zina: he made them describe to him the
position of Borizof. They assured him that at that point the Berezina
was not merely a river but a lake of moving ice; that the bridge was
three hundred fathoms in length; that it had been irreparably destroyed,
and the passage by it rendered completely impracticable.

At that moment arrived a general of engineers, who had just returned
from the Duke of Belluno's corps. Napoleon interrogated him; the general
declared "that he saw no means of escape but through the middle of
Wittgenstein's army." The Emperor replied, "that he must find a
direction in which he could turn his back to all the enemy's generals,
to Kutusoff, to Wittgenstein, to Tchitchakof;" and he pointed with his
finger on the map to the course of the Berezina below Borizof; it was
there he wished to cross the river. But the general objected to him the
presence of Tchitchakof on the right bank; the Emperor then pointed to
another passage below the first, and then to a third, still nearer to
the Dnieper. Recollecting, however, that he was then approaching the
country of the Cossacks, he stopped short, and exclaimed, "Oh yes!
Pultawa! that is like Charles XII.!"

In fact, every disaster which Napoleon could anticipate had occurred;
the melancholy conformity, therefore, of his situation with that of the
Swedish conqueror, threw his mind into such a state of agitation, that
his health became still more seriously affected than it had been at
Malo-Yaroslawetz. Among the expressions he made use of, loud enough to
be overheard, was this: "See what happens when we heap faults on
faults!"

Nevertheless, these first movements were the only ones that had escaped
him, and the valet-de-chambre who assisted him, was the only person that
witnessed his agitation. Duroc, Daru, and Berthier have all said, that
they knew nothing of it, that they saw him unshaken; this was very true,
humanly speaking, as he retained sufficient command over himself to
avoid betraying his anxiety, and as the strength of man most frequently
consists in concealing his weakness.

A remarkable conversation, which was overheard the same night, will show
better than any thing else, how critical was his position, and how well
he bore it. It was getting late; Napoleon had gone to bed. Duroc and
Daru, who remained in his chamber, fancying that he was asleep, were
giving way, in whispers, to the most gloomy conjectures; he overheard
them, however, and the word "pr