just opinion on their merits or demerits. Many more advantages could be here enumerated, resulting from the employment of military men at foreign courts; but that subject being already a digression from the one commenced upon, respecting certain societies on the Continent, whose views are connected with their state, we shall return to the former.

After the peace of Tilsit, the latter end of 1807 and the beginning. of 1808, a number of patriots in Prussia united and formed the project of wresting the fortresses on the Oder, Glogau, Custrin, and Stettin from the French, by engaging the inhabitants of these places to enter into their plan, and adopting measures for their being armed. However, the difficulties of providing arms, and making the other necessary arrangements for the executing of such a scheme, were much greater than at first imagined; and a considerable delay had taken place when the period arrived, that the French were to evacuate these fortresses, and the country between the Oder and Elbe, according to the treaty, and as stipulated to that effect, but which was not performed by Napoleon, in consequence of the non-payment of the contribution which was to have been paid by Prussia.

The former plans and objects of the patriots received now additional energy; and they conceived it necessary to form themselves into a select body, with all the mysterious appearance and secret proceedings of a high tribunal, which they considered necessary, and most certain to carry their views sooner and more effectually into execution; and they met under the name of the United in Virtue*.

The vigilance of the French caused, however, soon after, the director of the Prussian police at Berlin, Mr. Gennert, who presided at their meetings, to fly to Konigsberg, after having lost all the papers and documents relative to the society; throwing himself under the protection of the King of Prussia, who became somewhat interested in the plan.

Baron de Stein, son-in-law to Count Walmoden Gimborn, and formerly president from the government of Westphalia, at Minden, at present minister of Prussia, now took the chair as grand master of these United in Virtue, (Tugend Vereind,) and not only altered

Tugend-Vereind, or Tugend-Bund.—A singular perversion of the meaning of these words happened at a review, where the French Ruler enquired of a Prussian Colonel" if he did not belong to the Tugend Vereind :" but as he gave the German words a French pronunciation, they conveyed totally a different meaning, viz. "Monsieur, n'êtes vous pas de Tous gens ferin !" to which the officer replying Sire, O! que non," Buonaparte quickly retorted " Ne dites pas ça, ne dites pas sa, Je connois tous mes gens,”

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the original rules thereof, but enlarged the object of the Tugend Bund, far beyond its first limits, admitting as many military men as could be gained over to their views; and the original plan of freeing from the French the fortresses of the country, from the Oder to the Elbe, including Magdeburgh, was now extended to Westphalia; and, ultimately, all Germany was to be liberated by them. Major Shill, a member of this society, the Tugend Bund, reckoned too much on its co-operation, and failed, falling himself a victim to his patriotic spirit; for Stein's plan was not sufficiently matured, nor is it perhaps yet this great and deep speculating man will not act without a certainty of success, and he continues to pursue quietly his favorite revolutionary plans, without being led therefrom by such impetuous men as Shill and others.

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Napoleon, who dreaded this man, recalled him to his possessions in Hanover, but failed to succeed, for Stein remained firm in his plan, and allowed his domains and property to be confiscated by the French Emperor. Having thus lost all what he once possessed, together with his rank and seat as a Baron of the German Empire, by the Emperor Francis resigning his crown, as Emperor of Germany, is it not more than likely but he looks for and expects to obtain a much better place in the freeing (or rather overthrow) of Germany, than what he lost as a German Baron? The genealogical succession of kings and princes cease to be impediments to the execution or accomplishing of such views; and the man who, by the least concession, could have saved his all, but whose policy made him resign and sacrifice the same before the world, knows well how to benefit himself for the loss of Gimborn, when the moment arrives. He works upon the feelings of the people, and princes will lend him, perhaps, the means to their own destruction.

When a nation becomes armed, from that moment a free-will of the people steps in; and although it may be found easy to arm a whole people, it will be at all times a more difficult task to disarm them. The man who is armed, fancies himself somewhat secure from danger; the unarmed, feels his weakness, and looks up for protection. The former will enter upon a will of his own, when interior danger threatens the country; the latter will look for assistance from without. To see an armed mass of a country set loose is dreadful; and justice not only sleeps during its rage, but she expires under the din of arms and deeds of cruelty. The king, prince, and man, who endeavour to stem the torrent, fall under the sword or axe of the executioner; for in such a mass Marats, oberspierres, and Dantes are never wanting.

The following anecdotes relating to Buonaparte and his army in the disastrous retreat from Moscow, it is expected will not prove an uninteresting conclusion to this narrative: they have been communicated to the Editor by officers serving in the Allied armies.

Anecdotes.

Notwithstanding the daily repeated scenes of distress and misery in the French army, during their retreat from Moscow, the Emperor of the French had lost so little of his usual good humour, that, as he passed the Berezyna, in driving over a bridge which was supported by the bodies of his dead soldiers and horses, and to the right and left of which a host of benumbed and drowning were crying out in the agonies of death, he jocosely, in passing on, called those unfortunate beings Crapeaux*.

