My arrival in the second capital of the Czars was signalized by a succession of military triumphs, such as there is no example of in the annals of the world. The intrepidity alone of my troops was sufficient to prepare me for rèverses. I was obliged to seize the bridle of the horses and the collar of the foot soldier, in order to prevent them from advancing. I decimated forty-five Chasseurs for having sabred, without orders, a squadron of the Russian Imperial Guard. It was a real outrage of valour and intrepidity against an enemy, who on their side, fought well; this is a justice which I must render to the Russians.

Certain political frequenters of public places, have purposely condemned my expedition to Russia. Poor ignorauts! who cannot perceive, that at Moscow, the destinies of the world were at stake. It was doing a great deal to have engaged in so great a work for the interests of other men. Had I conquered, the ancient manner of governing nations would have been for ever annihilated, the universe would have taken another form; had I failed, the sovereigns would again find themselves in a situation to govern the people as in times past, provided at all times that the people did not decide to brave the bayonets of the sovereigns. It was the ancient régime in presence of the new. The elements have decided in favour of the former.

Fortune commanded me to die by the side of my soldiers in retreat; but honour and the urgency of saving the empire from total ruin, made it imperative on me to return instantly to Paris, where I arrived only in time to intimidate the traitors, who a short time after, opened the gates of the capital to the allies.

Had I been killed in the retreat from Moscow, the Bourbons would not have reigned in France.

My name would have been wanting in the army; that, perhaps was of some consequence; but would have decided nothing, because there would have succeeded me, a number of good captains brought up under my own eye, and capable of rivalling the best generals of the enemy, who at that time were few in number.

In this state of things and at that epoch, the Bourbons had not even a ray of hope. Some factions might have for a moment troubled the interior; but the Empress Regent and my son were

t

there:

twenty-four hours would have sufficed them to crush the factions, as the army and four-fifths of the nation were devoted to my son. The Empress had still the resource of restoring Italy to her father, who for this consideration, would have risen up against the enemies of his grandson. The interests of Austria were, at that time, different from what they became two years later.

The losses which we had sustained in Russia, were soon almost entirely. repaired. The sacrifices of the nation had been worthy of itself. In the month of February I was again formidable in the heart of Germany. There, without doubt, I would have re-gained my first superiority, had all my enemies been on the field of battle. Unfortunately I had left some at Paris, who being the less conspicuous, were on that account only the more dangerous. England, which in order to consummate my ruin, would have sought out adversaries even in the bowels of the earth, had traitors in her pay in the first constituted bodies of the empire. I perceived this when I was in the presence of the Legislative Assembly.

One of them, seated on bags of English guineas, attacking me in the abuse of his power, dared to point me out to the reproaches of the nation. This man well merited a dungeon: even had his intentions been good, the moment chosen to proclaim them was sufficient to have rendered him culpable in the eyes of his sovereign.

Suppose even that my actions had been in a sense contrary to the constitutions which I had sworn to defend, was the moment in which I was about to present myself before the armies of Europe, the time to publish to the world that I possessed neither the entire esteem of the nation, nor its entire confidence? I appeal to the most indulgent policy, what sovereign would not have called upon the tribunals to pronounce sentence on such a crime? Had I commanded justice to have been exercised towards this traitor, and five or six others who were no better, the Cossacks never would have encamped in the Thuilleries. Every act of misplaced indulgence is generally more dangerous than a political homicide.

pital, and in some other great cities of the empire. Soon afterwards false reports and alarming intelligence were circulated among all classes. This state of affairs placed me between two lines of almost insurmountable dangers, those of the interior and those from without. The affair of Leipsic and our retreat on the Rhine, put the finishing stroke to our misfortunes.

France was invaded; affairs however were not yet desperate, and the soil of France would have become the grave of the allied armies, had the French of 1814, been only the French of 1812! But treason had provided for all. Parties were formed under the influence of several chiefs: irresolution and inquietude passed from the citizens into the administration; from thence a homicidal indolence in the supplies of the armies, and effeminacy in the mayors and prefects in the recruiting of them. The government, overcome with stupour, knew not what it did, nor what it had to do; the army alone well performed its duty. These platoons of warriors, whose valour and patience were a prodigy, were at that time struggling against a million of men!

The campaign of 1814 was a masterpiece of the kind: any other general, less broken down than I was, could have made as well as myself, an immortal campaign of it. Could it be otherwise with soldiers who valued neither the number of their enemies, nor fatigue, hunger, reverses, nor even death itself?

