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ny of public indignation by seeking the darkest road. He sought it however in vain. On every side the flames seemed to pursue him, and their horrible and mournful glare, flashing on his guilty head, reminded me of the torches of the Eumenides, pursuing the destined victims of the furies.

"The generals likewise received orders to quit Moscow. Licentiousness then became unbounded. The soldiers, no longer restrained by the presence of their chiefs, committed every kind of excess. No retreat was now safe, no place sufficiently sacred to afford any protection against their rapacity.

"Nothing could equal the anguish which absorbed every feeling heart, and which increased in the dead of night by the cries of the miserable victims, who were savagely murdered, or by the screams of the young females, who fled for protection to their weeping mothers, and whose ineffectual struggles tended only to inflame the passions of their violators.

"Desirous of terminating the recital of this horrid catastrophe, for which history wants expressions, and poetry has no colors, I shall pass over in silence many circumstances, revolting to humanity, and merely describe the dreadful confusion which arose in our army, when the fire had reached every part of Moscow, and the whole city was become one immense flame.

"A long row of carriages was perceived through the thick smoke, loaded with booty. Being too heavily laden for the exhausted cattle to draw them along, they were obliged to halt at every step, when we heard the execrations of the drivers," who, terrified at the surrounding flames, endeavored to push forward, with dreadful outcries. The soldiers were still armed, diligently employed in forcing open every door. They seemed to fear lest they should leave one house untouched.In spite of the extreme peril which threatened them, the love of plunder induced our soldiers to brave every danger. Stimulated by an irresistible desire of pillage, they precipitated themselves into the flames. They waded in blood, treading upon the dead bodies without remorse, whilst the ruins of the houses, mixed with burning coals, fell thick on their murderous hands.

"September 17. I witnessed the most dreadful and the most affecting scenes which it is possible to conceive, namely, the unhappy inhabitants drawing upon some mean vehicles all that they had been able to save from the conflagration. The soldiers having robbed them of their horses, the men and women were slowly and painfully dragging along these little carts; some of which contained an infirm mother, others a paralytic old man, and others the miserable wrecks of half consumed furniture; children half naked, followed these interesting groups. Without a shelter, and without food, these unfortunate beings wandered in the fields, and fled into the woods; but wherever they bent their steps, they met the conquerors of Moscow, who frequently ill treated them, and sold before their eyes the goods which had been stolen from their own deserted habitations." From p. 203 to 214.

THE RETREAT FROM MOSCOW.

"They would none of my counsel; they despised all my reproof: Therefore shall they eat of the fruits of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them." Prov. i. 30, 31, 32.

THE horrors of the French retreat will be given in the language of Labaume. In his account of the scenes at Moscow he says: "Even the most hardened minds were struck with a conviction, that so great a calamity would on some future day call forth the vengeance of the Almighty upon the authors of such crimes." This presentiment was well founded; nor was it long before the plundering legions of Napoleon experienced as great calamities, as they had occasioned to the Russians. The measure they had meted, was measured to them again. In the following narrative we shall have evidence of the truth, proclaimed by the Chaldean monarch-THEY THAT WALK IN PRIDE, THE LORD IS ABLE TO ABASE.

L.

"Although, says Labaume, the ruin of Moscow was a great loss to the Russians, it was more sensibly felt by us,

and it insured to our enemies all the advantages which they had promised themselves from the rigor of their climateTheir hopes, founded on this calculation, could not be disappointed for our formidable army, though it arrived in the fine season, had lost one third of its numbers merely by the rapidity of its march; and the enemy had no reason to fear that we could maintain any position, since our want of discipline had made a desart of our conquests, and our improvident chief had formed no plan to facilitate our retreat.

"They who possessed the smallest foresight, predicted our misfortunes, and imagined that they read on the walls of the Kremlin those prophetic words, which an invisible hand traced before Belshazzar in the midst of his greatest prosperity :'God hath numbered this kingdom and finished it thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting: thy kingdom is divided, and given to other hands.'

The French began their retreat on the 19th of October. "The long files of carriages in three or four ranks extended for several leagues, loaded with the immense booty which the soldiers snatched from the flames." But this booty only served to retard their progress. The Russians soon began to harass them on their retreat; and on the 25th of October a battle was fought, which was so destructive to the French army, that the soldiers said, "But two battles more like this, and Napoleon will be without an army."

