300 VICTORIES. 



him, for his own personal safety, to 

 enact the same bloody tragedy on the 

 Elster he had practised before on the 

 Beresina, which as effectually closed the 

 second act. And now the curtain drew 

 up for the third and last. 



My friend and I read with joy the 

 repeated accounts of the advance of the 

 allies towards the French metropolis, and 

 joined in the general exultation that the 

 bold achievements of our countrymen 

 under the great Duke, called forth, on their 

 passing the Pyrenees, and slaking their 

 horses' thirst in the pellucid streams of the 

 French territory. The constant excitement 

 that existed in our town only served to 

 add to the inflation which had chiefly 

 buoyed up the fortunes of its inhabi- 

 tants for so many years ; but as every suc- 

 cessive account arrived of the defeat of 

 the enemy, I could plainly see that the col- 

 lapse, which I should be the first to feel, 

 was near at hand. 