Napoleon, during the retreat, was always accompanied by his Guards.-The French Emperor never lost sight of the necessary precaution to his own personal safety, for notwithstanding his being surrounded by his faithful Guards, he constantly rode in Marshal Berthier's carriage, letting his own follow empty, at a certain distance, under a strong escort. The carriage of the Marshal had but an inadequate escort, as to its precious contents, and the blinds were constantly drawn up.

The paintings, and other valuable curiosities which came to the Emperor's share of the plunder at Moscow, were conveyed on nine waggons, and moved at the head of the column of the Emperor's train, under the high-sounding appellation of " Les Trophées."These trophies were followed by 28 waggons, laden with the Emperor's treasure, and those were again followed by 80 carriages of various descriptions, which concluded the Emperor's equipage, the whole under the immediate superintendance of General Bernard.The horses which drew the Emperor's treasure knocked up first, and to ease them of their burthen as much as possible, several carriages belonging to the 16th battalion of the train were taken to assist. Those waggons were called "The Comets," on account of their singular construction with shafts before and behind. Every evening orders were issued for the march of the Imperial train column for the following day, and the names of the several divisions

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of those carriages rendered the daily orders ridiculous.-Now the Trophies will lead the column, then the Comets.-Such or such time the Trophies will break up, or such and such hour the Comets will bivouac.-When sometimes the alarm was given at night, away drove trophies and comets in a hurly burly, and the conductors of the trophies were often near losing sight of their high trust, and obliged to unharness their horses to save themselves, at the expense of the trophies. As by degrees the great mortality among the horses increased, several carriages of the Imperial train column were burned every night; but this was always performed at a considerable distance from the high road, to avoid the observation of idle spectators and passers-by. Thus diminished this formidable column day after day; and before the enemy reached Wilna, the whole of this equipage had vanished into smoke: a proof of the instability and uncertainty of worldly fame and treasure. A small part only of the Imperial treasure was saved, by the horses being taken from the trophies to hasten the march of the comets.

The fate of the treasure appears best from the report made by the Minister Mollien on the 4th of January (New Style) to Count Daru: In this statement it is observed, that from Smolensk to Wilna the sum of more than 3,209,248 francs was lost out of 5,209,245 francs; and that from Wilna to Köenigsberg the sum of 6,213,295 france was minus out of 10,910,455 francs: so that out of nearly the sum of 16,122,700 francs, only 6,106,159 francs were saved.-The Minister Mollien states in his report, "that the treasure was plundered by those belonging to the train, and that he had already directed General Bernard to make the necessary inquiries as to what corps of the army these men belonged;" and he further observes, "that he had certain hopes of tracing the delinquents, as no doubt many individuals must have shared in the plunder of so considerable sums;" and he adds, "that although, perhaps, in the first instance, their recovery could not be thought of, yet that they should be charged hereafter against the corps by which the robbery had been committed.”—Such deduction would certainly be no more than just, if the men belonging to those corps had not been deducted from the population of Europe; or perhaps the Minister thought at the time on the arrears of the army, and of a balance between plunder and debt; if so, it is possible that the treasury Yould still have gained.

The King of Naples, with his own hands, set fire to part of his equipage, between Smolensk and Krasnoi, amongst which he sacrificed the whole of his plate to the flames: the King kept stirring the fire with a long pole, and as the soldiers came crawling from all parts to save from destruction some of the valuables, for their own benefit, he flung the blazing pole among the foremost; but notwithstanding this he could not prevent the removal of various articles of horse-clothing, which protected and comforted the soldiers, who marched on much warmer than before. The Shabracks, however, have since returned to the pristine offices for which they were intended, and are again rode upon, although not by Kings, but by Cossacks.

A proof how general the horse-flesh diet was in the French army is, that the people belonging to the Emperor's own household did not despise that fare. After the taking of Wiasma, the carcase of a horse was found in every house which had written on it with chalk "Maison de l'Empereur," and even the least delicious morsels of this animal had found their amateurs among these epicures.

When this conquering army advanced, whole battalions of carpenters, masons, joiners, &c. followed, for the purpose of building new towns and villages; many hundreds of gardeners also had been put in requisition in Germany, particularly in Saxony; and the desarts of Asia were already in idea transformed into orchards, plantations, and kitchen-gardens, &c. The Emperor could not, however, unfortunately, commence building new towns and villages, during his short stay at Moscow, and the desarts remained desarts. The gardeners intended to dig, plow, and sow, plundered and devastated the flourishing, beautiful gardens of Moscow, and bivouac'd in orange-woods, which they afterwards set fire to.-The masons and carpenters intended to build, were obliged to work at the mines, which were to blow up the old and venerable walls of the Kremlin: thus was the original intention for which these mechanics and artists had been destined reversed: nor less wonderful was the change in the fate of the whole army, and the plans of its great commander, so that the result of this campaign may be very justly called a reverse; and it was, perhaps, under the impression of a pre-sentiment of such a finale to the campaign, that Marshal Berthier expressed himself in the following words to the King of Westphalia, in a letter of the 4th of July (New Style)." As you, Sire, underVOL II.

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