sand lives, to redeem my name, and show, that if Von Sharlheim failed once, it was not for want of the spirit of a soldier or the feelings of a man. And now, begone! If I fall this day, write that epitaph upon the spot wherever I may be laid and give Carolina the last blessing that I have to offer in the world." He once more clasped Sebastiani's hand.

General," was the solemn answer, " I have pledged myself to her for life or death, and that pledge I shall redeem. I too have an anxious part to play. In returning to the sight of the Austrian army, I return under disgrace. But I shall wipe that away, or die. In you I have a noble example, and I shall follow it, let what will come. Remember me to Carolina. If I fall, her name will be found written on my heart. Again, farewell."

He put spurs to his horse, and after a difficult gallop through the defiles and thickets of that remarkably broken country, reached the division which formed the Austrian wing. It was hotly engaged in front with the enemy's light troops, and evidently had its full attention engrossed by the attack. Carlo observed a small group of officers standing on an eminence a few hundred yards to the flank, rode up to them, and announced his message. An officer, who had been ranging the field with his telescope, suddenly turned at the voice. It was the Archduke himself. Carlo felt the blood rush to his temples. The prince looked on him in silence, with an enquiring air, for a moment, and then read the note.

"Ha!" he exclaimed, "this is important indeed. Here," handing it to an aid-de-camp, "take this instantly to General Zeckendorf, and tell him to send up every battalion that he can spare to this spot. Gentlemen," said he, "the enemy will be upon us in a few minutes. All this is most unfortunate. Zeckendorf cannot arrive in time; and I fear our only resource will lie in making a retreat with as little loss as we can." The group dispersed to their posts at full speed.

He then turned to Sebastiani, who stood prepared for the whole weight of imperial and military wrath: he spoke rapidly.

"Have I not seen your face someNO. CCXCVI, VOL, XLVII,

where, sir, before? - But no matter. Who has sent this information? Ha! I see-Von Sharlheim. I thought that he was killed."

"No, sir, he still lives, and lives for his country's service,' was the

answer.

"Apropos, can you tell me who commanded in the village of Nordlingen?" asked the Archduke. "That was a very clever affair. It did us a great deal of good."

"Major-General von Sharlheim." "What! he is not on my staff. How came he there? What division did he command?"

"No division. He fought with such troops as he could find. He provisioned them, barricaded the post, and left the ground covered with two thousand of the enemy's killed and wounded."

"Capital! He shall be a lieutenant-general for that day's work. And where is he now? We want such creators of armies?”

"On the ridge of yonder mountains, just two leagues from this spot."

"Why is he not here? Yet, of what use could he be now? If I had known this two hours ago, we should have made a glorious day of it. But look there. Do you know what troops are these debouching from the forest? Ha, I see-they are the enemy, and in force. Well, we must fight them to the last. Ride, sir, to the general of brigade at the head of yonder defile, and tell him of the enemy's advance, and that, in case of his finding them on his flank, he must echellon his brigade and retire fighting."

The aspect of the field in this quarter now began to be discouraging in the extreme. The Austrians saw themselves unexpectedly exposed to an attack for which they were altogether unprepared. Fresh troops were pouring from the hills, and large bodies of cavalry were seen in the forest roads, only waiting till an impression was produced by the battalions in advance, to cut up the fugitives. The spectacle at this moment had all the grandeur and all the terrors of war on its largest scale. The combatants, on both sides, could not amount to less than a hundred and thirty thousand men. The whole range of the hills was like a ridge of volcanoes, and the slopes and plains below them were the scene of incessant charges of infantry and cavalry. To add to the other features of magnificence and awe, a thunder-storm came on at the approach of evening, and the gusts of wind, and the pealing of the thunder, filled the mountains with a roar louder than even the battle.

Carlo, thus left alone, flew back to his friend, whom he found still gazing on the field. "All is lost," said the old general; "the Austrians are always nervous about flank attacks, and Moreau may now begin a campaign which will end only in Vienna."

