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MONSIEUR GOULDEN. 
 
NATIONAL NOVELS 
 
 WATERLOO 
 
 A SEQUEL TO 
 
 The Conscript of 1813 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF 
 
 ERCKMANN-CHATRIAN 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 NEW YORK 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
 1895 
 
Copyright, 1869, by 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER & CO. 
 
 Copyright, 1889, by 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
 TROWS 
 
 PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY, 
 
 NEW YORK. 
 
INTKODUCTOEY NOTE, 
 
 Often as the campaign of Waterloo has been 
 described by historians and frequently as it has 
 been celebrated in fiction it has rarely been nar- 
 rated from the standpoint of a private soldier 
 participating in it and telling only what he saw. 
 That this limitation, however, does not exclude 
 events of the greatest importance and incidents of 
 the most intensely dramatic interest is abundantly 
 proved by the narrative of the Conscript who 
 makes another campaign in this volume and de- 
 scribes it with his customary painstaking fulness 
 and fidelity. But what renders "Waterloo" still 
 more interesting is the picture it presents of the 
 state of affairs after the first Bourbon restoration, 
 and its description of how gradually but surely the 
 way was prepared by the stupidity of the new 
 regime for that return to power of Napoleon whicb 
 seems so dramatically sudden and unexpected to 
 a superficial view of the events of the time. In 
 this respect "Waterloo" deserves to rank very 
 high as a chapter of familiar history, or at least 
 of historical commentary. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 LYRASIS members and Sloan Foundation 
 
 http://archive.org/details/waterloosequelto1895erck 
 
WATERLOO: 
 
 A SEQUEL TO THE CONSCRIPT OF 1813 
 
 I. 
 
 The joy of the people on the return of Louis 
 XYIII., in 1814, was unbounded. It was in the 
 spring, and the hedges, gardens, and orchards were 
 in full bloom. The people had for years suffered so 
 much misery, and had so many times feared being 
 carried off by the conscription never to return, they 
 were so weary of battles, of the captured cannon, of 
 all the glory and the Te Deums, that they wished 
 for nothing but to live in peace and quiet and to rear 
 their families by honest labor. 
 
 Indeed, everybody was content except the old sol- 
 diers and the fencing-masters. 
 
 I well remember how, when on the 3d of May the 
 order came to raise the white flag on the church, the 
 whole town trembled for fear of the soldiers of the 
 garrison, and Nicholas Passauf, the slater, demand- 
 
 i* 
 
10 WATERLOO. 
 
 ed six louis for the bold feat. He was plainly to be 
 seen from every street with the white silk flag with 
 its "fleur-de-lis," and the soldiers were shooting at 
 him from every window of the two barracks, but 
 Passauf raised his flag in spite of them and came 
 down and hid himself in the barn of the " Trois Mai- 
 sons," while the marines were searching the town for 
 him to kill him. 
 
 That was their feeling, but the laborers and the 
 peasants and the trades-people with one voice hailed 
 the return of peace and cried, " Down with the con- 
 scription and the right of union." Everybody was 
 tired of livinsr like a bird on branch and of risking 
 their lives for matters which did not concern them. 
 
 In the midst of all this joy nobody was so happy 
 as I ; the others had not had the good luck to escape 
 unharmed from the terrible battles of Weissenfels and 
 Lutzen and Leipzig, and from the horrible typhus. 
 I had made the acquaintance of glory and that gave 
 me a still greater love for peace and horror of con- 
 scription. 
 
 I had come back to Father Goulden's, and I shall 
 never in my life forget his hearty welcome, or his 
 exclamation as he took me in his arms : " It is Joseph ! 
 Ah ! my dear child, I thought you were lost !" and 
 we mingled our tears and our embraces together. And 
 
WA1ERL00. 11 
 
 then we lived together again like two friends. He 
 would make me go over our battles again and again, 
 and laughingly call me " the old soldier." Then he 
 would tell me of the siege of Pfalzbourg, how the ene- 
 my arrived before the town in January, and how the 
 old republicans with a few hundred gunners were sent 
 to mount our cannon on the ramparts, how they were 
 obliged to eat horseflesh on account of the famine, 
 and to break up the iron utensils of the citizens to 
 make case-shot and canister. 
 
 Father Goulden, in spite of his threescore years, 
 had aimed the pieces on the Magazine bastion on the 
 Bichelberg side, and I often imagined I could see him 
 with his black silk cap and spectacles on, in the act 
 ot aiming a twenty-four pounder. Then this would 
 make us both laugh and helped to pass away the 
 time. 
 
 We had resumed all onr old habits. I laid the 
 table and made the soup. I was occupying my little 
 chamber again and dreamed of Catherine day and 
 night. But now, instead of being afraid of the con- 
 scription as I was in 1813, 1 had something else to 
 ^rouble me. Man is never quite happy, some petty 
 misery or other assails him. How often do we see 
 this in life ? My peace was disturbed by this. 
 
 You know I was to marry Catherine ; we were 
 
12 WATERLOO. 
 
 agreed, and Aunt Gredel desired nothing better 
 Unhappily, however, the conscripts ;f 1815 were dis- 
 banded, while those of 1813 still remained soldiers. 
 It was no longer so dangerous to be a soldier as it was 
 under the Empire, and many of these had returned 
 to their homes and were living quietly, but that did 
 not prevent the necessity of my having a permit in 
 order to be married. Mr. Jour dan, the new mayor, 
 would never allow me to register without this per- 
 mission, and this made me anxious. 
 
 Father Goulden, as soon as the city gates were 
 opened, had written to the minister of war, Dupont, 
 that I was at Pfalzbourg and still unwell, that I had 
 limped from my birth, and that I had in spite of this 
 been pressed into the service, that I was a poor sol- 
 dier, but that I could make a good father of a family, 
 that it would be a real crime to prevent me from 
 marrying, that I was ill-formed and weak and should 
 be obliged to go into the hospital, etc. 
 
 It was a beautiful letter, and it told the truth too. 
 The very idea of going away again made me ill. So 
 we waited from day to day — Aunt Gredel, Father 
 Goulden, Catherine, and I, for the answer from the 
 ministei. 
 
 I can not describe the impatience I felt when the 
 postman Brainstem, the son of the bell-ringer, came 
 
WATERLOO. 13 
 
 into the street. I could hear him half a mile away, 
 and then I could not go on with my work, but must 
 lean out of the window and watch him as he went 
 from house to house. When he would stay a little too 
 long, I would say to myself, " What can he have to 
 talk about so long ? why don't he leave his letters 
 and come away ? he is a regular tattler, that Brain- 
 stein !" I was ready to pounce upon him. Sometimes 
 I ran down to meet him, and would ask, " Have you 
 nothing for me." " No, Mr. Joseph," he would reply 
 as he looked over his letters. Then I would go sadly 
 back, and Father Goulden, who had been looking on, 
 would say ; 
 
 " Have a little patience, child ! have patience, it 
 will come. It is not war time now." 
 
 " But he has had time to answer a dozen times, 
 Mr. Goulden." 
 
 " Do you think he has nobody's affairs to attend 
 to but yours ? He receives hundreds of such letters 
 every day — and each one receives his ans^ er in his 
 turn. And then every thing is in confusion from top 
 to bottom. Come, come ! we are not alone in the 
 world — many other brave fellows are waiting for their 
 permits to be married." 
 
 I knew he was right, but I said to myself, " If 
 that minister only knew how happy he would make 
 
14: WATERLOO. 
 
 us by just writing ten words, I am sure he would do 
 it at once. How we would bless him, Catherine 
 and I, Aunt Gredel and all of us." But wait we 
 must. 
 
 Of course I had resumed my old habit of going to 
 Quatre Vents on Sundays. On these mornings I was 
 always awake early — I do not know what roused 
 me. At first I thought I was a soldier again ; this 
 made me shiver. Then I would open my eyes, look 
 at the ceiling, and think, " Why you are at home 
 with Father Goulden, at Pfalzbourg, in your own lit- 
 tle room. To-day is Sunday, and you are going to see 
 Catherine." By this time I was wide awake, and 
 could see Catherine with her blooming cheeks and 
 blue eyes. I wanted to get up at once and dress 
 myself and set off. But the clocks had just struck 
 four, and the city gates were still shut. I was 
 obliged to wait, and this annoyed me very much. 
 In order to keep patience I began to recall our court- 
 ship, remembering the first days, how we feared the 
 conscription and the drawing of the unlucky num 
 ber, with its " fit for service ; " the old guard Werner, 
 at the Mayor's, the leave-taking, the journey to 
 Mayence, and the broad Capougnerstrasse where the 
 good woman gave me a foot-bath, Frankfort and 
 Evfurth farther on, where I received my first letter 
 
WATERLOO. 15 
 
 two days before the battle, the Russians, the Prus 
 sians — every thing in fact — and then I would weep, 
 but the thought of Catherine was always uppermost. 
 
 When the clock struck five I jumped from my bed, 
 washed and shaved and dressed myself, then Father 
 Goulden, still behind his big curtains, would put out 
 his nose and say : 
 
 " I hear you ! I hear you ! You have been rolling 
 and tumbling for the last half hour. Ha ! ha ! it is 
 Sunday to-day." 
 
 He would laugh at his own wit, and I laughed with 
 him, and would then bid him good morning and be 
 down the stairs at a bound. 
 
 Very few people were stirring, but Sepel the 
 butcher would always call out : " Come here, Joseph, 
 I have something to tell you." But I only just 
 turned my head, and ten minutes after was on the 
 high road to Quatre Yents, outside the city walls. 
 Oh ! how fine the weather was that beautiful year ! 
 I Tow green and flourishing every thing looked, and 
 how busy the people were, trying to make up for lost 
 time, planting and watering their cabbages and tur- 
 nips, and digging over the ground trodden down by 
 the cavalry ; how confident everybody was too of the 
 goodness of God, who, they hoped, would send the 
 sun and the rain which they so much needed. All 
 
1G WATERLOO. 
 
 along the road, in the little gardens, women and old 
 men, everybody, were at work, digging, planting, and 
 watering. 
 
 "Work away, Father Thiebeau, and you too, 
 Mother Furst. Courage !" cried I. 
 
 " Yes, yes, Mr. Joseph, there is need enough for 
 that ; this blockade has put every thing back, there 
 is no time to lose." 
 
 The roads were filled with carts and wagons, laden 
 with brick and lumber and materials for repairing 
 the houses and roofs which had been destroyed by 
 the howitzers. How the whips cracked and the 
 hammers rang in all the country round ! On every 
 side carpenters and masons were seen busily at work 
 on the summer houses. Father Ulrich and his three 
 boys were already on the roof of the " Flower Bas- 
 ket," which had been broken to pieces by the balls, 
 strengthening the new timbers, whistling and ham- 
 mering in concert. What a busy time it was, in- 
 deed, when peace returned ! They wanted no more 
 war then. They knew the worth of tranquillity, and 
 only asked to repair their losses as far as possible 
 They knew that a stroke of a saw or a plane wa 
 of more value than a cannon-shot, and how many 
 tears and how much fatigue it would cost to rebuild 
 even in ten years, that which the bombs had de 
 
WATERLOO. 17 
 
 stroyed in ten minutes. Oh ! how happy I was as 1 
 went along. No more marches and counter-marches ; 
 I did not need the countersign from Sergeant Pinto 
 where I was going ! And how sweetly the lark sang 
 as it soared tremblingly upward, and the quails 
 whistled and linnets twittered. The sweet freshness 
 of the morning, the fragrant eglantine in the hedges, 
 urged me on till I caught sight of the gable of the old 
 roof of Quatre Yents, and the little chimney with its 
 wreath of smoke. " 5 Tis Catherine who made the 
 fire," I thought, " and she is preparing our coffee." 
 Then I would moderate my steps in order to get my 
 breath a little, while I scanned the little windows 
 and laughed with anticipated pleasure. The door 
 opens, and Mother Gredel, with her woolen petticoat 
 and a big broom in her hand, turns round and ex- 
 claims : " Here he is ! here he is !" Then Catherine 
 runs up, always more and more beautiful, with her 
 little blue cap, and says : " Ah ! that is good ; I was 
 expecting thee !" How happy she is, and how I em- 
 n-ace her ! Ah ! to be young ! I see it all again ! 
 
 I go into the old room with Catherine, and Aunt 
 Gredel flourishes her broom and exclaims eneroreti- 
 cally : "No more conscription — that is done with !" 
 We laugh heartily and sit down, and while Cathe- ' 
 rine looks at me, aunt commences again : 
 
18 WATERLOO. 
 
 " That beggar of a minister, has he not written 
 yet ? Will he never write, I wondei ? Does he 
 take us for brutes ? It is very disagreeable always 
 to be ordered about. Thou art no longer a soldier, 
 since they left thee for dead. We saved thy life, 
 and thou art nothing to them now." 
 
 " Certainly, you are right, Aunt Gredel," I would 
 say ; " but for all that we can not be married without 
 going to the mayor — without the permit — and if we 
 do not go to the mayor, the priest will not dare to 
 marry us at the church." 
 
 Then aunt would be very grave, and always ended 
 by saying : " You see, Joseph, that all those people 
 from first to last have fixed every thing to suit them- 
 selves. Who pays the guards, and the judges, and the 
 priests, and who is it that pays everybody ? It is we ! 
 and yet they dare not marry us. It is shameful ; and 
 if it goes on, we will go to Switzerland and be mar- 
 ried." This would calm us, and we would spend the 
 rest of the day in singing ai*d laughing. 
 
WATERLOO. 19 
 
 II. 
 
 Is spita of my great impatience every day brought 
 something new, and it comes back to me now like 
 the comedies that are played at the fairs. The 
 mayors and their assistants, the municipal counselors, 
 the grain and wood merchants, the foresters and field 
 guards, and all those people who had been for ten 
 years regarded as the best friends of the Emperor, 
 and had been very severe if any one said a word 
 against his majesty, turned round and denounced 
 him as a tyrant and usurper, and called him " the ogre 
 of Corsica." You would have thought that Napoleon 
 had done them some great injury, when the fact wa 
 that they and their families had always had the be«t 
 offices. 
 
 I have often thought since, that this is the ;vay 
 the good places are obtained under all governments, 
 and still I should be ashamed to abuse those who 
 
20 WATERLOO. 
 
 could not defend themselves, and whom I had a thou- 
 sand times flattered. I should prefer to remain pooT 
 and work for a living rather than to gain riches and 
 consideration by such means. But such are men ! 
 And I ought to remember too, that our old mayor 
 and three or four of the counselors did not follow 
 this example, and Mr. Goulden said that at least 
 they respected themselves, and that the brawlers 
 had no honor. 
 
 I remember how, one day, the Mayor of Hacmatt 
 had come to have his watch put in order at our shop, 
 when he commenced to talk against the Emperor in 
 such a way that Father Goulden, rising suddenly 
 said to him : 
 
 " Here, take your watch, Mr. Michael, I will not 
 work for you. What ! only last year you called him 
 constantly ' the great man.' And you never could 
 call him Emperor simply, but must add, Emperor and 
 King, protector of the Helvetic Confederation, &c, 
 while your mouth was full of beef; now you say he is 
 an ogre, and you call Louis XVIII, * Louis the well- 
 beloved V You ought to be ashamed of yourself! Do 
 you take people for brutes ? and do you think they 
 have no memories ?" 
 
 Then the mayor replied, " It is plain to be seec 
 that you are an old Jacobin." 
 
WATERLOO. 21 
 
 " What I am is nobody's business," replied Father 
 Goulden, "but in any case I am not a slanderer." 
 He was pale as death, and ended by saying, "Go, Mr. 
 Michael, go ! beggars are beggars under all gov- 
 ernment s." 
 
 He was so indignant that day he could hardly work, 
 and would jump up every minute and exclaim : 
 
 " Joseph, I did like those Bourbons, but this crowd 
 of beggars has disgusted me with them already. 
 They are the kind of people who spoil every thing, 
 for they declare every thing perfect, beautiful, and 
 magnificent ; they see no defect in any thing, they 
 raise their hands to heaven in admiration if the king 
 but coughs. They want their part of the cake. And 
 then, seeing their delight, kings and emperors end 
 by believing themselves gods, and when revolutions 
 come, these rascals abandon them, and begin to play 
 the same role under some one else. In this way they 
 are always at the top, while honest people are always 
 in trouble." 
 
 This was about the beginning of May, and it had 
 been announced that the King had just made his sol 
 emn entry into Paris, attended by the marshals of 
 the Empire, that nearly all the population had come 
 out to meet him, and that old men and women and 
 little children had climbed upon the balconies to catch 
 
22 WATERLOO. 
 
 a glimpse of him, and that he had at first entered the 
 church of Notre Dame to give thanks to God, and 
 immediately after retired to the Tuileries. 
 
 It was announced also that the Senate had pro- 
 nounced a high-sounding address, assuring him there 
 need be no alarm on account of all the disturb- 
 ances, urging him to take courage and promising the 
 support of the senators in case of any difficulties. 
 
 Everybody approved this address. But we were 
 soon to have a new sight, we were to witness the re- 
 turn of the emigres from the heart of Germany and 
 from Russia. Some returned by the government ves- 
 sels, and some in simple " salad baskets," a kind of 
 wicker carriage, on two and four wheels. The la- 
 dies wore dresses with immense flower patterns, and 
 the men wore the old French coats and short breeches, 
 and waistcoats hanging down to the thighs, as they 
 are represented in the fashions of the time of the 
 Republic. 
 
 All these people were apparently proud and hap- 
 py to see their country once more. In spite of the 
 miserable beasts which dragged their wretched wag- 
 ons filled with straw, and the peasants who served a^ 
 postilions — in spite of all this, I was moved with com 
 passion as I recalled the joy I felt five months before 
 on seeing France again, and I said to myself: 
 
WATERLOO. 23 
 
 " Poor people ! they will weep on beholding Paris 
 again, they are going to be happy !" 
 
 They all stopped at the " Red Ox," the hotel of 
 the old embassadors and marshals and princes and 
 iukes and rich people, who no longer patronized 
 it, and we could see them in the rooms brushing 
 their own hair, dressing and shaving themselves. 
 
 About uoon they all came down, shouting and 
 calling " John !" " Claude I" " Germain !" with great 
 impatience, and ordering them about like important 
 personages, and seating themselves around the great 
 tables, with their old servants all patched up and 
 standing behind them with their napkins under their 
 arms. These people with their old-fashioned clothes, 
 and their fine manners and happy air, made a very 
 good appearance, and we said to ourselves : c< There 
 are the Frenchmen returning from exile; they did 
 wrong to go, and to excite all Europe against us, 
 but there is mercy for every sin ; may they be well 
 and happy ! That is the worst we wish them." 
 
 Some of these emigres returned by post, and 
 hen our new mayor, Mr. Jourdan, chevalier de St. 
 Mollis, the vicar, Mr. Loth, and the new comman- 
 dant, Mr. Robert de la Faisanderie, in his embroid- 
 ered uniform, would wait for them at the gate, and 
 when they heard the postilion's whip crack they 
 
24 WATERLOO. 
 
 would go forward, smiling as if some great good 
 fortune had arrived, and the moment the coach 
 stopped, the commandant would run and open it, 
 shouting most enthusiastically. 
 
 At other times they would stand quite still to 
 show their respect ; I have seen these people salute 
 each other three times in succession, slowly and 
 gravely, each time approaching a little nearer to each 
 other. 
 
 Father Goulden would laugh and say : " Do you 
 see, Joseph, that is the grand style — the style of the 
 nobles of the ancien regime / by just looking out of 
 the window we can learn fine manners which may 
 serve us when we get to be dukes and princes." 
 Again it would be: "Those old fellows, there, 
 Joseph, fired away at us from the lines at Wissem- 
 bourg, they were good riders and they fought well, 
 as all Frenchmen do, but we routed them after all." 
 
 Then he would wink and go back laughing to his 
 work. But the rumor spread among the servants 
 of the " Red Ox," that these people did not hesitate 
 to say that they had conquered us, and that the 
 were our masters ; that King Louis XVIII. had 
 always reigned since Louis XVII., son of Louis 
 XVI. ; that we were rebels, and that they had come 
 to restore us to order. 
 
WATERLOO. 25 
 
 Father Gorlden did not relish this, and said to 
 me in an ill-humored way : " Do you know, Josepli, 
 what these people are going to do in Paris ? they are 
 going to demand the restoration of their ponds and 
 their forests, their parks and their chateaux, and their 
 pensions, not to speak of the fat offices and honors 
 and favors of every kind. You think their coats 
 and perukes very old-fashioned, but their notions 
 are still older than their coats and perukes. They 
 are more dangerous for us than the Russians or the 
 Austrians, because they are going away, but these 
 people are going to remain. They would like to de- 
 stroy all we have done for the last twenty-five years. 
 You see how proud they are ; though many of them 
 lived in the greatest misery on the other side of the 
 Rhine, yet they think they are of a different race from 
 ours — a superior race ; they believe the people are 
 always ready to let themselves be fleeced as they 
 were before '89. They say Louis XVIII. has good 
 sense ; so much the better for him, for if he is unfor- 
 tunate enough to listen to these people, if they 
 imagine even that he can act upon their advice, all 
 is lost. There will be civil war. The people have 
 thought, during the last twenty-five years. They 
 know their rights, and they know that one man is as 
 
 good as another, and that all their 'noble races' ara 
 2 
 
26 WATERLOO. 
 
 nonsense. Each one will keep his property, each one 
 will have equal rights and will defend himself to the 
 death." That is what Father Goulden said to me, 
 and as my permit ne^er came, I thought the uiiniste* 
 had no time to answ ?r our demands with all thesa 
 counts and viscount, these dukes and marquises at 
 his back, who were clamoring for their woods and 
 their ponds and their fat offices. I was indignant. 
 
 " Great God," I cried, " what misery ! as soon as 
 one misfortune is over another begins ! and it is 
 always the innocent who suffer for the faults of the 
 others ! O God ! deliver us from the nobles, old 
 and new ! Crown them with blessings, but let them 
 leave us in peace !" 
 
 One morning Aunt Gredel came in to see us ; it 
 was on Friday and market-day. She brought her 
 basket on her arm and seemed very happy. I looked 
 toward the door, thinking that Catherine was com- 
 ing too, and I said : " Good morning, Aunt Gredel 
 Catherine is in town, she is coming too ?" 
 
 " No ! Joseph, no ; she is at Quatre Vents. We 
 are over our ears in work on account of the plant 
 nig." 
 
 I was disappointed and vexed too, for I had an 
 ticipated seeing her. But Aunt Gredel put her bas- 
 ket on the table, and said as she lifted up the cover : 
 
WATERLOO. 27 
 
 "look ! here is something for you, Joseph, some 
 
 thing from Catherine." 
 
 There was a great bouquet of May roses, violets, 
 and three beautiful lilacs with their green leaves 
 around the edge. The sight of this made me happy, 
 and I laughed and said : " How sweetly it smells.'* 
 And Father Gculden turned round and laughed too, 
 saying : 
 
 " You see, Joseph, they are always thinking of 
 you !" 
 
 And we all laughed together. My good humor 
 had returned, and I kissed Aunt Gredel and told her 
 to take it to Catherine from me. 
 
 Then I put my bouquet in a vase on the window 
 sill by my bedside, and thought of Catherine going 
 out in the early morning to gather the violets and 
 the fresh roses and adding; one after the other in the 
 dew, putting in the lilacs last, and the odor seemed 
 still more delightful. I could not look at them enough, 
 left them on the window-sill, thinking : 
 
 " I shall enjoy them through the night, and shall 
 give them fresh water in the morning, and the next 
 day after will be Sunday and I shall see Catherine 
 and thank her with a kiss." 
 
 I went back into the room, where Aunt Gredel was 
 talking to Father Goulden about the markets and 
 
28 WATERLOO. 
 
 the price of grain, &c., both in the best of humoi 
 Aunt put her basket on the ground and said : 
 
 " Well, Joseph, your permit has not come yet ?" 
 
 " No ! not yet, and it is terrible !" 
 
 " Yes," she replied, " the ministers are all alike, 
 one is no better than another ; they take the worst 
 and laziest to fill that place." 
 
 Then she went on : " Make yourself easy I have a 
 plan which will change all that." She laughed, and 
 as Father Goulden and I listened to hear her plan, she 
 continued : 
 
 " Just now while I was at the town-hall, Sergeant 
 Ilarmantier announced that we were to have a grand 
 mass for the repose of the souls of Louis XVI, 
 Pichegru, Moreau, and — another one." 
 
 " Yes," interrupted Father Goulden, " for George 
 Cadoudal, — I read it last evening in the gazette." 
 
 "That is it, of Cadoudal," said Aunt Gredel. 
 " You see, Joseph, hearing that, I thought at once, 
 now we will have the permit.' We are going to have 
 processions and atonements, and we will all go togeth- 
 er, Joseph, Catherine, and I. We shall be the first, 
 and everybody will say, 'They are good royalists, 
 they are well disposed.' The priest will hear of it. 
 Now the priests have long arms, as in the time of the 
 generals and colonels, — we will go and see him, he 
 
WATERLOO. 29 
 
 will receive us favorably, and will even make a peti- 
 tion for us. And I tell you this will succeed, we 
 shall not fail this time." 
 
 She spoke quite low as she explained all this, and 
 seemed well satisfied with her ingenuity. I felt 
 happy too, and thought, " That is what we must do, 
 Aunt Gredel is right." But on looking at Father 
 Goulden, I saw he was very grave, and that he had 
 turned away and was looking at a watch through 
 his glass, and knitting his big white eyebrows. So, 
 knowing he was not pleased, I said : 
 
 " I think myself, that w^ould succeed, but before 
 we do any thing I would like to have Father Goul- 
 den's opinion." 
 
 Then he turned round and said : 
 
 " Every one is free, Joseph, to follow his own con- 
 science. To make an expiation for the death oi 
 Louis XVI. is all very well ; honest people of all par- 
 ties will have nothing to say, if they are royalists, 
 of course ; but if you kneel from self-interest, you 
 had better stay at home. As for Louis XVI. , I will let 
 him pass, but for Pichegru, Moreau, and Cadoudal, — 
 that is altogether another thing. Pichegru surren- 
 dered his troops to the enemy, Moreau fought against 
 France, and George Cadoudal was an assassin, — three 
 kinds of ambitious men, who asked for nothing but 
 
30 WATERLOO. 
 
 to oppress us, and all three deserved their fate. Thai 
 is what I think." 
 
 " But what has all that to do with us, pray ?" ex 
 claimed Aunt Gredel. " We will not go for them, w 
 will go to get our permit. I despise all the rest, 
 and so does Joseph, do you not?" 
 
 I was greatly embarrassed, for what Father G gul- 
 den said seemed to me to be right, and he, seeing 
 this, said: 
 
 " I understand the love of young people, Mother 
 Gredel, but we must not use such means to induce 
 a young man to sacrifice what he thinks is right. If 
 Joseph does not hold the same opinion as I do of 
 Pichegru and Moreau and Cadoudal, very well, let 
 him go to the procession. I shall not reproach him 
 for it, but as for me, I shall not go." 
 
 " I shall not go either. Mr. Goulden is right," I 
 replied. 
 
 I saw Aunt Gredel was displeased, she turned quite 
 red, but was calm again in a moment, and added : 
 
 " Very well ! Catherine and I will go, because we 
 mock at all those old notions." 
 
 Father Goulden could not help smiling as he saw 
 her anger. 
 
 " Yes, everybody is free," said he, " to do as he 
 pleases, so do as you like." 
 
WATERLOO. 31 
 
 Aunt Gredel took up her basket and went away, 
 and he laughed and made a sign to me to go with her. 
 I very quickly had my coat on and overtook her tt\ 
 the corner of the street. 
 
 " Listen, Joseph," said she, as she went toward the 
 square, " Father Goulden is an excellent man, but he 
 is an old fool ! He has never since I knew him been 
 satisfied with any thing. He does not say so, but 
 the Republic is always in his head. He thinks of 
 nothing but his old Republic, when everybody was a 
 sovereign — beggars, tinkers, soap-boilers, Jews, and 
 Christians. There is no sense in it. But what are 
 we to do ? If he were not such an excellent man I 
 would not care for him, but we must remember he 
 has taught you a good trade, and done us all many 
 favors, and we owe him great respect, that is why I 
 hurried away, for I was inclined to be angry." 
 
 " You did right," I said, " I love Father Goulden 
 like my own father, and you like my mother, and 
 nothing could give me so much pain as to see you 
 angry with one another." 
 
 • " I quarrel with a man like him !" said Aunt Gre- 
 del. " I would rather jump out of the window. No, 
 no, but we need not listen to all he says, for I insist 
 that this procession is a good thing for us, that the 
 priest will get the permit for us, and that is the prin 
 
32 WATERLOO. 
 
 cipal thing. Catherine and I will go, and as Mr 
 Goulden will stay at home, you had best stay too. 
 But I am certain that three-fourths of the town and 
 ,ountry round will go, and whether it be for Moreau 
 or Pichegru or Cadoudal it is of no consequence. It 
 will be very fine. You will see !" 
 
 " I believe you," I answered. 
 
 "We had reached the German gate ; I kissed hei 
 again, and went back quite happy to my work. 
 
WATERLOO. 33 
 
 III. 
 
 I recollect this visit of Aunt Gredel because eight 
 days after the processions and atonements and ser- 
 mons commenced, and did not end till the return of 
 the Emperor in 1815, and then they commenced again 
 and continued till the fall of Charles X. in 1830. 
 Everybody who was then alive knows there was no 
 end to them. So when I think of Napoleon, I hear 
 the cannon of the arsenal thunder and the panes of 
 our windows rattle, and Father Goulden cries out 
 from his bed : " Another victory, Joseph ! Ha ! 
 ha! ha ! Always victories." And when I think of 
 Louis XVIII., I hear the bells ring and I imagine 
 Father Brainstem and his two big boys hanging to 
 the ropes, and I hear Father Goulden laugh and say : 
 "That, Joseph, is for Saint Magloire or Saint Poly* 
 carp." 
 
 I can not think of those days in any other way.' 
 2* 
 
34 WATERLOO. 
 
 Under the Empire I see too at night-fall, Father 
 Coiffe, Nicholas Rolfo, and five or six other veterans, 
 loading their cannon for the evening salute of twenty 
 one guns, while half of Pfalzbourg stand on the op- 
 posite bastion looking at the red light, and smoke, 
 and watching the wads as they fall into the moat ; 
 then the illuminations at night and the crackers and 
 rockets, I hear the children cry Vive V Empereur, 
 and then some days after, the death notices and the 
 conscription. Under Louis XVIII. I see the altars 
 and the peasants with their carts full of moss and 
 broom and young pines ; the ladies coming out of 
 their houses with great vases of flowers ; people car- 
 rying their chandeliers and crucifixes, and then the 
 processions — the priest and his vicars, the choir boys 
 and Jacob Cloutier, Purrhus, and Tribou, the singers ; 
 the beadle Kcekli, with his red robe and his banner 
 which swept the skies, the bells ringing their full 
 peals ; Mr. Jourdan, the new mayor, with his great 
 red face, his beautiful uniform with his cross of St. 
 Louis, and the Commandant with his three-cornered 
 hat under his arm, his great peruke frosted with pow- 
 der, and his uniform glittering in the sunshine, and 
 behind them the town council, and the innumerable 
 torches, which they lighted for each other as the 
 wind blew them out; the Swiss, Jean-Peter Sirou, 
 
WATERLOO. 35 
 
 with his blue beard closely shaven and his splendid 
 hat pointing across his shoulders, his broad white silk 
 shoulder-belt sprinkled with fleur-de-lis across his 
 breast, his halberd erect, glistening like a plate of 
 silver ; the young girls, ladies, and thousands of 
 country people in their Sunday clothes, praying in 
 concert with the old people at their head, from each 
 village, who kept repeating incessantly, " pray for us, 
 pray for us." With the streets full of leaves and 
 garlands and the white flags in the windows, the Jews 
 and the Lutherans looking out from their closed 
 blinds and the sun lighting up the grand sight below. 
 This continued from 1814-to 1830, except during the 
 hundred days, not to speak of the missions, the 
 bishop's visits, and other extraordinary ceremonies. 
 I like best to tell you all this at once, for if I should 
 undertake to describe one procession after another 
 the story would be too long. 
 
 Well ! this commenced the 19th of May, and the 
 same day that Harmentier announced the grand 
 atonement, there arrived five preachers from Nancy, 
 roung men, who preached during the whole week 
 rom morning until midnight. This was to prepare 
 lor the atonement ; nothing else was talked about in 
 ihe town, the people were converted, and all the 
 women and girls went to confession. It w T as rumored 
 
36 WATERLOO. 
 
 also that the national property was to be restored, 
 and that the poor men would be separated from th« 
 "espectable people by the procession, because the 
 Debars would not dare to show themselves. You 
 may imagine my chagrin at being obliged, in spite of 
 myself, to remain among the poor people ; but, thank 
 God ! I had nothing to reproach myself with in re- 
 gard to the death of Louis XVI. , and I had none of 
 the national property, and all I wanted was permis- 
 sion to marry Catherine. I thought with Aunt Gre- 
 del that Father Goulden was very obstinate, but I 
 never dared to say a word to him about that. I was 
 very unhappy, the more so, because the people who 
 came to us to have their watches repaired, respectable 
 citizens, mayors, foresters, &c, approved of all these 
 sermons, and said that the like had never been heard. 
 Mr. Goulden always kept on his work while listening 
 to them, and when it was done he would turn to them 
 and say, " Here is your watch, Mr. Christopher or Mr. 
 Nicholas; it is so and so much." He did not seem 
 to be interested in these matters, and it was only 
 when one and another would speak of the national 
 proi^erty, of the rebellion of twenty-five years, and oi 
 expiating past crimes, that he would take off his spec- 
 tacles and raise his head to listen, and would say with 
 an air of surprise, " Pshaw ! well ! well ! that is fine « 
 
WATERLOO. 37 
 
 that is, Mr Claude ! indeed you astonish me These 
 young men preach so well then ? Well, if the work 
 were not so pressing, I would go and hear them. I 
 eed instruction also." 
 
 I always kept thinking that he would change his 
 mind, and the next evening as we were finishing our 
 supper I was happy enough to hear him say good 
 humoredly : 
 
 " Joseph, are you not curious to hear these preach- 
 ers ? They tell so many fine things of them, that I 
 want to hear how it is for myself." 
 
 " Oh ! Mr. Goulden, I should like nothing better \ 
 but we must lose no time, for the church is always 
 full by the second stroke of the bell." 
 
 "Very well ! let us go," said he, rising and taking 
 down his hat. " I am curious to see how it is. Those 
 people astonish me. Come ! " 
 
 We went out ; the moon was shining so brightly 
 that we could recognize people as easily as in broad 
 daylight. At the corner of the rue Fouquet we saw 
 that even the steps of the church were already cov- 
 ered with people. Two or three old women, Annette 
 Petit, Mother Balaie, and Jeannette Baltzer, with 
 their big shawls wrapped closely round them, and 
 tne long fringes of their bonnets over their eyes, 
 hurried past us, when Father Goulden exclaimed, 
 
38 WATERLOO. 
 
 " Here are the old women ! Ha ' ha ! ha ! alwayi 
 the same !" 
 
 He laughed, and as he went on said, that since 
 Father Colin's time there had never been so many 
 people seen at the evening service. I could not 
 believe that he was speaking of the old landlord 
 of the " Three Roses," opposite the infantry barracks, 
 so I said : 
 
 " He was a priest, Mr. Goulden ?" 
 
 " No, no," he answered smiling, " I mean old Colin. 
 In 1*792, when we had a club in the church, every- 
 body could preach ; but Colin spoke best of all. He 
 had a magnificent voice, and said many forcible and 
 true things, and the people came from far and near, 
 from Saverne and Saarburg, and even still farther 
 away to hear him ; women and girls, ' citoyennes ' as 
 they called them then, filled the choir galleries and 
 the pews. They wore little cockades in their bonnets, 
 and sang the ' Marseillaise ' to arouse the young men, 
 You never saw any thing like it ! Annette Petit, 
 Mother Baltzer, and all those whom you see running 
 before us, with their prayer-books under their arms, 
 were among the foremost. But they had white teeth 
 and beautiful hair then, and loved ' Liberty, Equal- 
 ity, and Fraternity. 5 Ha ! ha ! poor Bevel ! poor An- 
 nette ! Now they are going to repent, though they 
 
WATERLOO. 39 
 
 weie good patriots then ; I believe God will pardon 
 them." He laughed as he recalled these old stories, 
 but when we had reached the steps of the church he 
 grew sober, and said: 
 
 " Yes — yes — every thing changes, every thing ! 3 
 remember the day in '93, when old Colin spoke of 
 the country being in danger, when three hundred 
 young men left the country to join the army of 
 Hoche ; Colin followed them, and became their com- 
 mander. He was a terrible fellow among his grena- 
 diers. He would not sign the proposition to make 
 Napoleon emperor, — now he sells over the counter 
 by the glass !" 
 
 Then looking at me, as if he were astonished at 
 his own thoughts, he said, " Let us go in, Joseph." 
 
 We entered under the great pillars of the organ ; 
 the crowd was very great, and he did not say a word 
 more. There were lights burning in the choir over 
 the heads of the people. The only sound which broke 
 the silence was the opening and shutting of the 
 doors of the pews. At last we heard Sirou's halberd 
 on the floor, and Mr. Goulden said, " There he is !" 
 
 A light near the vessel for the holy water enabled 
 us to see a little. A shadow mounted to the pnlpit 
 at the left, while Kcekli lighted two or three candles 
 with his stick. The preacher might have been twenty 
 
40 WATERLOO. 
 
 five or thirty years old, he had a pleasant, rosy face 
 and heavy blonde hair below his tonsure, that fell in 
 curls over his neck. They commenced by singing 
 psalm, the young girls of the village sang in the choir 
 "What joy to be a Christian." After that the 
 preacher from the desk said, that he had come to 
 defend the faith, the law, and the " right divine " of 
 Louis XVIIL, and demanded if any one had the 
 audacity to take the other side. As nobody wished to 
 be stoned, there was a dead silence. Then a brown, 
 thin man, six feet high, with a black cloak on, rose in 
 one of the pews opposite, and exclaimed : 
 
 " I have ! I maintain that faith, religion, and the 
 right of kings, and all the rest, are nothing but su- 
 perstitions. I maintain that the republic is just, and 
 that the worship of reason is worth them all ! " and 
 so on. 
 
 The people were indignant. There never was any 
 thing like it ! When he had finished speaking, I looked 
 %t Mr. Goulden, who laughed softly, and said : " Lis- 
 ten ! listen !" 
 
 Of course I listened ; the young preacher prayed to 
 God for this infidel, and then he spoke so beautiful- 
 ly that the crowd was entranced. The big thin man 
 replied, saying, " They had done right to guillotine 
 Louis XVI., Marie Antoinette, and all the family." 
 
WATERLOO. 41 
 
 The indignation increased, and the men fiom Bois-de 
 Chenes, and especially their wives, wanted to get into 
 the pew to knock him down, but just then Sirou came 
 up, crying " Room ! room !" and old Kcekli in his red 
 gown threw himself before the man, who escaped into 
 the sacristy, raising his hands to heaven and declar- 
 ing that he was converted, and that he renounced the 
 devil and all his works. Then the preacher made a 
 prayer for the soul of the sinner. It was a real tri- 
 umph for religion. 
 
 Everybody left about eleven o'clock, and it was an 
 nounced that there would be a procession the next 
 day, which was Sunday. 
 
 In consequence of the great crowd, which had push- 
 ed us into the corner, Mr. Goulden and I were among 
 the last to get out, and by the time we reached the 
 street, the people from Quatre Yents and the other 
 villages were already beyond the German gate, and 
 nothing was heard in the streets but the closing of 
 the shutters by the towns'-people, and a few old 
 women talking about the wonderful things they 
 had heard, as they went home by the rue de 1' Ar- 
 senal. 
 
 Father Goulden and I walked along in the silence, 
 he with his head bent down and smiling, though 
 without speaking a word. When we reached Lome 
 
42 WATERLOO. 
 
 I lighted the candle, and while he was undressing 
 asked : 
 
 " Well ! Father Goulden, did they preach well ?" 
 " Yes," he replied smiling, " yes, for young men wIr 
 have seen nothing, it was not bad." Then he 
 laughed aloud and said, " But if old Colin had been 
 in the Jacobin's place, he would have puzzled the 
 young man terribly." I was greatly surprised at that, 
 and as I still waited to hear what more he had to 
 say, he slowly pulled his black silk cap over his 
 ears and added thoughtfully, " but it's all the same ; 
 all the same. These people go too fast, much too fast. 
 They will never make me believe that Louis XVIII. 
 knows about all this. No, he has seen too much in his 
 life not to know men better than that. But, good 
 night, Joseph, good night. Let us hope that an order 
 will soon arrive from Paris sending these young 
 men back to their seminary." 
 
 I went to bed and dreamed of Catherine, the 
 Jacobin, and of the procession we were going to sea 
 
WATERLOO. 43 
 
 IV. 
 
 Next morning the bells began to ring as soon as 
 it was light. I rose and opened my shutters aud saw 
 the red sun rising from behind the Magazine, and 
 over the forest of Bonne-Fontaine. It might have 
 been five o'clock, and you could feel beforehand how 
 hot it was going to be, and the air was laden with 
 the odor of the oak and beech and holly leaves which 
 were strewn in the streets. The peasants began to 
 arrive in companies, talking in the still morning. You 
 could recognize the villagers from Wechera, from 
 Metting, from the Graufthal and Dasenheim, by their 
 three-cornered hats turned down in front and their 
 square coats, and the women with their long black 
 dresses and big bonnets quilted like a mattress hang- 
 ing on their necks ; and those from Dagsberg, Hilde- 
 house, Harberg, and Houpe with their large round 
 felt hats, and the women without bonnets anl with 
 
44 WATERLOO. 
 
 short skirts, small, brown, dry, and quick as powder 
 with the children behind with thtir shoes in theii 
 hands, but when they reached Luterspech they sat 
 down in a row and put them on to be ready for the 
 procession. 
 
 Some priests from the different villages, also came 
 by twos and, threes, laughing and talking among 
 themselves in the best of humor. 
 
 And I thought, as I rested my elbows on the win- 
 dow-sill, that these people must have risen before 
 midnight to reach here so early in the morning, and 
 that they must have come over the mountains walk- 
 ing for hours under the trees, crossing the little 
 bridges in the moonlight; as I thought this I re- 
 flected that religion is a beautiful thing, that the 
 people in towns do not know what it is, and that for 
 thousands upon thousands of field laborers and wood- 
 choppers, uncultivated and rude beings, who at the 
 same time were good and loved their wives and 
 children and honored their aged parents, supporting 
 them and closing their eyes in the hope of a better 
 world ; this was the only consolation. And in look- 
 mg at the crowd, I imagined that Aunt Greclel and 
 Catherine had the same thoughts, and I was happy 
 to know that they prayed for me. It grew lighter 
 and lighter, and the bells rang while I continued to 
 
WATERLOO. 45 
 
 look on. I heard Father Goulden rise and dress 
 himself, and a few minutes after he came into my 
 chamber in his shirt sleeves, and seeing me so thought- 
 ful, he exclaimed: 
 
 " Joseph, the most beautiful thing in the world is 
 the religion of the people." 
 
 I was quite astonished to hear him express precise- 
 ly my own thoughts. 
 
 " Yes," he added, " the love of God, the love of 
 country and of family, are one and the same thing ; 
 but it is sad to see the love of country perverted to 
 satisfy the ambition of a man, and the love of God 
 to exalt the pride and the desire to rule in a few." 
 
 These words impressed me deeply, and I have 
 often thought since that they expressed the sad truth. 
 Well ! to return to those days, you know that after 
 the siege we were obliged to work on Sundays, be- 
 cause Mr. Goulden while serving as a gunner on the 
 ramparts had neglected his work and we were 
 behindhand. So that on that morning as on the 
 others I lighted the fire in our little stove and pre- 
 pared the breakfast ; the windows were open and we 
 could hear the noise from the streets. 
 
 Mr. Goulden leaned out of the window and said : 
 " Look ! all the shops except the inns and the beer- 
 houses are closed !" 
 
£6 WATERLOO. 
 
 He laughed, and I asked, " Shall we open our shut 
 ters, Mr. Goulden ?" 
 
 He turned round as if surprised : " Look here, Jo- 
 seph, I never knew a better boy than you, but you 
 lack sense. Why should we close our shutters ? 
 Because God created the world in six days and rest- 
 ed the seventh ? But we did not create it ourselves, 
 and we need to work to live. If we shut our shop 
 from interest and pretend to be saints and so gain 
 new customers, that will be hypocrisy. You speak 
 sometimes without thinking." 
 
 I saw at once that I was wrong, and I replied : 
 " Mr. Goulden, we will leave our windows open and 
 it will be seen that we have watches to sell, and that 
 will do no harm to any one." 
 
 "We were no sooner at table than Aunt Gredel and 
 Catherine came. Catherine was dressed entirely in 
 black, on account of the service for Louis XVI. She 
 had a pretty little bonnet of black tulle, and her dress 
 was very nicely made, and this set off her delicate 
 red and white complexion and made her look so 
 beautiful that I could hardly believe that she was 
 Joseph Bertha's beloved ; her neck was white as 
 snow, and had it not been for her lips and her rosy 
 little chin, her blue eyes and golden hair, I should 
 have thought that it was some one who resembled 
 
WATERLOO. 47 
 
 her, but who was more beautiful. She laughed when 
 she saw how much I admired her, aud at last I said : 
 "Catherine, you are too beautiful now; I dare not 
 kiss you." 
 
 " Oh ! you need not trouble yourself," said she. 
 
 As she leaned upon my shoulder I gave her a long 
 kiss, so that Aunt Gredel and Mr. Goulden looked on 
 and laughed, and I wished them far enough away, 
 that I might tell Catherine that I loved her more and 
 more, and that I would give my life a thousand times 
 for her ; but as I could not do that before them, J 
 only thought of these things and was sad. 
 
 Aunt had a black dress on also, and her prayer- 
 book was under her arm. 
 
