SPECTATOR'S LIBRARY.

IMITALIT ECONOMY',

A View of the Formation, Discipline, and Economy of Armies. By the late Robert Jackson, M.D., Inspector-Generalof Army-Bospitals. The third edition, revised ; with a Memoir of his Life and Services, drawn up from his own Papers and the Communications of his Survivors Parker, Furnirall, and Parker.

wane,

Lusitanian Sketches of the Pen and Pencil. By William H. G.Kineston,..EsO., Au- thor of " The Circassian Chief," " The Prime Minister," $a In two volumes. POETRY, Parker.

_ Household Verses. By Bernard Barton Virtue.

JACKSON'S VIEW OF THE FORMATION, DISCIPLINE, AND ECONOMY OF ARMIES.

THE germ of this work was originally published in 1804; being the fifth out of the fifteen publications of its meritorious and indefatigable author. Its size, (quarto,) its publication in a provincial town, (Stockton,) the preoccupation of the public mind by practical in lieu of theoretical war, with critical defects we shall come to presently, caused it to drop almost Mill-born from the press. In 1824, an enlarged and recast edition was published by subscription; chiefly, we believe, among military surgeons. After a life of struggles, useful labours, and wide experience in many lands, Dr. Jackson died in 1827, in the seventy-seventh year of his age. This revised third edition now appears under the auspices of some surviving friends ; partly, by means of the Memoir, to call attention to the extent and magnitude of the author's ill-requited services in improving the System of army-hospital management and directing attention to the hygeinic treatment of the soldier, in order to urge the claim of his widow by a second marriage to some public reward in her declining years ; chiefly to bring before the world an important work, whose merits have been obscured by accident and some defects of form. Robert Jackson, M.D., Inspector-General of Army Hospitals, was born in Lanarkshire, in 1750. His father was a small farmer, of limited means ; but young Robert received a good education, through the admi- rable Scottish system ; and "was eventually apprenticed to Mr. William Baillie, a surgeon of some eminence." In what way this was managed is not stated ; but when young Jackson went, in 1768, to the University of Edinburgh, the " res angusta domi" only enabled him to attend the winter-sessions ; the summer being passed as surgeon on board a Green- land whaler. He subsequently went as assistant to a practitioner established in Jamaica ; but, tired dike monotony of the place, and disgusted with slavery, he quitted the West Indies in 1774, and embarked for America. The Revolutionary War was then raging : Young Jackson's funds were inhansted ; employment could not be had ; and, to escape from " beggary or starvation," he volunteered into the Seventy-first Highlanders. The commanding-officer, Colonel Campbell, was struck by his bearing; and, finding he was a icotehman and brought up to medicine, made an ar- rangement by which Mr. Jackson took the duty of an absent surgeon's mate. In this capacity he served throughout the war; distinguishing .himself at starting by suggesting an improvement in the economical management of the sick, of a kindred nature to that Which subsequently characterized his hospital reforms. In 1782 he returned to England, with the half-pay of an Ensign, which rank he seems to have attained; and spent some time in London, seeing all that could be seen, and learn- ing all that could be learned for nothing. On the final peace next year, be travelled through France, Switzerland, and parts of Italy and Germany, on foot ; his finances affording no other means of conveyance. He closed a tour of seven months and five thousand miles by reaching Southampton in January 1784, with four shillings in his pocket ; which he spent before reaching London. He soon afterwards marched to join his regiment at Perth ; made a tour in the Highlands when his regiment was disbanded ; and the following year, married an Edinburgh lady of some property ; which put an end to his pecuniary difficulties. Throughout his life Jackson had an aversion to private practice. He himself ascribed it to the mode of remuneration : it probably arose from a native love of variety and adventure, which from habit had grown into a amid nature : he might also prefer the unreasoning obedience of military practice to the necessity a physician is under of conciliating the -caprices of private patients. As soon as he was married he went to Paris, to complete the studies he had began during his pedestrian tour ; and then took his degree of M. D. at Leyden. On his return, he settled himself at Stockton-on-Tees ; and established a respectable practice: but on the breaking out of the war in 1793, he volunteered his seivices ; which finally led to his proceeding to Flanders. There, having acquired the confidence of the Duke of York, and of his successor General Harcourt, Jackson was appointed Physician to the Forces, in spite of all the opposition of the new Army Medical Board, with whom he had previously had sonic squabble. He afterwards went to the West Indies; where he carried into effect so extensive a reform in the hospital depart- ment, as to effect a saving of 80,000/. a year, according to his own account. Soon after his return to England, the Duke of York nominated lam Physician and head of the Army Depot Hospital at Chatham ; an appointment which involved him in a sea of troubles with his old antago-

