as a privy-counsellor to enter upon civil duties, that he laid down his commission, on pretence of being dissatisfied with the service, and came to England, where he continued to reside, being, de facto, the accredited secret envoy of the court of Prussia at our own, until the year 1810, when he returned home, and, continuing to act in a diplomatic capacity, was occupied in successive missions of an equally delicate nature to the Courts of Vienna, St. Petersburgh, Stockholm, and London. In 1813, he again, as it were, re-entered upon military duty, but no longer in a subordinate station, for he rejoined the army both as Major-General and Quarter-master-General of the Prussian forces, and, as such, was called upon to conduct the celebrated retreat of the Allied armies from the disastrous field of Lützen to Breslau, in the course of which he repeatedly arrested the pursuit of his antagonists, and carried off forty of their cannon, without losing a single gun of his own. During the armistice which ensued, he was actively engaged in organizing the Prussian Landwehr, or militia, and succeeded Scharnhorst, as chief of the staff to the gallant Blücher. The suspension of hostilities being at an end, Gneisenau's talents were brought into full play; it was to his masterly skill in strategics, that Europe was mainly indebted for the annihilation of Macdonald's corps on the Katzbach, the successful passage across the Elbe, effected at Wittenberg, and the glorious result of the "conflict of nations," under the walls of Leipzig, on the 16th of Oct. 1813. He had nobly earned the lieutenant-generalship to which he was now advanced: fresh laurels awaited him at the sieges of Brienne and Paris, and he took a leading part in the battle of Montmirail, as well as in advising and conducting the masterly advance upon the French capital in 1814. Upon the conclusion of this arduous campaign, his sovereign attested his sense of Gneisenau's distinguished services, by naming him a full general of infantry, raising him to the rank of a Count, and bidding him make choice of a royal domain of ten thousand dollars annual value.

In 1815, Napoleon's re-appearance at the head of affairs in France, placed him once more as chief of Blücher's staff; the Prussians took post at Ligny and were signally routed; but such was Gneisenau's skilful promptitude, that within six-and-thirty hours, they were completely re-organized, brought up to the succour of our gallant countrymen, and sealed the fortunes of the immortal day of Waterloo. One, who had so efficiently contributed to reduce Napoleon's second reign to a term of one hundred days, was fitly charged with lending his aid to complete the work of overthrow, by acting as a negotiator in the second treaty of Paris. We next find him at Blücher's side in London, from which he departed to assume the government of the Rhenish provinces. To this appointment, the king of Prussia added the ribbon of the Black Eagle and its other insignia, as found in Napoleon's carriage after the battle of Waterloo. His ill state of health having induced him, however, to resign his governorship in June 1816, he withdrew to his estates in Silesia, from which he was called in 1818 to the governorship of Berlin. This post his infirmities subsequently compelled him to relinquish, for the seclusion of a life of rural tranquillity; but the critical situation into which Prussia was thrown at the close of last year by the breaking out of the Polish insurrection, rendered it necessary for her to protect her eastern frontiers by a for

midable display of force. Gneisenau was therefore summoned to take the command of four corps of the army assembled for that purpose, and fixed his head-quarters at Posen in the beginning of March last. In that town the veteran hero was carried off by an inflammation of the lungs on the night of the 27th of August, and in the seventy-first year of a life, full of honour, and rich in valuable services to the land of his adoption.

We need not dwell upon the military endowments of this illustrious captain; they stand recorded by the proud elevation to which no adventitious or artificial influence raised him; and their remembrance will survive so long as the glories of the Katzbach, the Elster, and the field of Waterloo, shall not be blotted out from the nobler recollections of " the things that were." But we owe it to his memory to add, that in private life, he was equally esteemed for his modesty and affability, as for his kind-hearted bearing and social cheerfulness. No wonder, that a three days' mourning throughout the Prussian army should have been ordered, as a tribute of veneration to such a soldier as Gneisenau.

S.

REVIEWS AND CRITICAL NOTICES.