 " Come, kiss me too, Joseph ; you see I too have a 
 black dress, like Catherine's." 
 
 I embraced her, and Mr. Goulden said, " You will 
 come and dine with us — that is understood ; but, 
 meanwhile you will take something, will you not ?" 
 
 " We have breakfasted," replied Aunt Gredel. 
 
 " That is nothing ; God knows when this proces- 
 sion will end, you will be all the time on your feet, 
 and will need something to sustain you." 
 
 Then they sat down, Aunt Gredel on my right, 
 and Catherine on my left, and Father Goulden oppo- 
 site. They drank a good glass of wine, and aunt saicl 
 
48 WATERLOO. 
 
 the procession would be very fine, and that there were 
 at least twenty-five priests from the neighborhood 
 round ; that Mr. Hubert, the pastor of Quatre Vents, 
 had come, and that the grand altar in the cavalry 
 quarter was higher than the houses ; that the pine- 
 trees and poplars around had crape on them, and 
 that the altar was covered with a black cloth. She 
 talked of every thing under the sun, while I looked 
 at Catherine, and we thought, without saying any 
 thing, " Oh ! when will that beggarly minister write 
 and say, * Get married and leave me alone' ?" 
 
 At last, toward nine o'clock, and when the second 
 bell had rung, Aunt Gredel said, " That is the second 
 ringing ; we will come to dinner as soon as possible." 
 
 " Yes, yes, Mother Gredel," replied Mr. Goulden, 
 " we will wait for vou." 
 
 They rose, and I went down to the foot of the 
 stairs with Catherine in order to embrace her once 
 again, when Aunt Gredel cried, " Let us hurry, let us 
 hurry !" 
 
 They went away, and I went back to my work ; 
 but from that moment till about eleven o'clock I 
 could do nothing at all. The crowd was so very great 
 that you could hear nothing outside but a ceaseless 
 murmur ; the leaves rustled under foot, and when the 
 procession left the church the effect was so imprea 
 
WATERLOO. 49 
 
 sive that even Mr. Goulden himself stopped his work 
 to listen to the prayers and hymns. 
 
 I thought of Catherine in the crowd more beau- 
 tiful than any of the others, with Aunt Gredel near 
 her, repeating " Pray for us, pray for us," in their 
 clear voices. I thought they must be very much 
 fatigued, and all these voices and chants made me 
 dream, and though I held a watch in my hand and 
 tried to work, my mind was not on it. The higher 
 the sun rose the more uneasy I became, till at last 
 Mr. Goulden said, laughing, "Ah ! Joseph, it does 
 not go to-day !" and as I blushed rosy red, he contin- 
 ued, " Yes, when I was dreaming of Louisa Benedum 
 I looked in vain for springs and wheels. I could 
 see nothing but her blue eyes." 
 
 He sighed, and I too, thinking, "you are quite 
 right, Mr. Goulden." 
 
 " That is enough," he added a moment after, taking 
 the watch from my hands. " Go, child, and find Cath- 
 erine. You can not conquer your love, it is stronger 
 han you." 
 
 On hearing this, I wanted to exclaim " Oh, good, 
 excellent man ! you can never know hoTV much I love 
 you," but he rose to wipe his hands on a towel be- 
 hind the door, and I said, "If you really wish it 
 Mr. Goulden." 
 
50 WATERLOO. 
 
 " Yes, yes ; certainly ! " 
 
 I did not wait for another word. My heart bounded 
 with joy, I put on my hat and went down the stairs 
 at a leap, exclaiming, "I will be back in an hour, 
 Mr. Goulden." 
 
 I was out of doors in a moment, but what a crowd, 
 what a crowd ! they swarmed ! military hats, felt hats, 
 bonnets, and over all the noise and confusioi), the 
 church bell tolled slowly. 
 
 For a minute I stood on our own steps, not knowing 
 which way to turn, and seeing at last that it was im- 
 possible to take a step in that crowd I turned into the 
 little lane called the Lanche, in order to reach the 
 ramparts and run and wait for the procession at the 
 slope by the German gate, as then it would turn up 
 the rue de College. It might have been eleven o'clock. 
 I saw many things that day which have suggested many 
 reflections since ; they were the signs of great trouble 
 but nobody noticed them, nobody had the good sense to 
 comprehend their significance. 1- wasorJy later, when 
 everybody was up to their necks in trouble, when we 
 were obliged to take our knapsacks and guns, again 
 to be cut in pieces ; then they said, " if we had only had 
 good sense and justice and prudence we should have 
 been so much better off, we should have been quiet at 
 home instead of this breaking up, which is coming ; 
 
WATERLOO. 51 
 
 we can do nothing but be quiet and submit ; what a 
 misfortune ! " 
 
 I went along the Lanche, where they shot the de 
 serters under the Empire. The noise grew fainter in 
 the distance, and the chanting and prayers and the 
 sound of the bells as well. All the doors and windows 
 were closed, everybody had followed the procession. 
 I stopped in the silent street to take breath, a slight 
 breeze came from the fields beyond the ramparts, and 
 I listened to the tumult in the distance and wiped the 
 sweat from my face and thought, " how am I to find 
 Catherine?" 
 
 I was climbing the steps at the postern gate when 
 I heard some one say: " Mark the points, Margarot." 
 
 I then saw that Father Colin's windows on the 
 first floor were open, and that some men in their shirt 
 sleeves were playing billiards. They were old soldiers 
 with short hair, and mustaches like a brush. They 
 went back and forth, without troubling themselves 
 about the mayor, or the commandant, or Louis XVI., 
 or the bourgeoisie. One of them, short, thick, with 
 his whiskers cut as was the fashion of the nussars in 
 those days, and his cravat untied, leaned out of the 
 window, resting his cue on the sill, and, looking tow- 
 ard the square, said : 
 
 "We will put the game at fifty." 
 
52 WATERLOO. 
 
 I thought at once that they were half-pay officers 
 who were spending their last sous, and who would 
 soon be troubled to live. I continued on my way, 
 and hurried along under the vault of the powder mag- 
 azine behind the college, thinking of all these things, 
 but when I reached the German gate I forgot every 
 thing. The procession was just turning the corner 
 at Bockholtz, the chants broke forth opposite the altar 
 like trumpets, and the young priests from Nancy were 
 running among the crowd with their crucifixes raised 
 to keep order, and the Swiss Sirou carried himself 
 majestically under his banner ; at the head of the pro- 
 cession were the priests and the choir singing, while 
 the prayers rose to heaven, and behind, the crowd 
 responded: and all this took form, in a low fearful 
 murmur. 
 
 I stood on my tiptoes, half hidden by the shed, try 
 ing to discover Catherine in all that multitude and 
 thinking only of her, but what a crowd of hats and 
 bonnets and flags I saw defiling down the rue Ulrich, 
 You. would never have imagined that there wore so 
 many people in the country ; there could not have 
 been a soul left in the villages, except a few little 
 children and old people who staid to take care 
 of them. 
 
 I waited about twenty minutes, and gave up hoping 
 
WATERLOO 53 
 
 tc rind Catherine, when suddenly I saw he i with Aunt 
 Gredel. Aunt was praying in such a loud clear voice, 
 that you could hear her above all the others. Cath- 
 erine said nothing, but walked slowly along with her 
 eyes cast down. If I could only have called to her 
 she might perhaps have heard me, but it was bad 
 enough not to join the procession without causing 
 further scandal. All I can say is, — and there is not 
 an old man in Pfalzbourg who will assert the con- 
 trary, — that Catherine was not the least beautiful 
 girl in the country, and that Joseph Bertha was »ot 
 to be pitied. 
 
 She had passed, and the procession halted on the 
 " Place d'armes," before the high altar at the right 
 of the church. The priest officiated, and silence 
 spread all over the city. In the little streets at the 
 right and the left, it was as quiet as if they could have 
 seen the priest at the altar, great numbers kneeled, 
 and others sat down on the steps of the houses, for 
 the heat was excessive, and many of them had come 
 to town before daylight. This grand sight impress- 
 ed me very much, and I prayed for my country and 
 for peace, for I felt it all in my heart, and I remeinbe" 
 that just then I heard under the shed at the German 
 gate, voices which said very good-humoredly, * Come 
 come, give us a little room, my friends." 
 
54 WATERLOO. 
 
 The procession blocked the way, everybody wa 
 stopped, and these voices disturbed the kneeling 
 multitude. Several persons near the door made way. 
 The Swiss and the beadle looked on from a distance, 
 and my curiosity induced me to get a little nearer 
 the steps, when I saw five or six old soldiers white 
 with dust, bent down and apparently exhausted with 
 fatigue, making their way along the slope in order 
 to gain the little rue d' Arsenal, through which they 
 no doubt thought to find the way clear. It seems as 
 if I could see them now, with their worn-out shoes 
 and their white gaiters, and their old patched uni- 
 forms and shakos battered by the sun and rain and 
 the hardships of the campaign. They advanced in 
 file, a little on the grass of the slope in order to dis- 
 turb the people who were below as little as possible. 
 One old fellow with three chevrons, who marched 
 ahead and resembled poor Sergeant Pinto who was 
 killed near the Hinterthor at Leipzig, made me feel 
 very sad. He had the same long, gray mustaches, 
 the same wrinkled cheeks, and the same contented ail 
 in spite of all his misfortunes and sufferings. He had 
 his little bundle on the end of his stick, and smiling 
 and speaking quite low he said, "Excuse us, gentle- 
 men and ladies, excuse us," while the others followed 
 step by stop. 
 
WATERLOO. 55 
 
 They were the first prisoners released by the con- 
 vention of the 23d of April, and we saw these men 
 pass afterward every day until July. They had no 
 doubt avoided the magazines, in order the sooner to 
 reach France. 
 
 On reaching the little street they found the crowd 
 extended beyond the arsenal ; and then in order not 
 to disturb the people, they went under the postern 
 and sat down on the damp steps, with their little 
 bundles on the ground beside them, and waited for 
 the procession to pass. They had come from a great 
 distance, and hardly knew what was going on with 
 us. 
 
 Unhappily the wretches from Bois-de-chenes, the 
 big Horni, Zapheri Roller, Nicholas Cochart, the 
 carder, Pinacle, whom they had made mayor to pay 
 him for having shown the way to Falberg and Grauf- 
 thal to the allies during the siege, all these rascals 
 and others who were with them, who wanted the 
 fleur-de-lis — as if the fleur-de-lis could make them 
 any better — unhappily, I say, all that bad set who 
 lived by stealing fagots from the forest, had discov* 
 ered the old tri-colored cockade in the tops of their 
 shakos, and " now," they thought, " is the time to 
 prove ourselves the real supporters of the throne 
 and the altar." 
 
56 WATERLOO. 
 
 They came on disturbing everybody, Pinacle bad 
 a big black cravat on his neck and a crape, an ell 
 wide, on his hat, with his shirt collar above his ears, 
 and as grave as a bandit who wants to make himself 
 look like an honest man; he came up the first one. 
 The old soldier with the three chevrons had discover- 
 ed that these men were threatening them at a distance 
 and had risen to* see what it meant. 
 
 " Come, come ! don't crowd so !" said he. " We 
 are not much in the habit of running, what do you 
 want ?" 
 
 But Pinacle, who was afraid of losing so good an 
 occasion to show his zeal for Louis XVIIL, instead 
 of replying to him, smashed his shako at a blow, 
 shouting, "Down with the cockade !" 
 
 Naturally the old veteran wa-s indignant and was 
 about to defend himself, when these wretches, both 
 men and women, fell upon the soldiers, knocking 
 them down, pulling off their cockades and epaulets, 
 and trampling them under foot without shame or 
 pity. The poor old fellow got up several times, ex- 
 claiming, in a voice which went to one's heart, 
 " Pack of cowards, are you Frenchmen, assassins, 
 &c, &c." 
 
 Every time he rose they beat him down again, and 
 at last left him with his clothes torn, and covered 
 
M. PINACLE AND THE BARAQUINS. 
 
WATERLOO, 57 
 
 with blood in a corner, and the commandant, de la 
 Faisanderie, having arrived, ordered them to be es- 
 corted to the " Violin." If I had been able to get 
 down, I should have run to the rescue, withou 
 thinking of Catherine or Aunt Gredel or Mr. Goulden, 
 and they might have killed me too. When I think 
 of it now even, I tremble, but fortunately the wall 
 of the postern was twenty feet thick, and when I saw 
 them carried away covered with blood, and com- 
 prehended the whole horrible affair, I ran home by 
 way of the arsenal, where I arrived so pale that Father 
 Goulden exclaimed : 
 
 " Why, Joseph ! have you been hurt ?" 
 
 " No, no," I replied, " but I have seen a frightful 
 thing." And I commenced to cry as I told him of 
 the affair. He walked up and down with his hands 
 behind his back, stopping from time to time to listen 
 to me, while his lips contracted and his eyes spark- 
 led. 
 
 " Joseph," said he, " these men provoked them ?" 
 
 " No, Mr. Goulden." 
 
 " It is impossible, they must have invited it The 
 devil ! we are not savages ! The rascals must have 
 had some other reason than the cockades for attack- 
 ing them !" 
 
 He conld not believe me, and it was only after tell* 
 3* 
 
58 WATERLOG. 
 
 ing him all the details twice ovei that he said at 
 last : 
 
 " Well ! since you saw it with your own eyes * 
 must believe you. But it is a greater misfortune 
 than you think, Joseph. If this goes on, if they do 
 not put a strong check on these good-for-nothings, if 
 the Pinacles are to have the upper hand, honest 
 people will open their eyes." 
 
 He said no more, for the procession was finished 
 and Aunt Gredel and Catherine had come. 
 
 We dined together, aunt was happy and Cather- 
 ine too, but even the pleasure it gave me to see them, 
 could not make me forget what I had witnessed, and 
 Mr. Gould en was very grave too. 
 
 At night, I went with them to the " Roulette," 
 and then I embraced them and bade them good 
 night. It might have been eight o'clock, and I went 
 home immediately. Mr. Goulden had gone to the 
 " Homme Sauvage " brewery, as was his habit on Sun- 
 day, to read the gazette, and I went to bed. He came 
 in about ten, and seeing my candle burning on the 
 table, he pushed open the door and said : 
 
 u It seems that they are having processions every- 
 where. You see nothing else in the gazette." And 
 he added that twenty thousand prisoners had return 
 ed, and that it was a happy thing for the country. 
 
WATERLOO. 59 
 
 V. 
 
 The next morning all the clocks in the village were 
 to be wound up, and as Mr. Goulden was grcwing 
 old he had intrusted that to me, and I went out very 
 early. The wind had blown the leaves in heaps against 
 the walls during the night, and the people were com- 
 ing to take their torches and vases of flowers from 
 the altars. All this made me sad, and I thought, 
 " Now that they have performed their service for the 
 dead, I hope they are satisfied. If the permit would 
 come, it would be all very well, but if these people 
 hink they are going to amuse us with psalms they 
 are mistaken. In the time of the Emperor we had 
 to go to Russia and Spain it is true, but the minis- 
 ters did not leave the young people to pine away. 
 
 I would like to know what peace is for if it is not to 
 get married 1" 
 
 I denounced Louis XVIII, the Comte d'Artois, tli€ 
 
60 WATERLOO 
 
 emigres^ and everybody else, and declared that the 
 nobles mocked the people. 
 
 On going home I found that Mr. Goulden had set 
 the table, and while we were eating breakfast, I told 
 him what I thought. He listened to my complaint 
 and laughed, saying, " Take care, Joseph, take care ; 
 you seem to me as if you were becoming a Jacobin." 
 
 He got up and opened the closet, and I thought he 
 was going to take out a bottle, but, instead, he hand- 
 ed me a thick square envelope with a big red seal. 
 
 " Here, Joseph," said he, " is something that Briga- 
 dier Werner charged me to give you." 
 
 I felt my heart jump and I could not see clearly. 
 
 " Why don't you open it ?" said Father Goulden. 
 
 I opened it and tried to read, but had to take a 
 little time. At last I cried out, " It is the permit." 
 
 " Do you believe it ? " said he. 
 
 " Yes, it is the permit," I said, holding it at arm's 
 length. 
 
 " Ah ! that rascal of a minister, he has sent no oth- 
 ers," said Father Goulden. 
 
 " But," I said, " I know nothing of politics, since the 
 permit has come, the rest does not concern me." 
 
 He laughed aloud, saying, " Good, Joseph, good !" 
 
 I saw that he was laughing at me, but I did not 
 care. 
 
WATERLOO. 61 
 
 " We must let Catherine and Aunt Gredel know 
 immediately," I cried in the joy of my heart ; " we 
 must send Chaudron's boy right away." 
 
 " Ha ! go yourself, that will be better," said the 
 good man. 
 
 " But the work, Mr. Goulden ?" 
 
 " Pshaw ! pshaw ! at a time like this one forgets 
 work ! Go ! child, stir yourself, how could you work 
 now ? You can not see clearly." 
 
 It was true I could do nothing. I was so happy 
 that I cried, I embraced Mr. Goulden, and then 
 without taking time to change my coat I set off, 
 and was so absorbed by my happiness, that I 
 had gone far beyond the German gate, the bridge 
 and the outworks and the post station, and it was 
 only when I was within a hundred yards of the 
 village and saw the chimney and the little windows 
 that I recalled it all like a dream, and commenced 
 to read the permit again, repeating, "It is true, 
 yes, it is true ; what happiness ! what will they say !" 
 
 I reached the house and pushed open the door 
 exclaiming, " The permit !" 
 
 Aunt Gredel in her sabots was just sweeping the 
 jkitchen, and Catherine was coming down stairs with 
 her arms bare, and her blue kerchief crossed over her 
 breast ; she had been to the garret for chips, and 
 
62 WATERLOO. 
 
 both of them on seeing me and hearing me cry, 
 " the permit ! " stood stock still. But I repeated, 
 " the permit ! " and Aunt Gredel threw up her hands 
 as I had done, exclaiming, " Long live the King !" 
 
 Catherine, quite pale, was leaning against the side 
 of the staircase ; I was at her side in an instant and 
 embraced her so heartily that she leaned on my shoul- 
 der and cried, and I carried her down, so to speak, 
 while aunt danced round us, exclaiming, " Long live 
 the King ! long live the Minister !" 
 
 There was never any thing like it. The old black- 
 smith, Ruppert, with his leather apron on and his 
 shirt open at the throat, came in to ask what had 
 happened. 
 
 " What is it, neighbor ? " said he, as he held his 
 big tongs in his hands and opened his little eyes as 
 wide as possible. 
 
 This calmed us a little, and I answered, " We have 
 received our permit to marry." 
 
 "Ah, that is it? is it? now I understand, I un- 
 derstand." 
 
 He had left the door open and five or six other 
 neighbors came in — Anna Schmoutz, the spinner, 
 Christopher Wagner, the field guard, Zapheri Gross, 
 and several others, till the room was full. I read the 
 permit aloud ; everybody listened, and when it was 
 
WATERLOO. 63 
 
 finished Catherine began to cry again, and Aunt 
 Gredel said : 
 
 " Joseph, that minister is the best of men. If ho 
 were here, I would embrace him and invite him to 
 the wedding ; he should have the place of honor next 
 Mr. Goulden." 
 
 Then the women went off to spread the news, and 
 I commenced my declarations anew to Catherine, as 
 if the old ones went for nothing ; and I made her 
 repeat a thousand times that she had never loved 
 any one but me, till we cried and laughed, and 
 laughed and cried, one after the other, till night. 
 We heard Aunt Gredel, as she attended to the cook- 
 ing, talking to herself and saying, " That is what I 
 call a good king ;" or, " If my good Franz could 
 come back to the earth he would be happy to-day, 
 but one can not have every thing." She said, also, that 
 the procession had done us good ; but Catherine and 
 I were too happy to answer a word. We dined, and 
 lunched, and took supper without seeing or hearing any 
 hing, and it was nine o'clock when I suddenly per' 
 ceived it was time to go home. Catherine and Aunt 
 Gredel and I went out together, the moon was shining 
 brightly, and they went with me to the " Roulette," 
 and while on the way we agreed that the marriage 
 should take place in fifteen days. At the farm-house, 
 
64 WATERLOO. 
 
 under the poplars, aunt kissed me, and I kissed 
 Catherine, and then watched them as they went back 
 to the village. When they reached home they 
 turned and kissed their hands to me, and then I came 
 back to town, crossed the great square, and got 
 home about ten o'clock. Mr. Goulden was awake 
 though in bed, and he, heard me open the door softly. 
 I had lighted my lamp and was going to my chamber, 
 when he called, " Joseph !" 
 
 I went to him, and he took me in his arms and we 
 kissed each other, and he said : 
 
 " It is well, my child ; you are happy, and you de- 
 serve to be. Now go to bed, and to-morrow we will 
 talk about it." 
 
 I went to bed, but it was long before I could sleep 
 soundly. I wakened every moment, thinking, " Is it 
 really true that the permit has come ?" Then I 
 would say to myself, " Yes ; it is true." But toward 
 morning I slept. When I wakened it was broad day, 
 and I jumped out of bed to dress myself, when Fa- 
 ther Goulden called out, as happy as possible^ 
 " Come, Joseph, come to breakfast." 
 
 " Forgive me, Mr. Goulden," I replied ; " I was so 
 happy I could hardly sleep." 
 
 " Yes, yes, I heard you," he answered and we went 
 into the workshop, where the table was already laid 
 
WATERLOO. tffi 
 
 VI. 
 
 After the t oy of marrying Catherine, my greatest 
 delight was in thinking I should be a tradesman, for 
 there was a great difference between fighting for the 
 king of Prussia and doing business on one's own ac- 
 count. Mr. Goulden had told me he would take me 
 into partnership with him, and I imagined myself 
 taking my little wife to mass and then going for 
 a walk to the Roche-plate or to Bonne-Fontaine. 
 This gave me great pleasure. In the mean time I 
 went every day to see Catherine ; she would wait for 
 me in the orchard, while Aunt Gredel prepared the 
 little cakes and the bride's loaf for the wedding. 
 We did nothing but look at each other for hours to 
 gether ; she was so fresh and joyous and grew prettier 
 every day. 
 
 Mr. Goulden would say on seeing me come home 
 happier every night, " Well ! Joseph, matters seem to 
 be better than when we were at Leipzig I" 
 
66 WATERLOO. 
 
 Sometimes I wanted to go to work again, but he 
 always stopped me by saying, " Oh ! pshaw ! happy 
 days in life are so few. Go and see Catherine, go ! 
 if I should take a fancy to be married by and by 
 you can work for us both." And then he would 
 laugh. Such men as he ought to live a hundred 
 years, such a good heart ! so true and honest ! He 
 was a real father to us. And even now, after so many 
 years, when I think of him with his black silk cap 
 drawn over his ears, and his gray beard eight days 
 old, and the little wrinkles about his eyes showiDg so 
 much good humor, it seems to me that I still hear 
 his voice and the tears will come in spite of me. 
 
 But I must tell you here of something which hap- 
 pened before the wedding and which I shall never 
 forget. It was the 6th of July and we were to be 
 married on the 8th. I had dreamed of it all night. 
 I rose between six and seven. Father Goulden was 
 already at work, with the windows open. I was 
 washing my face and thinking I would run over to 
 Quatre Vents, when all at once a bugle and two taps 
 of a drum were heard at the gate of France, just 
 as when a regiment arrives, they try their mouth 
 pieces, and tap their drums just to get the sticks well 
 in hand. When I heard that my hair stood on end, 
 and I exclaimed, "Mr. Goulden, it is the Sixth ! " 
 
WATERLOO. 67 
 
 "Yes, indeed, for eight days everybody has been 
 talking about it, but you hear nothing in these days. 
 It is the wedding bouquet, Joseph, and I wanted to 
 surprise you." 
 
 I listened no longer, but went down-stairs at a 
 jump. Our old drummer Padoue had already lifted 
 his stick under the dark arch, and the drummers came 
 up behind balancing their drums on their hips ; in 
 the distance was Gemeau, the commandant, on horse- 
 back, the red plumes of the grenadiers and the bayo- 
 nets came up slowly ; it was the Third battalion. 
 The march commenced, and my blood bounded. I 
 recognized at the first glance the long gray cloaks 
 which we had received on the 2 2d of October, on the 
 glacis at Erfurth ; they had become quite green from 
 the snow and wind and rain. It was worse than after 
 the battle of Leipzig. The old shakos were full of 
 ball holes, onlv the fla^ was new, in its beautiful 
 case of oil-cloth, with the fleur-de-lis at the end. 
 
 Ah ! only those who have made a campaign can 
 realize what it is to see your regiment and to hear the 
 same roll of the drum as when it is in front of the 
 enemy, and to say to yourself, " There are your com- 
 rades, who return beaten, humiliated, and crushed, 
 bowing their heads under another cockade." No ! 1 
 never felt any thing like it. Later many of the men 
 
68 WATERLOO. 
 
 of the Sixth came and settled down at Pfalzbourg, 
 they were my old officers, old sergeants, and were 
 al ways welcome, there was Lafleche, Carabin, Laver 
 gne, Monyot, Padoue, Chazi, and many others. Those 
 who commanded me during the war sawed wood for 
 me, put on tiles, were my carpenters and masons. 
 After giving me orders they obeyed me, for I was 
 independent, and had business, while they were simply 
 laborers. But that was nothing, and I always treat- 
 ed my old chiefs with respect, I always thought, " at 
 Weissenfels, at Lutzen, and at Leipzig, these men who 
 now are forced to labor so hard to support themselves 
 and their families, represented at the front the honor 
 and the courage of France. These changes came 
 after Waterloo ! and our old Ensign Faizart, swept 
 the bridge at the gate of France for fifteen years ! 
 That is not right, the country ought to be more 
 grateful. 
 
 It was the Third battalion that returned, in so 
 wretched a state that it made the hearts of good mei 
 bleed. Zebede told me that they left Versailles 01 
 the 31st of March, after the capitulation of Paris, ant 
 marched to Chartres, to Chateaudun, to Blois, Orleans 
 and so on like real Bohemians, for six weeks without 
 pay or equipments, until at last at Rouen, they re« 
 ceived orders to cross France and return to Pfalz- 
 
WATERLOO. 69 
 
 bourg, and everywhere the processions and funeral 
 services for the king, Louis XVI., had excited the 
 people against them. They were obliged to bear it 
 all, and even were compelled to bivouac in the fields 
 while the Russians, Austrians, and Prussians, and 
 other beggars, lived quietly in our towns. 
 
 Zebede wept with rage as he recounted their suf- 
 ferings afterward. 
 
 " Is France no longer France ?" he asked. " Have 
 we not fought for her honor ?" 
 
 But it gives me pleasure now in my old age, to re- 
 member how we received the Sixth at Pfalzbourg. 
 You know that the First battalion had already ar- 
 rived from Spain, and that the remnant of this regi- 
 ment and of the 24th infantry of the line formed the 
 6 th regiment of Berry, so that all the village was re- 
 joicing that instead of the few old veterans, we were 
 to have two thousand men in garrison. There was 
 great rejoicing, and everybody shouted, " Long live 
 the Sixth ;" the children ran out to St. Jean to meet 
 them, and the battalion had nowhere been better 
 received than here. Several old fellows wept and 
 shouted, " Long live France." But in spite of all 
 that, the officers were dejected and only made signs 
 with their hands as if to thank the people for theit 
 kind reception. 
 
TO WATERLOO. 
 
 I stood on our door-steps while three c r four nun 
 dred men filed past, so ragged that I could not distin 
 guish our number, but suddenly I saw Zebede, who 
 was marching in the rear, so thin that his long 
 crooked nose stood out from his face like a beak, his 
 old cloak hanging like fringe down his back, but he 
 had his sergeant's stiipes, and his large bony shoul- 
 ders gave him the appearance of strength. On see- 
 ing him, I cried out so loud that it could be heard 
 above the drums, " Zebede !" 
 
 He turned round and I sprang into his arms and 
 he put down his gun at the corner of the rue Fou- 
 quet. I cried like a child and he said, "Ah 1 it is you, 
 Joseph ! there are two of us left then, at least." 
 
 " Yes, it is I," said I, " and I am going to marry 
 Catherine, and you shall be my best man." 
 
 We marched along together to the corner of the 
 rue Houte, where old Furst was waiting with tears 
 in his eyes. The poor old man thought, " Perhaps my 
 son will come too." Seeing Zebede coming with me, 
 he turned suddenly into the little dark entrance to 
 his house. On the square, Father Klipfel and five or 
 six others were looking at the battalion in line. It 
 is true they had received the notices of the deaths, 
 but still they thought there might b6 mistakes, and 
 that their sons did not like to write, They looked 
 
WATERLOO. Tl 
 
 amongst them, and then went away while the drums 
 were beating. 
 
 They called the roll, and just at that moment the 
 Id grave-digger came up with his little yellow velvet 
 vest and his gray cotton cap. He looked behind the 
 ranks where I was talking with Zebede who turned 
 round and saw him and grew quite pale, they looked 
 at each other for an instant, then I took his gun and 
 the old man embraced his son. They did not say a 
 vord, but remained in each other's arms for a long 
 while. Then when the battalion filed off to the ristfit 
 to go to the barracks, Zebede asked permission of 
 Captain Vidal to go home with his father, and gave 
 his gun to his nearest comrade. We went together 
 to the rue de Capucins. The old man said : 
 
 " You know that grandmother is so old that she 
 can no longer get out of bed, or she would have come 
 to meet you too." 
 
 I went to the door, and then said to them, " You 
 will come and dine with us, both of you." 
 
 " I will with pleasure," said the father. " Yes, Jo 
 seph, we will come." 
 
 I went home to tell Father Goulden of my invita- 
 tion, and he was all the more pleased as Catherine 
 and her aunt were to be there also. 
 
 I never had been more happy than when th> king 
 
72 WATERLOO. 
 
 of having my beloved, my best friend, and all those 
 whom I loved the most, together at our house. 
 
 That day at eleven o'clock our large room on the first 
 floor was a pretty sight to see. The floor had been 
 well scrubbed, the round table in the middle of the 
 room was covered with a beautiful cloth with red 
 stripes and six large silver covers upon it, the nap- 
 kins folded like a boat in the shining plates, the 
 salt-cellar and the sealed bottles, and the large cut 
 glasses sparking in the sun which came over the 
 groups of lilac ranged along the windows. 
 
 Mr. Goulden wished to have every thing in abun- 
 dance, grand and magnificent, as he would for princes 
 and embassadors, and he had taken his silver from 
 the basket, a most unusual thing ; I had made the 
 soup myself. In it there were three pounds of good 
 meat, a head of cabbage, carrots in abundance, indeed 
 every thing necessary ; except that, — which you can 
 never have so good at an hotel, — every thing had 
 been crdeied by Mr. Goulden himself from the "Ville 
 de Metz." 
 
 About noon we looked at each other, smiling an 
 rubbing our hands, he in his beautiful nut-brown coat, 
 well shtved, and with his great peruke a little rusty, 
 in place of his old black silk cap, his maroon breechee 
 neatly turned over his thick woolen stockings, and 
 
WATERLOO. 73 
 
 shoes with great buckles on his feet ; while I had on 
 my sky-blue coat of the latest fashion, my shirt finely 
 plaited in front, and happiness in my heart. 
 
 All that was lacking now was our guests — Cath- 
 erine, Aunt Gredel, the grave-digger, and Zebedo. 
 We walked up and down laughing and saying, 
 "Every thing is in its place and we had best get 
 out the soup-tureen." And I looked out now and 
 then to see if they were coming. 
 
 At last Aunt Gredel and Catherine turned the corner 
 of the rue Fouquet ; they came from mass and had 
 their prayer-books under their arms, and farther on 
 I saw the old grave-digger in his fine coat with wide 
 sleeves, and his old three-cornered hat, and Zebede, 
 who had put on a clean shirt and shaved himself. 
 They came from the side next the ramparts arm in 
 arm, gravely, like men who are sober because they are 
 perfectly happy. 
 
 " Here they are," I said to Father Goulden. 
 
 We just had time to pour out the soup and put the 
 big tureen, smoking hot in the middle of the table. 
 This was happily accomplished just as Aunt Giedel 
 and Catherine came in. You can judge of their sur- 
 prise on seeing the beautiful table. We had hardly 
 kissed each other when aunt exclaimed : 
 
 " It is the wedding-day then, Mr. Goulden." 
 4 
 
74 WATERLOO. 
 
 " Yes, Madame Gredel," the good man answered 
 smiling, — on days of ceremony he always called her 
 Madame instead of Mother Gredel, " yes, the wedding 
 of good friends. You know that Zebede has just re 
 turned, and he will dine with us to-day with the old 
 grave-digger." 
 
 " Ah ! " said aunt ; " that will give me great pleas* 
 ure." 
 
 Catherine blushed deeply, and said to me in a low 
 voice : 
 
 " Now every thing is as it should be, that was what 
 we wanted to make us perfectly happy." 
 
 She looked tenderly at me as she held my hand. 
 Just then some one opened the door, and old Laurent 
 from the "Ville de Metz," with two high baskets 
 in which dishes were ranged in beautiful order one 
 above the other, cried out, " Mr. Goulden, here is the 
 dinner !" 
 
 " Yery well !" said Mr. Goulden, " now arrange it 
 on the table yourself." 
 
 And Latirent put on the radishes first, the fricasseed 
 chicken and .beautiful fat goose at the right, and on 
 the left the beef which we had ourselves arranged 
 with parsley in the plate. He put on also a nice plate 
 of sour-kraut with little sausages, near the soup. Such 
 & dinner had nevei been seen in our house before. 
 
WATERLOO. 75 
 
 Just at that moment we heard Zebede and lis fa- 
 ther coming up the stairs, and Father Goulden and I 
 ran to meet them. Mr. Goulden embraced Zebede 
 and said : 
 
 " How happy I am to see you, I know you showed 
 yourself a good comrade for Joseph in the midst of 
 the greatest danger." 
 
 Then he shook the old grave-digger's hand, saying, 
 " I am proud of you for having such a son." 
 
 Then Catherine, who had come behind us, said to 
 Zebede: 
 
 " I could not please Joseph more than to embrace 
 you, you would have carried him to Hanau only your 
 strength failed. I look upon you as a brother." 
 
 Then Zebede, who was very pale, kissed her with- 
 out saying a word, and we all went into the room 
 in silence, Catherine, Zebede, and I first, Mr. Goulden 
 and the old grave-digger came afterward. Aunt 
 Gredel arranged the dishes a little and then said : 
 
 " You are welcome, you are welcome ! you who 
 met in sorrow, have rejoined each other in joy. May 
 God send his grace on us all." 
 
 Zebede kissed Aunt Gredel and said," Always 
 fresh and in good health, it is a pleasure to see you." 
 
 " Come, Father Zebede, sit at the head of the table, 
 and you there, Zebede, that I may have you on my 
 
76 WATERLOO. 
 
 right and my left, Joseph will sit farther down, op 
 posite Catherine, and Madame Gredel at the other 
 <end to watch over all." 
 
 Each one was satisfied with his place, and Zebede 
 smiled and looked at me as if he would say : " If we 
 had had the quarter of such a dinner as this at Hanau, 
 we should never haye fallen by the road-side." Joy 
 and a good appetite shone on every face. Father 
 Gould en dipped the great silver ladle into the soup 
 as we all looked on, and served first the old grave- 
 digger, who said nothing and seemed touched by this 
 honor, then his son, and then Catherine, Aunt Gredel, 
 himself, and me. And the dinner was begun quietly. 
 
 Zebede winked and looked at me from time to time 
 with great satisfaction. We uncorked the first bottle 
 and filled the glasses. This was very good wine, 
 but there was better coming, so we did not drink each 
 other's health yet, we each ate a good slice of beef, 
 and Father Goulden said : 
 
 " Here is something good, this beef is excellent." 
 Ele found the fricassee very good also, and then I saw 
 hat Catherine was a woman of spirit, for she said : 
 
 " You know, Mr. Zebede, that we should have in- 
 vited your grandmother Margaret, whom I go to see 
 from time to time, only she is too old to go out, but 
 if you wish, she shall at least eat a morsel with us, 
 
WATERLOO. 77 
 
 and drink her grandson's health in a glass c f wine 
 What do you say, Father Zebede ?" 
 
 "I was lust thinking of that," said the old man. 
 
 Father Goulden looked at Catherine with tears in 
 his eyes, and as she rose to select a suitable piece for 
 the old woman, he kissed her, and I heard him call 
 her his daughter. 
 
 She went out with a bottle and a plate ; and while 
 she was gone Zebede said to me : 
 
 "Joseph, she who is soon to be your wife deserves 
 to be perfectly happy, for she is not only a good girl, 
 not only a woman who ought to be loved, but she 
 deserves respect also, for she has a good and feeling 
 heart. She saw what my father and I thought of 
 this excellent dinner, and she knew it would give us 
 a thousand times more pleasure if grandmother could 
 share it. I shall love her for it, as if she were my 
 sister." Then he added in a low voice : " It is when we 
 are happy that we feel the bitterness of poverty. It 
 is not enough to give our blood to our country, but 
 there is suffering at home in consequence, and when 
 we return we must have misery before our eyes." 
 
 I saw that he was growing sad, so I filled his glass 
 and we drank, and his melancholy vanished. Cath- 
 erine came back and said, "the grandmother was 
 very happy, and that she thanked Mr. Goulden, and 
 
78 WATERLOO. 
 
 said it had been a beautiful day for her." And this 
 roused everybody. As the dinner continued, Aunt 
 Gredel heard the bells for vespers, and she went out 
 to church, but Catherine remained, and the animation 
 which good wine inspires had come, and we began to 
 speak of the last campaign ; of the retreat from the 
 Rhine to Paris, of the fighting of the battalion at 
 Bibelskirchen and at Saarbruck, where Lieutenant 
 Baubin swam the Saar when it was freezing as hard 
 as stone, to destroy some boats which were still in 
 the hands of the enemy ; of the passage at Narbe- 
 fontaine, at Courcelles, at Metz, at Enzelvin, and at 
 Champion and Verdun, and, still retreating, the bat- 
 tle of Brienne. The men were nearly all destroyed, 
 but on the 4th of February the battalion was re-form- 
 ed from the remnant of the 5th light infantry, and 
 from that moment they were every day under fire ; 
 on the 5th, 6th, and 7th at Mery-sur-Seine ; on the 8th 
 at Sezanne, where the soldiers died in the mud, not 
 having strength enough to get out; the 9th and 10th 
 at Miirs^ where Zebede was buried at night in the dung- 
 heap of a farm-house in order to get warm, and the 
 terrible battle of Marche on the 11th, in which the 
 Commandant Philippe was wounded by a bayonet 
 thrust ; the encounter on the 1 2th and 1 3th at Mont- 
 mirail, the battle of Beauchamp on the 14th, the re 
 
WATERLOO. 79 
 
 treat on Montmirail on the 15th and 16th, when the 
 Prussians returned ; the combats at the Ferte-Gauche, 
 at Jouarre, at Gue-a-Train, at ISTeufchettes, and so on. 
 When the Prussians were beaten, then came the Rus- 
 sians, after them the Austrians, the Bavarians, the 
 Wurtemburgers, the Hessians, the Saxons, and the 
 Badois. 
 
 I have often heard that campaign described, but 
 never as it was done by Zebede. As he talked his 
 great thin face quivered and his long nose turned 
 down over the four hairs of his yellow mustache, and 
 his eyes would flash and he would stretch out his hand 
 from his old sleeve and you could see what he was 
 describing. The great plains of Champagne with the 
 smoking villages to the right and to the left, where 
 the women, children, and old men were wandering 
 about in groups, half naked, one carrying a miserable 
 old mattress, another with a few pieces of furniture on 
 his cart, while the snow was falling from the sky, and 
 the cannon roared in the distance, and the Cossacks 
 ^ 3re flying about like the wind with kitchen utensils 
 and even old clocks hanging to their saddles, shout- 
 ing hurrah ! \ 
 
 Furious battles were raging, singly, or cue against 
 ten, in which the desperate peasants joined also with 
 their scythes. At night the Emperor might be seen 
 
80 WATERLOO. 
 
 sitting astride his chair, with his chin resting in his 
 folded hands on the back, before a little fire with his 
 generals around him. This was the way he slept and 
 dreamed. He must have had terrible reflections after 
 the days of Marengo, Austerlitz, and Wag ram. 
 
 To fight the enemy, to suffer hunger and cold and 
 fatigue, to march and countermarch, Zebede said, 
 were nothing, but to hear the women and children 
 weeping and groaning in French in the midst of their 
 ruined homes, to know you could not help them, and 
 that the more enemies you killed, the more would you 
 have; that you must retreat, always retreat, in spite 
 of victories, in spite of courage, in spite of every 
 thing ! " that is what breaks your heart, Mr. Goulden." 
 
 In listening and looking at him we had lost all in- 
 clination to drink, and Father Goulden, with his great 
 head bent down as if thinking, said in a low voice : 
 
 " Yes, that is what glory costs, it is not enough to 
 lose our liberty, not enough to lose the rights gained 
 at such a cost, we must be pillaged, sacked, burned, 
 cut to pieces by Cossacks, we must see what has 
 not been seen for centuries, a horde of brigands 
 making law for us — but go on, we are listening, tell 
 us all." 
 
 Catherine, seeing how sad we were, filled the 
 glasses. 
 
WATERLOO. 81 
 
 "Come," said she, "to the health of Mr. Goulden 
 and Father Zebede. All these misfortunes are past 
 and will never return." 
 
 We drank, and Zebede related how it had beer 
 accessary to fill up the battalion again, on the route 
 to Soissons, with the soldiers of the 1 6th light infan- 
 try, and how they arrived at Meaux where the plague 
 was raging, although it was winter, in the hospital 
 of Piete, in consequence of the great numbers of 
 wounded who could not be cared for. 
 
 That was horrible, but the worst of all was when 
 he described their arrival at Paris, at the Barriere de 
 Charenton: the Empress, King Joseph, the King of 
 Rome, the ministers, the new princes and dukes, and 
 all the great world, were running away toward Blois, 
 and abandoning the capital to the enemy, while the 
 working-men in blouses, who gained nothing from 
 the Empire, but to be forced to give their children to 
 defend it, were gathered around the town-house bv 
 thousands, begging for arms to defend the honoi 
 of France; and the Old Guard repulsed them with 
 the bayonet ! 
 
 At this Father Goulden exclaimed. 
 
 "That is enough, Zebede, hold! stoptheie, and let 
 
 us talk of something else." 
 
 He had suddenly grown very pale; at this moment 
 4* 
 
82 WATERLOO. 
 
 Mother Gredel returned from vespers, and seeing; us 
 all so quiet, and Mr. Goulden so disturbed, asked : 
 
 " What has happened ?" 
 
 "We were speaking of the Empress and of the 
 ministers of the Emperor," replied Father Goulden, 
 forcing a laugh. 
 
 Said she, " I am .not astonished that the wine turns 
 against you. Every time I think of them, if by acci 
 dent I look in the glass, I see that it turns me quite 
 livid. The beggars ! fortunately, they are gone." 
 
 Zebede did not like this. Mr. Goulden observed it 
 and said, " Well ! France is a great and glorious coun- 
 try all the same. If the new nobles are worth no 
 more than the old ones, the people are firm. They 
 work in vain against them. The bourgeois, the arti- 
 san, and the peasant are united, they have the same 
 interests and will not give up what they have gained, 
 nor let them again put their feet on their necks. 
 Now, friends, let us go and take the air, it is late, and 
 Madame Gredel and Catherine have a long way to g 
 to Quatre Yents. Joseph will go with them." 
 
 " No," said Catherine, " Joseph must stay with his 
 friend to-day, and we will go home alone," 
 
 "Very well! so be it! on a day like this friends 
 should be together," said Mr. Goulden. 
 
 We went out arm in arm, it was dark, and after 
 
WATERLOO. S3 
 
 embracing Catherine again at the Place <PArm.es she 
 and her aunt took their way home, and after having 
 taken a few turns under the great lindens we went to 
 the " Wild Man" and refreshed ourselves with some 
 glasses of foaming beer Mr. Goulden described the 
 siege, the attack at Pernette, the sorties at Bigelberg, 
 at the barracks above, and the bombardment. It was 
 then that I learned for the first time that he had been 
 captain of a gun, and that it was he who had first 
 thought of breaking up the melting-pots in the foun- 
 dery to make shot. These stories occupied us till 
 after ten o'clock. At last Zebede left us to go to the 
 Darracks, the old grave-digger went to the rue Ca- 
 pucin, and we to our beds, where we slept till eight 
 o'clock the next morning. 
 
84 WATERLOO. 
 
 VII. 
 
 Two days afterward I was married to Catherine 
 at Aunt Gredel's at Quatre Vents. Mr. Goulden 
 represented my father. Zebede was my best man, 
 and some old comrades remaining from the battalion 
 were also at the wedding. The next day we were 
 installed in our two little rooms over the workshop 
 at Father Goulden's, Catherine and I. Many years 
 have rolled away since then ! Mr. Goulden, Aunt 
 Gredel, and the old comrades have all passed away ; 
 and Catherine's hair is as white as snow! Yet often, 
 even now, when I look at her, those times come back 
 again, and I see her as she was at twenty, fresh anc* 
 rosy, I see her arrange the flower-pots in the chambe 
 window, I hear her singing to herself, I see the sun 
 opposite, and then we descend the steep little stair- 
 case and say together, as we go into the workshop : 
 " Good morning, Mr. Goulden ;" he turns, smiles, and 
 
WATERLOO. 85 
 
 answers, " Good lnorniug, my children, good morn- 
 ing !" Then he kisses Catherine and she commences 
 to sweep and rub the furniture and prepare the soup, 
 while we examine the work we have to do during 
 the day. 
 
 Ah, those beautiful days, that charming life ! What 
 joy in being young and in having a simple, good, and 
 industrious wife ! How our hearts rejoice, and the 
 future spreads out so far — so far — before us ! We 
 shall never be old ; we shall always love each other, 
 and always keep those we love ! We shall always be 
 of good heart ; we shall always take our Sunday 
 walk arm in arm to Bonne-Fontaine ; we shall always 
 sit on the moss in the woods, and hear the bees and 
 May-bugs buzzing in the great trees filled with light ; 
 we shall always smile ! What a life ! what a life ! 
 
