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No. 407, January 9, 1858.] THE LBA. DBB....
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LUDLOW'S INDIAN LECTURES. British India:...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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The Campaign Op 1815. ^Second Notic E.] ...
nate and prolonged assault upon Hougoumont , disquieted by the gathering force of the Prussians , Napoleon turned his efforts from the left to the centre of the British line . He carried La Haye Sainte ; but not until its defenders had exhausted every cartridge ( a fact which , in speaking of the ' flight' of Major Baring , Colonel Charras leaves unnoticed ) , arid he followed it up by the first of those magnificent cavalry attacks , which , brilliant as they were , made no substantial impression on the British infantry . Hurtlin" in vain against the squares , but never charging home , the French horsemen were assailed in turn , and driven off ' , by the wreck of the British cavalry , which charged so often , so aptly , and so successfully during this bloody day . five clockWith constantlincreasing strength
It was now approaching o ' . y , now rapidly coming into action , Bulow and his Prussians had already compelled l , obau to throw all his force into the fight . The French line of battle gradually began to lose its beautiful array , and to shape itself so as to assault the ' British in front and control the Prussians on the flank . Wellington had drawn his right towards the centre , and called up part of his reserve . He divined Napoleon ' s purpose , and opposed fresh obstacles to the tide of cavalry which was preparing to rush up the slope and over the crest . Ney attacked once more , and Kellerman ' s gleaming squadrons came bounding on in support , shouting , and confident of victory . They made a great effort ; they sustained an astonishing combat for nearly two hours ; they rode at , but not into , the squares . Not once only , but a dozen times these gallant fellows swooped upon their invincible foes ; until broken , disordered ,
decimated by the fire of the infantry , and charged by our cavalry , they were chased once more into the valley . Napoleon had now used up his cavalry . He had been compelled to reinforce Lobau with the Young Guard , and to move the Imperial Guard up on to the battle-field . Wellington ' s losses had been terrific . He had at once repelled the attacks on Hougoumont , opposed an impassable line to the infantry of the French right , and sustained the wreat cavalry attacks without flinching . But fewer still and fewer had grown the allied troops . Little squares and little columns were dotted about upon and in rear of the ridge . Squadrons still less , or rather regiments reduced to squadrons , stood close in rear of the infantry . Wellington had a reserve as well as Napoleon , but unhappily , except "Vivian and Vandeleur ' s cavalry brigades , it consisted mainly of Dutch-Belgian infantry . He had , therefore , to win with his British and Germans ; and with them
he won . On his last grand attack , that made by the Imperial Guard , Napoleon staked the issue of the battle . From this point it is that we can measure the share of the Prussians in determining the victory . Soon after seven o ' clock the French army actually presented a right angle opposite the British left , so stoutly had the Prussians pressed on , although not one brigade was yet in communication with the British army . Had Blucher not repeated his attacks again and again on the French right , Napoleon would have had the whole of the force sent against Blucher wherewith to strike a decisive blow at Wellington in the most critical hour of the conflict . As it was , the defeat of the Imperial Guard was little less than a miracle , and it was , that defeat which wrested the victory from Napoleon . Nothing
could be finer than the swift counterstroke dealt by Wellington , or better timed , or more conclusive . One moment , while awaiting the onslaught of the Guard , and sustaining the fierce and incisive fire of the swarms of French skirmishers on his left , Wellington ' s line may be said to have swayed to and fro , like a wall about to give way . A brief interval filled with deadly volleys ensued ; and then the French columns , heretofore so compact and resolute , were seen loosening and scattering over the field , from La Haye Sainte to La Belle Alliance , from Hougoumont to Papelotte , furrowed by the red lines of British cavalry , and swept away by the irresistible ardour of the infantry , so long restrained . The charge and pursuit of our Guards and of the Light Infantry Brigade had decided the battle . The British left and Prussian right were now in contact ; the Prussians had grown stronger than the French ; the victory was won .
