habits of order and subordination, and compelled Sir John Moore to issue such orders as should unequivocally express his sense of so great an evil, and his unalterable determination to punish, in the most severe and exemplary manner, every future offender. The enemy was now pressing Sir John Moore so much, that he resolved to halt at Lugo, where he arrived on the fifth of January, 1809, and to offer battle; but Soult did not think it safe to attack him in the strong position which he had taken up near this place; and Sir John, not judging it prudent either to act offensively, or to delay his retreat, quitted his ground in the night of the ninth, leaving his fires burning. On the 11th, the whole of the British army reached Corunna, with the exception of general Crawford's division, consisting of three thousand men, which had embarked at Vigo; but, unfortunately the transports had not yet arrived, and the next morning Soult's army occupied an extensive line above the town, in readiness to make an attack as soon as the troops should begin to embark.

BATTLE OF CORUNNA, AND DEATH OF
SIR JOHN MOORE.

On the fourteenth, in the evening, the transports hove in sight; and on the sixteenth, when orders had been issued for the embarkation of the whole army, general Hope reported from his post that the enemy's line was getting under arms. This was about noon, at the moment that Sir John Moore was visiting his outposts, and explaining his plans to the general officers: but as soon as he was informed of this hostile indication, he flew to the field, where the picquets were already engaged, and beheld the French descending from the hills in four columns, two of which threatened Sir David Baird's division, on the right of the British line. This effort was met by Sir John Moore and Sir David Baird, at the head of the forty-second and fiftieth regiments, and the brigade under lord W. Bentinck, by whom the enemy was charged and driven back with great slaughter, though not till Sir David had received a severe wound in his arm,

and was obliged to retire from the scene of action. At this period of the action Sir John Moore received his death-wound. Undismayed by the loss of their commander, the British soldiers maintained the advantages they had gained on the right and, with the most determined bravery, continued to repel the attacks of the enemy on their centre and left, till they actually forced him to retire, although he had brought up fresh troops in support of those originally engaged; and, on the close of the day, the British were left masters of the field. Not more than fifteen thousand British were engaged, of whom between seven and eight hundred were killed or wounded. The French exceeded twenty thousand, and their loss was estimated at about two thousand.

In consequence of the death of Sir John Moore, and the wound of Sir David Baird, the command in chief had devolved upon general Hope, who lost no time in carrying into effect the embarkation of the troops, according to the arrangements already made by his predecessor; they accordingly quitted their position about ten o'clock at night, and marched into Corunna, where every thing was so well concerted, that during the night, and in the course of the following day, the whole army embarked without further molestation. When the French found the British were gone, they fired on the transports, which so alarmed the masters of several of them, that they cut their cables, and four of the ships ran aground; the troops, however, were removed, and the vessels destroyed. The body of Sir John Moore was hastily interred on the ramparts of Corunna, where a monument was afterwards raised to his memory.

In this retreat the British army lost all its ammunition, all its magazines, above five thousand horses, and five or six thousand men. The expedi tion, however, calamitous as it proved, was not destitute of advantage to the cause it was intended to support, as it drew Buonaparte from the south, which at that time lay entirely open to his enterprises, and afforded time to the Spaniards to recover in some degree from the terrors of their enemy.

OF ADMIRALTY-ENLISTMENT-FINANCE.

AT

T the opening of the British parliament, on the thirty-first of January, 1808, the conduct of ministers in the expedition against Denmark met decided approval; the feelings of the English people, still, however, prompted them to wish that the odium of coercing a neutral power had been left to France, and that the capture of the Danish fleet had been reserved as another tri, umph for our navy, in defensive war. The orders of council were made valid by an act passed on the twenty-fifth of March, which was accompanied by a bill for regulating the commercial intercourse with America, until amicable arrangements should be concluded with that country.

Sir Francis Burdett, observing that the proceeds of the droits of admiralty amounted to so considerable a sum that he was convinced parliament could never endure that it should be left as the private property of the king, moved in the house of commons, with a view to an ulterior inquiry, for an account of the net proceeds, paid out of the court of admiralty to the receiver-general of droits, of all property condemned to his majesty since the first of January, 1793, with the balances now remaining; which was agreed to.

