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nate and prolonged assault upon Hougoumont , disquieted by the gathering force of tlie Prussians , Napoleon turned his efforts from the left to the centre of the British line . He carried La Haye Sainte ; but not until its defenders had exhausted every cartridge ( a fact which , in speaking of the « flight ' of Major Baring , Colonel Charras leaves unnoticed ) , and he followed it up by the first of those magnificent cavalry attacks , which , brilliant as they were , made no substantial impression on the British infantry . Hurtling in vain against the squares , but never charging home , the French horsemen were assailed in turn , and driven off , by the wreck of the British cavalry , which charged so often , so aptly , and so successfully during this bloody day . __ _ , , ., , .,, _ . __ _ clockWith constantlincreasing strength
It was now approaching five o ' . y , now rapidly coming into action , Bulow and his Prussians had already compelled Lobau to throw all his force into the fight . The French line of battle gradually began to lose its beautiful array , and to shape itself so as to assault the " British in front and control the Prussians on the flank . Wellington had drawn his right towards the centre , and called up part of his reserve . He divined Napoleon ' s purpose , and opposed fresh obstacles to the tide of cavalry which was preparing to rush up the slope and over the crest . ^ Ney attacked once more , and Kellerman's gleaming squadrons came bounding on in support , shouting , and confident of victory . They made a great effort ; they sustained an astonishing combat for nearly two hours ; they rode at , but not into , the squares . Not once only , but a dozen times these gallant fellows swooped upon their invincible foes ; until broken , disordered ,
deci-Quatre Bras , by sheer stupidity . , away y gratitude to the Dutch , erroneously states , and renders his error emphatic by a flourish of trumpets , that it was Chasse and the Dutch , and not Colborne with the 52 nd Regiment , who charged decisively on the flank of the Imperial Guard . But Colonel Charras commits a graver error , for he describes the double attack of the Guards as one attack , and the double defeat as one defeat , ' sous la pression du nombre . ' There are other mis-statements , but we need not particularize them . The book , upon the whole , as we have already said , is a valuable contribution to military history , written in good faith , and as such it will no doubt be generally received .
Colonel Charrasled b The ungracious task of pointing out some errors cannot be shirked , ungracious though it be . Colonel Charras says that Ponsonby's Union Brigade was posted in the reserve , and only brought up when Wellington saw JD'Erlon preparing to fall upon his left . Ponsonby stood on the left and Somerset on the right of the Charleroi road , at the beginning of the action . In describing Ney's cavalry charges , our author says , ' * Des carres entiers furent renverse * s , disperses , ecrasee , "—an assertion made without foundation . No square was broken on that day . The Prince of Orange , much admired by Colonel Charras , caused the destruction of two German battalions and a brave general , as he had caused the destruction of a British regiment at
mated by the fire of the infantry , and charged by our cavalry , they were chased once more into the valley . Napoleon had now used up his cavalry . He had been compelled to reinforce Lobau with the Young Guard , and to move the Imperial Guard up on to the battle-field . Wellington ' s losses bad been terrific . He had at once repelled the attacks on Hougoumont , opposed an impassable line to the infantry of the French right , and sustained the great cavalry attacks without flinching . But fewer still and fewer had grown the allied troops . Little squares and little columns were dotted about upon and in rear of the ridge . Squadrons still less , or rather regiments reduced to squadrons , stood close in rear of the infantry . Wellington had a reserve as well as Napoleon , but unhappily , except Vivian and Vandeleur ' s cavalry brigades , it consisted mainly of Dutch-Belgian infantry . He had , therefore , to win with his British and Germans ; and with them
he -won . On his last grand attack , that made by the Imperial Guard , Napoleon staked the issue of the battle . From this point it is that we can measure the share of the Prussians in determining the victory . Soon after seven o ' clock the French army actually presented a right angle opposite the British left , so stoutly had the Prussians pressed on , although not one brigade was yet in communication with the British army . Had Bliicher not repeated his attacks again and again on the French right , Napoleon would have had the whole of the force sent against Bliicher wherewith to strike a decisive blow at Wellington in the most critical hour of the conflict . As it was , the defeat of the Imperial Guard was little less than a miracle , and it was , that defeat which wrested the victory from Napoleon . Nothing
could be finer than the swift counterstroke dealt by \ V ellington , or better timed , or more conclusive . One moment , while awaiting the onslaught of the Guard , and sustaining the fierce and incisive fire of the swarms of French skirmishers on his left , Wellington ' s line may be said to have swayed to and fro , like a wall about to give way . A brief interval filled with deadly volleys ensued ; and then the French columns , heretofore so compact and resolute , were seen loosening and scattering over the field , from La Haye Sainte to La Belle Alliance , from Hougoumont to Papelotte , furrowed by the red lines of British cavalry , and swept away by the irresistible ardour of the infantry , so long restrained . The charge and pursuit of our Guards and of the Light Infantry Brigade had decided the battle . The British left and Prussian right were now in contact ; the Prussians had grown stronger than the French ; the victory was won .