 And at night we shall go softly home to the nest, 
 as we silently look at the golden trains which spread 
 over the sky from Wecham to the forests of Mittel- 
 bronn, we shall press each other's hand when we hear 
 the little clock at Pfalzbourg ring out the " Angelus," 
 and those of all the villages will respond through the 
 twilight. Oh, youth ! oh, life ! 
 
 All is before me just as it was fifty years ago; 
 but other sparrows and larks sing and build in 
 the spring, other blossoms whiten the great apple- 
 
86 WATERLOO. 
 
 trees. And have we changed too, and grown' c.d 
 like the old people of those days? That alone 
 makes me believe that we shall become young 
 again, that we shall renew our loves and rejoin 
 Father Goulden and Aunt Gredel and all our dear 
 friends. Otherwise we should be too unhappy in 
 growing old. * God would not send us pain without 
 hope. And Catherine believes it too. Well! at 
 that time we were perfectly happy, every thing 
 was beautiful to us, nothing troubled our joy. 
 
 It was when the allies were passing through 
 our city by hundreds of thousands on their way 
 home. Cavalry, artillery, infantry, foot and horse, 
 with oak leaves in their shakos, on their caps, 
 and on the ends of their muskets and lances. 
 They shouted so that you could hear them a league 
 away. Just as you hear the chaffinches, thrushes, 
 and blackbirds, and thousands of other birds in 
 the autumn. At any other time this would have 
 made me sad, because it was the sign of our de- 
 feat, but I consoled myself by thinking that they 
 were going away, never to return. And when 
 Zebede came to tell me that every day the Rus» 
 siau, Austrian, Prussian, and Bavarian officers cross- 
 ed the city to visit our new commandant, Mons. 
 de la Faisanderie, who was an old emigre, and 
 
WATERLOO. 81 
 
 who covered them with honors — that such an offi 
 cer of the battalion had provoked one of these 
 strangers, and that such another half-pay officei 
 had killed two or three in duels at the "Roulette," 
 
 r the " Green Tree," or the " Flower Basket,' 
 for they were everywhere — our soldiers could not 
 bear the sight of the foreigners, there were fights 
 everywhere, and the litters of the hospital were 
 constantly going and coming — when Zebede told 
 me all these things, and when he said that so 
 many officers had been put upon half-pay in order 
 to replace them by officers from Coblentz, and that 
 the soldiers were to be compelled to go to mass 
 in full uniform, that the priests were everything and 
 epaulettes nothing any more ; instead of being vexed, 
 I only said, " Bah ! all these things will get settled 
 by and by. So long as we can have quiet, and 
 can live and labor in peace, we will be satisfied." 
 I did not think that it is not enough that one 
 
 s satisfied; to preserve peace and tranquillity, all 
 must be so likewise. I was like Aunt Gredel, who 
 found every thing right now that Ave were mar 
 ried. She came very often to see us, with her 
 basket full of fresh eggs, fruits, vegetables, and 
 cakes for our housekeeping, and she would say : 
 " Oh ! Mr. Goulden, there is no need to ask if the 
 
88 WATERLOO. 
 
 children are well, you have only to ook at theii 
 laces." 
 
 And to me she would say: "There is some dif- 
 ference, Joseph, between being married, and trudg- 
 ing along under a knapsack and musket at Lutzen I" 
 
 "I believe you, Mamma Gredel," I would answer. 
 
 Then she would sit down, with her hands on hei 
 knees, and say : " All this comes from peace ; peace 
 makes everybody happy, and to think of that mob 
 of barefoot beggars who shout against the king !" 
 
 At first Mr. Goulden, who was at work, would say 
 nothing, but when she kept on he would say, " Com<% 
 Mother Gredel, a little moderation, you know that 
 opinion is free now, we have two chambers and con- 
 stitution, and each one has a voice." 
 
 " But it is also true," said aunt looking at me ma- 
 liciously, " that one must hold his tongue from time 
 to time, and that shows a difference too." 
 
 Mr. Goulden never went farther than this, for he 
 looked upon aunt as a good woman, but who was not 
 worth the trouble of converting. He would only 
 laugh when she went too far, and matters went on 
 without jarring until something new happened. 
 
 At first there was an order from Xancy to compel 
 the people to close all their shutters during service 
 on Sunday — Jews, Lutherans, and all. There was 
 
WATERLOO. 89 
 
 no more noise in the inns and wine-shops, it was still as 
 deatji in the city during mass and vespers. The people 
 said nothing, but looked at each other as if they were 
 afraid. 
 
 The first Sunday that our shutters were closed, 
 Mr. Goulden seemed very sad, and said, as we were 
 dining in the dark, "I had hoped, my children, that 
 all this was over, and that people would have common 
 sense, and that we should be tranquil for years, but 
 unhappily I see that these Bourbons are of the same 
 race as Dagobert. Affairs are growing serious." 
 
 He did not say any thing else on this Sunday, and 
 went out in the afternoon to read the papers. Every- 
 body who could read went, while the peasants were 
 at mass, to read the papers after shutting their 
 shops. The citizens and master-workmen then got 
 in the habit of reading the papers, and a little later 
 they wanted a Casino. I remember that everybody 
 talked of Benjamin Constant and placed great confi- 
 dence in him Mr. Goulden liked him very much, and 
 as he was accustomed to go every evening to Father 
 Colin's, to read of what had taken place, we also heard 
 the news. He told us that the Duke d'Angouleme 
 was at Bordeaux, the Count d'Artois at Marseilles, 
 they had promised this, and they had said that. 
 
 Catherine was more curie us than I, she liked tc 
 
90 WATERLOO. 
 
 hear all the news there was in the country, and when 
 Mr. Goullen said any thing, I could see in her eyes 
 that she thought he was rio-ht. One evening; he said, 
 M The Duke de Berry is coming here." 
 
 We wei*e greatly astonished. " What is he going 
 to do here, Mr. Goulden ?" asked Catherine. 
 
 " He is coming to review the regiment," he ^nswei 
 ed, " I h?,ve a great curiosity to see him. The papers 
 say that he looks like Bonaparte, but that he has 
 a great deal more mind. It is not astonishing 
 for if a legitimate prince had no more sense than 
 the son of a peasant it would be a great pity. But 
 you have seen Bonaparte, Joseph, and you can 
 judge of the matter." 
 
 You can imagine how this news excited the coun- 
 try. From that day nothing was thought of but 
 erecting triumphal arches, and making white flags, 
 and the people from all the villages kept coming with 
 their carts covered with garlands. They raised a 
 triumphal arch at Pfalzbourg and another near Sa- 
 verne. Every evening after supper Catherine and 
 I went out to see how the work progressed. It was 
 between the hotel " de la Ville de Metz" and the shop 
 cf the confectioner Diirr, right across the street. The 
 old carpenter Ulrich and his boys built it. It was 
 like a great gate covered with garlands of oak leaves 
 
WATERLOO. 91 
 
 and over the front were displayed magnificent white 
 flags. 
 
 While they were doing this, Zebede came to see us 
 several times. The prince was to come from Metz 
 the regiment had received letters, which represented 
 him as being as severe as if he had gained fifty bat- 
 tles. But what vexed Zebede most was, that the 
 prince called our old officers, " Soldiers of fortune." 
 
 He arrived the first of October, at six in the even- 
 ing, we heard the cannon when he was at Gerberhoff. 
 He alighted at the " Ville de Metz," without going 
 uuder the arch. The square was crowded with 
 officers in full uniform, and from all the windows the 
 people shouted, " Long live the King, Long live the 
 Duke de Berry," just as they cried in the time o. 
 Napoleon, " Long live the Emperor." 
 
 Mr. Goulden and Catherine and I could not get 
 near because of the crowd, and we only saw the car- 
 riages and the hussars file past. A picket near our 
 house cut off all communication. That same evening 
 he received the corps of officers and condescended to 
 accept a dinner offered to him by the Sixth, but he 
 only invited Colonel Zaepfel. After the dinner, from 
 which they did not rise till ten o'clock, the principal 
 citizens gave a ball at the college. All the officers 
 and all the friends of the Bourbons were present in 
 
92 WATERLOO. 
 
 black coats, and breeches and stockings of white 
 silk, to meet the prince, and the young girls of good 
 families were there in crowds, dressed in white. I 
 still seem to hear the horses of the escort as they 
 passed in the middle of the night amid the thousands 
 shouting " Yive le Rpi ! Yive le Due de Berry !" 
 
 All the windows were illuminated, and before those 
 of the commandant there was a great shield of sky 
 blue, and the crown and the three fleur-de-lis in 
 gold, sparkled in the center. The great hall of the 
 college echoed with the music of the regimental 
 band. 
 
 Mademoiselle Bremer, who had a very fine voice, 
 was to sing the air of " Vive Henri IV." before the 
 prince. But all the village knew the next day, that 
 she had been so confused by the sight of the prince, 
 that she could not utter a word, and everybody said, 
 "Poor Mademoiselle Felicite, poor Mademoiselle 
 Felicite." 
 
 The ball lasted all night. We— Mr. Goulden, Cath - 
 erine, and I — were asleep, when about three in the 
 morning we were wakened by the hussars going by 
 and the shouts of "Vive le Due de Berry." These 
 princes must have excellent health to be able to go 
 to all the balls and dinners which are offered to them 
 on their journeys. And it must become very tire- 
 
WATERLOO. 93 
 
 some at last to be called " Your Majesty," " Your 
 Excellence," " Your Goodness," and " Your Justice," 
 and every thing else that can be thought of, that is 
 new and extraordinary, in order to make them be- 
 lieve that the people adore them and look upon them 
 as gods. If they do despise the men at last it is not 
 astonishing. If the same thing were done to us we 
 might think ourselves eagles too. 
 
 What I have told you is exactly the truth. I have 
 exaggerated nothing. 
 
 The next day they began again with new enthu- 
 siasm. The weather was. very fine, but as the prince 
 had slept badly, and the children who wished to imi- 
 tate the court without succeeding, annoyed him, and 
 he thought perhaps, that they had not done him 
 sufficient honor and had not shouted " Vive le Roi, 
 Vive le Due de Berry " loud and long enough — for all 
 the soldiers kept silent — he was in a very bad 
 humor. 
 
 I saw him very well that day, while the review was 
 taking place — the soldiers occupied the sides of the 
 square, we were at Wittman's, the leather merchant, 
 on the first floor — and also during: the consecration 
 of the flag and the Te Deum at the church, for we 
 had the fourth pew in front of the choir. They said 
 he looked like Napoleon, but it was not true; he was 
 
94: WATERLOO. 
 
 a good-looking fat fellow, short and thick, and pale 
 with fatigue, and not at all lively, quite the con- 
 trary. During the service he did nothing but yawn 
 nd rock back and forth like a pendulum. I am tell- 
 .ng you what I saw myself, and that shows how 
 blind people are, they want to find resemblances 
 everywhere. 
 
 During the review, too, I remembered that the Em- 
 peror always came on horseback, and so would dis- 
 cover at a glance if every thing was in order ; instead 
 of this, the duke came along the ranks on foot, and 
 two or three times he found fault with old soldiers, 
 examining them from head to foot. That was the 
 worst. Zebede was one of these men, and he never 
 could forgive him. 
 
 That was well enough for the review, but a more 
 serious thine: was the distribution of the crosses and 
 the fleur-de-lis. When I tell you that all the may- 
 ors and their assistants, the councilors from the 
 Baraques-d'en-Haut and the Baraques-du-bois-de- 
 chenes, from Holderloch and Hirschland, received 
 the fleur-de-lis because they headed their village 
 deputations with a white flag, and that Pinacle re- 
 ceived the cross of honor, for having arrived first 
 with the band of the Bohemian, Waldteufel, who 
 played "Vive Henri IV.," and had five or six white 
 
WATERLOO. 95 
 
 flags larger than the others ; when 1 tell you that, 
 you will understand what reasonable people thought. 
 It was a real scandal ! 
 
 In the afternoon about four o'clock, the prince left 
 for Strasbourg, accompanied by all the royalists in 
 the country on horseback, some on good mounts, and 
 others, like Pinacle, on old hacks. 
 
 One event the Pfalzbourgers of that day remem- 
 ber until this, and that is, that after the prince was 
 seated in his carriage and was driving slowly away, 
 one of the emigre officers with his head uncovered 
 and in uniform, ran after him, crying in a pitiful 
 voice, " Bread, my prince, bread for my children !" 
 That made the people blush, and they ran away for 
 shame. 
 
 We went home in silence, Father Goulden was 
 lost in thought, when Aunt Gredel arrived. 
 
 " Well ! Mother Gredel, you ought to be satis- 
 fied," said he. 
 
 " And why ?" 
 
 "Because Pinacle has been decorated." 
 
 She turned quite livid, and said after a minute : 
 
 u That is the greatest trumpery that ever was seen. 
 If the prince had known what he is, he would have 
 hum* him rather than decorate him with the cross, of 
 honor." 
 
96 WATERLOO. 
 
 " That is just the trouble," said Mr. Goulden 5 
 " those people do many such things without knowing 
 it, and when they do know, it is too late " 
 
WATERLOO, 97 
 
 VIII. 
 
 So it was that Monseigneur the Duke de Berry, 
 visited the departments of the East. Every word 
 he uttered was taken up and repeated again and 
 again. Some praised his exceeding graciousness, and 
 others kept silence. From that time I suspected that 
 all these emigres and officers on half-pay, these 
 preachers with their processions and their expiations, 
 would overturn every thing again, and about the be- 
 ginning of winter we heard that not only with us, 
 but all over Alsace affairs were growing worse and 
 tforse in just the same way. 
 
 One morning between eleven and twelve Father 
 
 Goulden and I were both at work, each one thinking 
 
 after his own fashion, and Catherine was laying the 
 
 cloth. I started to go out to wash my hands at the 
 
 pump, as I always did before dinner, when I saw an 
 
 old woman wiping her feet on the straw mat at the 
 5 
 
98 WATERLOO. 
 
 foot of the stairs and shaking her skirts which were 
 covered with mud. She had a stout staff, and a large 
 rosary hung from her neck. As I looked at her 
 from the top of the stairs, she began to come up and 
 I recognized her immediately by the folds about her 
 eyes and the innumerable wrinkles round her little 
 mouth, as Anna-Marie, the pilgrim of St. Witt. The 
 poor old woman often brought us watches to menu, 
 from pious people who had confidence in her, and 
 Mr. Goulden was always delighted to see her, 
 
 "Ah!" he exclaimed, "it is Anna-Marie ! now we 
 shall have the news. And how is Mr. Such-an-one, 
 the priest ? How is the Vicar so-and-so ? Does he 
 still look as well as ever ? and Mr. Jacob, of such a 
 place. And the old sexton, Niclausse, does he still 
 ring the bells at Dann, and at Hirschland, and Saint 
 Jean ? He must begin to look old ?" 
 
 " Ah ! Mr. Goulden, thanks for Mr. Jacob, you 
 know that he lost Mademoiselle Christine last week." 
 
 " What ! Mademoiselle Christine ?" 
 
 " Yes, indeed ?" 
 
 " What a misfortune ! but we must remember that 
 we are all mortal !" 
 
 " Yes, Mr. Goulden, and when one is so fortunate 
 as to receive the holy consolations of the Church." 
 
 " Certainly — certainly, that is the principal thing." 
 
■i^-s,.- . .j 
 
 ffliWBlllll 
 
 "ah! it is anna-marie. 
 
WATERLOO. 99 
 
 So they talked on, Father Goulden laughing in his 
 sleeve. She knew every thing that happened within 
 six leagues round the city. He looked mischievously 
 at me from time to time. This same thing had hap- 
 pened a hundred times during my apprenticeship, 
 but you will understand how much more curious 
 he was now to learn all that was going on in the 
 country. 
 
 "Ah ! it is really Anna-Marie !" said he rising, " it 
 is a long time since we have seen you." 
 
 " Three months, Mr. Gouiden, three long months. 
 I have made pilgrimages to Saint Witt, to Saint 
 Odille, to Marienthal, to Hazlach, and I have vows 
 for all the saints in Alsace, in Lorraine, and in the 
 Yosges. But now I have nearly finished, only Saint 
 Quirin remains." 
 
 " Ah ! so much the better, your affairs go on well, 
 and that gives me pleasure. Sit down, Anna-Marie, 
 sit down and rest yourself." 
 
 I saw in his eyes how happy he was to have her 
 unroll her budget of news. But it appearec 1 she had 
 Hher matters to attend to. 
 
 " Oh ! Mr. Goulden " said she. " I can not to-day. 
 Others are before me, Mother Evig, Gaspard Rosen- 
 kranz, and Jacob Heilig. I must go to Saint Quirin, 
 to-night. I only just came in to tell you that the clock 
 
100 WATERLOO. 
 
 at Dosenheim is out of order, and that they are ex 
 pecting you to repair it." 
 
 " Pshaw ! pshaw ! stay a moment." I 
 
 " No, I can not, I am very sorry, Mr. Goulden, bul 
 I must finish my round." 
 
 She had already taken up her bundle, and Mr. 
 Goulden seemed greatly disappointed ; when Catherine 
 put a great dish of cabbage on the table, and said, 
 " What ! are you going Anna-Marie ? you can not 
 think of it ! here is your plate !" 
 
 She turned her head and saw the smoking soup 
 and the cabbage, which exhaled a most delicious 
 odor. 
 
 " I am in a great hurry," said she. 
 
 " Oh ! pshaw ! you have very good legs," said 
 Catherine, glancing at Mr. Goulden. 
 
 " Yes, thank God, they are very good still." 
 
 " "Well, sit down then and refresh yourself. It is 
 hard work to be always walking." 
 
 " Yes, indeed, Madame Bertha, one earns the 
 thirty sous that one gets." 
 
 I placed the chairs. 
 
 " Sit down, Anna-Marie, and give me your stick," 
 
 "Well, I must listen to you, I suppose, but I cau 
 not stay long, I will only take a mouthful and theo 
 go." 
 
WATERLOO. 101 
 
 "Yes, yes, that is settled Anna- Marie," said Mr 
 Goulden ; " we will not hinder you long." 
 
 We sat down, and Mr. Goulden served us at once. 
 Catherine looked at me and smiled, and I said t 
 myself, " Women are more ingenious than we," and 
 I was very happy. What more could a man wish for 
 than to have a wife with sense and spirit ? It is a 
 real treasure, and I have often seen that men are 
 happy when they allow themselves to be guided by 
 such a woman. You can easily believe that when 
 once seated at the table near the fire, instead of be- 
 ing out in the mud, with the sharp November wind 
 whistling in her thin skirts, she no longer thought 
 of her journey. She was a good creature sixty years 
 old, who still supported two children of her son who 
 died some years before. To travel round the country 
 at that age, with the sun and rain and snow on your 
 back, to sleep in barns and stables on straw, and 
 three-quarters of the time have only potatoes to eat 
 and not enough of them, does not make one despise 
 a plate of good hot soup, a piece of smoked bacon 
 and cabbage, with two or three glasses of wine to 
 warm the heart. No, you must look at things as 
 they are, the life of these poor people is very hard, 
 every one would do well to try a pilgrimage on his 
 own account. 
 
102 WATERLOO. 
 
 Anna-Marie understood the difference between be. 
 ing at table and on the road, she ate with a gocd 
 appetite, and she took real pleasure in telling us what 
 she had seen during her last round. 
 
 " Yes," said she, " every thing is going on well now. 
 All the p rocessions and expiations which you have 
 seen are nothing, ,they will grow larger and more 
 imposing from day to day. And you know there are 
 missionaries coming among us, as they used to do 
 among the savages, to convert us. They are coming 
 from Mr. de Forbin-Janson and Mr. de Ranzan, be- 
 cause the corruption of the times is so great. And 
 the convents are to be rebuilt, and the gates along the 
 roads restored, as they were before the twenty-five 
 years' rebellion. And when the pilgrims arrive at the 
 convents, they will only have to ring and they will 
 be admitted at once, when the brothers who serve, 
 will bring them porringers of rich soup with meat 
 on ordinary days, and vegetable soup with fish on 
 Fridays and Saturdays and during Lent. In that 
 way piety will increase, and everybody will make 
 pilgrimages. But the pious women of Bischoffsheim 
 6ay, that only those who have been pilgrims from 
 father to son, like us, ought to go; that each one 
 ought to attend to his work, that the peasants should 
 belong to the soil, and that the lords should have 
 
WATERLOO. 103 
 
 their chateaux again, and govern them. I heard this 
 with my own ears from these pious women, who are 
 to have their properties again because they have 
 returned from exile, and that they must have theii 
 estates in order to build their chapels is very cer- 
 tain. Oh! if that were only done now, so I could 
 profit by it in my old age ! I have fasted long 
 enough, and my little grandchildren also. I would 
 take them with me, and the priests would teach them, 
 and when I die I should have the consolation of seeing 
 them in a good way." 
 
 On hearing her recount all these things so contra- 
 ry to reason we were much moved, for she wept as 
 she imagined her little girls begging at the door of 
 the convent and the brother bringing them soup. 
 
 " And you know, too, that Mr. de Ranzan and the 
 reverend Father Tarin want the chateaux rebuilt, and 
 the woods and meadows and fields given up to the 
 nobles, and in the mean time that the ponds are to 
 be put in good condition, because they belong to the 
 reverend fathers, who have no time to plow or sow 
 01 reap. Every thing must come to t': em of itself." 
 
 " But tell us, Anna-Marie, is all this quite certain ? 
 I can hardly believe that such great happiness is iD 
 store for us." 
 
 " It is quite certain, Mr. Goulden. The Count d'Ar- 
 
104: WATERLOO. 
 
 tois wishes to secure Lis salvation, and in order to dc 
 that every thing must be set in order. Mons. le 
 Vicar Antoine of Marienthal said the same things last 
 week. They come from above, — these things, — aid 
 the hearts of the people must be accustomed to them 
 by the sermons and expiations. Those who will not 
 submit, like the Jews and Lutherans, will be forced to 
 do so, and the Jacobins" — in speaking of the Jaco- 
 bins Anna-Marie looked suddenly at Mr. Goulden 
 and blushed up to her ears, for he was smiling. 
 
 But she recovered herself, and went on : 
 
 " Among the Jacobins there are some very good 
 people, but the poor must live. The Jacobins have 
 taken the property of the poor and that is not right." 
 
 " When and where have they taken the property 
 of the poor." 
 
 " Listen, Mr. Goulden, the monks and the Capuchins 
 had th# estates of the poor, and the Jacobins have 
 divided them amongst themselves." 
 
 " Ah ! I understand, I understand, the monks and 
 Capuchins had your property, Anna-Marie ; I neve 
 should have guessed that." 
 
 Mr. Goulden was all the time in good humor, and 
 Anna-Marie said : 
 
 " TV*e shall be in accord at last." 
 
 " Oh ! yes, we are, we are," said he pleasantly. 
 
WATERLOO, 105 
 
 I listened without saying any thing, as I was 
 naturally curious to hear what was coming, [t was 
 easy to see that this was what she had heard on her 
 last journey. 
 
 She said also that miracles were coming as:ain and 
 that Saint Quirin, Saint Odile, and the others would 
 not work miracles under the usurper, but that they 
 had commenced already ; that the little black St. 
 John at Kortzeroth, on seeing the ancient prior return 
 had shed tears. 
 
 "Yes, yes, I understand," said Mr. Goulden, "that 
 does not astonish me in the least, after all these 
 processions and atonements the saints must work 
 miracles ; and it is natural, Anna-Marie, quite nat- 
 ural." 
 
 " Without doubt, Mr. Goulden, and when we see 
 miracles, faith will return. That is clear, that is 
 certain." 
 
 The dinner was finished, and Anna-Marie seeing 
 that nothing more was coming, remembered that she 
 was late, and exclaimed : 
 
 " Oh ! Lord, that is one o'clock striking. The 
 others must be near Ercheviller ; now I must leave 
 you." 
 
 She rose and took her stick with a very important 
 
 air. 
 
 5* 
 
106 WATERLOO. 
 
 " Well ! bon voyage, Anna-Marie, don't make us 
 wait so long next time." 
 
 " Ah ! Mr. Goulden, if I do not sit every day a* 
 your table it is not my fault." 
 
 She laughed, and as she took up her bundle she 
 said: 
 
 " Well, good-bye, and for the kindness you have 
 shown me I will pray the blessed Saint Quirin to send 
 you a fine fat boy as fresh and rosy as a lady-apple. 
 That is the best thing, Madame Bertha, that an old 
 woman like me can do for you." 
 
 On hearing these good wishes, I said. " That old 
 woman is a good soul. There is nothing I so much 
 wish for in the world. May God hear her prayer !" 
 I was touched by that good wish. 
 
 She went down-stairs, and as she shut the door, 
 Catherine began to laugh, and said : 
 
 " She emptied her budget this time." 
 
 " Yes, my children," replied Mr. Goulden, who was 
 quite grave, " that is what we may call human ignor- 
 ance. You would believe that poor creature had in- 
 vented all that, but she has picked it up right and 
 left, it is word for word what those emigres think, 
 and what they repeat every day in their journals, and 
 what the preachers say every day openly in all the 
 churches. Louis XVIII. troubles them, he lias too 
 
WATERLOO. 107 
 
 much good sense for them, but the real king is Mon- 
 seigneur the Duke d'Artois, who wants to secure his 
 salvation, and in order that this may be done every 
 thing must be put back where it was before the ' re- 
 bellion of twenty-five years,' and all the nationa 
 property must be given up to its ancient owners, ana 
 the nobles must have their rights and privileges as in 
 1788 ; they must occupy all the grades of the army, 
 and the Catholic religion must be the only religion 
 in the state. The Sabbath and fete days must be 
 observed, and heretics driven from all the offices, and 
 the priests alone have the right to instruct the chil- 
 dren of the people, and this great and terrible country, 
 which carried its ideas of Liberty, Equality, and Fra- 
 ternity everywhere by means of its good sense and 
 its victories, and which never would have been van- 
 quished if the Emperor had not made an alliance witn 
 the kings at Tilsit, this nation, which in a few years 
 produced so many more great captains and orators, 
 learned men and geniuses of all kinds, than the noble 
 races produced in a thousand years, must surrender 
 every thing and go back to tilling the earth, while 
 the others, who are not one in a thousand, will go on 
 from father to son, taking every thing and gladden- 
 ing their hearts at the expense of the people ! Oh ! 
 no doubt the fields and meadows and p'L Is wil* 
 
108 WATERLOO. 
 
 be given up as Anna-Marie said, and that the con 
 vents will be rebuilt in order to please Mons. le 
 cointe d'Artois and help him to gain his salvation 
 — that is the least the country could do for so great 
 a prince !" 
 
 Then Father Goulden, joining his hands, looked up- 
 ward saying : 
 
 "Lord God, Lord God, who hast wrought so many 
 miracles by the little black St. John of Kortzeroth, if 
 thou wouldst permit even a single ray of reason to 
 enter the heads of Monseigneur and his friends, I be- 
 lieve it would be more beautiful than the tears of the 
 little saint ! And that other one on his island, with 
 his clear eyes like the sparrow-hawk who pretends 
 to sleep as he watches the unconscious geese in a 
 pool, — O Lord, a few strokes of his wing and he is 
 upon them, the birds may escape, while we shall have 
 all Europe at our heels again !" 
 
 He said all this very gravely, and I looked at Cath 
 erine to know whether I should laugh or cry. 
 
 Suddenly he sat down, saying : 
 
 " Come ! Joseph, this is not at all cheerful, but what 
 an we do ? It is time to be at work. Look, and 
 see what is the matter with Mr. Jacob's watch." 
 
 Catherine took off the cloth, and eacr one went tc 
 his work. 
 
WATERLOO, 109 
 
 IX. 
 
 It was winter. Rain fell constantly, mingled with 
 snow. There were no gutters, and the wind blew the 
 rain as it fell from the tiles quite into the middle of 
 the street. "We could hear it pattering all day while 
 Catherine was running about, watching the fire, and 
 lifting the covers of the saucepans, and sometimes 
 singing quietly to herself as she sat down to her spin- 
 ning. Father Goulden and I were so accustomed to 
 this kind of life that we worked on without thinking. 
 We troubled ourselves about nothing, the table was 
 laid and the dinner served exactly on the stroke of 
 noon. At night Mr. Goulden went out after supper 
 to read the gazette at Hoffman's, with his old cloak 
 wrapped closely round his shoulders and his big fox- 
 skin cap pulled down over his neck. 
 
 But in spite of that, often when he came in at ten, 
 o'clock, after we had gone to bed, we heard hi'.r 
 
110 WATERLOO. 
 
 cough ; he had dampened his feet. Then Catherine 
 would say, " He is coughing again, he thinks he ig 
 as young as he was at twenty," and io the morning 
 she did not hesitate to reproach him. 
 
 "Monsieur Goulden," she would say, " you are not 
 reasonable ; you have an ugly cold, and yet you go 
 out every evening.". 
 
 " Ah ! my child, what would you have. I have 
 got the habit of reading the gazette, and it is stronger 
 than I. I want to know what Benjamin Constant 
 and the rest of them say, it is like a second life to me 
 and I often think " they ought to have spoken further 
 of such or such a thing. If Melchior Goulden had 
 been there he would have opposed this or that, and it 
 would not have failed to produce a great effect." 
 
 Then he would lausfh and shake his head and 
 say: 
 
 " Every one thinks he has more wit and good sense 
 than the others, but Benjamin Constant always 
 pleases me." 
 
 We could say nothing more, his desire to read the 
 gazette was so great. One day Catherine said t 
 him : 
 
 " If you wish to hear the news, that is no reason 
 why you should make yourself sick, you have only tc 
 do as the old carpenter Carabin does, he arranged last 
 
WATERLOO. Ill 
 
 vreek. with Father Hoffman, and he sends him the jour- 
 nal every night at seven o'clock, after the others have 
 read it, for which he pays him three francs a month. 
 In this way, without any trouble to himself, Carabin 
 knows every thing that goes on, and his wife, old 
 Bevel, also ; they sit by the fire and talk about all 
 these things and discuss them together, and that is 
 what you should do." 
 
 " Ah ! Catherine, that is an excellent idea, but — 
 the three francs ?" 
 
 " The three francs are nothing," said I, " the prin- 
 cipal thing is not to be sick, you cough. very badly 
 and that can not go on." 
 
 These words, far from offending, pleased him, as 
 they proved our affection for him and that he ought 
 to listen to us. 
 
 " Very well ! we will try to arrange it as you wish, 
 Mid the rather as the cafe is filled with half-pay offi- 
 cers from morning till night, and they pass the jour- 
 nals from one to the other so that sometimes we must 
 wait two hours before we can catch one. Yes r Oath 
 erine is right." 
 
 He went that very day to see Father Hoffman, so 
 that after that, Michel, one of the waiters at the cafe 
 brought us the gazette every night at seven o'clock,, 
 just as we rose from the table. We were happy al 
 
112 WATERLOO. 
 
 ways when we heard him coming up the stairs, and 
 we would say, " There comes the gazette." 
 
 Catharine would hurry off the cloth and I would 
 put a big billet of wood in the stove, and Mr. Goul- 
 den would draw his spectacles from their case, and 
 while Catharine spun and I smoked my pipe like an 
 old soldier, and watched the blaze as it danced in the 
 stove, he would read us the news from Paris. 
 
 You can not imagine the happiness and satisfaction 
 we had in hearing Benjamin Constant and two or 
 three others maintain the same opinions which we 
 held ourselves. Sometimes Mr. Goulden was forced 
 to stop to wipe his spectacles, and then Catherine 
 would exclaim : 
 
 " How well these people talk. They are men of 
 good sense. Yes, what they say is right — it is the 
 simple truth." 
 
 And we all approved it. Sometimes Father Goul- 
 den thought that they ought to have spoken of this 
 or that a little more, but that the rest was all very 
 well. Then he would go on with his reading, which 
 lasted till ten o'clock, and then we all went to bed, 
 reflecting on what we had just heard. Outside the 
 wind blew, as it only can blow at Pfalzbourg, and 
 vanes creaked as they turned, and the rain beat 
 against the walls, while we enjoyed the warmth and 
 
WATERLOO. 113 
 
 comfort, and thanked God till sleep came, and we 
 forget everything. Ah ! how happily we sleep with 
 peace in our souls, and when we have strength and 
 health, and the love and respect of those whom we 
 love. 
 
 Days, weeks, and months went by, and we be- 
 came, after a manner, politicians, and when the minis- 
 ters were going to speak, we thought : 
 
 " Now the beggars want to deceive us ! the mis- 
 erable race ! they ought to be driven out, every one 
 of them !" 
 
 Catherine above all could not endure them, and 
 when Mother Gredel came and talked as before about 
 our good king Louis XVIII. , we allowed her to talk 
 out of respect, but we pitied her for being so blind 
 to the real interests of the country. 
 
 ^ It must be remembered, too, that these emigres, 
 ministers, and princes, conducted themselves in the 
 most insolent manner possible toward us. If the 
 Count d'Artois and his sons had put themselves at 
 the head of the Vendeeans and Bretons, and marched 
 on Paris and had been victorious, they would have 
 had reason to say, "We are masters, and will make laws 
 for you. 1 ' But to be driven out at first, and to be 
 brought back by the Prussians and the Russians, and 
 then to come and humiliate us, that was contemptible, 
 
114 WATERLOO, 
 
 and the older I grow the more I am confirmed in that 
 idea — it was shameful ! 
 
 Zebede came to see us from time to time, and h 
 knew all that was in the gazette. It was from u 
 that he first learned, that the young emigres had 
 driven General Yandamme from the presence of the 
 king. This old sol„dier, who had just returned from 
 a Russian prison, and whom all the army respected 
 in spite of his misfortune at Kulm, they conducted 
 from the royal presence, and told him that was 
 not his place. Vandamme had been colonel of a 
 regiment at Pfalzbourg, and you can not imagine the 
 indignation of the people at this news. 
 
 And it was Zebede who told us, that processes had 
 been made out against the generals on half-pay, and 
 that their letters were opened at the post, that they 
 might appear like traitors. He told us a little afterward 
 that they were going to send away the daughters of 
 the old officers who were at the school of St. Denis 
 and give them a pension of two hundred francs ; and 
 later still, that the emigres alone would have the 
 right to put their sons in the schools at " St. Cyr" and 
 " la Fleche" to be educated as officers, while the peo- 
 ple's sons would remain soldiers at five centimes 
 (one cent) a day for centuries to come. 
 
 The gazettes told the same stories, but Zebede 
 
WATERLOO. 115 
 
 knew a great many other details — the soldiers knew 
 every thing. 
 
 I could not describe Zebede's face to you as he 
 sat behind the stove, with the end of his black pipe 
 between his teeth, recounting all these misfortunes, 
 His great nose would turn pale, and the muscles 
 would twitch around the corners of his light gray 
 eyes, and he would pretend to laugh from time to 
 time, and murmur, " It moves, it moves." 
 
 " And what do the other soldiers think of all this ?" 
 said Father Goulden. 
 
 " Ha ! they think it is pretty well when they have 
 given their blood to France for twenty years, when 
 they have made, ten, fifteen, and twenty campaigns, 
 and wear three chevrons, and are riddled with wounds, 
 to hear that their old chiefs are driven from their 
 posts, their daughters turned out of the schools, and 
 that the sons of those people are to be their officers 
 forever — that delights them, Father Goulden !" and 
 his face quivered even to his ears as he said this. 
 
 " That is terrible, certainly," said Father Goulden 
 
 but discipline is always discipline there. The 
 marshals obey the ministers, and the officers the 
 marshals, and the soldiers the officers." 
 
 " You are right," said Zebede, " but there, they are 
 beating the assembly." 
 
116 WATERLOO. 
 
 And he shook hands and hurried off to the 
 barracks. 
 
 The winter passed in this way, while the indigna- 
 tion increased every day. The city was full of officers 
 on half pay, who dared not remain in Paris, — lieu- 
 tenants, captains, commandants, and colonels of in- 
 fantry and cavalry —men who Aved on a crust of 
 bread and a glass of wine a day, and who were the 
 more miserable because they were forced to kee;, Uj 
 an appearance — think of such men with their hollow 
 cheeks and their hair closely cropped, with sparkling 
 eyes and their big mustaches and their old uniform 
 cloaks, of which they had been forced to change the 
 buttons, see them promenading by threes and sixes 
 and tens on the square, with their sword-canes at 
 their button-holes, and their three-cornered hats so 
 old and worn, though still well brushed ; you could 
 not help thinking that they had not one quarter 
 enough to eat. 
 
 And yet we were compelled to say to ourselves, 
 these are the victors of Jemmapes, of Fleurus, of 
 Zurich, of Hohenlinden, of Marengo, of Austerlitz, and 
 of Friedland and Wagram. If we are proud of be- 
 ing Frenchmen, neither the Comte d'Artois nor the 
 Duke de Berry can boast of being the cause ; on the 
 contrary, it is these men, and now they leave their 
 
WATERLOO. 117 
 
 to perish, they even refuse them bread and put the 
 emigres in their place. It does not need any extra- 
 ordinary amount of common sense, or heart, or of 
 justice to discover that this is contrary to nature. 
 
 I never could look at these unhappy men ; it made 
 me miserable. If you have been a soldier for only 
 six months, your respect for your old chiefs, for those 
 whom you have seen in the very front under fire, al- 
 ways remains. I was ashamed of my country for 
 permitting such indignities. 
 
 One circumstance I shall never forget : it was the 
 last of January, 1815, when two of these half-pay 
 officers — one was a large, austere, gray-haired man, 
 known as Colonel Falconette, who appeared to have 
 served in the infantry, the other was short and thick 
 and they called him Commandant Margarot, and he 
 still wore his hussar whiskers — came to us and pro- 
 posed to sell a splendid watch. It might have been 
 ten o'clock in the morning. I can see them now as 
 they came gravely in, the colonel with his high col- 
 lar, and the other one with his head down between 
 his shoulders. 
 
 The watch was a gold one, with double case ; a 
 repeater which marked the seconds, and was wound 
 up only once in eight days. I had never seen such a 
 fine one. 
 
118 WATERLOO. 
 
 While Mi. Goulden examined it I turned round on 
 my chair and looked at the men, who seemed to be 
 in great need of money, especially the hussar. Hia 
 brown, bony face, his big red mustaches, and his little 
 brown eyes, his broad shoulders and long arms, which 
 hung down to his knees, inspired me with great 
 respect. I thought that when he took his saber 
 his long arm would reach a good way, that his eyes 
 would burn under his heavy brows, and that the 
 parry and thrust would come like lightning. I im- 
 agined him in a charge, half hidden behind his horse's 
 head, with the point adA>anced, and my admiration 
 was greater still. I suddenly remembered that Col- 
 onel Falconette and Commandant Margarot had 
 killed some Russian and Austrian officers in a duel 
 in the rear of the " Green Tree," when the allies were 
 passing through the town six months ago. 
 
 The large man too, without any shirt collar, al- 
 though he was thin, wrinkled, and pale, and his tem- 
 ples were gray and his manner cold, seemed re- 
 spectable too 
 
 I waited to hear what Father Goulden would say 
 about the watch. He did not raise his eyes, but 
 looked at it with profound admiration, while the 
 men waited quietly like those who suffer from not 
 being able to conceal their pain. At last he said 
 
WATERLOO. 119 
 
 " This, gentlemen, is a beautiful watch, fit for a 
 prince ? " 
 
 " Indeed it is," said the hussar, " and it was from 
 a prince I received it after the battle of Rabbe," and 
 e glanced at his companion, who said nothing. 
 
 Mr. Goulden saw that they were in great need. 
 He took off his black silk bonnet, and said, as he rose 
 slowly from his seat: 
 
 " Gentlemen, do not take offense at what I am go- 
 ing to say. I am like you an old soldier, I served 
 France under the Republic, and I am sure it must 
 be heart-breaking to be forced to sell such a thing as 
 that, an object which recalls some noble action, the 
 souvenir of a chief whom we revere." 
 
 I had never heard Father Goulden speak with such 
 emotion, his bald head was bowed sadly, and his 
 eyes were on the ground, so that he might not see 
 the pain of those to whom he was speaking. 
 
 The commandant grew quite red, his eyes were 
 dim, his great fingers worked, and the colonel waa 
 pale as death. I wished myself away. 
 
 Mr. Goulden went on, " This watch is worth moie 
 fhan a thousand francs, I have not so much money 
 in hand, and besides you would doubtless regret to 
 part with such a souvenir. I will make you this offer, 
 leave the watch with me, I will bang it in my 
 
120 WATERLOO. 
 
 window — it shall always be yours — and I will advance 
 you two hundred francs, which you shall repay me 
 when you take it away." 
 
 On hearing this, the hussar extended his two great 
 hairy hands, as if to embrace Father Goulden. 
 
 " You are a good patriot," he exclaimed, " Colin 
 told us so. Ah ! sir, I shall never forget the service 
 you have rendered me. This watch I received, from 
 Prince Eugene for bravery in action, it is dear to me 
 as my own blood, but poverty — " 
 
 " Commandant !" exclaimed the other, turning pale. 
 
 " Colonel, permit me ! we are old comrades together. 
 They are starving us, they treat us like Cossacks. 
 They are too cowardly to shoot us outright." 
 
 He could be heard all over the house. Catherine 
 and I ran into the kitchen in order not to see the sad 
 spectacle. Mr. Goulden soothed him, and we heard 
 him say: 
 
 " Yes, yes, gentlemen, I know all that, and I put 
 myself in your place." 
 
 " Come ! Margarot, be quiet," said the colonel. 
 And this went on for a quarter of an hour. 
 . At last we heard Mr. Goulden count out the mon 
 ey, and the hussar said: 
 
 "Thank yon, sir, thank you ! If ever you have o© 
 casion, remember the Commandant Margarot." 
 
WATERLOO. 121 
 
 We were glad to hear the door open, and to hear 
 them go down-stairs, for Catherine and I were much 
 pained by what wv had heard and seen. We went 
 back to the room, and Mr. Goulden, who had been to 
 show the officers out, came back with his head bare 
 He was very much disturbed. 
 
 " These unhappy men are right," said he," the con 
 duct of the government toward them is horrible, but 
 it will have to pay for it sooner or later." 
 
 We were sad all day, but Mr. Goulden showed me 
 the watch and explained its beauties, and told me, 
 we ought always to have such models before us, and 
 then we hung it in our window. 
 
 From that moment the idea never left me that 
 matters would end badly, and that even if the emi- 
 gres stopped here, they had done too much mischief 
 already. I could still hear the commandant exclaim- 
 ing, that they treated the army like Cossacks. All 
 those processions and expiations and sermons about 
 the rebellion of twenty-five years, seemed to me to 
 be a terrible confusion, and I felt that the restoration 
 of the national property and the rebuilding of the 
 
 convents would be productive of no good. 
 6 
 
122 WATERLOO. 
 
 X. 
 
 It was about the beginning of March, when a 
 rumor began to circulate that the Emperor had just 
 landed at Cannes. This rumor was like the wind, 
 nobody ever could tell where it came from. Pfalz- 
 bourg is two hundred leagues from the sea, and 
 many a mountain and valley lies between them. An 
 extraordinary circumstance, I remember, happened 
 on the 6th of March. When I rose in the morning 
 I pushed open the window of our little chamber 
 which was just under the eaves, and looked across 
 the street at the old black chimneys of Spitz the 
 baker, and saw that a little snow still remained be- 
 hind them. The cold was sharp, though the sun was 
 shining, and I thought, " What fine weather for a 
 march !" Then I remembered how happy we used 
 to be in Germany, as we put out our camp-fires and 
 set off on such fine mornings as this, with our guns 
 
THE EMPEROR HAD SET OUT FOR PARIS. 
 
WATERLOO. 123 
 
 on our shoulders, listening to the footfalls of the bat- 
 talion echoing from the hard frozen ground. I do 
 not know how it was, but suddenly the Emperor 
 came into my mind, and I saw him with his gray 
 ;oat and round shoulders, with his hat drawn over 
 his eyes, marching along with the Old Guard behind 
 him. 
 
 Catherine was sweeping our little room, and I 
 was almost dreaming as I leaned out into the dry, 
 clear air, when we heard some one coming up the 
 stairs. Catherine stopped her sweeping and said : 
 
 " It is Mr. Goulden." 
 
 I also recognized his step, and was surprised, as 
 he seldom came into our chamber. He opened the 
 door and said in a low voice : 
 
 " My children, the Emperor landed on the 1st of 
 March at Cannes, near Toulon, and is marching upon 
 Paris." 
 
 He said no more, but sat down to take breath. 
 We looked at each other in astonishment, bu'b a 
 moment after Catherine asked : 
 
 " Is it in the gazette, Mr. Goulden ?" 
 
 " No," he replied, " either they know nothing ol 
 it over there, or else they conceal it from us. But, 
 in Heaven's name, not a word of all this, or we 
 shall be arrested. This morning, about five o'clock, 
 
124 WATERLOO. 
 
 Zebede, who mounted guard at the French gate, 
 came to let me know of it; he knocked down-stairs s 
 did you hear him ?" 
 
 " No ! we were asleep, Mr. Goulden." 
 
 " Well ! I opened the window to see what was the 
 matter, and then I went down and unlocked the 
 door. ZeVbede told it to me as a fact, and says the 
 soldiers are to be confined to the barracks till further 
 orders. It seem s they are afraid of the soldiers, but 
 how can they stop Bonaparte without them? Thej 
 can not send the peasants, whom they have stripped 
 of every thing, against him, nor the bourgeoisie 
 whom they have treated like Jacobins. Now is a 
 good time for the emigres to show themselves. But 
 silence, above all things, the most profound silence !" 
 
 He rose, and we all went down to the workshop. 
 Catherine made a good fire, and every one went 
 about his work as usual. 
 
 That day every thing was quiet, and the next 
 day also. Some neighbors, Father Riboc and Offran, 
 came in to see us, under pretense of having their 
 watches cleaned. 
 
 " Any thing new, neighbor !" they inquired. 
 
 " No, indeed !" replied Mr. Goulden. " Every thing 
 is quiet. Do you hear any thing ?" 
 
 " No." 
 
