t, it is reported
that, after Lannes was removed to Ebersdorf, his last words were those
of reproach to the Emperor for his ambition. At that time, however,
the patient was delirious, and the words, if really uttered, were
meaningless; but the inventor of the anecdote might plead that it was
consonant with the recent tenor of the Marshal's thoughts. Like all
thoughtful soldiers, who placed France before Napoleon, Lannes was
weary of these endless wars. After Jena his heart was not in the work;
and he wrote thus about Napoleon during the siege of Danzig: "I have
always been the victim of my attachment to him. He only loves you by
fits and starts, that is, when he has need of you." His presentiment
was true. He was a victim to a war that was the outcome solely of
Napoleon's Continental System, and not of the needs of France. He
passed away, leaving a brilliant military fame and a reputation for
soldierly republican frankness which was fast vanishing from the camps
and _salons_ of the Empire.[210]

As yet, however, Napoleon's genius and the martial ardour of his
soldiers sufficed to overbear the halting efforts of Austria and her
well-wishers. On retiring into Lobau Island he put forth to the utmost
his extraordinary powers of organization. Boats brought vast supplies
of stores and ammunition from Vienna, which the French still held. The
menacing front of Massena and Davoust imposed on the enemy.
Reinforcements were hurried up from Bavaria. Tyrol was denuded of
Franco-Bavarian troops, so that the peasants, under the lead of the
brave innkeeper, Hofer, were able to organize a systematic defence.
And a French army which had finally beaten the Austrians in Venetia,
now began to drive them back into Hungary. In Poland the white-coats
were held in check, and the Franco-Russian compact deterred Frederick
William from making any move against France such as Prussian patriots
ardently counselled.

To have done so would have been madness, unless England sent powerful
aid on the side of Hanover; and that aid was not forthcoming. Yet the
patriotic ardour of the Germans led to two daring efforts against the
French. Schill, with a Prussian cavalry regiment, sought to seize
Magdeburg, and failing there moved north in hopes of British help. His
adventurous ride was ended by Napoleon's Dutch and North German
troops, who closed in on him at Stralsund, and, on May 31st, cut to
pieces his brave troop. Schill met a warrior's death: most of t