of their columns became visible
pressing out of the woods. Aide-de-camp after aide-de-camp
came with the tidings of their advance, to which Bony only
replied, _Attendez, attendez un instant_, until he saw his
troops, _fantassins et cavaliers_, return in disorder from
the attack. He then observed hastily to a general beside
him, _Je crois qu'ils sont meles_. The person to whom he
spoke hastily raised the spyglass to his eye; but Bony, whom
the first glance had satisfied of their total discomfiture,
bent his face to the ground, and shook his head twice, his
complexion being then as pale as death. The general then
said something, to which Buonaparte answered, _C'est trop
tard--sauvons nous_. Just at that moment, the allied troops,
cavalry and infantry, appeared in full advance on all hands;
and the Prussians, operating upon the right flank of the
French, were rapidly gaining their rear. Bony, therefore,
was compelled to abandon the high-road, which, besides, was
choked with dead, with baggage, and with cannon; and,
gaining the open country, kept at full gallop, until he
gained, like Johnnie Cope, the van of the flying army. The
marshals followed his example; and it was the most complete
_sauve qui peut_ that can well be imagined. Nevertheless,
the prisoners who were brought into Brussels maintained
their national impudence, and boldly avowed their intention
of sacking the city with every sort of severity. At the same
time they had friends there. {p.054} One man of rank and
wealth went over to Bony during the action, and I saw his
hotel converted into an hospital for wounded soldiers. It
occupied one half of one of the sides of the Place Royale, a
noble square, which your Grace has probably seen. But, in
general, the inhabitants of Brussels were very differently
disposed; and their benevolence to our poor wounded fellows
was unbounded. The difficulty was to prevent them from
killing their guests with kindness, by giving them butcher's
meat and wine during their fever. As I cannot put my letter
into post until we get to Paris, I shall continue it as we
get along.

_12th August, Roye, in Picardy._--I imagine your Grace about
this time to be tolerably well fagged with a hard day on the
moors. If the weather has been as propitious a