110 Political Elucidation of Lord 
To the Editor of the Monthly Mugazine. 
-SIR, 
I HAVE been for some time past col¬ 
lecting tor publication ‘‘ The politi ¬ 
cal doctrines of the great historians and 
zi riterSy unconnectt:d uitli purlT/f a work 
which 1 venture to think, will diffuse a 
vast mass ot valuable knowledge through 
Society at large, liy way ot illustration I 
send you some extracts wdnch will eluci¬ 
date the campaigns ot Lord W ellington, 
and display the real motives of Buona¬ 
parte, in some prominent features of his 
conduct; promising that I enter not into 
party politicsot any kind, religious or civil. 
Massena is known to have been compelled 
to retreat through famine. Ctesar pur¬ 
sued the same plan as Lord W ellington, 
with success, at the river Axona, (X)e 
Bell. Galt. L. li.) but a more inierest- 
mg, though not more pertinent, illustra¬ 
tion is to be found in ilohertson's Ch. V. 
anno 1536. “ Lrancis fixed upon tlie onlp 
proper and 'effectual plan for defeating the 
invasion of a powertul enemy. He de¬ 
termined to remain altogether upon the 
defensive ; never to hazard a battle, or 
even a great skirmish without certainty 
of success; to fortify his camps in a re¬ 
gular manner; to tiuow garrisons only 
into towns of great strength; to deprive 
the enemy of subsistence by laying waste 
the country before them, and to save 
the whole kingdom by sacrificing a pro¬ 
vince.’’ The enemy w^ere compelled to 
retire from famine, and the details m the 
historian coincide wdth the events which 
ensued upon the retreat of the French. 
Under the year 1557, we find that the 
Duke of Alva, sensible of alt the advan¬ 
tages of standing on the defensive before 
an invading enemy, kept within his en¬ 
trenchments, and, adliering to his plan 
with the steadiness of a Castilian, eluded 
.with great address alt the Duke of Guise’s 
stratagems to draw him into action. By 
this time sickness began to waste the 
French army, &c. Dumourier was 
equally successful through the same plan, 
when the Duke of Brunswick was com¬ 
pelled to retreat; and bad politics alone 
could render practicable a successful in¬ 
vasion of Great Britain. By the same 
plan Russia could utterly paralyse Buo¬ 
naparte, aided as it is by climate. 
Conduct of the retreat. It was well for 
the French that they were so strong in 
cavalry. W’hen infantry retreat in good 
order, as did that of Massena, cannon 
should be brought up to bear upon their 
centre. This throws them-into coi>fosHHv, 
and the irruption of the cavalry renders 
IVellington's Campaigns, [Sept, 
the route universal. See Rohertsoii’s Ch, 
v. anno 1557. Hence, by tlie w'ay, Buo¬ 
naparte’s attack at the battle of Asperne, 
—It is an old plan. ‘ 
Propriety and good effects of Lrainmg 
the Portuguese and Spaniards. Caisar, 
describing a panic which prevailed in 
his army, says, that it proceeded from 
persons who had newly joined him, quod 
non magnum in re mUitu.ri usu/n habc'- 
bant f btcPiUbe they w ere unexperienced 
in military matters. 
Blockade of Budujoz, and march to AU 
hueru. Luculius, f/efore the battle, held 
a council of war. Some advised him to 
quit the siege, and meet Tigranes with 
all his forces. Others were of opinion 
that he should continue the siege, and 
not leave so many enemies behind him. 
He told them tliat neitiier sepaiately 
gave good advice, but both together. He 
therefore left Muiena before the place, 
and with the rest of his army marclicd 
against the enemy, Plutarch in Lucul^ 
tus. 
In the Memoirs of Prince Eugene, we 
find that the French always claim vic¬ 
tory, even under severe defeats. In Gt/r- 
rard^'s Art of Wuvre, p. ^45. is the Ibl- 
]ov\ing passage: “The captain-general 
must search by all meanes possible to 
keepe his armie continually courageous, 
and wyth aspiring mindes, by arteficiall 
functions, to the enemies confusion. 
8o,metimes dispearsing a rumor that he 
iiath mterceplefi and taken certayne ad- 
veriisements of importance. Sometimes 
to faigiie that he hath the commoditie to 
-abyde liimselfe with the succours of many 
princes and common princes, although 
there he no such matter. To makejpyjul 
triumpheSy 4’C-’^ The French puff furious¬ 
ly, like quack doctors, and have destroyed 
much of the patriotism of this country, 
by persuading ignorant people that they 
are (what is impossible) both infallible 
and invincible. The gross misrepresen- 
taion of their bulletins has been lonji aijo 
exposed by Dr. Johnson, in the Idler, 
upon the capture of Louisbourg; and 
Capt. Elliot has shown that they ought 
to have seized Portugal, immediately 
after the retreat of Sir J. IMoore’s army. 
They have confessed, that Victor’s‘pre¬ 
mature attack at Talavera, preserved 
Lord Wellington from being surrounded. 
Both these errors proceeded from the 
national vanity of the Frencli, who 
thought that^eni, vidi, and vicij would at¬ 
tend them at all times, as if Sir Isaac 
Newton, Milton, and Marlborough, could 
not possibly be Englishmen, Rome and 
Carfhaga 