WATERLOO. 125 
 
 But you could see by their eyes, that they had 
 heard the news. Z6bede staid at the barracks. 
 The half-pay officers filled the cafe from morning till 
 night, but not a word transpired, the affair was too 
 serious. On the third day these officers, who were 
 boiling over with impatience, were seen running back 
 and forth, their very faces showing their terrible 
 anxiety. If they had had horses or even arms, I am 
 sure they would have attempted something. But the 
 guards went and came also, with old Chancel at 
 their head, and a courier was sent off hourly to Saar- 
 bourg. The excitement increased, nobody felt any 
 interest in his work. We soon learned through the 
 commercial travelers, who arrived at the " City of 
 Basle," that the upper Rhine provinces and the Jura 
 had risen, and that regiments of cavalry and infan- 
 try were following each other from Besangon, and 
 that heavy forces had been sent against the usurper. 
 
 One of these travelers having spoken rather too 
 freely, was ordered to quit the town at once, the 
 brigadier in command having examined his passport 
 and, fortunately for him, found it properly made out. 
 
 I have seen other revolutions since then, but never 
 such excitement as reigned on the 8th of March be- 
 tween four and five in the evening, when the order 
 arrived for the departure of the first and £©ooix<1 bat- 
 
126 WATERLOO. 
 
 talions fully equipped for service for .Lons-le-Saulnier 
 It was only then that the danger was fully realized, 
 and every one thought, " It is not the Duke d'Angou- 
 erne nor the Duke de Berry that we need to arrest 
 u he progress of Bonaparte, but the whole of Europe." 
 
 The faces of the officers on half-pay lighted up 
 as with a burst of sunshine, and they breathed freely 
 again. About five o'clock the first roll of the drum 
 was heard on the square, when suddenly Zebede 
 rushed in. 
 
 "Well!" said Father Goulden to him. 
 
 " The first two battalions are going away," he re- 
 plied. He was very pale. 
 
 " They are sent to stop him," said Mr. Goulden. 
 
 " Yes," said Zebede, winking, " they are going to 
 stop him," 
 
 The drums still rolled. He went down-stairs, four 
 at a time. I followed him. At the foot of the 
 stairs, and while he was on the first step, he seized 
 me by the arm, and raising his shako, whispered in 
 my ear : 
 
 " Look, Joseph, do you recognize that ?" 
 
 I saw the old tri-colored cockade in the lining. 
 
 " That is ours," he said, " all the soldiers have it." 
 
 I hardly had time to glance at it when he shook my 
 hand and, turning away, hurried to Fouquet's corner. 
 
WATERLOO. 127 
 
 I went up-stairs, saying to myself, "Now for another 
 breaking up, in which Europe will be involved; now 
 for the conscription, Joseph, the abolition of all per- 
 mits and all the other things that we read of in the ga- 
 zettes. In the place of quiet, we must be plunged in 
 confusion ; instead of listening to the ticking of clocks, 
 we must hear the thunder of cannon ; instead of 
 talking of convents, we must talk of arsenals ; instead 
 of smelling flowers and incense, we must smell pow- 
 der. Great God ! will this never come to an end ? 
 Every thing would go prosperously without mission- 
 aries and emigres. What a calamity ! What a ca- 
 lamity! We who work and ask for nothing are 
 always the ones who have to pay. All these crimes 
 are committed for our happiness, while they mock ur> 
 and treat us like brutes." A great many other ideay 
 passed through my head, but what good did they du 
 me ? I was not the Comte d'Artois, nor was I th<; 
 Duke de Berry ; and one must be a prince in order 
 that his ideas may be of consequence, and that every 
 word he speaks may pass for a miracle. 
 
 Father Goulden could not keep still a moment that 
 afternoon. He was just as impatient as I was who n 
 I was expecting my permit to marry. He would 
 look out of the window every moment and say, 
 " There will be great news to-day ; the orders have 
 
128 WATERLOO. 
 
 been given, and there is no need of hiding any thing 
 from us any longer." And from time to time he 
 would exclaim, " Hush ! here is the mail coach !" 
 
 We would listen, but it was Lanche's cart with his 
 old horses, or Baptiste's boat at the bridge. It was 
 quite dark and Catherine had laid the cloth, when 
 for the twentieth time Mr. Gould en exclaimed, 
 " Listen !" 
 
 This time we heard a distant rumbling, which came 
 nearer every moment. Without waiting an instant, 
 he ran to the alcove and slipped on his big waistcoat, 
 crying : 
 
 " Joseph, it has come." 
 
 He rolled down the stairs, as it were, and from 
 seeing him in such a hurry the desire to hear the 
 news seized me, and I followed him. We had hardly 
 reached the street when the coach came through the 
 dark gateway, with its two red lanterns, and rushed 
 past us like a thunderbolt. We ran after it, but we 
 w T ere not alone ; from all sides we heard the people 
 running and shouting, " There it is, there it is P 
 The post-office was in the rue des Foins, near the 
 German gate, and the coach went straight down to 
 the college and turned there to the right. The far- 
 ther we went the greater was the crowd ; it poured 
 from every door. 
 
WATERLOO. 129 
 
 The old mayor, Mr. Parmentier, his secretary, 
 Eschbach, and Cauchois, the tax-gatherer, and many 
 other notables were in the crowd, talking together 
 and saying : 
 
 " The decisive moment has come." 
 
 When we turned into the Place d'Armes, we saw 
 the crowd already gathered in front of the post- 
 office ; innumerable faces were leaning over the iron 
 balustrade, one trying to get before the other, and 
 interrogating the courier, who did not answer a 
 word. 
 
 The postmaster, Mr. Pernette, opened the win- 
 dow, which was lighted up from the inside, and 
 the package of letters and papers flew from the coach 
 through this window into the room ; the window 
 closed, and the crack of the postilion's whip warned 
 the crowd to get out of the way. 
 
 " The papers, the papers !" shouted the crowd 
 from every side. The coach set off again and dis* 
 appeared through the German gate. 
 
 "Let us go to Hoffman's cafe," said Mr. Goulden 
 " Hurry ! the papers will go there, and if we wait 
 we shall not be able to get in." 
 
 As we crossed the square we heard some one run 
 ning behind us, and the clear, strong voice of Marga< 
 rot, saying : 
 
 6* 
 
130 WATERLOO. 
 
 " They have come, I have them." 
 
 All the half-pay officers were following him, and as 
 the moon was shining we could see they were coming 
 at a great pace. We rushed into the cafe and were 
 hardly seated near the great stove of Delft ware, 
 when the crowd at once poured in through both 
 doors. You should have seen the faces of the half- 
 pay officers at that moment. Their great three- 
 cornered hats, defiling under the lamps, their thin 
 faces with their long mustaches hanging down, their 
 sparkling eyes peering into the darkness, made them 
 look like savages in pursuit of something. Some of 
 them squinted in their impatience and anxiety, and I 
 think that they did not see any thing at all, and that 
 their thoughts were elsewhere with Bonaparte ; — that 
 was fearful. 
 
 The people kept coming and coming, till we were 
 suffocating, and were obliged to open the windows. 
 Outside in the street, where the cavalry barracks 
 were, and on the Fountain Square, there was a great 
 tumult. 
 
 " We did weL to come at once," said Mr. Goulden, 
 springing on a chair and steadying himself with his 
 hand on the stove. Others were doing the same thing, 
 and I followed his example. Nothing could be seen 
 but the easier faces and the bio- hats of the officers. 
 
WATERLOO. 131 
 
 and the great crowd on the square outside in the 
 moonlight. The tumult increased and a voice cried, 
 " Silence." It was the Commandant Margarot, who 
 had mounted upon a table. Behind him the gen- 
 darmes Keltz and Werner looked on, and at all the 
 open windows people were leaning in to hear. On 
 the square at the same instant somebody repeated, 
 " Silence, silence." And it was at once so still that 
 you would have said, there was not a soul there. 
 
 The commandant read the gazette. His clear 
 voice pronouncing every word with a sort of quaver 
 in it, resembling the tic-tac of our clock in the middle 
 of the night, and it could be distinctly heard in the 
 square. The reading lasted a long time, for the com- 
 mandant omitted nothing. I remember it commenced 
 by declaring that the one called Bonaparte, a public 
 enemy, who for fifteen years had held France in des- 
 potic slavery, had escaped from his island, and had 
 had the audacity to set his foot on the soil deluged 
 with blood through his own crimes, but that the 
 troops — faithful to the King and to the nation — were 
 on the march to stop him, and that in view of the 
 general horror, Bonaparte, with the handful of beg- 
 gars that accompanied him, had fled to the mountains, 
 but that he was surrounded on all sides and could 
 not escape. 
 
132 WATERLOO. 
 
 I reme ruber too, according to that gazette all the 
 marshals had hastened to place their glorious swords 
 at the service of the King, the father of the people 
 and of the nation, and that the illustrious Marshal 
 Ney, prince of Moscowa, had kissed the King's hand 
 and promised to bring Bonaparte to Paris dead or 
 alive. After that there were some Latin words which 
 n o doubt had been put there for the priests. 
 
 From time to time I heard some one behind me 
 laughing and jeering at the journal. On turning 
 round, I saw that it was Professor Burguet and two 
 or three other noted men who had been taken after 
 the " Hundred days," and had been forced to remain at 
 Bourges because, as Father Goulden said, they had too 
 much spirit. That shows plainly that it is better to 
 keep still at such times, if one does not wish to fight 
 nn either side; for words are of no use, but to get us 
 into difficulty. 
 
 But there was something worse still tow T ard the 
 end, when the commandant commenced to read the 
 decrees. 
 
 The first indicated the movement of the troops, 
 and the second, commanded all Frenchmen to fall 
 upon Bonaparte, to arrest and deliver him dead or 
 alive, because he had rut himself out of the pale of 
 law. 
 
WATERLOO. 133 
 
 At that moment the commandant, who had until 
 then only laughed when he read the name of Bona- 
 parte, and whose bony face had only trembled a little 
 as it was lighted up by the lamp — at that moment 
 his aspect changed completely, I never saw any thing 
 more terribl e; his face contracted, fold upon fold, his 
 little eyes blazed like those of a cat, and his mustaches 
 and whiskers stood on end ; he seized the gazette and 
 tore it into a thousand pieces, and then pale as death 
 he raised himself to his full height, extended his long 
 arms, and shouted in a voice so loud that it made 
 our flesh creep, Vive VEmpereur! Immediately all 
 the half-pay officers raised their three-cornered hats, 
 some in their hands and some on the end of their 
 sword-canes, and repeated with one voice, Vive 
 VEmpereur ! 
 
 You would have thought the roof was coming 
 down. I felt just as if some one had thrown cold 
 water down my back. I said to myself, c< It is all 
 over now. What is the use in preaching peace to 
 such people." 
 
 Outside among the groups of citizens, the soldiers 
 of the post repeated the cry, Vive V Empereur, And 
 as I looked in great anxiety to see what the gen- 
 darmes would do, they retired without saying a word, 
 being old soldiers also. 
 
134 WATERLOO. 
 
 But it was not yet over. As the commandant 
 was getting down from the table, an officer suggested 
 that they should carry him in triumph. They seized 
 him by the legs, and forcing the crowd aside, carried 
 him around the room, screaming like madmen, Vive 
 PJEJmpereur. He was so affected by the honor shown 
 him by his. comrades and by hearing them shout what 
 he so much loved to hear, that he sat there with his 
 long hairy hands on their shoulders, and his head 
 above their great hats, and wept. No one would 
 have believed that such a face could weep; that 
 alone was sufficient to upset you and make you trem- 
 ble. He said not a word ; his eyes were closed and 
 and the tears ran down his nose and his long mus- 
 taches. I was looking on with all my eyes, as you 
 can imagine, when Father Goulden got down from 
 his chair and pulled me by the arm, saying: 
 
 " Joseph, let us go, it is time." 
 
 Behind us the hall was already empty. Every- 
 body had hurried out by the brewer Klein's alley 
 for fear of being mixed up in a disagreeable affair, 
 and we went that way also. 
 
 As we crossed the square, Father Goulden said, 
 " There is danger that matters will take a bad turn. 
 To-morrow the gendarmerie may commence to act, the 
 Commandant Margarot and the others have not th* 
 
WATERLOO. 135 
 
 air of men who will allow themselves to be arrested. 
 
 The soldiers of the third battalion will take their 
 
 part, if they have not already. The city is in their 
 
 power." 
 
 He was talking to himself, and I thought as he 
 did. 
 
 When we reached home, Catherine was waiting 
 anxiously for us in the workshop. We told her all 
 that had happened. The table was set, but nobody 
 was inclined to eat. Mr. Goulden drank a glass of 
 wine, and then as he took off his shoes he said to us : 
 
 "My children, after what we have just heard we 
 may be sure that the Emperor will reach Paris ; the 
 soldiers wish it, and the peasants desire it, and if he 
 has considered well since he has been on his island and 
 will give up his ideas about war, and will respect the 
 treaties, the bourgeoise will ask nothing better, es- 
 pecially if we have a good Constitution that will 
 guarantee to every one his liberty, which is the best 
 of all good things. Let us wish it for ourselves and 
 for him. Good night." 
 
136 WATERLOO. 
 
 XI. 
 
 The next day was Friday and market day, and there 
 was nothing talked of in the whole town but the great 
 news. Great numbers of peasants from Alsace and 
 Lorraine came filing into town on their carts, some 
 in blouses, some in their waistcoats, some in three- 
 cornered hats, and some in their cotton caps, unde^ 
 pretense of selling their grain, their barley and oats, 
 but in reality to find out what was going on. 
 
 You could hear nothing but " Get up, Fox ! gee ho, 
 Gray !" and the rolling of the wheels and the crack- 
 ing of the whips. And the women were not behind- 
 hand, they arrived from the Houpe, from Dagsberg, 
 Ercheviller, and Baraques, with their scanty skirts and 
 with great baskets on their heads, striding and hurry- 
 ing along. Everybody passed under our windows, 
 and Mr. Goulden said, " What an excitement there is, 
 what a rush ! It is easy to see that there is anothei 
 
WATERLOO. 137 
 
 spirit m the land. ISTobody is marching now with 
 candles in his hand and a surplice on his back." 
 
 He seemed to be satisfied, and that proved how 
 much all these ceremonies had annoyed him. At last 
 about eight o'clock it was necessary to set about our 
 work again, and Catherine went out as usual to buy 
 our butter and eggs and vegetables for the week. 
 At ten o'clock she came back again. 
 
 " Oh ! Heavens !" said she, " every thing is topsy- 
 turvy." And then she related how the half-pay offi- 
 cers were promenading with their sword-canes, with 
 the Commandant Margarot in their midst, that on the 
 square, in the market, in the church, and around the 
 stands, everywhere the peasants and citizens were 
 -shaking hands and taking snuff together, and say- 
 ing, "Ah ! now trade is brisk again." 
 
 And she told us also that during the night procla 
 mations had been posted up at the town-house and on 
 the three doors of the church, and even against the 
 pillars of the market, but that the gendarmes had 
 torn them down early in the morning, in fact, that 
 every thing was in commotion. Father Goulden had 
 risen from the counter in order to listen to her, and 
 I turned round on my chair and thought : 
 
 " All that is good, very good, but at this rate your 
 leave of absence will soon be recalled. Every thing 
 
133 WATERLOO. 
 
 is moving and you must also move, Joseph ! Instead 
 of remaining here quietly with your wife, you will 
 have to take your cartridge-box and knapsack anc 1 
 musket and two packages of cartridges on your back." 
 
 As I looked at Catherine, who did not think of the 
 bad side of affairs, Weissenfels, Lutzen, and Leipzig 
 passed through my mind, and I was quite melancholy. 
 While we were all so sober, the door opened and 
 Aunt Gredel walked in. At first you would have 
 thought she was quite composed. 
 
 " Good morning, Mr. Goulden ; good morning, my 
 children," said she, putting down her basket behind 
 the stove. 
 
 " Are you well too, Mother Gredel ?" asked Mr. 
 Goulden. 
 
 " Ah ! well ! well !" said she. 
 
 I saw that she had set her teeth, and that two red 
 spots burned on her cheeks. She crammed her hair 
 which was hanging down over her ears, with a single 
 thrust into her cap, and looked at us one after the 
 Dther with her gray eyes to see what we thought, 
 and then she commenced. 
 
 "It seems that the rascal has escaped from his 
 island." 
 
 ' Of what rascal do you speak," asked Mr. Goulden 
 calmly. 
 
WATERLOO. 139 
 
 " Oh I you know very well of wt<om I speak, i 
 speak of your Bonaparte." 
 
 Mr. Goulden, seeing her anger, turned round to his 
 counter to avoid a dispute. He seemed to be examin- 
 ing a watch, and I followed his example. 
 
 " Yes," said she, speaking still louder, " his evil 
 deeds are commencing again ; just as we thought all 
 was finished ! and he comes back again worse than 
 ever ! What a pest !" 
 
 I could hear her voice tremble. Mr. Goulden kept 
 on with his work, and asked, without turning round, 
 "Whose fault is it, Mother Gredel? Do you think 
 that those processions, atonements, and the sermons 
 in regard to the national domains and the ' rebellion 
 of twenty-five years,' these continual menaces of es- 
 tablishing the old order of things, the order to close 
 the shops during the service, do you think all that 
 could continue ? Did any one, let me ask, ever see 
 since the world began, any thing more calculated to 
 rouse a nation against those who attempt to degrade 
 it! Tou would have said that Bonaparte himself 
 had whispered in the ears of those Bourbons, all the 
 stupidities which would be likely to disgust the 
 people. Tell me, might we not expect just what 
 has come to pass ?" 
 
 He kept on looking at the watch through his 
 
140 WATERLOO. 
 
 glass in order to keep calm. While he was speaking 
 I had looked at Aunt Gredel out of the corner of my 
 eye. She had changed color two or three times, and 
 Catherine, who was behind us near the stove, made 
 signs to her not to make trouble in our house, but 
 the willful woman disregarded all signs. 
 
 " You, too, are satisfied then are you ? you change 
 from one day to another like the rest of them, you 
 always bring out your republic when it suits you." 
 
 On hearing this, Mr. Goulden coughed softly, as if 
 he had something in his throat, and for half-a-minute 
 he seemed to be considering, while aunt looked on. 
 He recovered himself at last and said slowly : " You 
 are wrong, Madame Gredel, to reproach me, for if I 
 had wished to change I should have begun sooner. 
 Instead of being a clock-maker in Pfalzbours; I should 
 have been a colonel or a general, like the others, but I 
 always have been, I am now, and shall remain till I 
 die, for the Republic and the Rights of Man." 
 
 Then he turned suddenly round, and looking at 
 unt from head to foot, and raising his voice, 
 ne went on : " And that is the reason why I like 
 Bonaparte better than the Comte d'Artois, the 
 emigres, the missionaries, and the workers of mira- 
 cles ; at least he is forced to keep something of the 
 Revolution, he is forced to respect the national do 
 
WATERLOO, 141 
 
 mam, 6u guarantee to every one his property, hia 
 rank, and everything he has acquired under the new 
 laws. WkLout that, what right would he have to 
 be Emperor ? If he had not maintained equality 
 why should the nation wish to have him ? The 
 others, on tl<? contrary, have attacked every thing ; 
 they want to destroy every thing that we have done. 
 Now you understand why I like him better than the 
 others." 
 
 "Ah !" said Mother Gredel, tc that is new 1" and she 
 laughed contemptuously. I would have given any 
 thing if she had been at Quatre Yents. 
 
 " There was a time when you talked otherwise, 
 when he re-established the bishops and the archbish- 
 ops and the cardinals, when he had himself crowned 
 by the Pope, and consecrated with oil from the holy 
 ampoule,* when he recalled the emigres, when he 
 gave up the chateaux and forests to the great fami- 
 lies, when he made princes and dukes and barons by 
 the dozen ; how many times have I heard you say 
 that all that was atrocious, that he had betrayed the 
 devolution, that you would have preferred the Bour 
 bons, because they did not know any other way, that 
 they were like blackbirds, who only whistle one tune 
 
 * Tial which contains the cil for anointing tho kings of 
 France. 
 
142 WATERLOO. 
 
 because they know no other, and because they think 
 it the most beautiful air in the world. While he, the 
 result of the Revolution, whose father had only a 
 few dozens of goats on the mountains of Corsica, 
 should have known that all men are equal, that 
 courage and genius alone elevate them above their 
 fellows, — that he should have despised all those old 
 notions, and that he should have made war only to 
 defend the new rights, the new ideas, which are just 
 and which nothing can arrest : did you not say that, 
 when you were talking with old Colin in the rear 
 of our garden, for fear of being arrested — did you 
 not say that between yourselves and before me ?" 
 
 Father Goulden had grown quite pale. He looked 
 down at his feet and turned his snuff-box round and 
 round in his finders as if he were thinking, and I saw 
 his emotion in his face. 
 
 " Yes, I said it," he replied, " and I think so still — 
 you have a good memory, Mother Gredel. It is true 
 that for ten years Colin and I have been obliged to 
 hide ourselves if we spoke of events that will cer 
 taiuly be accomplished, and it is the despotism of 
 one man born among us, whom we have sustained 
 with our own blood, which compelled us to do that. 
 But to-day every thing is changed. The man, tc 
 wh->m you can not deny genius, has seen his syco 
 
WATERLOO. 143 
 
 phants abandon and betray him ; he has seen that his 
 strength lies in the people, and that those alliances 
 of which he had the weakness to be so proud, were 
 the cause of his ruin. He has come now to rid us of 
 the others, and I am glad." 
 
 " Then you have no faith in yourself, eh ? Have 
 you any need of him ?" exclaimed Aunt Gredel. 
 " If the processions annoyed you, and if you were, 
 as you say, ' the people,' why do you need him ?" 
 
 Father Goulden smiled, and said, " If everybody 
 had the courage to follow his own conscience, and if 
 so many persons who joined the processions had not 
 done so from vanity or to show their fine clothes, and 
 if others had not joined from interest, from the hope 
 of getting a good office, or to obtain permits, then 
 Madame Gredel you would be right, and we should 
 not have needed Bonaparte to overturn all that, and 
 you would have seen that three-quarters of the people 
 had common sense, and perhaps even the Comte 
 d'Artois himself would have cried, Hold ! But as 
 hypocrisy and interest hide and obscure every thing 
 and make night out of the broad day, unhappily we 
 must have thunderbolts to make us see clearly. 
 It is you, and those who are like you, who have 
 caused those who have never changed their opinions, 
 to rejoice when fever takes the place of colic." 
 
144 WATERLOO. 
 
 Father Goulden rose and walked up and down in 
 great agitation, and as Aunt Gredel was going on 
 again, he took his cap and went out, saying : 
 
 " I have given you my opinions. Now talk to Jo- 
 seph ; he thinks you are always right." 
 
 As soon as he had gone, Mother Gredel cried out : 
 
 " He is an old -fool, and he has been, always ! 
 Now, as for you, if you do not go to Switzerland, I 
 warn you, you will be obliged to go, God knows 
 where. But we will talk about that another time, 
 the principal thing is to warn you. We will wait 
 and see what happens ; perhaps Bonaparte will be 
 arrested, but if he reaches Paris, we will go some- 
 where else." 
 
 She embraced us and took her basket and went 
 away. A few minutes afterward, Father Goulden 
 came in and we sat down to our work and said no 
 more about these things. We were very sober, and 
 at night I was more than ever surprised, when Cathe- 
 rine said : 
 
 " We will always listen to Mr. Goulden, he is right 
 and will give us good counsel." 
 
 On hearing that, I thought that she agreed with 
 Father Goulden because they read the gazette to- 
 gether. That gazette always says what just pleases 
 them, but that does not prevent it being very ter- 
 
WATERLOO. 145 
 
 rible if we are obliged to take our guns and knapsacks 
 again, and it would be better to be in Switzerland, 
 either at Geneva, or at Father Rulle's manufactory 
 or at Chaux-de-Fonds, than at Leipzig, and thos6 
 other places. I did not wish to contradict Cathe- 
 rine, but her remarks annoyed me greatly. 
 
146 WATERLOO. 
 
 XII. 
 
 Fbom that moment there was confusion every 
 where, the half-pay officers shouted, " Vive l'Enipe* 
 reur." The commandant gave orders to arrest them, 
 but the battalion did the same thing, and the gen- 
 darmes seemed to be deaf. Nobody was at work ; the 
 tax-gatherers and overseers, the mayor and his coun- 
 selors, grew gray with uncertainty, not knowing on 
 which foot they should dance. Nobody dared to come 
 out for Bonaparte, or for Louis XVIII., except the 
 slaters and masons and knife-grinders, who could not 
 lose their offices and who wished for nothing better 
 then to see others in their places. With their hat- 
 chets stuck in their leather belts and a bag of chips 
 on their shoulders, they did not hesitate to shout, 
 " Down with the emigres," they laughed at the 
 troubles, which increased visibly. 
 
 One day the gazette said, the usurper is at Gre- 
 
WATERLOO, 147 
 
 noble, the next he is at Lyons, the next at Macon, 
 and the next at Auxerre, and so on. Father Goulden 
 was in good humor as he read the news at night, and 
 he would say: 
 
 " They can see now that the Frenchmen are for 
 the Revolution, and that the others can not hold out. 
 Everybody says, c Down with the emigres.' What 
 a lesson for those who can see clearly ! Those 
 Bourbons wanted to make us all Vendeeans, they 
 ought to rejoice that they have succeeded so well." 
 
 But one thing troubled him still, that was the 
 great battle which was announced between ISTey and 
 Napoleon. 
 
 "Although Ney has kissed the hand of the king, 
 yet he is an old soldier, and I will never believe that 
 he will fight against the will of the people. No, it 
 is not possible, he will remember the old cooper of 
 Saar-Louis, who would break his head with his ham- 
 mer, if he were still living, on learning that Michel 
 had betrayed the country in order to please the 
 king." 
 
 That was what Mr. Goulden said, but that did 
 not prevent people from being uneasy, when sud- 
 denly the news arrived that he had followed the ex- 
 ample of the army and the bourgeoisie and all those 
 who wished to be rid of the atonements, and that he 
 
148 WATERLOO. 
 
 had rallied with them. Then there was greater 
 confidence, but still prudent men were silent in view 
 of what might happen. 
 
 " On the 21st of March, between five and six in 
 the evening, Mr. Goulden and I were at work ; it had 
 begun to grow dark, and Catherine was lighting the 
 lamp, a gentle rain was falling on the panes, when 
 Theodore Roeber, who had charge of the telegraph, 
 passed under our windows, riding a big dapple-gray 
 horse at the top of his speed, his blouse filled out by 
 the air, he went so fast, and he was holding his great 
 felt hat on with one hand, while he kept striking his 
 horse with a whip which he held in the other, though 
 he was galloping like the wind. Father Goulden wiped 
 the glass and leaned over to see better, and said : 
 
 " That is Roeber, who is coming from the telegraph, 
 some great news has arrived." His pale cheeks red- 
 dened, and I felt my heart beat violently. Catherine 
 came and placed the lamp near us, and I opened the 
 window to close the shutter. That took me some 
 moments, as I was obliged to disarrange the glasses 
 on the work-table, and take down the watches before 
 I could do it. Mr. Goulden seemed lost in thought. 
 Just as I had fastened the window, we heard the as- 
 sembly beat from both sides of the city at once, from 
 the bastion of the Mittelbronn and from Bigelberg, 
 
WATERLOO, 149 
 
 the echoes from the ramparts and from the target 
 valley responded, and a dull rumbling filled the air 
 Mr. Goulden rose, saying : 
 
 " The matter is decided at last," in a tone which 
 made me shudder. " Either they are fighting near 
 Paris, or the Emperor is in his old palace as he was 
 in 1809." 
 
 Catherine ran for his cloak, for she saw plainly 
 he was going out in spite of the rain. He was speak 
 ing with his great gray eyes wide open, and took no 
 notice as she slipped on the sleeves, and as he went 
 out Catherine touched roe on the shoulder — I was still 
 sitting — and said : 
 
 " Go, Joseph, follow him." 
 
 We reached the square just as the battalion filed 
 out of the broad street at the corner by the mayor's, 
 behind the drummers, who had their drums over their 
 shoulders. A great crowd followed them. When 
 they reached the great lindens, the drums recom- 
 menced, and the soldiers hurriedly got into their ranks, 
 and almost immediately the Commandant Gemeau, 
 who was suffering from his wounds and had not been 
 out for two months appeared on the steps of the 
 " Minque." A sapper held his horse by the bridle, and 
 gave him his shoulder to mount. Everybody was 
 looking on, and the roll commenced. 
 
150 WATERLOO. 
 
 The commandant crossed the square, and the cap 
 tains went quickly up to meet him ; he said a few 
 words to them, and then passed in front of the battal 
 ion, followed by a sergeant with three chevrons, who 
 carried a flag in its oil-cloth case. The crowd increas- 
 ed every moment. Mr. Goulden had mounted on 
 the stone posts in front of the arch of the guard-house. 
 After the roll was called, the conmandant waited a 
 moment and then drew his sword and gave the order 
 to form a square. I tell you these things in a simple 
 way, because they were simple and terrible. 
 
 The commandant was very pale, and we could see, 
 though it was almost night, that he had fever. The 
 gray lines of soldiers in the square, the commandant 
 on horseback, the officers around him in the rain, the 
 listening citizens, the profound silence, the opening of 
 the windows in the vicinity, all are present to my 
 mini though fifty years have passed since then. 
 Not a word was said, for we all felt that we were go- 
 ing to learn the fate of France. 
 
 " Carry arms ! shoulder arms !" 
 
 After this nothing: was heard but the voice of the 
 commandant, that voice which I had heard on the 
 other side of the Rhine at Lutzen and Leipzig, saying 
 
 " Close the ranks." 
 
 The words went through my very marrow. 
 
WATERLOO. 151 
 
 '* Soldiers !" said he, " Louis XYIII. left Paris on 
 the 20th of March, and the Emperor Napoleon made 
 his entry into the capital the same day." 
 
 A sort of shiver went through the crowd, but it 
 lasted for a moment only, and the commandant con- 
 tinued: 
 
 " Soldiers, the flag of France is the flag of Areola, 
 of Rivoli, of Alexandria, of Chebreisse, of the Pyra- 
 mids, of Aboukir, of Marengo, of Austerlitz, and of 
 Jena, of Eylau, of Friedland, of Sommo-Sierra, of Mad- 
 rid, of Abensberg, ofEckmiil, of Essling, of Wagram, 
 of Smolensk, of Moscowa, of Weissenfels, of Lutzen, 
 of Bautzen, of Wurtschen, of Dresden, of Bischofs- 
 warda, of Hanau, of Brienne, of Saint Dizier, of Cham- 
 paubert, of Chateau-Thierry, of Joinvilliers, of Mery- 
 sur-Seine, of Montereau, and of Montmirail. It is the 
 flag which we have dyed with our blood, and it is 
 that which makes it our glory." 
 
 The old sergeant had drawn the torn flag from 
 its case, and the commandant continued : 
 
 " Here is the flag ! you recognize it ; it is the flag of 
 the nation, it is that flag which the Russians and Ais- 
 ti'ians and Prussians took from us on the day of their 
 fi ist victory, because they feared it." 
 
 A great number of the old soldiers, on hearing' 
 these words, turned away their heads to hide their 
 
152 WATERLOO. 
 
 tears ; while others, deathly pale, looked and listened 
 with flashing eyes. 
 
 " I," said the commandant, raising his swT>rd,"know 
 no other. Vive la France! Vive V Fmpereur !" 
 
 The words had hardly left his mouth when from 
 every window, from the square, from the streets, rose 
 the shouts," Vive la France ! Vive I' Fmpereur /" like 
 the blast of a trumpet. The people and the sol- 
 diers embraced each other, you would have thought 
 that every thing was safe, that we had found all that 
 France lost in 1814. It was almost dark, and the 
 people went away in companies of threes, sixes, 
 and twenties, shouting, " Vive V Fmpereur /" When 
 near the hospital a red flash lighted up the sky, the 
 cannon thundered, another responded from the rear 
 of the arsenal, and so they continued to roar from 
 
 second to second. 
 Mr. Goulden and I left the square arm in arm, crying 
 
 11 Vive P Fmpereur/" also, and as at each discharge 
 
 of cannon the flash lighted up the square, in one of 
 
 them we saw Catherine, who was coming to meet us 
 
 with old Madelon Schouler. She had put on Ler 
 
 little cloak and hood, protecting her rosy little nose 
 
 from the mist, and she exclaimed, on seeing us : 
 
 " There they are, Madelon ! The Emperor is master, 
 
 is he not, Mr. Goulden?" 
 
WATERLOO. 153 
 
 ** Yes, my child," he replied, " it is decided." 
 
 Catherine took my arm, and I kissed her two or 
 three times as we were going home. Perhaps I felt 
 that we should soon be forced to part, and that then 
 it would be long before I should kiss her again. 
 Father Goulden and Madelon were before us, and he 
 said: 
 
 " Come up, Madelon ; I want to drink a good glass 
 of wine with you." But she declined, and left us at 
 the door. I can only say that the joy of the people 
 was as great as on the return of Louis XVIII. , and 
 perhaps still greater. 
 
 Father Goulden took off his cloak and sat down 
 in his place at table, as supper was waiting. Cather- 
 ine ran down to the cellar and brought up a bottle of 
 good wine, we laughed and drank while the cannon 
 made our windows rattle. Sometimes people's heads 
 are turned, even those who love nothing but peace. 
 So the sound of the cannon made us happy, and we 
 went back in a measure to our old habits. 
 
 " The commandant," said Mr. Goulden, " spoke well, 
 
 but he might have kept on till to-morrow with his 
 
 victories, commencing with Yalmy, Hundschott,Wat- 
 
 tignies, Fleurus, Neuwied, Ukerath, Froeschwiller 
 
 Geisberg, to Zurich and Hohenlinden. These were 
 
 also great victories, and even the most splendid 
 1* 
 
154 WATERLOO. 
 
 of all, for they preserved liberty. He only spoke 
 of the last ones, that was enough for the moment. 
 Let those people come ! let them dare to move ! The 
 nation wants peace, but if the allies commence war 
 woe be unto them. Now we shall again talk of liberty, 
 equality, and fraternity. All France will be roused 
 by it, I warn you beforehand. There will be 
 a national guard, and the old men like me and 
 the married men will defend the towns, while the 
 younger ones will march, but no one will cross 
 the frontiers. The Emperor, taught by experience, 
 will arm the artisans, the peasants, and the bour- 
 geoisie, and when we are attacked, even if they 
 are a million, not one shall escape. The day for 
 soldiers is past, regular armies are for conquest, 
 but a people who can defend themselves do not 
 fear the best armies in the world. We proved 
 that to the Prussians and Austrians, to the English 
 and the Russians from 1792 to 1800, and since 
 then the Spaniards have shown us the same thing, 
 and even before that, the Americans demonstrated it 
 to the English. The Emperor will speak to us of 
 Liberty, be sure of that ; and if he will send his proc 
 lamations into Germany, many Germans will be with 
 us ; they were promised liberty in order to make them 
 rise against France, and now the sovereigns in con- 
 
WATERLOO. 15£ 
 
 ference at Vienna mock at their own promises. Their 
 plan is fixed. They divide the people among them- 
 selves as they would a flock of sheep. Those who 
 have good sense will unite, and in that way peace 
 will be established by force. The kings alone have 
 any interest in war, the people do not need to con- 
 quer themselves, provided that they arrange for the 
 freedom of commerce, that is the principal thing." 
 
 In his excitement every thing looked bright to him. 
 And all that he said seemed to me so natural, that I 
 was sure that the Emperor would direct matters as 
 he had supposed. Catherine believed it too. We 
 thanked God for what had come, and about eleven 
 o'clock, after having laughed and drank and shouted, 
 we went to bed with the brightest hopes. All the city 
 was illuminated, and we had put lamps in our win- 
 dows also. Every moment we heard the crackers in 
 the street and the children were shouting, " Vive 
 1'Empereur !" and the soldiers were coming out of the 
 nns, singing " Down with the emigres." This lasted 
 «ill very late, and it was one o'clock before we slept. 
 
156 WATERLOO 
 
 XIII. 
 
 This general satisfaction continued for five or six 
 days. The old mayors and their assistants were re- 
 placed as well as the field-guards, and all those who had 
 been displaced a few months before. The whole city, 
 even the women, wore little tri-colored cockades, and 
 all the seamstresses were busily at work making them } 
 of red, white, and blue ribbon ; and those who railed 
 so bitterly against the "ogre of Corsica," never spoke 
 of Louis XVIII. except as the " Pauada King." On 
 the 25th of March a Te Deum was sung, the garrison 
 and all the civil authorities joining in the service 
 with great ceremony. 
 
 After the Te Deum, the authorities gave a grand 
 dinner to the officers of the garrison at the " Ville 
 de Metz." The weather was fine and the windows 
 were open, and the hall was lighted by clusters of 
 lamps hanging from the ceiling. Catherine and I went 
 
WATERLOO. 157 
 
 oat in the evening to enjoy the spectacle. We could 
 see the uniforms and the black coats sitting side by- 
 side around the long tables, and first the mayor 
 would rise, and then his assistants, or the new com- 
 mandant of the post, Mr. Brancion, to drink to the 
 health of the Emperor or of his ministers, of France, 
 to peace or to victory, etc., etc., and this they kept up 
 till midnight. 
 
 Inside the glasses jingled, and outside the children 
 fired crackers. They had erected a climbing pole 
 before the church, and wooden horses and organ 
 grinders had come from Saverne, and there was a 
 holiday at the college. In Klein's Court, at the 
 " Ox," there was a fight between dogs and donkeys ; 
 in short, it was just as it was in 1830 and in 1848, 
 and afterward. The people never invent any thing 
 new to glorify those who rise, or to express their 
 contempt for those who fall. 
 
 But they soon found out that the Emperor had no 
 time to lose in rejoicings. The gazette said that 
 " his Majesty wished for peace, that he made no de- 
 mands, that he was on good terms with his father- 
 in-law the Emperor Francis, that Marie Louise and 
 the King of Rome were to return, they were daily 
 expected," etc. 
 
 But meanwhile the order arrived to arm the place 
 
158 WATERLOO. 
 
 Two years before Pfalzbourg was a hundred leagues 
 from the frontier. The ramparts were in ruins, the 
 ditches rilled up, and there was nothing in the ar- 
 senal but miserable old muskets of the time of Louis 
 XI V., which were discharged with matches; and 
 the guns were so unwieldly on their heavy carriages, 
 that horses were required to move them. The ar- 
 senals were really at Dresden and Hamburg and 
 Erfurt ; but though we had not stirred, we were ten 
 leagues from Rhenish Bavaria, and it was upon us 
 that the first shower of bombs and bullets would fall. 
 So, day after day, we received orders to restore the 
 earth-works and to clear out the ditches and to put the 
 old ordnance in good condition. At the beginning of 
 April a great workshop was established at the arsenal 
 for repairing the arms, and skillful engineers and ar- 
 tillerists arrived from Metz to repair the earth-works 
 of the bastions and make terraces around the embra- 
 sures. The activity was very great — greater than in 
 1805 and in 1813, and I thought more than once that 
 these extensive frontiers had their good side, because 
 we might in the interior live in peace, while they 
 took the blows and bombardments. 
 
 But we had great anxiety, for naturally when the 
 palisades were newly planted on the glacis, and the 
 half-moons filled with fascines, when cannon were 
 
WATERLOO. 159 
 
 placed in every nook and corner, we knew that there 
 must be soldiers to guard and serve them. 
 
 Often as we heard these decrees read at night, 
 Catherine and I looked at each other in mute appre- 
 nension. I felt beforehand that instead of remain- 
 ing quietly at home, cleaning and mending clocks, I 
 would be obliged to be again on the march, and that 
 always made me sad ; and this melancholy increased 
 from day to day. Sometimes Father Goulden, seeing 
 this, would say cheerfully . 
 
 " Come ! Joseph, courage ! all will come right at 
 last." 
 
 He wished to raise my spirits, but I thought : 
 " Yes, he says that to encourage me, but any one 
 who is not blind can see what turn affairs will take." 
 
 Events followed each other so rapidty, that the 
 decrees came like hail, always with sounding phrases 
 and grand words to embellish them. 
 
 And we learned too that the regiments were to 
 take their old numbers, " illustrious in so many glo- 
 rious campaigns." Without being very malicious, 
 we could understand that the old numbers which had 
 no regiments would soon find them again. And ne<, 
 only that, but we learned that the skeletons of the 
 third, fourth, and fifth battalions of infantry, the 
 fourth and fifth squadrons of cavalry, and thirty bat* 
 
160 WATERLOO. 
 
 talions of artillery trains were to be filled up, and twen- 
 ty regiments of the Young Guard, ten battalions of 
 military equipages, and tAventy regiments of marines 
 were to be formed, ostensibly to give employment to 
 all the half-pay officers of both arms of the service, 
 land and naval. That was very well to say ; but 
 when they are created they are to be fiUed up, and 
 when they are full the soldiers must go. When I 
 saw that, my confidence vanished, but yet every- 
 body cried, " Peace, peace, peace ! We accept the 
 treaty of Paris. The kings and emperors convened 
 at Vienna are our friends. Marie Louise and the 
 King of Rome are coming." 
 
 The more I heard of these things, the more my 
 distrust increased. In vain Mr. Goulden would say, 
 " He has taken Carnot into his counsels. Carnot is 
 a good patriot ; Carnot will prevent him from going 
 to war, or if we are forced to go to war, he will show 
 him that the enemy must come here to find us, 
 the nation must be roused, declare the country in 
 danger, etc." 
 
 In vain did he tell me these things, I always said 
 to myself, " all these new regiments are to be filled ; 
 that is certain." We heard also that ten thousand 
 picked men were to be added to the Old Guard, and 
 that the light artillery was to be reorganized. Every 
 
WATERLOO. 161 
 
 body knows that light artillery follows the army. 
 To remain behind the ramparts or for defense at 
 home, it is useless. 
 
 I came to this conclusion at once, and though I 
 was generally careful to conceal my anxiety from 
 Catherine, yet this night I could not help telling her 
 so. She said nothing, which shows plainly that she 
 had good sense and that she thought so too. 
 
 All these things diminished my enthusiasm for 
 the Emperor very much indeed, and I sometimes said 
 to myself as I was at work, "I would rather see 
 processions going past my windows, than to go and 
 fight against people whom I never saw." At least 
 the sight would cost me neither leg nor arm, and 
 if it annoyed me too much I could make an excur- 
 sion to Quatre Vents. My vexation increased the 
 more, as since the dispute with Mr. Goulden, Aunt 
 Gredel did not come to see us. She was a very wil- 
 ful woman and would not listen to reason, and would 
 hold resentment against a person for years and years* 
 But she was our mother, aud it was our duty to yield 
 something to her as she wished us only good. But 
 how could we be reconciled to her ideas and those of 
 Mr. Goulden ? 
 
 This was what embarrassed us, for if we were 
 bound to love Aunt Gredel, we owed also the most 
 
162 WATERLOO. 
 
 profound respect to him, who looked upon us as his 
 own children, and who loaded us every day with his 
 benefits. 
 
 These thoughts made us sad, and I had resolved to 
 tell Mr. Goulden, that Catherine and I were Jacobins 
 like himself, but without doing injustice to Jacobin 
 ideas, or abandoning. them, we ought to honor our 
 mother, and go and inquire after her health. 
 
 I did not know how he would receive this declara- 
 tion, when one Sunday morning, as we went down 
 about eight o'clock, we found him dressed, and in ex- 
 cellent humor. He said to us, " Children, here it is 
 more than a month since Aunt Gredel has been to 
 p-32 us. She is obstinate. I wish to show her that I 
 can yield. Between friends like us, there should not 
 be even a shadow of difference. After breakfast we 
 will go to Quatre Vents, and tell her that she is prej- 
 udiced, and that we love her in spite of her faults. 
 You will see how ashamed she will be." He laugh- 
 ed, but we were quite touched by his generosity. 
 
 " Ah ! Mr. Goulden, how good and kind you are," 
 said Catherine, " they who do not love you, must 
 have very bad hearts." 
 
 " Ha !" he exclaimed, " is not what I have done 
 quite natural? must we let a few words separate us? 
 Thank God! a&e teaches us to be more reasonable 
 
WATERLOO. 163 
 
 and to be willing to take the first step, — that you 
 know is one of the principles of the Rights of Man, — 
 in order to maintain concord between reasonable 
 persons." 
 
 Every thing was summed up, when he had quoted 
 the " Rights of Man." You can hardly imagine our 
 satisfaction. Catherine could hardly wait till break- 
 fast was over, she was here and there and every- 
 where, to bring his hat and cane and his shoes and 
 the box which held his beautiful peruke. She helped 
 him on with his brown coat, while he laughed as he 
 watched her, and at last he kissed her saying, " I 
 knew this would make you happy, so do not let us 
 lose a minute, let us go." 
 
 We all set off together, Father Goulden gravely 
 giving his arm to Catherine, as he always did in the 
 street, and I marched on behind as happy as possible. 
 Those I loved best in the world were here before my 
 eyes, and as I went on I thought of what I should 
 say to Aunt Gredel. 
 
 The weather was splendid, and on we went beyond 
 the wall and the glacis, and in twenty minutes, with- 
 out hurrying, we stood before Aunt Gredel's door. 
 It might have been ten o'clock, and as I had gained a 
 little on them at the " Roulette" I went in by the 
 alley of elders that ran along the side of the house, an<3 
 
164 WATERLOO. 
 
 looked into the little window to see what aunt was 
 doing. She was seated right opposite me near the 
 fire-place, in which a little fire was smoldering, she 
 had on her short skirt, striped with blue, with great 
 pockets on the outside, and her linen corsage with 
 shoulder straps, and her old shoes. She was spinning 
 away, with her eyes cast down, looking very sober, 
 her great thin arms naked to the elbow, and her 
 gray hair twisted up in her neck without any cap. 
 " Poor Aunt Gredel," thought I, " she is thinking of 
 us no doubt — and she is so obstinate in her vexation. 
 It is sad though, all the same, to live alone and never 
 see her children." It made me sad to see her. 
 