When the mutiny bill came under consideration in the commons, lord Castlereagh, referring to Mr. Windham's system, said that he had no objection to limited service under certain modifications, but he thought it ought not to be enforced to the exclusion of unlimited service, and therefore moved that a clause be introduced, allowing the option of enlisting for life, which was carried by one hundred and sixty-nine against a hundred. Another measure relating to internal defence was the creation of a local militia, amounting to sixty thousand men, to be ballotted for in the different counties, in proportion to the deficiency of volunteers of each, from among persons between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five. Volunteer corps might, if they chose, transfer themselves, with the approbation of his majesty, into this local militia. The period of service during the year to be twenty-eight days, for which pay was to be allowed. This measure encountered strenuous opposition, but was ultimately carried.

The chancellor of the exchequer did not this year find himself under the necessity of adding much to the public burdens. By an arrangement with the bank of England, five hundred thousand pounds of the unclaimed dividends were obtained for immediate use; a reduction in the charges of the bank for superintending the pecuniary concerns of the public was effected to the amount of sixty-four thousand pounds; and a loan of three million pounds was granted by the directors to government, without interest, till six months after the termination of the war. The supplies voted amounted to about forty-three million pounds for England, and five

land, and the ways and means included a loan of eight millions of pounds, to provide for the interest of which new taxes were only found necessary to the amount of three hundred and twenty-five thou sand pounds. A new financial plan was introduced by the chancellor of the exchequer to accelerate the reduction of the national debt. It was to enable proprietors of three per cent. consolidated or reduced bank annuities, to exchange with the commissioners for the reduction of the national debt, such bank annuities, for a life annuity during the continuance of one or two lives. To prevent imposi tions, the power of transfer was to be limited to persons under thirty-five years of age, and the amount of the transfer to sums not less than one hundred pounds; the stock not to be transferable when the funds were above eighty pounds. The effect would be to secure to the nation the redemption of the funds so transferred, at the price at which they were when the transfer was made.

A bill for preventing the grant of offices in rever. sion, or for joint lives, with benefit of survivorship, was brought in by Bankes, and carried through the commons; but in the lords, though supported by several of his majesty's ministers, it was opposed by the lord-chancellor, lord Arden, lord Redesdale, and the duke of Montrose, and thrown out by a majority of eighty voices. Conceiving, however, that it was incumbent upon the house of commons not to abandon a measure so connected with retrenchment, Bankes introduced another bill, similar in its object, but limited as to duration, and the bill, thus modified, passed the upper house. CRIMINAL

LAW-DISTILLERIES-SPAN

ISH CAUSE-PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.

SIR SAMUEL ROMILLY, who, in common with many other enlightened men, had long lamented that in the criminal law of the country so many crimes were subject to capital punishment, introduced a bill into parliament for the repeal of so much of an act of Elizabeth as related to taking away the benefit of clergy from offenders convicted of stealing privately from the person. A clause was introduced by the solicitor-general, to provide that privately stealing, as distinguished from rob bery, should be punished by transportation for life, or for a term of years, at the discretion of the judge, at whose option the punishment might be commuted into imprisonment for any period not exceeding three years. A bill was also passed, framed by the lord chancellor, for the better administration of justice in Scotland, the object of which was to divide the court of session into two chambers of seven or eight judges, to give those courts certain powers of making regulations with respect to proceedings, and to executions in pending appeals, and also of issuing commissions to ascertain in what cases it might be proper to establish a trial by

jury. An act for prohibiting, for a limited time, the distillation of spirits from corn or grain, was strongly opposed in all its stages, as tending to check that demand which, by encouraging agriculturists to grow more than was necessary for the ordinary support of the people, ensured a supply in seasons of scarcity. It was defended as a temporary measure, on the ground that the supply of grain from the continent was cut off, and no prospect left of a sufficient resource in the last year's crop of this country.

