150 Leaves torn out of a Common-place Book. [Feb. 



chace, and all these strong places were mastered by the conquerors at 

 their leisure. It will be, j)erhaps, said, that a single instance cannot 

 fairly be adduced, in support of a doctrine which has been rejected 

 by the world, from the time of its promulgation down to the present 

 moment. But I contend that this is not a single instance, and what- 

 ever stress may be laid on such universal practice, in opposition to 

 Machiavel's theory, the result of that practice, if unsuccessful, makes 

 strongly in support of his arguments. Now let us see what this has 

 been, taking a retrospect of the revolutionary warfare concluded by the 

 restoration of the Bourbons. In the first campaign of this, the Duke of 

 Brunswick easily mastered or masqued the fortified places between the 

 frontier from which he advanced and Paris, from reaching to which 

 he was certainly not prevented by any of these impediments. But 

 I proceed to more striking illustrations. I recollect that when the 

 tables were turned, and Dumourier had overrun Flanders (a fact which 

 was then explained by his superiority of numbers), it was predicted that 

 he was to be arrested in his career by Maestricht and Breda. Breda, 

 however, instantly capitulated, and (what may serve as a specimen of 

 the excuses with which governors will varnish their conduct when they 

 want to capitulate) another town was as lightly yielded up, whose com- 

 mandant justified his surrender by the deficiency of butter. In fine, 

 Dumourier had nearly threaded the obstacles which blocked his passage, 

 and was only driven back by the superior forces which the allies poured 

 in upon his wasted army, when the torrent of invasion was for the 

 second time rolled back from the French frontier, and the revolutionary 

 armies once more inundated Flanders. It was now said, in the true 

 spirit, Oh ! Flanders, denuded as it has been of strong places, by the 

 folly of the Emperor Joseph, is easily occupied ; but we shall see 

 whether these marauders will not be arrested by the fortified cities of 

 Holland. These fortified cities fell, almost, at the sound of the trum- 

 pets of the conqueror, and Holland was overrun as if it had been an 

 open country. Germany, notwithstanding her fortresses on the Rhine, 

 suffered the same fate. Magdebourg, and the strong places of Prussia, 

 fell, in consequence of the battle of Jena, without even firing a shot ; 

 and in Italy, after the defeat of Wurmser, Mantua and the fortified 

 towns upon the Po were surrendered by a single stroke of the pen. 

 The war in Spain exhibits the same results. Buonaparte, by treachery, 

 or force, quickly possessed himself of all the strong holds in Catalonia, 

 or elsewhere ; and the only place which made any opposition to him, 

 was the open town of Saragossa.* Of what avail were these fortresses, 

 afterwards in the possession of that distinguished conqueror, and in 

 a war in which they promised to be pre-eminently advantageous ? Did 

 they guarantee to him the possession of any part of the country which 

 was not commanded by their cannon, or did they materially arrest the 

 advance of the combined armies which finally drove him out of Spain ? 

 To pass to the concluding act of that drama, of which we#Fere so long 

 the trembling spectators : how short was the last act, and how sudden 

 the catastrophe ! Of what avail was the triple band of fortresses on 

 the Flemish frontier, or those which guarded the heart of France ? 



* Taragoiia held out many weeks, and might have lield out much longer. The 

 present Sir Edward Codrington protracted the capture of the place by his skill and 

 gallantrj". The guns of the Blake destroyed thousands of the besiegers. This instance, 

 and that of Cadiz, by no means militate against the above. — Edit. 



