places, particularly
on the fortresses on the Elbe, and in Frankfort and Mentz, it made
dreadful ravages; but it never extended, to any considerable degree,
among the Russians. This was partly owing, no doubt, to the influence of
exciting passions on the constitutions of the men; but much must
certainly be ascribed to the admirable arrangements of the Russian
hospital staff, which, under the superintendance of our countryman, Sir
James Wyllie, have attained, in a few years, a surprising degree of
excellence. The state of the Russian hospitals at Paris, under the
direction of another countryman, Dr Crichton, was universally admired.

The Russian imperial guard is, we believe, the finest body of men in
Europe; the whole number, when the regiments are all complete, is about
30,000; but the effective men at Paris did not exceed 20,000. These are
made up from time to time, by picked men from the whole army. The charge
of one of the regiments of cuirassiers, 1000 strong, upon the Champ de
Mars, was one of the finest sights imaginable. The clattering of the
horses feet on hard ground, and the rattling of the armour, increasing
as they advanced, exceeded the sound of the loudest thunder.

Their horses are not so heavy as those of the English dragoons, but they
have evidently more blood in them, and their power of bearing fatigues
and privations is quite wonderful. We were told by the officer
commanding one of these regiments, that almost all the horses we saw in
Paris, in the finest possible condition, were on the Niemen when the
French crossed it in 1812, and had borne the fatigues of the retreat to
Moscow, and of the advance during the dreadful winter which had proved
so fatal to the French army; as well as of the winter campaign of 1814
in France, which was carried on, almost entirely, during frost and snow.
The Russian soldiers bore the extreme cold of the former winter in a
manner hardly less wonderful; we were assured that they were not more
warmly clothed than the French; but they were accustomed to the climate,
were comparatively well fed, and were animated by victory, while their
antagonists were depressed by famine and despair.

The equipment of the artillery of the guard is probably the completest
in the world;--each gun of the horse artillery is followed by three
tumbrils of ammunition, and the artillerymen being all mounted and
armed, a battery of horse artillery is fitted to act in a double
capacity. One of thes