nists the Medical Board. On the overthrow of this body, in 1810, the new Director-General, with whom he had formerly served, offered him an 'appointment in the West Indies ; which he immediately accepted. On the

so-called yellow fever 'breaking out in Spain in 1819, the veteran of -seventy volunteered his services to inspect and report upon it. Political -disturbances prevented him from immediately executing his task on -reaching Gibraltar ; and he availed himself of the delay to make a trip to 'Greece, Constantinople, and Smyrna; but was in time to overtake the

`Ever at Cadiz and Xeres. This was his last public employment ; though, it short time before his death, he offered to waive his rank and serve in the expedition then fitting out for Portugal, under a junior officer. A man who had overcome the difficulties and volunteered the labours of Jackson may be supposed to possess perseverance. This quality

sometimes showed itself in curious ways : thus, having made up his mind never to read an author in a translation, he imposed upon himself the trouble of learning the language of every book he wished to read. His education gave him a sufficient stock of Greek and Latin to enable him to peruse the classics; which he seems to have done upon a systematic plan : but, becoming interested in the Ossianic controversy, he learned Gae- lic, to comprehend what Macpherson produced as the originals; he studied Arabic, to peruse the medical writers, especially upon his grand subject, fever; and he acquired some knowledge of other Eastern tongues, as well as of modern languages.

The many friends he made in the Army, from the Duke of York and Sir John Moore downwards, argues the possession of an accommodating disposition, besides steady virtues and professional abilities. In civil or at all events in official life, we suspect him to have had more of the " fortiter in re " than the " maviter in modo." His war with the fashionable physician and " pure" surgeon who succeeded John Hunter, though he defeated their attacks and witnessed their destruction, yet in- volved him in the disquiet of a military inquiry, induced him to withdraw from the Depot Hospital, and finished by Dr. Jackson assaulting the " pure " surgeon in default of meeting the Court physician ; for which he was imprisoned six months. His birth and education, with the diffi- culties he had so long encountered, and perhaps even his rapid promotion by means of power, made him a kind of military Radical or Republican disciplinarian,—a product more common than many might suppose. He also seems to have possessed the exhaustingly argumentative disposition

