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head of his Sarmatian troops. Kos. ciusko and Platoff met; it was the embrace of two hearts as honest as brave. When Platoff related the incident to the narrator of this paragraph, it was with more than one tear in his eye; and precious are the tears which are drawn by the admiration of virtue. He knew how to value Kosciusko; for he knew that he had not only defended his country against a press of foreign usurpation, but had refused wealth from the late Emperor Paul, and twice rejected the throne of Poland from Napoleon Buonaparte. Rather than receive a pension from the enemy of his country, or be the crowned satellite of any emperor upon earth, he retired to a miserable village, and fed himself on bread and water."

The fatigues of these successive campaigns, though probably unfelt at the moment by the aged hero, made a deep inroad on his constitution. After the stimulus was over, exhaustion was deeply felt; and in the course of the present year he fell a victim to it at Novotscherkask, the Cossack capital. A few months before, Alexander Scherbatoff, his second in command, had died, also a distinguished officer, and in the meridian of life.

General BARCLAY DE TOLLI was a German by birth, but entered early into the service of Russia, and gradually rose to the highest commands. His first appearance in history is at the battle of Pultusk, which immediately followed Buonaparte's invasion of Poland, at the end of 1806. On this occasion, he commanded the vanguard, under General Benningsen, and first received the attack of the enemy. The onset was made, however, with such superior numbers, that the Russian general was at first obliged to fall back upon a battery, which, opening upon the French, arrested their progress, and gave time till General Ben

ningsen came up; and Napoleon for the first time sustained a repulse, which checked his career during a few months.

General Barclay de Tolli seems to have raised his reputation considerably by his conduct in this war; for in the great campaign of 1812, we find him commanding the right or principal wing of the Russian force stationed in Poland. Here he had to withstand the first onset of that immense army, composed of the accumulated troops of the whole continent of Europe, with which Buonaparte was preparing to overwhelm Russia. In such circumstances, retreat seems to have been the only choice left to the Russian general; and it was rendered still more imperious by the rapid movements of Napoleon, separating his part of the army from the left wing under Bagrathion. Barclay, de Tolli, therefore, abandoned his fortified positions on the Niemen, and retreated, first upon Witepsk, and then upon Smolensk, where the separated parts of the army were again united. Smolensk was a very strong position, and had been fortified with extraordinary care, being generally considered as the bulwark of Moscow, which capital, it was supposed, must follow the fate of Smolensk. It was expected, therefore, that a general battle would be hazarded for its defence. The Russian general, however, contented himself with throwing into the place a detachment of 30,000 men, which kept up their communication, and received reinforcements from the main army. Buonaparte immediately began the attack, which continued with great obstinacy through the whole day, till in the evening the town being on fire, was evacuated by the Russians. The French bulletins censured Barclay de Tolli for not hazarding a general battle in this strong position, which they represented as the last chance of preventing the advance of Napoleon to Moscow.

They added, that the Emperor Alexander had given orders to defend Smolensk to the last extremity. We have scarcely materials of judging upon this question, and are naturally led to be lieve it at least fortunate, that Buonaparte was by any means led to plunge farther into the interior of Russia. It is certain, however, that the chief command was soon after transferred to Kutusoff, whose splendid successes secured its continuance during his life. In the following campaign, Barclay de Tolli was not present at the battle of Lutzen. Having arrived, however, at Bautzen with a reinforcement of 14,000 men, he took the command of the right wing of the Russo-Prussian army. In the battle of Hochkirch, the enemy directed all his efforts to turn this wing, and by the general superiority of his numbers, was enabled to bring against it so overwhelming a force as at length obliged it to give way, and the whole of the allied army was thus finally obliged to retreat, though in excellent order. No blame seems even to have attached to the Russian general on this occasion; yet repeated misfortune seldom fails to create a prejudice against an officer; and we do not find him henceforth invested with any such high command. A Russian general, however, does not scruple to descend from a higher to a lower station; and we find him repeatedly commanding the reserve of the army during the French campaign. Barclay de Tolli held the titles of Prince and Field-Marshal. He died at Interburg in Prussia, on the 25th May, 1818.