The cause of the Spanish patriots had awakened the zeal, and animated the enthusiasm of the people of this country, to a degree almost unexampled; and Sheridan seemed only to be the organ of the public voice, when he rose in the house of commous, on the fifteenth of June, to direct the attention of the legislature to the affairs of Spain, and to demand their utmost exertions in favour of the Spaniards. Canning, in reply, declared that his majesty's ministers saw, with a deep and lively interest, the noble struggle which a part of the Spanish nation was now making to resist the unexampled atrocity of France, and to preserve the independence of their country; and assured the house, that there existed the strongest disposition, on the part of the British government, to afford every practicable aid in a contest so magnanimous. On the fourth of July parliament was prorogued, and the commissioners declared, in his majesty's name, that he would continue to make every exertion in his power for the support of the Spanish cause. AUSTRIA DECLARES AGAINST ENGLAND

EFFORTS OF THE SWEDES.

Ar the commencement of 1808, Austria, hitherto the principal ally of Britain, declared against her; the alleged cause of which was a refusal, by the English cabinet, to accept the mediation of the emperor for a peace between England and France, on the ground that the overtures appeared too vague and indeterminate to authorise the opening of a negotiation; Stahremberg, the Austrian ambassador, presenting no authenticated document from the French ruler, nor giving any intimation of the basis on which it was proposed to treat; the real cause, however, lay in the predominating influence of France, which was also apparent in the north of Europe. In February a Russian army entered the Swedish province of Finland, and war was respectively declared by the courts of St. Petersburgh and Stockholm. Christian the seventh, king of Denmark, died about the same time; and the crown prince, who, from the imbecility of his father, had long conducted the affairs of government, assumed the sceptre by the name of Frederic the sixth. His accession was followed by a declaration of war against Sweden, whose sovereign, with some qualities of heroism, wanted the soundness of mind necessary for the management of public affairs, and acted more from the impulse of passion than the conclusions of reason. Already involved in a war with France and Russia, he immediately prepared to meet the combination of dangers by which he was threatened; and as his resources were inadequate to the contest, the English government granted him a subsidy of one hundred thousand pounds per month, and despatched ten thousand troops to afford such aid as the circumstances of the war might demand. fortunately, however, a disagreement between the Swedish monarch and Sir John Moore, the English general, respecting their military plans, prevented their co-operation, and the armament was ordered to the aid of the Spanish patriots. A British squadron, under Sir Samuel Hood, was also sent to the Baltic, to act in concert with the Spanish admiral, and a Russian ship of seventy-four guns was taken and destroyed, in consequence of her having grounded.

AFFAIRS OF ITALY.

Un

BUONAPARTE, this year, effected considerable changes in the affairs of Italy. He adopted his son-in-law, Eugene Beauharnois, as his own son, and settled that kingdom upon him in tail male; expressly stating, however, that the right which Eugene received by adoption should never, in any case, authorise him or his descendants to bring forward any claim to the throne of France, the suc cession of which was, he declared, "irrevocably"

fixed: he incorporated with the crown of Italy the dominions of the pope, stating in a decree, as the sole reason for this act of undisguised despotism, that " the sovereign of Rome had refused to make war against England." Parma, Placentia, and Guastalla, were also annexed to that kingdom, as were Kehl, Wesel, Cassel, and Flushing to France. The crown of Naples was transferred to Joachim Murat, who had married a sister of Buonaparte ; and, to render his domestic policy still more subservient to his schemes of foreign subjugation, he instituted an imperial university, declared himself the head, and decreed that no school or seminary of education should be free from its control. An order of hereditary nobility was also created.

MILITIA-CONVENTION OF CINTRA. 1809.-THE British parliament assembled on the nineteenth of January, 1809. On the twenty-fifth the thanks of parliament were voted to the officers and men under Sir John Moore, by whose gallantry and good conduct the victory of Corunna was achieved; and a monument to the memory of the deceased general was also agreed to. This was succeeded by a motion for thanks to Sir Arthur Wellesley, and the officers and men under his command, for the brilliant victory of Vimiera, which was carried with the sole dissentient voice of lord Folkstone, who thought such a tribute greater than the service could claim.

