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Army. I rode out in the suite of his Imperial Majesty, who ⚫ went along the line, and was received with enthusiasm by the soldiers. The Emperor took a favourable moment, when he ' was surrounded by his General and Staff Officers in the front of the troops, to call Sir Robert Wilson to him, and to address to him a most flattering speech, in which his Imperial Majesty stated, that he appreciated his services, gallantry and zeal throughout the whole war as they deserved; that, in testimony of which, he had determined to confer on him the third class of the Order of St George, and that he was desirous of doing it in the most gratifying manner. He then directed • General Angerauffsky to take his cross from his neck, and he delivered it to Sir Robert Wilson.' Lord Stewart then expresses, with the honesty of a brave soldier, the pride he felt at seeing a companion in arms thus decorated in front of the • Allied Army.' The Emperor, in a letter written with his own hand, some months afterwards, referred to this occasion, in these words- When I decorated you in the face of the army with the badge of St George, I did justice to the indefatigable zeal which, during the whole of the Campaign has constantly • attached you to the advanced guards-to the brilliant valour ⚫ and devotion of which I have been an eyewitness at the battle ' of Bautzen; and, finally, to the many other proofs of intre

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pidity, attested by all the brave warriors of the combined 'army.'-Similar testimonies to his distinguished merit were borne by the King of Prussia and Emperor of Austria. The former Monarch, beside conferring upon him his Order of the Red Eagle, granted the Cross of his Military Order of Merit to the Officers whom he recommended. The latter gave him the Grand Cross of Maria Teresa, an order of the highest distinction, and which has been kept invariably pure, being confined to cases of the most unquestionable services. Those services were indeed acknowledged by all the ministers and commanders in the campaign, and especially by the Prince Metternich and by Prince Schwartzenberg, who repeatedly expressed to the English Ambassador the obligations he lay under to Sir R. Wilson for the signal assistance rendered on many occasions, but most particularly at Leipsick, when he was so much indebted to him for his able disposition of the Austrian cavalry, and his whole conduct on that day.'

It might have been thought, that the English Ministry would have seen the propriety of appointing this distinguished officer to a situation which might have retained him near the persons of those warriors whose confidence he had so fully gained, and those Monarchs whose favour he had won, not by the arts of court in

trigue, but by the most brilliant services in the field, performed under their own eyes. One ignorant of cabinet mysteries might even have imagined that the obvious advantage of the King's service would have recommended such a choice, should all considerations of justice be neglected. But Dis aliter visum: One of those divinities had a relative, whom it was deemed more fitting to place about the Allied Sovereigns during the remaining part of their progress towards the French capital. The regrets of their Majesties and their armies at Sir Robert's departure, were expressed in the warmest terms; and the Emperor Alexander conferred on him the first class of the order of St Anne, —while he assured him, that both he and his army could never cease to remember his courage and indefatigable exertions, to regret his absence, and to wish for his return. Being sent to Italy, as military resident, instead of sharing in the triumphal entry into Paris, his conduct continued to excite the admiration and gratitude of the armies with whom he acted; and we only abstain from adducing further testimonials of his services, because we feel confident, that, after those already given, it would be superfluous to proceed with the subject.

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During all this brilliant career of service, Sir Robert Wilson had been, if not applauded as he merited by his own Government, at least passed over without reproach. It is true that he received no marks of distinction at home; and that, while covered with orders from all the foreign Sovereigns who had been the eyewitnesses of his exploits, he never once received a simple knighthood from the dispensers of honours in his own country. But no attempts were yet made to vilify and degrade him; for although he had given some offence upon several occasions, by speaking unpalatable truths, and particularly by reprobating the practice of military flogging; yet it seemed as if such sins were covered by the grateful remembrance of his invective against Buonaparte. He had spoken what he deemed the truth of that personage, while in the fulness of his power and glory; but he refused to continue the abuse of him when he seemed fallen, and no longer an object of dread. Having fought against Philip, he probably thought he had a right to rail at him too. We never questioned this; we only denied that he took the proper method of bringing his charges forward. But that he did well in ceasing to pursue an adversary no longer formidable, every one must admit, except those who would have been the first to crouch before him had his fortunes unhappily prevailed over our's. With this class, Sir Robert Wilson soon incurred a still worse disgrace. He had seen so much of foreign courts-of the treatment of the

people in countries subjected to the operations of political barter of the anxiety with which all classes of men in those states looked to England for relief-of the miserable effects produced upon their welfare and our own reputation, by our deserting them; that he generously gave vent to the sentiments which he had conceived in favour of popular rights-urged the expediency as well as virtue of publick faith-and even iamented that England should lend her aid abroad to crush all the principles of free government, which she used, in her better days, to cherish at home. This, to be sure, was altogether intolerable. A general officer doubting the sacred doctrines of legitimacy!A soldier presuming to hold opinions hostile to the cause of arbitrary power!-No wonder that the whole pack of Treasury minions opened upon him full cry, and that he was hunted down by the underlings of underlings, as if a butt of sack, or 2501. more salary, in money, depended upon the chase. The generous gallantry of his conduct in Lavallette's affair-the sufferings to which it exposed him-the noble defence which he made for it, exalted his character and that of the English nation* in the eyes of all Europe, and threw such an illusion over the whole transaction, that the strictest political moralist might be excused for shutting his eyes to the unquestionable impropriety of some of its features. But the ministerial tools only redoubled their zeal after this remarkable event: And when they at length found him exposing the failures of the Government in its foreign policy, and tracing them to their source-the incapacity of its members; aware of the effects likely to be produced by this exposure, to lower his authority with the publick, they made him the standing object of unceasing falsehood and scurrility. Justice towards him, and the importance of ascertaining the character of a witness, before we listen to his testimony, led us into the details which have now been concluded, We shall now call the attention of the reader more particularly to the work before us, upon the literary merits of which, it is our duty to give a deliberate opinion, beside examining its statements and opinions; and this judgment, we venture to affirm,

