was heard. Napoleon hoped it was Grouchy returning at the head of his 32,000 troops, but it was Blucher and his Prussians, who came up too late to share, except partially, in the fight, but who made the French retreat far more fatal to them than it would otherwise have been. Napoleon then turned his horse's head and fled hastily, but it does not appear on any good authority that he said Sauve qui peut, or, as many of the English papers and caricaturists had it, "The devil take the hindmost!" It was a moonlight night, and the French in their flight had no shelter, no refuge, and no mercy from the hotly pursuing Prussians, who sometimes shouted "Jena! Jena!" As well as we can judge from conflicting accounts; quarter," or rather " misericorde," was often asked, and rarely accorded. This flight was among a perfect wreck of the implements of war, such as caissons, cannon, baggage, &c. 66 66 It The last gun fired at the finish of the fight was a howitzer, which the French had left behind them. was turned upon them in their adversity, and fired by Captain Campbell, aid-de-camp to General Adam. The Duke's demeanour through the day was calm, as it was on every day of battle; and that of Napoleon seems to have been more subdued than it was in his campaign in Saxony, where he said to one of his generals, who was advancing rapidly, "You creep, scoundrel;" nor was this a solitary instance. Waterloo was the wise Duke's greatest victory-and his last! The next day the Duke's pen was again busy. Waterloo, 19th June, 1815. Your lordship will observe that such a desperate action could not be fought, and such advantages could not be gained, without great loss; and I am sorry to say ours has been immense. In Lieutenant-General Sir T. Picton, his Majesty has sustained the loss of an officer who has frequently distinguished himself in his service; and he fell, gloriously leading his division to a charge with bayonets, by which one of the most serious attacks made by the enemy on our position was repulsed. To Earl Bathurst. It has often been said, especially by French and German writers, that the Prussians won the battle. Here is the Duke's own testimony: Waterloo, 19th June, 1815. I should not do justice to my own feelings, or to Marshal Blucher and the Prussian army, if I did not attribute the successful result of this arduous day to the cordial and timely assistance I received from them. To Earl Bathurst. General Picton was not the only British officer who suffered. General Sir W. Ponsonby was killed by a Polish lancer; Colonel de Lancy, the quarter-master general, was slain by a cannon-shot. Sir Alexander Gordon (the brother to the present Earl of Aberdeen) died of his wounds when removed from the field; the Earl of Uxbridge (the present Marquis of Anglesey) lost his leg. Generals Cooke, Halkett, Sir E. Barnes, Baron Alten, Lord Fitzroy Somerset, and the Prince of Orange, were all wounded. The following is the estimated loss of the triple strife. -At Ligny, upwards of 11,000 Prussians killed and wounded; at Quatre Bras, 5000 British and allies, and 200 missing. The French loss was never announced, but it has been estimated at 13,000 at Ligny and Quatre Bras. At Waterloo, the British and Hanoverians killed were 2432, and 9528 wounded. Of these 600 were officers, a far greater proportion than among the French officers. Buonaparte's loss was never known. In the fight, close to Genappe, Blucher captured 60 guns of the imperial guard, and Buonaparte's own carriage and baggage. Bruxelles, 19th June, 1815. You will readily give credit to the existence of the extreme grief with which I announce to you the death of your gallant brother, in consequence of a wound received in our great battle of yesterday. He received the wound when rallying one of the Brunswick battalions, which was shaking a little; and he lived long enough to be informed by myself of the glorious result of our actions, to which he had contributed by his active and zealous assistance. I cannot express to you the regret and sorrow with which I look round me, and contemplate the loss which I have sustained, particularly in your brother. The glory resulting from such actions, so dearly bought, is no consolation to me, and I cannot suggest it as any to you and his friends. To the Earl of Aberdeen, K.T. The following letter is certainly a departure from the grave style of the Duke's writings, as he actually tells the Marquis of Anglesey that there was nothing left for Napoleon but to hang himself! Le Cateau, 23rd June, 1815. The (French) infantry throw away their arms, and the cavalry and artillery sell their horses to the people of the country, and desert to their homes. Allowing for much exaggeration in the accounts, I am still of opinion that Buonaparte can make no head against us-qui il n'a se pendre. To the Earl of Uxbridge. MAXIMS AND OPINIONS OF THE DUKE OF GREAT ACTIONS. Poonah, 21st April, 1803. Supposing you should be blamed for adopting measures in which there is a distant risk that you may have a contest with the Mahratta powers, you have the satisfaction of reflecting, that in consequence of those measures the scene of action must be at a distance from the Company's territories; at all events it is probable that if you had not adopted those measures, either the Company or their ally must have suffered all the evils of war. In all great actions there is risk, of which little minds will form their judgment. To the Governor-General. NO ENGAGEMENTS WITH THE DISHONORABLE. Poonah, 31st May, 1803. We must not involve ourselves in engagements either with, or in concert with, or in behalf of, people who have no faith, or no principle of honor or of honesty. To Colonel Stevenson. MEMORANDUM ON THE TREATY OF BASSEIX, NOV. 1804. Nothing can better depict the state of the native Indian kingdoms at this period, than the following: Asiatic governments are arbitrary, the objects of their policy are always shifting; they have no regular established system, the effect of which is to protect the weak against the strong on the contrary, the object of each of them separately, and all of them collectively, is to destroy the weak; and if by chance they should, by a sense of common danger, be induced for a season to combine their efforts for the mutual defence, the combination lasts only so long as it is attended with success; the first reverse dissolves it. A FRIENDLY LETTER. Dublin Castle, 23rd May, 1808. Pray let me hear from you with all your wants, and whether I can do anything for you. You will readily believe that I have plenty to do, in closing a government in such a manner as that I may give up, and take the command of a corps for service; but I shall not fail to attend to whatever you may write to me. To Major-General Hill. DISINTERESTEDNESS. I wish you to consider the question, not only as one of civil law, but also in reference to the manner in which the Portuguese Government would feel, if we were to consider the property which we found here in possession of the enemy as prize; for however glad I shall be that the success of the army should turn out to their benefit, as well as to their honor, and however convenient it might be to me to share in the benefit myself, I am very unwilling to be instrumental in forwarding such a claim, if it is to have the effect of putting our friends out of temper with us.-Letter from Oporto, to Mr. Villiers, May 23, 1809. RECRUITING AND THE HOME MILITIAS. Cartaxo, 28th June, 1811. In respect to recruiting, Government have never taken an enlarged view of the subject. It is expected that people will become soldiers in the line, and leave their families to starve, when, if they become soldiers in the militia, their families are provided for. What is the consequence? That none but the worst description of men enter the regular service. To Lieut.-Colonel Torrens. AN EXTRAORDINARY FACT. Rueda, 1st November, 1812. It is extraordinary that the revolution in Spain should not have produced one man with any knowledge of the real state of the country. It really appears as if they were all drunk. To Sir H. Wellesley. NON-INTERFERENCE WITH THE LAW. A man of high family having become amenable to the Portuguese law, great interest was made with the |