A bill, which was introduced into the house of commons by lord Castlereagh, for augmenting the disposable force of the country, called forth a very animated opposition, but ultimately passed into a law. It was agreed that the militia should be reduced to about three-fifths of its present force by volunteering into the line, and that twenty-four thousand men should be raised to supply the deficiency.

The convention of Cintra, and the circumstances which led to the conclusion of that treaty, were brought under the consideration of parliament, on the twenty-first of February, by lord Henry Petty, who moved resolutions directly censuring the convention, and attributing the causes to the misconduct of ministers; and although it was strenuously contended that to have expelled, in the course of a short campaign of three weeks, an army of twentyfive thousand French from Portugal, was a brilliant addition to the military glory of the country, the previous question was only carried by two hundred and three against one hundred and fifty-eight.

CHARGES AGAINST DUKe of york. COLONEL WARDLE, on the twenty-seventh of January, stated in the commons, that the power of disposing of commissions in the army had been exercised to the worst of purposes, though it had been placed in the hands of a person of high birth and extensive influence, for the purpose of defraying the charges of the half-pay list, for the support of veteran officers, and for increasing the compassionate fund for the aid of officers' widows and orphans; but he could bring positive proof that such commissions had been sold, and the money applied to very different objects. He then proceeded to state, that Mary Anne Clarke, who had lived under the "protection" of the duke of York, with a splendid establishment in Gloucester Place, had been permitted by his royal highness to traffic in commissions; that she in fact possessed the power of military promotion; and that the duke participated in the emoluments which were derived from this scandalous, corrupt, and illegal traffic. Colonel Wardle concluded by moving for a committee of inquiry into the conduct of the duke of York, in respect to the disposal of military commissious, which, after a long debate, was agreed to; the chancellor of the exchequer observing that publicity had been mentioned as desirable, he was of the same opinion; and it was therefore determined that the investigation should be conducted before a committee of the whole house.

In the course of the cross-examinations much important evidence was adduced, and the charges derived additional strength from the means taken by the advocates of the commander-in-chief to refute them; as the numerous letters brought to light by their means, of which the prosecutor at first was totally ignorant, placed Wardle, for a time, on high ground. At the close of the evidence, on the twenty-second of February, the opinion of the

general officers, who were members of the house of commons, was asked with respect to the improvement of the army in discipline and condition, and whether the system of promotion had not been improved under the administration of the duke of York. Generals Norton and Fitzpatrick, the secretary at war, Sir Arthur Wellesley, and general Grosvenor, all answered these questions affirmative. ly, and pronounced high eulogiums on the character and conduct of his royal highness. During this inquiry, which was continued uninterruptedly for three weeks, Mary Anne Clarke was repeatedly examined at the bar, and, by the readiness and smartness of her answers to the infinite number of questions proposed, gave a degree of relief to the protracted examinations. On the twenty-third of February the duke addressed a letter to the house of commons, through the medium of the speaker, in which his royal highness, in the most solemn manner, upon his honour as a prince, distinctly asserted his innocence, and claimed from the justice of the house that he should not be condemned without a trial.

