THE 



MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 



No. 147.] SEPTEMBER l, 1806. [2 of Vol. 2-2. 



ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 



To the Editor of the Monthlt^ Magazine. 



SIR, 



CONCEIVING that the following 

 letter from a friend, containing an 

 account of the condutt of the trench in 

 ilanover, may be interelUng to the pub- 

 lic, I lend it for infertion in your valu- 

 able Magazine, the molt liboial publica- 

 tion in the only country in the v»orld 

 which enjoys tLe freedom of the prcfs. 

 Your's, (^c. J. Schmidt. 



Hanover; Teh. 24, 1806. 



ALTHOUGH you are happily fettled 

 in England, yet I prefun:e you have not 

 entirelTy lolt all intereft for your native 

 country. You have, douhtlefs, learned 

 much, through the channel of the public 

 papers; but as that information is ex- 

 tremely defective and inaccurate, I lliall, 

 as britrty as polVible, acquaint you with 

 wJiat has palled during the laft three 

 years. It perhaps furprifed you, as much 

 as it did us, to find that the army which 

 Bonaparte had fo warily collcfted ntNim- 

 megen, under the pretence of fending it 

 to Louiliana, was dellined for Hano- 

 ver ! .Tudging from the previous inatti- 

 vity of our Minilters, they had no fufpi- 

 cions of the views of the French until 

 tlie French army a6tually made its ap- 

 pearance, and then, as if they had 

 awoke from a dream, they flarted up and 

 fei/.ed the fworti, with a defperate refolu- 

 tion of defence. But in die moment of 

 danger the confidence of the country was 

 not to be obtained, and its required fpirit 

 of union was dillipatcd into perlonal 

 confiderations of individual fafety. A 

 levy en tinijj'e was decreed, wiiich had the 

 eSctt of compcUing the young men to 

 emigrate ; and our army, vvhich was no- 

 minally 30,000 men, in reality vvas only 

 18,000'. A Ihght fkirmilli near Suhlin- 

 gen, betwixt tlie outpolls, ferved to de- 

 cide the fate of Hanover I The farce of 

 a convention, concluded the 2d of June, 

 1803, i'urrendered it to the French, and 

 llipuluted that the unbroken Hanoverian 

 army Hiould withdraw beyond the Elbe 

 into Lauc^iburg, and not ferve againlt 

 France until they had been exchanged. 



When you remember that Kudloff was 

 then at the head of aihiirs, you will not 

 find that this tranfattion was veryiuexpliT 



iIo>-rai.y Mac, No, 147, 



cable. His a\ ell known chara6ler put it 

 out of doubt, that, in conjunction witlj 

 fome of his colleagues, he acted a treach- 

 erous part towards his countiy, in fa- 

 vour of the enemy. If the French 

 had not received a previous alfurance of 

 being admitted without moleftation, ihey 

 never would have ventured (as theyattu-- 

 ally did; through maiflies and bogs, with- 

 out ammunition, or with fcarceiy a fmgle 

 cartridj^c, to invade a country that had a 

 reguhir ;uid refpectable force to oppofe 

 againlt their inferiority in numbers. How- 

 e\er raih and fool-hardy the French may 

 be, it is not conceivable that they would 

 thus have devoted themfelves to certain 

 ruin, when with the fame facility they 

 could lia\e fcnt a force adequate to eu- 

 fure their fuccefs. 



In polfelfion of Hanover, they no f()oner 

 learned that the King of England refufed 

 to i-atify the meafures of his miniftry in 

 the Electorate, than they proceeded, with 

 newly-acquired arms, againll the force in 

 Lauenburg. The fpirit of the Hanove- 

 rian foldiery, who v>ere fired with an ar- 

 dent zeal to engage the enemies of their 

 country, was fuch as to lead every one 

 to expc6t a bloody conflict : but Count 

 Walmoden put their hves and his out of 

 danger, by a fecond capitulation, no lefs 

 difgraceful than the former. According 

 to this convention, hgncd on the Elbe ou 

 the 5th of July, againft the uiianimoas 

 opinion of the whole army, the Hanove- 

 rian troops were dilhanded and obliged to 

 lay down their ann« ! 



I am happy to lay, that the number 

 has been comparatively trifling who have 

 lince been iir.pclied, by diftrefs and 

 want of employment, to enter into the 

 French fervice. After every endeavour 

 to feduce them, Momer could not get to- 

 gether more tlian ,3000 men, the half of 

 whom were not natives; and not deem- 

 ing it prudent to keep tlieni in Hanover, 

 they liave been fent to the South of 

 France. 



The terrors of the people depictured to 

 them every poffible att of violence from 

 the invading foe ; and the liberty granted 

 to the French troops of plundermg two 

 or three villages, naturally lerved to con- 

 finn thefe apprehenhons, and occafioned 

 Hiany groundlefs reports ; but in a Ihort 

 time everyone was convinced that, with 

 e thi» 