The struggle again roared louder below, the clouds of smoke rose thicker still, and the two armies seemed to be making a final effort, the one for existence, the other for victory. Carlo at length threw the telescope from his hand, and sprang from the ground, where he had been lying.

"The French," he exclaimed, "have made a blunder! We may turn it into ruin. Look there-they have suffered their advance to separate itself from the main body. They have placed a quarter of a league already between their right wi and their centre. Give the order to move, and we may still be in time."

"Right, right," said Von Sharlheim; "I see it now. Ride forward_take a thousand men, and fall on their guns; if you can overtake them before they get out of the defile, they are ours. Onward, and leave the rest to me."

The conception was one of those traits of talent which mark the true leader. The French, in their haste to realize the victory, and wholly unconscious that they had an enemy be hind, had hurried on. The charge and hurrah of the troops led by Carlo, threw them into instant and irremediable confusion. Guns, baggage, and ammunition fell into the hands of the pursuers. Still this was but the defeat of a column, and the battle raged over a line of leagues. To produce its effect on such a scale, it must be known. Carlo, with the quick invention of his country, struck upon a new expedient: he piled a large quantity of the captured baggage on the summit of the defile, wheeled an am. munition waggon close to the pile, and set the whole on fire. The blaze sprang up, and was soon discernible in the twilight, shaking its broad volumes over the whole horizon: it at length caught

the waggon, and fifty barrels of gunpowder threw a column of fierce light up to the heavens.

The fortunes of the day were changed at the instant. To the French it seemed, that their entire artillery had been seized by some unaccountable army rising out of the ground. To the Austrians it was plain, that some extraordinary event had been wrought in their favour; and the re. treating battalions rushed forward with loud shouts, to take advantage of the change. Moreau still fought steadily and well; but he was now pushed in all quarters, and his only resource was to pass the Rhine. He left ten thousand men on the field that night; and sending Dessaix to cross the river at Old Bresach, at nightfall carried over the remnant of the finest army of France to Huninguen.

By sunrise there was not a French soldier on the right bank of the Rhine. A distinguished group were standing on a rising ground looking at the last French boat landing its fugitive burden. In front of his staff was seen the Archduke, with General von Sharlheim at one side, and Carlo at the other. The old man wore his uniform; and Carlo was employed in displaying to the gaze of a beautiful young female a brilliant order which the Archduke had just taken from his bosom, and thrown over the neck of his restored aid-de-camp. "Gentlemen," said the hero of Germany, "I am not a man of many words; but this day is not likely to be forgotten. GERMANY IS FREE. We have fought for our firesides, and have now only to enjoy them. In your presence I thank my old and gallant friend, now Lieutenant-General von Sharlheim, for services of the highest value; and, as for Carlo, I question whether he would think any thing on earth worth accepting, but the thanks of the Lady Cobentzel. And now, Germans and comrades, homeward. You have fought bravely, steadily, and successfully; and while I see such men round me, I shall never despair of the freedom of our Fatherland."

He then turned his charger's front to the group, and spoke in a confidential tone.

"I must now return to Vienna without delay. We must meet there. Carlo, I have ascertained by the papers found on the traitor, who now lies in a dungeon to receive the punishment of his twofold treachery, the wrong which I did you. Your French corporal, who contrived by the use of French gold at Vienna to be placed on my staff, and had nearly ruined the campaign, awaits only the sentence of a court-martial. We must make such experiments hazardous to the lively genius of our neighbours on the opposite side. I appointed you my aid-decamp. You have since earned something more. As the Hulans have lost their colonel, you will take the command on their way to the Danube, and I shall settle the appointment with the Aulic Council."

Sebastiani thanked him with a glowing tongue. Carolina looked all gratitude. The great soldier gazed on her loveliness for a period, as if in the sight he had forgotten all things beside. "Colonel Sebastiani," at length said he, "you must bring this lady with you. Vienna is famous for beauty, and we must not lose its fairest representative. Courts can add nothing to your happiness, but you can add largely to their brilliancy and their virtue. Now farewell."

He put spurs to his horse, and galloped forward. In another minute he drew up his reins, and beckoned to Von Sharlheim.