Dans toutc l ' armce frai ^ aise , il no resta plus un bataillon , un escadron en ordre . La ddroute fut complete , absoluc . Napoleon avait perdu la bataillo la plus decisive do notro age . Wellington par sa tenacitd incbranlable , BlUcher par son activity audacieuse , tous Jes deux pur Thabiletd et l ' accord do leurs manoeuvres avaient produit co resultat Jamais armdes no a ' etaient Hvre ' plus furieux , de plus sanglants assauts . Mais , malheureusment pour la France , jamais , non plus , armdc francaise n ' avait subi ddl ' aito si terrible , si funestc . Wo need not pursue the further career of Napoleon , nor discuss with Colonel Charms his full . Wo can only find space to mention that our
author has most ably and pitilessly analyzed the writings of Napoleon relating to the campaign , and has found them , U 9 others hud clone before him , wanting in veracity . Napoleon was physically und mentally demoralized —demented , in fact—by power . His genius flashed , it did not shine with that steady blaze which lit up all the world in the latest years of the last and the earliest years of this century . We may here give the estimate which Colonel Charras has formed of Wellington und Nupoleou : — Oertes , la diU'drenco dtait grando entro lo gdndral anglais ot Napoldon . Mais ello l'dtait boaucoup lnoinn quo celui-oi no so l'imaginait ot quo , longtemps , on no )' a cru dans notro pays abuse * par des inensongea .
L ' un avait lo gdnio do la guorrc h la plus haute puissance ; mais la politiquo insonsdo do l ' omporcur ultdrait , troublo . it los conceptions mcrvcillcuacs du stratdge ; ot lVuergio , l ' activitd physique faisait souvont ddfaut uux ndcossitds ddvorantcs , aux dura labours des expdditionH do guerre . L ' autro n'dtait qu ' un gdndral do talent , maia d'un tnlcnt ai complet , ontd sur do si fortes qualitds , qu'U atteignait presquo an gdnio . Doud d'un bon sons extreme ; poli-^ tique-proronU ^ ruligiuu ; cro . bacr , vatjBur ^ e ^ homines ; instruit a fond do tout co qui couslituo la science ot lo mdtior dos annes ; foisant parfois dos fautcs , mais sachunt no pas s ' y obstinor apros les avoir roconuuos ; soignoux du bicn-citio do sos soldats , mduagur do leur sang ; dur au dc ' sordre , impitoyablo aux ddprddateura ; liabllo h , concovoir ot h oxdeuter ; prudent ou hardi , temporiuour ou aotif sjiiivaut la ujreonetanco ; indbranlablo dans In mauvaifo fortune , robollo aux enivrdmonts du suocos ; flmo da for dans un corps do for , Wellington , avee uno petite nrindo , avait fait de grandou olioaea ; ot cetto amide dtait son ouvrago . 11 dovait roster ot il roatora uno doa grandes ilgurca militairos do co sloclo . No" en 1700 , il avait quarante-six ana , l'flgo do Napoldon .