SIR EDWARD SEAWARD'S NARRATIVE. Since the days of De Foe there has not appeared so interesting and clever a fiction of its class as the Narrative of Sir Edward Seaward. The only work of a similar character, published within our remembrance, namely, "THE JOURNAL OF PENROSE, a SAILOR," though ingenious and entertaining, was a production of inferior merit to the pseudo-memoirs of the New Crusoe. Though, to the critical eye, the fictitious nature of this Narrative be palpable throughout, it is conducted to the close with so much simplicity and vraisemblance, historic traits and local descriptions are so happily interwoven with the author's imaginings, while a considerable share of knowledge of the world, of human nature, and of the origin and progress of human institutions, invest with a wellconveyed moral a story of no common interest, that we have felt and have no hesitation in pronouncing it to be a composition of no ordinary stamp, and second only to its popular prototype.

MEMOIRS OF COUNT LAVALLETTE -WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. The autobiography of Lavallette, of which an excellent English version has just been published, is worthy to be classed with the admirable Memoirs of Bourrienne. It is surprising how much of interest and even novelty can still be thrown upon a subject so trite and apparently exhausted as the details of the French Revolution.

Yet of all the native writers, not one has handled this eventful theme with more honesty and salutary effect than Lavallette. His faithful and striking descriptions of the frightful scenes and detestable motives of the French Revolution and its actors, in its earliest stages, convey a lesson not to be overlooked at the present moment, and justify the fitful march of that interminable convulsion by the characteristic means he supplies of tracing unerring effects to adequate causes.

It is unnecessary to advert to the romantic incident which has coupled the name of Lavallette's devoted wife with those of the most heroic matrons of antiquity. Described by the rescued husband, with all the concomitant doubts and fears and hopes which would naturally arise from his singular position, this trait forms one of the most interesting episodes imaginable; while the after events, to which he feelingly alludes, are calcu lated to excite our sympathy and respect.

STANDARD NOVELS-VOLS. V. AND VI.-Our augury respecting the value and popularity of this series, has been amply borne out by the quality and circulation of its subjects. It is unquestionably the cheapest, the neatest, and most interesting of its class; and, in the smallest imaginable space, offers a Select Library of the most attractive, and, when ably handled, instructive department of Literature, at a price within almost univer

GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE UNITED SERVICE JOURNAL.

Letter from Capt. Basil Hall on Massey's Patent Sounding Machine.

MR. EDITOR,-In compliance with your wish to receive notices respecting useful inventions, I take the liberty of calling your attention and that of naval men to Massey's Sounding Machine, which, although it has been many years well-known in the service, and has long been in use, is not yet, as I conceive, by any means sufficiently appreciated.

It is a great secret in all our proceedings to throw as much responsibility on the machinery we employ as possible. As this rule applies to all mechanical operations whatever, and to none more than to those of seamanship, I would venture to say, that no officer, nor even any uninstructed person, could witness the old method of obtaining soundings, tried side by side with that by Massey's Machine, and have the slightest doubt remaining in his mind as to which deserved the preference. By the old method, especially if it be dark, blowing hard, and raining, the whole responsibility is thrown on the judgment of the men employed, while the results, as every person knows, are generally unsatisfactory, and often dangerous, besides being exceedingly troublesome and protracted, exposing a great number of men, needlessly, to the weather, and almost always retarding the ship in her progress.

When this admirable invention is used, all weathers and all situations are nearly alike as to convenience, and absolutely alike as to fidelity of result. It has frequently happened to me that I have been enabled to carry my ship in safety and with confidence into situations, at night, where I dared hardly have ventured had I used any other method. I remember one occasion where it so happened that the security of the passage turned entirely upon the soundings. I knew the spot well, but being confined to bed by illness, I could not superintend the pilotage in person, and in order to satisfy myself that all was right, I had the Sounding Machine, with the line bent to it, brought to my bed-side, that I might set it with my own hand. It was then sent on deck, and cast overboard in the usual way, with two or three coils of line. When drawn in again, it was not examined on deck, but brought down to me, with the line still bent, to be examined. In this way, though I could not stir, I was enabled to insure the ship's being kept in the middle of the straits.

