than the short interval comprised between these two epochs, an army
engaged in those deserts of mud and ice might perish there entirely, and
ingloriously?" And, they added, "that Lithuania was much more Asiatic
than Spain was African; and that the French army, already all but
banished from France by a perpetual war, wished at least to preserve its
European character.

"Finally, when face to face with the enemy in these deserts, what
different motives must actuate the different armies! On the side of the
Russians were country, independence, every description of interest,
private and public, even to the secret good wishes of our allies! On our
side, and in the teeth of so many obstacles, glory alone, unassociated
even with that desire of gain, to which the frightful poverty of these
countries offered no attraction.

"And what is the end of so many exertions? The French already no longer
recognized each other, in the midst of a country now uncircumscribed by
any natural frontier; and in which the diversity was so great in
manners, persons, and languages." On this particular point, the
eldest[13] of these great officers added, "That such an extension was
never made without proportionate exhaustion; that it was blotting out
France to merge it in Europe; for, in fact, when France should become
Europe, it would be France no longer. Would not the meditated departure
leave her solitary, deserted, without a ruler, without an army,
accessible to every diversion? Who then was there to defend her?" "_My
renown!_" exclaimed the emperor: "_I leave my name behind me, and the
fear inspired by a nation in arms._"

[Footnote 13: M. de Segur.]

And, without appearing in the least shaken by so many objections, he
announced "that he was about to organize the empire into cohorts of
_Ban_ and _Arriere Ban_; and without mistrust to leave to Frenchmen the
protection of France, of his crown, and of his glory.

"That as to Prussia, he had secured her tranquillity by the
impossibility in which he had placed her of moving, even in case of his
defeat, or of a descent of the English on the coasts of the North Sea,
and in our rear; that he held in his hands the civil and military power
of that kingdom; that he was master of Stettin, Custrin, Glogau, Torgau,
Spandau, and Magdeburg; that he would post some clear-sighted officers
at Colberg, and an army at Berlin; and that with these means, and
supported by the fidelity of Saxony, he had nothing to