Dans toute l ' armee francaise , il no resta plus un bataillon , un escadron en ordre . La dcroute fut complete , absoluc . Napoleon avait perdu la bataillo la plus decisive do notro ftge . Wellington par aa tenacite" inc'branlable , BlUcher pur eon activity audacieuse , tous lea deux par l'hubiletd et l ' accord de leurs manoeuvres avaient prodult ce rcsultat Jamais armdea ne s'ctaient livrc ' plus furieux , de plus aanglanta asaauts . Main , malheureusment pour la France , jamais , non plus , amide francaiae n ' avait subi defnite ai terrible , si funeate . Wo need not pursue the further career of Napoleon , nor discuss with Colonel Charms his fall . Wo can only find space to mention that our author has most ably and pitilessly analyzed the writings of N a pole on relating to the campaign , and has found them , as others hud done before him , wanting in veracity . Napoleon was physically and mentally demoralized —demented , in fact—by power . His genius flashed , it did not shine with that steady blaze which lit up all the world in the latest yours of the last and the earliest years of this century . We may here give the estimate which Colonel Charms has formed of Wellington and Napoleon : — Cortes , In difference dtait grando entro lo gdndrnl anglais et Napoldon . Mais elle l'dtnit boaucoup inoins quo eelui-ci no so I'imaginait et quo , longtomps , on ne l ' a cm dans notro pays « ibuti < J par des mensonges .
L ' uu avnit lo gdnlo do In guorrc ! i la plus haute puissance ; mais la politiquc insonade do l ' ompereur iiltc ' rait , troublait los conceptions mervoillcuses du atrntdgo ; et l'diiergio , 1 'uctivitd physique faisait Houvcnt dcTuut aux ndccssitc ' sddvorniitus , aux dura labours des expeditions do guorre . L ' autro n'dtait qu ' un gdndral de talent , mais d'un talent si coraplot , onto' sur do si fortes qualitc * s , qu'il aiteignait prosquo au gc ' uie . Done" d ' uu bon sons oxtrOnio ; politlquo " profond *;~ religioux-obHervateur-des-loi » -do-sou-pays ; -excollo » t-apprdciatour-dOH homines ; infltruit h fond do tout co qui constituo 1 « science et le mdticr doa armes ; fuisnnt parfoia dos fautea , inuis anchunt no pas s ' y obstinor apros lus avoir roconnuos ; eoignoux du blon-fitro do sos uoldats , niduagor do lour sung ; dur au do ' aordre , impitoyuhlo aux ddprtidnteurs ; habile U concovoir ot a executor ; prudent ou hurdi , toinporiHeur ou aotif suivant la circonatnnco ; indbranlublo dans In mauvuiwc fortune , robollo auk enivromentu du succos ; ( lino do fer dims un corps do for , Wellington , aveo uno petite armco , avait fait do grandon chosos ; ot cotto anndo tftait son ouvragc . 11 dovult roster ot il rostora uno des grandes llguros militairca do co aidcle . No * on 1700 , il avait quarauta-uix nus , I ' ago do Nanoldon .
The ungracious task of . pointing out some errors cannot be shirked , ungracious though it be . Colonel Charras says that Ponsonby ' s Union Brigade was posted in the reserve , and only brought up when Wellington saw D'Erlon preparing to fall upon his left . Ponsonby stood on the lefb and Somerset on the right of the Charleroi road , at the beginning of the action . In describing Ney ' s cavalry charges , our author aays , " Des carres entiers furent renverse ' s , disperses , ^ erases , "—an assertion made without foundation . No square was broken on that day . The Prince of Orange , much admired by Colonel Charras , caused the destruction of two German battalions and a brave general , as he had caused the destruction of a British regiment at Quatre Bras , by sheer stupidity . Colonel Charras , led away by gratitude to the Dutch , erroneously states , and renders his error emphatic by a flourish of trumpets , that it was Chasse and the Dutch , and not Colborne with the 52 nd Reg iment , who charged decisively on the flank of the Imperial Guard . But Colonel Charras commits a graver error , for he describes the
double attack of the Guards as one attack , and the double defeat as one defeat , sous la pression du nombre . ' There are other mis-statements , but we need not particularize them . The book , upon the whole , as we have already said , is a valuable contribution to military history , written in good faith , and as such it will no doubt be generally received .
No. 407, January 9, 1858.] The Lba. Dbb....
No . 407 , January 9 , 1858 . ] THE LBA . DBB . 41
Ludlow's Indian Lectures. British India:...
