402 
them a confiderable impediment and obftruc- 
tion. 
Their cavalry is good in feveral points of 
view, that is, the men are fome of the fineft 
troops I ever faw, and the horfes are excejlent 3 
yet, upon the whole, the French cavalry is 
not fufficiently organized. The commanding 
officer of a brigade of horfe aflured me, that, 
aéting asadetached body, he would engage 
any cavalry upon carth, but that he was fear- 
ful of -aéting with his brigade in large maf- 
fes. 
Upon the whole, I found that the republi- 
can troops ftood the inclemencies of the wea- 
ther and fevere fatigues wonderfully well. 
Five hours exercife, for inftance, thac. is, 
three hours in the morning, and two in the 
afternoon, did not feem to affect them at-all, 
for in the interval I found tiem constantly 
walking about ; and of a fitty miles march 
they ufed to talk as of a © coup de pied” —a 
bit of a walk.* 
If the French knew how to blend firmnefs 
and fteadinefs with their native vivacity and 
valour, they would be the firft troops in the 
world. heir attack is made with intrepidity 
and fpirit, which not unfrequently degene- 
rates into rage. But if the troops oppoied to 
them do not lofe countenance, but fupport 
their attack with that fteadinefs. which 
forms a charaéteriftic feature of our troops, or 
anticipate the attack in an able and {pirited 
manner, the republican foldiers are fill the 
old Frenchmen of Rofbach. 
On feeing the numerous light infantry, 
which at prefent compofes the greate{t part 
of the French armies, | was naturally led to 
confider how I fhould a&, if I were entrufted 
with the command of a corps attacked by 
this numerous light infantry, endeavoaring to 
outfank and furround me en all fides, accord- 
ing to the leading principle of their fy item of 
tactics. To fire on this fcattered multitude 
would be folly ; for to fire by battalions or 
platoons on fingle difperfed men, were to 
‘wafte powder and ball to no purpoie. To 
featter and difperfe my men alfo would be 
fill worfe, for by fo doing f fhould lofe my 
fgtrength,chiefly refulting from the fteady com- 
pactnefs of our troops. I fhould therefore 
neither do one nor the other, but, if the na- 
ture of the ground did any ways permit, place 
{mall troops. of ‘horfe in the intervals of my 
foot, with orders to charge the enemy’s infan- 
try, as foon as they thould begin to fcatter, 
which would neceflitate them either to form 
again in a body, or expote them fo be cut 
down by my horfe. 
a a 


* 'The day before yefterday, 1 faw a regi- 
ment of huffars pafs through this place, 
which eight months ago was ftationed in the 
vicinity of Mentz, had marched from thence 
to Brett, and was now returning to Join nge- 
reauw’s army. In {fpite of this fatiguing march, 
the horfes were in an excellent condition, and 
but few of them were hurt by the faddle. 
French Military--Di/putes in Book Societies. 
[Deco t, 
To the Editor of the. Monibly Magazine. 
SIR, 
T is a fat; eftablifhed on the concur- 
| _ rent teflimony of refpectable hiftorians, 
that the clergy, as a body, have in every 
age, except where their own peculiar in- 
terefts were concerned, been fubfervient to 
the will of the ruling party: no wonder 
then, that the influence they poflels in 
our public libraries fhould be exerted to 
the utmoft, in determining the choice of 
books favourable to their party views 5 
and in ftigmatizing, as licentiofis, every 
production in the moft remote degree 
hoftile to that fyftem of war and ditcord: 
which, unhappily, forms fo diftinguifhing 
a feature of the prefent times. 3 
To corroborate the truth of the fore- 
going obfervations, permit me, in addi- 
tion to the many valuable communications. 
re{pecting Reading Societies, already pre- 
fented to the public through the medium. 
of your-ufeful Mifcellany, to give a fhort 
hiftory of a library inftituted at Jedburgh 
about the year 1760. Iam not in pofic!= 
fion of the original conftitution of this fo- 
ciety ; but the fum paid, by individuals 
on admiffion, has fluctuated from three to 
five guineas: each member, befides, con- 
tributes a yearly quota of nine fhiilings,. 
and pofiefles the right of transferring his 
fhare. . At every anniverfary meeting, the 
names cf the books propofed by any mem-: 
ber, as proper for the fociety, are taken 
down by the librarian, the merit and ten-: 
dency of which being afterwards canvafled, 
they are finally admitted or reje&ted by a 
plurahty of voices. The number of mem- 
bers amount, at prefent, to fomewhat 
above fixty. Among the regulations for 
the management of this infiitution, none 
has found a place to guard againft the evil 
of clerical influence: unfortunately, there- 
fore, inftead of operating to promote libe- 
ral difcuffion, it has lately been perverted 
to the worit of purpofes, that of giving 
currency to party publications, and to the 
fupport of a particular fet of opinions. 
The Rights of Man foon fella facrifice to 
facerdotal zeal, and. was expelled, as I 
have been informed, upon a motion from 
the Rev. Member wha, a few months be- 
fore, had prefented it tothe fociety. The 
aflertion. of a Noble Lord high in com- 
mand at Toulon, that in the New Annual 
Regifler an inaccurate ftatement had: been 
given of the expulfion of the Englifh from 
that place, was urged, by a c? dewant pre- 
ceptor of his Lordfhip, as a fufficient 
ground for difeontinuing that publication ; 
and the valuable works of. Dr. Dare 
were rejected, becauie the fame, or fome. 
other 
