VARIOUS rumours regarding a battle between the allies and Bonaparte, in the Netherlands, reached England some days before official intelligence of the victory of Waterloo arrived ; but when that intelligence was received, and especially when it was ascertained that the victory was one of the most splendid, and certainly the most decisive, that had ever been gained in any age or country, it was welcomed by every expression of national congratulation; and private mourning for the numerous losses in the field was scarcely noticed in the general triumph. On the 22d of June the prince-regent sent a message to both houses of parliament, recommending to them "to enable his royal-highness to grant such additional provision to field-marshal the Duke of Wellington, as shall afford a farther proof of the opinion entertained by parliament of the Duke of Wellington's transcendant services, and of the gratitude and munificence of the British nation." Parliament, never backward at such a call, unaninously concurred in a vote for adding the suin of 200,000l. to former liberal grants, by which its 'seuse of his extraordinary merits had been demonstrated.

When this message was read in the house of lords, the Earl of Liverpool said he had one or two facts to relate. He was one of the trustees of the grant already voted to the Duke of Wellington. It was stipulated, that out of the sum given, 100,000l. were to be applied towards procuring a mansion fit to commemorate the nation's gratitude for the distinguished services of his grace: but it was soon found to be absolutely impossible, with such a sum, to erect a house in any degree adequate to the intended object. Every man, as soon as he heard the account of the recent victory, a victory which he had no hesitation in saying was unequalled in the history of this country, anxiously inquired whether no other proof of the nation's gratitude could be bestowed besides the thanks of parliament? Could the house, under such circumstances, hesitate to furnish to the duke the means of supporting his exalted rank?

In the house of commons, Mr. Whitbread said, he cordially agreed in the grant. He conceived that the Duke of Wellington had done more than had been achieved by any other human being

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ments in history as having been performed ten BOOK XV. centuries ago, we would almost discredit the story. He had understood that, during the battle, the Duke of Wellington had repeatedly thrown himself into the centre of a square that was attacked, thus placing the most entire confidence in the valor of the soldiers that composed it. They also felt the same confidence in him, and the inestimable value of that commander whose life was entrusted to their defence. Although honor was the best reward for such distinguished services, yet as the Duke of Wellington had already reached the climax of human honor, the house had no way to show its gratitude but by a grant of money. The conduct of the British army in all its parts had never been surpassed by any other troops. As to the opinions, however, which he entertained about the justice of the war, they rested upon principles which could not be altered by the accidental circumstances of victory or defeat.

The thanks of both houses were afterwards voted to the Duke of Wellington, and to many. officers of distinction in his army, and to Marshal Prince Blucher, the Prussian army, and the allied troops under the duke's command.

On this occasion, Earl Bathurst, on moving the thanks in the house of lords, said, he was aware that their lordships must be eager to discharge the debt of gratitude to the duke, who had now so gloriously relieved them from the anxiety which all must have felt for some time past. The campaign was begun by Bonaparte himself. He had not, for this time at least, to accuse the seasons, nor the defection of those from whom he expected support. He could not say that he was obliged to commence the battle by those to whose measures he was compelled to yield, contrary to his own better judgment. It was completely his own act and choice. Under these circumstances be bad failed. His attacks were repulsed; the order was reversed-he was attacked in his turn. His boasted genius shrunk under the ascendancy of a mightier genius, and the result was the complete overthrow of the French army. On the evening of the 15th the duke received intelli gence that the Prussians had been attacked, and the forces were immediately ordered to advance. The Prussians were driven from their posts with loss. On the 16th, General Picton's division,

