his force was too inferior in numbers to contend with that of his antagonist, and after a sanguinary struggle he was defeated. He, nevertheless, effected his retreat in good order towards the Rhine. Dissatisfied that their plans were thus rendered abortive, the directory recalled him, and gave the command to Massena, though at the same time they made him inspector-general of infantry. Very soon afterwards they openly attributed to his misconduct, the reverses which had been sustained. In his defence, Jourdan published "A Sketch of the Operations of the Army of the Danube," in which he clearly proved that the whole of the blame belonged to the directory themselves, who had shamefully neglected to provide for and reinforce the French armies.

In May of that year (1799), he was re-elected to the Council of Five Hundred, and he proposed to decree that the country was in danger. Being hostile to the revolution of the 18th of Brumaire, he was excluded from the council, and even for a while ordered to be detained in the department of the Lower Charente. His disgrace, however, was of short duration. In July, 1800, he was named minister extraordinary, and then administrator in Piedmont. He governed that country in a manner which did infinite honour to him. He put an end to the bands of robbers which harassed the people, he caused justice to be strictly done, and he restored order to the finances. So eminent were his services that, sixteen years after they were performed, the restored King of Sardinia sent him his portrait set with diamonds, as a testimony of his esteem. Jourdan was re-called in 1802, and placed in the council of state. In 1803, he was at the head of the army of Italy; and, in 1804, he was created a marshal and grand officer of the legion of honour. After having filled several important commands, he was sent into Spain with Joseph Bonaparte, as his major-general and military councillor. His advice, however, was so little attended to, that disgusted with being considered as responsible for events over which he had no control, he solicited his recal, and obtained it towards the close of 1809. He lived in private till 1812, when Napoleon prevailed on him to return to

Spain in his former capacity. Jourdan reluctantly complied, and the result was, that all the disasters sustained by the French, and particularly the loss of the battle of Vittoria, were attributed to him, though he had no power to prevent, and had repeatedly predicted them. In 1813 he was made governor of the fifteenth military division. On the downfall of Bonaparte, he assented to the return of the Bourbons, and was created a knight of St. Louis. When Napoleon re-assumed the throne, Jourdan seems unwillingly to have acknowledged him; he was nevertheless placed by the emperor in the house of peers, and appointed governor of Besançon. In 1816, he was nominated governor of the the seventh military division, and in 1819 he was again called up to the house of peers.

RETREAT OF BUONAPARTE FROM

KRASNOE.

IN relating the horrible scenes which passed during the burning of Moscow, it became our task to detail the sufferings of an innocent people, the victims of a horde of most refined barbarians. We have now to show how the hand of retributive justice returned these evils on the head of the destroyer of nations; and for this purpose we shall again recur to the faithful narrative of Labaume.

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"Our real misery," says this honest historian of horrors which he beheld, was disguised by an apparent abundance: we had neither bread nor meat, yet our tables were covered with sweetmeats, syrups, and dainties; coffee, and all sorts of wines, served in china, or crystal vases, made it appear that with us luxury was nearly allied to poverty; but at this time we were, comparatively, revelling in plenty. From Moscow we departed to Malo-Jaroslavitz; but this town, where we had once fought, was no longer in existence-we could not distinguish the lines of the streets for the numerous dead bodies with which they were strewed. On all sides we saw nothing but the scattered remains of human forms. The houses formed a pile of ruins, and under these burning ashes appeared skeletons half-consumed. Towards the afternoon, Napoleon having arrived with a numerous suite, calmly

This innocence of blood was partly owing to the defensive armour used by the Italian armies, which made war to be conducted at very little personal hazard to the soldier; but still more to the rapacity of the companions of adventure, who, in expectation of enriching themselves by the ransom of prisoners, were anxious to save their lives. Much of the humanity of modern warfare was due to this motive; but it was rendered more practicable by the nature of their arms. For once, and for once only, in the history of mankind, the art of defence had outstripped that of destruction. In a charge of lancers many fell, unhorsed by the shock, and might be suffocated or bruised to death by the pressure of their own armour; but the lancer's point could not penetrate the breastplate; the sword fell harmless upon the helmet. The conqueror, in the first impulse of passion, could not assail any vital part of a prostrate, but unexposed enemy. Still less was to be dreaded from the archers, or cross-bowmen, who composed a large part of the infantry.