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LUDLOW'S INDIAN LECTURES . British India : its Races and its History considered with Reference to the Mutinies of 1857 . ' By John Malcolm Ludlow . 2 vols . Cambridge : Macmillan and Co . These lectures were addressed to the students of the Working Men ' s College . Mr . Ludlow was requested to undertake the task on account of his well-known familiarity with Indian matters . It does not appear very clearly whether he has had local experience , but that is a question of no particular importance . Some of the very best books written on Eastern affairs are the works of men who never travelled out of Europe ; indeed , Mill considered it an absolute disadvantage in the writer of Indian history to have been in India . The point may be pushed too far , but Mr . Ludlow has other qualifications to plead . His kinsmen form a clan of Anglo-Indians ; his friendships ramify through all the Indian departments . Thus , he has
been led to study the subject with interest and even enthusiasm , and to educate himself in special views which find strong expression in these discourses . The contents of these two volumes , therefore , bear a certain impress of authority , and , having been neatly and industriously compiled , may be recommended to readers whose means of information have hitherto been similar to those of the students addressed in the first instance by Mr . Ludlow . The taint of the work consists in a peculiarly morbid tone , accompanied by an occasional heat of language which detracts from the value of the narrative , and of the disquisitions interspersing it . Mr . Ludlow is an antagonist of the East India Company , and generally of the policy which has been pursued by Great Britain in India ; but we think , considering the rapidity with which he got together his materials , and the comparatively narrow space through which his researches ranged , that he would have done
well to avoid rhetorical interludes after the manner of the parliamentary orators of the last century . In several instances he has decided hastily and unjustly , and permitted his Indian sympathies to carry him beyond the limits of historical evidence . Before discussing any of the points to which we allude , it is necessary , in order to present a fair account of Mr . Ludlow ' s book , to indicate upon what plan he has gone to work . The _ basis laid is a general description of India , its geography , natural divisions , products , and capacities . Into the immense and brilliant theatre Mr . Ludlow then introduces the native races , distributed into aborigines , Hindoos , Mohammedans , and Christians , his sketch being very intelligent and popular . To this topic four lectures are devoted . Next , he treats of the British rule in India , arranging the principal events in groups , and dedicating , as is proper , almost as much space to the story of internal administration as
to that of war and conquest . The British authority , established , organized , extended , is traced as far as the last of Lord Dalhousie ' s annexations , all of which are bitterly—and some unjustly- —condemned , and at this point a retrospective lecture is interpolated , summing up what , in Mr . Ludlow ' s opinion , are to be considered as the lessons of the past . ' Thence he proceeds to deal with ' questions of the present , ' the military , the religious , that of race , the political , that of police , justice , and taxation , the condition of the country and the people , and the state of public opinion at home . We do not think any reader can follow Mr . Ludlow through these successive chapters of narrative , analysis , and criticism , without being informed and interested ; but we would warn students , especially those of the Working Men ' s College , not altogether to trust the work as a manual , jjbut to compare it . with others more philosophical in their impartiality , and grounded
upon views of statesmanship more practical and not leap loltty . It seems to us that Mr . Ludlow is a philanthropist and not a politician . He might be both ; he could not be the latter , in a strict sense , without being the former . But good-will goes a very little way towards the government of the world , unless it be associated with a thorough comprehension of national exigencies . The utility of the Lectures , indeed , is attributablft to the abundance of information tliey present on matters of fact . Working men of all classes want to know what India is , and what it contains . Mr . Ludlow tells them , plainly and pleasantly ; he draws clear pictures of Indian art and industry ; ho sets forth in a few succinct pages the annuls of the native
races us developed during the successive epochs of their progress and decay ; he brings out , us upon a palimpsest , a view of the old times in which , before Hindooisin wus known in India , cities were built and rouds constructed , andaomples _ roaEed ~ by _ ar . chitccts _ wJi 9 ^^ gigantic block of hewn stone to another . The ancient aboriginal rituals , solemn and murvollous , i-ise like shadows flecked with blood behind the dim and colossal fabric of Bralunin history . But when Mr . Ludlow is polemical , ho descends to flippancy , and is unnecessarily nnd inconclusively arrogant . We do not think hini successful in his attack upon Lord Mucuulay ' s characterization of Warren Hastings ; Nor does ho at all prove his case when he asserts that throughout India the worst Mussulman government is preferred to the British . Population statistics have proved the rcvovao . la the adminiatra-
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Yo . 407 . January 9 , 1858 . 1 THE LEADE R . 41
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 9, 1858, page 41, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2225/page/17/
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