cers were murdered after giving up their swords; and, when prisoners were collected, cavalry were sent to cut them down, when circumstances at the moment prevented their removal.-The cuirassiers were repeatedly driven off by the 30th, and their comrade regiment; reduced themselves, by painful degrees, more and more every attack. Line was always again formed with unwearied alacrity; no complaint escaped the patient soldiers' lips, if we except an occasional cry to be led on. The storm was seen again gathering and rolling on. The serious command, "Re-form-square, prepare to receive cavalry," was promptly and accurately obeyed. The whole were prostrate on their breasts, to let the iron shower of the artillery fly over,-and erect in an instant, when the cannon ceased, and the cavalry charged. Their country do not know one-tenth of the merit of "The men of Waterloo !"-This gallant brigade was honoured with several visits from the illustrious chief. In one he inquired "how they were." The answer was, that two-thirds of their number were down, and that the rest were so exhausted, that leave to retire, even for a short time, was most desirable; some of the foreign corps, who had not suffered, to take their place. General H. was told that the issue depended on the unflinching front of the British troops; and that even a change of place was hazardous in the extreme. He impressively said, "Enough, my Lord, we stand here till the last man falls."-One anecdote more of this glorious brigade, I cannot withhold. A gleam of the gentler affections is hailed with tenfold sympathy, when, for a moment, it gilds an interval of the empire of the sterner virtues in the warrior's bosom. It is like the breathing of the softest flute after the clang of a thousand trumpets; or the downy contact of the halcyon's breast, which stills the stormy sea. In the midst of their dangers, this band of heroes had their attention called to a very affecting scene of private friendship. Two of the officers were the more closely attached to each other, that they were not on terms of perfect good understanding with the rest of the mess ; owing to their having opposed some arrangements, which, it was expected, would be attended with some

expense; and, at the same time, concealed most delicately the real grounds of their opposition to the general voice, that, besides their own families, they had each two sisters to support, a consideration which assuredly they could not have pleaded in vain. The similarity of their circumstances most naturally cemented their friendship: which was quite a by-word in the regiment. After doing their duty calmly through nearly the whole of the murderous day, they found themselves both unhurt at a late hour in the evening; when one of them playfully called to the other, who stood at a little distance, "I always told you they never would hit me; they never did it in Spain; and they have not done it to-day." He had hardly spoke, when he was shot dead on the spot. His friend stood for a few moments motionless; then burst into tears; flew to the body, threw himself down beside it, and sobbed over it, inarticulately repeating several times, "My only friend!" The officer, who related the affecting story, told me, that so completely did the scene overcome every one who witnessed it, there was not a dry eye among them. Simpson's Visit to Flanders.

LOSS OF THE KENT EAST INDIAMAN BY FIRE IN THE

BAY OF BISCAY, MARCH 1, 1825.

I RECEIVED from Captain Spence, the captain of the day, the alarming information, that the ship was on fire in the after-hold. On hastening to the hatchway, whence smoke was slowly ascending, I found Captain Cobb and other officers already giving orders, which seemed to be promptly obeyed by the seamen and troops, who were using every exertion, by means of the pumps, buckets of water, wet sails, hammocks, &c., to extinguish the flames. With a view to excite among the ladies as little alarm as possible, in conveying this intelligence to Colonel Fearon, the commanding officer of the troops, I knocked gently at his cabin-door, and expressed a wish to speak with him; but, whether my countenance betrayed the state of my feelings, or the increasing noise and confusion upon deck created

