ly Roman Empire of the German Nation," and the long defunct empire was
finally buried.

The shadow which remained of the empire of Charlemagne had vanished
before the rise of a greater and more vital thing, the empire of France,
brought into existence by the genius of Napoleon Bonaparte, the
successor of Charles the Great as a mighty conqueror. For a few years it
seemed as if the original empire might be restored. The power of
Napoleon, indeed, extended farther than that of his great predecessor,
all Europe west of Russia becoming virtually his. Some of the kings were
replaced by monarchs of his creation. Others were left upon their
thrones, but with their power shorn, their dignity being largely one of
vassalage to France. Not content with an empire that stretched beyond
the limits of that of Charlemagne or of the Roman Empire of the West,
Napoleon ambitiously sought to subdue all Europe to his imperial will,
and marched into Russia with nearly all the remaining nations of Europe
as his forced allies.

His career as a conqueror ended in the snows of Muscovy and amid the
flames of Moscow. The shattered fragment of the grand army of conquest
that came back from that terrible expedition found crushed and dismayed
Germany rising into hostile vitality in its rear. Russia pursued its
vanquished invader, Prussia rose against him, Austria joined his foes,
and at length, in October, 1813, united Germany was marshalled in arms
against its mighty enemy before the city of Leipsic, the scene of the
great battles of the Thirty Years' War, nearly two centuries before.

Here was fought one of the fiercest and most decisive struggles of that
quarter century of conflict. It was a fight for life, a battle to decide
the question of who should be lord of Europe. Napoleon had been brought
to bay. Despising to the last his foes, he had weakened his army by
leaving strong garrisons in the German cities, which he hoped to
reoccupy after he had beaten the German armies. On the 16th of October
the great contest began. It was fought fiercely throughout the day, with
successive waves of victory and defeat, the advantage at the end resting
with the allies through sheer force of numbers. The 17th was a day of
rest and negotiation, Napoleon vainly seeking to induce the Emperor of
Austria to withdraw from the alliance. While this was going on large
bodies of Swedes, Russians, and Austrians were marching to join the
German ranks, and the battle of th