WAR ON HIGH ROADS.—DUMOURIEZ MORE DARING THAN NAPOLEON.—PRINCESS CHARLOTTE OF WALES AND THE PRINCE OF SAXE COBOURG.
10th.—For some days past, the Emperor has been reading works on war, fortifications, artillery, &c. He has examined Vauban, an account of Campaigns during the Revolution, Gassendi’s Dictionary, and Guibert’s Tactics; with all of which he is much pleased. These subjects have led him to speak of several Generals who have already been frequently noticed in the course of this Journal. “They could only carry on war on high roads,” said he, “and within range of cannon, when their field of battle should have extended over a whole country.”
During dinner, he spoke of the Campaign of Dumouriez in Champagne, which he had just been reading. He thought little of the Duke of Brunswick, who with a plan of offensive operations, had advanced only eighteen leagues in forty days. But, on the other hand, he very much blamed Dumouriez, whose position, he said, was far too hazardous. “For me, this is saying a great deal,” added he; “for I consider myself to have been the most venturous man in war that perhaps ever lived. Yet I should certainly have been afraid to keep the position that Dumouriez retained; so numerous were the dangers it presented. I could only explain his manœuvre, on the supposition that he could not venture to retire; he would probably have encountered greater risks in retreating than in staying where he was. Wellington was placed in the same situation at Waterloo.
“The French are the bravest troops in the world. They will fight in whatever position they may be attacked; but they cannot retreat before a victorious enemy. If they experience the least check, they lose all presence of mind and discipline; they slip through your fingers, as it were. Dumouriez, I suppose, calculated on this; or perhaps he might have been influenced by some secret negotiation of which we are ignorant.”
The newspapers, which we perused to-day, mentioned the marriage of Prince Leopold of Saxe Coburg to the Princess Charlotte of Wales.
“Prince Leopold,” said the Emperor, “once had a chance of becoming my aid-de-camp. He solicited the appointment, and I don’t know what prevented his obtaining it. However, it was lucky for him that his application proved unsuccessful: had it been otherwise, his present marriage would never have taken place. Who can pretend to say what is fortunate or unfortunate in the events of human life!...”
Princess Charlotte of Wales next became the subject of conversation. Some one observed that she was exceedingly popular in England, and that she had given many unequivocal proofs of energy of character. The English were of opinion that she would be another Elizabeth, and she herself seemed to cherish that idea. The person who made these remarks said that he happened to be in London in 1814, at the time when the young Princess, indignant at the ill treatment of her mother, slipped away from the Prince Regent’s, and stepping into the first hackney coach she met with in the street, drove to the residence of her mother, to whom she was fondly attached. On this occasion the natural severity of the English relaxed into indulgence; and all were inclined to pardon the breach of decorum, in consideration of the amiable sentiment that had occasioned it. The young Princess would not leave her mother, until the Duke of York, or another of her uncles, and, as it was said, the Lord Chancellor, prevailed on her to go back to her father’s, by assuring her that to persist in the course she had adopted would endanger her mother’s happiness, perhaps, even her life.
Princess Charlotte had already given a proof of decision of character, in refusing to marry the Prince of Orange. Her reason for rejecting this alliance was that it would have obliged her occasionally to reside out of England; and this truly national sentiment contributed to render her the more dear to the English people.
The English who are at St. Helena assure us that her union with the Prince of Saxe Coburg was perfectly in unison with her own wishes, and that she publicly declared she looked forward to happiness, because in her choice she had been guided purely by sentiment. She was said to be much attached to Prince Leopold.—“I readily believe it,” said the Emperor: “I recollect him very well; and when he appeared at the Tuileries, I thought him one of the handsomest young men I ever saw.” Within these few days, the English who are here have related an incident which they regard as a proof of high spirit and dignity of feeling on the part of their future Queen. Previously to her marriage, one of the Ministers waited upon her for the purpose of settling some domestic details; and, having submitted to her some propositions which she did not conceive to be sufficiently liberal,—“My Lord,” said she, “I am heiress to the throne of Great Britain; and my mind has risen to a level with the exalted station I am destined to fill. Therefore, I must be provided for accordingly. Do not imagine that, in marrying Prince Leopold, I ever can or will sink to the rank of Mistress Coburg. Entertain no such idea, I beg of you.”
The young Princess is the idol of the English people, who look forward to her reign as affording the prospect of future happiness.