Military Biography.-Lord Hutchinson.

When the wars of the French revolution first broke out, Mr. Hutchinson, at that time Captain Hutchinson, having a company only in Colonel Crosby's regiment, made a tour through the seat of war, and visited both the French and Prussian armies. Mr. Hutchinson, from very early life, was persuaded of the value and necessity of the most minute topographical knowledge to those who wish to excel in the military art. Theoretical knowledge in war is certainly very useful, perhaps more so than mere theory in any other profession. The French, and even the Germans, in the continental schools, have brought military tuition to a perfection which is not far short of what even actual experience would afford. They are taught not only to put battalions, but even brigades, through every species of military movements; they are instructed not only to command to others, but even to execute themselves every kind of evolution; to form every variety of columns, echellons, and, according to the nature of different ground, to execute ̧ deployments, &c. A young man thus formed is a thorough-bred officer in his first campaign.. He becomes a traveller, and visits the scenes of battles with infinite advantages. With official accounts, or clear narratives and maps in his hands, and with a store of principles, military elements, and examples in his memory, he sees the game of war as on a chess-board; and setting aside those events, in which, as suits some purpose of his infinite wisdom, the divine interposition takes the battle from human causes, a man so formed by early instruction, and so finished by travelling, seldom fails to foresee all possible results. He sees what goes into the the wheel and knows what must come out.-Amphora cœpit institui, carrente rota cur urceus exit.

⚫ It is this talent in Lord Hutchinson, which induced the English Government to employ him on an extraordinary mission to the Russian armies; and certainly no one was better calculated to execute the purposes for which he was sent. He there saw all the elements of war, as if in the confusion of so many rough materials heaped in the builder's yard; he saw all the components of a vast strength; but he saw, and saw with a true military regret, that there was no plastic hand, no architectic mind, to bring them into point, or shape, or fabric, The whole of that campaign was

in fact, a true war of the Titans, in which immense masses were heaved up iu the air, only that, by the certain laws of nature, they should fall back again on the heads of those who threw them, Had there been any due Commissariat, any General with a head as well as a heart, had even Beningsen commanded in chief, had Kaminskoy been sent to a mad-house, and Buxhowden banished to his estate, Europe would now have presented a very different face. The triumph of Buonaparte over the Russians was laid in the eternal differences of things-his superiority was of that of skill and science over that of barbarism and precipitate ferocity; of union and order over confusion and self-impediment; of an army over a mob; of mind over body; and of man over the lion and the tiger. He had only to step behind a tree, and his enemy, in full and blind course at him, dashed out his own brains against it. Mr. Hutchinson obtained, very early in life, a seat in the Irish Parliament, as representative for the city of Cork. He came in upon what is termed the independent interest. In that Parlia ment he discovered great abilities, and which had so much the more effect, inasmuch as, from his military profession, it was not expected. Mr. Hutchinson, however, like Lord Wellington, deems the duty of a great man to be double; in the first place, perhaps, to defend his country; and in the second, to adorn it. It can never be too often repeated on this subject, that in times like those we live in, no officer must look to the attainment of eminence, unless he resolve to unite the knowledge and talent of civil business with that of his own immediate profession. There are not three more able men in the present day, in this respect, than Lord Wellington, Lord Hutchinson, and Sir John Stuart; and they have been employed accordingly, and reaped the the full benefit of their studies. Even the Duke of Marlborough, who was totally without education, was so convinced of the necessity of this talent and this knowledge, that by dint of great industry he supplied this defect in himself, and became almost as able in negociation as in the field.

In his parliamentary course, Lord Hutchinson was the firm friend of catholic emancipation, and, together with his brother Lord Do noughmore, has frequently had to fight the battle alone. It does

Military Biography.-Lord Hutchinson.

not, however, belong to the nature of this work to follow him through his political career. It is sufficient for us to observe on this point, that his main characteristic is a manly energy, and a familiar and unostentatious use of elegant and accurate learning.

. Lord Hutchinson was likewise a decided advocate for the Irish Union, but he assisted the English Government in this troublesome business with the honour and candour which should always characterise the British officer. He did not carry his ideas of expediency so far as to adopt the maxim, that the end could sanc tion the means; and therefore, though he voted for the Union, he would go no farther. He had no share in the indirect methods by which that strong measure was accomplished.