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The

BOOK XV. Nassau regiment, were attacked at Genappe. The battle lasted the whole of the day. The Prussians were likewise attacked, and Bonaparte claimed a victory over both; but it was clear that the Prussians maintained their position. But the Prussians having lost 16,000 men on that occasion, from their refusing to take quarter, and a great proportion of their forces not having yet come into line, it was deemed by Prince Blucher prudent to retire. In consequence of this, the Duke of Wellington also retired to Waterloo. This position was a very strong one. The enemy attacked our troops in that position on the 18th, with the whole of his army, except one corps, which was left to observe the Prussians. They fought with that intrepidity for which the nation is distinguished, but they were met with a resolution and firmness in which the British forces are not outrivalled by any nation. In the course of this desperate contest, the duke performed the duties of military officers of all ranks. As a commander-in-chief, as a general of division, as colonel of a regiment, he exerted bimself in encouraging the troops to maintain their resistance to the repeated and desperate attacks of the enemy. Towards the close of the day, Bonaparte himself, at the head of his guards, made a desperate charge upon the British guards, and the British guards instantly overthrew the French. battle lasted nearly nine hours, and at length our troops repulsed these desperate attacks by forces infinitely superior in number. Here then the battle ended, as far as concerned the attacks of the enemy. But the Duke of Wellington, with his accustomed promptitude and decision, observing that the retreat of the enemy was attended with confusion, he ordered the whole of those of his troops who had not suffered, to move upon the enemy. The troops advanced, attacked the enemy, drove them from the heights, and put them completely to the rout. He continued the pursuit till the troops, overcome with fatigue, could proceed no farther, and then the Prussians were left to follow up the victory. The consequences of this victory, as far as he could at present state them, were these:-about 5,000 prisoners had arrived at Brussels-2,000 were on parole, and more were expected to be brought in; and, besides this, a great quantity of ammunition and baggage was taken. He was not then speaking of what was accomplished by the Prussians during the pursuit, as no regular account of it had as yet arrived. An achievement of such magnitude could not be performed without great loss. It had been wisely ordained by Providence that we should taste neither of joy nor of grief unmixed, and the price at which this victory was gained, must teach us to check our exultation. But who could recollect, without admiration and sorrow, the stern and manly virtue of Sir Thomas

Picton, the firm and amiable character of Sir H. Ponsonby, or the heroic character of the Duke of Brunswick, who, having refused to be included in the armistice at Wagram, and traversed hostile Germany with his little band, had at length here terminated his life in a manner so worthy of his own conduct and the race from which he sprung? The Duke of Wellington bimself had written a private letter to the Earl of Aberdeen, with intelligence of his brother's death. In looking at the list of the wounded, their lordships found the name of the brave Earl of Uxbridge, who had headed every charge of cavalry himself. They would also see the name of that gallant youth the hereditary Prince of Orange, who had shed his blood in defence of the Nether lands, and thereby acquired a better title to those dominions than mere formalities could afford. It remained for him to advert to the conduct of Marshal Blucher and the Prussians. The Duke of Wellington had expressed, in strong terms, the assistance which he had received from the Prus sians. Without that assistance, though the attack of the enemy would not have succeeded, he could not in his turn have made that attack on the enemy which had terminated in his complete rout and overthrow. Prince Blucher himself, worn out with the constant exertions, had retired to bed; but as soon as he received intelligence that the Duke was attacked, he rose and headed a corps to assist the British. He hung all night on the rear of the enemy, and no doubt amply revenged the fate of those brave Prussians who had fallen in the battle of the 16th, by their re fusal to take quarter.

In the house of commous, Lord Castlereagh prefaced his motion for a vote of thanks, by observing, that it would be confessed that whatever the former fame of the Duke of Wellington might have been, yet, in all the various occur rences of his life, in all those great achievements which he had performed, and which had called for the thanks of the house, he had never before attained to a height of glory like the present.And in all the great events which he had been engaged in, and those scenes that he had witnes sed, it had never before fallen to the lot of the illustrious commander to render so great a ser vice to his country, so extensive a benefit to the world.-There was in the present victory an ac knowledged pre-eminence over all those that had preceded it: but when we looked at its influence and combination, in which is bound up all the interests of the civilized world, it was almost im possible to conceive an idea adequate to its magnitude and importance. The position of the allied army, previously to the late one, was a very peculiar one, and without meaning to impute blame, or to suppose any neglect of security, he must say that the circumstance of the armies not