 At that moment the door opened on the side next 
 the street, and Father Goulden walked in with 
 Catherine, as happy as possible, exclaiming : 
 
 " Ha ! Mother Gredel, you do not come to see us 
 any more, therefore I have brought your children to 
 see you, and have come myself to embrace you. You 
 will have to get us a good dinner, do you hear ? and 
 that will teach you a lesson." He seemed a little 
 grave with all his joy. 
 
 On seeing them, aunt sprang up and embraced 
 Catherine, and then she fell into Mr. GoUlden's arms 
 and hung on his neck : 
 
 " Ah ! Mr. Goulden, how happy I am to sec you. 
 
AUNT GREDEL. 
 
WATERLOO. 165 
 
 You are a good man ; you are worth a thousand of 
 
 me." 
 
 Seeing that matters had taken a pleasant turn, 
 I ran round to the door and found them both with 
 their eyes full of tears. Father Goulden said : 
 
 " We will talk no more politics !" 
 
 " No ! but whether one is Jacobin or any thing else 
 you will, the principal thing is to keep in good 
 temper." 
 
 She then came and embraced me, and said : 
 
 " My poor Joseph ! I have been thinking of you 
 from morning till night. But all is well now and I 
 am satisfied." 
 
 She ran into the kitchen and commenced bustling 
 among the kettles to prepare something to regale us 
 with, while Mr. Goulden placed his cane in a corner 
 and hung his great hat upon it, and sat down with an 
 air of contentment near the hearth. 
 
 "What fine weather!" he exclaimed, "how green 
 and flourishing every thing is ! How happy I should 
 be to live in the fields, to see the hedges and apple- 
 trees and plum-trees from my windows, covered wi tb 
 their red and white blossoms !" 
 
 He was gay as a lark, and we all should have been 
 except for the thoughts of the war which were con* 
 etantly coming into our heads. 
 
166 WATERLOO. 
 
 " Leave all that, mother," said Catherine, "I wil. 
 get the dinner to-day as I used to do ; go and sit down 
 quietly with Mr. Goulden." 
 
 " But you do not know where any thing is, I have 
 disarranged every thing," said aunt. 
 
 " Sit down, I beg you," said Catherine, " I shall 
 find the butter and' the eg-g-s and the flour and everv 
 
 CD CD * 
 
 thing that is necessary." 
 
 " Well, well ! I am going to obey you," said she, as 
 she went down to the cellar. 
 
 Catherine took off her pretty shawl and hung it 
 on the back of my chair, then she put some wood on 
 the fire and some butter in a saucepan and looked 
 into the kettles to see that every thing was in order. 
 Aunt came in at that moment with a bottle of white 
 wine. 
 
 "You will first refresh yourselves a little before 
 dinner, and while Catherine looks after the kitchen 
 I will go and put on my sacque and give my hair a 
 touch with the comb, for certainly it needs it, and 
 you — go into the orchard ; — here, Joseph, take these 
 glasses and the bottle and go and sit in the bee-house, 
 the weather is fine, in an hour all will be in order 
 and I will come and drink with you." 
 
 Father Goulden and I went out through the tall 
 grass and the vellow dandelions which came up to 
 
WATERLOO. 167 
 
 our knees. It was very warm and the air was full 
 of soft murmurs. We sat down in the shade and 
 looked at the glorious sunshine. 
 
 Mr. Goulden took off his peruke in order to be 
 more at his ease and hung it up behind him, and I 
 opened the bottle and we drank some of the good 
 white wine. 
 
 " Well ! all goes on even though man does commit 
 follies ; the Lord God watches over all his works. 
 Look at the grain, Joseph, how it grows ! What a 
 harvest there will be in three or four months. And 
 those turnips and cabbages, and the shrubs, and the 
 bees, how busy every thing is, how they live and 
 grow ! what a pity it is that men do not follow so 
 good an example ! what a pity that some must labor 
 to support the others in idleness. What a pity that 
 there must be always idlers of every kind, who treat 
 us like Jacobins because we wish for order and peace 
 and justice !" 
 
 There was nothing he liked so much to see as in- 
 dustry, not only that of man but even of the smallest 
 insect that runs about in the grass, as in an endless 
 forest, which builds and pairs and covers its eggs, 
 heaps them up in its places of deposit, exposes them 
 to the sunshine, protects them from the chills of night, 
 and defends them from its enemies ; in short, all that 
 
168 WATERLOO. 
 
 great universe of life where every thing sings, every 
 thing is in its place ; from the lark which fills the ait 
 with his joyous music to the ant which goes and 
 comes and runs and mows and saws and pulls an 
 is master of all trades. 
 
 This was what pleased Mr. Goulden, but he never 
 spoke of it except in the fields, when this grand specta- 
 cle was right under his eyes, and naturally he then 
 spoke of God, whom he called the " Supreme Being," 
 as in the time of the Republic, and he said, He was 
 reason and wisdom and goodness and love ; justice, 
 order, and life. The ideas of the almanac-makers came 
 back to him also, and it was splendid to hear him 
 talk of the " Pluviose" the season of rains, of " Ni- 
 vose" the season of snows, of " Ventose" season of 
 winds, and "Floreal,Prairial, and Fructidor." He said 
 the ideas of men in those times were more closely 
 allied to God's, while July, September, and October 
 meant nothing, and were only invented to confuse 
 and obscure every thing. Once on this subject it 
 was plain that he could not exhaust it. Unfortu 
 nately I have not the learning that that good man 
 had, otherwise it would give me real pleasure to 
 recount his sayings to you. We were just here when 
 Mother Gredel, well washed and combed and in her 
 Sunday dress, came round the corner of the house to 
 
WATERLOO. 16€ 
 
 ward us. He stopped instantly that she might not 
 be disturbed. 
 
 " Here I am," she said, " all in order." 
 
 " Sit down," said Father Goulden, making a place 
 for her beside him on the bench. 
 
 " Do you know what time it is ?" said she. " Does 
 it not seem long to you ? Listen !" and we heard the 
 city clock slowly strike twelve. 
 
 " What ! is it noon already ! I would not have be 
 lieved that we had been here more than ten min- 
 utes." 
 
 " Yes, it is noon, and dinner is waiting." 
 
 " So much the better," said Mr. Goulden, offering his 
 arm to her, " since you have told me the hour I find 
 I have a good appetite." 
 
 They went along the alley arm in arm, and when 
 we were at the door a most charming sight met our 
 eyes, the great tureen with its red flowers was smok- 
 ing on the table, a breast of stuffed veal filled the 
 room with a delicious odor. A great plate of cinna- 
 mon cakes stood on the edge of the old oak buffet, 
 two bottles of wine, and glasses clear as crystal, shone 
 on the white cloth beside the plates. The very sight 
 of it made you feel that it is the joy of the Lord tc 
 slower blessings on his children. 
 
 Catherine, with her rosy cheeks and white teeth, 
 
170 WATERLOO. 
 
 laughed tc see our satisfaction, and during the 
 whole dinner our anxiety for the future was forgot- 
 ten. We laughed and were as happy as if the 
 world were in the best condition possible. But 
 as we were taking coffee our sadness returned, 
 and without knowing why, we were all very grave. 
 Nobody wishecf to speak of politics, when sudden- 
 ly Aunt Gredel herself asked if there was any thing 
 new. Mr. Goulden then said that the Emperoi 
 desired peace, and that he wished to put himself in 
 a condition of defense, in order to warn our enemies 
 that we were not afraid. He said that in any case, in 
 spite of the ill feeling of the allies they would not 
 dare to attack us, that the Emperor Francis, though 
 he had not much heart, would not wish to overthrow 
 his son-in-law and his own daughter and grandson 
 a second time, that it would be contrary to nature, 
 and beside that, the nation would rise en masse, that 
 they would declare the country to be in danger, and 
 that it would not be a war of soldiers alone, but of all 
 Frenchmen against those who wished to oppress them, 
 that this would make the allied sovereigns reflect, 
 etc., etc. 
 
 He said many other things which I do not recall. 
 Aunt Gredel listened without saying a ^ ord. She 
 rose at last, and went to a closet and took a piecf 
 
WATERLOO. 171 
 
 of paper from a porringer, and, giving it to Mi 
 Goulden, said, " Read this ; such papers are all around 
 the country ; this came to me from the vicar Diemer. 
 You will see whether peace is so certain." 
 
 As Mr. Goulden had left his spectacles at home, I 
 read the paper. I put all those old papers aside 
 years and years ago, they have grown yellow and no 
 one thinks of them or speaks of them, and still it 
 is well to read them. How do we know what will 
 happen? Those old kings and emperors died after 
 doing us all the harm possible, but their sons and 
 grandsons still live, and do not wish us overmuch 
 good, and that which they said then they may say 
 again now, and those who lent their aid to the fathers 
 might incline to help their sons. Here is the paper. 
 
 " The Allied Powers which signed the treaty of Paris, assembled 
 in Congress at Vienna, having been informed of the escape of Na- 
 poleon Bonaparte, and of his entrance into France with arms in 
 his hands, owe it to their diginity and to the interest of social order 
 to make a solemn declaration of the sentiments which this event 
 has excited. In violating the terms of the convention which placed 
 him at Elba, Bonaparte destroyed his only legal title to life ; and 
 in reappearing in Prance with projects for disturbing the public 
 peace, he has deprived himself of the protection of the laws, and 
 made it manifest to the universe that there can be neither truce nor 
 peace with him." 
 
 And so they continued through two long pages 
 
172 WATERLOO. 
 
 and those people who had nothing in common with 
 us, who had no concern with our affairs, and whc 
 gave themselves the title of Defenders of the Peace, 
 finished by declaring that they united themselves to 
 maintain the treaty of Paris and replace Louis XVIII. 
 on the throne. 
 
 When I had finished, aunt turned to Mr. Goulden 
 and asked : 
 
 " What do you think of all that ?" 
 
 " I think," said he, "that those sovereigns despise the 
 people, and that they would exterminate the human 
 race without shame or pity in order to maintain 
 fifteen or twenty families in luxury. They look upon 
 themselves as gods, and upon us as brutes." 
 
 " Doubtless," replied Aunt Gredel. " I do not deny 
 it, but all that will not prevent Joseph from being 
 comp elled to go away." 
 
 I turned quite pale, for I saw that she was right. 
 
 " Yes," said Mr. Goulden, " I knew that some days 
 ago, and this is what I have done. You have heard 
 no doubt, Mother Gredel, that great workshops have 
 l>een built for repairing arms. There is an arsenal at 
 Pfalzbourg, but they are in want of skillful workmen. 
 Of course the o;ood laborers render as much service to 
 the state in repairing arms as those who go to oattle ; 
 they have more to do, but they do not risk their lives. 
 
WATERLOO. 173 
 
 and they remain at home. Well ! I went at once to 
 the commandant of artillery, and asked him to accept 
 Joseph as a workman. It is nothing for a good 
 clDck-maker to repair a gun-lock, and Mr. Montravel 
 accepted him at once. Here is his order," said he, 
 showing us a paper which he took from his pocket. 
 
 I felt as if I had returned to life, and 1 exclaimed, 
 " Oh ! Mr. Goulden, you are more than a father ; 
 you have saved my life." 
 
 Catherine, who had been overwhelmed with anxi- 
 ety, got up and went out, and Aunt Gredel kissed 
 Mr. Goulden twice over, and said, " Yes, you are the 
 best of men, a man of sense and of a great spirit. If 
 all Jacobins were like you, women would wish only 
 for Jacobins." 
 
 " But it was the most simple thing in the world to 
 to do !" 
 
 " No, no ; it is your good heart which gives you 
 good thoughts." 
 
 Words failed me in my joy and astonishment, and 
 while aunt was speaking I went out into the or- 
 chard to take the air. Catherine was there in a 
 corner of the bake-house, weeping hot tears. 
 
 *■ Ah ! now I can breathe again," she said, " now 1 
 can live." 
 
 I embraced her with deep emotion. I saw whal 
 
174 WATERLOO. 
 
 she had suffered during the last mouth, but she was 
 a brave woman, and had concealed her anxiety from 
 me, knowing that I had enough on my own account. 
 We staid for ten minutes in the orchard to wipe 
 away our tears, and then went in. Mr. Goulden 
 said: 
 
 " Well, Joseph ! you go to-morrow ; you must set 
 off early, and you will not lack work." 
 
 Oh ! what joy to think I should not be com 
 pelled to go away, and then too I had other reasons 
 for wishing to remain at home, for Catherine and I 
 already had our hopes. Ah ! those who have not 
 suffered can not realize our feelings, nor understand 
 what a weight this good news lifted from our hearts. 
 We staid an hour longer at Quatre Yents, and as 
 the people were coming from vespers, at nightfall, 
 we set off for the town. Aunt Gredel went with us 
 to where the post changes horses, and at seven 
 o'clock we were at home a^ain. 
 
 It was thus that peace was established between 
 Aunt Gredel and Mr. Goulden, and now she came to 
 see us as often as before. I went every day to the 
 arsenal and worked at repairing the guns. When the 
 clock struck twelve I went home to dinner, and at 
 one returned to my work and staid until seven 
 o'clock. I was at once soldier and workman, exeuseo 
 
WATERLOO. 175 
 
 from roll-call but overwhelmed with woik. We 
 hoped that I could remain in that position till the 
 war was over, if unfortunately it commenced again, 
 tr.it we were sure of nothing. 
 
176 WATERLOO. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 Our confidence returned a little after I worked al 
 the arsenal, but still we were anxious, for hundreds 
 of men on furloughs for six months, conscripts, and 
 old soldiers enlisted for one campaign, passed through 
 the town in citizens' clothes but with knapsacks on 
 their backs. They all shouted " Vive V Empereur !" 
 and seemed to be furious. In the great hall of the 
 town-house they received one a cloak, another a 
 shako, and others epaulettes and gaiters and shoes, 
 at the expense of the department, and off they went, 
 and I wished them a pleasant journey. All the 
 tailors in town were making uniforms by contract, 
 the gendarmes gave up their horses to mount tho 
 cavalry, and the mayor, Baron Parmentier, urged 
 the young men of sixteen and seventeen to join the 
 partisans of Colonel Bruce, who defended the defile? 
 of the Zorne, the Zinselle, and the Saar. 
 
WATERLOO. 177 
 
 The baron was going to the " Champ de Mai," 
 and his enthusiasm redoubled. " Go !" cried he, 
 " courage !" as he spoke to them of the Romans who 
 fought for their country. I thought to myself as I 
 listened to him, " If you think all that so beautiful 
 why do you not go yourself." 
 
 You can imagine with what courage I worked at 
 the arsenal ; nothing was too much for me. I would 
 have passed night and day in mending the guns and 
 adjusting the bayonets and tightening the screws. 
 When the commandant, Mr. Montravel, came to see 
 us, he praised me. 
 
 " Excellent !" said he, "that is good ! I am pleased 
 with you, Bertha." 
 
 These words filled me with satisfaction, and I did 
 not fail to report them to Catherine, in order to raise 
 her spirits. We were almost certain that Mr. Mon- 
 travel would keep me at Pfalzbourg. 
 
 The gazettes were full of the new constitution 5 
 
 which they called the "Additional Act," and the 
 
 act of the " Champ de Mai." Mr. Gouldcn always 
 
 had something to say, sometimes about one article 
 
 and sometimes another, but I mixed no more in these 
 
 affairs, and repented of having complained of the 
 
 processions and expiations ; I had had enough of 
 
 politics. 
 8* 
 
178 WATERLOO. 
 
 This lasted till the 23d of May. That morning 
 about ten o'clock I was in the great hall of the ar- 
 senal, filling the boxes with guns. The great door 
 was wide open, and the men were waiting with their 
 wagons before the bullet park, to load up the boxes. 
 I had nailed the last one, when Robert, the guard, 
 touched me on the shoulder and said in my ear : 
 
 " Bertha, the Commandant Montravel wishes tc 
 Fee you. He is in the pavilion." 
 
 " What does he want of me ?" 
 
 " I do not know." 
 
 I was afraid directly, but I went at once. I crossed 
 the grand court, near the sheds for the gun-car- 
 riages, mounted the stairs, and knocked softly at 
 the door. 
 
 " Come in," said the commandant. 
 
 I opened the door all in a tremble, and stood with 
 my cap in my hand. Mr. Montravel was a tall, 
 brown, thin man, with a little stoop in his shoulders. 
 Pie was walking hastily up and down his room, ii 
 the midst of his books and maps, and arms hung on 
 he wall. 
 
 " Ah ! Bertha, it is you, is it ? I have disagreeable 
 news to tell you, the third battalion to which you be- 
 long leaves for Metz." 
 
 On hearing this my heart sank, and I could not say 
 
WAT 'EEL 00. 179 
 
 a -vord. He looked at me, and after a moment he 
 added : 
 
 "Do not be troubled, you have been married for 
 several months, and you are a good workman, and 
 that deserves consideration. You will give this let- 
 ter to Colonel Desmichels at the arsenal at Metz; 
 he is one of my friends, and will find employment in 
 some of his workshops for you, you may be certain." 
 
 I took the letter which he handed me, thanked 
 him, and went home filled with alarm. Zebede, Mr. 
 Goulden, and Catherine were talking: tog-ether in the 
 shop, distress was written on every face. They knew 
 every thing. " The third battalion is going," I said 
 as I entered, " but Mr. Montravel has just given me 
 a letter to the director of the arsenal at Metz. Do 
 not be anxious, I shall not make the campaign." 
 
 I was almost choking. Mr. Goulden took the let- 
 ter and said, " It is open we can read it." 
 
 Then he read the letter, in which Mr. Montravel 
 recommended me to his friend, saying that I was 
 married, a good workman, industrious, and that I 
 
 could render real service at the arsenal. He could 
 
 i 
 
 have said nothing better. 
 
 " Now the matter is certain," said Zebede. 
 
 " Yes, you will be retained in the arsenal at Metz," 
 said Father Goulden. 
 
180 WATERLOO. 
 
 Catherine was very pale, she kissed me and said. 
 *' What happiness, Joseph !" 
 
 They all pretended to believe that I should remain 
 at Metz, and I tried to hide my fears from them. 
 But the effort almost suffocated me, and I could hard- 
 ly avoid sobbing, when happily I thought I would 
 go and announce the news to Aunt Gredel. So I 
 said, " Although it will not be very long, and I shall 
 stay in Metz, yet I must go and tell the good news 
 to Aunt Gredel. I will be back between five and six, 
 and Catherine will have time to prepare my haversack, 
 and we will have supper." 
 
 " Yes, Joseph, go !" said Father Goulden. Cath- 
 erine said not a word, for she could hardly restrain 
 her tears. I set off like a madman. Zebede, who 
 was returning to the barracks, told me at the door, 
 that the officer in charge at the town-house would 
 give me my uniform, and that I must be there about 
 five o'clock. I listened, as if in a dream, to his words, 
 and ran till I was outside of the city. Once on the 
 glacis I ran on without knowing where, in the trenches, 
 and by the Trois-Chateaux and the Baraques-a-en- 
 haut, and along the forest to Quatre Yents. 
 
 I can not describe to you the thoughts that ran 
 through my brain. I was bewildered, and wanted 
 to run away to Switzerland. But the worst of ali 
 
WATERLOO. 181 
 
 was when I approached Quatre Vents "by the path 
 along the Daun. It was about three o'clock. Aunt 
 Gredel was putting up some poles for her beans, in 
 the rear of the garden, and she saw me in the distance 
 and said to herself: 
 
 " Why it is Joseph ! what is he doing in the grain." 
 
 But when I got into the road, which was full of ruts 
 and sand and which the sun made as hot as a furnace, 
 I went on more slowly with my head bent down, think- 
 ing I should never dare to go in, when, suddenly 
 aunt exclaimed from behind the hedge, " Is it you, 
 Joseph ?" 
 
 Then I shivered. " Yes, it is I." 
 
 She ran out into the little elder alley, and seeing mi 
 so pale she said, " I know why you have come, you 
 are going away I" 
 
 " Yes," I replied, " the others are going, but I am 
 to stay in Metz ; it is very fortunate." 
 
 She said nothing, and we went into the kitchen, 
 which was very cool compared with the hfat outside. 
 She sat down, and I read her the commandant's let- 
 ter. She listened to it, and repeated, " Yes, it is very 
 fortunate." 
 
 And we sat and looked at each other without 
 speaking a word, and then she took my head be- 
 tween her hands and kissed me, and embraced me 
 
182 WATERLOO. 
 
 for a long time, and I could see she was crying, 
 though she did not say a word. 
 
 " You weep," said I, " but since I am to stay in 
 Metz !" 
 
 Still she did not speak, but went and brought some 
 wine. I took a glass, and she asked, " What does 
 Catherine say ?" 
 
 " She is glad that I am to remain at the arsenal ; 
 -and Mr. Goulden also." 
 
 " That is well ; and are they preparing what you 
 need ?" 
 
 "Yes, Aunt Gredel, and I must be at the city hall 
 before fire o'clock to receive my uniform." 
 
 " Well ! then you must go ; kiss me, Joseph. I 
 will not go with you. I do not wish to see the bat- 
 talion leave — I will stay here. I must live a long 
 while yet — Catherine has need of me — " here her 
 restraint gave way. 
 
 Suddenly she checked herself, and said, " At what 
 time do you leave ?" 
 
 "To-morrow, at seven o'clock, Mamma Gredel." 
 
 11 Well ! at eight o'clock I will be there. You will 
 be far away, but you will know that the mother of 
 your wife is there, that she will take care of hei 
 daughter, that she loves you, that she has only you 
 in the whole world." 
 
WATERLOO. 183 
 
 The courageous woman sobbed aloud ; she accom- 
 panied me to the door, and I left her. It seemed as 
 if I had not a drop of blood left in my veins. Just 
 as the clock struck five I reached the town-house. I 
 v^ent up and saw that hall again where I had lost, 
 aat cursed hall where everybody drew unlucky 
 numbers. I received a cloak and coat, pantaloons, 
 gaiters, and shoes. Zebede, who was waiting for me, 
 told one of the musketeers to take them to the mess- 
 room. 
 
 " You will come early and put them on," said he ; 
 " your musket and knapsack have been in the rack 
 since morning." 
 
 " Come with me," said I. 
 
 " No, I can not, the sight of Catherine breaks my 
 heart ; and beside I must stay with my father. Who 
 knows whether I shall find the old man alive at the 
 end of a year? I promised to take supper with 
 you, but I shall not go." 
 
 I was obliged to go home alone. My haversack 
 was all ready ; my old haversack, the only thing I 
 had saved from Hanau, as my head rested on it in 
 the wagon. Mr. Goulden was at work. He tui rivd 
 round without speaking, and I asked, " Where is 
 Catherine ?" 
 
 " She is up-stairs." 
 
184 WATERLOO. 
 
 I knew she was crying, and I wanted to go up 
 but my legs and my courage both failed me. 
 
 I told Mr. Goulden of my visit to Quatre Vents, 
 and then we sat and waited, thinking, without daring 
 to look each other in the face. It was already dark 
 when Catherine came down. She laid the table in 
 the twilight, and then I took her hand, and made hei 
 sit down on my knee, and we remained so for half an 
 Lour. 
 
 Then Mr. Goulden asked : 
 
 " Is not Zebede coming ?" 
 
 " No, he can not come." 
 
 " Well ! let us take our supper then." 
 
 But no one was hungry. Catherine removed the 
 table about nine o'clock, and we all retired. It was 
 the most terrible night I ever passed in my life. 
 Catherine was in a deathly swoon. I called her, but 
 she did not answer. At midnight I wakened Mr. 
 Goulden, and he dressed himself and came up to our 
 chamber. We gave her some sugar-water, when she 
 revived and got up. I can not tell you every thing ; I 
 only know that she sank at my feet and begged me 
 not to abandon her, as if I did it voluntarily I but 
 she was crazed. Mr. Goulden wanted to call a doc- 
 tor, but I prevented him. Toward morning she re- 
 covered entirely, and after a long fit of weeping, she 
 
WATERLOO. 185 
 
 fell asleep in my arms. I did not even dare to em 
 brace her, and we went out softly and left her. 
 
 When we feel all the miseries of life, we exclaim : 
 " Why are we in the world ? Why did we not sleep 
 through the eternal ages. What have we done, that 
 we must see those we love suffer, when we are not in 
 fault ? It is not God, but man, who breaks our 
 hearts." 
 
 After we went down-stairs Mr. Goulden said to 
 me, " She is asleep, she knows nothing of it all, 
 and that is a blessing ; you will go before she wakes." 
 I thanked God for His goodness, and we sat waiting 
 for the least sound, till at last the drums beat the 
 assembly. Then Mr. Goulden looked at me very 
 gravely, we rose, and he buckled my knapsack on my 
 shoulders in silence. 
 
 At last he said : " Joseph, go and see the com- 
 mandant in Metz, but count upon nothing ; the dan- 
 ger is so great that France has need of all her 
 children for her defense, and this time it is not a 
 question of acquiring from others, but of saving our 
 own country. Remember that it is yourself and 
 your wife and all that is dearest to you in the world 
 that is at stake." We went down to the street in 
 silence, embraced each other, and then I went to the 
 barracks. Zebede took me to the mess-room and I 
 
186 WATERLOO. 
 
 put on my uniform. All that I remember after so 
 many years is, that Zebede's father, who was there, 
 took my clothes and made them into a bundle and 
 said he would take them home after our departure ; 
 and the battalion filed out by the little rue de 
 Lanche through the French gate. A few children 
 ran after us, and the soldiers on guard r resented 
 arms ; we were en route for Waterloo, 
 
WATERLOO, 187 
 
 XV. 
 
 At Sarrebourg we received tickets for lodgings. 
 Mine was for the old printer Jarcisse, who knew Mr* 
 Goulden and Aunt Gredel, and who made me dine at 
 his table with my new comrade and bedfellow, Jean 
 Buche, the son of a wood-cutter of Harberg, who had 
 never eaten any thing but potatoes before he was con- 
 scripted. He devoured every thing, even to the bones 
 that they set before us. But I was so melancholy, 
 that to hear him crunch the bones made me nervous. 
 Father Jarcisse tried to console me, but every word 
 le said only increased my pain. We passed the 
 remainder of that day and the following night at 
 Sarrebourg. The next day we kept on our route to 
 the village of Mezieres, the next to the Vic, and on 
 to Soigne, till on the fifth day we came to Metz. I do 
 not need to tell you of our march, of the soldiers 
 white with dust, how we passed )ne magazine after 
 
188 WATERLOO. 
 
 another, with our knapsacks on our backs, and our 
 guns carried at will, talking, laughing, looking at the 
 young girls as we passed through the villages, at th* 
 carts, the manure heaps, the sheds, the hills, and th»* 
 valleys, without troubling ourselves about any thing. 
 And when one is sad and has left his wife at home, 
 and dear friends too, whom he may never see again, 
 all these pass before his eyes like shadows, and a 
 hundred steps more and they too are unthought of. 
 But yet the view of Metz, with its tall cathedral and 
 its ancient dwellings, and its frowning ramparts 
 awakened me. Two hours before we arrived, we kept 
 thinking we should soon reach the earth-works, and 
 hastened our steps in order the sooner to get into 
 the shade. I thought of Colonel Desmichels, and 
 had a little — very little, hope. " If fate wills !" I 
 thought, and I felt for my letter. 
 
 Zebede did not talk to me now, but from time to 
 time he turned his head and looked back at me. It 
 was not exactly as it was in the old campaign, he 
 was sergeant, and I only a common soldier ; we loved 
 each other always, but that made a difference of 
 course. Jean Buche marched along beside me, with 
 his round shoulders and his feet turned in like a 
 wolf. The only thing he said from time to time was, 
 that his shoes hurt him on the march, and that they 
 
WATERLOO. 189 
 
 should only be worn on parade. During two months 
 the drill-sergeant had not been able to make him turn 
 out his toes, or to raise his shoulders, but for all that 
 he could march terribly well in his own fashion, and 
 without being fatigued. At last about five in the 
 afternoon, we reached the outposts. They soon 
 recognized us, and the captain of the guard himself 
 exclaimed, " Pass !" The drums rolled, and we en- 
 tered the oldest town I had ever seen. 
 
 Metz is at the confluence of the Seille and the 
 Moselle. The houses are four or five stories high; 
 their old walls are full of beams as at Saverne and 
 Bouxviller, the windows round and square, great 
 and small, on the same line, with shutters and with- 
 out, some with glass and some without any. It is 
 as old as the mountains and rivers. The roofs 
 project about six feet, spreading their shadows over 
 the black water, in which old shoes, rags, and dead 
 dogs are floating. If you look upward you will 
 be sure to see the face of some old Jew at the 
 windows in the roof, with his gray beard and crook- 
 ed nose, or a child who is risking his neck. Prop- 
 erly speaking, it is a city of Jews a*ud soldiers. 
 Poor people are not wanting either. It is much 
 worse in this respect than at Mayence, or at Stras- 
 bourg, or even at Frankfort. If they have not 
 
190 WATERLOO. 
 
 changed since then, they love their ease now. Id 
 spite of my sadness I could not help looking at these 
 lanes and alleys. The town swarmed with national 
 guards ; they were arriving from Longwy, from Sarre- 
 louis and other places ; the soldiers left and were re- 
 placed by these guards. 
 
 We came upon^ a square encumbered with beds 
 and mattresses, bedding, etc., which the citizens 
 had furnished for the troops. We stacked arms in 
 front of the barracks, every window of which was 
 open from top to bottom. We waited, thinking we 
 should be lodged there, but at the end of twenty 
 minutes the distribution commenced, and each man 
 received twenty-five sous and a ticket for lodging. 
 We broke rank, each one going his own way. Jean 
 Buche who had never seen any other town than 
 Pfalzbonrg did not leave me for a moment. Our 
 ticket was for Elias Meyer, butcher, in the rue St. 
 Yalery. When we reached the house the butcher 
 was cutting meat in the arched and grated window 
 and was any thing but pleased to see us, and received 
 us very ungraciously. He was a fat, red, round-faced 
 Jew, with silver rings on his fingers and in his ears. 
 His thin, yellow-skinned wife came down exclaiming 
 that they had " had lodgers for two nights before, 
 that the mayor's secretary did it on purpose, that he 
 
WATERLOO. 191 
 
 sent soldiers every day, and that the neighbors did 
 not have them," and so on. 
 
 But they allowed us to enter after all. The daugh- 
 ter came and stared at us, and behind her was a fat 
 servant-woman, frizzled and very dirty. I seem to 
 see those people before me still, in that old room with 
 its oak wainscoting, and the great copper lamp hang- 
 ing from the ceiling, and the grated window looking 
 into the little court. The daughter, who was very 
 pale and had very black eyes, said something to her 
 mother and then the servant was ordered to show us 
 to the garret, to the beggars' chamber, for all the Jews 
 feed and shelter beggars on Friday. My comrade 
 from Harberg did not complain, but I was indignant. 
 We followed the servant up a winding stair slippery 
 with filth, to the room. It was separated from the 
 rest of the garret by slats, through which we could 
 see the dirty linen. It was lighted by a little win- 
 dow like a lozenge in the roof. Even if I had not 
 been so miserable I should have thought it abomin 
 able. There was only one chair and a straw mattress 
 on the floor and one single coverlet for us both. The 
 servant stood staring at us at the door, as if she ex* 
 pected thanks or compliments. I took off my knap- 
 sack, sad enough as you can imagine, anrl lean Buche 
 did the same. The servant turned to go down-stair's 
 
192 WATERLOO. 
 
 when I cried out : " Wait a minute, we will go down 
 too, we do not want to break our necks on those 
 stairs." We changed our shoes and stockings and 
 fastened the door and went down to the shop to buy 
 some meat. Jean went to the baker opposite for 
 some bread, and as our ticket gave us a place at the 
 fire we went to the. kitchen to make our soup. The 
 butcher came to see us just as we were finishing our 
 supper. He was smoking a big Ulm pipe. He 
 asked where we were from I was so indignant I 
 would not answer him, but Jean Buche told him that 
 I was a watch-maker from Pfalzbourg, upon which 
 he treated me with more consideration. He said 
 that his brother traveled in Alsace and Lorraine, 
 with watches, rings, watch-chains, and other articles 
 of silver and gold, and jewelry, and that his name 
 was Samuel Meyer, and perhaps we had had business 
 with him. I replied that I had seen his brother two 
 or three times at Mr. Goulden's, which was true. 
 Thereupon he ordered the servant to bring us a 
 pillow, but he did nothing more for us and we went 
 to bed. 
 
 We were very weary and were soon sound asleep. 
 [ thought to get up very early and go to the arsenal, 
 but I was still asleep when my comrade shook me 
 and said : " The assembly !" 
 
WATERLOO. 193 
 
 I Jstened — it was the assembly ! We only had time 
 to dress, buckle on our knapsacks, take our guns, and 
 run down. When we reached the barracks the roll- 
 oall had begun. When it was finished two wagons 
 oame up, and we received fifty ball-cartridges each. 
 The Commandant Gemeau, the captains, and all the 
 officers were there. I saw that all was over, that I 
 had nothing to t;ount on longer, and that my letter to 
 Colonel Desmichels might be good after the cam- 
 paign was over, if I escaped and should be obliged 
 to serve out my seven years. Zebede looked at me 
 from a distance — I turned away my head. The order 
 came : 
 
 " Carry arms ! arms at will ! by file ! left ! forward ! 
 march !" 
 
 The drums rolled, we marked step, and the roofs, 
 the houses, the windows, the lanes, and the people 
 seemed to glide past us. We crossed over the 
 first bridge and the draw-bridge. The drums ceased 
 to beat and we went on toward Thionville. The 
 other troops followed the same route, cavalry and 
 infantry. 
 
 That night we reached the village of Beaure- 
 gard, the next night we were at Vitry, near Thion- 
 ville, where we were stationed till the 8th of June. 
 Buche and I were lodged with a fat landlord named 
 
194 WATERLOO. 
 
 Pochon. He was a very good man and gave us 
 excellent white wine to drink, and liked to talk politics 
 like Mr. Goulden. During our stay in this villag 
 General Schoeffer came from Thionville, and we went 
 to be reviewed with our arms at a large farm called 
 " Silvange." 
 
 It is a woody country, and we often went, several 
 of us together, to make excursions in the vicinity. 
 One day Zebede came and took me to see the great 
 foundery at Moyeuvre where we saw them run bullet? 
 and bombs. We talked about Catherine and Mr. 
 Goulden, and he told me to write to them, but some- 
 how I was afraid to hear from home, and I turned mv 
 thoughts away from Pfalzbourg. 
 
 On the 8th of June we left this village very early 
 in the morning, returning near to Metz but without 
 entering the city. The city gates were shut and the 
 cannon frowned on the walls as in time of war. We 
 slept at Chatel, and the next day we were at Etain, 
 the day following at Dannevoux, where I was lodged 
 with a good patriot named Sebastian Perrin. He 
 was a rich man, and wanted to know the details of 
 every thing. 
 
 As a great number of battalions had followed the 
 same route before us, he said, " In a m >nth perhaps 
 we shall see great things, all the troops are marching 
 
WATERLOO 195 
 
 into Belgium. The Emperor is going to fall apon 
 the English and Prussians." 
 
 This was the last place where we had good supplies. 
 The next day we arrived at Yong, which is in a mis- 
 erable country. Y/e slept on the 12th of June at 
 Yivier, and the 13th at Cul-de-Sard. The farther we 
 advanced the more troops we encountered, and as I 
 had seen these things in Germany, I said to Jean 
 Buche : 
 
 " Now we shall have hot work." 
 
 On all sides and in every direction, files of infantry, 
 cavalry, and artillery, were seen as far as the eye 
 could reach. The weather was as delightful as possible, 
 and nothing could be more promising than the ripen- 
 ing grain. But it was very hot. What astonished me 
 was, that neither before nor behind, on the right hand 
 nor on the left could we discover any enemies. Nobody 
 knew any thing about them. The rumor circulated 
 amongst us that we were to attack the English. I 
 had seen the Russians, Prussians, Austrians, Bavari 
 ans and Wurtemburgers and the Swedes. I knew 
 the people of all the countries in the world, and now 
 
 was going to make the acquaintance of the English 
 also. If we must be exterminated, I thought, it might 
 as well be done by them as by the Germans. We- 
 could not avoid our fate — if I was to escape, I should 
 
196 WATERLOO. 
 
 escape, but if I were doomed to leave my bones 
 here, all I could do would avail nothing — but the 
 more we destroyed of them the greater would be the 
 chances for us. This was the way I reasoned with 
 myself, and if it did me no good it caused me at least 
 no harm. 
 
WATERLOO. 197 
 
 XVI. 
 
 We passed the Meuse on the 12th, and during the 
 13th and 14th we marched along the wretched roads, 
 bordered with grain fields, barley, oat3, and hemp, 
 without end. The heat was extraordinary, the sweat 
 ran down to our hips from under our knapsacks and 
 cartridge-boxes. What a misfortune to be poor, and 
 unable to buy a man to march and take the musket- 
 shots in our place ! After having gone through the 
 rain, wind, and snow, and mud, in Germany, the turn 
 of the sun and dust had come. And I saw too, that 
 the destruction was approaching, you could hear the 
 sound of the drum and the bugle in every direc- 
 tion, and whenever the battalion passed over an ele- 
 vation long lines of helmets and lances and bayo- 
 nets were seen as far as the eye could reach. 
 
 Zebede, with his musket on his shoulder, would ex- 
 claim cheerfully, " Well, Joseph ! we are going to see 
 
198 WATERLOO. 
 
 the whites of the Prussians' eyes again ;" and I would 
 force myself to reply, " Oh ! yes, the weddings will 
 soon begin again." As if I wanted to risk my life 
 and leave Catherine a young widow for the sake of 
 something which did not in the least concern me. 
 
 That same day at seven o'clock we reached Holy. 
 The hussars occupied the town already, and we were 
 obliged to bivouac in a deep road along the side of 
 the hill. t We had hardly stacked our arms when sev- 
 eral general officers arrived. The Commandant Ge« 
 meau, who had just dismounted, sprang upon his 
 horse and hurried to meet them. They conversed 
 a moment together and came down into our road. 
 Everybody looked on and said, " Something has hap- 
 pened." One of the officers, General Pechaux, whom 
 we knew afterward, ordered the drums to beat, and 
 shouted, " Form a circle." The road was too narrow, 
 and some of the soldiers went up on the slope each 
 side of the road, while the others remained on the 
 road. All the battalion looked on while the general 
 unrolled a paper, and said, " Proclamation from the 
 Emperor." 
 
 When he had said that, the silence was so pro- 
 found that you would ha\ e thought yourself alone in 
 the midst of these great fields. Every one, from the 
 last conscript to the Commandant Gemeau, listened, 
 
WATERLOO. 199 
 
 and, even to-day, when I think of it, after fifty 
 years, it moves my heart ; it was grand and terrible. 
 This is what the general read : 
 
 " Soldiers! To-day is the anniversary of Marengo and of Fried- 
 iand, which twice decided the fate of Europe ! Then, as after Aus-, 
 terlitz and after "Wagrani, we were too generous, we believed the 
 protestations and the oaths of princes, whom we left on their 
 thrones. They have combined to attack the independence and 
 even the most sacred rights of France. They have commenced 
 the most unjust aggressions, let us meet them ! They and we, — 
 are we no longer of the same race?" 
 
 The whole battalion shouted, " Vive V Empereur." 
 The general raised his hand, and all were silent. 
 
 "Soldiers! at Jena, we were as one to three against these 
 Prussians who are so arrogant to-day ; at Montmirail we were as 
 one against six 1 Let those among you who have been prisoners 
 of the English tell the tale of their frightful suffering's in their 
 prison ships. The Saxons, the Belgians, the Hanoverians, the 
 soldiers of the Confederation of the Rhine, complain that they are 
 compelled to lend their arms to princes who are enemies of justice 
 aud of the rights of all nations. They know that this coalition is 
 insatiable. After having devoured twelve millions of Poles, 
 twelve millions of Italians, one million of Saxons, six millions of 
 Belgians, it will devour all the states of the second order in Ger- 
 many. Madmen ! a moment of prosperity has blinded them ; the 
 oppression and humiliation of the French people is beyond their 
 power. If they enter France they will find their graves there. 
 Soldiers, we have forced marches to make, battles to wage, and 
 
200 WATERLOO. 
 
 perils to encounter, but, if we are constant, victory will be ours 
 The rights of man and the happiness of our country will be re- 
 conquered. For all Frenchmen, who have hearts, the time has 
 come to conquer or to perish. — Napoleon." 
 
 The shouts which arose were like thunder, it wa 
 as if the Emperor had breathed his war spirit into 
 our hearts, and moved us as one man to destroy our 
 enemies. The shouts continued long after the gen- 
 eral had gone, and even I was satisfied. I saw that 
 it was the truth, that the Prussians, Austrians, and 
 Russians, who had talked so much of the deliverance, 
 of the people, had profited by the first opportunity 
 to grasp every thing, that those grand words about 
 liberty, which had served to excite their young men 
 against us in 1813, and all the promises of constitu- 
 tions which they had made, had been set aside and 
 broken. I looked upon them as beggars, as men who 
 had not kept their word, who despised the people, 
 and whose ideas were very narrow and limited, and 
 consisted in always keeping the best place for them- 
 selves and their children and descendants whethe 
 they were good or bad, just or unjust, without an 
 reference to God's law. That was the way I looked at 
 it ; the proclamation seemed to me very beautiful. T 
 thought too, that Father Goulden would be pleased 
 with it, because the Emperor had not forgotten the 
 
WATERLOO. 201 
 
 rights of man, which are liberty, equality, and justice, 
 and all those grand ideas which distinguish men from 
 brutes, causing them to respect themselves and the 
 rights of their neighbors also. Our courage was greatly 
 strengthened by these strong and just words. The 
 old soldiers laughed and said, " We shall not be kept 
 waiting this time. On the first march we shall fall 
 jpon the Prussians." 
 
 But the conscripts, who had never yet heard the 
 bullets whistle, were the most excited of all. Buche's 
 eyes sparkled like those of a cat, as he sat on the 
 road-side, with his knapsack opened on the slope, slow- 
 ly sharpening his saber, and trying the edge on the 
 toe of his shoe. Others were setting their bayonets 
 and adjusting their flints, as they always do wnen on 
 the eve of a battle. At those times their heads are 
 full of thought, which make them knit their brows, 
 and compress their lips ; giving them any thing but 
 pleasant faces. 
 
 The sun sank lower and lower behind the grain 
 fields, several detachments of men went to the village 
 for wood, and they brought back onions and leeks 
 and salt, and even several quarters of beef were hung 
 on long sticks over their shoulders. But it was wher 
 the men were around the fires, watching their kettles 
 as they commenced to boil, and the smoke went curl 
 
 o* 
 
202 WATERLOO. 
 
 ing up into the air, that their faces were happiest , 
 one would talk of Lutzen, another of Wasram, of 
 Austerlitz, of Jena, of Friedland, of Spain, of Portugal, 
 and of all the countries in the world. They all talk- 
 ed at once, but only the old soldiers whose arms 
 were covered with chevrons, were listened to. They 
 were most interesting, as they marked the positions 
 on the ground with their fingers, and explained them 
 by a line on the right, and a line on the left. You 
 Beemed to see it all while listening to them. Each 
 one had his pewter spoon at his button-hole, and 
 kept thinking, " The soup will be capital, the meat is 
 good and fat." 
 
 When we were stationed for the night, the order 
 was given to extinguish the fires and not to beat the 
 retreat, which indicated that the enemy was near, and 
 that they feared to alarm them. 
 
 The moon was shining, and Buche and I were eat- 
 ing at the same mess ; when we had finished, he talk- 
 ed to me more than two hours about his life at Har- 
 berg, how they were obliged to drag two or three 
 cords of wood on great sleds at the risk of being run 
 over and crushed, especially when the snow was melt- 
 ing. Compared with that, the life of a soldier, with 
 his pleasant mess and good bread, regular rations, 
 the neat warm uniform, the stout linen shirts, seemed 
 
WATERLOO. 203 
 
 to him delightful. He had never dreamed that he 
 could be so comfortable, and his strongest desire was 
 to let his two younger brothers, Gaspard and Jacob, 
 know how delighted he was, in order that they might 
 enlist as soon as they were old enough. 
 
 " Yes," said I, " that is all very well, — but the Eng 
 lish and Prussians, — you do not think of that." 
 
 " I despise them," said he, " my saber cuts like a 
 butcher's knife, and my bayonet is sharp as a needle. 
 It is they who should be afraid to encounter me." 
 
 We were the best friends in the world, and I liked 
 him almost as well as my old comrades Klipfel, 
 Furst, and Zebecle. And he liked me too. I believe 
 he would have let himself be cut to pieces to save me 
 from danger. Old comrades and bedfellows never 
 forget each other. In my time, old Harwig whom I 
 knew in Pfalzbourg, always received a pension from 
 his old comrade Bernadotte, king of Sweden. If I 
 had been a king, Jean Buche should have had a pen- 
 sion, for if he had not a great mind he had a good 
 heart, which is better still. 
 
 While we were talking, Zeb6de came and tapped 
 ue on the shoulder. 
 
 " You do not smoke, Joseph ?" 
 
 " I have no tobacco." 
 
 Then he gave me half of a package which 1 e had 
 
201 WATERLOO. 
 
 and I saw that he loved me still, in srite of the 
 difference in our rank, and that touched me. He was 
 beside himself with delight at the thought of attack- 
 ing the Prussians. 
 
 " We'll be revenged !" he cried ! " No quarter ! they 
 shall pay for all, from Katzbach even to Soissons." 
 
 You would have- thought that those English and 
 Prussians were not going to defend themselves, and 
 that we ran no risk of catching bullets and canister as 
 at Lutzen and at Gross-Beren, at Leipzig and every- 
 where else. But what could you say to a man who 
 remembered nothing and who always looked on the 
 bright side ? 
 
 I smoked my pipe quietly and replied, " Yes ! yes ! 
 we'll settle the rascals, we'll push them ! They'll see 
 enough of us !" 
 