" General," said he, "Erlach is yet to be taken. The French have left a garrison there, which we must root out before they try the temper of our swords again. I am acquainted with the circumstances of its surprise. It was, in fact, untenable; and you did your duty like a true German."

" I ask your Imperial Highness but one favour on earth," exclaimed the gallant veteran. "It is to be suffered to return, and at least attempt to retake the fortress. I feel a weight on my mind, and a stain on my honour, until I am once more within its ramparts."

"It is the very thing which I was anxious to hear you propose," was the answer. "You have already wiped away every stain. Our last battle was your reply to the empire. The charge on the French right was masterly. It had the vigour of youth and the science of age."

"That charge was not mine," said the general.

"Whose, then?" asked the Archduke, with an emotion of surprise.

"The aid-de-camp of your Imperial Highness, and colonel of the Hulans."

me.

"What? Carlo again! Call him to But no: I see that he is sunning himself in the dazzling eyes of the Lady Cobentzel. The young soldier is enchanted, and has neither eyes nor ears for earth. It must be owned that the spell is incomparable. I must now begone. Yet-stay a moment."

He wrote a few lines, leaning on his saddlebow. "Here," said he, " is an order to Papendick and Brevern to put themselves and their divisions under your command. You will march them to Erlach, and when you have expelled the French, bring their colours with you to Vienna, to be ready for the marriage of your niece and the young hero. At last-farewell."

The Prince waved his hand to the lovers, and, followed by his escort, was soon lost sight of in the forest. Many an aspiration from the hearts of his two gallant soldiers, and a tear of thankfulness from the fair fiancée, were his reward.

The

Within a few hours the general was at the head of the troops in march for the fortress. Carlo and Carolina followed him. But the enterprise was destined to be a bloodless one. garrison, destitute of all hope of assistance, surrendered at the first summons, and the governor exultingly received their colours and the swords of their officers on the bastion where he had fought and fallen on the night of the surprise. Nothing now was wanting to the happiness of all but the journey to Vienna, the meeting with the widowed mother of Sebastiani, who had so long lamented him as dead, and the reconciliation with the aristocratic family of Carolina. All was speedily accomplished. Even an Imperial aid-de-camp and colonel of Hulans might have been scorned by the proud blood of the German noblesse. But the favourite officer of the Archduke, and that favourite the hero of the crowning triumph of Germany, had claims which must be acknowledged.

On the appointed day, the vast cathedral saw the rank and loveliness of the capital crowded within its walls to witness the marriage of the lovers whose continued hazards had so largely tried their fidelity and their passion. Carlo's romantic Italian features finely contrasted with the touching yet vivid expression of Carolina's beauty. Hers was the young and bewitching loveliness of a Hebe, his the lofty grace of a classic hero. What were pomp of apparel, diamonds, and orders to either? Carlo was possessed of the woman of his heart. Carolina was wedded to the lord of her affections. What could earth give more? They had deserved to be happy, and they had obtained happiness.

In the crowd which followed, shouting round the train of equipages on their return from the cathedral, Carlo caught a glance of a face which he would have recognised at the antipodes. In the keen eye and subtle physiognomy he was convinced that he saw his old comrade the corporal! Yet Austrian dungeons are not things to be trifled with; nor was Austrian military law likely to have let his inveterate knavery escape its heavy hand. The face disappeared, and the incident was forgotten in the more important matters of the festival.

At the marriage dinner, where the principal personages of the noble families were assembled, a valet brought

in a note, which Carlo read for the indulgence of the company. It was the following :

"Colonel, You are now a great man; I was the same a fortnight ago, and may be so a fortnight hence. I saw to-day that you remembered your old fellow-trooper in the Hulans; and now give you an opportunity of doing me a service. I want money; and to whom shall a man apply, if not to his friends? Perhaps you think that I intended to do you some mischief. No, upon the honour of a Hulan. But, unless you had been put under arrest, I must have been shot. You see the necessity of decision in such a case. And I decided. If I got placed on the Archduke's staff, the only effect was that I did my duty as a Frenchman-and he gained a victory. For that he has to thank me. If I threw you into a fortress, the only effect was that you met your bride, and for that you have to thank me. Thus both the prince and the colonel are my debtors-pay the debts of both. How I got out of the Austrian prison is no matter. I am now in the streets of Vienna, and am starving. Have no fear of my return; I am tired of Germany. Its air is heavy, its people heavy, and its theatre heavy. I hate monotony of all kinds. Vive la bagatelle !

