him, they tore him to pieces,
and quarrelled among themselves for his remains like ravenous dogs.

The greater number, however, preserved sufficient moral strength to
provide for their own safety without injuring others; but this was the
last effort of their virtue. If either leader or comrade fell by their
side or under the wheels of the cannon, in vain did they call for
assistance, in vain did they invoke the names of a common country, a
common religion, and a common cause; they could not even obtain a
passing look. The merciless cold of the climate had passed into their
comrades' hearts: its rigor had contracted their feelings no less than
their features. With the exception of a few of the commanders, all were
absorbed by their sufferings, and terror left no room for compassion.

There were a few, however, who still stood firm, as it were, against
both heaven and earth: these protected and assisted the weakest; but
their number was deplorably small.

Sec. 23. Sufferings of the Grand Army after Napoleon's departure. Arrival
at Wilna.

On the 6th of December, the very day after Napoleon's departure, the sky
exhibited a more dreadful appearance. Icy particles were seen floating
in the air, and the birds fell stiff and frozen to the earth. The
atmosphere was motionless and silent: it seemed as if everything in
nature which possessed life and movement, even the wind itself, had been
seized, chained, and, as it were, congealed by a universal death. Not a
word or a murmur was then heard: there was nothing but the gloomy
silence of despair, and the tears which proclaimed it.

We crept along in the midst of this empire of death like doomed spirits.
The dull and monotonous sound of our steps, the cracking of the frost,
and the feeble groans of the dying, were the only interruptions to this
doleful and universal silence. Anger and imprecations there were none,
nor anything which indicated a remnant of warmth; scarcely was strength
enough left to utter a prayer; and most of the men fell without even
complaining, either from weakness or resignation, or because people
complain only when they look for kindness, and fancy they are pitied.

Such of our soldiers as had hitherto been the most persevering here lost
heart entirely. Sometimes the snow sank beneath their feet, but more
frequently, its glassy surface refusing them support, they slipped at
every step, and tottered along from one fall to another. It seemed as
though t