being actually engaged in hostilities, necessarily led to a distribution of force for the more convenient obtainment of subsistence for so large an army. The whole line of troops destined to act upon France not being equally advanced, it was clearly not the interest of the allies to become the assailants; the army, therefore, which was to act upon the offensive, making its point of union the point it chose for an attack, must have a great advantage over an army situated as the allied ariny was: and yet it was impossible to alter that position; for if Marshal Blucher and the Duke of Wellington had concentrated their forces, they must have left open a long line of country at the mercy of the enemy, who might have made use of such a lapse for the most important ends: and, therefore, not imputing any neglect of preparation to the commander, it must be evident that the attacking army would have the advantage. With such a force on the frontiers of France, it was with Bonaparte a great object to attack it in some powerful point before the combined powers were all perfectly ready for operations; and, accordingly, he had acted with all the decision of character and energy of mind that he was known to possess, and as soon as he could leave Paris he joined his army, and directing it to the north commenced his operations. In considering the nature and extent of the forces engaged, he must observe, that of the ten corps d'armée which France possessed, the five which were complete were united under Bonaparte, together with his guard and other cavalry. These troops had certainly maintained their ancient character; and one feature of the victory was, that it had been gained over the best troops of France, and that too at a moment when they displayed all their ardour, and when their conduct even surpassed all that they had before performed. Although this force did not amount to less than 130 or 140,000 men, the flower of the French army!-That was a regular and disciplined army even before the Bourbons quitted France, and for which since the return of Bonaparte, every thing had been done to make it effective; it was the force which had been selected and combined to act upon the northern frontier. To particularize the conduct of any part of the allied army, would be invidious, where all had acquitted themselves with nearly equal bravery; but he might be allowed to say, that except the British part, (who themselves were only such as the country could spare at a time when a strong detachment of our veteran troops had been sent to America) nearly the whole was a green army: the allies, particularly the Dutch, Belgians, Hanoverians, and troops of Nassau, were chiefly young soldiers: and deducting the absent corps, consisting of 25,000, under Prince Frederick, and the other corps distributed along the line to the northward, there was not in action

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a greater number than 64,000 men, to support BOOK XV. the attack of the whole French army. He fully felt what we owed to the illustrious Prussians, who were ready to support the British army, and enabled them to make that movement, without which the duke could not have obtained such an advantage over a superior force. The effort he made was crowned with success; and with his energy of mind, and example of person, it was certain that much would be effected.-But from that example it was dreadful to reflect on the risks to which his valuable life was exposed; in fact, such was the dauntless activity, that he was much more exposed than any private soldier, who could only bear the hazard of a single spot; but the duke was every where, at least wherever danger was-Under the circumstances in which the duke found himself at the end of the day, when the French had been repulsed, and Marshal Bulow advanced, he put himself in motion and attacked the French; their lines did not resist, as ours had done: he forced the second line, routed their whole army, and took more than half the artillery of their army and its ammunition.-It was impossible to attempt to predict what would be the result of this victory; but this much was certain, that the Duke of Wellington had been enabled to follow the enemy with an army that had been either fighting or marching the whole day before. The French had attacked with their usual temerity: by this he did not mean to censure them; Bonaparte was justified in his attempt; he had been driven back; but if he could bave succeeded, the effect would have been fully equal to the sacrifice made to obtain the object.

A motion being afterwards made by Lord Castlereagh for an address to the prince-regent, that he would be pleased to give directions for a national monument in honor of the victory at Waterloo, and in commemoration of those who gloriously fell in achieving it, the same was una nimously agreed to.

We shall devote the remainder of this chapter to biographical notices of two of the most distinguished officers who fell in the battles of the 16th and 18th of June.

Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttle, Oels, and Bernstadt, who was killed on the 16th, was the fourth and youngest son of Charles William Ferdinand, the late reigning Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttle, who died on the 10th of November, 1806, at Ottensen, near Altona, in consequence of the wound which he received at the unfortunate battle of Jena. He was doubly allied to the illustrious house which sways the British sceptre-his mother being the sister of our beloved monarch, and his sister the wife of the heir-apparent to the throne. He was born on the 6th of October, 1771, and received the same education as his second and third

BOOK XV. brothers, who were not much older than himself, till the military profession, for which he was destined, required a course of instruction particularly adapted to that object.

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In 1785, he was nominated successor to his uncle, Frederick Augustus, Duke of Oels and Bernstadt, in case he should die without issue; an arrangement which was confirmed by Frederick the Great, and his nephew Frederick William II. as sovereigns of Silesia. The prince soon afterwards went to Lausanne, accompanied by M. Langer, who held the situation of librarian at Wolfenbuttle, and who had, a few years before, attended his brother, the hereditary prince, to the same place. After a residence of about two years in Switzerland, the prince immediately commenced his military career. He was appointed captain in the regiment of infantry then in garrison at Magdeburgh, commanded by Lieutenant-general Langefeld, governor of that place, who died in 1789; a regiment which previously had for its chief the prince's great uncle, the hero of Crevelt and Minden.

