The life of Napoleon Buonaparte, emperor of the French. By Sir Walter Scott.

~~528 LIFE OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.
oblige the Frehch to manoeuvre, and so show their most to a man, before the eyes of Napoleon, to
inlteitions. It amounted to one hundred and twenty whom some of them in the last struggle turned their
tlhousand men. On the north, towards Courland, faces, exclairning,r Vive l'empereur! The spectators
this grand army communicated with a division of were istruck with horror. Bu3t much greater would
ten thousand men, under Count Essen; and on that feeling have been, could they have known that
the south held comnmunication, but on a line rather the fate of this handfiul of brave men was but an
too much prolonged, with the second army, under anticipation of that which impended over the hinthe gallant Prince Bagration, one of the best and dreds of thousands, who, high in health and hope,
bravest of the Russian generals. Platoff, the ce- were about to rush upon natural and artificial oblebrated Hettman, or Captain-general of the Cos- stacles, no less formidable and no less insurmountsacks, attended this second army, with twelve thllo- able than the torrent which had swept away their
sand of his children of the desert. Independent of unfortunate advanced guard.
these, Bagration's army might amount to eighty - -hile his immense masses were traversing Lithousand mlen. On the extreme left, and vwatching thuania, Napoleon fixed his head quarters at W'ilna,
the Austrians, froln whom perhaps no very vigo- the ancient capital of that province, where he began
rous measures were apprehended, was Torma- to experience the first pressure of those difficulties
z,'f, with what was termed the army of Volhynia, which attended his gigantic undertaking., We mrust
amounting to twenty thousand men. Two armies pause to detail them; for they tend to show tle
of reserve were in the course of being formed at great mistake of those who have followed Napoleon
Novogorod and Smolensk. They might amount to himself in supposing, that the Russian expedition
about 20,000 men each. was a hopeful and wvell-conceived plan, which would
Thulos, on the whole, the Russians entered upon certainly have proved successful, if not unexpectthe campaign with a sum total of two hundred and edly disconcerted by the burning of Moscow, and
sixty thousatnd men, opposed to four hundred and the severity of the weather, by which the French
seventy thousand, or wvith an odds of almost one armies were compelled to retreat into Poland.
half against them. But during the course of the war, We have elsewhllere mentioned, that, according to
Russia raised reitfbrcements of militia and volun- Napoleon's usual style of tactics, the French troops
teers to greatly more than the balance which was set out upon their campaign witli bread and biscuit
against her at tile commencement. for a few days, and vwhen that was expended (which,
The grand Imperial army marched upon the river betwixt waste and consumption, usually happened
Nielrlen in its three overwhelming masses; the before the calculated period), they lived on such
King of Westphalia upon Grodno, the Viceroy of supplies as they could collect in the country, by the
Italy on Pilony, and the emperor himself on a point means of marauding or pillage, wlhicll they had con.
called Nagaraiski, three leagues beyond Kowno. verted into a regular systen. But Napoleon had
tWhen the head of' Napoleon's columns reached far too much expel'ience and pl-ldence to trust,
the river which rolled silently along under cover amid the wastes o' Russia, to a system of supplies,
of immense forests on the Russian side, he advanced which had sufliced for maintenin ce of the army in
in person to reconnoitre the banks, when his horse the rich fields of Austria. He lknew well that ne
sturmbled anld threw him. "A bad omen," said a was plunging with half a million of mien into invoice, but whether that of the emperor or one of hospitable deserts, where Charles X1i. could not
his suite, couldl not be distinguished; "a Ronan find subsistencn. for twenty thousand Swedes. He
would return." On the Russian banlk appeared was aware, besides, of the imilolicy there would
only a silngle Cossack, who challenged the first party be in harassing the Lithuanians by rmat rading exacof French thiat crossed thle river, and demanded tions. To conciliate them was a treat.branch of his
their putrpose in the territories of Russia. "To beat plan, for Lithuania, in lespect to Rtlssial, yVes a conyol, asild to take Wilna," wvas the reply. The pa- quered province, into which N;apoleon hoped to
trol withdrew, nor was another soldier seen. inspire the same desire of independence which aniA dreadful thunder-storm was the welcome whizh mated Poland, and thus to find friends and allies
they received in titis wild land; and shortly after among the very subjects ot his enenmy. Tile ut!nost
the emperor received intelligence that the R.ulssians exertion of his splendid talents, putting into activity
wvere fallinlg back on every side, and manifested an the utmost extent of his unliumited puower, had been,
evident intention to evacuate Lithuania without a therefore, tulrned towards collecting inmmense mlaga
battle. The emperor urged forward his columns zines of provisions, and for sectuing the means of
with even more tlhan hIis usual proilsptitude, eager transplortilg them 7along with the airlty. ltis strong
to strike one of those forliidable blows by -shich he and impassioned genius was, bol months before the
was wont to annihilate his enemy at the very corn- expedition, directed to this impnortant object, which
mencement of the campaign. This gave rise to an he pressed upon his gene rals with the utniost solicievent inore ominous than the fall of his horse, or the rude. "'For masses like those we at e about to
tempest which received him on the banks of the move, if precautions be not taken, the grain of no
Niemen. Tile river Wilia being swollen with rain, country can suffice," he said, in one part of his
and the bridges destroyed, the emperor, impatient correspondence.-In another,' All thie provrsionothtle obstacle, colnmanded a'body of Polish cavalry waggons mlust be loaded with flour, rice, bread,
to cross by swimlnminlg. They did not hesitate to vegetables, and brandy, besides wvhat is necessary
ilashl into the river. But ere they reachsed the for the hospital service. The resutlt of -ny moveM- uiddle of the streani, the irresistible torrenlt broke ments will assemble four hundred thousand imen on
|i(ei- ranks, and they vwere swept down and lost al- a single point. There will be nothing to expect f'rom