 I left Jean Buche with his pipe, and as we were on 
 guard, Zebede went about nine o'clock to relieve the 
 sentinels at the head of the picket. I stepped a little 
 out of the circle and stretched myself in a furrow 
 a few steps in the rear with my knapsack under my 
 head. The weather was warm, and we heard the 
 crickets Ions* after the sun went down. A few stars 
 shone in the heavens. There was not a breath of 
 air stirring over the plain, the ears of grain stood 
 erect and motionless, and in the distance the village 
 
WATEKLOO. 205 
 
 clocks struck nine, ten, and eleven, but at last I drop- 
 ped asleep. This was the night of the 14th and 15tL 
 of June, 1815. Between two and three in the morning 
 Zebede came and shook me. w Up !" said he, " come !" 
 Buche had stretched himself beside me also, and 
 we rose at once. It was our turn to relieve the guard. 
 It was still dark, but there was a line of light along 
 the horizon at the edge of the grain fields. Thirty 
 paces farther on. Lieutenant Bretonville was waiting 
 for us, surrounded by the picket. It is hard to get 
 up out of a sound sleep after a march of ten hours. 
 But we buckled on our knapsacks as we went, and 
 I relieved the sentinel behind the hedge opposite 
 Holy. The countersign was " Jemmapes and Fleurus," 
 this struck me at once, I had not heard this counter- 
 sign since 1813. How memory sleeps sometimes for 
 years ! I seem to see the picket now as they turn 
 into the road, while I renew the priming of my gun 
 by the light of the stars, and I hear the other senti- 
 nels marching slowly back and forth, while the foot- 
 steps of the picket grew faint and fainter in the 
 distance. I marched up and down the hedge with 
 my gun on my arm. There was nothing to be seen but 
 the village with its thatched roofs and the slated 
 church spire a little farther on ; and a mounted senti- 
 nel stationed in the road with his blunderbuss rest- 
 
206 WATERLOO. 
 
 ing on his thigh looking out into the night. I walked 
 up and down thinking and listening. Every thing 
 slept. The white line along the horizon grew broad- 
 er. Another half hour and the distant country began 
 to appear in the gray light of morning. Two or 
 three quails called and answered each other across 
 the plain. As I heard these sounds I stopped and 
 thought sadly of Quatre Vents, Danne, the Bara- 
 ques-du-bois-de-ehenes, and of our grain fields, where 
 the quails were calling from the edge of the forest of 
 Bonne Fontaine. " Is Catherine asleep ? and Aunt 
 Gredel and Father Goulden and all the town ? The 
 national guard from Nancy has taken our place." I 
 saw the sentinels of the two magazines and the guard 
 at the two gates ; in short, thoughts without number 
 came and went, when I heard a horse galloping 
 in the distance, but I could see nothing. 
 
 In a few minutes he entered the village, and all 
 was still except a sort of confused tumult. In an in- 
 stant after, the horseman came from Holy into our 
 road at full gallop. I advanced to the edge of the 
 hedge and presented my musket, and cried, " Wh 
 goes there." " France !" " What regiment V 
 "Twelfth chasseurs! Staff." "Pass on!" He 
 went on his way faster than before. I heard him 
 stop in the midst of our encampment, and call " Com 
 I 
 
WATERLOO. 207 
 
 mandant." I advanced to the top of the hill to see 
 what was going on. There was a great excitement ; 
 the officers came running up, and the soldiers gath- 
 ered round. The chasseur was speaking to Gemeau^ 
 I listened, but was too far away to hear. The cou 
 rier went on again up the hill, and every thing was in 
 an uproar. They shouted and gesticulated. Suddenly 
 the drums beat to mount guard, and the relief turned 
 a corner in the road. I saw Zebede in the distance 
 looking pale as death, as he passed me he said, 
 " Come !" the two other sentinels were in their places a 
 little to the left. Talking is not allowed when under 
 arms, but, notwithstanding, Zebede said, "Joseph, 
 we are betrayed. Bourmont, general of the division 
 in advance, and five other brigands of the same sort, 
 have just gone over to the enemy." His voice 
 trembled. 
 
 My blood boiled, and looking at the other men on 
 the picket, two old soldiers with chevrons, I saw 
 their lips quiver under their gray mustaches, their 
 ryes rolled fiercely as if they were meditating ven- 
 geance, but they said nothing. We hurried on to 
 relievo the other two sentinels. Some minutes after 
 ward, on returning to our bivouac, we found the bat- 
 talion already under arms and ready to move. Fury 
 and indignation were stamped on every face, the 
 
208 WATERLOO. 
 
 drums beat and we formed ranks, the commandant 
 and the adjutant waited on horseback at the head of 
 the battalion, pale as ashes. 
 
 I remember that the commandant suddenly drew 
 his sword as a signal to stop the drums, and tried to 
 speak, but the words would not come, and he began 
 to shout like a madman : " Ah ! the wretches ! mis- 
 erable villains ! Vive l'Empereur ! ISTo quarter !" 
 He stammered and did not know what he said, but 
 the battalion thought he was eloquent, and began to 
 shout as one man, " Forward ! forward ! to the ene. 
 my ! no quarter !" We went through the village at 
 quick step, and the meanest soldier was furious at 
 not finding the Prussians. 
 
 It was an hour after, when having reflected a little, 
 the men commenced swearing and threatening, se- 
 cretly at first, but soon openly, and at last the bat- 
 talion was almost in revolt. Some said that all the 
 officers under Louis XVIII. must be exterminated, 
 and others, that we were given up en masse, and sev- 
 eral declared that the marshals were traitors, and 
 ought to be court-martialed and shot. 
 
 At last the commandant ordered a halt, and riding 
 down the line he told the men, that the traitors had 
 left too late to do mischief, that we would make the 
 attack that very day, and that the enemy would not 
 
WATERLOO- 209 
 
 have time to profit by the treason, and that he would 
 be surprised and overwhelmed. This calmed the 
 fury of a great proportion of the men, and we re- 
 sumed our march, and all along the route, we beard 
 repeatedly that the exposure of our plans had been 
 made too late. 
 
 But our anger gave place to joy, when about ten 
 o'clock we heard the thunder of cannon five or six 
 leagues to the left, on the other side of the Sambre. 
 The men raised their shakos on their bayonets and 
 shouted : " Forward ! Vive l'Empereur !" 
 
 Many of the old soldiers wept, and over all that 
 great plain there was one immense shout ; when 
 one regiment had ceased another took it up. The 
 cannon thundered incessantly. We quickened our 
 steps. We had been marching on Charleroi since 
 seven o'clock, when an order reached us by an orderly 
 to support the right. I remember that in all the vil- 
 lages through which we passed, the doors and win- 
 dows were full of eager friendly faces, waving their 
 hands and shouting, " The French, the French !" We 
 could see that they were friendly to us, and that they 
 were of the same blood as ourselves ; and in the two 
 halts that we made, they came out with their loaves of 
 excellent home-made bread, with a knife stuck in the 
 crust, and great jugs of black beer, and offered them 
 
210 WATERLOO. 
 
 to us without asking any return. We had come to 
 deliver them without knowing it, and nobody in 
 their country knew it either, which shows the sa- 
 gacity of the Emperor, for there were already in tha 
 corner of the Sambre et Meuse, more than one hun- 
 dred thousand men, and not the slightest hint of it 
 had reached the enemy. 
 
 The treason of Bourmont had prevented our sur- 
 prising them as they were scattered about in their 
 separate camps. . We could then have annihilated 
 them at a blow, but now it would be much more dif- 
 ficult. 
 
 We continued our march till after noon, in the in- 
 tense heat and choking dust. The farther we ad- 
 vanced the greater the number of troops we saw, in- 
 fantry and cavalry. They massed themselves more 
 and more, so to speak, and behind us there were still 
 other regiments. 
 
 Toward five o'clock we reached a village where the 
 battalions and squadrons filed over a bridge built of 
 brick. This village had been taken by our van- 
 guard, and in going through it, we saw some of the 
 Prussians stretched out in the little streets on the 
 right and left, and I said to Jean Buche . " Those 
 are Prussians, I saw them at Lutzen and Leipzig, and 
 you are going to see them too, Jean." 
 
WATERLOO. 211 
 
 " So much tlie better," he replied, " that is what 1 
 want." 
 
 This village was called Chatelet. It is on the river 
 Sanibre, the water is very deep, yellow, and clayey, 
 and those who are so unfortunate as to fall into it, 
 find it very difficult to get out of, for the hanks are 
 perpendicular, as we found out afterward. On the 
 other side of the bridge we bivouacked along the 
 river ; we were not in the advance, as the hussars had 
 passed over before us, but we were the first infantry of 
 the corps of Gerard. All the rest of that day the 
 Fourth corps were filing over the bridge, and we 
 learned at night, that the whole army had passed the 
 Sambre, and that there had been fighting near Cha? 
 leroi, at Marchiennes, and Jumet. 
 
 I 
 
212 WATERLOO. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 On reaching the other bank of the river, we stacked 
 our arms in an orchard, and lighted our pipes and 
 took breath as we watched the hussars, the chas- 
 seurs, the artillery, and the infantry, file over the 
 bridge hour after hour, and take their positions on 
 the plain. In our front was a beech forest, about three 
 leagues in length, which extended toward Fleurus. 
 We could see great yellow spots, here and there in 
 this wood ; these were stubble, and great patches of 
 grain, instead of being covered with bramble or heath 
 and furze as in our country. About twenty old de- 
 crepit houses were on that side the bridge. Chatelet 
 is a very large village, larger than the city of Sa- 
 verne. 
 
 Between the battalions and squadrons, which were 
 constantly moving onward, the men, women, and 
 children would come out with jugs of sour beer, bread, 
 and strong white brandy which they sold to the soi- 
 
WATERLOO. 213 
 
 diers for a few sous. Buche and I broke a crust as 
 we looked on and laughed with the girls, who are 
 blonde and very pretty in that country. 
 
 Very near us was the little village Catelineau, and 
 in the distance on our left, between the wood and the 
 river, lay the village of Gilly. The sound of musket- 
 ry, cannon, and platoon firing, was heard constantly 
 in that direction. The news soon came that the 
 Emperor had driven the Prussians out of Charle- 
 roi, and that they had re-formed in squares at the 
 corner of the wood. 
 
 We expected every moment to be ordered to cut 
 off their retreat, but between seven and eight o'clock, 
 the sound of musketry ceased, the Prussians retired 
 to Fleurus, after having lost one of their squares ; 
 and the others escaped into the wood. We saw two 
 regiments of dragoons arrive and take up their 
 position at our right, along the bank of the Sambre. 
 There was a rumor a few minutes afterward that 
 General Le Tort had been killed by a ball in the 
 abdomen, very near the place where in his youth he 
 had watched and tended the cattle of a farmer. 
 What strange things happen in life ! The general 
 had fought all over Europe, since he was twenty 
 years old, but death waited for him here ! 
 
 It was about eight o'clock in the evening, and we 
 
214 WATERLOO. 
 
 were expecting to remain at Chatelet until our three 
 divisions had crossed. An old bald peasant, in a blue 
 blouse and a cotton cap and as lean as a goat, came 
 into camp and told Captain Gregoire that on the 
 side of the beech wood in a hollow, lay the village of 
 Fleurus, and to the right of this, the little village of 
 Lambusart ; that the Prussians had been stationed 
 in these towns more than three weeks, and that more 
 of them had arrived the night before, and the night 
 before that. He told us also that there was a broad 
 road, bordered with trees, running two good 
 leagues along our left ; that the Belgians and Hano- 
 verians had posts at Gosselies and at Quatre-Bras ; 
 that it was the high road to Brussels, where the 
 English and Hanoverians and Belgians had all their 
 forces ; while the Prussians, four or five leagues at 
 our right, occupied the route to Namur, and that 
 between them and the English, there was a good 
 road running from the plateau of Quatre-Bras to the 
 plateau of Ligny in the rear of Fleurus, over which 
 their couriers went and came from morning till night, 
 go that the Prussians and English were in perfect 
 communication, and could support each other with 
 men, guns, and supplies when necessary. 
 
 Naturally enough I thought at once, that the first 
 thing to be done was to get possession of this road 
 
WATERLOO. 215 
 
 and so cut off their communication ; and I was not 
 the only one who thought so ; but we said nothing 
 for fear of interrupting the old man. In five minutes 
 half the battalion had gathered round him in a circle. 
 He was smoking a clay pipe and pointing out all the 
 positions with the stem. He was a sort of commis- 
 sioner between Chatelet, Fleurus, and Namur and 
 knew every foot of the country and all that hap- 
 pened every day. 
 
 He complained greatly of the Prussians, said they 
 were proud and insolent, that they corrupted the 
 women and were never satisfied, and that the officers 
 boasted of having driven us from Dresden to Paris, 
 that they had made us run like hare. 
 
 I was indignant at that, for I knew they were two 
 to one at Leipzig, and that the Russians, Austrians, 
 Saxons, Bavarians, Wurtemburgers, Swedes, in fact 
 all Europe had overwhelmed us, while three-quarters 
 of our army were sick with typhus, cold, and famine, 
 inarching and countermarching ; but that even all 
 this had not prevented us from beating them at 
 x Ianau, and fifty other times when they were three 
 o one, in Champagne, Alsace, in the Yosges, and 
 everywhere. 
 
 Their boasting disgusted me, I had a horror of the 
 whole race, and I thought, <c those are the rascals whc 
 
216 WATERLOO. 
 
 sour your blood." The old man said too, that the 
 Prussians constantly declared that they would soon 
 be enjoying themselves in Paris, drinking good 
 French wines ; and that the French army was only 
 a band of brigands. When I heard that, I said to 
 myself, " Joseph, that is too much ! now you will 
 show no more mercy, there is nothing but extermi- 
 nation." 
 
 The clocks of Chatelet struck nine and a half, and 
 the hussars sounded the retreat, and each one was 
 about to dispose himself behind a hedge or a bee- 
 house or in a furrow for the night, when the general 
 of the brigade, SchoefFer, ordered the battalion to 
 take up their position on the other side of the wood, 
 as the van-guard. I saw at once that our unlucky 
 battalion was always to be in the van, just as it was 
 in 1813. 
 
 It is a sad thing for a regiment to have a reputa- 
 tion; the men change, but the number remains the 
 same. The Sixth light infantry had always been a 
 distinguished number, and I knew what it cost. 
 Those of us who were inclined to sleep, were wide 
 awake now, for when you know that the enemy is at 
 hand, and you say to yourself, "The Prussians are in 
 ambush, perhaps in that wood, waiting for you," it 
 makes you open your eyes. 
 
WATERLOO. 217 
 
 Several hussars deployed as scouts on our right 
 and left, in front of the column. We marched at the 
 route step, with the captains between the com- 
 panies, and the Commandant Gemeau, on his little 
 gray mare, in the middle of the battalion. Before 
 starting each man had received three pounds of bread 
 and two pounds of rice, and this was the way in 
 which the campaign opened for us. 
 
 The sky was without a cloud, and all the country 
 and even the forest, which lay three-quarters of a 
 league before us, shone in the moonlight like silver. 
 I thought involuntarily of the wood at Leipzig, where 
 I had slipped into a clay-pit with two Prussian hus- 
 sars, when poor Klipfel was cut into a thousand 
 pieces at a little distance from me. All this made 
 me very watchful. No one spoke, even Buche rais- 
 ed his head and shut his teeth, and Zebede, who was 
 at the left of the company, did not look toward me, 
 but right ahead into the shadow of the trees, like 
 everybody else. 
 
 It took us nearly an hour to reach the forest, and 
 when within two hundred paces the order came to 
 "halt." 
 
 The hussars fell back on the flanks of the battalion, 
 
 and one company deployed as scouts. We waited 
 
 about five minutes, and as not the slightest noise 01 
 10 
 
218 WATERLOO. 
 
 sound of any kind reached our ears, we resumed out 
 march. The road which we followed through the 
 wood was quite a wide cart-path. The column 
 marked step in the shadows. At every moment 
 great openings in the forest gave us light and air, 
 and we could see the white piles of newly-cut wood 
 between their stakes, shining in the distance from 
 time to time. 
 
 Besides this, nothing could be heard or seen. 
 Buche said to me in a low voice, " I like the smell 
 of the wood, it is like Harberg." 
 
 " I despise the smell of the wood," I thought ; " and 
 if we do not get a musket-shot, I shall be satisfied." 
 
 At the end of two hours the light appeared again 
 through the underwood, and we reached the other 
 side, fortunately without encountering either enemy 
 or obstacle. The hussars who had accompanied us 
 returned immediately, and the battalion stacked 
 arms. 
 
 We were in a grain country, the like of which I 
 had never seen. Some of the grain was in flower, a 
 little green still, though the barley was almost ripe, 
 The fields extended as far as the eye could reach. 
 We looked around in perfect silence, and I saw thai 
 the old man had not deceived us. Two thousand 
 paces in front of us, in a hollow, we saw the top of 
 
WATERLOO. 219 
 
 an old church spire and some slated gables, lighted 
 up by the moon. That was Fleurus. Nearer to us on 
 our right were some thatched cottages, and a few 
 houses ; this was without doubt Lambusart. At the 
 end of the plain, more than a league distant and in the 
 rear of Fleurus, the surface of the country was broken 
 into little hills, and on these hills innumerable fires 
 were burning. Three large villages were easily 
 recognized extending over the heights from left to 
 right. The one nearest to us, we afterward found, 
 was St. Amand, Ligny in the middle, and two leagues 
 beyond, was Sombref. We could see them more 
 distinctly, even, than in the day-time, on account of 
 the fires of the enemy. The Prussians were in the 
 houses and the orchards and the fields ; and beyond 
 these three villages in a line, was another, lying still 
 higher and farther away, where fires were burning 
 also. This was Bry, where the rascals had their re- 
 serves. 
 
 As we looked at this grand spectacle, I un- 
 derstood the disposition and the plan, and saw too 
 that it would be very difficult to take the position. 
 On the plain at our left there were fires also, but it 
 was the camp of the Third corps, which had turned 
 the corner of the forest after having repulsed the 
 Prussians, and had halted in some village this side of 
 
 • 
 
220 WATERLOO. 
 
 Fleurus. There were a few fires along the edge of 
 the forest, on a line with us; these were tne fires of 
 our own soldiers. I believe there were some on both 
 sides of us, but the great mass were at the left. 
 
 We posted our sentinels immediately, and without 
 lighting our fires laid down at the border of the 
 wood to wait for further orders. General Schoeffer 
 came again during the night with several hussar 
 officers, and talked a long time with our comman- 
 dant, Gemeau, who was watching under arms. Their 
 conversation was quite distinct at twenty paces from 
 us. The general said that our army corps continued to 
 arrive, but that they were very late, and would not all 
 reach here the next day. I saw at once that he was 
 right ; for our fourth battalion, which should have 
 joined us at Chatelet, did not come till the day after 
 the battle, when we were almost exterminated by 
 those rascals at Ligny, having only four hundred men 
 left. Tf they had been been there they would have 
 had their share of the combat and of the glory. 
 
 As I had been on guard the night before, I quietly 
 stretched myself at the foot of a tree by the side oi 
 Buche, with my comrades. It was about one o'clock in 
 the morning of the day of the terrible battle of Ligny, 
 Nearly half of those men who were sleeping around 
 me left their bodies on the plain and in the villages 
 
WATERLOO. 221 
 
 which we saw, to be food for the grain, such as was 
 growing so beautifully around us, for the oats and 
 the barley for ages to come. If they had known that, 
 there was more than one of them who would not have 
 slept so well, for men cling to life, and it is a sad 
 thing to think, " tc-day I draw my last breath 1" 
 
222 WATERLOO. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 Dtjrinu the night the air was heavy, and 1 wafc 
 ened every hour in spite of my great fatigue, but 
 my comrades slept on, some talking in their sleep. 
 Buche did not stir. 
 
 Close at hand, on the edge of the forest, our 
 stacked muskets sparkled in the moonlight. In 
 the distance on the left I could hear the " Qui vive,"* 
 and on our front the " Wer da."f Nearer to us, our 
 sentinels stood motionless, up to their waists in the 
 standing grain. 
 
 I rose up softly and looked about me. In the vi- 
 cinity of Sombref, two leagues to our right, I could 
 hear a great tumult from time to time, which would 
 increase and then cease entirely. It might have been 
 little gusts of wind among the leaves, but there v?as 
 not a breath of air and not a drop of dew fell, 
 and I thought, " Those are the cannon and wagons 
 
 * Who goes there ! — French. \ Who goes there ! — German, 
 
WATERLOO. 223 
 
 uf the Prussians, galloping over the Namur road; 
 their battalions and squadrons, which are coming 
 continually. What a position we shall be in to- 
 morrow with that mass of men already before us, and 
 re-enforcements arriving every moment." 
 
 They had extinguished their fires at St. Amand 
 and at Ligny, but they burned brighter than ever at 
 Sombref. The Prussians who had just arrived after 
 forced marches were no doubt making their soup. A 
 thousand thoughts ran through my brain, and I said 
 to myself from time to time, " You escaped from Lut- 
 zen and Leipzig and Hanau, why not escape this 
 time also ?" 
 
 But the hopes which I cherished did not prevent 
 me from realizing; that the battle would be a ter- 
 rible one. I lay down, however, and slept soundly 
 for half an hour, when the drum-major, Padoue him- 
 self, commenced to beat the reveille. He promenaded 
 up and down the edge of the wood and turned off 
 his rolls and double rolls with great satisfaction. The 
 officers were standing in the grain on the hill-si le in 
 a group, looking toward Fleurus, and talking among 
 themselves. Our reveille always commenced before 
 that of the Austrians or Prussians or any of our ene- 
 mies. It is like the song of the lark at dawn. They 
 commence theirs on their big drums with a dismal 
 
224 WATERLOO. 
 
 roll which gives you the idea of a funeral. But, on 
 the contrary, their buglers have pretty airs for sound- 
 ing the reveille, while ours only give two or three 
 blasts, as much as to say : " Come, let us be going ! 
 there is no time to lose." Everybody rose and the 
 sun came up splendidly over the grain fields, and we 
 could feel beforehand how hot it would be at noon. 
 
 Buche and all the detailed men set off with their 
 canteens for water, while others were lighting hand- 
 fuls of straw with tinder for their fires. There was 
 no lack of wood, as each one took an armful from the 
 piles that were already cut. Corporal Duhem and 
 Sergeant Rabot and Zebede came to have a talk with 
 me. We were together in 1813, and they had been 
 at my wedding, and in spite of the difference in our 
 rank they had always continued their friendship for 
 me. 
 
 " Well ! Joseph," said Zebede, " the dance is going 
 
 to commence." 
 
 " Yes," I replied, and recalling the words of poor 
 
 Sergeant Pinto the morning before Lutzen, I added 
 with a wink, " this, Zebede, will be a battle, as Ser- 
 geant Pinto said, where you will gain the cross 
 between the thrusts of ramrod and bayonet, and if 
 you do not have a chance now you need never ex 
 pect it." 
 
WATERLOO. 225 
 
 They all began to laugh, and Zebede said : 
 
 " Yes, indeed, the poor old fellow richly deserved 
 it, but it is harder to catch than the bouquet at the 
 top of a climbing pole." 
 
 We all laughed and as they had a flask of brandy, 
 we took a crust of bread together as we watched the 
 movements of the enemy which began to be per- 
 ceptible. Buche had returned among the first with 
 his canteen and now stood behind us with his ears 
 wide open like a fox on the alert. 
 
 Files of cavalry came out of the woods and crossed 
 the grain fields in the direction of St. Amand, the 
 large village at the left of Fleurus. 
 
 " Those," said Zebede, " are the light horse of Pa- 
 jol who will deploy as scouts. These are Exelman's 
 dragoons. When the others have ascertained the 
 positions they will advance in line, that is the way 
 they always do, and the cannon will come with the 
 infantry. The cavalry will form on the right or the 
 eft and support the flanks, and the infantry will take 
 the front rank. They will form their attacking col 
 umns on the good roads and in the fields, and the 
 affair will begin with a cannonade for twenty min- 
 utes or half an hour, more or less, and when half 
 the batteries are disabled, the Emperor will choose a 
 
 favorable moment to put us in, but it is we who will 
 10* 
 
226 WATERLOO. 
 
 catch the bullets and canister because we are nearest* 
 We advance, carry arms, in readiness for a charge, at 
 a quick step and in good order, but it always ends in 
 a double quick, because the shot makes you impatient 
 
 warn you, conscripts, beforehand, so that you may 
 not be surprised." More than twenty conscripts had 
 ranged themselves behind us to listen. The cavalry 
 continued to pour* out of the wood. 
 
 "I will bet," said Corporal Duhem, "that the 
 Fourth cavalry has been on the march in our rear 
 since day-break." 
 
 And Rabot said they would have to take time to 
 get into line, as it was so bad traversing the wood. 
 We were discussing the matter like generals, and we 
 scanned the position of the Prussians around the vil- 
 lages, in the orchards, and behind the hedges, which 
 are six feet high in that country. A great number 
 of their guns were grouped in batteries between 
 Ligny and St. Amand, and we could plainly see the 
 bronze shining in the sun, which inspired all sorts of 
 reflections. 
 
 " I am sure," said Zebede, " that they are all barri- 
 caded, and they have dug ditches and pierced the 
 walls ; we should have done well to push on yester- 
 day, when their squares retreated to the first village 
 on the heights. If we were on a level with them it 
 
WATERLOO. 227 
 
 would be very well, but to climb up across those 
 hedges under the enemy's fire will cost a trifle, unless 
 something should happen in the rear as is sometimes 
 he case with the Emperor." 
 
 The old soldiers were talking in this fashion on all 
 sides, and the conscripts were listening with open 
 ears. 
 
 Meanwhile the camp-kettles were suspended over 
 the fire, but they were expressly forbidden to use their 
 bayonets for this purpose as it destroyed their temper. 
 It was about seven o'clock, and we all thought that the 
 battle would be at St. Amand. The village was sur- 
 rounded by hedges and shrubbery, with a great tower 
 in the center, and higher up in the rear there were 
 more houses and a winding road bordered with a 
 stone wall. All the officers said : " That is where 
 the struggle will be." As our troops came from 
 Charleroi they spread over the plain below us, in- 
 fantry and cavalry side by side; all the corps of 
 Vandamme and Gerard's division. Thousands and 
 thousands of helmets glittered in t lie sun, andBuche 
 who stood beside me, exclaimed : 
 
 " Oh ! oh ! oh ! look, Joseph, look ! they come con- 
 tinually !" 
 
 And we could see innumerable bayonets in the same 
 direction as far as the eye could reach. 
 
228 WATERLOO. 
 
 The Prussians were spreading more and more ovei 
 the hill-side near the windmills. This movement 
 continued till eight o'clock. Nobody was hungry, 
 but we ate all the same, so as not to reproach our* 
 selves; for the battle, once begun, might last two 
 days without giving us a chance to eat again. 
 
 Between eight and nine o'clock the first battalions of 
 our division left the wood. The officers came to shake 
 hands with their comrades, but the staff remained in 
 the rear. Suddenly the hussars and chasseurs passed 
 us, extending our line of battle toward the right. 
 They were Morin's cavalry. Our idea was that when 
 the Prussians should have become engaged in the 
 attack on St. Amand, we would fall on their flank at 
 Ligny. But the Prussians were on their guard, and 
 from that moment they stopped at Ligny, instead of 
 going on to St. Amand. They even came lower down, 
 and we could see the officers posting the men among 
 the hedges and in the gardens and behind the low 
 walls and barracks. We thought their position very 
 3trong. They continued to come lower down in a 
 sort of fold of the hill-side between Ligny and Fleu- 
 rus, and that astonished us, for we did not yet know 
 that a little brook divided the village into two parts, 
 and that they were filling the houses on our side, and 
 we did not know that if they were repulsed they 
 
WATERLOO. 229 
 
 could retreat up the hill and still hold us always 
 under their fire. 
 
 If we knew every thing about such affairs before- 
 hand, we should never dare to commence such a dan- 
 gerous enterprise, but the difficulties are discovered 
 step by step. We were destined that day to find a 
 great many things which we did not expect. 
 
 About half-past eight several of our regiments had 
 left the wood, and very soon the drums beat the as- 
 sembly and all the battalions took their arms. The 
 general, Count Gerard, arrived with his staff, and 
 passing us at a gallop, without any notice, went on 
 to the hill below Fleurus. Almost immediately the 
 firing commenced ; the scouts of Vandamme ap 
 proached the village on the left, and two pieces of 
 cannon were sent off, with the artillerymen on horse- 
 back. After five or six discharges of cannon from the 
 the top of the hill the musketry ceased and our scouts 
 were in Fleurus, and we saw three or four hundred 
 Prussians mounting the hill in the distance, toward 
 Ligny. General Gerard, after looking at this little en« 
 gagement, came back with his staff and passed slowly 
 down our front, inspecting us carefully, as if he wished 
 to ascertain what sort of humor we were in. He was 
 about forty-five years old, brown, with a large head, a 
 round face, the lower part heavy, with a pointed chin, 
 
230 WATERLOO. 
 
 A great many peasants in our country resemble him, 
 and they are not the most stupid. He said not a 
 word to us, and when he had passed the whole 
 length of our line, all the generals and colonels were 
 grouped together. The command was given to 
 order arms. The orderlies then set off like the wind ; 
 this engrossed the attention of all, hut not a man 
 stirred. The rumor spread that Grouchy was to be 
 commander-in-chief, and that the Emperor had at- 
 tacked the English four leagues away, on the route 
 to Brussels. 
 
 This news put us in any thing but a pleasant hu- 
 mor, and more than one said, " It is no wonder that 
 we are here doing nothing since morning; if the 
 Emperor was with us, we should have given battle 
 long ago, and the Prussians would not have had time 
 to know where they were." 
 
 This was the talk we indulged in, and it shows the 
 injustice of men ; for three hours afterward, in the 
 midst of shouts of " Vive VEmpereur" Napoleon 
 arrived. These shouts swept along the line like a 
 tempest, and were continued even opposite Sombref. 
 Now every thing was right. That lor which we had 
 reproached Marshal Grouchy, was perfectly proper 
 when done by the Emperor, since it was he. 
 
 Very soon the order reached us to advance oui 
 
WATERLOO. 231 
 
 ine five hundred paces to the right, and off we start- 
 ed through the rye, oats, and barley, which were 
 swept down before us, but the principal line of battle 
 on the left was not changed. 
 
 As we reached a broad road which we had not be- 
 fore seen and came in sight of Fleurus, with its little 
 brook bordered with willows, the order was given 
 to halt ! A murmur ran through the whole divi- 
 sion — " There he is !" 
 
 He was on horseback, and only accompanied by a 
 few of the officers of his staff. 
 
 We could only recognize him in the distance by 
 his gray coat and his hat ; his carriage with its es- 
 cort of lancers was in the rear. He entered Fleurus 
 by the high road, and remained in the village more 
 than an hour, while we were roasting in the grain 
 fields. 
 
 At the end of this hour, which we thought inter- 
 minable, files of staff officers set off, at a gallop, bent 
 over their saddle-bows till their noses were between 
 their horse's ears. Two of them stopped near General 
 Gerard, one remained with him, and the other went 
 on again. Still we waited, until suddenly the bands 
 of all the regiments began to play ; drums and trum- 
 pets all together; and that immense line which ex 
 tended from the rear of St. Amand to the forest, 
 
232 WATERLOO. 
 
 swung round, with the right wing in the advance 
 As it reached beyond our division in the rear, we ad- 
 vanced our line still more obliquely, and again the 
 order came, Halt ! The road running out of Fleurus 
 was opposite us, a blank wall on the left ; behind 
 which were trees and a large house, and in front a 
 windmill of red brick, like a tower. 
 
 We had hardly "halted, when the Emperor came 
 out of this mill with three or four generals and two 
 old peasants in blouses, holding their cotton caps in 
 their hands. The whole division commenced to 
 shout, " Vive V Empereur !" 
 
 I saw him plainly as he came along a path in front 
 of the battalion, with his head bent down and his 
 hands behind his back listening to the old bald peas- 
 ant. He took no notice of the shouts, but turned 
 round twice and pointed toward Ligny. I saw him 
 as plainly as I could see Father Goulden when we 
 sat opposite each other at table. He had grown 
 much stouter than when he was at Leipzig, and look- 
 ed yellow. If it had not been for his gray coat and 
 his hat, I should hardly have recognized him. His 
 cheeks were sunken and he looked much older. A\] 
 this came, I presume, from his troubles at Elba, and 
 in thinking of the mistakes he had made ; for he was 
 a wise man, and could see his own faults. He had 
 
WATERLOO. 233 
 
 destroyed the revolution which had sustained him, 
 he had recalled the emigress who despised him, he had 
 married an archduchess who preferred Vienna to 
 Paris, and he had chosen his bitterest enemies for his 
 counselors. 
 
 In short he had put every thing back where it was 
 before the revolution, nothing was wanting but 
 Louis XVIIL, and then the kings had put Louis 
 XVIII. on his throne again. Now he had come to 
 overthrow the legitimate sovereign, and some called 
 him a despot, and some a Jacobin. It was unfortu- 
 nate for him that he had done every thing possible 
 to facilitate the return of the Bourbons. Nothing re- 
 mained to him but his army, if he lost that, he lost 
 every thing, for many of the people wanted liberty 
 like Father Goulden, others wanted tranquillity and 
 peace like Mother Gredel, and like me and all those 
 who were forced into the war. 
 
 These things made him terribly anxious, he had 
 lost the confidence of the whole world. The old 
 soldiers alone preserved their attachment to him, and 
 asked only to conquer or die. With such notions 
 you can not fail of one or the other, all is plain and 
 clear ; but a great many people do not have these 
 ideas, and for my part I loved Catherine a thousand 
 times more than the Emperor. 
 
234 WATERLOO. 
 
 On reaching a turn in the wall, where the hussars 
 were waiting for him, he mounted his horse, and 
 General Gerard who had recognized him came up at 
 a gallop. He turned round for two seconds to listen 
 to him, and then both went into Fleurus. 
 
 Still we waited ! About two o'clock General 
 Gerard returned, and our line was obliqued a third 
 time more to the right, and then the whole division 
 broke into columns, and we followed the road to 
 Fleurus with the cannon and caissons at intervals 
 between the brigades. The dust enveloped us com- 
 pletely. 
 
 Buche said to me : 
 
 " Cost what it may, I must drink at the first pud- 
 die we come to." 
 
 Bat we did not find any water. The music did 
 not cease, and masses of cavalry kept coming up be- 
 hind us, principally dragoons. We were still on the 
 march when suddenly the roar of musketry and 
 cannon broke on our ears as when water breaking 
 over its barriers sweeps all before it. 
 
 I knew what it was, but Buche turned pale and 
 looked ai me in mute astonishment. 
 
 " Yes, indeed, Jean," said I, " those over there are 
 attacking St. Amand, but our turn will come pres- 
 ently." 
 
WATERLOO. 235 
 
 The music had ceased but the thunder of the guns 
 had redoubled, and we heard the order on all sides, 
 "Halt!" 
 
 The division stopped on the road and the gunners 
 ran out at intervals and put their pieces in line fifty 
 paces in front, with their caissons in the rear. 
 
 We were opposite Ligny. We could only see a 
 white line of houses half hidden in the orchards, with 
 a church spire above them — slopes of yellow earth, 
 trees, hedges, and palisades. There we were, twelve 
 or fifteen thousand men without the cavalry, wait- 
 ing the order to attack. 
 
 The battle raged fiercely about St. Amand, and 
 great masses of smoke rose over the combatants to- 
 ward the sky. 
 
 While waiting for our turn, my thoughts turned to 
 Catherine with more tenderness then ever, the idea 
 that she would soon be a mother crossed my mind, 
 and then I besought God to spare my life, but with 
 this, came the comfort of feeling that our child would 
 be there if I should die to console them all, Cathe- 
 rine, Aunt Gredel, and Father Goulden. If it should 
 be a boy they would call it Joseph, and caress it, and 
 Father Goulden would dandle it on his knee, Aunf 
 Gredel would love it, and Catherine would think o/ 
 me as she embraced it, and I should not be altogetht 
 
236 WATERLOO. 
 
 dead to them. But I clung to life while I saw ho^ 
 terrible was the conflict before us. 
 
 Buche said to me, "Joseph, will you promise me 
 something ? — I have a cross — if I am killed." 
 
 He shook my hand, and I said : " I promise." 
 
 " Well !" he added, " it is here on my breast. Yo 
 must carry it to Harberg and hang it up in the chap- 
 el in remembrance of Jean Buche, dead in the faith 
 of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." 
 
 He spoke very earnestly, and I thought his wish 
 very natural. Some die for the rights of Humanity ; 
 with some, the last thought is for their mother, 
 others are influenced by the example of just men 
 who have sacrificed themselves for the race, but the 
 feeling is the same in every case, though each one 
 expresses it according to his own manner of thinking. 
 
 I gave him the desired promise and we waited for 
 nearly half an hour longer. All the troops as they 
 left the wood came and formed near us, and the 
 cavalry were mustering on our right as if to attack 
 Sombref. 
 
 Up to half-past two o'clock not a gun had been 
 fired, when an aid-de-camp of the Emperor arrived 
 on the road to Fleurus, at full speed, and I thought 
 immediately, " Our turn has come now. May God 
 watch over us, for, miserable wretches that we are. 
 
WATERLOO. 237 
 
 we can not save ourselves in such a slaughter as is 
 threatening." 
 
 I had scarcely made these reflections when two 
 battalions on the right set off on the road, with the 
 artillery, toward Sombref, where the Uhlans and 
 Prussian cavalry were deploying in front of our dra- 
 goons. It was the fortune of these two battalions to 
 remain in position on the route all that day to ob- 
 serve the cavalry of the enemy, while we went to 
 take the village where the Prussians were in force. 
 
 The attacking columns were formed just as the 
 clock struck three; I was in the one on the left which 
 moved first at a quick step along a winding road. 
 
 On the hill where Ligny was situated, was an im- 
 mense ruin. It had been built of brick and was 
 pierced with holes and overlooked us as we mounted 
 the hill. We watched it sharply too, through the 
 grain as we went. The second column left imme- 
 diately after us and passed by a shorter route directly 
 up the hill, we were to meet them at the entrance to 
 the village. I do not know when the third column 
 left, as we did not meet again till later. 
 
 All went smoothly until we reached a point where 
 the road was cut through a little elevation and then 
 ran down to the village. As we passed through be- 
 tween those little hills covered with grain, and caught 
 
238 WATERLOO. 
 
 sight of the nearest house, a veritable hail of balls 
 fell on the head of the column with a frightful noise. 
 From every hole in the old ruin, from all the windows 
 and loop-holes in the houses, from the hedges and or- 
 chards and from above the stone walls the muskets 
 showered their deadly fire upon us like lightning. 
 
 At the same time a battery of fifteen pieces which 
 had been for that very purpose placed in a field in the 
 rear of the great tower at the left of, and higher up 
 than Ligny, near the windmill, opened upon us with a 
 roar, compared with which that of the musketry was 
 nothing. Those who had unfortunately passed the 
 cut in the road fell over each other in heaps in the 
 smoke. At that moment we heard the fire of the 
 other column which had engaged the enemy at our 
 right, and the roar of other cannon, though we could 
 not tell whether they were ours or those of the Prus» 
 sians. 
 
 Fortunately the whole battalion had not passed 
 the little knoll, and the balls whistled through the 
 grain above us, and tore up the ground without doing 
 us the least injury. Every time this whizzing was 
 heard, I observed that the conscripts near me ducked 
 their heads, and Jean Buche, I remember, was staring 
 at me with open eyes. The old soldiers marched 
 with tightly compressed lips. 
 
WATERLOO. 239 
 
 The columi stopped. For an instant each man 
 thought whether it would not be better to turn back, 
 but it was only for a second, the enemy's fire seemed 
 to slacken, the officers all drew their sabers and 
 shouted, " Forward !" 
 
 The column set off again at a run and threw itself 
 into the road that led down the hill across the hedges. 
 From the palisades and the walls behind which the 
 Prussians were in ambush, they continued to pour 
 their musketry fire upon us. But woe to every one 
 we encountered ! they defended themselves with the 
 desperation of wolves, but a few blows from a mus- 
 ket, or a bayonet thrust, soon stretched them out 
 in some corner. A great number of old soldiers 
 with gray mustaches had secured their retreat, and 
 retired in good order, turning to fire a last shot, 
 and then slipped through a breach or shut a door. 
 We followed them without hesitation, we had neither 
 prudence nor mercy. 
 
 At last, quite scattered and in the greatest confu- 
 sion, we reached the first houses, when the fusillade 
 commenced again from the windows, the corners of 
 the streets, and from everywhere. There were the or 
 chards and the gardens and the stone walls which ran 
 along the hill-side, but they were thrown down and 
 demolishel, the palisades torn up, and could no longer 
 
240 WATERLOO. 
 
 serve as a shelter or a defense. From the well-bar- 
 ricaded cottages, they still poured their fire upon us. 
 In ten minutes more, we should have been extermina 
 ted to the last man, seeing this, the column turned 
 down the hill again, drummers and sappers, officers 
 and soldiers pell-mell, all went without once turning 
 their heads to look back. I jumped over the pali- 
 sades where I never should have thought it possible 
 at any other time, with my knapsack and cartridge- 
 box at my back ; the others followed my example, 
 and we all tumbled in a heap like a falling wall. 
 
 Once in the road again between the hills, we 
 stopped to breathe. Some stretched themselves on 
 the ground, and others sat down with their backs 
 against the slope. The officers were furious ; as if 
 they too had not followed the movement to retreat, 
 and some shouted to bring up the cannon, and others 
 wanted to re-form the troops, though they could 
 scarcely make themselves heard in the midst of the 
 thunder of the artillery which shook the air like a 
 tempest. 
 
 I saw Jean Buche hurrying back with his bayontl 
 red with blood. He took his place beside me without 
 saying a word, and commenced to reload. 
 
 Captain Gregoire, Lieutenant Certain, and several 
 sergeants and corporals, and more than a hundreJ 
 
WATERLOO. 241 
 
 V 
 
 men were left behind in the orchards; and the first 
 two battalions of the column had suffered as much 
 as we. 
 
 Zebede, with his great crooked nose, white as 
 enow, seeing me at some distance, shouted, " Joseph 
 — no quarter !" 
 
 Great masses of white smoke rose over the sides of 
 the road. The whole hill-side from Ligny to St. 
 Amand was on fire behind the willows and aspens 
 and poplars. 
 
 As I crept up on my hands and knees, and looked 
 over the surface of the grain and saw this terrible 
 spectacle, and saw the long black lines of infantry 
 on the top of the hill and near the windmills, and 
 the innumerable cavalry on their flanks ready to 
 fall upon us. I went back thinking : 
 
 " We shall never rout that army. It fills the vil- 
 lages, and guards the roads, and covers the hill as 
 far as the eye can reach, there are guns everywhere, 
 and it is contrary to reason to persist in such an 
 enterprise." 
 
 I was indignant and even disgusted with the gen- 
 erals. 
 
 All this did not take ten minutes. God only knew 
 
 what had become of our other two columns, The 
 
 terrible musketry fire on the left, and the volleys of 
 11 
 
242 WATERLOO. 
 
 grape and canister which we heard rushing through 
 the air, were no doubt intended for them. 
 
 I thought we had had our full share of troubles, 
 when Generals Gerard, Yichery, and Schoeffer came 
 riding up at full speed on the road below us, shouting 
 like madmen, " Forward ! Forward !" 
 
 They drew their swords, and there was nothing to 
 do but go. 
 
 At this moment our batteries on the road below 
 opened their fire on Ligny, the roofs in the village 
 tumbled, and the walls sank, and we rushed forward 
 with the generals at our head with their swords 
 drawn, the drums beating the charge. We shouted 
 " Vive VHJmpereur." The Prussian bullets swept us 
 away by dozens, and shot fell like hail, and the drums 
 kept up their " pan-pan-pan." We saw nothing, 
 heard nothing, as we crossed the orchards, nobody 
 paid any attention to those who fell, and in two min- 
 utes after, we entered the village, broke in the doors 
 with the butts of our muskets, while the Prussian 
 fired upon us from the windows. 
 
 It was a thousand times worse in-doors, because 
 yells of rage mingled in the uproar ; we rushed into 
 the houses with fixed bayonets and massacred each 
 other without mercy. On every side the cry rose, 
 "No quarter!" 
 
WATERLOO. 24:3 
 
 The Prussians who were surprised in the first houses 
 we entered, were old soldiers and asked for nothing 
 better. They perfectly understood what " No quar- 
 ter" meant, and made a most desperate defense. 
 
 As we reached the third or fourth house on a 
 tolerably wide street on which was a church, and a 
 little bridge further on, the air was full of smoke 
 from the fires caused by our bombs; great broken 
 tiles and slate were raining down upon us, and every 
 thing roared and whistled and cracked, when Zebede, 
 with a terrible look in his eyes, seized me by the arm, 
 shouting, " Come !" 
 
 We rushed into a large room already filled with 
 soldiers, on the first floor of a house ; it was dark, as 
 they had covered the windows with sacks of earth, 
 but we could see a steep wooden stair-way at one 
 end, down which the blood was running. We heard 
 musket-shots from above and the flashes each moment 
 showed us five or six of our men sunk in a heap 
 against the balustrade with their arms hanging down, 
 and the others running over their bodies with their 
 bayonets fixed, trying to force their way into the 
 loft. 
 
 It was horrible to see those men with their brist- 
 ling mustaches, and brown cheeks, every wrinkle ex- 
 pressing the fury which possessed them, determined 
 
244 WATERLOO. 
 
 to force a passage at any cost. The sight made m€ 
 furious, and I shouted, " Forward ! No quarter !" 
 
 If I had been near the stair-way, I might have beeri 
 cut to pieces in mounting, but fortunately for me, 
 others were ahead and not one would give up his 
 place, 
 
 An old fellow, covered with wounds, succeeded 
 in reaching the top of the stairs under the bayo 
 nets. As he gained the loft he let go his musket, 
 and seized the balustrade with both hands. Two 
 balls from muskets touching his breast did not make 
 him let go his hold. Three or four others rushed up 
 behind him striving each to be first, and leaped over 
 the top stairs into the loft above. 
 
