Yours most truly
ROBERT PEEL.
His Excellency
The Lord Lieutenant.
Paris, Monday, July 17th.
Arbuthnot saw Mr. Lane about an hour since I had this account from him—½ past 3.
Mr. Lane of No. 5 Essex Court in the Temple states himself to have arrived to-day from France; and he gives the following account:
That on the 20th he left Paris, and notwithstanding there were firing of guns and other marks of rejoicing, there was a general feeling in the town that all was not going well; that at Boulogne Mr. Lane saw the Moniteur of the 22nd which gives a long account of what is called the battle of Marennart, stating that the British were 90,000 men and the French not so many, that until four in the Evening the French had completely won the battle, but that about that hour the English Cavalry had attacked the Cuirassiers and routed them, that the young guards coming to their assistance got entangled in their confusion, and the old guard was likewise “entrainée.” At this moment some Malveillant in the army cried “Sauve qui peut” and a general flight commenced; the whole left wing of the army dispersed: He lost all his cannon caissons etc. Buonaparte had ordered the wreck of his army to be collected near Phillipville, and he had issued directions calling on the Northern provinces to rise in mass. This, says the Moniteur, ended a battle so glorious yet so fatal to the French arms. Buonaparte has arrived in Paris on the morning of the 21st. The Council of Ministers and the two chambers had been placed in a state of permanency and it was declared high treason to vote an adjournment.
Extract of a letter from the DUKE of WELLINGTON
to SIR CHARLES FLINT.