He sank into
great poverty, living on bread-and-milk, and limiting his
expenditure to only three sous a day. "I have still two sous a
day left," said he, "for the conqueror of Marengo and Austerlitz."
"But if you fall sick," said a friend to him, "you will need the
help of a pension. Why not do as others do? Pay court to the
Emperor--you have need of him to live." "I do not need him to
die," was the historian's reply. But Anquetil did not die of
poverty; he lived to the age of ninety-four, saying to a friend,
on the eve of his death, "Come, see a man who dies still full of
life!"
Sir James Outram exhibited the same characteristic of noble self-
denial, though in an altogether different sphere of life. Like
the great King Arthur, he was emphatically a man who "forbore his
own advantage." He was characterised throughout his whole career
by his noble unselfishness. Though he might personally disapprove
of the policy he was occasionally ordered to carry out, he never
once faltered in the path of duty. Thus he did not approve of the
policy of invading Scinde; yet his services throughout the
campaign were acknowledged by General Sir C. Napier to have been
of the most brilliant character. But when the war was over, and
the rich spoils of Scinde lay at the conqueror's feet, Outram
said: "I disapprove of the policy of this war--I will accept no
share of the prize-money!"
Not less marked was his generous self-denial when despatched with
a strong force to aid Havelock in fighting his way to Lucknow.
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