which is said to be a characteristic of Scotohmen : " he mould have his say?, This sketch of the life and character of.Dr. Robert Jackson is in some sense necessary to appreciate his great work. In his various and better- known publications on.Fever, and.the controversies in which he was in- volved through the " Board," the subject and the occasion confined him more to his text, though they might not remove a fulness if not a re• dundancy of style. In the Formation, Discipline, and Economy of Armies, he took, as the saying is, " his full swing,"--pouring forth the result of his historical reading, his medical and military experience, his travelling observation, and his various speculations on man and govern- ment. The object of the work is to a great extent -indicated by its title. Dr. Jackson examines the different classes of recruits in order to deter. mine their position in the Army (as light infantry, grenadier) by their age and their previous condition in social life (as herdsman, huntsman, field-labourer, artisan). Ile then proceeds to unfold his views as to the training a soldier should be made to undergo ; which he extends much beyond the system practised in the. British Army. He wishes•the private to be exercised more systematically upon walking, running, and gymnas- tics generally, than we believe is the case. lie requires him to be taught dancing and fencing, with a view to second the .efforts of the drill-sergeant, by giving ease to the carriage and freedom to the muscles. He considers each individual should be scientifically instructed in the rudiments of cookery, as is done in the French service, and in tailoring and SHOO. making, which is practised by the Russian. Underthe head of economy, he investigates the subjects of diet, clothing, and enercise, bodily and mental ; the construction and arrangements of barracks and camps ; with the proper mode of transporting troops by sea; and winds up with some suggestions for conducting troops on a march. Theme topics all form part of his subject, and are indispensable to its development. The sketch of the military character of the different nations of modern Europe and of the United States, as well as his disquisitianz on the various grades of the military force, his suggestions on their re- spective exercises, and his view of their different uses in actual war, if not absolutely essential to his original subject yet:are so closely connected with it as to form proper illustrations. The survey of the military-cha- racter among the ancients, in the middle ages, and some of the Oriental nations, has less obvious necessity, and smacks more of pedantry. A similar remark may be applied to his estimate of the qualities of military recruits according to their race and climate; as well as to his disquisitions on the intellectual and moral motives of military action, involving a variety of topics, from the advantage of a national force animated by patriotic motives, down to the length of time for which a soldier enlists 3 but the pedantry in these sections is of a physiological and political, not of a scholastic kind. The concluding sections would form a valuable species of appendix to the Formation, Discipline, and Econamrof Armies; containing a variety of medical suggestions as to the manage- ment of troops in Tropical climates, and the arrangement of the medical department for actual service. The necessary parts of the subject, with their subordinate and illus- trative topics, are a large field to travel over ; which is needlessly ex- tended by the introduction of the collateral questions we have mentioned. These overlay the arrangement, and deprive it of that dearness which, like a pellucid style, attracts the mind by the idea of completeness, mas- tery, and fitness. A ponderosiV is further imparted to the work by Dr. Jackson's treatment. His style, if we speak of sentences, is both. .clear and forcible ; but he is too discursive and disquisitional, and disquisitional out of place. Some sketches of the military character of the different peoples contain little information respecting their military organizaion, or even their military apart from Dr. Jackson's view of their national idiosyncracy, but embrace accounts of their origin, and often specula- tions on the effects of their political institutions upon their martiator general spirit. This professor-like in' air is more visible, of course, he sections devoted to intellectual and moral motives, and to the effects Of geo- graphical position on the human race; but it may be found in many parts of the work, though many passages are without it,—for whereDr. Jack- son is describing what he has seen, or presenting the results of his own ex- perience, he is always full, close, and cogent, with a striking air of.sot il sense. Still we think, the extent of his work, its needless expansion an the treatment, the occasional air of pedantry which the reader encountem, and frequent repetitions or the same thing, have done more to mMtate g*inst its successful reception than accidents of form or place of TAP. gosticon. Had the " revision" of the editor extended to the excision of the more needless sections, and to the rigid lopping off of those disquisi- goal "passages that lead to nothing" or nothing to the purpose In hand, the work might have had a more fragmentary appearance, but would have experienced a more popular reception. With all its defects, Dr. Jackson's View of the Formation, Ecommy, and Discipline of Armies, must ever remain a vast storehouse, to Mich other writers will resort to draw forth its materials, to insert in manufactures of their own, and which the military man who really studies his profession as a science, and does not follow it as a lounge or an ex- ercise, should diligently peruse. It contains the accumulated results of the experience, observation, and study of a very able and remarkable man, Who had seen war, and men, and life, in various aspects; who had care- fully perused and pondered on the story of the past, and applied the di- gested knowledge, thus obtained to the pursuit in which he had been en- gaged con amore for half a century. Notwithstanding all he had seen

and struggled with, the heart of Robert Jackson retained its sympathy with his fellows ; or if not, his philosophy and love of method (which is scarcely to be believed) supplied the place of heart. It cannot, however,

be denied that his system of discipline is of a hardy kind. A strong con-

stitution, the habits of his life, and a disposition, more the fashion of his days than of ours, to make the ancients a standard, had given him exalted notions of the Spartan discipline ; and something near it he would intro-

duce into modern armies. The recruit should be selected with the greatest care, trained and exercised with the greatest skill, and all his needful Wants provided for, on the poet's principle of "man wants but little here

below' ; but being once a soldier, he would have him no "feather-bed soldier." In like manner, Robert Jackson would raise the character of

the army, making the private, by instruction, more of a man and less of a machine. Some of the improvements suggested by him have been adopted since he first wrote ; but his principles in their full extent are not likely to be popular in fashionable, high, or official quarters,—a cir- cumstance which may have militated against the reception of the book.