Those men are much mistaken who believe that I rejected terms of peace at Chatillon, out of pure obstinacy. I had but too powerful motives for refusing them. Dispatches, seized three months before at Missenheim in the Hunds-Ruck, had informed me of the measure of outrages reserved for me, if after having once submitted to the yoke, I should not have sufficient force to struggle against one of the three northern powers, which England would have protected with its gold.

I was conqueror of Europe during fifteen years, ten of which I had the honour to sway the sceptre of a great nation, and my consort was the daughter of kings. Was it with all these titles that I could accept of disgrace and infamy?

And the allies also had their reasons for offering me peace at Chatillon. The more they advanced into France, the more they feared they would not be

able to get out of it. The fate of my troops in Spain alarmed them in such a way that they marched tremblingly and with the greatest precautions. In that they followed the instructions of Bernadotte, which, had they always been constantly followed, would have given me time to annihilate the allied army. Not that the counsels of Bernadotte were foolish, but they were out of season, as the French were no longer what they had been. I shall give an extract of these very instructions.

"Prudence and moderation ought, as much as force, to direct the operations of the allied Sovereigns on the French territory. Care must be taken not to exasperate the inhabitants. Although not subject to acts of desperation, yet, if in consequence of bad treatment they are reduced to it, the armies of their Majesties will have much to suffer. If the enemies, which Napoleon has in the interior, do not take advantage of circumstances to alienate from him the hearts of the people, it is not · join him. However few in number may unlikely that numerous battalions will be the army under his command, the allied sovereigns will not forget to keep themselves on their guard against the boldness and the desperation of his manœuvres.”Extract from the Note remitted by Bernadotte, Crown Prince of Sweden, to their Majesties the Allied Sovereigns, the 15th of December, 1813.

In offering me terms of peace at Chatillon, the allies being uncertain of their ground, had no other object in view but to postpone their intentions for a year, in order to have more time for reflection, and then to return to complete my ruin. I knew their intentions and wished to defeat them; the more so, as I had yet the means of doing so with honour. In fact, although it has been obstinately denied, I was on the eve of giving to the world the spectacle of a single power, annihilating on its own territory, all the armies of Europe. I had succeeded, by manœuvres which military men can alone appreciate, in turning the positions of the allies: a few days later and their communications would have been intercepted; all the garrisons of the north were to receive intelligence of the day and the hour for a general movement to co-operate in such a way with my principal manoeuvre, that it

would have been a miracle for the allies to have escaped: add to this, that a great movement was to have been effected in a part of Champagne and of Lorraine, a movement which, in the

position

position in which the enemy would have found themselves, would have been worth an army to me.

Will it now be credited that the man who had combined and arranged all the parts of this great manoeuvre, should have been prevented entirely from seeing the execution of it by his own fault? This fact however is established by evidence.

Without any political necessity, but solely to tranquillize the empress, I dispatched a courier to her with a detailed plan of all the operations which I was about to put in force. Unfortunately this courier fell into the hands of the enemy, and with him all my dispatches. This misfortune cost me a throne!

We now hasten to close this interesting volume by a few extracts under the head of "Waterloo."

I began the campaign by successes; the inconceivable battle of Waterloo destroyed all, except what was not permitted to mortals to deprive me of, viz: the great actions of my brilliant

career.

Were I not an enemy to fatalism, I should believe that Waterloo was written from all eternity to the advantage of the English and the Prussians. We commenced the battle like warriors accustomed to conquer, but one half of our army terminated it like militia, who stood fire for the first time. Were I to live for ages, when speaking of Waterloo, I should never alter my opinion.

Wellington in that day, passed from one extremity to the other. He had posted his army in such a manner as to have rendered it liable to have been cut to pieces even to the last seldier. Marshal Ney who immediately perceived it, told me, that probably the English general had betted in London,

that he should be defeated at Mont St. Jean. However, the Prussians came up and circumstances were no longer the same. The allies gained a complete victory. In point of easy glory the English general was fully gratified. He was indebted to the Prussians for his commission of a "great captain;" and it only remains for him to prove his title to it. I ought to have the more credit for what I say in this respect, as I always took pleasure in rendering justice to those generals who fought against

me.

It only remains for me to make a declaration to my age and to posterity, and one which I do with the most heartfelt pleasure.

If I have displayed in misfortune a rare firmness, a constancy superior to the evil intentions of my oppressors, these great qualities are not entirely owing to the force of my mind: but friendship comes in for its share in the stoicism of which I have given proof!