Oct. 26. "At every step were waggons abandoned for want of horses to draw them, and the fragments of innumerable carriages burned for the same reason-and we listened with melancholy forebodings to the frequent explosion of ammunition waggons."

Oct. 28. "In addition to all these evils the want of provisions aggravated our sufferings. That which we brought from Moscow was almost consumed. Our horses fared still worsc -many of them died of fatigue and hunger.

"Napoleon, who preceded us one day's march, had already passed Mojaisk, burning and destroying every thing which he found on his route. His soldiers were so intent on this de

vastation, that they set fire to the places where we should have halted. This exposed us to great and unnecessary suffering.

Oct. 30. "The nearer we approached to the Mojaisk the more desolate the country appeared. But most horrible was the multitude of dead bodies which, deprived of burial fifty two days, scarcely retained the human form. On arriving at Borodino my consternation was inexpressible, at finding the 20,000 mer, who had perished there, yet lying uncovered.

"Three thousand prisoners were brought from Moscow. Having nothing to give them during the march, they were at night driven into a narrow fold like so many beasts. Without fire, and without food, they lay on the bare ice, and to assuage the hunger that tortured them, those who had not courage to die, nightly fed on the flesh of their companions, whom fatigue, misery, and famine had destroyed. But I turn from a picture so shocking-I shall soon have horrors enough to describe which fell to the lot of my companions in arms."

Oct. 31. "All seemed to feel that their only safety consisted in manfully struggling with the difficulties by which we were surrounded. They had for many days been reduced to subsist on horse flesh! even the generals had begun to share the same food."

Nov. 4. "At one o'clock in the morning, we marched along the great road, groping our way in the dark. The route was entirely covered with the fragments of carriages and artillery. Men and horses, worn out with fatigue, could scarcely drag themselves along, and as soon as the last fell exhausted, the soldiers eagerly divided the carcase among them."

Nov. 6. "The soldiers vainly struggling with the snow and the wind, which rushed upon them with the violence of a whirlwind, could no longer distinguish the road; and falling into the ditches which bordered it, found a grave. How many unfortunate beings on this dreadful day, dying of cold and famine, struggled hard with the agonies of death. Stretched on the road, we could distinguish only the heaps of snow which covered them, and which at almost every step formed little undulations, like so many graves.

"From that day the army lost its courage and its military

attitude. The soldier no longer obeyed his officer-searching for food they spread themselves over the plain, burning and pillaging whatever fell in their way. The horses fell by thousands. The cannon and the waggons which had been abandoned served only to obstruct the way. No sooner had the soldiers separated from the ranks than they were assailed by a population eager to avenge the horrors of which it had been the victims. The cossacs came to the succor of the peasants, and drove back to the great road, already filled with the dying and the dead, those who escaped from the carnage made among them. Tormented with hunger, we saw them run after every horse the moment it fell. They devoured it raw like dogs, and fought among themselves for the mangled limbs."

Nov. 8th, presented a terrible scene in the attempt to cross the Wop, while the Russians were approaching. "In this situation every one yielded to despair-we were forced to aban don a hundred pieces of cannon, and a great number of ammunition and provision waggons, which contained the little that remained of the provisions of Moscow. The cries of those who were crossing the river, the consternation of others who were preparing to descend-the despair of the women, the shrieks of children, and the terror even of the soldiers, rendered the passage a scene so horrible, that the very recollection of it terrifies those who witnessed it."

Nov. 13. "It was horrible to see and to hear the enor mous dogs with shaggy hair, which, driven from the villages we had burned, followed us along our march. Dying with hunger, they uttered one incessant and frightful howl, and often disputed with the soldiers the carcases of the horses which fell in our route. In addition to this the ravens, attracted by the scent of the dead bodies, hovered over us in black and innumerable crowds, and by their cries of mournful presage, struck the stoutest hearts with terror."

"Happily we were but two leagues from Smolensko. But what was our grief when we learned that the ninth corps was gone, and that the provisions were all consumed. A thunderbolt falling at our feet would have confounded us less than did' this news.

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