant Frenchman; buthere I had only artifice to enable me to attain my end, and was notI justified in employing it? My plan was this: I may make myself sonecessary to M. de Potzdorff, that he will obtain my freedom. Oncefree, with my fine person and good family, I will do what tenthousand Irish gentlemen have done before, and will marry a lady offortune and condition. And the proof that I was, if notdisinterested, at least actuated by a noble ambition, is this. Therewas a fat grocer's widow in Berlin with six hundred thalers of rent,and a good business, who gave me to understand that she wouldpurchase my discharge if I would marry her; but I frankly told herthat I was not made to be a grocer, and thus absolutely flung away achance of freedom which she offered me.And I was grateful to my employers; more grateful than they to me.The Captain was in debt, and had dealings with the Jews, to whom hegave notes of hand payable on his uncle's death. The old Herr vonPotzdorff, seeing the confidence his nephew had in me, offered tobribe me to know what the young man's affairs really were. But whatdid I do? I informed Monsieur George von Potzdorff of the fact; andwe made out, in concert, a list of little debts, so moderate, thatthey actually appeased the old uncle instead of irritating, and hepaid them, being glad to get off so cheap.And a pretty return I got for this fidelity. One morning, the oldgentleman being closeted with his nephew (he used to come to get anynews stirring as to what the young officers of the regiment weredoing: whether this or that gambled; who intrigued, and with whom;who was at the ridotto on such a night; who was in debt, and whatnot; for the King liked to know the business of every officer in hisarmy), I was sent with a letter to the Marquis d'Argens (thatafterwards married Mademoiselle Cochois the actress), and, meetingthe Marquis at a few paces off in the street, gave my message, andreturned to the Captain's lodging. He and his worthy uncle weremaking my unworthy self the subject of conversation.'He is noble,' said the Captain.'Bah!' replied the uncle (whom I could have throttled for hisinsolence). 'All the beggarly Irish who ever enlisted tell the samestory.''He was kidnapped by Galgenstein,' resumed the other.'A kidnapped deserter,' said M. Potzdorff; 'la belle affaire!''Well, I promised the lad I would ask for his discharge; and I amsure you can make him useful.''You have asked his discharge,' answered the elder, laughing. 'BonDieu! You are a model of probity! You'll never succeed to my place,George, if you are no wiser than you are just now. Make the fellowas useful to you as you please. He has a good manner and a frankcountenance. He can lie with an assurance that I never sawsurpassed, and fight, you say, on a pinch. The scoundrel does notwant for good qualities; but he is vain, a spendthrift, and abavard. As long as you have the regiment in terrorem over him, youcan do as you like with him. Once let him loose, and the lad islikely to give you the slip. Keep on promising him; promise to makehim a general, if you like. What the deuce do I care? There arespies enough to be had in this town without him.'It was thus that the services I rendered to M. Potzdorff werequalified by that ungrateful old gentleman; and I stole away fromthe room extremely troubled in spirit, to think that another of myfond dreams was thus dispelled; and that my hopes of getting out ofthe army, by being useful to the Captain, were entirely vain. Forsome time my despair was such, that I thought of marrying the widow;but the marriages of privates are never allowed without the directpermission of the King; and it was a matter of very great doubtwhether His Majesty would allow a young fellow of twenty-two, thehandsomest man of his army, to be coupled to a pimplefaced old widowof sixty, who was quite beyond the age when her marriage would belikely to multiply the subjects of His Majesty. This hope of libertywas therefore vain; nor could I hope to purchase my discharge,unless any charitable soul would lend me a large sum of money; for,though I made a good deal, as I have said, yet I have always hadthrough life an incorrigible knack of spending, and (such is mygenerosity of disposition) have been in debt ever since I was born.My captain, the sly rascal! gave me a very different version of hisconversation with his uncle to that which I knew to be the true one;and said smilingly to me, 'Redmond, I have spoken to the Ministerregarding thy services--[Footnote: The service about which Mr. Barryhere speaks has, and we suspect purposely, been described by him invery dubious terms. It is most probable that he was employed to waitat the table of strangers in Berlin, and to bring to the PoliceMinister any news concerning them which might at all interest theGovernment. The great Frederick never received a guest withouttaking these hospitable precautions; and as for the duels which Mr.Barry fights, may we be allowed to hint a doubt as to a great numberof these combats. It will be observed, in one or two other parts ofhis Memoirs, that whenever he is at an awkward pass, or does whatthe world does not usually consider respectable, a duel, in which heis victorious, is sure to ensue; from which he argues that he is aman of undoubted honour.]--and thy fortune is made. We shall get theeout of the army, appoint thee to the police bureau, and procure forthee an inspectorship of customs; and, in fine, allow thee to movein a better sphere than that in which Fortune has hitherto placedthee.Although I did not believe a word of this speech, I affected to bevery much moved by it, and of course swore eternal gratitude to theCaptain for his kindness to the poor Irish castaway.'Your service at the Dutch Minister's has pleased me very well.There is another occasion on which you may make yourself useful tous; and if you succeed, depend on it your reward will be secure.''What is the service, sir?' said I; 'I will do anything for so kinda master.''There is lately come to Berlin,' said the Captain, 'a gentleman inthe service of the Empress-Queen, who calls himself the Chevalier deBalibari, and wears the red riband and star of the Pope's order ofthe Spur. He speaks Italian or French indifferently; but we havesome reason to fancy this Monsieur de Balibari is a native of yourcountry of Ireland. Did you ever hear such a name as Balibari inIreland?''Balibari? Balyb--?' A sudden thought flashed across me. 