The Good Soldier_ A Tale of Passion - Ford Madox Ford [131]
131. Dreyfus: Alfred Dreyfus (1859–1935) was a French-Jewish army officer who, while serving on the General Staff, was falsely convicted (in 1894) of handing over secrets to the Germans. He was court-martialled and transported to the penal settlement at Devil’s Island off the coast of French Guiana in the Caribbean. Intellectual, political and social life was thrown into turmoil by the case, which revealed the degree of anti-Semitism at the heart of French society. After Dreyfus’s case was heard again in 1899 he was found guilty a second time, but pardoned. In 1906 the verdict was reversed and in 1930 German military documents proved his innocence.
132. Monte Carlo: a fashionable resort in the principality of Monaco on the Riviera famous for its casinos.
133. beaux yeux: beautiful eyes (French).
134. giv her the keys of the street: throw her out.
135. ‘Enfin, mon ami… Forli’s: ‘Well, my friend…’ ‘Forli’s’ is an imaginary Monte Carlo jewellery shop.
136. Town: i.e. London.
137. eau de mélisse: lemon balm water (French).
138. Genghis Khan’s charger: the Mongol emperor Genghis Khan (c.1162–1227), who was more or less continuously at war from the age of thirteen until his death, must have made use of a good many horses or chargers.
139. menus plaisirs: entertainments (French).
140. Vandykes: portraits by Sir Anthony Van Dyck (1599–1641). Born in Antwerp, from 1632 until his death he lived and worked in England.
141. Simla: (now Shimla) from 1865 to 1939, this city in the Himalayan foothills was the summer capital of British India. It is located about 200 miles north of Delhi in the Punjab region.
142. brevet-colonel… South African War: a brevet-colonel, or any other brevet officer, is one promoted to a rank without the appropriate pay, almost always on a temporary basis. The Boers (Dutch-origin South African farmers), in winning the first Boer War (1880–1) won independence for the Boer republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. Gold was discovered in the Transvaal in 1886 and this led to renewed tension and eventually conflict, with Britain winning the second Boer (or South African) War (1899–1902).
143. North Western frontier… spruit: the Northwest Frontier, bounded to the north and west by Afghanistan, was the British military district that controlled the strategic Khyber Pass. The British maintained large military forces in the region, which is now a province of northwest Pakistan. A ‘spruit’ is ‘A small watercourse that is usually dry except in the rainy season’ (NSOED).
144. ex’s: expenses.
145. sent in his papers: i.e., made a formal application to resign his commission.
146. lâcker prise: let go (French).
147. ad majorem Dei gloriam: for the greater glory of God (Latin). The official motto of the Society of Jesus, otherwise known as the Jesuits.
148. the dayspring from on high: Luke 1:76–9. ‘Dayspring’ means dawn.
149. Madeira: a Portuguese island in the Atlantic about 350 miles off the coast of Morocco. Its mild climate has always attracted holiday-makers and the convalescent.
150. Chippendale… Zoffany and Zucchero: Thomas Chippendale (1718–79) was the pre-eminent British cabinet-maker of his day, especially famed for his elegant chairs. The German-born painter Johann Zoffany (c.1733–1810) worked chiefly in England after about 1761. He was noted for his theatrical scenes and portraits. By ‘Zucchero’, Dowell means Francesco Zuccarelli (1702–88), an Italian painter who worked in England 1752–62 and 1765–71. He was a founding member of the Royal Academy and a favourite painter of George III.
151. Christchurch: Christchurch Old Hall, the Brand family seat, is presumably in or near the Hampshire coastal town of Christchurch. The town is adjacent to Bournemouth, about twenty miles southeast of Bramshaw.
152. Ringwood: a Hampshire town on the western edge of the New Forest, about five miles south of Fordingbridge and eight miles southeast of Bramshaw.
153. Henry VIII… Protestantism rests: Henry VIII broke from the Roman Catholic