about his apartments, as if pursued by some dangerous
temptation. Nothing could rivet his attention; he every moment began,
quitted, and resumed his labour; he walked about without any object;
inquired the hour, and looked at his watch; completely absorbed, he
stopped, hummed a tune with an absent air, and again began walking
about.

In the midst of his perplexity, he occasionally addressed the persons
whom he met with such half sentences as "Well! what shall we do? Shall
we stay where we are, or advance? How is it possible to stop short in
the midst of so glorious a career?" He did not wait for their reply; but
still kept wandering about, as if he was looking for something or
somebody to terminate his indecision.

At length, quite overwhelmed with the weight of such an important
consideration, and oppressed with so great an uncertainty, he would
throw himself on one of the beds which he had caused to be laid on the
floor of his apartments. His frame, exhausted by the heat, and the
struggles of his mind, could only bear a covering of the slightest
texture; it was in that state that he passed a portion of his days at
Witepsk.

But when his body was at rest, his spirit was only the more active. "How
many motives urged him towards Moscow! How support at Witepsk the
_ennui_ of seven winter months?--he, who till then had always been the
assailant, was about to be reduced to a defensive position; a part
unworthy of him, of which he had no experience, and adverse to his
genius.

"Moreover, at Witepsk, nothing had been decided, and yet, at what a
distance was he already from France! Europe, then, would at length
behold him stopped, whom nothing had been able to stop. Would not the
duration of the enterprise augment its danger? Ought he to allow Russia
time to arm herself entirely? How long could he protract this uncertain
condition without impairing the charm of his infallibility, (which the
resistance of Spain had already enfeebled) and without engendering
dangerous hopes in Europe? What would be thought, if it were known that
a third of his army, dispersed or sick, were no longer in the ranks? It
was indispensable, therefore, to dazzle the world speedily by the eclat
of a great victory, and hide so many sacrifices under a heap of
laurels."

Then, if he remained at Witepsk, he considered that he should have the
_ennui_, the whole expense, all the inconveniences and anxieties of a
defensive position to bear; while at Mos