by the Russians, and, therefore, compelled to retreat by the route of Smolensko.

From the latter end of October to the 6th November the weather had been beautifully serene, although extremely cold, and the army marched with regularity; yet in this interval they were severely distressed for want of forage and provisions. Already were the soldiers compelled to eat horse flesh; and the animals that drew the artillery, and the innumerable carts laden with the spoils of Moscow, dropped down with fatigue, and perished. Hourly, ammunition waggons were exploded, from the utter impossibility of removing them. The army was followed by Cossacks, who were kept in awe by the French artillery and cavalry; but on the 6th November they were concealed by impenetrable clouds; a furious wind beat the forests; sheets of snow darkened the air; despondency unnerved every breast; extreme cold and hunger paralyzed the movements, and destroyed the discipline of the army. Cannon, carts, baggage waggons, were all abandoned. Those who were unable to keep pace with the march of the columns, were either transpierced by the friendly lances of the Cossacks, or tasted of the bitterness of death, by slow and lingering draughts of agony. So sudden, yet so complete was the destruction, that in two days the army lost one-third of its number; and by the latter end of November it had left behind it 500 pieces of cannon, and upwards of 40,000 prisoners. It was in vain that Napoleon occasionally marched on foot with his guards, and endeavoured, by familiar conversation, to reanimate their sinking spirits. The conqueror under whose banners they had been led to innumerable triumphs; the father who had anticipated all their wants; the patron, whose smile was distinction, and whose favour was power and fortune, was now most justly regarded as the immediate cause of all their calamities, and as the destroyer of the host.

To complete the scene of desolation, the unmanly and ferocious wrath of the French Emperor caused him to burn and pillage all the villages through which he passed; and as

the imperial guards were generally in advance of the army, the soldiers of the other corps who followed them were deprived not only of shelter but of fuel, the houses of the Russian peasantry being composed of wood. Flights of ravens and packs of wild dogs hovered round and followed the French.

The passage of the Wop and Berezina aggravated their calamities, and the junction of the armies from Moldavia and Courland, in the line of the retreat, completed the work of destruction. Posterity will hardly credit the tale, that, out of an army, which in June consisted of upwards of 400,000 men. the feeble wrecks were, in the early part of December, reduced to 20,000, scantily covered with sheep-skins and the raw hides of horses, without linen, stockings, shoes, (a substitute for the latter was attempted from old hats,) artillery, or baggage; an unarmed, disorderly, famished crowd, with raw carrion for their food, trembling at the approach of a single Cossack, and assassinating each other to obtain the slightest article of provision, or scanty tatter of clothing.

At Wilna a division took place of the remains of the plunder of Moscow, and the gaunt and ghastly spectres of soldiers were arrayed in the richest silks, and although dropping by hundreds in the streets from cold and famine, yet rich in the dross of gold and silver. At Smorghoni, in Lithuania, Napoleon quitted the army on 15th December, without addressing a proclamation to the wretches he had at once ruined and abandoned; the command of whom was first deputed to the King of Naples, and afterwards to the Prince Viceroy. Travelling incognito, he arrived in Paris on the 20th of that month.

It is now that we can behold him in a perfectly new situation. The splendour of his military fame irretrievably tarnished; his moral character deservedly abhorred; his allies, or rather his vassals, universally discontented, and awaiting only a favourable opportunity to abandon him, and swell the ranks of his enemies. In France his influence was shaken to its centre, and the friends and relations of the soldiers, whose

bones were bleached by the frosts of Russia, imprecated curses, not loud indeed, but deep and bitter, on the madman who was the sole author of their calamities.

Yet in a situation so fraught with difficulty and danger, the resources of his mighty genius appeared to expand, and to raise him, for a time, above the storms of adversity. In a speech to the Legislative Body, he explained the perils which on every side menaced the empire; perils increased by the defection of the King of Prussia, and the advance of the Prussian and Russian armies through the Duchy of Warsaw into Saxony, whither the French army, by this time greatly reinforced, had been driven. After dilating on these matters, his minister proposed a decree to the senate for calling out 36,000 conscripts. In the debased condition of that assembly the decree passed, which mowed down, as with a scythe, the blossoms of the youth of the empire.

