"Thus Smolensko, which we had thought would have terminated our misfortunes, cruelly deceived our dearest hopes, and became the witness of our greatest disgrace and our most profound despair. The soldiers, who could not find shelter, encamped in the middle of the street, and some hours after were found dead around the fires they had kindled."

Nov. 14.

"The Emperor received every day, disastrous news of his armies.

Nov. 15.

"Marching from Smolensko, a spectacle the most horrible was presented to our view. From that point till we arrived at a distance of about three leagues, the road was entirely covered with cannon and ammunition waggonshorses in the agonies of death-sometimes whole teams, sinking under their labors, fell together-We saw soldiers stretched by dozens around the green branches which they had vainly attempted to kindle, and so numerous were their bodies, that they would have obstructed the road, had not the soldiers been often employed in throwing them into the ditches and ruts.' Nov. 16. "Many distinguished officers perished on that bloody day. The field of battle was covered with the dead and the dying."

"

"The Russians have divided our retreat into three principal epochs-the first ended at the battle of Krasnoe, to which we have now arrived. They had already taken 40,000 men, 27 generals, 500 pieces of cannon, 31 standards, and beside our own immense baggage, all the plunder of Moscow that we had not destroyed. If to all these disasters we add 40,000 more dead of fatigue or famine, or killed in the different battles, we shall find that our army was reduced to 30,000."

After this they had a reinforcement of many thousands who had not been to Moscow. "The reinforcements, says the historian, which these troops brought us was very acceptable; yet we almost doubted whether the junction of so many men in the midst of a vast desart, might not increase our misfortunes."

THE HORRIBLE SCENE AT BERESINA,

We pass over many affecting scenes, and come to what took place at Beresina. Two bridges had been constructed, "one for the carriages and the other for the foot soldiers." About 8 o'clock (Nov. 28,) the bridge for the carriages and the cavalry broke down; the baggage and artillery then advanced towards the other bridge and attempted to force a passage.

"Now began a frightful contention between the foot soldiers and the horsemen. Many perished by the hands of their comrades, but a greater number were suffocated at the head of the bridge; and the dead bodies of men and horses so choaked every avenue, that it was necessary to climb over mountains of carcases to arrive at the river. Some who were buried in these horrible heaps still breathed, and struggling with the agonies of death, caught hold of those who mounted over them; but these kicked them with viclence to disengage themselves, and without remorse trod them under foot."

"At length the Russians advanced in a mass. At the sight of the enemy, the artillery, the baggage waggons, the cavalry and the foot soldiers, all pressed on, contending which should pass first. The strongest threw into the river those who were weaker, and hindered their passage, or unfeelingly trampled under foot all the sick they found in their way. Many hundreds were crushed to death by the wheels of the cannon. Thousands and thousands of victims, deprived of all hope, threw themselves headlong into the Beresina, and were lost in the waves."

"The division of Girard made its way by force of arms, and climbing over the mountains of dead bodies, gained the other side. The Russians would soon have followed them, if they had not hastened to burn the bridge."

"Then the unhappy beings on the other side of the Beresina abandoned themselves to absolute despair. Their destruction. was now inevitable; and amidst all their former disasters, never were they exposed to, nor can imagination conceive, horrors equal to those which encompassed them during that frightful night. The elements let loose, seemed to conspire to affict

universal nature, and to chastise the ambition and the crimes of man. Lamentable cries and groans alone marked the place of these miserable victims."

"More than 20,000 sick and wounded fell into the hands of the enemy. Two hundred pieces of cannon were abandoned. All the baggage of the two corps which had joined us, was equally the prey of the conquerors."

Dec. 4. 66 Napoleon, terrified by so many disasters, and still more so by the fear of his losing his authority in France, conceived the idea of abandoning these miserable remains of his army. Tortured by that just terror which always pursues the despot, he imagined that his allies were eager to dissolve the compact which had placed them under his iron yoke. The king of Naples took the command of the army." At Wilna the soldiers were informed of Napoleon's departure. "What, said they among themselves, is it thus he abandons those of whom he styles himself the father?-He who lavished our blood, is he afraid to die with us?"

