The Statesman.
London, England, 1813-08-23 00:00:00

•1

Marshal goyim, by whose Lord WILLINGTON iI
pots opposed, W 0813411414 one of the best Officers
In the service of NAeouton. He is, (mill to be par.
tic,,:aoy di:diminished • for greet pers'onal bravery
sod 1110)1,1 Isdttl perseverance. To defeat such a man
is no small praise. The struggle with him, however,
Is only just commenced, and its fierce onset threatens
a to.irful and sanguinary contest. In the late eo-
glirroeuts, the English ajtd Portuguese have had
oe •rly 7000 killed and wounded ; the Spanish loss
is net given. Suppose it, however, to have equalled
that of the Portuguese, and add to it the loss
at St. Sebastiayes, the aggregate will certainly
teach len thonsand !—There are generally two
or three omissions in Lord WELLtstavon's Dias
patches, which very much lessen the interest they
naturally excite. He rarely states the force of the.
enemy by whom he is opposed—the strength of Ms
own army—and the probable amount of killed,
wounded, and taken, on the side of the French.—
These are matters of great importance ; for without
a knowledge of them, it is hardly possible to fix the
degree of merit due to each Commander and army.
Marshal Sousir commanded at the close of last war
the army that occupied the Neapolitan States. He
an officer of great ability, and attached to the new
dynasty. His appearance is majestic—he is tall and
stout. with a grave and stern air. lie differs from
ti.e generality of h;s conntrymen in being very
t;:c turn, and in never laughing. his disposition,
however, is mild, and he is much liked by his officers.
lie married a German Lady, and at that time had no
children. His Lady was a jolly roond rubicund
dame, extremely good-natured and pleasant in her
manner. NAPOLEON had at that time made himself
First Consul, and the officers in Sour.v's army (lid
not hesitate to talk very disrespectfully of him,
though not in presence of the General. Sovur ex-
pressed the highest admiration of this country, and,
in the hearing of the writer of this paragraph, anti-
cipated the pleasure he would derive from a visit
to it.

General REY, who now commands at St. Sebas-i
tian. was a Monk before the Revolution. When
that broke out, he threw off his Order, and enlisted
as a c .mnrui soldier. Ile soon distinguished him- .
self t!s- his jacobinical orations at the clubs ; and in
consespenre of his violent conduct, he was soon pro-
moted to the rank of General of Brigade. lie
was employed in La Vendee, under TIIURREAU,
and made himself conspicuous by wearing the Pars
of the Royalists pinned to his coat, and in the loops
of his hat, as may be seen in the account given in the
Moniteur of THURNEACS trial. In 1795, he cams ;
mantled the army on the coast near Brest; and his i
cruelties there were of such a description, that
even Home, under whose command he was, com-
plained of his conduct to the thee Goverment of,
France. In 1796, he was appointed to a command
in the army of Italy; in 1797, in that of the Rhine;
and, on BONAPARTE'S return from Egyt, again in
the army of Italy. After the general peace, in
1802, REY was sent to America as Consul General,
and resided at New York, whilst General
BEAU was sent to America as Ambassador. In 1808,
Rew returned to Europe. and was appointed to a
command in the army in Spain. In 1809, he was
sent with the forces which acted against Austria;
auditors hewn since 'hen constantly employed in tipain.
DitEtDFUL ACCIDENT IN SWITZERLAND.—By the
overiloe ing of the river Birse, at Dornach, canton of
Soleure—attended by three strangely consecutive and
correlative accidents—upwards of 150 persons pe-
rished last month. The following relation of this
wielapclioly event is copied from the Aschuffenburgh
Gazette:—

46 On the 13th of July, the river Birse, swelled by
the rains, overflowed its channel, and undermined Vie
foundation of a house, the proprietor of which called
for assis'ance. The alarm bell was rung, and a num-
ber of persons ran to assist the inhabitants in saving
their effects. While employed in this humane office,
the house and an adjoining wall fell, and buried 12
persons in the ruins.

•• Near this house and the bridge over the river,
was situated an ancient tower, which served as a pri-
son, and in which were detained three men, who,
perceiving the waters gushing out from the ground
beneath their feet, entreated loudly to be released
from their perilous state. The gaoler, who had been
long deaf to their prayers, persuaded that this tower,
which had stood so many ages, would resist yet the
violence of the waters, resolved at last to go and
assure them that their fears were groundless ; but
found it no easy task to pacify them ; and he was
still Plunged in conversation when the tower, with a
tremendous crash, fell upon the bridge, and he was
killed. along with one of the prisoners.—Thecalainity
did not end here.

" The alarm bell had attracted to the bridge a great
number of persons of both sexes : the ruins of the
tower fell upon the bridge, broke it in the centre, and
all those upon it, were precipitated into the torrent,
and many were drowned. The two prisoners with
difficulty gained the bank r one or them, who had
been committed on suspicion of robbery, gave a noble
proof of humanity; perceiving a young female whose
clothes kept her buoyant, struggling in the water, he
threw himself again into the midst of danger, and
succeeded in saving her.
64 The next day, on the 14th, upwards of 3000
persons went from Basle to Dornach. They found
laid out in the church twenty-eight bodies, which
bad been taken from the river between Dornach and
Arlesheim. About six4ty persons from Basle, fifty
from Dornach, and forty from its environs are still
missing. It is known that they were upon the bridge
at the time of the catastrophe, and it is believed that
they have perished.
" Among the sufferers are the two daughters of
the Mayor of Dornach, the eldest only fifteen years
of age; their bodies presented a singular and affect-
ing spectacle; they were locked in each other's arms;
in the water each had affectionately attempted to save
the other's life ; the effort proved fatal, and both
perished—giving and receiving a last embrace! A
mother and a daughter were found in the same posi-
tion—united even in the arms of death. A third
daughter of the Mayor of Dornach owed her pre-
servation to the intrepidity of the porter of the con.
%Pot at Dornach, who, after drawing four other per-
sons from the river, was desirous of saving a fifth ;
but perished himself, the victim of hit generous endea-
yours! Ills last words were, I hare done my duty
en. I
die happy.'
9