The National Register.
London, England, 1813-05-09 00:00:00

248

likely, therefore,. that he will join them sincerely. If by an
appearance of neutrality, he could detain them in his ter-
ritories, until they should be partly turned by the French,
when by suddenly reiuming the offensive, he might surround
them completely, be knows he would be amply rewarded by
NAPOL LON. It is true that he belongs to the ancient houses
of Europe, whose chief patrimony should be strict integrity
and honour : but a Prince,who has accepted the Crown from
the hands of an usurper, has already sacrificed both. Ho-
sour has no e:asticity ; it does not bend, it breaks.
We are now come to the present state of the campaign.
NAPOLEON who left Mentz, on the 24th ult. is at the head of
his armies. The loss of their veteran strength, -he has
replaced by new levies, whom he has disciplined with the
aid of the regulars left in France and Italy, during his late
disastrous campaign, and of about 23,000 officers, serjeants,
and privates, whom he has drawn from Spain, and in
whose stead he has substituted 80,000 conscripts.--41is
cavalry, in particular, is almost entirely new, and as he
cannot rely on its effectiveness in the field, be moves in
large masses, supporting each other, which by their strength
and their positions, render any partial attack impossible,.,
and reduce the Alties to the necessity, either of fighting a
general battle against superior numbers, or of adopting the
retreating system, and falling back on their reinforcements.
The three conscriptions which he has called out in the short
space of fire months, have given him a deckled numerical
superiority, and his reported junction with BEAUH AFt SOTS
army, which the Allies found too strongly posted on the
left bank of the Saale to be dislodged or forced to fight se-
parately, has so far increased it, that the Russian and Prus-
sian corps, which had, a short time since, extended as
far as Erfurth, Weymar, Gotha, Cassel, and Altenburgh
have abandoned those positions. The French continuing
to press forward with an accumulating force, through Wey-
rnar, Erfurth, Coburg, towards the Upper Elbe, the allies,
by the last accounts seem to have retreated towards that river,
with the intention of crossing to the right bank, and defending
the country that lies between it and the Oder. Their head-
quarters were last, at Quartz, a town in Saxony. The French
were complete masters of Hanover,. and the whole territory,
on the left bank of the lower Elbe. They occupied Har-
bnrg, opposite Ilambnrgh, which up to the 30th ult. they
had not yet attacked. Some apprehensions have been thrown
rut, lest the allies should retire beyond the Oder, as it would
leave Prussia and the Hanse towus at the mercy of the French.
But however hard the situation of the people might be in
that case, if by falling back across the Oder, the allies can
join the reinforcements they have on the Vistula, before they
have been compelled to risk the fate of the world in a gene-
ral engagement, at time hour of their inferiority, they might
then resume the offensive with increased effect, and emulate
the glories of the last campaign'. Their retreat, therefore,
ought to be considered, as a pledge of the prudence and
wisdom. that direct all their plans, and not the signal for
apprehension and despondency.