Wardle, however, moved an address to his majesty, stating, that after a diligent and laborious inquiry, it had been proved, to the satisfaction of the house, that corrupt practices had existed to a very great extent in the different departments of the military administration, and praying that his majesty would be graciously pleased to remove the duke of York from the command of the army. The chancellor of the exchequer proposed an amendment, substituting two resolutions; the first, stating that an inquiry had been instituted into the conduct of the commander-in-chief; and the second, that it was the opinion of the house that there was no just ground to charge his royal highness with personal corruption or criminal connivance. To this amendment another was moved by Bankes, acquitting the duke of personal corruption or criminal connivance, but expressing an opinion that abuses could scarcely have existed to the extent proved, without exciting some suspicion in the mind of the commander-inchief; and suggesting that, after the exposures made by the recent inquiry, a regard to the public happiness and tranquillity required the removal of the duke of York from the command of the army. The motion and amendments gave rise to many long and animated discussions, in the course of which it was urged, in favour of the original motion, that whatever might be due to the rank of his royal highness, the members of that house should always bear in mind that it was their duty to protect the public interests, and to watch over the security and welfare of the state. By the supporters of the duke of York, it was contended that Mary Anne Clarke was wholly unworthy of credit, and that there was no evidence to establish the corrupt par. ticipation or criminal connivance of the duke. If it could once be supposed that he was a party in such a conspiracy, how was any distress for money possible, when there was a mint constantly at work? There were then in the army upwards of ten thousand officers; and such was the eagerness for promotion, that there were always persons ready to give ample premiums above the regulated price. Had not his royal highness felt secure in conscious innocence, was it to be supposed that he would have ventured to discard Mary Anne Clarke, to withdraw her annuity, to irritate her to the utmost, and to set all her threats at defiance? It ought to be recollected, that the person against whom the charge was directed, was not only high in office and in rank, but one whose birth placed him so near the crown, that events might one day call him to the throne itself; and yet, by the proceeding now proposed, the house was called upon, on the most questionable evidence, to disgrace itself by pronouncing the duke guilty of the lowest and most infamous species of corruption. In favour of Bankes's amendment, it was urged that one case, that of doctor O'Meara, rested on the duke's own letter as much as on the evidence of Mary Anne Clarke; that it was astonishing that the constant applications of this woman did not create some suspicions in the mind of the duke; and that it was necessary, as a reparation to public morals and decency, to remove him from the command of the army. On the question, whether the house should proceed by address or resolution, there appeared for proceeding by address, one hundred and ninetynine; by resolution, two hundred and ninety-four;

leaving a majority against Bankes's address of ninety-five. A second division then took place on Wardle's motion, which was supported by one hundred and twenty-three, and opposed by three hundred and sixty-four.

On the seventeenth of March the chancellor of the exchequer brought forward his resolution, modified in these terms :-" that this house having appointed a committee to investigate the conduct of the duke of York, as commander-in-chief, and having carefully considered the evidence which came before the said committee, and finding that personal corruption, and connivance at corruption, have been imputed to his said royal highness, find it expedient to pronounce a distinct opinion upon the said imputation, and are accordingly of opinion that it is wholly without foundation." This motion was carried by two hundred and seventy-eight against one hundred and ninety-six. Previously to the divisions it was generally understood that the duke had come to the determination to resign his office of commander-in-chief; and on the twentieth the chancellor of the exchequer informed the house that his royal highness, having obtained a complete acquittal of the charges, was desirous of giving way to that public sentiment which, however ill-founded, they had unfortunately drawn down upon him; that, under these circumstances, he had tendered to his majesty his resignation of the office of commanderin-chief, which the king had been graciously pleased to accept. General Sir David Dundas was appointed his successor; and one of the first consequences of the investigation, was the enactment of a law declaring the brokerage of offices, either in the army, the church, or the state, to be a crime highly penal.

TRAFFIC IN INDIA APPOINTMENTS-CORRUPT PRACTICES IN PARLIAMENT. In the course of the investigation into the duke's conduct, it was ascertained that there was a systematic and almost avowed traffic in East India appointments, as well as in subordinate places under government. These discoveries led to the appointment of a committee of the house of commons, to inquire into the abuse of East India patronage, when it appeared that a vast number of cadetships and writerships had been disposed of illegally— Thellusson, one of the directors, deeply implicated in these transactions, was in consequence rejected at the next election; and the court determined that all those young men named by the committee of the house of commons, as having obtained_their appointments by corrupt practices, should be deprived of their employments, and recalled from India. This inquiry developed transactions intimately connected with the character of the house of commons, and the proceedings of some of its most distinguished members; and on the twentyfifth of April, lord Archibald Hamilton submitted a motion grounded on the conduct of lord Castlereagh, who, in the course of the inquiry, admitted that he, in 1805, delivered into the hands of lord Clancarty a writership, of which he had the gift, for the purpose of exchanging it for a seat in parliament.This negotiation, which was finally broken off, was carried on, it appeared, between lord Castlereagh and one Reding, an advertising place broker, who was a perfect stranger to his lordship. Lord Castlereagh expressed his sorrow that any motives of private friendship or of public zeal should have induced him to do any thing requiring the cognizance of that house. If he had erred, it was unintentionally, and he would submit with patience to any censure which he might be thought to have incurred his lordship then bowed to the chair, and retired; when lord A. Hamilton moved, that lord Castlereagh had been guilty of a dereliction of his duty, as president of the board of control, a gross violation of his engagements as a servant of the crown, and an attack on the purity and constitution of the house. A long debate ensued, at the close of which the motion was rejected by two hundred and thirteen against one hundred and sixty-seven. A motion was afterwards carried, to the effect, that it was the duty of the house of commons to maintain and guard the purity and independence of par liament; but that the intended charge not having been carried into effect, no criminatory proceeding appeared to the house to be necessary.

