losing half his right foot, and only reaching Dantzic through the
assistance of a devoted aide-de-camp. But, even thus mutilated, the
heroic soldier would not abandon his beloved profession, and, during the
final struggle against the Austrians in 1815, he was made
lieutenant-general, by Murat, upon the field of battle.

On assuming command of his regiment, Colonel Pépé was as much struck by
its martial aspect, as he was vexed at its clumsy manoeuvres, and low
moral condition. Both men and officers lacked instruction. The former
were most incorrigible thieves. Plundering was a pretty common practice
with the French armies in Spain, even in Suchet's corps, which was one
of the best disciplined: and the Italians, anxious not to be outdone in
any respect by their allies, were the most accomplished of depredators.
They had come in fact to hold theft meritorious, and designated it by
the elegant name of _poetry_. This slang term had become so general,
that it was used even by the officers; and the adjutant of Pépé's
regiment, in reporting a marauder to him, calls the man a _poet_. The
prosaic application of a couple of hundred lashes to the shoulders of
this culprit, served as a warning to his fellows, and soon the crime
became of rare occurrence. The officers, although deficient in the
theory of their profession, "were brave and honourable men, and had
shown their valour, not only against the enemy, but in numerous duels,
fought with the French, justifying fully, a saying of Machiavel, that
the courage of the Italians, when opposed man to man, is far superior to
that of other nations." The example of their new commander was not
likely to break the officers of the eighth infantry of their duelling
propensities. In the course of General Pépé's memoirs, he refers to at
least half a score encounters of the kind, in which he was a principal.
With the exception of two, which occurred when he was only seventeen,
and of his final one--as far as we are informed--with General Carascosa,