 Then followed such an uproar as is impossible to 
 describe, shots followed each other in quick succes- 
 sion, and the shouts and trampling of feet made us 
 think the house was coming down over our heads. 
 Others followed, and when I reached the scene behind 
 Zebede, the room was full of dead and wounded men, 
 the windows were blown out, the walls splashed 
 with blood, and not a Prussian was left on his feet. 
 Five or six of our men were supporting themselves 
 against the different pieces of furniture, smiling fe- 
 rociously. Nearly all of them had balls or bayonet 
 thrusts in their bodies, but the pleasure of revenge 
 
WATERLOO. 213 
 
 The Prussians who were surprised in the first houses 
 we entered, were old soldiers and asked for nothing 
 better. They perfectly understood what " No quar- 
 ter" meant, and made a most desperate defense. 
 
 As we reached the third or fourth house on a 
 tolerably wide street on which was a church, and a 
 little bridge further on, the air was full of smoke 
 from the fires caused by our bombs ; great broken 
 tiles and slate were raining down upon us, and every 
 thing roared and whistled and cracked, when Zebede, 
 with a terrible look in his eyes, seized me by the arm, 
 shouting, " Come !" 
 
 We rushed into a large room already filled with 
 soldiers, on the first floor of a house ; it was dark, as 
 they had covered the windows with sacks of earth, 
 but we could see a steep wooden stair-way at one 
 end, down which the blood was running. We heard 
 musket-shots from above and the flashes each moment 
 showed us five or six of our men sunk in a heap 
 against the balustrade with their arms hanging down, 
 and the others running over their bodies with their 
 bayonets fixed, trying to force their way into the 
 loft. 
 
 It was horrible to see those men with their brist- 
 ling mustaches, and brown cheeks, every wrinkle ex- 
 pressing the fury which possessed them, determined 
 
244 WATERLOO. 
 
 to force a passage at any cost. The sight made mc 
 furious, and I shouted, " Forward ! No quarter !" 
 
 If I had been near the stair- way, I might have beet i 
 cut to pieces in mounting, but fortunately for me, 
 others were ahead and not one would give up his 
 place, 
 
 An old fellow, covered with wounds, succeeded 
 in reaching the top- of the stairs under the bayo 
 nets. As he gained the loft he let go his musket, 
 and seized the balustrade with both hands. Two 
 balls from muskets touching his breast did not make 
 him let go his hold. Three or four others hed up 
 behind him striving each to be first, and leaped over 
 the top stairs into the loft above. 
 
 Then followed such an uproar as is impossible to 
 describe, shots followed each other in quick succes- 
 sion, and the shouts and trampling of feet made us 
 think the house was coming down over our heads. 
 Others followed, and when I reached the scene behind 
 Zebede, the room was full of dead and wounded men, 
 the windows were blown out, the walls splashed 
 with blood, and not a Prussian was left on his feeto 
 Five or six of our men were supporting themselves 
 against the different pieces of furniture, smiling fe- 
 rociously. Nearly all of them had balls or bayonet 
 thrusts in their bodies, but the pleasure of revenge 
 
WATERLOO. 245 
 
 <ras greater than the pain of their wounds. My hail 
 stands on end when I recall that scene. 
 
 As soon as Zebede saw that the Prussians were all 
 dead, he went down again, saying to me, " Come, 
 there is nothing more to do here." 
 
 We went out and found that our column had 
 already passed the church, and thousands of musket- 
 shot crackled against the bridge like the fire breaking 
 out from a coal-pit. 
 
 The second column had come down the broad 
 street on ~""* right and joined ours, and in the mean 
 time, oih those Prussian columns which we had 
 seen on the hill in the rear of Ligny, came down to 
 drive us out of the village. 
 
 Here it was that we had the first encounter in 
 force. Two staff officers rode down the street by 
 which we had come. 
 
 " Those men," said Zebede, " are going to order up 
 the guns. When they arrive, Joseph, you will see 
 whether they can rout us." 
 
 He ran and I followed him. The fight at the 
 bridge continued. The old church clock struck five. 
 We had destroyed all the Prussians on this side the 
 stream except those who were in ambush in the great 
 old ruin at the left, which was full of holes. It had 
 been set on fire at the top by our howitzers, but the 
 
246 WATERLOO. 
 
 fire continued from the lower stories, and we wert 
 obliged to avoid it. 
 
 i In front of the church we were in force. We 
 found the little square filled with troops ready to 
 march, and others were coming by the broad street, 
 which traversed the whole length of Ligny. Only 
 the head of the column was engaged at the little 
 bridge. The Prussians tried hard to repulse them. 
 The discharges in file followed each other like run- 
 ning water. The square was so filled with smoke 
 that we could see nothing but the bayonets, the 
 front of the church, and the officers on the steps giv- 
 ing their orders. Now and then a staff officer would 
 set off at a gallop, and the air round the old slated 
 spire was full of rooks whirling about affrighted 
 with the noise. The cannon at St. Amand roared 
 incessantly. 
 
 Between the gables on the left, we could see on 
 the hill, the long blue lines of infantry and masses of 
 cavalry coming from Sombref to turn our columns. 
 It was there in our rear that the desperate combats 
 took place between the Uhlans and our hussars. 
 ( How many of these Uhlans we saw next morning 
 stretched dead on the plain ! 
 
 Our battalion having suffered the most, we fell 
 back to the second rank. We soon found our own 
 
WATERLOO. 245 
 
 «ras greater than the pain of their wounds. My hair 
 stands on end when I recall that scene. 
 
 As soon as Z6bede saw that the Prussians were all 
 dead, he went down again, saying to me, " Come, 
 there is nothing more to do here." 
 
 We went out and found that our column had 
 already passed the church, and thousands of musket- 
 shot crackled against the bridge like the fire breaking 
 out from a coal-pit. 
 
 The second column had come down the broad 
 street on our right and joined ours, and in the mean 
 time, one of those Prussian columns which we had 
 seen on the hill in the rear of Ligny, came down to 
 drive us out of the village. 
 
 Here it was that we had the first encounter in 
 force. Two staff officers rode down the street by 
 which we had come. 
 
 " Those men," said Zebede, " are going to order up 
 the guns. When they arrive, Joseph, you will see 
 whether they can rout us." 
 
 He ran and I followed him. The fight at the 
 bridge continued. The old church clock struck five. 
 We had destroyed all the Prussians on this side the 
 stream except those who were in ambush in the great 
 old ruin at the left, which was full of holes. It had 
 been set on fire at the top by our howitzers, but th6 
 
246 WATERLOO. 
 
 fire continued from the lower stories, and we were 
 obliged to avoid it. 
 
 In front of the church we were in force. We 
 found the little square filled with troops ready to 
 march, and others were coming by the broad street, 
 which traversed the whole length of Ligny. Only 
 the head of the column was engaged at the little 
 bridge. The Prussians tried hard to repulse them. 
 The discharges in file followed each other like run- 
 ning water. The square was so filled with smoke 
 that we could see nothing but the bayonets, the 
 front of the church, and the officers on the steps giv- 
 ing their orders. Now and then a staff officer would 
 set off at a gallop, and the air round the old slated 
 spire was full of rooks whirling about afirighted 
 with the noise. The cannon at St. Amand roared 
 incessantly. 
 
 Between the gables on the left, we could see on 
 the hill, the long blue lines of infantry and masses of 
 cavalry coming from Sombref to turn our columns. 
 It was there in our 'rear that the desperate combats 
 took place between the Uhlans and our hussars. 
 How many of these Uhlans we saw next morning 
 stretched dead on the plain ! 
 
 Our battalion having suffered the most, we fell 
 back to the second rank. We soon found our own 
 
WATERLOO. 247 
 
 company commanded by Captain Florentin. The 
 guns were arriving by the same street on which we 
 were ; the horses at full gallop foaming and shaking 
 their heads furiously, while the wheels crushed every 
 thing before them. Ail this produced a tremendous 
 uproar, but the thunder of cannon and the crash of 
 musketry was all that could be distinguished. The 
 soldiers were all shouting and singing, with their 
 guns on their shoulders, but we knew this only by see- 
 ing their open mouths. 
 
 I had just taken my place by the side of Buch$ 
 and had begun to breathe, when a forward movement 
 began. 
 
 This time the plan was to cross the little stream 
 push the Prussians out of Ligny, mount the hill be- 
 hind and cut their line in two, and the battle would 
 be gained. Each one of us understood that, but 
 with such masses of troops as they held in reserve, it 
 was no small affair. 
 
 Every thing moved toward the bridge, but we 
 could see nothing but the five or six men before us, 
 and I was well satisfied to know that the head of the 
 column was far in front. 
 
 But I was most delighted when Captain Florentin 
 halted our company in front of an old barn with the 
 door broken down, and posted the remnant of the 
 
248 WATERLOO. 
 
 battalion behind the ruins in order to sustain Jie 
 attacking columns by firing from the windows. 
 
 There were fifteen of us in that barn and I can see 
 it now, with the door hanging by one hinge, and * 
 battered with the balls, and the ladder running up 
 through a square hole, three or four dead Prussians 
 leaning against the walls, and a window at the other 
 end looking into the street in the rear. 
 
 Zebede commanded our post, Lieutenant Breton- 
 ville occupied the house opposite with another squad, 
 and Captain Florentin went somewhere else. The 
 street was filled with troops quite up to the two cor- 
 ners near the brook. 
 
 The first thing we tried to do was to put up the 
 door and fasten it, but we had hardly commenced 
 when we heard a terrible crash in the street, and walls, 
 shutters, tiles, and every thing were swept away at 
 a stroke. Two of our men who were outside holding 
 up the door, fell as if cut down with a scythe. 
 
 At the same moment we could hear the steps of 
 the retreating column rolling over the bridge, while 
 a dozen more such explosions made us draw back in 
 spite of ourselves. It was a battery of sis pieces 
 charged with canister which Blucher had masked 
 at the end of the street, and which now opened 
 upon us. 
 
WATERLOO, 249 
 
 TLe whole column— drummers, soldiers, officers, 
 mounted and foot, were in retreat, pushing and jost 
 ling each other, swept along as by a hurricane. No- 
 body looked back, those who fell were lost. The last 
 ones had hardly passed our door when Zebede, who 
 looked out to see what had happened, shouted in 
 voice of thunder, " The Prussians !" 
 
 He fired, and several of us rushed for the ladder, 
 but before we could think of climbing they were 
 upon us. Zebede, Buche, and all who had not had 
 time to get up the ladder drove them back with their 
 bayonets. It seems to me as if I could see those 
 Prussians still, with their big mustaches, their red 
 faces and flat shakos, furious at being checked. 
 
 I never had such a shock as that, Zebede shouted, 
 "No quarter," just as if we had been the stronger. 
 But immediately he received a blow on the head 
 from the butt of a musket and fell. 
 
 I saw that he was going to be murdered and I 
 burned for revenge. I shouted, " To the bayonet," 
 and we all fell upon the rascals, while our comrades 
 fired at them from above, and a fusillade commenced 
 from the houses opposite. 
 
 The Prussians fell back, but a little distance away 
 
 there was a whole battalion. Buche took Zeb6de on 
 
 his shoudlers and started up the ladder. We follow 
 11* 
 
250 WATERLOO. 
 
 ed him, shouting " Hurry !" while we aided him with 
 all our strength to climb the ladder with his burden. 
 I was next to the last, and I thought we should never 
 get up. We heard the shots already in the barn, but 
 we were up at last, and all inspired with the same 
 idea, we tried to draw the ladder up after us. To 
 our horror we found, as we endeavored to pull it 
 through the opening between the shots, one of which 
 took off the head of a comrade, that it was so large 
 we could not get it into the loft. We hesitated for a 
 moment, when Zebede, recovering himself, exclaimed, 
 " Shoot through the rounds !" This seemed to us an 
 inspiration from heaven. 
 
 Below us the uproar was terrible. The whoits 
 street, as well as our barn, was full of Prussians. 
 
 They were mad with rage, and worse than we ; re- 
 peating incessantly, " ~No prisoners !" 
 
 They were enraged by the musket-shots from the 
 houses; they broke down the doors, and then we 
 could hear the struggles, the falls, curses in French 
 and German, the orders of Lieutenant Bretonville 
 opposite, and the Prussian officers commanding 
 their men to go and bring straw to fire the houses. 
 Fortunately the harvest was not yet secured, or we 
 should all have been burned. 
 
 They fired into the floor under our feet, but it was 
 
WATERLOO. 251 
 
 made of thick oak plank and the balls tapped on it 
 like the strokes of a hammer. W e stood one behind 
 the other and continued our fire into the street, and 
 every shot told. 
 
 It appeared as if they had retaken .the church 
 square, for we only heard our fire very far away. 
 We were alone, two or three hundred men in the 
 midst of three or four thousand. Then I said to my 
 self, " Joseph ! you will never escape from this 
 danger. It is impossible ! your end has come !" I 
 dared not think of Catherine, my heart quaked. 
 Our retreat was cut off, the Prussians held both ends 
 of the street and the lanes in the rear, and they had 
 already retaken several houses. 
 
 Suddenly the hubbub ceased ; they were making 
 some preparation we thought; they have gone for 
 straw or fagots or they are going to bring up their 
 guns to demolish us. 
 
 Our gunners looked out of the window, but they 
 aw nothing, the barn was empty. This dead silence 
 ,vas more terrible than the tumult had been a few 
 minutes before. 
 
 Zebede had just raised himself up, and the blood 
 *ras running from his mouth and nose. 
 
 " Attention ! we are going to have another attack 
 The rascals are getting ready. Charge !" 
 
252 WATERLOO. 
 
 He hardly finished speaking when the whole build 
 ing, from the gables to the foundation, swayed as il 
 the earth had opened beneath it, and beams and lath 
 and slate came down with the shock, while a red 
 flame burst out under our feet and mounted above 
 the roof. We all fell in a heap. 
 
 A lighted bomb which the Prussians had rolled into 
 the barn had just exploded. On getting up I heard 
 a whizzing in my ears, but that did not prevent me 
 from seeing a ladder placed at the window of the barn. 
 Buche was using his bayonet with great effect on the 
 invaders. 
 
 The Prussians thought to profit by our surprise to 
 mount the ladder and butcher us; this made me 
 shudder, but I ran to the assistance of my comrade. 
 Two others who had escaped, ran up shouting, " Vive 
 VHJmpereur /" 
 
 I heard nothing more, the noise was frightful. The 
 flashes of the muskets below and from the windows 
 lighted up the street like a moving flame. We had 
 thrown down the ladder, and there were six of us 
 still remaining, two in front who fired the muskets, 
 and four liehind who loaded and passed the guns 
 to them. 
 
 In this extremity I had become calm. I resigned 
 myself to my fate, thinking I would try to sell my 
 
WATERLOO. 253 
 
 own life as dearly as possible. The others no doubt 
 had the same thoughts, and we made great havoc. 
 
 This lasted about a quarter of an hour, when the 
 cannon began to thunder again, and some seconds 
 after our comrades in front looked out the window 
 and ceased firing. My cartridge-box was nearly 
 empty, and I went to replenish it from those of my 
 dead comrades. 
 
 The cries of " Vive V Empereur" came nearer and 
 nearer, when suddenly the head of our column with 
 its flag all blackened and torn, filed into the little 
 square through our street. 
 
 The Prussians beat a retreat. We all wanted to 
 go down, but two or three times the column recoiled 
 before the grape and canister. The shouts and the 
 thunder of the cannon mingled afresh. Zebede, who 
 was looking out, ran to the ladder. Our column had 
 passed the barn and we all went down in file without 
 regarding our comrades who were wounded by the 
 bursting of the bomb, some of whom begged us pit- 
 eously not to leave them behind. 
 
 Such are men ! the fear of being taken prisoners, 
 made us barbarians. 
 
 When we recalled these terrible scenes afterward, 
 we would have given any thing if we had had the 
 least heart, but then it was too late. 
 
254 WATERLOO. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 An hour before, fifteen of us had entered that old 
 barn, now there were but six to come out. 
 
 Buche and Zebede were among the living; the 
 Pfalzbourgers had been fortunate. 
 
 Once outside it was necessary to follow the attack- 
 ing column. 
 
 We advanced over the heaps of dead. Our feet 
 encountered this yielding mass, but we did not look 
 to see if we stepped on the face of a wounded man, 
 on his breast, or on his limbs ; we marched straight 
 on. We found out next morning, that this mass of 
 men had been cut down by the battery in front of 
 the church ; their obstinacy had proved their ruin. 
 
 Blucher was only waiting to serve us in the same 
 manner, but instead of going over the bridge we 
 turned off to the right and occupied the houses along 
 the brook. The Prussians fired at us from every win- 
 
WATERLOO. 255 
 
 dow opposite, but as soon as we were ambushed we 
 opened our fire on their guns and they were obliged 
 to fall back. 
 
 They had already begun to talk of attacking the 
 other part of the village, when the rumor was heard 
 that a column of Prussians forty thousand strong had 
 come up behind us from Charleroi. We could not 
 understand it, as we had swept every thing before us 
 to the banks of the Sambre. This column which had 
 fallen on our reai, must have been hidden in the 
 forest. 
 
 It was about half-past six and the combat at St. 
 Amand seemed to grow fiercer than ever. Blucher 
 had moved his forces to that side, and it was a favor- 
 Able moment to carry the other part of the village, 
 but this column forced us to wait. 
 
 The houses on either side of the brook were filled 
 with troops, the French on the right and the Prus- 
 sians on the left. The firing had ceased, a few shots 
 were still heard from time to time, but they were evi 
 dently by design. "We looked at each other as if to 
 say, " Let us breathe awhile now, and we will com- 
 mence again presently." i 
 
 The Prussians in the house opposite us, in their 
 blue coats and leather shakos, with their mustaches 
 turned up, were all strongly-built men, old soldiers 
 
256 WATERLOO. 
 
 with square chins and their ears standing out from 
 their heads. They looked as if they might overthrow 
 us at a blow. The officers, too, were looking on. 
 
 Along the two streets which were parallel with the 
 brook and in the brook itself, the dead were lying 
 in long rows. 
 
 Many of them were seated with their backs against 
 the walls. They had been dangerously wounded in 
 the battle but had had sufficient strength to retire 
 from the strife, and had sunk down against the wall 
 and died from loss of blood. 
 
 Some were still standing upright in the brook, their 
 hands clutching the bank as if to climb out, rigid in 
 death. And in obscure corners of the ruined houses, 
 when they were lighted up with the sun's rays, we 
 could see the miserable wretches crushed under the 
 rubbish, with stones and beams lying across their 
 bodies. 
 
 The struggle at St. Amand became still more ter 
 rible, the discharges of cannon seemed to rise one 
 above the other, and if we had not all been looking 
 death in the face, nothing could have prevented us 
 from admiring this grand music. 
 
 At every discharge hundreds of men perished, but 
 there was no interruption, the solid earth trembled 
 under our feet. We could breathe again now, and 
 
WATERLOO. 257 
 
 very soon we began to feel a most intolerable thirst. 
 During the fight nobody had thought of it, but now 
 everybody wanted to drink. 
 
 Our house formed the corner at the left of the 
 bridge, but the little water that was running over the 
 muddy bottom of the brook was red with blood. 
 Between our house and the next there was a little 
 garden, where there was a well from which to 
 water it. We all looked at this well with its curb 
 and its wooden posts ; the bucket was still hanging 
 to the chain in spite of the showers of shot but three 
 men were already lying face downward in the path 
 leading to it. The Prussians had shot them as they 
 were trying to reach it. 
 
 As we stood there with our loaded muskets, one 
 said, " I would give half my blood for one glass of 
 that water ;" another, " Yes, but the Prussians are on 
 the watch." 
 
 This was true, there they were, a hundred paces 
 from us, perhaps they were as thirsty as we, and 
 were guessing our thoughts. 
 
 The shots that were still fired came from these 
 houses, and no one could go along the street, they 
 would shoot him at once, so we were all suffering 
 horribly. 
 
 This lasted for another half hour, when the can- 
 
958 WATERLOO. 
 
 Aionade extended from St. Amand to Ligny, and w € 
 could see that our batteries had opened with grape 
 and canister on the Prussians by the great gap is 
 made in their columns at every discharge. 
 
 This new attack produced a great excitement. 
 Buche, who had not stirred till that moment, ran 
 down through the 'path leading to the well in the 
 garden and sheltered himself behind the curb. From 
 the two houses opposite a volley was fired, and the 
 stones and the posts were soon riddled with balls. 
 
 But we opened our fire on their windows and in an 
 instant it began again from one end of the village 
 to the other, and every thing was enveloped in 
 smoke. 
 
 *At that moment I heard some one shout from be- 
 low, " Joseph, Joseph !" 
 
 It was Buche ; he had had the courage after he had 
 drank himself, to fill the bucket, unfasten it, and 
 bring it back with him. 
 
 Several old soldiers wanted to take it from him, 
 but he shouted, " My comrade first ! let go, or I'll 
 pour it all out !" 
 
 They were compelled to wait till I had drank, then 
 they took their turn, and afterward the others wh€ 
 were up-stairs drained the rest. 
 
 We all went up together greatly refreshed 
 
WATERLOO. 259 
 
 It was about seven o'clock and near sunset, the 
 shadows of the houses on our side reached quite to 
 the brook — while those occupied by the Prussians 
 were still in the sunlight, as well as the hill-side of 
 Bry, down which we could see the fresh troops com- 
 ing on the run. The cannonade had never been so 
 fierce as at this moment from our side. 
 
 Every one now knows, that at night-fall between 
 seven and eight o'clock the Emperor, having dis- 
 covered that the column which had been signaled in 
 our rear was the corps of General d'Erlon, which had 
 missed its route between the battle of ISTey with the 
 English at Quatre-Bras and ours here at Ligny, had 
 ordered the Old Guard to support us at once. 
 
 The lieutenant who was with us said, " This is the 
 grand attack. Attention !" 
 
 The whole of the Prussian cavalry was swarming 
 between the two villages. We felt that there was a 
 grand movement behind us, though we did not see it. 
 The lieutenant repeated, " Attention to orders ! 
 Let no one stay behind after the order to march! 
 Here is the attack !" 
 
 We all opened our eyes. The farther the night 
 advanced the redder the sky grew over St. Amand. 
 We were so absorbed in listening to the cannonade 
 that we no longer thought of any thing else. At 
 
260 WATERLOO 
 
 each discharge you would have said the heavens 
 were on fire. The tumult behind us was increasing 
 
 Suddenly the broad street running along the broo 
 was full of troops, from the bridge quite to the end 
 of Ligny. On the left in the distance the Prussians 
 were shooting from the windows again, while we 
 did not reply. The shout rose— " The Guard ! the 
 Guard ! " I do not know how that mass of men passed 
 the muddy ditch, probably by means of plank thrown 
 across, but in a moment they were on the left bank 
 in force. 
 
 The batteries of the Prussians at the top of the 
 ravine between the two villages, cut gaps through 
 our columns, but they closed up immediately, and 
 moved steadily up the hill. What remained of our 
 division ran across the bridge, followed by the ar- 
 tillery-men and their pieces with the horses at a 
 gallop. 
 
 Then we went down to the street, but we had not 
 reached the bridge when the cuirassiers began to file 
 over it, followed by the dragoons and the mounted 
 grenadiers of the guard. They were passing every- 
 where, across and around the village. It was like 
 a new and innumerable army. 
 
 The slaughter began again on the hill, this time 
 the battle was in the open fields, and we could trac« 
 
WATERLOO. 261 
 
 the outlines of the Prussian squares on the hill-side 
 at every discharge of musketry. 
 
 We rushed on over the dead and wounded, and 
 when we were clear of the village we could see that 
 there was an engagement between the cavalry, 
 though we could only distinguish the white cuirasses 
 as they pierced the lines of the Uhlans ; then they 
 would be indiscriminately mingled and the cuiras- 
 siers would re-form and set off again like a solid 
 wall. 
 
 It was dark already, and the dense masses of smoke 
 made it impossible to see fifty paces ahead. Every 
 thing was moving toward the windmills, the clatter 
 of the cavalry, the shouts, the orders of the officers 
 and the file-firing in the distance, all were confound- 
 ed. Several of the squares were broken. From time 
 to time a flash would reveal a lancer bent to his 
 horse's neck, or a cuirassier, with his broad white 
 back and his helmet with its floating plume, shooting 
 off like a bullet, two or three foot soldiers running 
 about in the midst of the fray, — all would come and 
 go like lightning. The trampled grain, the rain 
 streaking the heavens, the wounded under the feet 
 of the horses, all came out of the black night — 
 through the storm which had just broken out — for a 
 quarter of a second. 
 
262 WATERLOO. 
 
 Every flash of musket or pistol showed us in 
 explicable things by thousands. But every thing 
 moved up the hill and away from Ligny ; we were 
 masters. 
 
 We had pierced the enemy's center, the Prussians 
 no longer made any defense, except at the top of the 
 hill near the mills and in the direction of Sombref, 
 at our right. St. Amand and Ligny were both in 
 our hands. 
 
 As for us, a dozen or so of our company there alone 
 among the ruins of the cottages, with our cartridge- 
 boxes almost empty ; — we did not know which way to 
 turn. 
 
 Zebede, Lieutenant Bretonville, and Captain 
 Florentin had disappeared, and Sergeant Kabot was 
 in command. He was a little old fellow, thin and 
 deformed, but as tough as steel; he squinted and 
 seemed to have had red hair when young. Now, as 
 I speak of him, I seem to hear him say quietly to 
 us, " The battle is won ! by file right ! forward, 
 march !" 
 
 Several wanted to stop and make some soup, for 
 we had eaten nothing since noon and began to be 
 hungry. The sergeant marched down the lane with 
 his musket on his shoulder, laughing quietly, and say 
 ing in an ironical tone : 
 
WATERLOO. 263 
 
 " Oh ! soup, soup ! wait a little, the commissary ie 
 coming !" 
 
 We followed him down the dark lane ; about mid- 
 way we saw a cuirassier on horseback with his back 
 toward us. He had a saber cut in the abdomen and 
 had retired into this lane, the horse leaned against 
 the wall to prevent him from falling off. 
 
 As we filed past he called put, " Comrades !" But 
 nobody even turned his head. 
 
 Twenty paces farther on we found the ruins of a 
 cottage completely riddled with balls, but half the 
 thatched roof was still there, and this was why Ser- 
 geant Rabot had selected it ; and we filed into it for 
 shelter. 
 
 We could see no more than if we had been in 
 an oven ; the sergeant exploded the priming of his 
 musket, and we saw that it was the kitchen, that the 
 fire-place was at the right, and the stair-way on the 
 left. Five or six Prussians and Frenchmen were 
 stretched on the floor, white as wax, and with their 
 eyes wide open. 
 
 " Here is the mess-room," said the sergeant, " let 
 every one make himself comfortable. Our bedfellows 
 will not kick us." 
 
 As we saw plainly that there were to be no ra- 
 tions, each one took off his knapsack and placed il 
 
264 WATERLOO. 
 
 by the wall on the floor for a pillow. We could 
 still hear the firing, but it was far in the distance 
 on the *iill. 
 
 The rain fell in torrents. The sergeant shut th 
 door, which creaked on its hinges, and then quietly 
 lighted his pipe. Some of the men were already 
 snoring when I looked up, and he was standing at 
 the little window, in which not a pane of glass re- 
 mained, smoking. 
 
 He was a firm, just man, he could read and write, 
 had been wounded and had his three chevrons, and 
 ought to have been an officer, only he was not well 
 formed. 
 
 He soon laid his head on his knapsack, and shortly 
 after all were asleep. It was long after this when I 
 was suddenly awakened by footsteps and fumbling 
 about the house outside. 
 
 I raised up on my elbow to listen, when somebody 
 tried to open the door. I could not help screaming 
 out. " What's the matter ?" said the sergeant. We 
 could hear them running away, and Rabot turned on 
 his knapsack saying : 
 
 " ISTight birds, — rascals, — clear out, or I'll send a 
 ball after you I" He said no more and I got up and 
 looked out of the window, and saw the wretches in 
 the act of robbing the dead and wounded They 
 
WATERLOO. 265 
 
 were going softly from one to another, while the rain 
 was falling in torrents. It was something horrible. 
 
 I lay down again and fell asleep overcome by 
 fatigue. 
 
 At day-break the sergeant was up and crying. 
 " En route !" 
 
 We left the cottage and went back through the 
 lane. The cuirassier was on the ground, but his horse 
 still stood beside him. The sergeant took him by the 
 bridle and led him out into the orchard, palled the 
 bits from his mouth and said : 
 
 " Go, and eat, they will find you again by and by." 
 
 And the poor beast walked quietly away. We 
 hurried along the path which runs by Ligny. The 
 furrows stopped here and some plats of garden ground 
 lay along by the road. The sergeant looked about him 
 as he went, and stooped down to dig up some carrots 
 and turnips which were left. I quickly followed his 
 example, while our comrades hastened on without 
 looking round. 
 
 I saw that it was a good thing to know the fruits 
 of the earth. I found two beautiful turnips and 
 some carrots, which are very good raw, but I fol- 
 lowed the example of the sergeant and put them in 
 my shako. 
 
 I ran on to overtake the squad, which was direct 
 
 12 
 
266 WATERLOO. 
 
 ing its steps toward the fires at Sombref. As for the 
 rest, I will not attempt to describe to you the appear- 
 ance of the plateau in the rear of Ligny where our 
 cuirassiers and dragoons had slaughtered all before 
 them. The men and horses were lying in heaps. 
 The horses with their Ions: necks stretched out on 
 the ground and the dead and wounded lying under 
 them. 
 
 Sometimes the wounded men would raise their 
 hands to make signs when the horses would attempt 
 to get up and fall back, crushing them still more 
 fearfully. 
 
 Blood! blood ! everywhere. The directions of the 
 the balls and shot was marked on the slope by the 
 red lines, just as we see in our country the lines in 
 the sand formed by the water from the melting 
 snow. But will you believe it? These horrors 
 scarcely made any impression upon me. Before I 
 went to Lutzen such a sisrht would have knocked 
 me down. I should have thought then, "Do our 
 masters look upon us as brutes ? Will the good 
 God give us up to be eaten by wolves. Have 
 we mothers and sisters and friends, beings who are 
 dear to us, and will they not cry out for vengeance.'' 
 
 I should have thought of a thousand other things, 
 but now I did not think at all. From having seen 
 
WATERLOO. 267 
 
 such a mass of slaughter and wrong every day and 
 in every fashion, I began to say to myself: 
 
 " The strongest are always right. The Ernpero? 
 is the strongest, and he has called us, and we must 
 come m spite of every thing, from Pfalzbourg, from 
 Saverne, or other cities, and take our places in the 
 ranks and march. The one who would show the 
 least sign of resistance ought to be shot at once. 
 The marshals, the generals, the officers, down to the 
 last man, follow their instructions, they dare not make 
 a move without orders, and everybody obeys the 
 army. It is the Emperor who wills, who has the pow- 
 er and who does every thing. And would not Joseph 
 Bertha be a fool to believe that the Emperor ever 
 committed a single fault in his life ? Would it nol 
 be contrary to reason ?" 
 
 That was what we all thought, and if the Emperor 
 had remained here, all France would have had the 
 same opinion. 
 
 My only satisfaction was in thinking that I had 
 Rome carrots and turnips, for in passing in the rear 
 of the pickets to find our place in the battalion, we 
 learned that no rations had been distributed except 
 brandy and cartridges. 
 
 The veterans were filling their kettles; but the 
 conscripts, who had not yet learned the art of living 
 
268 WATERLOO. 
 
 while on a campaign, and who had unfortunately 
 already eaten all their bread, as will happen when 
 one is twenty years old, and is on the march with a 
 good appetite, they had not a spoonful of any thing. 
 
 At last about seven o'clock we reached the camp. 
 Zebede came to meet me and was delighted to see 
 me, and said, " What have you brought, Joseph ? 
 We have found a fat 'kid and we have some salt, but 
 not a mouthful of bread." 
 
 I showed him the rice which I had left, and my 
 turnips and carrots. 
 
 " That's good," said he, " we shall have the best 
 soup in ihe battallion." 
 
 I wanted Buche to eat with us too, and the six 
 men belonging to our mess, who had all escaped with 
 only bruises and scratches, consented. Padoue, the 
 drum-major, said, laughing, "Veterans are always 
 veterans, they never come empty-handed." 
 
 We looked into the kettles of the five conscripts, 
 and winked, for they had nothing but rice and water 
 m them, while we had a good rich soup, the odor of 
 which filled the air around us. 
 
 At eight we took our breakfast with an appetite, as 
 you can imagine. 
 
 Not even on my wedding-day did I eat a bettei 
 meal, and it is a pleasure even now to think of it 
 
WATERLOO. 269 
 
 When we are old we are not so enthusiastic about 
 such things as when we are young, but still we always 
 recall them with satisfaction. 
 
 This breakfast sustained us a long time, but the 
 poor conscripts with only a few crumbs as it were 
 soaked in rain water, had a hard time next day — the 
 18th. We were to have a short but terrible cam- 
 paign. Though all is over now, yet I can not think 
 of those terrible sufferings without emotion, or with- 
 out thanking God that we escaped them. The sun 
 shone again and the weather was fine, — we had hard- 
 ly finished our breakfast when the drums began to 
 beat the assembly along the whole line. 
 
 The Prussian rear-guard had just left Sombref, and 
 it was a question whether we should pursue them. 
 Some said we ought to send out the light-horse, to 
 pick up the prisoners. But no one paid any atten- 
 tion to them, — the Emperor knew what he was do* 
 ins?. 
 
 But I remember that everybody was astonished 
 notwithstanding, because it is the custom to profit by 
 victories. The veterans had never seen any thing 
 like it. They thought that the Emperor was prepar- 
 ing some grand stroke; that Ney had turned ""he 
 enemy's line, and so forth. 
 
 Meanwhile the roll commenced and General Gerard 
 
270 WATERLOO. 
 
 reviewed the Fourth corps. Our battalion had suffered 
 most, because in the three attacks we had always 
 been in the front. 
 
 The Commandant Gemeau and Captain Vidal were 
 wounded, and Captains Gregoire and Vignot killed > 
 seven lieutenants and second lieutenants, and three 
 hundred and sixty men hors de combat. 
 
 Zebede said that it was worse than at Montmirail, 
 and that they would finish us up completely before 
 we got through. 
 
 Fortunately the fourth battalion arrived from Metz 
 under Commandant Delong and took our place in 
 the line. 
 
 Captain Florentin ordered us to file off to the left, 
 and we went back to the village near the church, 
 where a quantity of carts were stationed. 
 
 We were then distributed in squads to superintend 
 the removal of the wounded. Several detachments 
 of chasseurs were ordered to escort the convoys to 
 Fleurus as there was no room for them at Ligny ; the 
 church was already filled with the poor fellows. We 
 did not select those to be removed, the surgeons did 
 that, as we could hardly distinguish in numbers of 
 cases, between the living and the dead. We only 
 laid them on the straw in the carts. 
 
 I knew how all this was, for I was at Lutzen } and 
 
WATERLOO. 271 
 
 1 understand what a man suffers in recovering from 
 a ball, or a musket-shot, or such a cut as our cuiras- 
 siers made. 
 
 Every time I saw one of these men taken up, I 
 thanked God that I was not reduced to that condi- 
 tion, and, thinking that the same thing might befall 
 me, I said to myself: "You do not know how many 
 balls and slugs have been near you, or you would be 
 horrified." I was astonished that so many of us had 
 escaped in the carnage, which had been far greatei 
 than at Lutzen or even at Leipzig. The battle had 
 only lasted five hours, and the dead in many places 
 were piled two or three feet deep. The blood flowed 
 from under them in streams. Through the principal 
 street where the artillery went, the mud was red with 
 blood, and the mud itself was crushed flesh and 
 bones. 
 
 It is necessary to tell you this, in order that the 
 young men may understand. I shall fight no more, 
 thank God, I am too old, but all these young men who 
 think of nothing but war, instead of being industri- 
 ous and helping their aged parents, should know how 
 the soldiers are treated. Let them imagine what the 
 poor fellows who have done their duty think, as they 
 lie in the street, wanting an arm or a leg, and hear 
 the cannon, weighing twelve or fifteen thousand 
 
272 WATERLOO. 
 
 pounds, coming with their big well- shod horses^ 
 plunging and neighing. 
 
 Then it is that they will recall their old parents 
 who embraced them in their own village, while they 
 went off saying : 
 
 " I am going, but I shall return with the cross of 
 honor, and with my epaulettes." 
 
 Yes, indeed ! if they could weep and ask God's 
 pardon, we should hear their cries and complaints, 
 but there is no time for that ; the cannon and the 
 caissons with their freight of bombs and bullets arrive, 
 and they can hear their own bones crack beforehand 
 — and all pass right over their bodies, just as they do 
 through the mud. 
 
 When we are old, and think that such horrible 
 things may happen to the children we love, we feel 
 as if we would part with the last sou before we would 
 allow them to go. 
 
 But all this does no good, bad men can not be 
 changed, while good ones must do their duty, and if 
 misfortune comes, their confidence in the justice of God 
 remains. Such men do not destroy their fellows from 
 the love of glory, they are forced to do so, they have 
 nothing with which to reproach themselves, they de- 
 fend their own lives and the blood which is shed is 
 not on their hands. 
 
WATERLOO. 273 
 
 Bat I must finish my story of the battle and the 
 removal of the wounded. 
 
 I saw sights there which are incredible; men 
 killed in a moment of fury, whose faces had not 
 _ost their horrible expression, still held their must 
 kets in their hands and stood upright against the 
 walls, and you could almost hear them cry, as they 
 tared with glazed eyes, " To the bayonet ! No 
 quarter !" 
 
 It was with this thought and this cry that they 
 appeared before God. He was awaiting them, and 
 He may have said to them, " Here am I. Thou kill- 
 est thy brethren — thou givest no quarter? None 
 shall be given thee !" 
 
 I have seen others mortally wounded strangling 
 
 each other. At Fleurus we were obliged to separate 
 
 the French and the Prussians, because they would 
 
 rise from their beds, or their bundles of straw, to tear 
 
 each other to pieces. Ah ! war ! those who wish for 
 
 it, an d those who make men like ferocious beasts, 
 
 will have a terrible account to settle above. 
 *12 
 
274 WATERLOO. 
 
 XX. 
 
 The removal of the wounded continued until night 
 About noon shouts of Vive V Empereur extended 
 alon£ the whole line of our bivouac from the village 
 of Bry to Sombref. Napoleon had left Fleurus with 
 his staff and had passed in review the whole army 
 on the plateau. These shouts continued for an hour, 
 and then all was quiet and the army took up its 
 march. 
 
 We waited a long time for the orders to follow 
 but as they did not come, Captain Florentin went to 
 see what was the matter, and came back at full speed 
 shouting, " Beat the assembly !" The detachments 
 cf the battalion joined each other and we passed 
 through the village at a quick step. 
 
 All had left, many other squads had received no 
 orders, and in the vicinity of St. Amand the streets 
 were full of soldiers. 
 
WATERLOO. 275 
 
 Several companies remained behind, and reached 
 
 the road by crossing the fields on the left, where we 
 
 :ould see the rear of the column as far as the eye 
 
 could reach — caissons, wagons, and baggage of 
 
 every sort. 
 
 I have often thought that we might have been left 
 behind, as Gerard's division was at St. Amand, and 
 nobody could have blamed us, as we followed our 
 orders to pick up the wounded, but Captain Floren- 
 tin would have thought himself dishonored. 
 
 We hurried forward as fast as possible. It had 
 commenced to rain again and we slipped in the mud 
 and darkness. I never saw worse weather, not even 
 at the retreat from Leipzig when we were in Ger- 
 many. The rain came down as if from a watering 
 pot, and we tramped on with our guns under our 
 arms with the cape of our cloaks over the locks, so 
 wet that if we had been through a river it could not 
 have been worse ; and such mud ! With all this we 
 began to feel the want of food. Buche kept saying 
 
 " Well ! a dozen big potatoes roasted in the ashes 
 as we do at Harberg would rejoice my eyes. We 
 don't eat meat every day at home, but we always 
 have potatoes." 
 
 I thought of our warm little room at 'Pfalzbourg, 
 the table with its white cloth, Father Goulden with 
 
2TG WATERLOO. 
 
 nis plate before him, while Catherine served the rich 
 hot soup and the smoked cutlets on the gridiron. 
 My present sufferings and troubles overwhelmed me, 
 and if wishing for death only had been necessary to 
 rid me of them, I should have long ago been out of 
 this world. 
 
 The night was dark, and if it had not been for the 
 ruts, into which we plunged to our knees at every 
 step, we should have found it difficult to keep the 
 road ; as it was, we had only to march in the mud to 
 be sure we were right. 
 
 Between seven and eischt o'clock we heard in the 
 distance something like thunder. Some said : " It 
 is a thunderstorm ! " others, " It is cannon !" 
 
 Great numbers of disbanded soldiers were follow- 
 ing us. 
 
 At eight o'clock we reached Quatre-Bras. These 
 are two houses opposite each other at the intersection 
 of the road from Nivelles to ISTamur with that from 
 Brussels to Charleroi. They were both full of 
 wounded men. It was here that Marshal !N"ey had 
 given battle to the English, to prevent them from 
 going to the support of the Prussians along the road 
 by which we had just come. He had but twenty 
 thousand men against forty thousand, and yet Nicho- 
 las Cloutier, the tanner, maintains to-day even, that 
 
WATERLOO. 277 
 
 he ought to have sent half his troops to attack the 
 Prussian rear, as if it were not enough to stop the 
 English. 
 
 To such people every thing is easy, but if they were 
 in command, it would be easy to rout them with four 
 men and a corporal. 
 
 Below us the barley and oat fields were full of 
 dead men. It was then that I saw the first red-coats 
 stretched out in the road. 
 
 The captain ordered us to halt, and he went into 
 the house at the right. We waited for some time in 
 the rain, when he came out with Dauzelot, general of 
 the division, who was laughing, because we had not 
 followed Grouchv toward Xamur ; the want of 
 orders had compelled us to turn off to Quatre-Bras. 
 Notwithstanding, we received orders to continue our 
 march without stopping. 
 
 I thought I should drop every moment from weak- 
 ness, but it was worse still when we overtook the 
 baggage, for then we were obliged to march on the 
 sides of the road, and the farther from it we went the 
 more deeply we sank in the soft soil. 
 
 About eleven o'clock we reached a large village 
 called Genappe, which lies on both sides of the 
 route. 
 
 The crowd of wagons, cannon, and baggage was 
 
278 WATERLOO. 
 
 so great that we were forced to turn to the right and 
 cross the Thy by a bridge, and from this point we 
 continued to march through the fields of grain and 
 hemp, like savages who respect nothing. The night 
 was so dark that the mounted dragoons, who were 
 placed at intervals of two hundred paces like guide- 
 posts, kept shouting, " This way, this way !" 
 
 About midnight we reached a sort of farm-t juse 
 thatched with straw, which was filled with sujeuor 
 oificers. It was not far from the main road, ^s we 
 could hear the cavalry and artillery and baggage 
 wagons rushing by like a torrent. 
 
 The captain had hardly got into the houst, when 
 we jumped over the hedge into the garden. I did li ke 
 the rest, and snatched what I could. Nearly the 
 whole battalion followed this example in spite of the 
 shouts of the officers, and each one began digging up 
 what he could find with his bayonet. In two minutes 
 there was nothing left. The sergeants and corpo- 
 rals were with us, but when the captain returned we 
 had all regained our ranks. 
 
 Those who pillage and steal on a campaign ought 
 tu be shot ; but what could you do ? There was not 
 a quarter enough food in the towns through which 
 we passed to supply such numbers. The English 
 had already taken nearly every thing. We had ^ 
 
WATERLOO. 279 
 
 little rice left, but rice without meat is not very 
 strengthening. 
 
 The English troops received sheep and beeves from 
 Brussels, they were well fed and glowing with health. 
 We had come too late, the convoys of supplies were 
 belated, and the next day when the terrible battle of 
 Waterloo was fought the only ration we received 
 was brandy. 
 
 We left the village, and on mounting a little eleva- 
 tion we perceived the English pickets through the rain. 
 We were ordered to take a position in the grain fields 
 with several regiments which we could not see, and 
 not to light our fires for fear of alarming the English, 
 if they should discover us in line, and so induce them 
 to continue their retreat. 
 
 Now just imagine us lying in the grain under a 
 pouring rain like regular gypsies, shivering with cold 
 and bent on destroying our fellows, and happy in 
 having a turnip or a radish to keep up our strength 
 and tell me if that is the kind of life for honest 
 people. Is it for that, that God has created us and 
 put us in the world ? Is it not abominable that a 
 king or an emperor, instead of watching over the af 
 fairs of the state, encouraging commerce, and in- 
 structing the people in the principles of liberty and 
 giving good examples, fhould reduce us to such a con 
 
280 WATERLOO. 
 
 dition as that by hundreds of thousands. I know 
 very well that this is called glory, but the people are 
 very stupid to glorify such men as those. Yes, in 
 deed, they must have first lost all sense of right, all < 
 heart, and all religion ! 
 
 But all this did not prevent my teeth from chatter 
 ing, or from seeing the English in our front warm- 
 ing and enjoying themselves around their good fires, 
 after receiving their rations of beef, brandy, and 
 tobacco. And I thought, " It is we poor devils, 
 drenched to our very marrow, who are to be com- 
 pelled to attack these fellows who are full of confi- 
 dence, and want neither cannon nor supplies, who 
 sleep with their feet to the fire, with their stomachs 
 well lined, while we must lie here in the n ud.'* I 
 was indignant the whole night. Buche would say : 
 
 "I do not care for the rain, I have been through 
 many a worse one when on the watch ; but then I 
 had at least a crust of bread and some onions and 
 salt." 
 
 I was quite absorbed with my own troubles and 
 said nothing, but he was angry. 
 
 The rain ceased between two and three in the 
 morning. Buche and I were lying back to back in a 
 furrow, in order to keep warm, and at last overcome 
 by fatigue I fell asleep. 
 
WATERLOO. 281 
 
 WTienlwoke about five in the morning, the church 
 bells were ringing matins over all that vast plain. 
 
