point, he very soon came to an eclaircissement. The magistrate made an exorbitant demand; W said it was useless for him to go to the prisoners with such terms, and, as he knew exactly the state of their finances, he could at once mention what they had to give, and therefore the utmost he could expect. This sum was fifty pieces. He refused to comply for less than a hundred. In answer to this, W-desired him to consider, that if he delayed his determination he might lose his prize altogether, for that great interest was making at Vienna for the release of the prisoners, which he had no doubt would succeed, as, amongst others, the English and American ambassadors had exerted themselves in their favour. This upright magistrate at last yielded to the impulse of avarice, and agreed that, if the prisoners would send him the money before they left the prison, they should be released the next day. To this he answered, that they were so distrustful of all about them, that he was certain they would rather await the result of the petition at Vienna, than part with their little stock of money at an uncertainty, but added, that he himself would become their security, and be answerable to him for the money in case they did not pay it. To this he agreed, and W– was authorised to negociate with the prisoners. All matters being soon settled, the term of their imprisonment was first; fixed at fourteen years, then shortened to seven, soon after to one, then to a month, and lastly to a week; at the expiration of which they were released from prison. They immediately repaired to the house of the

magistrate to return him thanks for the many indulgences he had allowed them, and upon shaking hands with him at parting, the stipulated sum was put into his hands. It is not to be supposed they made a long stay at Olmutz; no longer than was necessary to pour out their grateful acknowledgements to the Russian nobleman, and, above all, to the nobleminded, generous W, to whose kindness they owed all the comforts they had experienced in prison, and to whose friendly and humane exertions they were ultimately indebted for their liberation. M. de la Fayette, the unfortunate cause of their distresses, remained in confinement till the close of the year 1797, when, upon a peace taking place between Austria and France, he was released at the request of the French General Buonaparte.

Since the above was written, a letter has been received by Mr Huger from M. de La Fayette, of which the following is a translation, which forms a very proper supplement to the above account. *

"MY DEAR HUGER,-Here is the friend whom you had so generously undertaken, so humanely attempted to rescue from captivity, and whose panting heart, at the moment of our restoration to liberty and life, hastens to offer you the tribute of an inexpressible and boundless gratitude. What you have done for me, the manner in which you have done it, bind me to you by everlasting ties of admiration and love; your sufferings, and your dangers, supported with so much fortitude and intrepidity of soul, did not find in me a steadiness

equal to yours; and amidst the horrors of an anxiety, which it had been forbidden to alleviate, I was, from the day of your confinement to that of your delivery, so cruelly tortured, that I very nearly came to the point of losing my life; it was probably saved by the blessed news of your having been set at liberty, which I had the good fortune to hear in spite of the infamous orders to prevent me. In vain would I endeavour to describe what I felt at the happy intelligence. How barbarously they have treated you, my admirable friend! I am much afraid your sufferings during that period may have had an effect upon your health; I entreat you to let me hear all the particulars of your welfare, for which I feel so deeply interested. I wish I might be allowed to talk over with you many details of our enterprise, and with heartfelt admiration and gratitude acknowledge the generous, gallant, and self-forgetting part you had in it. To get away before I saw you on horseback was impossible, nor could I help returning towards you, when, by your not coming up, I suspected an accident. I then thought, that while I had turned back in search of you, you had gone forwards, and although it would have been better for me to have been out of the Austrian dominions, in order to exchange myself for my former captive deliverers, yet, had I known your fate, I should not have been able to proceed farther, and when I did know it, I could not regret my being retaken. You know that, after twelve months from that time, my wife and daughters became the partners of my captivity; by them I had the consolation to hear of you. They supposed that there could be no objection to their writing to you

from Olmutz, and I hoped that the homage of my gratitude could be through them offered to you and Balman; how great this disappointment was I need not tell you, as you have probably heard that the only lines from the mother to her son, which she hazarded to join to a receipt to the American consul, were stopped at Vienna and sent back to her. My two friends, Latour Maubourg and Puzy, entreat me to present you with the tributes of affection and respect, which to the last moment of their lives their hearts will be happy and proud to pay you.

"It was on the 19th of September, five months after the cessation of hostilities, that we were set at liberty.

