. The candid reader will of himself determine, whether a
man's heart is to be judged by any change of his complexion, granting
such a change to have happened; whether the evidence of one witness,
in such a case, will weigh against the concurrent testimony of all
the officers whose immediate business it was to attend and observe the
commander: whether it was likely that an officer, who had been more than
once in actual service, and behaved without reproach so as to attain
such an eminent rank in the army, should exhibit symptons of fear and
confusion, when there was in reality no appearance of danger; for none
of the orders imported that he should attack the enemy, but only advance
to sustain the infantry. The time which elapsed from the first order he
received by captain Winchingrode, to the arrival of colonel Ligonier,
did not exceed eight minutes, during which his aide-camp, captain Hugo,
was employed in removing the Saxe-Gotha regiment from the front, by
which he proposed to advance. From that period till the cavalry actually
marched in consequence of an order from lord George, the length of time
was differently estimated in the opinion of different witnesses, but at
a medium computed by the judge-advocate at fifteen minutes, during
which the following circumstances were transacted: The troops were
first ordered to advance forwards, then halted; the contradictory orders
arrived and were disputed; the commander desired the two aidsdecamp
to agree about which was the precise order, and he would obey it
immediately: each insisting upon that which he had delivered, lord
George hastened to the general for an explanation; and, as he passed the
wood, sent back captain Smith to the right of the cavalry, which was at
a considerable distance, to put the British horse in motion. We shall
not pretend to determine whether the commander of such an important body
may be excusable for hesitating, when he received contradictory orders
at the same time, especially when both orders run counter to his own
judgment, whether in that case it is allowable for him to suspend
the operation for a few minutes, in order to consult in person the
commander-in-chief about a step of such consequence to the preservation
of the whole army. Neither will we venture to decide dogmatically on the
merits of the march, after the cavalry were put in motion; whether
they marched too slow, or were unnecessarily halted in their way to the
heath. It was proved, in