t, his son and nephew always by his side; his coolness in
action was the subject of universal admiration; and it was not without
reason that he had acquired the name of the first soldier in his army.
His brothers, who are fine looking men, took the command of brigades in
the Silesian army, and did the duty of brigadiers to the satisfaction of
the whole army.

* * *

We had the good fortune of seeing the Duke of Wellington at the opera,
the first time that he appeared in public at Paris. He was received with
loud applause, and the modesty of his demeanour, while it accorded with
the impressions of his character derived from his whole conduct, and the
style of his public writings, sufficiently shewed, that his time had
been spent more in camps than in courts. We were much pleased to find,
that full justice was done to his merits as an officer by all ranks of
the allied armies. On the day that he entered Paris, the watch-word in
the whole armies in the neighbourhood was Wellington, and the
countersign Talavera. We have often heard Russian and Prussian officers
say, "he is the hero of the war:--we have conquered the French by main
force, but his triumphs are the result of superior skill."

* * *

We found, as we had expected, that Marshal Blucher was held in the
highest estimation in the allied army, chiefly on account of the
promptitude and decision of his judgment, and the unconquerable
determination of his character. We were assured, that notwithstanding
the length and severity of the service in which he had been engaged
during the campaign of 1814, he expressed the greatest regret at its
abrupt termination; and was anxious to follow up his successes, until
the remains of the French army should be wholly dispersed, and their
leader unconditionally surrendered. An English gentleman who saw him at
the time of the action in which a part of his troops were engaged at
Soissons, a few days previous to the great battle at Laon, gave a
striking account of his cool collected appearance on that occasion. He
was lying in profound silence, wrapped up in his cloak, on the snow, on
the side of a hill overlooking the town, smoking his pipe, and
occasionally looking through a telescope at the scene of action. At
length he rose up, saying, it was not worth looking at, and would come
to nothing. In fact, the main body of the French army was marching on
Rheims, and he was obliged to retire and concentrate his forces, first
on Craon, a