. During the unhappy commotions in Ireland, Colonel Hutchinson commanded in the Connaught district; and the inhabitants, in acknowledgment of their esteem and gratitude, presented him with a sword of suitable value. General Hutchinson was second in command at the battle of Castlebar. If the unhappy state of Ireland at this period be taken into consideration, and more particularly, if a due allowance be made for the feelings of Irishmen, and for their reluctance to act against their unhappy countrymen with the vigour which circumstances required, it will diminish the surprise that this business was not sooner concluded. General Hutchinson had the management of the capitulation with which it terminated. The next service of Colonel Hutchinson was more important: he accompanied the first expedition to Holland as a volunteer, and was immediately put upon the staff of Sir R. Abercrombie. He distinguished himself very eminently during the siege of Valenciennes. General Abercrombie saw his ability, and availed himself of it, by frequently referring himself to his opinion and advice. Colonel Hutchinson was more particularly useful to him in the management of conferences.

In the second expedition to Holland, he served as Major-General under the Duke of York; and, Lord Cavan being disabled, led on his brigade in most gallant style against the enemy. He, in consequence, received a wound, and was mentioned in the most honourable manner in the dispatches. General Abercrombie was

Military Biography.-Lord Hutchinson.

soon afterwards appointed to the command of the expedition to Egypt, and upon his particular and earnest recommendation, General Hutchinson was selected as second in command.

A most extraordinary circumstance is said to have attended this appointment. Lord Melville, with whom the expedition originated, required the opinion of Generals Abercrombie and Hutchinson with respect to its practicability, and both of these Generals concurred in expressing their sentiments, that it was perilous in the extreme, and that the chances of success were infinitely against us. Lord Melville, however, a man whose value is better known to his friends than to the public, still persisted, and the expedition was sent. Probably the danger of India, and the consequent alarm of the Directors, induced him to make a more than ordinary

venture.

The expedition sailed from Marmorice on the 22d of February, 1801; came in sight of Alexandria on the 1st of March; and ef, fected their landing on the 8th. The enemy, having assembled in great force, opposed them by a most vigorous cannonade; the effect of which was so much the more galling, as their station on the heights commanded the whole front of the landing. The British troops, however, forming on the beach, fixing their bayonets, charged up the hill, and forced the French from their cannon and position. The conduct of the British army in Egypt, not only on this attack, but throughout the whole campaign, established the indubitable superiority of the English bayonet. Whenever they could reach the enemy, no advantage of fire or position could. defend them against their charge. They certainly sometimes suf-, fered for their confidence, but more frequently it carried them irresistibly into certain victory and a lasting glory.

The army remained in its position till the 12th of March, when it moved forwards against the enemy, who had taken up their station on a ridge in front of the line of march to Alexandria,

General Abercrombie, having come in sight of them, resolved to attack them on the following morning. The French, however, with their characteristic confidence, anticipated him. Very early on the 13th, whilst the English attack was only in preparation, the

Military Biography.-Lord Hutchinson.

French descended from the ridge and began the action. They were shortly, however, compelled to retire, and to fall back under the protection of the fortified heights of Alexandria.

From the 13th to the 19th there was no incident of any importance, except the capitulation of the castle of Aboukir.

On the 21st of March, that ever memorable day in British history, that day in which a victory on one side, and the loss of those most brave men by whom it was achieved on the other, leave it a matter of doubt, whether to hail it in our annals with mourning or thanksgiving, Pluris enim Decii quam qui servantur ab illis.-On this day, the 21st of March, 1801, was fought the battle of Alexandria, in which England obtained a nobly-won victory, a never dying glory, but lost Abercrombie, and innumerable other illustrious names, every one of whom, of themselves, were worth a province of the Ottoman empire.

On the death of General Abercrombie, whose wound proved mortal on the 28th, the command of the army devolved upon General Hutchinson. The dispatch, containing the official account of. the battle of Alexandria, was written by General Hutchinson, and the eloquence and perspicuity of it are equally honourable to his genuis and to his feelings. It adds no inconsiderable lustre to the British army, that it can enumerate three such brilliant and energetic writers as Lord Wellington, Sir John Stuart, and General Hutchinson. In the brightest age of the Roman empire, arts and arms, eloquence and military glory, went hand in hand together, and each concurred to the ornament, and even to the maintenance of the other. The courage of the legions was animated and augmented by the awakening eloquence of their leaders; and those who excelled in these arts themselves, necessarily loved and fostered them in others. Now, wherefore, let it be demanded, should not the British ariny cultivate the same concurrence? Look at its utility in your enemies. Look at the French bulletins, and particularly the speeches and proclamations immediately from Buonaparte, and recall to your minds their effect.

The French, after the battle of the 21st, withdrew again to a strong position in front of Alexandria. General Hutchinson did not deem himself sufficiently strong to attack them in this post.