"P.S. Send me twenty-five louisd'ors. I shall not stir for less. With that I shall cross the Rhine, get into the council of Five Hundred, and the moment I receive my first quarter, as one of the Directory, I shall remit you the money. Your friend,

"CORPORAL."

To people of active, out-of-door life, all bookish men all men who pass a great part of their time in a library-appear to be of the same genus or tribe; whereas, could they penetrate into libraries, and examine the operations of the various craftsmen who are there busily engaged, they would find amongst them as great a diversity as between any of the recognised classes and professions into which mankind from time immemorial have been parcelled out. The historian who is balancing conflicting evidence, piecing out the imperfect record of one man by the imperfect record of another, hunting a date through many volumes, settling names and localities such a one, when compared with the slow and painful revolver of philosophical subtleties, the metaphysician, or him who ponders the laws and meditates on the fate of human society

is quite a man of business, a very gossip withal. He cross-examines his witnesses with all the vigour of forensic contest, sifts their character, tests their credibility, racks their narrative; in his search for truth he seems to be moving amongst living men, elbowing the crowd, clearing his way past this or that vociferating scoundrel, and boldly accusing the loudest amongst them of his falsehood, or partiality, or garbled testimony. His books, which are tumbled and tossed and up-heaped around him, are not only well or ill written, logical or illogical, but they are honest or dishonest; they have a character to sustain-he calls them his authorities they are speaking on their historic oath, and not merely as a critic, but with all the severity and dig. nity of a judge, does he censure or commend. The books of a speculative man, on the contrary, lie open quite tranquilly before him-the page turns slowly-they are the things that set his own thoughts in motion, and with those thoughts, whether the books lie there or not, he is chiefly engaged. What he reads is all along so mingled with and modified by his own reflections, that at the end of his labours he can scarcely tell what was his own and what the author's. The written words on the page have been like music to a thoughtful man, which prompts

and accompanies his long reverie, but itself is scarcely heeded. Even when heeded most, and carefully weighed and scrutinized, the words he reads are still the mere utterance of a thought that has thus been carried to him; they are not the utterance of this or that man, and bear on them nothing of motive or character. Whilst the historian, in proportion as he prosecutes his labours, recalls and reanimates some scene of past existence, and adds detail to detail, till it almost appears to be again a portion of the living world, the philosophic or metaphysic labourer, who is in search of first principles, and is exploring, with this purpose, the furthest recesses of the human mind, departs at every step more completely from all detail, and every familiar object, and gains as the result of his toil some abstract truth, if truth it be, which, after all, no man seems to care for but himself. Like the celebrated traveller, whose ambition it was to detect the source of the Nile, he leaves behind him the broad stream with its fertile and populous banks, whereon city and temple have been built-he bends his devoted course to where the river of life grows more and more narrow, more and more silent, as he proceeds-and at length stands alone, in brief and troubled rapture, over a discovery which may still be dubious, and in which no one participates. As to those more active spirits who busy themselves with experimental philosophy, who bring a laboratory into the library, mingle retorts and air-pumps with books, ink, and paper, or sally forth with geologic hammer, smiting this way and thatwith such men it is perpetual holiday: they have no school-hours. They are a sort of spies on the operations of Dame Nature, and infinite delight they have in detecting any of those stealthy proceedings which she appears so anxious to conceal. Nay, they are described as being licensed to put her to the torture to extract the truth from her, which expression, if the unsophisticated tendencies of our boyish days are to be consulted, conveys a sense of exquisite pleasure in those experiments by which they wring out her slow confessions. We have heard