By such means, and by the immense assemblage of troops which began to be formed about the city at the conclusion of September 1813, its resources were completely exhausted, when the series of sanguinary engagements between the 14th and the 19th of the following month reduced it to the very verge of destruction.  In addition to the pathetic details of the extreme hardships endured by the devoted inhabitants of the field of battle, which extended to the distance of ten English miles round Leipzig, contained in the following sheets, I shall beg leave to introduce the following extract of a letter, written on the 22d November, by a person of great commercial eminence in that city, who, after giving a brief account of those memorable days of October, thus proceeds:—­

“By this five days’ conflict our city was transformed into one vast hospital, 56 edifices being devoted to that purpose alone.  The number of sick and wounded amounted to 36,000.  Of these a large proportion died, but their places were soon supplied by the many wounded who had been left in the adjacent villages.  Crowded to excess, what could be the consequence but contagious diseases? especially as there was such a scarcity of the necessaries of life—­and unfortunately a most destructive nervous fever is at this moment making great ravages among us, so that from 150 to 180 deaths commonly occur in one week, in a city whose ordinary proportion was between 30 and 40.  In the military hospitals there die at least 300 in a day, and frequently from 5 to 600.  By this extraordinary mortality the numbers there have been reduced to from 14 to 10,000.  Consider too the state of the circumjacent villages, to the distance of 10 miles round, all completely stripped; in scarcely any of them is there left a single horse, cow, sheep, hog, fowl, or corn of any kind, either hay or implements of agriculture.  All the dwelling-houses have been burned or demolished, and all the wood-work about them carried off for fuel by the troops in bivouac.  The roofs have shared the same fate; the shells of the houses were converted into forts and loop-holes made in the walls, as every village individually was defended and stormed.  Not a door or window is any where to be seen, as those might be removed with the greatest ease, and, together with the roofs, were all consumed.  Winter is now at hand, and its rigours begin already to be felt.  These poor creatures are thus prevented, not only by the season, from rebuilding their habitations, but also by the absolute want of means; they have no prospect before them but to die of hunger, for all Saxony, together with the adjacent countries, has suffered far too severely to be able to afford any relief to their miseries.

“Our commercial house, God be thanked I has not been plundered; but every thing in my private house, situated in the suburb of Grimma, was carried off or destroyed, as you may easily conceive, when I inform you that a body of French troops broke