It is not only the army surgeon or military man who will derive ad- vantage from this work: to the historical or general student it will be a

book of great value, for it is sui generis. In discussing warfare, Dr. Jackson often describes it, and presents more of its essential character than is done by professed military narrators. One sees the principles on

which a battle is determined, and has a fuller perception of Napoleon's maxim, that the moral is to the physical as three to one ; with a suspi- cion that troops are rarely beaten by sheer fighting, but fancy themselves beaten, and give up. In the course of its pages, too, will be found much various matter of interest. The sketch of the military character of Spain, for example, contains one of the best pictures we have yet met of

the Spanish peasant ; and the author's estimate of the American military character (which will be very unpopular over the water) exhibits the pith of the American war. An idea of the Formation, Discipline, and Economy of Armies, cannot, however, be attained by description without examples ; and as the

book may not have reached many of our readers, we will draw upon it freely. The following is Dr. Jackson's estimate of the German as a sol- dier which is nearer Mr. Laing's opinion than the fashionable one. It Should be observed, however, that Jackson saw the German troops as mercenaries or auxiliaries ; and be may have been biased against them by having, for lack of a passport, narrowly escaped being made a German soldier himself in his pedestrian tour.

" The German subsidiary force, whether Hessian, Hanoverian, or other, ap- p ed the writer to be orderly and exact in the performance of its allotted duty regular and mechanical in the actual conflict, not impetuous in attack, and not obstinate in maintaining a position after the intention of abandoning it is made known: it is thus fair to conclude that the heart is rarely in the act of the band.

The infantry corps which are recruited in Germany, and led partly by British

officers, may be considered upon the whole as troops of a fair character; they have no claim to excellence. The cavalry corps are conspicuous more perhaps for care than for adventurous courage. The German dragoon is almost always kind to his horse, and careful of him so as to preserve him in good condition, in cir- cumstances where cavalry, under the care of British soldiers, are sickly and un-

serviceable. The German dragoon is trustworthy on duty. It is not said that he is superior, perhaps not equal, to the British in the actual conflict of battle; but he is of more reliance for ordinary service, especially for covering positions and

maintaining communications between different parts of an army. The corps of

infantry are good to a certain extent. The individuals who are mixed in the ranks of British regiments with subjects of Great Britain and Ireland, are gene- rally of a steady character, sufficiently intelligent for common soldiers, and ordi- narily trustworthy in so far as vigilance and attention go. They are soldiers by trade; and it could not be expected that they should be anything beyond what belongs to their trade. The German soldier is as good perhaps as a mercenary

soldier can be expected to be. He cannot be supposed to be of the first excellence as a fighting soldier, and he appears to occupy only a middle place as a moral one. He is comparatively indifferent to everything except himself, and the duty that is formally imposed upon him, the non-execution of which subjects him to Punishment. Spoil is an incentive to activity; and German sharpshooters, as

melted to enterprise by the hopes of obtaining the spoils of those who are in ad-

vance, may be considered as long-shot assassins. The German soldier takes from an enemy's country, and not unfrequently from a neutral country, those things Which suit his purpose; but, unlike the troops of some other nations, he rarely destroys wantonly, or carries away mischievously, that for which he has no occa- sion. He seems as if he were born to be a mechanical soldier, that is, to take care of himself and execute his prescribed duty by routine. He has little feeling of generosity or humanity; and, whether drilled to indifference, or constitution- ally indifferent, he is so punctilious in duty as to suffer a sick comrade to perish with thirst rather than encroach on the orderly's province by reaching to him a drink of water. This will be considered as perfection of discipline; but it is a Perfection which one does not admire, and to which, it is presumed, no rigour would be sufficient to bring a native of France or England."

Of the French his opinion is as favourable as that on the Germans is the reverse; not merely for their military but their moral conduct, of Which he bad good opportunities of judging in Flanders. , " The French are more liable than most people to be transported by their pas- Spits; and, under the influence of passion, they often commit excesses, and some- times crimes; but they are not intrinsically a cruel or a vicious people. The Re- Pubhcart army rose daily in military reputation, and its moral conduct was ex- employ. The fact of the good moral conduct cannot be denied; and if anittplas nation of it be sought for, some part of it at least may be found intim horrible atrocities which prevailed in the interior of France at a certain period of the Revolutionary war—honors of such atrocity as sent the best-moralled part of the male population to the armies on the frontier, as to an asylum. But whatever may have been the cause of the fact, the enemies of the-Republic are obliged to admit that the division of the army which forced the Allies to retire from tau Netherlands manifested: a high sense of honour, and gave proof of humane and generous conduct in their progress through die country, that scarcely has • parallel in history."

