The National Register. — London, England, 1814-12-04 00:00:00

DEC• 4. 806, THE NATIONAL REGISTER._ REVIEW OF LITERATURE. BATTLE OF BERESINA. The following interesting account of some circumstances which occurred in the retreat of Buonapatte, are extracted from Capttain Labaume's Narrative of the Campaign in Bus is of 1812 . " Liadoiu forming part of Lithuania, we thought that it • would have been respected because it belonged to ancient Poland. We departed before day-break the following morn• ing (Nov. 1 9), when, to our great astonishment, we were, • Cs usual, lighted by the .fire of the houses. That conflagra - Con produced one of the most horrible scenes of our whole retreat, and my pen mould refese to recount it, if the recital of our misfot tunes had not for its object, and its moral, to render odious that fatal ambition, which forced the most civilized people to become barbarians in war. 4. Amongst the buildings, which were burning, were three vast barns, filled with soldiers, most of whom were wounded. They • could not get out of the two last, without passing through the first, which was enveloped itt flames. The most active saved themselves by leaping out of the wiaows ; hut the sick and the maimed, unable to move themselves, saw, with horrible consternation, • the flames rapidly advancing to devour them. Ikloved by the cries, with which these nu- Nappy beings rent the air, some, whose hearts were less hardened than others, attempted.to save them. Vain effort ! IBefore we could reach them, they Were mote than half buried under the burning rafters. Eagerly did they cry to their comrades through the whirlwinds of fire, to shotte 11 their sufferings by immediately deintiv ing them of life. It became the painful duty of humanity to comply with their entreaties. Fite upon us, fire upon us, at the head, at the bead; do not hesitate," were the cries which proceeded from every part of the building, nor did they cease, till every wretched victim was coesutued. " We quickly entered into Doubrowna. That town was in a better state of . preservation than any through which we had passed in our journey from Moscow. It had a Polouese sub-preject, and a commandant of the town. The inhabi tants were principally Jews, who procured us a little flour, brandy, and metheghn. They also exchanged the paper money of the soldiers for cash. In fine, astonished at the confidence of these Israelites, and the honesty of our soldiers, who paid for every thing which they took, we thought that plenty was about to revisit us, and that our misfortunes were near their close. Yet we were struggling under accu mulated evils. Bread ! bread I" was the incessant cry of the feeble remains of our once-powerful army. The me chanics of every kind suffered greatly ; also, the commissaries and store keepers, who had been litt!e accustomed to priva tions. But none were more to be pitied than the physicians, and especially the surgeons, who, without hope of advance silent, with oven the certainty of death, exposed themselves, like the conenon soldiers, by &essing theneon the field of battle. ‘V bile we were at Douhrowna, I saw a young sur geon near a house, w hich the soldiers surreueded in et owds, because it was said, that provisions were to be procured there. lie was flanged in the proleundest grief, and, with a wild and auxicus countenance, was eagerly endeavouring to force bis way into the place. But whin he was again and again driven back by the crowd, he exhibited the wildest despair. I ventured to enquire the eau-e. " Ah, captain !" said he, “ am a List man- For two days 1 have had no food, and ascertaining that they sold brci.d in this house, 1 gave the sentinel six feaues to buffer me to enter but, while the bread was yet in the oven, the Jew wou!cl not promiseto supply me, unless I .gave him a louis in advance. I con. sented, but when I came back the sentinal was changed, and I was cruelly repulsed from the door. Ali, Sir i" conti nued he, " I am, indeed, unfortnnate; I have lost all the money that I had in the• world, and am unable to procure a morsel of bread, though I have not tasted a n y for more than a months" "At that moment, Napoleon passed by in a close chariot filled with furs. lie wore likewise a pelisse and bonnet, of sable-skin, which prevented him from feeling the severity of the weather. On the day when we arrived at Doubrowna, he had marched a great part of the way on foot ; and, during that march, he could easily convince himself to what a mi serable state his army was reduced, and how much he had been deceived by the false reports which some generals bad made,, who, knowing how dangerous it was to confess the truth, dA not dare to acquaint him with the real state of things, lest they should incur his displeastire. As he had °Pen experienced the wonderful effects of his discourse on the soldiers, he once more mingled among them, and ad dressing himself to the officers, and fat»iliaily and jestingly to the soldiers, be endeavoured to inspire the one with fear, and the others * with courage. But the time of eiithusiomn was passed, when one word from him would have produced miracles. Ilis tyranny had oppressed and debased us, and, stilling within us cvc:y generous feeling, had de prived him of the only means of re-animating our drooping spiriis. That which mostly affected Napoleon, was to see his old guard equally dispirited and despairing. - Wounded to the very soul, be assembled one party of diem I;ef9re he quitted D.>ubrowna, and, placing himself in the centre of ' l l them, recommended the officers to maintain strict discipline, and reminded them, that they had always been the pride of his army, and that by their bravery, he had often obtained the most splendid victories. But sentiments like these were out of season, and the man, who, destitute of virtue, aspired to the character of a heio, snow too plainly found, that the greatest projects were without glory, yartteularly wheie.they had not some laudable object, and if their execution ap peared beyond the scope of human ability." A numerous meeting of the Middlesex Magistrates was held at the Sessions-house on Thursday, at which the pecu liar situation of he county, arising from the bankruptcy of their• Treasurer, was discussed at great length. Counsel's opinion was produced by Mr. B. Mainwaring's Solicitor, from which there appears reason to hope that the county money, amounting to upwards of 90001. may be saved ; that money not haying, as it is said, been trusted by the Trea . surer in his own banking-house, but lodged with other bankers. Mr. Byng, the Member for the county, after ar guing in the most forcible and convincing manner upon the general queition, stated that hankers, not being dealers, nor exposed to those risks which are necessarily consequent upon all mercantile concerns, were bound. to pay twenty shillin►;s l in the pound ; he felt himself peculiarly called upon to en- . deavour to impress this fact upon his brothor Magistrates, ias many of his constituents were suffering from the failure of this banking-house, which had enjoyed a superior degre• of credit, owing to its apparent connection with the Magi stracy. Mr. Byng then gave notice that he should, at the i next Sessions, however painful the duty might be in his I particular situation, oppose the continuance of the present ! Treasurer in that office ; unless it appeared that not only the county, but all the creditors were paid alike twenty shillings iu the pound.