The recent exposures led to the introduction of

a bill by Curwen, which ultimately passed into a law, for better securing the purity and independence of parliament, by preventing the procuring or obtaining seats by corrupt practices, and also for the more effectual prevention of bribery.While this bill was before the house, Madocks charged the chancellor of the exchequer and lord Castlereagh with corrupt and criminal practices to procure the return of members to parliament. He affirmed that Quintin Dick purchased a seat for Cashel, in Ireland, through the hon. Henry Wellesley, who acted on the behalf of the treasury; that on the question brought forward by colonel Wardle, lord Castlereagh intimated the necessity either of his voting with government or of resiguing his seat; aud that Dick, rather than vote against his conscience, did vacate it. Perceval, in his defence, declined putting in the plea which he said he conscientiously could adduce, until the house should have decided on the propriety of entertaining the charge; and he would then come before them prepared to meet it, and vindicate his own honour. Madocks's motion was negatived.

BUDGET-DUTCH COMMISSIONERS.

THE supplies voted for the year amounted to about fifty-four million pounds; and among the ways and means were war-taxes nineteen million pounds, and a loan of eleven million pounds for Great Britain; three million pounds were also borrowed for Ireland, and six hundred thousand pounds for the prince of Brazil, for the liquidation of which the revenues of the island of Madeira had been assigned, together with a consignment of such produce of Brazil as belonged to the prince. The whole loan had been contracted for at the low interest of four pound twelve shillings and one penny per cent. per annum. The fourth report of the committee of public expenditure exhibited disclosures regarding the conduct of the commissioners appointed to manage, sell, and dispose of the Dutch ships detained or brought into the ports of Great Britain, which excited considerable surprise. It appeared that the appointment of the five commissioners took place in 1795; that their transactions were nearly brought to a close in 1799; and that, as no fixed remuneration had been assigned to them, they charged a commission of five per cent. on the gross proceeds of their sales, amounting to one hundred and thirty-two thousand pounds; and not satisfied with this enormous allowance, employed the money intrusted to their hands in discounting private bills for their own emolument. After an animated discussion, the house resolved that the commissioners had been guilty of a flagrant violation of public duty.

WAR BETWEEN AUSTRIA AND FRANCECAMPAIGN IN GERMANY.

AUSTRIA, after humbling herself to the French emperor, found it impossible to have peace on terms compatible with independence, and therefore, from the period of the conferences at Erfurth, till Buonaparte crossed the Pyrenees for the purpose of putting himself at the head of his armies in Spain, she went on completing her military preparations. These were not viewed by France with indifference; and, from Valladolid, Buonaparte sent his mandate to the princes of the confederation of the Rhine, to furnish their contingents, and hold themselves in readiness for war; soon after which he left Spain, and returned to Paris. In March the preparations for war were prosecuted by both parties with uncommon vigour. The Austrian army was divided into nine corps, of from thirty to forty thousand men each. The archduke Charles, freed from the interference of the Aulic council, was appointed generalissimo, and six of the corps were placed under his immediate command: the seventh was sent, under the archduke Ferdinand, into Poland; and 'he eighth and ninth to Italy, under the archduke John. There were also two corps of reserve, one of them consisting of twenty-thousand men, commanded by Prince John of Lichtenstein, and the other of ten thousand men, under general Keinmayer, exclusive of the partizan corps, and the landwehr, or militia. Buonaparte principally relied, at the commencement of the war, on the contingents from the confederation of the Rhine. The Bavarians were formed into three divisions, under marshal Lefebvre, who commanded the allied troops