WINZINGERODE was another Rus sian General, who acted no inconsiderable part in the great continental war. The first high command with which he appears to have been invested, was after the occupation of Moscow by Buonaparte, when Winzingerode, with

40,000 men, was stationed to the north of that capital, covering the road to St Petersburgh. In this situation, he took an active part in harassing the enemy, and contributed to make him abandon his hopes of Russian conquest, and determine upon retreat. After the evacuation of Moscow, a garrison was still left in the Kremlin. Winzingerode made himself master of Moscow; then anxious to prevent the effusion of blood, he advanced before his troops with a flag of truce in his hand, towards the French garrison, by whom, contrary to the laws of war, he was made prisoner and sent to Paris. This accident prevented him from figuring in the Saxon campaign; but before that of 1814 he had obtained his liberty, and was employed to bring up a reinforcement to the army under Blucher. He was first opposed at Soissons by a considerable French detachment; but by a brisk attack he carried the place, and made the whole garrison prisoners. His advanced guard of Cossacks then entered Rheims. On the 6th March, his division had to maintain a most obstinate attack from the main body of the French at Craone, and after an obstinate resistance, was obliged to fall back. When the allies made the grand movement upon Paris, which terminated the war, Winzingerode was left with 10,000 cavalry to observe the motions of Buonaparte. When the French Emperor, however, seeing the critical state of his affairs, turned back with his whole force towards Paris, Winzingerode had no means of arresting his progress, but was obliged to retreat before him with some loss. This was the last success of which Buonaparte had to boast.

Winzingerode, from his youth, had only attained the rank of LieutenantGeneral. He died at Wisbaden on the 16th May, 1818, in the 49th year of his age.

CHAPTER II.

BIOGRAPHY-LITERARY.

Mr Malcolm Laing.-Mrs Brunton.-Dr Macneill.-Dr Burney. Mr Lewis.-Mr Gifford.-Dr Cogan.-Millin.-Visconti.

MALCOLM LAING, whose research and acuteness rank him among the most respectable of Scottish historians, was born at Strynzia, an estate of which his father was proprietor, on the mainland of Orkney. After receiving the rudiments of education at the grammar school of Kirkwall, he repaired in due time to the University of Edinburgh, and, under its celebrated teachers, enjoyed every opportunity of cultivating his mind. He became also a close frequenter of the Speculative Society, and in its debates acquired that readiness and fluency of argument, which continued to form the leading feature in his intellectual character.

In 1785, at the age of 23, Mr Laing became a member of the Scottish bar; but though he continued to plead for a number of years, he never attained to extensive practice. This may appear singular, when we consider that his style of reasoning was peculiarly suited to his professional pursuits; but history and literature attracted the greater share of his attention; not to mention, that in his man

ner he had not duly sacrificed to the graces. His speeches were uttered with an almost preternatural rapidity, and in harsh and disagreeable tones. His time, however, was intensely devoted to studies, of which the public soon began to reap the fruits. Dr Henry having died, leaving unfinished the last volumes of his great work on the History of England, Mr Laing, whose historical researches were already known, was applied to by his executors to complete it. He wrote accordingly the two last chapters, adding a dissertation on the alleged crimes of Richard III. The success of this specimen was so decided as determined him to give himself up wholly to his bias for historical writing. His researches were soon directed, in a peculiar manner, towards his native country; and the fruits of them appeared in a History of Scotland, in two vols. 8vo. The period included was from the union of the crowns to the union of the kingdoms; thus bringing down the plan of Robertson to the latest period which can belong to classical history. In all

his works, Mr Laing shewed a strong propensity to controversy, carried on indeed most ably and learnedly, but somewhat too much in the style characteristic of his profession, making himself the eager advocate of the side which he espoused, rather than a cool inquirer into the subject. In the choice of that side, he shewed no deference to popular opinion, but a certain preference of whatever doctrine would be most generally ungrateful and unwelcome. He tore up unmercifully by

the roots all the tender flowers of national vanity and romantic feeling. In this spirit was composed the celebrated dissertation on Ossian, appended to the first edition of his History. There was no subject on which Scottish pride had dwelt more fondly and enthusiastically. Till that time, their authenticity was very generally acquiesced in; for Johnson's disdainful rejection was imputed to his austere and Anti-Scottish propensities, and served only to whet the zeal of the nation in defending them. But Mr Laing dug so deep into the subject, and brought his arguments so home, that the faith of the most credulous was at last shaken. A second edition being called for in a few years, he attacked another stronghold of national feeling, by an elaborate dissertation, tending to establish the guilt of Mary. This and other additions swelled the work to four volumes octavo. The subject, however, had in a great measure lost the hold it once possessed in the public mind. But, with regard to Ossian, the whole Highland world was in a ferment; and the clans mustered almost as fiercely round the aged bard, as formerly round their darling Charles. The Highland Society, then in all the zeal of a first establishment, devoted the most strenuous efforts and researches to vindicate the honour of their race; and they produced an elaborate Report, ably drawn