'No, sir,'said I, 'I never heard the name.''You must go into his service. Of course you will not know a word ofEnglish: and if the Chevalier asks as to the particularity of youraccent, say you are a Hungarian. The servant who came with him willbe turned away to-day, and the person to whom he has applied for afaithful fellow will recommend you. You are a Hungarian; you servedin the Seven Years' War. You left the army on account of weakness ofthe loins. You served Monsieur de Quellenberg two years; he is nowwith the army in Silesia, but there is your certificate signed byhim. You afterwards lived with Doctor Mopsius, who will give you acharacter, if need be; and the landlord of the "Star" will, ofcourse, certify that you are an honest fellow: but his certificategoes for nothing. As for the rest of your story, you can fashionthat as you will, and make it as romantic or as ludicrous as yourfancy dictates. Try, however, to win the Chevalier's confidence byprovoking his compassion. He gambles a great deal, and wins. Do youknow the cards well?''Only a very little, as soldiers do.''I had thought you more expert. You must find out if the Chevaliercheats; if he does, we have him. He sees the English and Austrianenvoys continually, and the young men of either Ministry suprepeatedly at his house. Find out what they talk of; for how mucheach plays, especially if any of them play on parole: if you canread his private letters, of course you will; though about thosewhich go to the post, you need not trouble yourself; we look at themthere. But never see him write a note without finding out to whom itgoes, and by what channel or messenger. He sleeps with the keys ofhis despatch-box on a string round his neck. Twenty Frederics, ifyou get an impression of the keys. You will, of course, go in plainclothes. You had best brush the powder out of your hair, and tie itwith a riband simply; your moustache you must of course shave off.With these instructions, and a very small gratuity, the Captain leftme. When I again saw him, he was amused at the change in myappearance. I had, not without a pang (for they were as black asjet, and curled elegantly), shaved off my moustaches; had removedthe odious grease and flour, which I always abominated, out of myhair; had mounted a demure French grey coat, black satin breeches,and a maroon plush waistcoat, and a hat without a cockade. I lookedas meek and humble as any servant out of place could possiblyappear; and I think not my own regiment, which was now at the reviewat Potsdam, would have known me. Thus accoutred, I went to the 'StarHotel,' where this stranger was,--my heart beating with anxiety, andsomething telling me that this Chevalier de Balibari was no otherthan Barry, of Ballybarry, my father's eldest brother, who had givenup his estate in consequence of his obstinate adherence to theRomish superstition. Before I went in to present myself, I went tolook in the remises at his carriage. Had he the Barry arms? Yes,there they were: argent, a bend gules, with four escallops of thefield,--the ancient coat of my house. They were painted in a shieldabout as big as my hat, on a smart chariot handsomely gilded,surmounted with a coronet, and supported by eight or nine Cupids,cornucopias, and flower-baskets, according to the queer heraldicfashion of those days. It must be he! I felt quite feint as I wentup the stairs. I was going to present myself before my uncle in thecharacter of a servant!'You are the young man whom M. de Seebach recommended?'I bowed, and handed him a letter from that gentleman, with which mycaptain had taken care to provide me. As he looked at it I hadleisure to examine him. My uncle was a man of sixty years of age,dressed superbly in a coat and breeches of apricot-coloured velvet,a white satin waistcoat embroidered with gold like the coat. Acrosshis breast went the purple riband of his order of the Spur; and thestar of the order, an enormous one, sparkled on his breast. He hadrings on all his fingers, a couple of watches in his fobs, a richdiamond solitaire in the black riband round his neck, and fastenedto the bag of his wig; his ruffles and frills were decorated with aprofusion of the richest lace. He had pink silk stockings rolledover the knee, and tied with gold garters; and enormous diamondbuckles to his red-heeled shoes. A sword mounted in gold, in a whitefish-skin scabbard; and a hat richly laced, and lined with whitefeathers, which were lying on a table beside him, completed thecostume of this splendid gentleman. In height he was about my size,that is, six feet and half an inch; his cast of features singularlylike mine, and extremely distingue. One of his eyes was closed witha black patch, however; he wore a little white and red paint, by nomeans an unusual ornament in those days; and a pair of moustaches,which fell over his lip and hid a mouth that I afterwards found hadrather a disagreeable expression. When his beard was removed, theupper teeth appeared to project very much; and his countenance worea ghastly fixed smile, by no means pleasant.It was very imprudent of me; but when I saw the splendour of hisappearance, the nobleness of his manner, I felt it impossible tokeep disguise with him; and when he said, 'Ah, you are a Hungarian,I see!' I could hold no longer.'Sir,' said I, 'I am an Irishman, and my name is Redmond Barry, ofBallybarry.' As I spoke, I burst into tears; I can't tell why; but Ihad seen none of my kith or kin for six years, and my heart longedfor some one.