till the arrival of Buonaparte. In the mean time the north and west of Germany, and the interior of France, were stripped of troops, which proceeded rapidly towards the banks of the Danube. On the side of Italy, Prince Eugene, the viceroy, had concentrated a formidable army; and the Saxon troops, under marshal Bernadotte, were stationed in the neighbourhood of Dresden, to protect that capital from the Austrian army in Bohemia.

On the eighth of April, Austria declared war against France; and on the ninth, the archduke Charles, having established his head-quarters at Dintz, sent formal notice to the French general commanding in Bavaria, that he had received orders to advance with his troops, and to treat as enemies all who should oppose him. This notice served as intimation to the king of Bavaria, who, quitting his capital, repaired to Augsburg. On the following day the Austrians threw a bridge of boats over the Inn, between Brannau and Scharding, and advanced slowly into Bavaria. Three days afterwards, Buonaparte, having learnt by the telegraph that the Austrians had crossed the Inn, quitted Paris, and arrived at Donawerth on the seventeenth, from which place he removed to Ingolstadt. On the nineteenth, marshal Davoust advanced to the village of Pressing, where he defeated a division of the Austrian army On the same day another French corps attacked an Austrian division in front, while the Bavarians fell upon their rear, and completed their rout. These affairs, and the sanguinary engagements near Abensbergh, Haussen, and Dinzlingen, had the effect of cutting off the left wing of the Austrian army under general Hiller, and drawing it back to Landshut.

Buonaparte, during the few days which he had passed with the army, had made himself completely acquainted with its positions, and had so far ascertained the situation of the country, as to be able to take advantage of the errors or misfortunes of his enemy. He immediately attacked the Austrians in front at Ebensberg, where he lost four thousand meu in storming the bridge; but Ebensberg having been set on fire, lieutenant-general Hiller continued his retreat till he passed the Danube near Stain, to wait for the archduke. The flank of the Austrian army having been completely laid open by the battle of Ebensberg, Buonaparte lost not a moment in advancing to Landshut. The Austrian cavalry, which had formed before the city, was driven back by marshal Bessieres; the same fate awaited the infantry; and the town, with thirty pieces of cannon, nine thousand prisoners, and all the magazines established at that place, fell into the hands of the enemy. On the twenty-second, Buonaparte arriv. ed opposite Eckmuhl, where four corps of the Austrians, amounting to one hundred and ten thousand men, under the immediate command of the archduke Charles, were already posted. Never before had these chiefs been opposed to each other; and, as neither had yet experienced a defeat, the utmost confidence reigned in their respective armies. Buonaparte's military eye immediately perceiving that the left wing of the Austrian army was disad vantageously posted, he ordered marshal Launes to attack it, while their front was opposed by the main body of the French. The contest was long and obstinate; but, at the close of the day, the archduke's left wing was turned, and he was driven from all his positions. A large body of the Austrians, endeavouring to make a stand under cover of the woods near Ratisbon, were driven into the plain, where they suffered dreadfully; and an attempt to cover the retreat of the main body by the cavalry was equally unsuccessful. The Austrians endeavoured to make a stand at Ratisbon; but af ter three successive charges they gave way, leaving the field covered with eight thousand of their slain, and the French entered the city through a breach in the fortifications, where a sanguinary engagɩ ment also took place.

In these battles Buonaparte pursued his usual plan of breaking the enemy's forces into detached parts, and then attacking them separately; and the Austrians, uninstructed by experience, had so disposed their troops as to favour his operations. General Bellegarde did not join the archduke till the day after his disaster. In five days the Austrians lost forty thousand men, and a hundred pieces of cannon.. On the ninth of May, Buonaparte, without encountering any formidable resistance in his way from Ratisbon, appeared before the gates