ated his men entirely--thus taking on himself the
responsibility of disobeying the letter of his sovereign's commands, and
anticipating that general burst of national hatred which, as all men
perceived, could not much longer be deferred.

To the great honour, however, of the Prussian people, the wearied relics
of Napoleon's grand army were received in the country which, in the days
of their prosperity, they had so wantonly insulted, if not with
friendship, at least, with compassion. They took up their quarters, and
remained for a time unmolested, in and near Konigsberg.

Thus ended the invasion of Russia. There had been slain in battle, on
the side of Napoleon, 125,000 men. Fatigue, hunger, and cold, had caused
the death of 132,000! and the Russians had taken of prisoners
193,000--including forty-eight generals and 3000 regimental officers.
The total loss was, therefore, 450,000 men. The eagles and standards
left in the enemy's hands were seventy-five in number, and the pieces of
cannon nearly one thousand.

Exclusive of the Austrian and Prussian auxiliaries, there remained of
all the enormous host which Napoleon set in motion in August about
40,000 men; and of these not 10,000 were of the French nation.

[Footnote 62: He was rescued in Poland by a party of Cossacks.]

CHAPTER XXXII

Conspiracy of Mallet--Napoleon's reception in Paris--his Military
Preparations--Prussia declares War--Austria negotiates with
Napoleon--Bernadette appears in Germany--The Russians advance into
Silesia--Napoleon heads his Army in Saxony--Battle of
Lutzen--Battle of Bautzen.

Some allusion has already been made to the news of a political
disturbance in Paris, which reached Napoleon during his retreat from
Moscow, and quickened his final abandonment of the army. The occurrence
in question was the daring conspiracy headed by General Mallet. This
officer, one of the ancient noblesse, had been placed in confinement in
1808, in consequence of his connection with a society called the
_Philadelphes_, which seems to have sprung up within the French army, at
the time when Napoleon seized the supreme power, and which had for its
immediate object his deposition--while some of the members contemplated
the restoration of a republican government, and others, of whom Mallet
was one, the recall of the royal family of Bourbon. The people of Paris
had for some weeks received no official intelligence from the grand
army,