Russians ascended Mount Prägel, and chasing before them the detachment of Molitor, great part of whom were made prisoners near the lake Klönthal, threw back that general upon the banks of the Linth. It was now the turn of the French general to feel alarm; but, calm in the midst of dangers which would have overturned the resolution of an ordinary commander, he made the most resolute defence, disputing every inch of ground, and ultimately took post at Näfels, whence Bragathion tried in vain to dislodge him; towards evening, having received reinforcements, · Molitor sallied forth and drove his assailants back to Glarus. On the same day Masséna, with a large force, attacked the rearguard of the Russians, which was winding, encumbered with wounded, along the Muotta-Thal; but Rosenberg, halting, withstood the attack with such firmness, that the Republicans were compelled to give way and were forced back upon Schwytz.

Unable to force the passage at Näfels, the Russian general resolved to retreat over the mountains into the Grisons by Engi, Matt, and the valley of Sernf. To effect this in presence of a superior enemy pressing on his footsteps, both from the side of Näfels and the Klönthal, was an enterprise of the utmost hazard, as the path over the arid summits of the Alps of Glarus was even more rugged than that through the Schächen Thal. Nothing could exceed the difficulties which presented themselves. On the morning on which the army set out from Glarus a heavy fall of snow augmented the natural difficulties of the passage. Slowly the wearied column wound its painful way amongst inhospitable mountains in single file, without either stores to sustain its strength or covering to shelter it from the weather. The snow, which, in the upper parts of the mountains, was two feet deep, rendered the ascent so fatiguing, that the strongest men could with difficulty advance a few miles in a day. Great numbers perished of cold, or sunk down precipices, or into crevices from which they were unable to extricate themselves, and where they were soon choked by the drifting of the snow.

On the following day, the head of the column, at length reached, amidst colossal rocks, the summit of the ridge; but it

was not the smiling plains of Italy which there met their view, but a sea of mountains, wrapped in the snowy mantle which seemed the winding-sheet of the army. The path, long hardly visible, now totally disappeared; the snow, hardened by the sharp freezing wind, was so slippery that it became impossible for the men to keep their footing; whole companies slipped together into the abysses below, and numbers were crushed by the beasts of burden rolling down upon them from the upper parts of the ascent, or the masses of snow which became loosened by the incessant march of the army, and fell down upon those beneath. All the day was passed in struggling with these difficulties, and with the utmost exertions the advanced guard reached the village of Panix, in the Grisons, at night, where headquarters were established. The whole remainder of the columns slept upon the snow without either fire or covering. But nothing could overcome the unconquerable spirit of the Russians: they struggled on, and at length on the 10th reached Ilantz, in the valley of the Rhine, where they obtained some rest after the unparalleled difficulties which they had experienced.

Suwarroff did not long survive his final ill-success against the arms of the Republicans. Accustomed to a long train of victory, undefeated during his previous career in a single battle, he became the prey of unbounded vexation at seeing his deserved reputation for invincibility reft from him by the absurd combinations or selfish jealousy of the Aulic council. Shortly after he arrived in St Petersburg he fell under the displeasure of the Emperor Paul, whose head, never very strong, was now exhibiting unequivocal proofs of aberration. His great ground of complaint against Suwarroff was not the ill-success of his later operations, but his not having informed him of the astute and selfish policy of the Cabinet of Vienna in time to have prevented the disasters from which the Muscovite arms had suffered so severely; as if it was the duty of a general to sow discord between his master and the Allied sovereigns with whom he was acting. Grief for this estrangement so preyed on the mind of the illustrious general, that his complaint

resisted all the efforts of art, and he was soon on the verge of death. He awaited its approach with calm composure, but sent a message to the Emperor to say he had a last favour to request at his hands.

The Emperor declined to visit him, but sent his grandsons, Alexander (afterwards emperor) and Constantine, to console the last moments of the dying hero, accompanied by an assurance that his last request should be granted. When the message was delivered, he spoke long and warmly on the past lustre and present decline of his country's glory, and broke out in passionate exclamation on his eternal attachment to the great Catherine. “I was only a soldier,” said he, with his last breath, "and she felt the inclination I had to serve her. I owe her more than life; she has given me the means of making it illustrious. Tell her son that I receive with gratitude his Imperial word. Here is the portrait of Catherine; it has never since I received it left my bosom: the favour I ask is, that it should be buried with me in my tomb, and remain for ever attached to my heart." With these words he expired. His last favour was granted; he was laid in the tomb with the portrait of Catherine placed on his bosom.