apprehensions among them, that the storm was assum→ ing a more serious aspect, I found it difficult to pacify some of the ladies, by repeated assurances, that no danger whatever was to be apprehended from the gale. Soon after "The flames have reached the cable-tier,” was exclaimed by some individuals, and the strong pitchy smell, that pervaded the deck, confirmed the truth of the exclamation. In these awful circumstances, Captain Cobb, with an ability and decision of character, that seemed to increase with the imminence of the danger, resorted to the only alternative now left him, of ordering the lower decks to be scuttled, the combings of the hatches to be cut, and the lower ports to be opened for the free admission of the waves. These instructions were speedily executed by the united efforts of the troops and seamen; but not before some of the sick soldiers, one woman, and several children, unable to gain the upper deck, had perished. On descending to the gun-deck with Colonel Fearon, Captain Bray, and one or two other officers of the 31st regiment, to assist in opening the ports, I met, staggering towards the hatchway, in an exhausted and nearly senseless state, one of the mates, who informed us that he had just stumbled over the dead bodies of some individuals, who must have died from suffocation, to which, it was evident, that he himself had almost fallen a victim. So dense and oppressive was the smoke, that it was with the utmost difficulty we could remain long enough below to fulfil Captain Cobb's wishes; which were no sooner accomplished, than the sea rushed in with extraordinary force, carrying away in its resistless progress to the hold, the largest chests, bulk-heads, &c. Such a sight, under any other conceivable circumstances, was well calculated to have filled us with horror; but, in our natural solicitude to avoid the more immediate peril of explosion, we endeavoured to cheer each other, as we stood up to our knees in water, with a faint hope, that, by these violent means, we might be speedily restored to safety. The immense quantity of water, that was thus introduced into the hold, had indeed the effect, for a time, of checking the fury of the flames; but, the danger of

sinking having increased, as the risk of explosion was diminished, the ship became water-logged, and presented other indications of settling, previous to her going down.-Death, in two of its most awful forms, now encompassed us, and we seemed left to choose the terrible alternative. But, always preferring the more remote, though equally certain crisis, we tried to shut the ports again, to close the hatches, and to exclude the external air, in order, if possible, to prolong our existence, the near and certain termination of which appeared inevitable. The scene of horror, that now presented itself, baffles all description.

Then rose, from sea to sky, the sad farewell;

Then shriek'd the timid, and stood still the brave.

The upper deck was covered with between six and seven hundred human beings, many of whom from previous sea-sickness were forced, on the first alarm, to flee from below, in a state of absolute nakedness, and were now running about in quest of husbands, children, or parents. While some were standing in silent resignation, or in stupid insensibility to their impending fate, others were yielding themselves up to the most frantic despair. Some, on their knees, were earnestly imploring, with significant gesticulations, and in noisy supplications, the mercy of Him, whose arm, they exclaimed, was at length outstretched to smite them; others were to be seen hastily crossing themselves, and performing the various external acts required by their peculiar persuasion; while a number of the older and more stout-hearted soldiers and sailors sullenly took their seats directly over the magazine, hoping, as they stated, that, by means of the explosion, which they every instant expected, a speedier termination might thereby be put to their sufferings. Several of the soldiers' wives and children, who had fled, for temporary shelter, into the after-cabins on the upper decks, were engaged in prayer, and in reading the scriptures with the ladies; some of whom were enabled, with wonderful self-possession, to offer to others those spiritual consolations, which a firm and intelligent trust in the Redeemer of the world appeared, at this awful hour, to impart to

their own breasts. Amongst the numerous objects that struck my observation at this period, I was much affected with the appearance and conduct of some of the dear children, who, quite unconscious, in the cuddy-cabins, of the perils that surrounded them, continued to play as usual with their little toys in bed, or to put the most innocent and unseasonable questions to those around them. To some of the older children, who seemed fully alive to the reality of the danger, I whispered, "Now is the time to put in practice the instructions you used to receive at the Regimental School, and to think of that Saviour, of whom you have heard so much." They replied, as the tears ran down their cheeks, "O Sir, we are trying to remember them, and we are praying to God." Several there were, who vowed in loud and piteous cries, that if the Lord God would spare their lives, they would thenceforward dedicate all their powers to his service; and not a few were heard to exclaim, in the bitterness of remorse, that the judgments of the Most High were justly poured out upon them for their neglected Sabbaths, and their profligate or profane lives: but the number of those was extremely small, who appeared to dwell either with lively hope or dread on the view of an opening eternity.-While we thus lay in a state of physical inertion, but with all our mental faculties in rapid and painful activity, with the waves lashing furiously against the sides of our devoted ship, as if in anger with the hostile element, for not more speedily performing its office of destruction,-the binnacle was suddenly wrenched from its fastenings, and all the apparatus of the compass dashed to pieces upon the deck; on which, one of the young mates, emphatically regarding it for a moment, cried out, with the emotion so natural to a sailor under such circumstances, "What! is the Kent's compass really gone?" leaving the bystanders to form from that omen their own conclusions. One promising young officer of the troops was seen thoughtfully removing, from his writing case, a lock of hair, which he composedly deposited in his bosom ; and another officer, procuring paper, &c. addressed a short communication to his father, which was after