of
the Rhine. In his report to the Directory, during the famous retreat of
1796, Moreau speaks highly of this general, and admits that his.
achievements, in part, saved the republican army. During 1799 he served
in Italy, and in 1800 he commanded the centre of the army of the Rhine,
and assisted in gaining the victory of Hohenlinden. After the Peace of
Lundville, he was appointed a Counsellor of State of the military
section, a place he still occupies, notwithstanding his present
employment. Though under forty years of age, he is rather infirm, from
the fatigues he has undergone and the wounds he has received. Although
he has never combated as a general-in-chief, there is no doubt but that
he would fill such a place with honour to himself and advantage to his
country.

Of the general officers who command under Archduke Charles, Comte de
Bellegarde is already known by his exploits during the last war. He had
distinguished himself already in 1793, particularly when Valenciennes and
Maubeuge were besieged by the united Austrian and English forces; and, in
1794, he commanded the column at the head of which the Emperor marched,
when Landrecy was invested. In 1796, he was one of the members of the
Council of the Archduke Charles, when this Prince commanded for the first
time as a general-in-chief, on which occasion he was promoted to a
Field-marshal lieutenant.

He displayed again great talents during the campaign of 1799, when he
headed a small corps, placed between General Suwarow in Italy, and
Archduke Charles in Switzerland; and in this delicate post he contributed
equally to the success of both. After the Peace of Luneville he was
appointed a commander-in-chief for the Emperor in the ci-devant Venetian
States, where the troops composing the army under the Archduke Charles
were, last summer, received and inspected by him, before the arrival of
the Prince. He is considered by military men as greatly superior to most
of the generals now employed by the Emperor of Germany.

LETTER XXXVI.

PARIS, October, 1805.

MY LORD:--"I would give my brother, the Emperor of Germany, one further
piece of advice. Let him hasten to make peace. This is the crisis when,
he must recollect, all States must have an end. The idea of the
approaching extinction of the, dynasty of Lorraine must impress him with
horror." When Bonaparte ordered this paragraph to be inserted in the
Moniteur, he discovered an 'arriere pensee', long suspected