I have used this Machine in very deep water and also in the shallowest seas, with equal effect, and never once found it to err; and I have tried it also against the ordinary method, with all fairness, and in circumstances when the truth could be ascertained, but never once knew it to fail; so that it really may be considered under water, what the sextant is above it-the only infallible guide for the navigator.

One precaution may be mentioned which it is very useful to take at all times. I had a small bottle of sweet oil, with a feather in it, kept abaft, with which the screws and wheels of the Machine were wiped and oiled every time the lead was hove. This was done even when a cast was taken every two or three minutes. The propriety of having this done every time will be obvious, when it is recollected that we are never sure which will be best time that a cast of the lead may be required; and unless the Machine be oiled every time without exception, on its being drawn in, it is apt to have its delicate machinery clogged; independently of which, the degree of care which this constant attention implies, gives considerable security to the safe custody of the instrument.

I make no apology for prosing at this rate on an old invention. Officers who really know its value will rejoice to see its merits again and again fairly stated; while those who have not tried it, will, when they make the experiment, see good reason to thank any one who has given them the hint.

For my part, I have never gone to sea in command of a ship without purchasing several of these machines, besides those allowed by the Dock-yard, to be used in case of accidents or loss to the others. The many comfortable nights' rest in bed, which they have secured to me, when I must otherwise have been watching and worrying myself on deck, have far overpaid their pecuniary cost. I remain your most obedient servant, BASIL HALL, Capt. R.N.

Reply of Colonel Napier to the letter of Count Allen on a passage of his

History.

MR. EDITOR,—It appears that I have given offence to Count Charles Alten by that passage in the second volume of my History, which describes, the march of our troops from Astorga to Vigo in 1808-9, as licentious and ill-conducted. Hitherto, Sir, the attacks that from time to time have been made upon my work have been neglected by me, not from any disinclination to meet my opponents, nor from any feeling of weakness, but simply because I have not had leisure; nor would I now have taken the trouble to answer Count Alten's observations, were it not that the thing is easy in itself, and that I owe him some respect, as a brave soldier under whose command I served for a considerable time.

The Count, after stating the words of a conversation held at Astorga with Sir John Moore, proceeds to show in detail, that the instructions he received from that General, namely, " to seize the bridge of Orense and reach Vigo before the enemy," were fulfilled to the letter. I do not dispute it. There was no enemy seen, felt, or heard of, during the whole march, and, consequently, there was no difficulty in reaching the points required to be occupied. Were I, indeed, disposed to attack Gen. Alten, with any taint of malice, I might observe, that the only occasion in which he used his discretionary power, his judgment was at fault. For certainly Sir John Moore's intention was to assemble the whole army (after embarkation) in the bay of Vigo, with a view to restore order; and there Count Alten took the responsibility of making sail for England with that part of the army under his command, before he knew of the catastrophe at Corunna, which would have proved an error if Sir J. Moore had lived.

I come now to the real point at issue between us. Gen. Alten's observations go to show that he obeyed his instructions, but my remark had only reference to the details of execution, and I rest upon my own authority as an eye-witness. I have served many campaigns yet I have never seen 66 a more licentious and ill commanded" march, and I trust for confirmation of the assertion to the recollection of the officers who were present. Gen. Alten acknowledges that one detachment of stragglers alone amounted to six hundred men. Now, Sir, the ships waited in Vigo Bay, after the troops arrived there, at least ten days, and during the whole of that period, stragglers were coming in by two's and three's, as the navy officers, who were constantly engaged in bringing them off to the vessels, can testify. In addition to this, I find by the Adjutant-General's return, that about five hundred men were left behind when the ships sailed. Here, then, we have, at least, one third of the whole number of troops, straggling, during a march, in which the face of an enemy was never seen, nor the want of provisions ever felt, the troops also, sleeping under cover every night, and in good villages; for I must take leave, in opposition to the General's observations, to say, that the country, although mountainous, was the reverse of sterile, and with the exception of the two first days' journey, not at all difficult for unencumbered infantry such as ours. Gen. Alten indeed is obliged to confess that the stragglers committed excesses, but he excuses it on the score of the forced marches that his instructions obliged him to make.