nd afterwards on Laon, before he could bring on a general
action.

He bore the fatigues of the campaign without any inconvenience, but fell
sick on the day after he entered Paris, and resigned his command,
requesting only of General Sacken, the governor of the town, that he
would allot him lodgings from which he could look out upon Montmartre,
the scene of his last triumph. He never appeared in public at Paris;
but we had the pleasure of seeing him in a very interesting situation.
We had gone to visit the Hotel des Invalides, and on entering the church
under the great dome, we found this great commander, accompanied only by
his son and another officer, leaning on the rails which encircle the
monument of Turenne. We followed him into a small apartment off the
church, where the bodies of Marshals Bessieres and Duroc, and the hearts
of Generals Laroboissiere and Barraguay D'Hilliers, lay embalmed under a
rich canopy of black velvet, in magnificent coffins, which were strewed
with flowers every morning by the Duchess of Istria, the widow of
Bessieres, who came thither regularly after mass. This room was hung
with black, and lighted only by a small lamp, which burnt under the
canopy, and threw its light in the most striking manner on the grey
hairs and expressive countenance of the old Marshal, as he stood over
the remains of his late antagonists in arms. He heard the name of each
with a slight inclination of his head, gazed on the coffins for some
moments in silence, and then turned about, and, as if to shew that he
was not to be moved by his recollections, he strode out of the chapel
humming a tune.

He had vowed to recover possession of the sword of the great Frederic,
which used to hang in the midst of the 10,000 standards of all nations
that waved under the lofty dome of this building; but on the day that
the allies entered Paris, the standards were taken down and burnt, and
the sword was broken to pieces, by an order, as was said, from Maria
Louisa.

It is right to notice here, that the famous Silesian army which he
commanded, consisted originally of many more Russian troops than
Prussians,--in the proportion, we were told, of four to one, although
the proportion of the latter was afterwards increased. Indeed it was at
first the intention of the Emperor of Russia to put himself at the head
of this army; but he afterwards gave up that idea, saying, that he knew
the Russians and Prussians would fight well, and act cor