lexander was taller, and handsomer, and even
more soldierlike than our own emperor, there was a something of
calm dignity and conscious majesty in Napoleon that made him appear
immeasurably the superior. Alexander wore the uniform of the Russian
guard, one of the most splendid it is possible to conceive. The only
thing simple about him was his sword, which was a plain sabre with a
tarnished gilt scabbard, and a very dirty sword-knot; and yet every
moment he used to look down at it and handle it with great apparent
admiration; 'and well might he,' added the soldier--'Napoleon had given
it to him but the day before.'

To listen even to such meagre details as these was to light up again in
my heart the fire that was only smouldering, and that no life of peasant
labour or obscurity could ever extinguish. My companions quickly saw the
interest I took in their narratives, and certainly did their utmost to
feed the passion--now with some sketch of a Spanish marauding party,
as full of adventure as a romance; now with a description of northern
warfare, where artillery thundered on the ice, and men fought behind
intrenchments of deep snow.

From the North Sea to the Adriatic, all Europe was now in arms. Great
armies were marching in every direction--some along the deep valley of
the Danube, others from the rich plains of Poland and Silesia; some were
passing the Alps into Italy, and some again were pouring down for the
Tyrol 'Jochs,' to defend the rocky passes of their native land against
the invader. Patriotism and glory, the spirit of chivalry and conquest,
all were abroad, and his must indeed have been a cold heart which could
find within it no response to the stirring sounds around. To the
intense feeling of shame which I at first felt at my own life of obscure
inactivity, there now succeeded a feverish desire to be somewhere and
do something to dispel this worse than lethargy. I had not resolution
to tell my comrades that I had served--I felt reluctant to speak of
a career so abortive and unsuccessful; and yet I blushed at the
half-pitying expressions they bestowed upon my life of inglorious
adventure.

'You risk life and limb here in these pine forests, and hazard existence
for a bear or a chamois goat,' cried one, 'and half the peril in real
war would perhaps make you a _chef d escadron_ or even a general.'

'Ay,' said another, 'we serve in an army where crowns are military
distinctions, and the epaulette is only the