The prince, who devoted himself with the greatest assiduity and zeal to the duties of his profession, was rapidly promoted. In 1790, at the early age of nineteen, he was invested with the grand order of the black eagle. In the war with France, which commenced in 1792, the prince accompanied the Prussian army. He gained experience; and the military talents and intrepidity which he more and more developed, were conspicuously displayed by him on every occasion. This courage, this buoyant sense of youthful energy, which banished every idea of personal danger, impelled him, in several instances, beyond the bounds of prudence. On the 27th of November, in the last-mentioned year, he incurred the most imminent danger of his life, in a skirmish which took place in the village of Etsch, near Wurbel. He there received two wounds, and it was a considerable time before he recovered from their effects. The treaty concluded at Basle on the 5th of April, 1795, again gave repose to the Prussian army. Prince Frederick William, after being for some time commander of the regiment of Thadden, at Halle, and afterwards of Kleist's regiment, at Prenzlau, was, in 1800, promoted to the rank of major-general. The latter regiment had long distinguished itself in the Prussian army, and, under the conduct of the prince, who bestowed on it the most assiduous attention and many sacrifices, confirmed the character and reputation which it had acquired.

On the 1st of November, 1802, he received, at Carlsruhe, the hand of the Princess Mary Elizabeth Wilhelmina, grand-daughter of the Grand Duke of Baden. The prince and his consort seemed to have been created expressly for each other; and their mutual felicity was augmented

by the birth of two sons, on the 30th of October, 1804, and the 25th of April, 1806.

His uncle, Frederick Augustus, dying on the 8th of October, 1805, he succeeded to the duches of Oels and Bernstadt. The following year was marked by the breaking out of the war with Prussia. The duke was attached to the corps commanded by General Blucher, which, after the most astonishing exertions, and the most obstinate resistance, was obliged to submit to the law of recessity. The capitulation of Lubeck put an end to the duke's military career for this war; and the circumstances of the times, with the peculiar relations resulting from them, induced him to apply for his dismission from the Prussian service.

The unexpected decease of his eldest brother, the hereditary-prince, in the month of September of the same year, and the agreement concluded by him with his two brothers, called him, on the decease of his father, to the government of the pa trimonial dominions; which, however, he held but for a short time, Brunswick being by the treaty of Tilsit incorporated with the kingdom of Westphalia.

After this reverse, the duke resided chiefly at Bruchsal, in Baden; and here he was doomed to experience a misfortune that afflicted him still more severely. On the 20th of April, 1808, he lost his amiable consort, and with her fled all his happiness. In the flower of her age, having not yet attained her 26th year, this excellent princess, wife, and mother, after being delivered of a stillborn daughter, was removed to a better life.

After her death little or nothing was known respecting him. On the rupture between Austria and France, in April, 1809, the duke was in Bo hemia, where he was endeavouring to raise an independent corps of black hussars. More fortu nate than Schill, who had already perished at Stralsund, the duke began his new military career by making an incursion into the kingdom of Sar ony, in conjunction with a corps of Austrian troops They were, however, obliged to evacuate Leipsic and Dresden on the approach of a considerable force, composed of Dutch and Westphalians. The Duke of Brunswick Oels, and General Am Ende, retired from Dresden in a western direction, to wards Franconia, into which the Austrians had penetrated from Bohemia in considerable force. under the command of Lieutenant-field-marskal Kienmayer. The armistice concluded at Zaaym, in consequence of the battle of Deutsch Wa gram, terminated the contest in that country also, and deprived the duke of the co-operation of the Austrian troops. They evacuated Dresden. which they had a second time occupied, and withdrew beyond the Bohemian frontiers.