Bertrand, the Montholons, Las-Casas, Gourgaud, Marchand, and in fine, generally all those who followed me to the rock of exile, what have they not done in order to render my residence more supportable ? What have they not imagined to extend over my misfortunes the veil of hope? They did not always abuse my patience; but from time to time, I took delight in the sweet illusions which they created. These were so many happy moments snatched from the mass of my sorrows. Who will recompence these heroes of fidelity? Mankind? I doubt it. My consort or my son? Will the power be left them? It is then to HIM who governs the universe, to whom I bequeath this sacred duty: if HE be what I love to believe, the incomparable devotion of my generous friends will receive an incomparable reward.

To GEORGE SHOOBRIDGE, of Houndsditch, and WILLIAM SHOOBRIDGE, of Marden, Kent, for a Substitute for Flax, or Hemp, and for Manufacturing the same.-Feb. 1820.

TH

HE substitute for flax or hemp here proposed, is the fibrous substance which nature produces between the pith or core, and the outer bark or rind of the hop-bind, and the said fibrous substance is separated from the said pith or core, and from the said bark

or rind, and is manufactured or made fit for the purposes to which flax or hemp are applied, in the following

manner:

First, We take the hop-binds in their green state immediately after the hops have been gathered, and we cut them into lengths of about four feet (or more or less,) and when so cut into lengths, we tie them up in bundles of any size convenient to be handled, and not too large for the depth of the water into

which they are to be immersed, as hereafter described. The sooner this is done after the hops are gathered the better, as the difficulty of afterwards separating the fibrous part is increased if the hop-binds be suffered to dry before the process commences.

Second, The said bundles, without suffering them to dry, are to be immersed in hot or boiling water in vessels of sufficient capacity, and kept in hot or boiling water till, on the trial, the fibrous or flaxy part is found to separate easily from the pith or core; or, which is a more economical method than that which we usually follow, the said bundles of hop-binds, cut into lengths as aforesaid, are immersed in running or in standing water, the softer the water is the better it answers, and are kept under the same by stones or weights laid npon them till, on trial, it was found that the fibrous or flaxy part can be easily stripped from the pith or core. This is seldom effected in less than eight days, and sometimes it requires two or three weeks, according as the hops have been suffered to remain ungathered for a longer or shorter time by favourable or unfavourable weather, and depending also on the quality of the water in which the bundles are kept immersed.

Third, When the steeped hop-binds are found ready for the process, the fibrous or flaxy substance is, along with the outer bark or rind, separated from the pith or core in the following manner: posts or benches, of heights convenient for the men, women, and children employed, are provided; into these are driven iron nails in pairs, or pieces of iron in pairs, presenting angular edges in such a manner, that the tops of the said nails or pieces of iron shall stand a few inches above the posts or benches in which they are fastened, and be close at the bottom, and a little open at the top of each pair. To these pairs of nails, or of pieces of iron, we give the name of strippers, and they are used as follows: the work people take the pieces of hop-bind by one end, one or two pieces at a time, and, placing them in the strippers, which they enter to a greater or less depth, according to their respective sizes or diameters, the work-people draw them through the strippers more or less often, till the fibre and bark is stripped from the pith or core, drawn up in balls or lumps at the back of the strippers.

Fourth, The said balls or lumps of

fibre and bark are taken off from the back of the strippers as quickly as they are produced, by women or children, whose business it is to draw them out again into length with their fingers, and to lay them down, in order that they may, when dried as hereafter directed, be in a fit state for the subsequent manipulations.

Fifth, When the fibre and bark have been disentangled from the lumpy state in which they are found at the back of the strippers, and brought into longi-, tudinal arrangement, they should be taken up in convenient handfuls and rinced in water, to separate, as much as can in this way be separated, of the vegetable gluten or mucilage which adheres to the fibre.

Sixth, The fibrous or flaxy material thus separated from the pith or core, and rinced or washed as has been directed, is to be spread out to dry in the sun and air, or, if the weather be unfavourable, on hurdles or any kind of shelves made under sheds, or it may be dried by stoves or on kilns. The sooner this is done the better.

Seventh, When thoroughly dry, the fibrous material is beaten by the hand with mallets, batons, or rods, or any other means, for the purpose of breaking and reducing the bark or rind that still adheres to it, to a state of powder; a great part of which may then be shaken from the flaxy fibre, which is then to be dressed by hackling, or all or any of the usual means employed to dress and prepare hemp or flax, for the different purposes of manufacture.

