particularly the young
conscripts and national guards, suffered dreadfully; and numbers of them
who escaped the swords of their enemies, perished miserably or were
disabled for life, in consequence of hardships, and fatigues, and
privations.

All these examples were known to the French soldiers--they took place
daily before their eyes, and, in the last instance, the allies took
pains to let them know, that the only obstacle to honourable peace was
the obstinacy of their commander; yet their ardour continued unabated;
the young soldiers displayed a degree of valour in every action of both
campaigns, which drew forth the warm applause even of their enemies; and
it is not to be doubted, that the troops whom Napoleon collected at
Fontainbleau, at the end of the campaign in France, were
enthusiastically bent on carrying into effect the frantic resolution of
attacking Paris, then occupied by a triple force of the allies, from
which his officers with difficulty dissuaded him.

In like manner, there is probably no general but Napoleon, who would not
have attempted to terminate the miseries of the army during the retreat
from Moscow, by entering into negotiation with the Russians; nor is
there any army but the French which would have tamely consented to be
entirely sacrificed to the obstinacy of an individual. But to have
concluded a convention with the Russians would have been _compromising
the honour of the French arms_; and this little form of words seemed to
strike more terror to the hearts of the French soldiers, than either the
swords of the Russians, or the dreary wastes and wintry storms of
Russia, which might have been apostrophised in the words of the poet,

"Alas! even your unhallowed breath
May spare the victim fallen low,
But man will ask no truce to death,
No bounds to human woe."

"He saw, without emotion, (says Labaume), the miserable remains of an
army, lately so powerful, defile before him; yet his presence never
excited a murmur; on the contrary, it animated even the most timid, who
were always tranquil when in presence of the emperor." At the present
moment, from all the accounts that we have received, as well as from our
own observations of those French soldiers whom we have ourselves seen
after their return from Moscow, the sentiments of the survivors of that
expedition with regard to Napoleon remained unchanged; and no person who
has read any of the narratives of the campaign can ascri