Meanwhile the Duke of Brunswick had likewise evacuated some of the places of which be had taken possession, but still remained in the

Erzgebirge, without being pursued either by the -Saxons or Westphalians. For some time he appeared undecided whether he should join the Austrians in Bayreuth, or adopt a different plan. It is not, however, improbable, that he proceeded farther to the west, as his advanced-posts are said to have been seen near Fulda, in order to mislead his adversaries in respect to his real intentious. Be that as it may, the unfortunate events in the course of July fixed his resolution. He determined to quit Germany, where fortune did not seem to smile on the cause which he had espoused, and to conduct his corps to the English, of whose great preparations for an expedition to the continent the foreign papers were at that time so full.

The difficulties which opposed the execution of this undertaking were innumerable. It was not till he had travelled a space of near 300 miles that he could hope to reach the coasts of the German Ocean. His route lay through countries which were not wholly destitute of hostile troops. The current accounts stated the corps of the Duke of Brunswick to have been completely dispersed and annihilated; the inhabitants of Leipsic were, therefore, not a little surprised, when, at three in the morning of the 26th of July, he entered that city with 1,900 men, 700 of whom were cavalry, after a smart action before the inner gates. It is not unlikely that the duke had reason to be dissatisfied with something which bad occurred during his former occupation of this city; for a contribution, though a very moderate one, amounting to no more than 15,000 dollars, was imposed; and this, we believe, was the only requisition of the kind made by the duke during his whole march. His men also exercised the right of retaliation on several persons who had given them cause of offence during and after

their retreat.

On the 27th of July, the duke arrived at Halle, and, with unparalleled celerity, pursued his route by way of Eisleben to Halberstadt, which place Colonel Count Wellingerode, grand-marshal of the palace to the king of Westphalia, entered with the 5th regiment of foot, on the afternoon of the 30th of July. The same evening, the duke's corps appeared before the gates with six pieces of cannon. The enemy, though destitute of cavalry and artillery, made an obstinate resistance, but was at length overpowered, after a bloody conflict, which was continued for some time in the streets of Halberstadt. The duke, who had fought in the ranks of his black hussars, invited his officers to table, (to which he was often accustomed to sit down in public,) where he was surrounded by such a concourse of people, that he was frequently obliged to request them to

uniform of his corps, and without any other de- BOOK XV. coration than the order conferred on him by the Prussian monarch.

He now directed his course towards his native city. Late in the evening of the 31st of July he entered Brunswick, on whose ramparts, wrapped in a cloak, he passed the night. What must have been the feelings of the prince, when he beheld the palace, once the residence of his illustrious ancestors, his own cradle, and the theatre of his juvenile years; when he traversed the streets, in which his parent had so often been seen, attended by crowds of happy mortals, who awaited the father of his people, to pay him the eloquent tribute of grateful tears; when he encountered the anxious and timid looks of those

who once hoped to see the prosperity and glory of their country augmented by him, whom alone, from among his three sons, his aged father had deemed worthy to be his successor! These were, perhaps, the most painful moments experienced by this high-spirited prince, since the sable genius of Auerstadt_eclipsed the splendor of the house of Welfs. Fate seemed to show him once more the happy land to which he was the rightful heir, to make him the more keenly sensible of his loss. The reflection that he had returned to a country which once was his, and which he once hoped to leave to his hopeful offspring, as a fugitive, to whom those lips which ought to have sworn fealty scarcely durst address the accents of compassion, must have wrung his heart. He, nevertheless, retained sufficient strength of mind to conduct himself with exemplary moderation; and, amidst the gloom of his feelings, he was not abandoned by the light of wisdom. If he could not confer happiness, neither would he involve others in his own calamity; but, in a proclamation, magnanimously recommended to his be loved countrymen to be obedient to their present rulers.

The duke durst not take any long repose at Brunswick, as he was closely pressed on all sides. The Westphalian general, Reubel, concentrated 4,000 men of his division at Ohoff; General Gratien had set out with a Dutch division from Erfurt, and was approaching the coasts of the German ocean; while Lieut.-gen. Ewald, with a corps of Danish troops, crossed from Gluckstadt over the Elbe, into the Hanoverian territory, to cover the banks of that river. General Reubel was nearest to the duke, who, in his rapid retreat, had daily actions with the advanced-guard of the Westphalian troops. That which was fought in the afternoon of the 1st of August, at Õelper, near Brunswick, and in which the duke's horse was killed by a cannon-ball, was the eleventh since the commencement of his retreat in Saxony.

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