"The road which we followed presented at every step brave officers covered with rags, supported by branches of pine, their hair and beards stiffened with ice. These warriors who, a short time before, were the terror of our enemies, and the conquerors of two thirds of Europe, having now lost their fine appearance, crawled slowly along, and could scarcely obtain a look from the soldiers whom they had formerly commandedall who had not strength to march were abandoned. Whenever a soldier, overcome with fatigue, chanced to fall, his next neighbor rushed eagerly upon him, and before he was dead, robbed him of all he possessed, and even of his clothes. ery moment we heard some of these unhappy men crying out Evfor assistance. I conjure you, by every thing which is dear to you, do not abandon me to the enemy? in the name of humanity, grant the little assistance I ask; help me to rise! those who passed, far from being moved by this touching But prayer, regarded him as already dead, and immediately began to strip him. We then heard him crying out, O help! help! They murder me they murder me! Why do you trample up

on me? why do you snatch from me my money and my bread, and take from me even my clothes! If some generous officer did not arrive in time to deliver them, many of these unfortunate beings would be assassinated by their comrades."

"The route was covered with soldiers, who no longer retained the human form, and whom the enemy disdained to make prisoners. Some had lost their hearing, others their speech, and many, by excessive cold and hunger, were reduced to a state of frantic stupidity, in which they roasted the dead bodies of their comrades for feod, or even gnawed their own hands and arms! Some were so weak, that, unable to lift a piece of wood, or roll a stone towards the fires which they had kindled, they sat down on the dead bodies of their comrades, and with a haggard countenance steadfastly gazed upon the burning coals. No sooner was the fire extinguished than these living spectres, unable to rise, fell by the side of those on whom they had sat. We saw many who were absolutely insane. To warm their frozen feet, they plunged them naked into the middle of the fire. Some with a convulsive laugh, threw themselves into the flames and perished in the most horrible convulsions, and uttering the most piercing cries; while others, equally insane, immediately followed them, and experienced the same fate."

Dec. 11. "We were informed by those who escaped from Wilna that the Russians had entered at day break. A crowd of generals, colonels and officers, and more than 20,000 soldiers, who were detained by weakness, fell into their hands."

Dec. 12. "Exhausted by long and harassing marches, and dying with fatigue, we arrived at Kowno; where the wrecks of the different corps were reunited. They encamped as usual in the streets, and as we knew that our deplorable situation no longer permitted us to preserve any discipline, we gave up to pillage the magazines which were amply stored. Immediately clothes, corn and rum were every where seen in abundance. Our quarters were filled with broken casks, and the liquor which was spilled formed a little sea in the middle of the public square. The soldiers drank to excess, and more

than 2000 of them, completely intoxicated, slept upon the snow. Benumbed with cold, they all perished."

"On the morning of the 13th of December, out of four hundred thousand warriors, who had crossed the Niemen at the opening of the campaign, scarcely 20,000 men repassed it, of whom at least two thirds had not seen the Kremlin. Arrived at the opposite bank, like ghosts returned from the infernal regions, we fearfully looked behind us, and beheld with horror the savage countries where we had suffered so much."

Labaume belonged to the corps commanded by Beauharnois, the Viceroy of Italy, and he says, "After every research we succeeded in collecting about eight hundred wounded, the miserable remains of 48,000 warriors, all of whom had marched from Italy to Russia."

"Such were the dreadful calamities which annihilated a powerful army, that had rashly undertaken the proudest and most useless of all expeditions. If we look into the annals of antiquity we shall find, that never since the days of Cambyses, did so numerous an army experience such dreadful reverses. Thus were the boastful predictions of Napoleon at the beginning of the campaign literally fulfilled, but with this difference, that not Russia, but himself, hurried away by a fatality, had accomplished his destiny."

BRIEF REMARKS.

In the Russian campaign we have a view of the effects of war on a large scale. It was not a war of "small states in close neighborhood," which Lord Kames censured as "brutal and bloody;" but it was "a war for glory" between two large empires, remote from each other:-Such a war as his lordship styled "the school of every manly virtue," in which "barbarity gives place to magnanimity, and soldiers are converted from brutes into heroes."

Let Christians then reflect on the scenes which have been exhibited, and ask themselves, whether they wish their children to be educated in such a “school;" whether such a school is