Eighth, When we wish to obtain the fibrous substance in its longest state, which is more useful for some purposes of manufacture; then, instead of drawing the steeped hop-binds through the strippers as before directed, we cause the work-people to peel off by hand the fibrous substance with its rind, which is then to be dried, and afterwards beaten and dressed as before directed. To WILLIAM ANNESLY, of Belfast, for Improvements in the construction of Ships' Boats and other Vessels.June, 1821.

The improvement in constructing ships' boats and other vessels consists in making the hull of the same of three or more layers of planks, the direction of the grain of the alternate layers proceeding from bow to stern, and that of the intermediate layer passing from one gunwale around and under the vessel to the other gunwale without being cut

or

or separated by the keel, the whole of the planks being well pinned, trenailed, or bolted together, without frame timbers, beams, knees, breast-hooks, or stern. The thickness and number of layers of planks must depend upon the strength required for the tonnage of the vessel, and the service in which she is intended to be employed.

The next improvement consists in making the keel in three thicknesses; the middle, called the core of the keel, being of timber keyed together, and ly ing horizontally fore and aft, which is to be cased with planks placed vertically on each side crossing the core, together with a horizontal plank under the whole, called the sole, for the purpose of protecting the ends of the cross planking.

The third part of the improvement consists in producing, from a given model on a small scale, a set of temporary frames, or moulds, for the purpose of giving to the hulk of the vessel the same figure and relative proportion as the model. To effect this object a model is made out of a solid piece of soft wood to the shape required, according to the service for which the vessel is intended, upon a scale of not less than a quarter of an inch to a foot; to this are affixed a keel and cutwater, in such a manner as to be capable of being detached from the hull. This model is then cut through at right angles to the keel, in as many places as the builder intends to provide temporary frames for giving the layers of planking their proper support and figure, while building the vessel.

In the third course it is proposed to lay sheathing-paper dipped in tar, the joints being slightly caulked. The fourth course is also to he covered with sheathing fastened by wooden pegs, so that no iron may be in the way of the augur; and the whole of the work may be payed over with hot stuff and the paper put on instantly, so as to adhere without pegs and shew a fair surface to the last course, by which moisture will be effectually resisted, and a considerable expense saved. A composition of quick lime and linseed oil made fine, should be well pressed into the seams each course, and a very thin coat laid over the last planking, would tend to preserve the wood from decay and secure it from damp; or white lead and oil in some cases may be preferred in laying on the wales, bends, mouldings, &c.

To CHARLES PHILLIPS, of Albemarle Street, London, for Improvements in the Apparatas for propelling Vessels; and an Improvement in the construction of Vessels so propelled. -July, 1821.

This invention consists in a method of propelling vessels on water by means of paddle-wheels which revolve horizontally. It includes also a method of constructing and applying moveable paddles, which are made to descend into the water at that point of the wheel's revolution where the paddle is to be brought into the action of rowing, and to ascend again out of the water when the full effective stroke is given. It is proposed to enclose between decks, all but the paddles in immediate operation; by which contrivance, it is conceived, that vessels may be propelled in high or rolling seas with greater effect, and will hence, be more safe and generally suitable,

LIST OF PATENTS FOR NEW INVENTIONS.

To James Gardner, of Banbury, ironmonger, for his machine preparatory to melting, in the manufacture of tallow, soap, and candles, and which machine may be used for other similar purposes.

To John Bates, of Bradford, machinemaker, for certain machinery for the purpose of feeding furnaces of every description, steam engines, and other boilers, with coal, coke, and fuel of every kind.

To William Westley Richards, of Birmingham, gun-maker, for his improvement in the

construction of gun and pistol locks.

To William Penrose, of Sturmmorgangs, Yorkshire, miller, for his various improvements in the machinery for propelling vessels, and in vessels so propelled.

To Edward Bowles Symes, of Lincoln's Inn, esq. for his expanding hydrostatic piston to resist the pressure of certain fluids, and slide easily in an imperfect cylinder.

To Joseph Grout, of Gutter-lane, Cheap

side, London, crape manufacturer, for his new

manufacture of crape, which he conceives will be of great public utility.

To Neil Arnott, M.D. of Bedford-square, for his improvements connected with the production and agency of heat in furnaces, steam and air engines, distilling, evaporating, and brewing apparatus.

To Richard Macnamara, of Canterburybuildings, Lambeth, esq. for his improvement in paving, pitching, and covering streets, roads, and other places.

To John Collinge, of Lambeth, Surrey, engineer, for his improvements on hinges, which he conceives will be of public utility.

To Henry Robinson Palmer, of Hackney, civil engineer, for his improvements in the construction of railways, or trainroads, and of the carriage or carriages. VARIETIES,