4-22 Memoirs of General Dumouriez. [June I, 



did niischicvously ajii»ropriatc tlic said Iwspitality, and other works of charity, 



Ix'ncfices throughout the realm, in aoonstoinc.l to be done in the said 



oirence to God, to the confusion of benefices," &ic. &.C. — (See 15 Rich. II. 



their souls, and did cruelly take away 1391.) P- 



BIOGRAPHY OF EMINENT PERSONS. 



MEMOIRS q/" GENERAL DUMOURIEZ. 



A N illustrious man has just been 

 jlM. deposited in the tomb ! In his 

 lons^, painful, and for a moment most 

 glorious, career, he was devoted to tlie 

 service of mankind aud the true inte- 

 rests of his country. To sketch ra- 

 j>idly the principal facts of his aalo- 

 iiishing lile, to invite to sober rellcc- 

 tion on its remarkable vicissitudes, 

 and to pay to an illustrious and be- 

 loved memoiy the tribute to whicli it 

 is eminently entitled, are the more 

 immediate objects of these pages. 



Charlcs-Francois-Duperier lUimou- 

 riez was born at Cambray, the 25th of 

 January, 1739: his family, originally 

 from Provence, was renowned for its an- 

 tiquity, for its longexcrcise of judiciary 

 power, and for its striking attachment 

 to literature, which, since the restora- 

 tion of letters, seems to have the inhe- 

 ritance of the magistrature in France. 

 It was to one of his ancestors that 

 Malherbc, the father of French poetry, 

 addressed in 1599 one of his most 

 beautiful odes. Duj)erier had just 

 lost his daughter, and was overwhelm- 

 ed with grief: his friend addressed 

 some poetical and tender consolations 

 to him, in the stanzas which begin — 

 " 'I'a douh'ur, Duperier, sera done 

 eternelle?" aud the latter part of 

 which I here quote with pleasure, be- 

 cause they still speak loudly to the 

 friends of the illustrious dead: — 

 La niort a des ri{;,ueiirs a nuUc autre j:a- 

 reillcs. 



On a bean la prier ; 

 La cruelie quelle est, se botu he Its oreilles 



Et nous laissc crier. 

 Le pauvre en sa cabaue ou le chaunie le 

 couvre, 



Est siijtt a scs lois ; 

 Et la garde qui veille aiix barrieres da 

 Louvre 



N'cn defend point nos rois. 

 De nminuuer coiitr'elle et perdre patience 



Est nial a propos ; 

 Voiiloir ce que Ditu viut, est la sculc 

 science 



Qui nous met en repos. 



Dumouriez's father consecrdted a 

 part of his fortune to the solid and 

 brilliant education of his son: the les- 

 sons whieli he hinisolf gave him were 

 not the less varied aud valuable; for 



ho w as a very distinguished man of 

 letters, though not professionally so ; 

 an<l his translation of" Richiardetto," 

 which merited the eulogium of Vol- 

 taire, is one of our prettiest poems. 



Dumouriez, after his classical stu- 

 dies, in which he had been very suc- 

 cessful, lived for some time with his 

 father, who destined him for the com- 

 missariat ; but, this department not 

 being agreeable to him, he chose to 

 enter the army. W hen eighteen years 

 of age, he made his first campaign 

 against the same Duke of Brunswick 

 whom, in 1792, he drove from the terri- 

 tory of France. He distinguished 

 himself in several attacks, and was at 

 last taken prisoner ; but not till he was 

 covered with nineteen serious wounds, 

 and had lost his horse, — five men had 

 been disabled by him, when his arms 

 were broken to pieces in his hands, 

 and the loss of blood alone prevented 

 a longer defence. The Duke of Bruns- 

 wick, who was told of his brave resis- 

 tance, when the wounded prisoner was 

 brought before him, strongly expressed 

 his kind admiration, and sent him back 

 w ith a flattering letter to the Marshal 

 De Broglie, general of the French 

 army. 



We cannot in this short review fol- 

 low him step by step through his mili- 

 tary career; it suffices to say, that, 

 after the peace, he was put en reforme 

 at the age of twenty-four, covered 

 w ith twenty-two wounds, w ith a cap- 

 tain's rank, and decorated with the 

 cross of St. Louis, — an extraordinary, 

 but well-nieriled, advancement. 



The interval of the peace could not 

 but H eigh down an active mind and 

 ardent soul, sensible of their power. 

 Being infinitely more expert than tlie 

 other military men of his age, and his 

 acquirements having excited only a 

 burning desire to acquire more, Du- 

 mouriez could not remain in inaction, 

 and the quarrel of kings made him 

 again take up arms. Possessing nei- 

 ther title nor the character by which 

 courtiers make their way in time of 

 peace, he could and would only obtain 

 iiis advancement by his own intelli- 

 gence and by his sword. He began to 

 seek opportiuiities of exposing himself 



to 



