B. George Niebuhr to Madame Hensler-Bombardment of Copenhagen. defences, which, owing to the short-sightedness of their constructor, are useless, now that the right wing is broken-a defect over which I have many a time, since last summer, fruitlessly meditated. Providence has now brought us a man whose position is sufficiently high to enable him to carry out his projects; and these few days have certainly been employed in repairing the evil as far as possible. But is this enough? and if not, what slaughter must be caused by a new attack, and without our being able to revenge ourselves! Tuesday. The negotiation is still far from settled, and I can tell you nothing further without abusing confidence. It is still possible that a fresh attack may be averted; if not, it will be much more dreadful for us in the city than the first. You may be certain that Milly strives to retain her self-possession. It is the sorrow for our people, and the wounds with which the State is threatened, that weigh us down: we fear a violent attack upon the remains of our fleet; not so much a bombardment. O that they would content themselves with that! I am so depressed that I cannot now give you a full account of the battle. As soon as we are quiet you shall have it. Adieu, you best beloved of our friends! Shall we soon be able to correspond in peace again? Will not the time come when these hours will be scarred over, and we shall return to our accustomed sphere of occupation, in which alone we can be happy and of use? This time will indeed leave a deep impression on the whole of our lives. B. George Niebuhr to Madame Hensler-Bombardment of Copenhagen. XXIII. Same to same. COPENHAGEN, 11th April. of depression that I But that was impos My last letter was written in a state would willingly have concealed from you. sible, and the circumstances of our position only rendered such feelings too unavoidable. We were expecting (which I did not tell you) a bombardment that evening: we only reckoned on a delay from the wind, which was high, and against the enemy. It appeared as if the negotiations would come to nothing. While this, and the general flight in the city toward our quarter and the other less exposed parts, depressed us, and filled us with grief at the fate of our country, even the gloomy turbulence of the elements contributed to our dejection. My heart is heavy with what I have to tell you, or should have, if we could speak to each other. The English changed their minds quite unexpectedly. The truce was renewed, and Nelson came on shore the next day to see the Crown Prince. A truce of longer extent was agreed to, and finally fixed for fourteen weeks. We shall thereby gain the opportunity of sending succor to Norway, where the people are almost dying of hunger. We shall not disarm. The militia are disbanded, to attend to their farming operations. The loss of the enemy is placed beyond a doubt by this convention. It is not very favorable to him. The utmost he could They will scarcely said to have fallen. do would be to sail away, if he wished it. take all their ships home. Parker's son is Nelson has lost three captains, two who had been at Aboukir ; on the Elephant, his own ship, the captain, two lieutenants, and Sir Walter Scott to the Duke of Buccleuch-Battle of Waterloo. one hundred and seventeen men. It is said that in another English ship two hundred and thirty were killed. Two English ships-of-the-line struck their flag, but could not be taken. Thus we have, I think, won honor and consideration throughout Europe; likewise a firmer hold on the reverence and affection of all classes of the realm. XXIV.-BATTLE OF WATERLOO. Sir Walter Scott to the Duke of Buccleuch. MY DEAR LORD DUKE: I promised to let you hear of my wanderings, however unimportant; and have now the pleasure of informing your Grace that I am at this present time an inhabitant of the Premier Hotel de Cambrai, after having been about a week upon the Continent. We landed at Helvoet, and proceeded to Brussels, by Bergen-op-Zoom and Antwerp, both of which are very stongly fortified. The ravages of war are little remarked in a country so rich by nature; but every thing seems at present stationary, or rather retrograde, where capital is required. The châteaux are deserted, and going to decay; no new houses are built, and those of older date are passing rapidly into the possession of a class inferior to those for whom we must suppose them to have been built. Even the old gentlewoman of Babylon has lost much of her splendor, and her robes and pomp are of a description far subordinate to the costume of her more magnificent days. The dresses of the priests were worn and shabby, both at Antwerp and Brussels, and reminded me of the decayed wardrobe of a bankrupt theatre; yet, though the gentry and priesthood have suffered, the eternal bounty of Sir Walter Scott to the Duke of Buccleuch—Battle of Waterloo. Nature has protected the lower ranks against much distress. The unexampled fertility of the soil gives them all, and more than they want; and could they but sell the grain which they raise in the Netherlands, nothing else would be wanting to render them the richest people (common people, that is to say) in the world. On Wednesday last I rode over the field of Waterloo, now forever consecrated to immortality. The more ghastly tokens of the carnage are now removed, the bodies both of men and horses being either burned or buried; but all the ground is still torn with the shot and shells, and covered with cartridges, old hats, and shoes, and various relics of the fray which the peasants have not thought worth removing. Besides, at Waterloo, and all the hamlets in the vicinity, there is a mart established for cuirasses; for the eagles worn by the imperial guard on their caps; for casques, swords, carabines, and similar articles. I have bought two handsome cuirasses, and intend them, one for Bowhill, and one for Abbotsford, if I can get them safe over, which Major Pryse Gordon has promised to manage for me. I have also, for your Grace, one of the little memorandum-books, which I picked up on the field, in which every French soldier was obliged to enter his receipts and expenditure, his services, and even his punishments. The field was covered with fragments of these records. I also got a good MS. collection of French songs, probably the work of some young officer, and a cross of the Legion of Honor. I enclose, under another cover, a sketch of the battle made at Brussels. It is not, I understand, strictly accurate, but sufficiently so to give a good notion of what took place. In fact, it would require twenty separate plans to give a an idea of the battle at its various stages. The front, upon Sir Walter Scott to the Duke of Buccleuch-Battle of Waterloo. which the armies engaged, does not exceed a long mile. Our line, indeed, originally extended half a mile farther toward the village of Brain-la-Leude; but, as the French indicated no disposition to attack in that direction, the troops which occupied this space were gradually concentrated by Lord Wellington, and made to advance till they had reached Hougomont-a sort of château, with a garden and wood attached to it, which was powerfully and effectually maintained by the Guards during the action. This place was particularly interesting. It was a quiet-looking, gentleman's house, which had been burned by the French shells. The defenders, burnt out of the house itself, betook themselves to the little garden, where, breaking loop-holes through the brick walls, they kept up a most destructive fire on the assailants, who had possessed themselves of a little wood which surrounds the villa on one side. In this spot vast numbers had fallen; and, being hastily buried, the smell is most offensive at this moment. Indeed, I felt the same annoyance in many parts of the field; and, did I live near the spot, I should be anxious about the diseases which this steaming carnage might occasion. The rest of the ground, excepting this château and a farm-house called La Hay Sainte, early taken, and long held, by the French, because it was too close under the brow of the descent on which our artillery was placed to admit of the pieces being depressed so as to play into it-the rest of the ground, I say, is quite open, and lies between two ridges, one of which (Mont St. Jean) was constantly occupied by the English; the other, upon which is the farm of La Belle Alliance, was the position of the French. The slopes between are gentle and varied; the ground everywhere practicable for cavalry, as was well experienced on that memorable day. The cuirassiers, de |