of wrath poured upon the rivers and fountains of waters. Austerlitz was the first portion of the fourth vial-of which, not the north of Italy alone, but wide Europe was the scene, even as the sun shines over it all.

Not only does the power of scorching men with fire, and their being scorched with great heat, preserve the symmetry of the symbol, as descriptive of the destruction and the misery of which Bonaparte was the instrument; but, as the tale of Austerlitz declares, such might even be said to be the direct effect of his power, as evidenced also in all his subsequent battles. It was the "incessant fire" that caused "the horrible spectacle of ruin." The artillery was the peculiar province of Bonaparte, in which he was trained from his boyhood. Instead of hundreds of men transporting a single cannon a short distance in many days, "flying artillery," as aptly denominated, cannons mounted on wheel carriages, kept pace with the celerity of Bonaparte's march. On his elevation to imperial power, he chose other fields of battle than circumscribed spots on the borders of lakes, or the banks of rivers, or amidst mountain torrents, where, with a few troops, he could outmanœuvre and successively discomfit, in detail, the armies of a mighty empire. For, when that empire and another had felt in one field the might of his power, he followed out the art of war on a higher scale, and chose the plains of Europe to decide its fate, where he could fully bring his favourite science into tremendous practical effect, and plant, to an extent before unparalleled, parks of artillery, where hundreds of cannon were ranged in a spot and while the bayonet is the weapon of the British, Russian, and Austrian soldiers, the active French excelled in the extreme rapidity of their fire; and as Constantinople fell before the fire, and the smoke, and the brimstone which

issued out of the mouth of the artillery and musketry which volumed forth destruction and death around it, so might it well be said of Bonaparte that power was given him to scorch men with fire.

But the power of destroying was given to Napoleon, not for one day only, but for successive years, in such a manner as fully to bear out another resemblance to Attila, that of "the Scourge of God." Many volumes could not describe the miseries which were caused by his wars. But their succession and the chief of his battles may be briefly noted, to shew how excessively and intensely the sun which first burst forth with scorching rays at Austerlitz, still scorched men with fire.

After the battle of Austerlitz, Napoleon created a new order of nobility, conferred principalities, and sought in every thing" to revive the image of Charle"The establishment magne, emperor of the West." of the Confederation of the Rhine rendered Napoleon in effect sovereign of a large part of Germany, and seemed to have so totally revolutionized central Europe, that Francis of Austria declared the imperial constitution at an end. He retained the title of emperor as sovereign of his own hereditary dominions, but 'THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE,' having lasted full one thousand years, was declared to be NO MORE, and of its ancient influence, the representative was to be sought for not at Vienna but at Paris."

The fate of the German empire was decided in one battle, and that of the kingdom of Prussia in another. The successor of Frederick the Great saw unpitied the fall of the empire, and being then without a master or a rival among the German princes, it has been said that he cherished the proud hope that the house of

* Hist. of Napoleon, vol. i. p. 330.

Brandenburg would rise to imperial authority on the ruin of the house of Austria. But after "the battle of the emperors," there was but one sun in Europe, and every satellite in the political horizon, that had previously shone in the once papal kingdoms of Europe, was, with the exception of a bright star on the sea, eclipsed and darkened before it. Prussia, like Germany, was scorched before it in a day, and great heat continued to wither it for years.

Bonaparte, when his time was come and his armies waiting for the word, provoked Prussia to a declaration of war on the 1st October 1806. And he stood ready with a vial of wrath in his hand. The Prussian troops which had broken into Saxony were discomfited before the French. The explosion of the magazines of Naumburg first announced to the king of Prussia that the 66 emperor was in his rear. The Prussians were isolated, and the battle of Jena sealed at once the doom of Prussia. After a severe contest on a single point, "the French centre advanced to a general charge, before which the Prussians were forced to retire. They moved for some space in good order, but Murat now POURED his masses of cavalry on them, storm after storm, with such rapidity and vehemence that their rout became miserable. It ended in the complete breaking up of the army, horse and foot all flying together, in the confusion of panic, upon the road to Weimar. At that point the fugitives met and mingled with their brethren, flying as confusedly as themselves, from Averstadt. In the course of this disastrous day twenty thousand Prussians were killed or taken, three hundred guns, twenty generals, and sixty standards. The loss of superior officers on the Prussian side was so great, that of an army which on the 13th of October mustered not less than 150,000, but a few regiments were able to act in concert for some time after the

14th. The various routed divisions roamed about the country, seeking separately the means of escape; they were in consequence destined to fall an easy prey."* ." Thus, in the course of a few short weeks, was the proud and vigorous fabric of the Prussian monarchy levelled with the ground," and that kingdom, like others, was reduced to become one of the agents of his tyranny or instruments of his power.

The overthrow of Prussia was the campaign of a week, the work of a day. The sun shone to scorch with fire. The emperor Napoleon entered Berlin, issued his decrees, and speedily advanced to meet more stubborn foes. The rashness of Prussia in rushing into the war before the advance of the Russian armies, gave freer scope to the genius and activity of Napoleon to cut off his enemies in separate and successive combats. The Russians, heretofore used to triumph over their republican foes, tried all his strength. He took Warsaw, and roused the enthusiasm of the Poles. But the conflicts were obstinate and terrible. In the battle of Pultusk, 13,000 were killed or wounded. The battle of Preuss Eylau was the longest and by far the severest battle in which Bonaparte had as yet been engaged. The field was covered with 50,000 corpses. At Heilberg "the carnage was fearful." But Napoleon's extraordinary exertions enabled him to take the field again at the head of not less than 280,000 men. In the decisive battle of Friedland, "the Russians sustained numberless charges of foot and horse, and were exposed for six hours to a murderous cannonade. At length Napoleon put himself at the head of the French line, and commanded a general assault of all arms, which was executed with overpowering effect. Having lost full 12,000 men, General Benningsen was at last

Hist. of Napoleon, vol. i. pp. 340, 341. + Ibid. p. 343,

compelled to attempt a retreat, and the French poured after him into the town." The results of the battle of Friedland were as great as could have been expected from any victory. The treaty of Tilsit terminated the war. The king of Prussia agreed to adopt "the continental system," in other words, to be henceforth the vassal of the conqueror. The Grand Duchy of Warsaw was conferred on the submissive elector of Saxony, henceforth a king. The kingdom of Westphalia was created for a portion to Jerome Bonaparte. Joseph Bonaparte was recognised as king of Naples, and Louis of Holland. The sun of Bonaparte increasing in the intensity of its heat, began to approach its zenith.

After the treaty of Tilsit, the authority of the emperor appeared to be consolidated over the whole continent of Europe. The imperial power was finally organized. "His favourite saying during the continuance of his power was, 'I am the State,' and in the exile of St. Helena he constantly talked of himself as having been, from necessity, the Dictator of France. In effect, no despotism within many degrees so complete and rigid was ever before established in a civi lized and Christian country. The whole territory was divided into prefectures-each prefect being appointed by Napoleon-carefully selected for a province with which he had no domestic relations-largely paidand intrusted with such a complete delegation of POWER, that, in Napoleon's own language, each was in his department an empereur à petit pied. Each of these officers had under his entire control inferior local magistrates, holding power from him as he did from the emperor; each had his instructions direct from Paris; each was bound by every motive to serve, to the utmost of his ability, the government from which all things were derived, to be hoped for, or to be dreaded. Wherever the emperor was, in the