g
of the soldiers, their camp seemed a well-ordered city; the meanest
country woman with her market ware was as safe from violence as in the
streets of Vienna. There were no women in the camp but such as being
known to the provosts to be the wives of the soldiers, who were
necessary for washing linen, taking care of the soldiers' clothes, and
dressing their victuals.
The soldiers were well clad, not gay, furnished with excellent arms,
and exceedingly careful of them; and though they did not seem so
terrible as I thought Tilly's men did when I first saw them, yet the
figure they made, together with what we had heard of them, made them
seem to me invincible: the discipline and order of their marchings,
camping, and exercise was excellent and singular, and, which was to
be seen in no armies but the king's, his own skill, judgment, and
vigilance having added much to the general conduct of armies then in
use.
As I met the Swedes on their march I had no opportunity to acquaint
myself with anybody till after the conjunction of the Saxon army,
and then it being but four days to the great battle of Leipsic, our
acquaintance was but small, saving what fell out accidentally by
conversation.
I met with several gentlemen in the king's army who spoke English very
well; besides that there were three regiments of Scots in the army,
the colonels whereof I found were extraordinarily esteemed by the
king, as the Lord Reay, Colonel Lumsdell, and Sir John Hepburn. The
latter of these, after I had by an accident become acquainted with, I
found had been for many years acquainted with my father, and on that
account I received a great deal of civility from him, which afterwards
grew into a kind of intimate friendship. He was a complete soldier
indeed, and for that reason so well beloved by that gallant king, that
he hardly knew how to go about any great action without him.
It was impossible for me now to restrain my young comrade from
entering into the Swedish service, and indeed everything was so
inviting that I could not blame him. A captain in Sir John Hepburn's
regiment had picked acquaintance with him, and he having as much
gallantry in his face as real courage in his heart, the captain had
persuaded him to take service, and promised to use his interest to get
him a company in the Scotch brigade. I had made him promise me not
to part from me in my travels without my consent, which was the only
obstacle to his desires of entering
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