1831.] The Wife of the Polish Patriot. 379 



so feelingly invoked on my behalf, and to the waning power of an unfor- 

 tunate general, you must trust yourself. Farewell." He courteously 

 walked with her to the door of the apartment as he spoke. 



" We must at all costs keep the Poles in good humour/' he said, 

 speaking half apologetically to his regal companion, and perhaps not 

 unwilling to give 4n air of policy to an action which mainly resulted 

 from feelings of humanity and benevolence. Alas ! for human nature, 

 which is only fairly drawn when either predominant selfishness, or 

 alloyed benevolence forms the picture. " And now," added the viceroy, 

 " adieu to your Majesty. I go to see the rations given out to my sol- 

 diers. This is no time to play the prince scarcely the general 

 Eugene, at this moment, is only a soldier/' " Half starved like all his 

 comrades," replied the fiery king. "Now, by my good sword and 

 uniform (and I have none oath more solemn), I swear, that were I in 

 the place of these gallant Frenchmen, dragged all flushed with victory 

 to lose laurel after laurel amid these white wastes, I would take off 

 my cockade, thus, and trample on it." He trampled indignantly as he 

 spoke. " Joachim Murat" said the viceroy, firmly, and with an air of 

 superiority, " there be fitter ears than mine for these ebullitions." As 

 he was quitting the apartment, the good-humoured and unregal monarch, 

 half gaily, half bitterly, called after him " Nay, viceroyal kinsman, 

 dine in palace with me to-day on regal viands a fillet of horseflesh, 

 a-la-Moscow, seasoned with gunpowder, and fricassee cats, are not fare 

 to be run away from." 



It would be tedious to give a detailed account of the sufferings and 

 privations of Aimee through the perilous journey she had undertaken. 

 The Grand French Army or rather its miserable and ghastly phantom 

 was now traversing snow-clogged and dismal forests, in order to 

 attempt the famous, but fatal passage of the Beresina. The imperial 

 order for the destruction of half the baggage- waggons, and the large 

 demand for draught horses and oxen, destined to the higher task of 

 bringing forward artillery, were so many obstructions to the'progress of 

 our young widow. But Eugene's protection still secured her a vehicle ; 

 and the knowledge that they were fast nearing the frontiers of Poland, 

 where she hoped to find friends, and a home for her boy, shed a sickly 

 gleam of hope into a heart where earthly desires and expectations had 

 one by one set in a night of the thickest dejection, yet the meekest 

 resignation. Aimee sat erect in her heavy vehicle, listening to the 

 shouts which hailed the arrival of the unexpected reinforcement of the 

 army of Mareschal Victor. She administered a slight refreshment of 

 black bread to her boy, whose sharp and lengthening features had lost 

 the cherub roundness that formerly excited a mother's pride. The child 

 began to take his untempting food with the eagerness of hunger, which 

 for several weeks had rarely received complete gratification, but, paus- 

 ing for a moment, he looked his mother wistfully in the face, and laying 

 his little emaciated hand on her wan cheek, said, fondly, " How is it 

 that you are never hungry ? I never see you eat. Surely God did not 

 send all the food to me. Try to be hungry, and eat this morsel. See, 

 it is as thick as your hand, and so good, that I am obliged to turn away 

 my face lest I shoulc[ eat it myself/' The mother's tears, which had 

 hitherto been a dried fountain, began to flow, like a released stream, at 

 this childish proof of affection and self-denial. While they were thus 

 engaged, the grand army continued to file in spectral procession along 



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