LUDLOW'S INDIAN LECTURES . British India : its Races and its History considered ioith Reference to the Mutinies oj 1857 . By John Malcolm Ludlow . 2 vols . Cambridge : Macmillan and Co . These lectures were addressed to the students of the Working Men ' s College . Mr . Ludlow was requested to undertake the task on account of his well-known familiarity with Indian matters . It does not appear very clearly whether he has had local experience , but that is a question of no particular importance . Some of the very best books written on Eastern affairs are the works of men who never travelled out of Europe ; indeed , Mill considered it an absolute disadvantage in the writer of Indian history to have been in India . The point may be pushed too far , but Mr . Ludlow has other qualifications to plead . His kinsmen form a clan of Anglo-Indians ; his friendships ramify through all the Indian departments . Thus , he has
been led to study the subject with interest and even enthusiasm , and to educate himself in special views which find strong expression in these discourses . The contents of these two volumes , therefore , bear a certain impress of authority , and , having been neatly and industriously compiled , may be recommended to readers whose means of information have hitherto been similar to those of the students addressed in the first instance by Mr . Ludlow . The taint of the work consists in a peculiarly morbid tone , accompanied by an occasionaliieat of language which detracts from the value of the narrative , and of the disquisitions interspersing it . Mr . Ludlow is an antagonist of the East India Company , and generally of the policy which has been pursued by Great Britain in India ; b . ut we think , considering ^ the rapidity with which he got together his materials , and the comparatively narrow space through which his researches ranged , that he would have done of the
well to avoid rhetorical interludes after the manner parliamentary orators of the last century . In several instances he has decided hastily and unjustly , and permitted his Indian sympathies to carry him beyond the limits of historical evidence . Before discussing any of the points to which we allude , it is necessary , in order to present a fair account of Mr . Ludlow ' s book , to indicate upon what plan he has gone to work . The basis laid is a general description of India , its geography , natural divisions , products , and capacities . Into the immense and brilliant theatre Mr . Ludlow then introduces the native races , distributed into aborigines , Hindoos , Mohammedans , and Christians , his sketch being very intelligent and popular . To this topic four lectures are devoted . Next , he treats of the British rule in India , arranging the principal events in groups , and dedicating , as is properalmost as much space to the story of internal administration as
, to that of war and conquest . The British authority , established , organized , extended , is traced as far as the last of Lord Dalhousie ' s annexations , all of which are bitterly—and some unjustly—condemned , and at this point a retrospective lecture is interpolated , summing up what , in Mr . Ludlow ' s opinion , are to be considered as ' the lessons of the past . ' Thence he proceeds to deal with ' questions of the present , ' the military , the religious , that of race , the political , that of police , justice , and taxation , the condition of the country and the people , and the state of public opinion at home . We do not think any reader can follow Mr . Ludlow through these successive chapters of narrative , analysis , and criticism , without being informed and interested ; but we would warn students , especially those of the Working Men ' s College , not altogether to trust the work as a manuul , ^ but to compare it with others more philosophical in their impartiality , and grounded
upon views of statesmanship more practical and not less lofty . It seema to us that Mr . Ludlow is a philanthropist and not a politician . He might be both ; he could not be the latter , in a atriot sense , without being the former . But good-will goes a very little way towards the government of the world , unless it be associated with a thorough comprehension of national exigencies . The utility of the Lectures , indeed , is attributable to the abundance of information they present on matters of fact . Working men of all classes want to know what India is , and what it contains . Mr . Ludlow tells them , plainly and pleasantly ; ho draws clear pictures of Indian art and industry ; ho sots forth in a few succinct pages the annals of the native of their and
races as developed during the successive epochs progress decay ; ho brings out , us upon a palimpsest , a view of the old times in whioh , before Hindooism was known in India , cities were built and roads constructed , and-temple 8-reared-by-ivrohiteots-whOvemployed ., no ^ gigantic block of hewn stone to another . The ancient aboriginal rituals , solemn and marvellous , rise like shadows flecked with blood behind the dim and colossal fabric of Brahmin history . But when Mr . Ludlow is polemical , he descends to flippancy , and is unnecessarily and inconclusively arrogant . We do not think him succespful in his attack upon Lord Macaulay ' s characterization of Warren Hastings . Nor does he at all prove his case when he asserts that throughout India the worst Mussulman government is preferred to the British . Population statistics have proved the reverse . Is the administra-
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 9, 1858, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_09011858/page/17/
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