e origin of this counterfeit money, Napoleon
contemplated it with extreme repugnance; it is even unknown whether he
resolved on making any use of it; at least, it is certain that during
the period of our retreat, and when we abandoned Wilna, the greater part
of these bills were found there untouched, and burnt by his orders.

CHAP. II.

Prince Poniatowski, however, to whom this expedition appeared to hold
out the prospect of a throne, generously united his exertions with those
of the emperor's ministers in the attempt to demonstrate its danger.
Love of country was in this Polish prince a great and noble passion; his
life and death have proved it; but it never infatuated him. He depicted
Lithuania as an impracticable desert; its nobility as already become
half Russian; the character of its inhabitants as cold and backward:
but the impatient emperor interrupted him; he required information for
the sake of conducting the enterprise, and not to be deterred from it.

It is true that the greater part of these objections were but a feeble
repetition of all those which, for a long time past, had presented
themselves to his own mind. People were not aware of the extent to which
he had appreciated the danger; of his multiplied exertions, from the
30th of December 1810, to ascertain the nature of the territory which,
sooner or later, was destined to become the theatre of a decisive war;
how many emissaries he had despatched for the purpose of survey; the
multitude of memorials which he caused to be prepared for him respecting
the roads to Petersburgh and Moscow; respecting the dispositions of the
inhabitants, especially of the mercantile class; and, finally, the
resources of every kind which the country was enabled to supply. If he
persevered, it was because, far from deceiving himself as to the extent
of his force, he did not share in that confidence which, perhaps,
precluded others from perceiving of how much consequence the humiliation
of Russia was to the future existence of the great French empire.

In this spirit, he once more addressed himself to three[8] of his great
officers, whose well-known services and attachment authorized a tone of
frankness. All three, in the capacity of ministers, envoys, and
ambassadors, had become acquainted with Russia at different epochs. He
exerted himself to convince them of the utility, justice, and necessity
of this war; but one[9] of them, in particular, often interrupted him
wi