nquer them by
our _pertinacity_. The attachment of the Russian army, and especially of
the guards, to him, almost approaches to idolatry; and the effect of his
presence on the exertions and conduct of his troops, was not more
beneficial to Europe while the struggle was yet doubtful, than to France
herself after her armies were overthrown, and her "sacred territory"
invaded.

As a specimen of the general feeling in the Russian army at the time
they invaded France, we may mention the substance of a conversation
which an officer of the Russian staff told us he had held with a private
of the Russian guard on the march, soon after the invasion. The soldier
complained of the Emperor's proclamation, desiring them to consider as
enemies only those whom they met in the field. "The French," said he,
"came into our country, bringing hosts of Germans and Poles along with
them;--they plundered our properties, burnt our houses, and murdered our
families;--every Russian was their enemy. We have driven them out of
Russia, we have followed them into Poland, into Germany, and into
France; but wherever we go, we are allowed to find none but friends.
This," he added, "is very well for us guards, who know that pillage is
unworthy of us; but the common soldiers and Cossacks do not understand
it; they remember how their friends and relations have been treated by
the French, and that remembrance _lies at their hearts_."

* * *

We visited with deep interest the projecting part of the heights of
Belleville, immediately overlooking the Fauxbourg St Martin, which the
Emperor Alexander reached, with the king of Prussia, the Prince
Schwartzenburg, and the whole general staff, on the evening of the 30th
of March. It was here that he received the deputation from Marshals
Marmont and Mortier, who had fought all day against a vast superiority
of force, and been fairly overpowered, recommending Paris to the
generosity of the allies. Thirty howitzers were placed on this height,
and a few shells were thrown into the town, one or two of which, we were
assured, reached as far as the Eglise de St Eustace; it is allowed on
all hands that they fell within the Boulevards. The heights of
Montmartre were at the same time stormed by the Silesian army, and
cannon were placed on it likewise,--Paris was then at his mercy. After a
year and a half of arduous contest, it was at length in his power to
take a bloody revenge for the miseries which his subjects had suffe