In every department of government a miraculous activity prevailed: his conscripts were clothed in the space of one week! To discipline them, the most experienced subalterns and privates from the armies in the Peninsula were selected. The prefects exhorted, the priests preached, venal writers inculcated, the necessity of saving the country. By one grand effort every spring in the complicated machine of the French administration was stretched to its utmost possible elasticity; and, to the astonishment of the world, and of France herself, he brought into the field an army of upwards of 200,000 troops, the greater part, indeed, composed of youth from 16 to 21, but perfectly equipped, (excepting in cavalry,) and fairly disciplined: the artillery was excellent, and well served.

Quitting Paris the latter end of April, 1813, he conducted to the border of the Saale, in the neighbourhood of Weissenfels, a very large army, numerically superior to that of the allies, which had, by this time, overrun Saxony, and commenced the sieges of the principal fortresses in that kingdom. On the 2d May was fought the battle of Lutzen.

It was intended by the French Emperor to assail the allies,

(the Prussian and Russian armies,) by a movement which would have brought him upon their flank and rear; but he was anticipated by the Prussian and Russian commanders, who, by a counter movement, obliged him to relinquish his design. The action was very long, and most obstinately contested. The French army, stationed in villages, were defended by a tremendous artillery. Nevertheless, the allies pressed so heavily on their centre, that a part of it was actually broken, when Napoleon brought into the line a battery of 60 pieces of cannon, which arrested the progress of the assailants. At the same moment, Count Bertrand's corps, which had debouched to the right, appeared in the rear of the position of the allies, and the field was won with great, and probably equal, loss, to either party. The allies, indeed, claimed the victory, but the result proved that the French were really the conquerors.

The numerical weakness of the combined army, coupled with the possession of Leipsic by Napoleon, compelled the former to retire, slowly indeed, in good order, and without loss.

On reaching Dresden, Napoleon had an interview with the King of Saxony, whom he succeeded in keeping firm to his alliance. After spending some days in that city, he proceeded to join his army in Lusatia; and on the 19th May and two following days, fought the battles of Bautzen and Wurtchen. In these, as well as in the preceding battle of Lutzen, the most obstinate valour was manifested by either party.

A movement of Marshal Ney, (now created Prince of the Moskwa,) with a considerable corps, to turn and surround the right wing of the allies, failed. The attack was therefore made under every disadvantage of position by the centre and right wing of the French army; and this attack, continually renewed, at length succeeded. The loss on each side was very great; that of the allies is estimated, in the French account, at 6000 killed and wounded, 10,000 prisoners, and 19 pieces of cannon. Their own loss is reckoned at from 10 to 12,000 killed, to which must be added some artillery and prisoners.

The allies withdrew; and that they were here really worsted, is evident by their relinquishing Silesia without making a stand. Almost the whole of this beautiful country was conquered by the French.

Negotiations were now commenced for an armistice, which was signed at Reichienback on the 1st of June. The terms of this armistice left the French in possession of all their conquests, and extended their line on the frontier of Prussia. We have not interrupted the narrative of this short but important campaign, to notice, in the natural order of dates, that Hamburgh (which with other contiguous territories, had been merged in the overgrown mass of the French empire) fell into the hands of the allies, and had been reconquered by the Prince of Eckmühl.

Another opportunity was now afforded to Napoleon of closing the war, with infinitely less disadvantage than he could either expect or deserve. The substantial fruits of victory remained with him at the battles already described. The prodigious efforts he had made had rendered him once more an object of apprehension; and a peace might have been then negotiated, under the mediation of the Emperor of Austria, which would have left him the complete master of Italy; but his exasperated pride demanded nothing less than the reconquest of all of which his own guilty folly in the Russian campaign had deprived him. Disgusted with his conduct, alarmed at his ambition, and yet smarting under the injuries he had received, the Emperor Francis at length joined the coalition against France, which now consisted of Russia, Prussia, Austria, Sweden, and Great Britain, the life and soul of the confederacy. During this armistice Napoleon had strained every nerve to recruit his armies, which were now increased to 500,000 men. He repaired to Mentz, where he had an interview with the Empress, constituted Regent of the empire during his absence in Germany, and sent the Prince Viceroy to Italy to make head against the Austrians.

To form a correct judgment of the important events of the