up by Mr Mackenzie. This, however, was met by Mr Laing with a new edition of the poems (2 vols. 8vo. 1805), in which he brought forward fresh matter of argument, and combated all that had been advanced against him in the Report. He proved now, that Macpherson had never shewn to any one, nor left behind him, any manuscript of Ossian whatever; that the originals produced were all in his own handwriting, and filled with corrections and interlineations, similar to those used by an author in composing his own work. From the full exposition now made on both sides, the candid reader will probably decide, that there were fragments floating in oral tradition, relating to Fingal and his heroes, and containing no inconsiderable portion of rude poetical talent, -that Macpherson incorporated some of these into his Ossian, but polishing, altering, and filling them up with a much larger proportion of his own composition; in short, there was something of Ossian, but much more of Macpherson.

Mr Laing took a considerable interest in the political questions of the day; with a decided leaning to the Whig side. In 1806, when the Fox and Grenville administration came into power, he warmly supported their plans for new-modelling the Edinburgh courts. At the same time, he was nominated by his native county as its representative in Parliament. He spoke on several occasions, and, notwithstanding the defects of his manner, with such force of information and argument, that he was listened to with respect. The state of his health prevented him from proceeding in this career. His nerves had always been weak, and they now fell into so shattered a state, as to produce almost perpetual suffering during the rest of his life. So distressing was often his situation, that, as we have been assured,

it was only by being kept artificially in a particular posture, that he was able to avoid fainting. In this situation he withdrew from the circles of literature and the world, and took up his residence on his property in Ork ney. Here the activity of his mind was still exerted in the improvement of his lands, and in attempts to introduce a better system of cropping and management than had hitherto prevailed in this remote part of the world. He even made attempts to introduce the breed of Merino sheep, and on the whole, set examples of a better system of agriculture, which promise to be useful to this portion of the empire. Amid these useful avocations, the increasing pressure of disease brought his life to a termination in the end of

1818.

Mr Laing was happily married to Miss Carnegie, daughter of a gentleman in the county of Forfar, whose sister was married to Lord Gillies, one of the Judges of the Court of Session, and brother of Dr Gillies the historian. This lady survives him, but with no family. His property is inherited by Samuel Laing, Esq. his elder brother, who resides near Kirkwall. Gilbert Laing Meason, Esq. who in one memoir is named as his heir, derived his ample property from quite a different quarter.

The individual now commemorated had died in the maturity of years, and after having long withdrawn from the world. A much deeper emotion was excited by the loss, in the full bloom of life and genius, of one, who might justly be considered as the pride of Scottish female society. Since the death of Mrs Hamilton, no female writer commanded equal respect by her talents and character, as the authoress of SELF-CONTROL. By the authentic memoir communicated by her surviving husband, it appears that she

was the daughter of Colonel Balfour, of Elwick, cadet of an ancient family in Orkney. Her mother, daughter of Colonel Ligonier, had acquired in the house of her uncle General Lord Ligonier, rather the accomplishments which adorn a court, than those suited to so retired a sphere. Being a person, however, of talents and acuteness, she communicated probably to her daughter a variety of anecdote and information, and made her a proficient in music, French, and Italian. Upon the whole, however, MARY was indulged in a degree of freedom, which, though scarcely to be generally recommended, is often favourable to the growth of strong and original powers. Her studies were turned in a great measure towards poetry and fiction. At sixteen, however, the death of her mother devolved upon her the whole task of house-keeping, which, for four years succeeding, appears to have almost entirely occupied her attention. At twenty, she received an invitation from Viscountess Wentworth, a near relation of her mother, to reside with her in London. To the brilliant prospects thus opened, she preferred an outwardly humbler destiny. She had already become acquainted with Mr BRUNTON, a young clergyman of talents and accomplishments; and having again met with him in her way south, mutual attachment led to a matrimonial union. She retired with him to Bolton, a country living, reckoned small even in Scotland, and at the distance of twelve or fourteen miles from the metropolis.

In this retirement, the character of Mrs Brunton's mind was formed. Under the direction, and in company of her husband, she went through a more methodical range of study. Without renouncing Belles Lettres, she applied to history, the philosophy of mind, and received even a tincture of mathematics. She examined carefully the evidences of religion, and imbibed that

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