It had been demanded by France the first day of the conferences at Recolin, and promises were made but not executed; to repeated applications repeated evasions were opposed. At last Louis Rouing, formerly my aid-de-camp, was sent to Vienna by Buonaparte and Clerke, in order to put an end to this delay; and although we lately had refused certain conditions proposed to us, it was agreed we should be conducted to this place, there to be put into American hands, from whom a previous engagement had been insisted upon, to exert their influence to persuade us not to remain more than ten days within the limits of the German empire. But as my wife's health precludes every idea of embarking at this late season of the year, we are going to settle for the winter in the Danish territory, probably in Holstein, which, although a German province, belongs to the King of Denmark, a friend to the French commonwealth, and a very independent power. My health is better than I could have expected; and though I

am as yet weak and emaciated, I shall by and by do very well. My two friends, Puzy in particular, are worse than I am, but will, I hope, soon recruit themselves. Of our servants, one only is in a dangerous way; the others have suffered much, but will soon regain their health. My daughters are pretty well; my wife has for more than fifteen months been in a most deplorable state of health. Fresh air and a little exercise out of the prison might have ensured her life; but these indulgencies were constantly denied. She is emaciated and weak. Her arms have

been a prey to the ravages of disease, the effects of which are now chiefly fixed in her leg, where she has a swelling and painful wound. Fortunately the internal parts have not been affected, except for a short time, and the disease has caused itself to attack the extremities. The doctors have unanimously said, that it would be madness in us to cross the Atlantic until she has a little recovered. We are therefore going to form an hospital in a retired place, and there employ ourselves wholly to refit our constitutions. You see, my dear friend, that I set you the example to be very minute, and I hope you will mention every particular relating to my hero and beloved

benefactor. I need not tell you, that on my emerging from captivity, my joy has been much embittered by the unexpected and affecting accounts of the difference between the United States and the French republic. The particulars are as yet unknown to me. This I certainly do know, that nothing can be more impolitic for both, and that my warmest wishes are to see these disputes amicably settled, which ought never to have taken place. I hope it will be the case; would to God I might be able to contribute to it!

"Adieu, my dear Huger. Present my compliments to all friends in your part of the United States. When can I hope for the delightful pleasure to meet with you again, to talk over the circumstances so honourable to you, so precious to me, of your noble, kind, and admirable conduct, in the most generous attempt that I ever heard of; to express to you at least a part of the veneration and gratitude which your personal character, your magnanimous friendship, your heroic exertions in my behalf, have so highly deserved, and by which I am happy to be for ever bound to you by all the sentiments that can attach the heart of your grateful and affectionate

"LA FAYETTE."

them has been fortunately dissipated by repeated practical experiment. No one for a moment is now tempted to doubt, that, man to man, and regiment to regiment, the French soldiers are, both in a moral and physical point of view, so decidedly inferior to the British, that the ancient romantic proportion of two to one has in some instances scarcely put them upon an equality. Still, however, another part of the charm hovers around us. The general is invested with a double portion of that merit which he formerly divided with his armies, and we now hear of nothing but the commanding genius of Buonaparte, which, supplying all deficiencies, making up for all disasters, conquering all obstacles, gathers victorious laurels on the very fields from which every other general, ancient or modern, must have retired with defeat and dishonour. With this is combined a fearful and inaccurate apprehension, or rather a superstitious terror, of some new.discovered and irresistible system of tactics, devised and acted upon by this irresistible leader. Such opinions, were they generally entertained, would form a bad omen for a nation forced into collision, for all that they hold dear, with the very person of whose irresistible skill in arms such an ineffable idea is held forth. We are not however very apprehensive of this dispiriting creed becoming general among those whose opinion in such subjects is of most consequence, among the victors of Alexandria, Maida, Vimiera, Talavera, Busaco and Barrosa. The doctrine of French invincibility requires no confutation among those who retreated with Moore, or are now advancing with Wellington; nor is it to them that, like the ancient pedant in presence of Alexander, we

presume to read our lecture on the art of war. But we humbly dedicate our few and desultory observations on the French tactics in the field of battle, to every desponding statesman out of place, who seeks the character of wisdom by the presaging notes of a screech-owl, and to all those worthy common-council men and burgesses, throughout the united kingdoms, whose digestion is impaired by reflecting upon the milita ry skill of Buonaparte. When we shall have stripped that skill of all exaggeration, enough will remain for reasonable apprehension, enough to recommend caution, and to discourage presumption on the part of his opponents; but, if our researches have been correct, his system will be found a simple one, neither implying any transcendant genius in the discoverer, nor necessarily conferring upon the general employing it, that decided superiority which has been falsely apprehended.

It is scarcely necessary to say, that our observations only respect the French principle of distributing their forces upon the day of battle. Other advantages, of a great and important nature, arise from the combination of the various corps of their invading armies, maintaining their liaison, or correspondence, by means of the elats-majors, or staff-establishments attached to every division, whose communication with each other, and with the head-quarters of the emperor, is preserved at all risks, and with a consummate degree of accuracy and address. Thus orders are circulated, and combined movements achieved in consequence of these orders, with the same ease and facility through various corps-d'-armée, occupying positions or moving upon Imes of march an hundred