35.

And dear to England should be Ligny's name, Prussia and England both were proved that day; Each generous nation to the other's fame

Her ample tribute of applause will pay; Long as the memory of those labours past, Unbroken may their Fair Alliance last!

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The tales which of that field I could unfold,

Better it is that silence should conceal. They who had seen them shudder'd while they told Of things so hideous; and they cried with zeal, One man hath caused all this, of men the worst, O wherefore have ye spared his head accurst!!

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It fits not now to tell our farther way

Through many a scene by bounteous nature blest, Nor how we found where'er our journey lay,

An Englishman was still an honour'd guest; But still upon this point where'er we went, The indignant voice was heard of discontent.

38.

And hence there lay, too plainly might we see,
An ominous feeling upon every heart:
What hope of lasting order could there be,

They said, where Justice has not had her part? Wisdom doth rule with Justice by her side; Justice from Wisdom none may e'er divide.

1 Among the peasantry with whom we conversed this feeling was universal. We met with many persons who disliked the union with Holland, and who hated the Prussians, but none who spoke in favour or even in palliation of Buonaparte. The manner in which this ferocious beast, as they call him, has been treated, has given a great shock to the moral feelings of mankind. The almost general mode of accounting for it on the Continent, is by a supposition that England purposely let him loose from Elba in order to have a pretext for again attacking France, and crippling a country which she had left too strong, and which would soon have outstripped her in prosperity. I found it impossible to dispossess even men of sound judgement and great ability of this belief, preposterous as it is; and when they read the account of the luxuries which have been sent to St. Helena for the accommodation of this great criminal, they will consider it as the fullest proof of their opinion.

2 Wherever we went we heard one cry of complaint against the Prussians,.. except at Ligny, where the people had witnessed only their courage and their sufferings. This is the effect of making the military spirit predominate in a nation. The conduct of our men was universally extolled; but it required years of exertion and severity before Lord Wellington brought the British army to its present state of discipline. The moral discipline of an army has never perhaps been understood by any General, except the great Gustavus. Even in its best state, with all the alleviations of courtesy and honour, with all the correctives of morality and religion, war is so great an evil, that to engage in it without a clear necessity is a crime of the blackest die. When the necessity is clear, (and such, assuredly, I hold it to have been in our struggle with Buonaparte,) it then becomes a crime to shrink from it. What I have said of the Prussians relates solely to their conduct in an allied country; and I must also say that the Prussian officers with whom I had the good fortune to associate, were men who in every respect did honour to their profession and to their country. But that the general con

39.

The shaken mind felt all things insecure :
Accustom'd long to see successful crimes,
And helplessly the heavy yoke endure,

They now look'd back upon their fathers' times, Ere the wild rule of Anarchy began,

As to some happier world, or golden age of man.

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As they who in the vale of years advance, And the dark eve is closing on their way, When on their mind the recollections glance Of early joy, and Hope's delightful day, Behold, in brighter hues than those of truth, The light of morning on the fields of youth.

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Those who amid these troubles had grown grey,
Recurr'd with mournful feeling to the past;
Blest had we known our blessings, they would say,
We were not worthy that our bliss should last!
Peaceful we were, and flourishing and free,
But madly we required more liberty!

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Remorseless France had long oppress'd the land, And for her frantic projects drain'd its blood; And now they felt the Prussian's heavy hand : 2 He came to aid them; bravely had he stood In their defence; . . but oh! in peace how ill The soldier's deeds, how insolent his will!

duct of their troops in Belgium had excited a strong feeling of disgust and indignation we had abundant and indisputable testimony. In France they had old wrongs to revenge,.. and forgiveness of injuries is not among the virtues which are taught in camps. The annexed anecdotes are reprinted from one of our newspapers, and ought to be preserved:

"A Prussian Officer, on his arrival at Paris, particularly requested to be billeted on the house of a lady inhabiting the Fauxbourg St. Germain. His request was complied with, and on his arriving at the lady's hotel he was shown into a small but comfortable sitting-room, with a handsome bedchamber adjoining it. With these rooms he appeared greatly dissatisfied, and desired that the lady should give up to him her apartment (on the first floor), which was very spacious, and very elegantly furnished. To this the lady made the strongest objections; but the Officer insisted, and she was under the necessity of retiring to the second floor. He afterwards sent a message to her by one of her servants, saying that he destined the second floor for his Aid-de-Camp, &c. &c. This occasioned more violent remonstrances from the lady, but they were totally unavailing, and unattended to by the Officer, whose only answer was, ' Obéissez à mes ordres.' He then called for the cook, and told him he must prepare a handsome dinner for six persons, and desired the lady's butler to take care that the best wines the cellar contained should be forthcoming. After dinner he desired the hostess should be sent for;..she obeyed the summons. The Officer then addressed her, and said, No doubt, Madam, but you consider my conduct as indecorous and brutal in the extreme.' 'I must confess,' replied she, that I did not expect such treatment from an officer; as, in general, military men are ever disposed to show every degree of deference and respect to our You think me then a most perfect barbarian ? answer me frankly.' If you really, then, desire my undisguised opinion of the subject, I must say, that I think your conduct truly barbarous.' 'Madam, I am entirely of your opinion; but I only wished to give you a specimen of the behaviour

sex.'

and conduct of your son, during six months that he resided in my house, after the entrance of the French army into the Prussian capital. I do not, however, mean to follow a bad example. You will resume, therefore, your apartment tomorrow, and I will seek lodgings at some public hotel.' The lady then retired, extolling the generous conduct of the Prussian officer, and deprecating that of her son."

"Another Prussian officer was lodged at the house of Marshal Ney, in whose stables and coach-house he found a

great number of horses and carriages. He immediately ordered some Prussian soldiers, who accompanied him, to take away nine of the horses and three of the carriages. Ney's servants violently remonstrated against this proceeding, on which the Prussian officer observed, They are my property, inasmuch as your master took the same number of horses and carriages from me when he entered Berlin with the French army.' I think you will agree with me, that the lex talionis was never more properly nor more justly resorted to."