Whether from the peculiar nature of the case itself, from the unpopularity of the French and English Governments, or from the singularly captivating defence which they made, it is a most unquestionable fact, that the feelings of mankind have gone along with the cause of Messrs Wilson, Bruce, and Hutchinson, throughout the whole affair, and blinded them to several of the circumstances connected with it; nor can it be denied, that it is uniformly cited all over the Continent, as most honourable to the English character.

will neither be swayed by the brilliant reputation of the author in his professional capacity, nor by the still more powerful influence which the calumnies of his adversaries are calculated to exert in his favour, upon all generous minds.

It is impossible not to regret that Sir Robert Wilson should have confined himself to a discussion of certain political and military questions, in the course of which he introduces, only incidentally, some of the information he possesses respecting the latter part of the war. Many other authors could have written better dissertations; perhaps no man alive was better calculated to give such an interesting account of the campaigns in which he bore so conspicuous a part. Other military historians, in modern times, have seen only small and detached portions of the operations which they described, with the exception of Frederick II., who wrote, with the strongest bias a man could have, on one side. Sir Robert Wilson may be said to have witnessed, in every stage of their progress, all the great events of the two most memorable campaigns recorded in history. He was present in the political as well as military part of the scene; he was in the confidence of those who planned--and he fought with those who executed; he was not stationary with a corps, or an army, or attached to one only of the Belligerent Powers, whose armed myriads covered all Europe as a vast field of battle ;-wherever the combat raged, there he was found; his post was where most was doing in that immense chain of combined operations, the least of which would, in other times, have given renown to both its actors and historians. Nothing could have been more interesting than the simple narrative of such a partisan: And when we reflect on the striking representation which he gave, in his former work, of scenes far less important, we cannot avoid regretting that the tract before us is not of a more historical

We took leave, in describing that book, to point out the narrative as by far its most valuable portion: The remark applies with equal justice to this publication; and, unfortunately, the part most to be prized occupies a much smaller space. To this unlucky error in the plan, we shall not easily be reconciled, unless the author will allow us to indulge the hope of seeing him come forward in his own proper person, and give the world his detailed statement of what he saw. Men may form various opinions of his reasonings; but all must agree in desiring to read his Sketches of the Russian and German Campaigns; nor will any, but those who have reason to be ashamed of their conduct, dislike the addition of as much as he knows with certainty, of the political operations connected with those events.

The book must, however, be taken as it is; and we are by

no means insensible to its value. The object which the author has in view is to throw out a number of statements and remarks, illustrative of the preponderance which recent events have given to Russia; and the entire neglect in our policy of all precautions against her further encroachments. There is nothing very distinct or systematick in the manner of bringing forward these illustrations; and the want of clcarness in the arrangement, is frequently aggravated by the defects of a style neither simple nor perspicuous. The advice which we formerly gave Sir Robert on this head, has been very little attended to; indeed, some of the faults then complained of have been increased, by the usual carelessness of anonymous writing. It may seem indecorous to censure him by name for the composition of a pamphlet, published perhaps on the spur of the occasion, and not formally avowed by him: But having ventured to raise the veil of his incognito, that we might offer him the applause demanded by his actions, we cannot in justice suffer it to drop again, without expressing our opinion upon his writings.

The method pursued by the author, in order to illustrate the effective strength of Russia, and her actual preponderance on the Continent, is next to be considered. He does not give us a statistical dissertation upon the resources of that vast empire, or an argumentative discussion of what she is capable of performing; but he begins at once with a pretty full commentary upon the history of her military policy; and shows, what she has already performed, how she has accomplished her purposes, and why she has been prevented, at different times, from doing even more. We think this, on the whole, a very wise course of inquiry; because it meets the great objection which used formerly to be urged against those who contended for the preponderance of Russia, that she was strong only for defence, and never could move her numerous population to such distances as to make her formidable to the rest of Europe. We shall not advert to the rapid survey which he takes of the Russian history before the succession of Alexander. It may suffice to say, that, since the reign of Peter the Great, she has been constantly at war in some quarter of the world, and has never made peace without adding to her dominions.

The character of the present Emperor is sketched with a very impartial hand; but it presents to our view qualities eminently fitted for the administration of affairs. We shall only observe, that his temperate habits and indefatigable activity, directed unceasingly to one object-the improvement of his country, had materially changed the aspect which his great empire offered to the rest of Europe before the commencement of the late war. His

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