The courage of the Russian army he does not rate highly, and its in.- telligenee very low indeed ; but he considers its lactic good, and its ow nom), very superior, (if it be now in the same state as when he super- intended a part of the subsidiary force). "The Russian army, the military tactic of which is as perfect perhaps as mechanical tactic can be made, is moreover eminent for the order of its economy. The clothing of the soldier is substantial and good of its kind ; fashioned so as to be convenient and useful, not cut fantastically to please the eye of a dresszttr akme'e5 commander. The soldier is at ease while clothed in uniform; he is not when he sleeps accoutred. The shoes, among other things, are excellent—the soles thick, the quarter deep, the leather impenetrable to wet by impregnation with tallow. The cloak, with which every soldier is furnished, is of strong, thick cloth. It serves as a covering at night, and as a defence against cold or wet when on duty, by night or day. The economical arrangements of the Russian army are laid on a good foundation; and, in order that they be not disturlroll common contingencies, every regiment has a certain number of workmen allot, to itself for the execution of its own regimental business. Besides profeeeed regimental workmen, every soldier in the ranks knows to mend his own clothes, to sew a plain seam, or to repair any accident that happens to his shoes. Hence the shoes and clothes of the Russian soldier though patched and mended, are never ragged and torn; and it is moreover trim, though it may seem incredible le those who have only seen the British army in its helplessness, that the wholegf the Russian army is so instructed in what relates to its own concerns as to be capable of clothing itself from head to foot in the space of three or four Clays."

A. NEW VIEW OF THE SPANISH WAR.

Spain was overrun; the Government, already. disorganized by its vim, use dissolved, and a new dynasty was established in its place, when Great Britain started up as the champion of an insulted and degraded people. The act was blazoned as an act of generosity: it has, in reality, no claim to the name; and It did no good to the Spanish nation. The enterprise was not undertaken to restore the country to the people; it was undertaken to prevent it from falling Into their hands. The uncontrolled spirit of the people is dreaded by all governments that are built on the base of legitimacy; and it was presumed, not without reason, that if the people were permitted to go on by themselves, they would become sovereign. They were therefore directed by their lordly protector to fix the eye on Ferdinand the Seventh as their lawful monarch, and to do all things in his name, and set were under his authority. It may be presumed that a pmple of ancient blood, with a high sentiment of national honour, felt itself dvraded-by the inAnction,as well as by the presence of a foreign military force pretending to liberate them from a foreign yoke, as if they were themselves coward and unworthy. The massif/he people were not gratifi.ed at the time; and events proved that they had no cause to be thankful. Liberation from Napoleon,. i for submissionsubmissionto Ferdinand, was not in fact a profitable change. The Spanish peasant of the interior is a man of character. He maintains his own way of thinking, and pursues his own piu;pose with exempt perseverance. He is brave in his own way; temperate in manner of living; h in bodily frame; not impetuous in temper, but -determined in pursuing his o jest where it has the sanction of his mind or the vesentroenter his soul. His resentments sleep; they:are not buried: and fromthaa:causeitit reasonable to suppose, that the dominion of the French, as adominionof foreignitsi4 would not have been established in Spain for many ages to cone.

TLMUR AND NAPOLEON.

MS [Timor's] own Institutes, whether written by himself or under his direc- tion, fnrnish convincing proof that he was a man of genius and original mina. He was not only a scientific tactician and a rigid discipllmuian, but he wan • general of .great foresight and of eminent skill in conducting combined.mavesnud• Besides this, Timer appears to have been deeply read in the knowledge of maw kind, and of course deeply skilled in the politics of states. He does not appes., by the most authentic records of his history, to have been cruel in his naturaal disposition; but he was, like the greater part, or almost all the Sultans of the East, not -more restrained by sympathy of Yellow-feeling from shedding human blood than from shedding the blood of cattle. It is obvious in the hiaerrof Timnr's campaigns and expeditions that his military system was scientifically and systematically digested, and that his order of battle was judiciously and scientifically laid. He was cautious in deciding, but he was prompt in acting when he had decided; in fact, he was a military pluenomenon of which there are few examples. The late Emperor of France may be thought to have made some approach to Timur in his views of war and conquest; but lie was infmitelyido- nor to him hi wisdom even in genius of contrivance, and 'particularly in resource in circumstances of difficulty. Timur had a mind of compass and reflection: :he was a man within himself. Napoleon had ambition to excess and self-qpinion to disgust. His engines were force and imposture. The military nuaberrvin magnificent; it-astonished, and it often acted with energy; but when it was■dia- concerted by accident, Napoleon discovered no genius in putting it right. .Ye was in fact a little man, or rather no man, under disaster; Timur was avow* a

MAIL EFFECTS OF CROSSING ON CONSTITUTION.