Such is the history, as told by Alison, of the eventful period which is brought before our eyes, with startling reality, by the tableaux of La Guerre. The principal characters, Suwarroff, Korsakoff, Masséna, Lecourbe, are all historical personages; those that link together the different tableaux, like a thread connecting them, are alone fictitious. These dramatis personæ, which between them are the framework for the plot, are Hattouine, an old Russian canteen woman, who has followed Suwarroff in all his campaigns; Ivanowna, her adopted daughter; Ivanowitche, a young Russian officer in love with Ivanowna; and Ogiski, a Polish spy, who appears disguised as a news-vendor at Alexandria, then as a Russian priest on the St Gothard, and as a Russian soldier at the camp between Altdorf and Flüelen.

LA GUERRE.

SOUWOROW L'INVINCIBLE.

PREMIER TABLEAU.

LE DÉPART DE SOUWOROW.

La grande place d'Alexandrie. A gauche, la boutique du fripier 5 Zampieri, encombrée de manteaux, de chaussures, de vêtements. A droite, un café. Au fond, la cathédrale Saint-Laurent. Les fenêtres, les balcons autour de la place regorgent de monde. La foule encombre les marches et les porches de la cathédrale, où se chante le Te Deum. L'orgue, par instants, se fait entendre au- 10 dessus des voix innombrables. Les banderoles, les drapeaux, les bannières aux couleurs de la Russie, flottent partout. Un régiment de cosaques traverse la place; le fripier Zampieri et sa fille Marietta déploient des vêtements à l'étalage.

SCÈNE I.

ZAMPIERI, MARIETTA, SOLDATS RUSSES, HOMMES ET FEMMES DU PEUPLE, puis JONAS.

15

VOIX NOMBREUSES. Vivent les Russes! Vivent les libérateurs de l'Italie! Vivent les soldats de Souworow! [Grandes acclamations qui se prolongent dans les rues 20 voisines. JONAS paraît à droite.]

ZAMPIERI, apercevant un cosaque qui cherche à décrocher une paire de bottes avec sa lance. Au voleur! au voleur! [Il sort en courant.]

LE COSAQUE. Hourra!

LA GU.

[Il pique des deux et disparaît à gauche.]

2

25

5

JONAS, s'approchant de l'échoppe. Hé! maître Zampieri, encore un peu...

[Il montre la paire de bottes en souriant. ZAMPIERI se retourne.]

ZAM. C'est vous, Jonas ! (S'adressant à sa fille.) Marietta, rentre bien vite les marchandises de l'étalage... Dépêche-toi.

MARIETTA. Oui, mon père.

ZAM., s'approchant de JONAS. Nos bons amis les IO Cosaques ont des lances si longues, et des baïonnettes si pointues, qu'elles accrochent toujours quelque chose en passant.

15

JONAS, riant de bon cœur. Ne dites pas à des Italiens qu'ils mentent...Ne dites pas à des Russes qu'ils volent !... ZAM. Et qu'est-ce qu'il ne faut pas vous dire, à vous? JONAS. Dites ce que vous voudrez, je ne vous croirai

pas.

ZAM., souriant. Jonas, vous êtes un honnête homme. JONAS, regardant à droite et à gauche d'un air comique. 20 Je n'ai pas de témoins, Zampieri, vous l'auriez payé cher. [Tous deux rient et se serrent la main.] ZAM., montrant les troupes qui défilent. Eh bien! ils partent...Ils quittent décidément l'Italie.

JONAS. Oui, Souworow ne pouvait plus s'entendre avec 25 les généraux autrichiens, ça menaçait de prendre une mauvaise tournure; il va rejoindre le corps d'armée russe qui est en Suisse.

30

ZAM. Ma foi, Jonas, je ne suis pas fâché de les voir partir. Ces Russes sont les plus grands voleurs de la terre. JONAS, avec ironie. A quoi pensez-vous, maître Zampieri! Parler ainsi des sauveurs de la foi, des restaurateurs de l'ordre, des vainqueurs de Cassano, de la Trebia, de Novi, des libérateurs de l'Italie...

ZAM., s'emportant. Eh! tous ces libérateurs ne pensent 35 qu'à nous dépouiller!...

JONAS, avec vivacité.

entendre. (Il indique du

Prenez garde...on pourrait vous regard des soldats de police, qui font circuler la foule. ZAMPIERI se calme subitement. JONAS l'attire sur le devant de la scène.) Je viens vous proposer une affaire, 40 Zampieri.