thousand
men. Success will render the Russians bold. I will deliver two battles
between the Elbe and the Oder, and in six months I will be again on the
Niemen."

These two battles fought and gained by conscripts, and without cavalry,
had re-established the reputation of the French army. The King of Saxony
had been brought back in triumph to his capital. The headquarters of the
Emperor were at Breslau; one of the corps of the grand army was at the
gates of Berlin, and the enemy driven from Hamburg. Russia was about to
be forced to withdraw into its own boundaries, when the Emperor of
Austria, acting as mediator in the affairs of the two allied sovereigns,
advised them to propose an armistice. They followed this advice; and as
the Emperor had the weakness to consent to their demands, the armistice
was granted and signed on the fourth of June, and his Majesty at once set
out on his return to Dresden. An hour after his departure he said, "If
the allies do not in good faith desire peace, this armistice may become
very fatal to us."

On the evening of the 8th of June, his Majesty reached Gorlitz. On that
night fire broke out in the faubourg where the guard had established its
quarters; and at one o'clock one of the officials of the town came to the
headquarters of the Emperor to give the alarm, saying that all was lost.
The troops extinguished the fire, and an account was rendered the Emperor
of what had occurred. I dressed him in all haste, as he wished to set
out at break of day. "To how much does the loss amount?" demanded the
Emperor. "Sire, to seven or eight thousand francs at least for the cases
of greatest need."--"Let ten thousand be given, and let it be distributed
immediately." The inhabitants were immediately informed of the
generosity of the Emperor; and as he left the village an hour or two
after, he was saluted with unanimous acclamations.

On the morning of the 10th we returned from Dresden. The Emperor's
arrival put an end to most singular rumors which had been circulated
there since the remains of Grand Marshal Duroc had passed through the
city. It was asserted that the coffin contained the body of the Emperor;
that he had been killed in the last battle, and his body mysteriously
concealed in a room of the chateau, through the windows of which lights
could be seen burning all night. When he arrived, some persons perfectly
infatuated with this idea went so far as to repeat what had already been
reported, wi