Those classes of the human race which preserve their blood free from Mixture with strangers, while they have less variety in external appearance, and peihaps less variety in the scope of mental capacity, than those who cross and venues at pleasure, have mare endurance in action, 'firmer attaohments to purposes, and Jess desultory impetuosity. This is a: physical truth. The =planet= of it is cult; but it may be illustrated and comprehended in some degree by these who study the animal fabric, and who are acquainted with the laws of animalecone. In brute animals, (horses, sheep, and cattle,) the mixture of different races is served to change the qualities, to improve the beauty, and to.enlarge the size: it diminishes the hardiness and the security of the physical health. hi man, the mixture of different races improves beauty, .augments.augmentsthe volume of the bodily organs, and even perhaps expands the sphere of intellect. It diminishes the power of enduring toil, and renders the habit more susceptible to the causes of disease.

afILITAIrt MUM.

The subject of directing fire rightly is important; and it may be added, inillna- tration.of its importance, that eighty or a hundred thousand ball-certridgesare often fired in the course of a military action without killing or wounding more than five hundred men. In such case, (and such cases are not rarer) it la evident that there is an expense of ammunition without an effect commensurate to the expenditure. If the non-effect arise from distance or. osition, the-milltai7 officer in command commits an error. If the'distance be just distanewr action, if 'the enemy be aluly exposed, and if the troops be earned into the-Said in a proper manner, and the,effect be such as is stated, it is evident that the soldier wants skill, or that he wants discipline and courage necessary for:the direction of the skill which he possesses. 'Want of skill is always accompanied with,huny and confusion; and a soldiervrho wants skill, that is, who is not confident of producing

a given effect by a discharge of his musket, has no calculation. He knows that he is in possession of an instrument of destruction. He is ignorant of its true value: he loads and fires in haste and confusion, in hopes of hiding himself under the cover of its smoke, or of drowning his fears under its noise. But as he has no skill, and, from want of skill, no precise object in view, the mind is blank, and the act is in a manner void. In this case, the remedy against panic consists principally in the noise and order of the explosions—and that is precarious. On the contrary, the skilful soldier is confident of an effect resulting from his skill. He is master of himself on all occasions; and, according to his position and his bearings, he is almost certain of diminishing the number of the foe by every ball discharged: thus every discharge adds to security, both in his own idea and in reality. If this subject be considered as it ought to be, the principal object of study in the training of troops will he bestowed on cultivating the art of firing with last direction, rather than for attaining rapid explosion and exact correspond- ence in time by platoon or battalion. If it appear that eighty or one hundred thousand balls kill or wound no more than five hundred of the enemy, and if it be demonstrable that fifteen hundred would have the same effect if the soldier were brought into action properly and if he correctly knew the power of his musket, it is obvious to common sense that every soldier ought to be scientifically instructed in an art which brings with it advantages of so great value.

In the views of Dr. Jackson on the formation and training of armies there may be too rigid an adherence to ancient theory, (for the practice most probably was not so strict,) and too little regard to the habits of modern life. His book, however, raises grave reflections as to how far we are altogether well qualified to meet an European war with an- tagonists who, like the French, pay more attention to the economical and general intelligence of the soldier than to uniform height or appearance on parade. Little more than a quarter of a century elapsed before the seemingly same army that Marlborough led to victory was beaten at Fontenoy, and chased by the irregular Highlanders at Prestonpans. A bull-dog courage is all in all on certain occasions : there are times when it is worse than useless, because it may involve destruction. But health and patient endurance are as necessary as skill or courage to a campaigner; and it requires no particular penetration to see that our wonderful im- provements in material prosperity, contributing to our physical comfort beyond all precedent, and prevailing nowhere more than int he mess- room, may have rendered our army less capable of enduring weather, privation, and fatigue ; and in the case of Continental hostilities, might revive the disasters of the campaigns in the Low Countries during the Revolutionary war or the sweeping sickness of Walcheren.