The bow was a peculiarly English weapon, and none of the other principal nations adopted it so generally or so successfully. The cross-bow, which brought the strong and the weak to a level, was more in favour on the continent. This instrument is said by some writers to have been introduced after the first crusade, in the reign of Louis le Gros; but if we may trust William of Poitou, it was employed, as well as the long-bow, at the battle of Hastings. Several of the popes prohibited it is a treacherous weapon; and the restriction was so far regarded, that, in the time of Philip-Augustus, its use is said to have been unknown in France. By degrees it became more general, and cross-bowmen were considered as a very necessary

Many disadvantages attended the security against wounds, for which this armour had been devised; the enormous weight exhausted the force and crippled the limbs. It rendered the heat of a southern climate insupportable; and in some cases it increased the danger of death, as in the passage of a river or morass. It was impossible to compel an enemy to fight, because the least entrenchment or natural obstacle could stop such unwieldly assailants. The troops might be kept in constant alarm at night, either compelled to sleep under arms, or run the risk of being surprised before they could rivet their plates of steel. Neither the Italians, however, nor the Transalpines, would surrender a mode of defence which they ought to have deemed inglorious; but in order to obviate some of its military inconveniences, it became usual for the cavalry to dismount, and leaving their horses at some distance, to combat on foot with the lance. This practice, which must have been singularly embarrassing with the plate armour of the fifteenth century, was introduced before it became so ponderous.

The invention of gunpowder, and its use in war, rendered wars more destructive than those of the Italians; but certainly less so than when the pike, the battle-axe, and the bow, were the only weapons in use, and men were unincumbered with the defensive armour of the Italians. It was in the first part of the fourteenth century that cannon, or rather mortars, were invented, and the applicability of gunpowder to the purposes of war was understood. The invention of the musket soon followed, but it did little execution; and uncombined with the admirable invention of the bayonet, could not in any degree resist a charge of cavalry.

The pike had a great tendency to subvert the military system of the middle ages, and to demonstrate the efficiency of disciplined infantry. Two free nations had already discomfited, by the

help of such infantry, those arrogant knights on whom the fate of battles depended-the Bohemians, instructed in the art of war by their great master, Zisca; and the Swiss, who, after winning their independence, inch by inch, from the house of Austria, had lately established their renown by a splendid victory over Charles of Burgundy; and although their foot and infantry were not decidedly established until the Milanese wars of Louis XII. and Francis I. in the sixteenth century, yet the last years of the middle age indicated the commencement of that military revolution, in the general employment of pikemen and musketeers.

SELF MUTILATION.

THE day that we entered this village (Hasparin) one of our men cut off his right hand, under circumstances worth relating. For some time previous to this he had been in low spirits, troubled with what some people call religious melancholy, but which at that time was no very prevalent disease in the army. He scarcely ever spoke to any one, and was in the habit of wandering out from the encampment, with his Bible in his pocket, and seating himself in some place where he was not likely to be disturbed, he would sit for hours poring over it. While in Ustaritz, he conceived some ill-will against the landlord of the house where he was quartered, and very unceremoniously knocked him down. Being confined for this offence, he remained a prisoner when he entered Hasparin. On the guard being placed in a house, he sat down, and, having taken out his Bible, he commenced, in his usual way, to read it. But suddenly rising, he laid the book down, and going over to a man who was chopping wood with a hatchet, he asked the loan of it for a few minutes. When the man gave it to him he walked very deliberately into an inner apartment, and placing his right hand on the cill of the window, he severed it at the wrist. The first two strokes that he made did not finish the business, and he had nerve enough not only to repeat it a third time, but afterwards to wrench the lacerated integument asunder, and throw the hand into the court below. He had

been observed by some of the men at a window opposite, but too late to prevent the deed. The man, on being questioned as to his motive in thus mutilating himself, replied, "That he had only done what the Lord commanded, in a passage he had been reading—' If thy right hand offend thee, cut it off and cast it from thee,' &c.-which injunction he had literally fulfilled, as his right hand offended him by knocking down his landlord." This was the only reason he ever assigned. As he went to the rear some time after, and did not join the regiment again, I had never an opportunity of learning whether this skilful operation proved successful.

PLAYING AT BALL.

WHILE advancing upon one of some temporary defences, a French soldier, through some cause, was rather tardy in retreating, and our men were close upon him before he started out of the ditch. His comrades had by this time lined the fence further on, and being a remarkable object, a number of our skirmishers directed their fire against him; but he did not seem much incommoded, for after running a few paces he turned about and fired at his pursuers, and reloading his piece, continued this running fire for fome distance. His daring conduct having attracted the attention of all, a great number joined to bring the poor fellow down, and the shot was flying about him in every direction, but he seemed invulnerable. At length coming near to where his own party was under cover, he walked up to the edge of the embankment, and after firing at the party who was in his rear, he clapped his hand very contemptuously on his breech, and jumped down into the ditch.

A GOOD PARAPHRASE.

On the eve of a battle, an officer came to ask permission of the Marechal de Toiras to go and see his father, who was on his death-bed. "Go," said the general, smiling sarcastically, "honour your father and mother, that your days may be long in the land."

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