 I shall never forget the scene ; and as I looked 
 at the gray sky, the trampled grain, and my sleeping 
 comrades on the right and left, my heart sunk under 
 the sense of desolation. The sound of the bells as 
 they responded to each other from Planchenois U 
 Genappe, from Frichemont to Waterloo, reminded 
 me of Pfalzbourg, and I thought : 
 
 " To-day is Sunday, the day of rest and peace. 
 Mr. Goulden has hung his best coat, with a white 
 shirt, on the back of his chair. He is getting up now 
 and he is thinking of me ; Catherine has risen too 
 and is sitting crying on the bed, and Aunt Gredel at 
 Quatre Yents is pushing open the shutters and she 
 has taken her prayer-book from the shelf and is go- 
 ing to mass." I could hear the bells of Dann and 
 Mittelbronn and Bigelberg ring out in the silence. 
 I thought of that peaceful quiet life and was ready 
 to burst into tears. 
 
 The roll of the drums was heard through the damp 
 air, and there was something inauspicious and por- 
 tentous in the sound. 
 
 Near the main road, on the left, they were beating 
 the assembly, and the bugles of the cavalry sounded 
 the reveille. The men rose and looked over the 
 
282 WATERLOO. 
 
 grain. Those three days of marching and fighting 
 in the bad weather without rations made them 
 sober; there was no talking as at Ligny, every oie 
 looked in silence and kept his thoughts to himself. 
 
 We could see too, that the battle was to be a much 
 more important affair, for instead of having villages 
 already occupied, which caused so many separate 
 battles, on our front, there was an immense elevated 
 naked plain on which the English were encamped. 
 
 Behind their lines at the top of the hill was the 
 village of Mont-St.-Jean, and a league and a half 
 still farther away, was a forest which bounded the 
 horizon. 
 
 Between us and the English, the ground descended 
 gently and rose again nearest us, forming a little 
 valley, but one must have been accustomed to the 
 country to perceive this ; it was deepest on the right 
 and contracted like a ravine. On the slope of this 
 ravine on our side, behind the hedges and poplars 
 and other trees, some thatched roofs indicated a ham- 
 let ; this was Planchenois. In the same direction but 
 much higher, and in the rear of the enemy's left, the 
 plain extended as far as the eye could reach, and was 
 scattered over with little villages. 
 
 The clear atmosphere after the storm enabled ui 
 to distinguish all this very plainly. 
 
WATERLOO. 283 
 
 We could even see the little village of Saint-Lam- 
 bert three leagues distant on our right. 
 
 At our left in the rear of the English right, thcr* 1 
 were other little villages to be seen, of which I never 
 know the names. 
 
 We took in all this grand region covered with a 
 magnificent crop just in flower, at a glance; and we 
 asked ourselves why the English were there, and what 
 advantage they had in guarding that position. But 
 when we observed their line a little more closely — it 
 was from fifteen hundred to two thousand yards from 
 us — we could see the broad, well-paved road, which 
 we had followed from Quatre-Bras and which led to 
 Brussels, dividing their position nearly in the center. 
 It was straight, and we could follow it with the eye 
 to the village of Mont-Saint- Jean and beyond quite 
 to the entrance of the forest of Soignes. This we 
 saw the English intended to hold to prevent us from 
 ojoino; to Brussels. 
 
 On looking carefully we could see that their line of 
 battle was curved a little toward us at the wings, and 
 that it followed a road which cut the route to Brussels 
 like a cro-jS. On the left it was a deep cut, and on 
 the right of the road it was bordered with thick 
 hedges of holly and dwarf beech which are common in 
 that country. Behind these were posted masses of red. 
 
•284 WATERLOO., 
 
 coats who watched us from their trenches. In tli€ 
 the front, the slope was like a glacis. This was very 
 dangerous. 
 
 Immense bodies of cavalry were stationed on the 
 flanks, which extended nearly three-quarters of a 
 league. 
 
 We saw that the cavalry on the plateau in the 
 vicinity of the main road after having passed the 
 hill, descended before going to Mont-Saint-Jean, and 
 we understood that there was a hollow between the 
 position of the English and that village ; not very 
 deep, as we could see the plumes of the soldiers as 
 they passed through, but still deep enough to shelter 
 heavy reserves from our bullets. 
 
 I had already seen Weissenfels, Lutzen, Leipzig, 
 and Ligny, and I began to understand what these 
 things meant, and why they arranged themselves in 
 one way rather then another, and I thought that the 
 manner in which these English had laid their plans and 
 stationed their forces on this cross road to defend the 
 road to Brussels, and to shelter their reserves, showed 
 a vast deal of good sense. 
 
 But in spite of all that, three things seemed to me 
 to be m our favor. The position of the enemy with its 
 covered ways and hidden reserves was like a great 
 fort. Every one knows that in time of war every 
 
WATERLOO. 285 
 
 thing is demolished that can furnish a shelter to the 
 enemy. 
 
 Well ! just in their center, on the high road and on 
 the slope of their glacis, was a farm-house like the 
 "Rouletta" at Quatre- Vents, but five or six times 
 larger. 
 
 I could see it plainly from where we stood. It was 
 a great square, the offices, the house, the stables and 
 barns formed a triangle on the side toward the Eng- 
 lish, and on our side the other half was formed by a 
 wall and sheds, with a court in the center. The wall 
 running along the field side, had a small door, the 
 other on the road had an entrance for carriages and 
 wagons. 
 
 It was built of brick and was very solid. Of 
 course the English had filled it with troops like a 
 sort of demi-lune, but if we could take it we should 
 be close to their center and could throw our attack- 
 ing columns upon them, without remaining long un- 
 der their fire. 
 
 Nothing could be better for us. This place was 
 called Haie-Sainte, as we found out afterward. 
 
 A little farther on, in front of their right wing was 
 another little farmstead and grove, which we could 
 also try to take. I could not see it from where I 
 stood, but it was a stronger position than Haie-Sainte 
 
286 WATERLOO. 
 
 as it was covered by an orchard, surrounded with 
 walls, and farther on was the wood. The fire from 
 the windows swept the garden, and that from the 
 garden covered the wood, and that from the wood 
 the side-hill, and the enemy could beat a retreat from 
 one to the other. 
 
 I did not see this with my own eyes, but some vet- 
 erans gave me an account of the attack on this 
 farm; it was called Hougoumont. 
 
 One must be exact in speaking of such a battle, 
 the things seen with one's own eyes are the princi- 
 pal, and we can say : 
 
 " I saw them, but the other accounts I had from 
 men incapable of falsehood or deception." 
 
 And lastly in front of their left wing on the road 
 leading to Wavre, about a hundred paces from the 
 hill on our side, were the farms of Papelotte and 
 La Haye, occupied by the Germans, and the lit- 
 tle hamlets of Smohain, Cheval-de-Bois, and Jean- 
 Loo, which I informed myself about afterward in 
 order to understand all that took place. I could see 
 these hamlets plainly enough then, but I did not pay 
 much attention to them as they were beyond our 
 line of battle on the right, and we did not see any 
 troops there. 
 
 Now you can all see the position of the English 
 
WATERLOO. 287 
 
 on our front, the road to Brussels which traversed it, 
 the cross-road which covered it, the plateau in the 
 rear where the reserves were, and the three farms, 
 Uougoumont, Haie-Sainte, and Papelotte in front, 
 Well garrisoned. You can all see that it would he 
 very difficult to force. 
 
 I looked at it about six o'clock that morning very 
 attentively, as a man will do who is to run the 
 risk of breaking his bones and losing his life in some 
 enterprise, and who at least likes to know if he has 
 any chance of escape. 
 
 Zebede, Sergeant Rabot, and Captain Florentin, 
 Buche, and indeed every one as he rose cast a glance 
 at that hill-side without saying a word. Then they 
 looked around them at the great squares of infantry, 
 the squadrons of cuirassiers, of dragoons, chasseurs, 
 lancers, etc., encamped amid the growing grain. 
 
 Nobody had any fears now that the English would 
 beat a retreat, we lighted as many fires as we pleased, 
 and the smoke from the damp straw filled the air. 
 Those who had a little rice left, put on their camp- 
 kettles, while those who had none looked on think- 
 
 ing : 
 
 "Each has his turn; yesterday we hai meat, anu 
 we despised the rice, now we should be very grate- 
 ful for even that." 
 
288 WATERLOO. 
 
 About eight o'clock the wagons arrived with car 
 tridges and hogsheads of brandy; each soldier re- 
 ceived a double ration: with a crust of bread we 
 might have done very well, but the bread was not 
 there. You can imagine what sort of humor we 
 were in. 
 
 This was all we had that day: immediately af- 
 ter, the grand movements commenced. Regiments 
 joined their "brigades, brigades their divisions, and 
 the divisions re-formed their corps. Officers on horse- 
 back carried orders back and forth, every thing was 
 in motion. 
 
 Our battalion joined Donzelot's division ; the others 
 had only eight battalions, but his had nine. 
 
 I have often heard the veterans repeat the order 
 of battle given by Napoleon. The corps of Reille was 
 on the left of the road opposite Hougoumont, that 
 of d'Erlon, at the right, opposite Haie-Sainte; N"ey on 
 horseback on the highway, and Napoleon in the rear 
 with the Old Guard, the special detachments, the lan- 
 cers and chasseurs, etc. That was all that I under- 
 stood, for when they began to talk of the movements 
 of eleven columns, of the distance which they de 
 ployed, and when they named the generals one after 
 another, it seemed to me as if they were talking o\ 
 something which I had never seen. 
 
WATERLOO. 289 
 
 I like better therefore to tell you simply what I 
 saw and remember myself. 
 
 The first movement was at half-past eight, when 
 our four divisions received the order to take the ad 
 vance to the right of the highway. There were about 
 fifteen or twenty thousand men marching in two col- 
 umns, with arms at will, sinking to our knees at every 
 step in the soft ground. Nobody spoke a word. 
 
 Several persons have related that we were jubilant 
 and were all singing ; but it is false. Marching all 
 night without rations, sleeping in the water, for- 
 bidden to light a fire, when preparing for showers of 
 grape and canister, all this took away any inclination 
 to sing, we were glad to pull our shoes out of the holes 
 in which they were buried at every step, and chilled 
 and drenched to our waists by the wet grain, the hard 
 iest and most courageous among us wore a discontent- 
 ed air. It is true that the bands played marches for 
 their regiments, that the trumpets of the cavalry, the 
 drums of the infantry, and the trombones mingled 
 their tones and produced a terrible effect, as they do 
 always. 
 
 It is also true that these thousands of men marched 
 briskly and in good order, with their knapsacks at 
 their backs, and their muskets on their shoulders, the 
 white lines of the cuirassiers followed the red, brown, 
 
 13 
 
29C WATERLOO. 
 
 and green of the dragoons, hussars, and lancers, with 
 their little swallow-tailed pennons filling the air ; the 
 artillery-men in the intervals between the brigades, 
 on horseback around their guns, which cut through 
 the ground to their axles, — -all these mo ved straight 
 through the grain, not a head of which remained 
 standing behind them, and truly there rcalUL not be 
 a sight more dreadful. 
 
 The English drawn up in perfect oriar in front, 
 their gunners ready with their lighted matches in 
 their hands, made us think, but did not delight us 
 quite so much as some have pretended, and men who 
 like to receive cannon-balls are still rather rare. 
 
 Father Goulden told me that the soldiers sang in 
 his time, but then they went voluntarily and not from 
 force. They fought in defense of their homes and 
 for human rights, which they loved better than therr 
 own eyes, and it was not at all like risking our lives 
 to find out whether we were to have an old or a new 
 nobility. As for me, I never heard any one sing either 
 at Leipzig or Waterloo. 
 
 On we went, the bands still playing by order from 
 head-quarters. 
 
 The music ceased, and the silence which followed 
 was profound. Then we were at the edge of the lit- 
 tle valley, and about twelve hundred paces fron* the 
 
WATERLOO. 291 
 
 English left. We were in the center of our army, 
 with the chasseurs and lancers on our ri^ht flank. 
 
 We took our distances and closed up the intervals 
 The first brigade of the first division turned to the 
 left and formed on the highway. Our battalion 
 formed a part of the second division, and we were 
 in the first line, with a single brigade of the first di- 
 vision before us. The artillery was passed up to the 
 front, and that of the English was directly opposite 
 and on the same level. And for a long time the other 
 divisions were moving up to support us. It seemed 
 as if the earth itself was in motion. The veterans 
 would say : " There are Milhaud's cuirassiers ! Here 
 are the chasseurs of Lefebvre-Desnoettes ! Yonder is 
 Lobau's corps !" 
 
 On every side, as far as the eye could reach, there 
 was nothing to be seen but cuirasses, helmets, col- 
 backs,* sabers, lances, and files of bayonets. 
 
 " What a battle," exclaimed Buche. " Woe to the 
 English !" 
 
 I had the same thought ; I did not believe a single 
 Englishman would escape. But it was we who were 
 unfortunate that day, though had it not been for thu 
 Prussians I still believe we should have exterminated 
 them. 
 
 * Military caps of bear-skin. 
 
292 WATERLOO. 
 
 During the two Lours we stood there, we did not 
 see the half of our regiments and squadrons, and new 
 ones were continually coming. About an hour after 
 we took our position we heard suddenly on the left, 
 shouts of "Vive l'Empereur," they increased as they 
 approached us like a tempest; we all stood on our 
 tiptoes and stretched our necks to see ; they spread 
 through all the ranks, and even the horses in the rear 
 neighed as if they would shout too. At that moment 
 a troop of general officers whirled along our front 
 like the wind. Napoleon was among them, and I 
 thought I sawhirn, though I was not certain, he went 
 so swiftly, and so many men raised their shakos on 
 the points of their bayonets that I hardly had time 
 to distinguish his round shoulders and gray coat in 
 the midst of the laced uniforms. When the captain 
 had shouted, Ci Carry arms ! present arms !" it was 
 over. 
 
 We saw him in this way every day, at least when 
 we were on guard. 
 
 After he had passed, the shouts continued along 
 our right farther and farther away, and we all thought 
 the battle would begin in twenty minutes. 
 
 But we were obliged to wait a long time and we 
 grew impatient. The conscripts in d'Erlon's corps, 
 who were not in battle the day before, began to shout 
 
WATERLOO. 291 
 
 English left. We were in the center of our army, 
 with the chasseurs and lancers on our right flank. 
 
 We took our distances and closed up the intervals 
 The first brigade of the first division turned to the 
 left and formed on the highway. Our battalion 
 formed a part of the second division, and we were 
 in the first line, with a single brigade of the first di- 
 vision before us. The artillery was passed up to the 
 front, and that of the English was directly opposite 
 and on the same level. And for a long time the other 
 divisions were moving up to support us. It seemed 
 as if the earth itself was in motion. The veterans 
 would say : " There are Milhaud's cuirassiers ! Here 
 are the chasseurs of Lefebvre-Desnoettes ! Yonder is 
 Lobau's corps !" 
 
 On every side, as far as the eye could reach, there 
 was nothing to be seen but cuirasses, helmets, col- 
 backs,* sabers, lances, and files of bayonets. 
 
 " What a battle," exclaimed Buche. " Woe to the 
 English !" 
 
 I had the same thought ; I did not believe a single 
 Englishman would escape. But it was we who were 
 unfortunate that day, though had it not been for the 
 Prussians I still believe we should have exterminated 
 them. 
 
 * Military caps of bear-skin. 
 
292 WATERLOO. 
 
 During the two hours we stood there, we did not 
 see the half of our regiments and squadrons, and new 
 ones were continually coming. About an hour after 
 we took our position we heard suddenly on the left, 
 shouts of " Yive l'Empereur," they increased as they 
 approached us like a tempest; we all stood on our 
 tiptoes and stretched our necks to see ; they spread 
 through all the ranks, and even the horses in the rear 
 neighed as if they would shout too. At that moment 
 a troop of general officers whirled along our front 
 like the wind. Napoleon was among them, and I 
 thought I saw him, though I was not certain, he went 
 so swiftly, and so many men raised their shakos on 
 the points of their bayonets that I hardly had time 
 to distinguish his round shoulders and gray coat in 
 the midst of the laced uniforms. When the captain 
 had shouted, et Carry arms ! present arms 1" it was 
 over. 
 
 We saw him in this way every day, at least when 
 we were on guard. 
 
 After he had passed, the shouts continued along 
 our right farther and farther away, and we all thought 
 (he battle would begin in twenty minutes. 
 
 But we were obliged to wait a long time and we 
 grew impatient. The conscripts in d'Erlon's corps, 
 who were not in battle the day before, began to shout 
 
WATERLOO. 293 
 
 ' Forwaid!" At last, about noon, the cannon thun 
 dered on the left and were followed by the fire 
 from the battalion and then the file. We could see 
 nothing- for it was on the other side of the road. The 
 attack had commenced on Hougoumont. Immedi- 
 ately shouts of " Vive l'Empereur" broke out. The 
 cannoneers of our four divisions were standing the 
 whole length of the hill-side, at twenty paces from 
 each other. At the discharge of the first gun, they 
 all commenced to load at once. I see them still, as 
 they put in the charge, ram it home, raise up, and 
 shake out their matches as by a single movement. 
 This made us shiver. The captains of the guns, 
 nearly all old officers, stood behind their pieces and 
 gave orders as if on parade; and when the whole 
 twenty-four guns went off together, the report was 
 deafening, and the whole valley was covered with 
 smoke. 
 
 At the end of a second, we heard the calm voices 
 of these veterans above the whistlingin our ears say- 
 ing " Load ! take aim ! fire !" And that continued 
 without interruption for half an hour. We could 
 see nothing at all, but the English hadopened their 
 fire, aud we heard their bullets scream in the air 
 and strike with a dull sound in the mud ; and then 
 we could hear another sound too, that of the mns- 
 
294 WATERLOO. 
 
 kets striking against each other, and the sound of 
 the bodies of wounded men as they were thrown like 
 boneless sacks twenty paces in the rear, or sank in 
 a htap with a leg or an arm wanting. All this min- 
 led with the dull rumbling ; the destruction had com- 
 menced. 
 The groans of the wounded mingled also with 
 
 these sounds, and with the fierce terrible neighing 
 of the horses, which are naturally ferocious, and de- 
 light in slaughter. We could hear this tumult half 
 a league in the rear ; and it was with great difficulty 
 the animals could be restrained from setting* off to 
 join in the battle. 
 
 For a long time we had been able to see nothing 
 but the shadows of the gunners as they maneuvered 
 in the smoke, on the border of the ravine, when we 
 heard the order, " Cease firing !" At the same mo- 
 ment we heard the piercing voices of the colonels of 
 our four divisions shout, "Close up the ranks for bat- 
 tle !" All the lines approached each other. 
 
 " Now it is our turn," said I to Buche. 
 
 " Yes," he replied, " let us keep together." 
 
 The smoke from our guns rose up into the air, and 
 then we could see the batteries of the English, who 
 still continued their fire all along the hedges which 
 oordered the road. 
 
WATERLOO. 295 
 
 The first brigade of Alix's division advanced at a 
 quick step along the road leading to Haie-Sainte. In 
 the rear I recognized Marshal Ney with several of 
 the officers of his staff. 
 
 From every window of the farm-house, and from 
 the garden, and walls which had been pierced with 
 holes, came fiery showers, and at every step men 
 were left stretched on the road. General Ney on 
 horseback with the corners of his great hat pointing 
 over his shoulders, watched the action from the mid- 
 dle of the roacL I said to Buche 
 
 " That is Marshal Ney, the second brigade will go 
 to support the first, and we shall come next." 
 
 But I mistook ; at that very moment the first bat- 
 talion of the second brigade received orders to 
 march in line on the right of the highway, the second 
 in the rear of the first, the third behind the second, 
 and the fourth following in file. 
 
 We had not time to form in column, but we were 
 solidly arrayed after all, one behind the other, from 
 one hundred and fifty to two hundred men in line in 
 front, the captains between the companies, and the 
 commandants between the battalions. But the balls 
 instead of carrying off two men at a time would now 
 take eight. Those in the rear could not fire because 
 those in front were in the way and we found too 
 
296 WATERLOO. 
 
 that we could not form in squares. That should have 
 been thought of beforehand, but was overlooked in 
 the desire to break the enemy's line and gain all at a 
 blow. 
 
 Our division marched in the same order : as the 
 first battalion advanced, the second followed immedi- 
 ately in their steps, and so on with all the rest. I 
 was pleased to see, that, commencing on the left, we 
 should be in the twenty-fifth rank, and that there 
 must be terrible slaughter before we should be 
 reached. 
 
 The two divisions on our right were also formed 
 in close column, at three hundred paces from each 
 other. 
 
 Thus we descended into the little valley, in the 
 face of the English fire. We were somewhat delay- 
 ed by the soft ground, but we all shouted, " To the 
 bayonet !" 
 
 As we mounted on the other side, we were met by 
 a hail of balls from above the road at the left. If we 
 had not been so crowded together, this terrible vol- 
 ley would have checked us. The charge sounded and 
 the officers shouted, " Steady on the left !" 
 
 But this terrible fire made us lengthen our risrht 
 step more than our left, in spite of ourselves, so that 
 when we neared the road bordered by the hedges, 
 
WATERLOO. 297 
 
 we had lost our distances and our division formed a 
 square, so to speak, with the third. 
 
 Two batteries now swept our ranks, and the shot 
 from the hedges a hundred feet distant pierced us 
 through and through ; a cry of horror burst forth 
 and we rushed on the batteries, overpowering the 
 red-coats who vainly endeavored to stop us. 
 
 It was then that I first saw the English close at 
 hand. They were strong, fair, and closely shaved, 
 like well-to-do bourgeois. They defended themselves 
 bravely, but we were as good as they. It was not 
 our fault — the common soldiers — if they did defeat 
 us at last, all the world knows that we showed as 
 much and more courage than they did. 
 
 It has been said that we were not the soldiers of 
 Austerlitz and Jena, of Friedland and of Moskowa. 
 It was because they were so good, perhaps, that they 
 were spared. We would have asked nothing better, 
 than to have seen them in our place. 
 
 Every shot of the English told, and we were forced 
 to break our ranks. Men are not palisades, and must 
 defend themselves when attacked. 
 
 Great numbers were detached from their compa- 
 nies, when thousands of Englishmen rose up from 
 among the barley and fired, their muskets almost 
 touching our men, which caused a terrible slaughter 
 
 13* 
 
298 WATERLOO. 
 
 The other ranks rushed to the support of their com- 
 rades, and we should all have been dispersed over the 
 hill-side like a swarm of ants, if we had not heard the 
 shout, " Attention, the cavalry !" 
 
 Almost at the same instant, a crowd of red dragoons 
 mounted on gray horses, swept down upon us like 
 the wind, and- those who had straggled were cut to 
 pieces without mercy. 
 
 They did not fall upon our columns in order to 
 break them, they were too deep and massive for that ; 
 but they came down between the divisions, slashing 
 right and left with their sabers, and spurring their 
 horses into the flanks of the columns to cut them in 
 two, and though they could not succeed in this, they 
 killed great numbers and threw us into confusion. 
 
 It was one of the most terrible moments of my life. A 
 As an old soldier I was at the right of the battalion, 
 and saw what they were intending to do. They leaned 
 over as far as possible when they passed, in order to 
 cut into our ranks ; their strokes followed each other 
 like lightning, and more than twenty times I though. t 
 my head was off my shoulders, but Sergeant liabot 
 closed the file fortunately for me ; it was he who re- 
 ceived this terrible shower of blc ws, and he defended 
 himself to the last breath. At every stroke he shouted, 
 " Cowards, Cowards 1" 
 
WATERLOO. 299 
 
 His blood sprinkled me like rain, and at last lie fell. 
 My musket was still loaded, and seeing one of the 
 dragoons coming with his eye fixed on me and bending 
 over to give me a thrust, I let him have it full in the 
 breast. This was the only man I ever saw fall under 
 my fire. 
 
 The worst was, that at that moment their foot-sol- 
 diers rallied and recommenced their fire, and they 
 even were so bold as to attack us with the bayonet. 
 Only the first two ranks made a stand. It was shame- 
 ful to form our men in that manner. 
 
 Then the red dragoons and our columns rushed 
 pell-mell down the hill together. 
 
 And still our division made the best defense, for 
 we brought off our colors, while the two others had 
 lost two eagles. 
 
 We rushed down in this fashion through the mud 
 and over the cannon, which had been brought down 
 to support us, and had been cut loose from the horses 
 by the sabers of the dragoons. 
 
 We scattered in every direction, Buche and I al- 
 ways keeping together, and it was ten minutes before 
 we could be rallied again near the road in squads 
 from all the regiments. 
 
 Those who have the direction of affairs in war 
 should keep such examples as these before their eyes,' 
 
300 WATERLOO. 
 
 and reflect that new plans cost those dear who are 
 
 forced to try them. 
 
 We looked over our shoulders as we took breath 
 
 i 
 
 and saw the red dragoons rushing up the hill to cap* 
 ture our principal battery of twenty-four guns, when, 
 thank God ! their turn came to be massacred. 
 
 The Emperor had observed our retreat from a dis- 
 tance, and as the dragoons mounted the hill, two re- 
 giments of cuirassiers on the right, and a regiment 
 of lancers on the left fell on their flanks like light- 
 ning, and before they had time to look, they were 
 upon them. We could hear the blows slide over their 
 cuirasses, hear their horses puff, and a hundred paces 
 away we could see the lances rise and fall, the long 
 sabers stretch out, and the men bend down to thrust 
 under ; the furious horses, rearing, biting, and neigh- 
 ing frightfully, and then men under the horses' feet 
 were trying to get up, and sheltering themselves 
 with their hands. 
 
 What horrible things are battles ! Buche shouted, 
 < Strike hard !" 
 
 I felt the sweat run down my forehead, and others 
 with great gashes, and their eyes full of blood, were 
 wiping their faces and laughing ferociously. 
 
 In ten minutes, seven hundred dragoons were hors- 
 de-combat ; their gray horses were running wildly 
 
''JOSEPH! YOU HAVE THEN ESCAPED EVERYTHING." 
 
WATEPLOO. 301 
 
 about on all sides, with their bits in their teeth 
 Some hundreds of them had retired behind their bat 
 teries, but more than one was reeling in his saddle 
 and clutching at his horse's mane. 
 
 They had found out that to attack was not all the 
 battle, 5^ d that very often circumstances arise which 
 are quite unexpected. 
 
 In all that frightful spectacle, what impressed me 
 most deeply, was seeing our cuirassiers returning 
 with their sabers red to the hilt, laughing among 
 themselves ; and a fat captain with immense brown 
 mustaches, winked good humoredly as he passed by 
 us, as much as to say, " You see we sent them back 
 in a hurry, eh !" 
 
 Yes, but three thousand of our men were left in 
 that little hollow. And it was not yet finished : the 
 companies and battalions and brigades were being 
 re-formed, the musketry rattled in the vicinity of 
 Haie-Sainte, and the cannon thundered near Hou- 
 goumont. " It was only just a beginning " the offi- 
 cers said. You would have thought that men's ilves 
 were of no value ! 
 
 But it was necessary to get possession of Haie- 
 Sainte, and to force a passage from the highway to 
 the enemy's center just as an entrance must be effect- 
 ed into a fortification through the fire of the out 
 
302 WATERLOO 
 
 works and the demi-lunes. We had been i ^pulsed 
 the first time, but the battle was begun, and wo 
 could not go back. After the charge of the cuiras- 
 siers, it took a little time for us to re-form : the bat- 
 tle continued at Hougoumont, and the cannonade 
 re-opened on our right, and two batteries had been 
 brought up to sweep the highway in the rear of Haie- 
 Sainte, where the road begins to mount the hill. We 
 all saw that that was to be the point of attack. 
 
 We stood waiting with shouldered arms, when 
 about three o'clock Buche looked behind him on the 
 road and said, " The Emperor is coming !" 
 
 And others in the ranks repeated, " Here is the 
 Emperor." 
 
 The smoke was so thick that we could barely see 
 the bear-skin caps of the Old Guard on the little hill 
 of Rossomme. I turned round also to see the Em- 
 peror, and immediately recognized Marshal Ney, 
 with five or six of his staff officers. He was coming 
 from head-quarters and pushed straight down upon 
 us across the fields. We stood with our backs to 
 him ; our officers hurried to meet him, and they con- 
 versed together, but we could not hear a word in 
 consequence of the noiso which filled our ears. 
 
 The marshal then rode along the front of our two 
 battalions, with his sword drawn. I had never seer 
 
WATERLOO- 303 
 
 Kim so near since the grand review at Aschaffen- 
 bourg; he seemed older, thinner, and more bony, 
 but still the same man; he looked at us with his 
 sharp gray eyes, as if he took us all in at a glance. 
 and each one felt as if he were looking directly at 
 him. 
 
 At the end of a second he pointed toward Haie- 
 Sainte with his sword, and exclaimed : 
 
 "We are going to take that, you will have the 
 whole at once, it is the turning-point of the battle 
 I am going to lead you myself. Battalions, by file 
 to the left !" 
 
 We started at a quick step on the road, marching 
 by companies in three ranks. I was in the second. 
 Marshal Ney was in front, on horseback, with 
 the two colonels and Captain Florentin : he had re- 
 turned his sword to the scabbard. The balls whis- 
 tled round our ears by hundreds, and the roar of can- 
 non from Hougoumont and on our left and right in 
 the rear was so incessant, that it was like the ringing 
 of an immense bell, when you no longer hear the 
 strokes, but only the booming. One and another 
 sank down from among us, but we passed right on 
 over them. 
 
 Two or three times the marshal turned round to 
 see if we were marching in ^ood order • he looked' so 
 
304 WATERLOO. 
 
 calm, that it seemed to me quite natural not to be 
 afraid, his face inspired us all with confidence, and 
 each one thought, " Ney is with us, the others are 
 lost !" which only shows the stupidity of the human 
 race, since so many others besides us escaped. 
 
 As we approached the buildings the report of the 
 musketry became more distinct from the roar of can 
 non, and we could better see the flash of the guns 
 from the windows, and the great black roof above in 
 the smoke, and the road blocked up with stones. 
 
 We went along by a hedge, behind which crackled 
 the fire of our skirmishers, for the first brigade of 
 Alix's division had not quitted the orchards ; and on 
 seeing us filing along the road, they commenced to 
 shout, " Vive l'Empereur." 
 
 The whole fire of the German musketry was then 
 turned on us, when Marshal Ney drew his sword and 
 shouted in a voice which reached every ear, " For- 
 ward !" 
 
 He disappeared in the smoke with two or three 
 officers, and we all started on a run, our cartridge- 
 boxes dangling about our hips, and our muskets at 
 ^he "ready." 
 
 Far to the rear they were beating the charge ; we 
 did not see the marshal again till we reached a shed 
 which separated the garden from the road, when we 
 
WATERLOO. 305 
 
 discovered him on horseback before the main en 
 trance. 
 
 It appeared that they had already tried to force 
 the door, as there was a heap of dead men, timbers, 
 paving stones, and rubbish piled up before it, reach- 
 ing to the middle of the road. The shot poured 
 from every opening in the building, and the air was 
 heavy with the smell of the powder. 
 
 " Break that in," shouted the marshal. Fifteen or 
 twenty of us dropped our muskets, and seizing 
 beams we drove them against the door with such 
 force., that it cracked and echoed back the blows like 
 thunder. You would have thought it would drop 
 at every stroke ; we could see through the planks 
 the paving stones heaped as high as the top inside. 
 It was full of holes, and when it fell it might have 
 crushed us, but fury had rendered us blind to dan- 
 ger. We no longer had any resemblance to men, 
 some had lost their shakos, others had their clothes 
 nearly torn off; the blood ran from their fingers and 
 down their sides, and at every discharge of musketry 
 the shot from the hill struck the paving-stones, 
 pounding them to dust around us. 
 
 I looked about me, but I could not see either Buche 
 or Zebede or any others of our company, the marshal 
 had disappeared also. Our rage redoubled ; and as 
 
306 WATERLOO. 
 
 the timbers went back and forth, we grew furious to 
 find that the door would not come down, when sud- 
 denly we heard shouts of " Yive l'Empereur " from 
 the court, accompanied with a most horrible uproar, 
 Every one knew that our troops had gained an en- 
 trance into the inclosure. We dropped the tim- 
 bers, and seizing our guns we sprang through the 
 breaches into the garden to find where the others had 
 entered. It was in the rear of the house through 
 a door opening into the barn. We rushed through 
 one after the other like a pack of wolves. 
 
 The interior of this old structure, with its lofts full 
 of hay and straw, and its stables covered with thatch, 
 looked like a bloody nest which had been attacked 
 by a sparrow-hawk. 
 
 On a great dung-heap in the middle of the court, 
 our men were bayoneting the Germans who were 
 yelling and swearing savagely. 
 
 I was running hap-hazard through this butchery, 
 when I heard some one call, " Joseph, Joseph 1" I 
 looked round, thinking, "That is Buche calling me." 
 In a moment I saw him at the door of a wood-shed, 
 crossing bayonets with five or six of our men. 
 
 I caught sight of Zebede at the same instant, as 
 our company was in that corner, and rushing to 
 Buche's assistance, I shouted, "Zeb6de!" Parting 
 
WATERLOO. 307 
 
 the combatants, I asked Buche what was the mat- 
 ter. 
 
 " They want to murder my prisoners !" said he. 
 I joined him, and the others began to load their mus- 
 kets to shoot us. They were voltigeurs from another 
 battalion. 
 
 At that moment Zeb6de came up with several men 
 from our company, and without knowing how the 
 matter stood, he seized the most brutal one by the 
 throat and exclaimed, " My name is Zebede, sergeant 
 of the Sixth light infantry. When this affair is set- 
 tled, we will have a mutual explanation." 
 
 Then they went away, and Zeb6de asked : 
 
 " What is all this, Joseph ?" 
 
 I told him we had some prisoners. He turned 
 pale with anger against us, but when he went into 
 the wood-shed he saw an old major, who presented 
 him the guard of his saber in silence, and another 
 soldier, who said in German, " Spare my life, French- 
 man ; don't take my life." 
 
 The cries of the dying still filled the court, and his 
 heart relenting, Zebede said, " Very well, I take you 
 prisoners." 
 
 He went out and shut the door. We did not quit 
 the place again until the assembly began to beat. 
 
 Then, when the men were in their ranks, Zebed6 
 
308 WATERLOO. 
 
 notified Captain Florentin that we hkd taken a majoi 
 and a soldier prisoners. 
 
 They were brought out and marched across the 
 court without arms, and put in a room with three 01 
 four others. These were all that remained of the two 
 battalions of Nassau troops which were intrusted 
 with the defense of Haie-Sainte. 
 
 While this had been going on, two other battalions 
 from Nassau, who were coming to the assistance of 
 their comrades, had been massacred outside by our 
 cuirassiers, so that for the moment we were victori 
 ous : we were masters of the principal outpost of the 
 English and could begin our attack on their center, 
 cut their communication by the highway with Brus- 
 sels, and throw them into the miserable roads of the 
 forest of Soignes. We had had a hard struggle, but 
 the principal part of the battle had been fought. 
 We were two hundred paces from the English lines, 
 well sheltered from their fire ; and I believe, without 
 boasting, that with the bayonet and well supported 
 by the cavalry, we could have fallen upon them, and 
 pierced their line. An hour of good work would have 
 finished the affair. 
 
 But while we were all rejoicing over our success, 
 and the officers, soldiers, drummers, and trumpeters 
 were all in confusion, amongst the ruins, thinking 
 
WATERLOO. 309 
 
 of nothing but stretching our legs and getting breath 
 the rumor suddenly reached us that the Prussians 
 were coming, that they were going to fall on our 
 flank, and that we were about to have two battles, 
 one in front and the other on our right, and that we 
 ran the risk of being surrounded by a force double, 
 our own. 
 
 This was terrible news, but several hot-headed fel- 
 lows exclaimed : 
 
 " So much the better, let the Prussians come ! we 
 will crush them all at once." 
 
 Those who were cool saw at once what a mistake 
 we had made by not making the most of our vie 
 tory at Ligny, and in allowing the Prussians quietly 
 to leave in the night without being pursued by our 
 cavlary, as is always done. 
 
 We may boldly say that this great fault was the 
 cause of our defeat at Waterloo. It is true, the Em- 
 peror sent Marshal Grouchy the next day at noon, 
 with thirty-two thousand men to look after the 
 enemy, but then it was quite too late. In those 
 fifteen hours they had time to re-form, to communi- 
 cate with the English, and to act on the defensive. 
 
 The next day after Ligny, the Prussians still had 
 ninety thousand men, of whom thirty thousand were 
 fresh troops, and two hundred and seventy-five can- 
 
310 WATERLOO. 
 
 non. With such an army they could do what they 
 pleased ; thay could have even fought a second battle 
 with the Emperor, but they preferred falling on ou 
 flank, while we were engaged with the English in 
 front. That is so plain and clear, that I can not 
 imagine how any one can think the movement of the 
 Prussians surprising.. 
 
 Blucher had already played us the same trick at 
 Leipzig — and he repeated it now in drawing Grouchy 
 on to pursue him so far. Grouchy could not force 
 him to return, and he could not prevent him from 
 leaving thirty or forty thousand men to stop his 
 pursuers, while he pushed on to the relief of Wel- 
 lington. 
 
 Our only hope was that Grouchy had been ordered 
 to return and join us, and that he would come up in 
 the rear of the Prussians ; but the Emperor sent no 
 such order. 
 
 It was not we, the common soldiers, as you may 
 well think, who had these ideas; it was the officers 
 and generals ; we knew nothing of it ; we were like 
 children, utterly unconscious that their hour is near. 
 
 But now having told you what I think, I will give . 
 you the history of the rest of the battle just as I saw 
 it myself, so that each one of you will know as much 
 about it as I do. 
 
WATERLOO. 311 
 
 XXI. 
 
 Almost immediately after the news of the arrival 
 of the Prussians, the assembly began to beat, the 
 soldiers of the different battalions formed their ranks, 
 and ours, with another from Quiot's brigade, was left 
 to guard Haie-Sainte, and all the others went on to 
 join General d'Erlon's corps, which had advanced 
 again into the valley, and was endeavoring to flank 
 the enemy on the left. 
 
 The two battalions went to work at once to barri- 
 cade the doors and the breaches in the walls with 
 timbers and paving stones, and men were stationed 
 in ambush at all the holes which the enemy had made 
 in the wall on the side toward the orchard and on 
 that next the highw ay. 
 
 Buche and I, with the remainder of our company, 
 were posted over a stable in a corner of the barn, 
 about ten or twelve hundred oaces from Hougou 
 
312 WATEELOO. 
 
 mont. I can still see the row of holes which the Ger- 
 mans had knocked in the wall, about as high as a 
 man's head, in order to defend the orchard. As we 
 went up into this stable, we looked through these 
 holes, and we could see our line of battle, the high 
 road to Brussels and Charleroi, the little farms of 
 Belle-Alliance, Rossomme, and Gros-Caillou, which 
 lie -along this road at little distances from each 
 other ; the Old Guard which was stationed across 
 it, with their shouldered arms, and the staff on a 
 little eminence at the left, and farther away in the 
 same direction, in the rear of the ravine of Planche- 
 nois, we could see the white smoke rising continually 
 above the trees. This was the attack of the first 
 Prussian corps. 
 
 We heard afterward that the Emperor had sent 
 Lobau with ten thousand men to turn them back. 
 The battle had begun, but the Old and the Young 
 Guard, the cuirassiers of Milhaud and of Kellerman, 
 and the chasseurs of Lefebvre-Desnoettes ; in fact the 
 whole of our magnificent cavalry remained in posi- 
 tion. The great, the real battle was with the English. 
 
 What a crowd of thoughts must have been sue?- 
 gested, by that grand spectacle and that immense 
 plain, to the Emperor, who could see it all mentally 
 better than we could with our own eyes. 
 
WATERLOO. 313 
 
 We might have staid there for i ours, if C apta:n 
 Florentin had not come up suddenly, and exclaimed, 
 u What are you doing here ? Are we going to dispute 
 the passage with the Guard ? Come ! hurry ! Knock 
 a hole in that wall on the side toward the enemy !" 
 
 We picked up the sledges and pickaxes which tho 
 Germans had dropped on the floor, and made holes 
 through the wall of the gable. 
 
 This did not take fifteen minutes, and then we 
 could see the fight at Hougoumont; the blazing 
 buildings, the bursting of the bombs from second to 
 second among the ruins, and the Scotch chasseurs in 
 ambuscade in the road in the rear of the place, and 
 on our right about two gunshots distant, the first 
 line of the English artillery, falling back on their 
 center, and stationing their cannon, which our gun- 
 ners had begun to dismount, higher up the hill. 
 
 But the remainder of their line did not change ; 
 they had squares of red and squares of black touch- 
 ing each other at the corners like the squares of a 
 chess-board, in the rear of the deep road ; and in 
 attacking them we would come under their cross-fire. 
 Their artillery was in position on the brow of the 
 hill, and in the hollow on the hill-side toward Mont- 
 Saint-Jean their cavalry was waiting. 
 
 The position of the English seemed to me still 
 14 
 
314 WATERLOO. 
 
 stronger than it was in the morning ; and as we had 
 already failed in our attack on their left wing, and 
 the Prussians had fallen on our flank, the idea occur- 
 red tome, for the first time, that we were not sure of 
 gaining the battle. 
 
 I imagined the horrible rout that would follow 
 in case we lost the battle — shut in between two ar- 
 mies, one in front and the other on our flank, and then 
 the invasion which would follow ; the forced contri- 
 butions, the towns besieged, the return of the emi- 
 gres, and the reign of vengeance. 
 
 I felt that my apprehension had made me grow 
 pale. 
 
 At that moment the shouts of " Vine I 'JEJmpe- 
 reur" broke from thousands of throats behind us. 
 Buche, who stood near me in a corner of the loft, 
 shouted with all the rest of his comrades, " Vive 
 VEmpereur /" 
 
 I leaned over his shoulder and saw all the cavalry 
 of our right wing ; the cuirassiers of Milhaud, the 
 lancers and the chasseurs of the Guard, more than 
 five thousand men — advancing at a trot. They cross- 
 ed the road obliquely and went down into the valley 
 between Ilougoumont and Haie-Samte. I saw that 
 they were going to attack the squares of the English, 
 and that our fate was to be decided. 
 
WATERLOO. 315 
 
 We could hear the voices of the English artillery 
 officers, giving their orders, above the tamult and 
 the innumerable shouts of " Vive VJEmpereur" 
 
 It was a terrible moment when our cuirassiers cross- 
 ed the valley ; it made me think of a torrent formed 
 by the melting snows, when millions of flakes of 
 snow and ice sparkle in the sunshine. The horses, 
 with the great blue portmanteaux fastened to their 
 croups, stretched their haunches like deer and tore 
 up the earth with their feet, the trumpets blew 
 their savage blasts amidst the dull roar as they pass- 
 ed into the valley, and the first discharge of grape 
 and canister made even our old shed tremble. 
 
 The wind blew from the direction of Hougoumont, 
 and drove the smoke through all the openings ; we 
 leaned out to breathe, and the second and third 
 discharges followed each other instantly. 
 
 I could see through the smoke that the English 
 gunners had abandoned their cannon and were run- 
 ning away with their horses, and that our cuirassiers 
 had immediately fallen upon the squares, which were 
 marked out on the hill-side by the zig-zag line of 
 their fire. 
 
 Nothing could be heard but a grand uproar of 
 cries, incessant clashing of arms and neighing of 
 horses, varied with the discharge from time to timo 
 
316 WA TERLOO. 
 
 and then new shouts, new tumult and fresh groans, 
 A score of horses with their manes erect, rushed 
 thiough the thick smoke which settled around us 
 like shadows; some of them dragging? their riders 
 with one foot caught in the stirrup. 
 
 And this lasted more than an hour. 
 
 After Milhaud's cuirassiers, came the lancers of 
 Lefebvre-Desnoettes, after them the cuirassiers of Kel- 
 lerman, followed by the grenadiers of the Guard, and 
 after the grenadiers came the dragoons. They all 
 mounted the hill at a trot, and rushed upon the 
 squares with drawn sabers, shouting, " Vive I 'Mnpe- 
 reicr " in tones which reached the clouds. At each 
 new charge it seemed as if the squares must be over- 
 thrown ; but when the trumpets sounded the signal 
 for rallying and the squadrons rushed pell-mell back 
 to the edge of the plateau to re-form, pursued by the 
 showers of shot, there were the great red lines > stead- 
 fast as walls, in the smoke. 
 
 Those Englishmen are good soldiers, but then 
 they knew that Blucher was coming to their assist- 
 ance with sixty thousand men, and no doubt this 
 inspired them with great courage. 
 
 In spite of every thing, at six o'clock we had de- 
 stroyed half their squares, but the horses of our cui< 
 rassiers were exhausted by twenty charges over the 
 
WATERLOO. 317 
 
 ground soaked with rain. They could no longer 
 advance over the heaps of dead. 
 
 As night approached, the great battle-field in our 
 rear began to be deserted ; at last the great plain 
 where we had encamped the night before was ten- 
 antless, only the Old Guard remained across the road 
 with shouldered arms, all had gone — on the right 
 against the Prussians, on the left against the Eng- 
 lish. We looked at each other in terror. 
 
 It was already growing dark, when Captain Floren- 
 tin appeared at the top of the ladder, and placing 
 both hands on the floor, he said in a grave voice, 
 "Men, the time has come to conquer or die !" 
 
 I remembered that these words were in the procla- 
 mation of the Emperor, and we all filed down the 
 ladder. It was still twilight, but all was gray in the 
 devastated court ; the dead were lying stiff on the 
 dung-heap and along the walls. 
 
 The captain formed our men on the right side of the 
 court, and the commandant of the other battalion 
 ranged his on the left ; our drums resounded through 
 the old building for the last time, and we filed out of 
 the little rear door into the garden, stooping one 
 after the other as we went through. 
 
 The walls of the garden outside had been knocked 
 down, and all along the rubbish, men vrere binding 
 
318 WATERLOO. 
 
 up their wounds — one his head, another his arm 01 
 his leg. A cantiniere with her donkey and cart, and 
 with a great straw hat flattened on her back — was 
 there too in a corner. I do not know what had 
 brought the wretched creature there. Several sorry- 
 looking horses were standing there, exhausted with 
 fatigue, with their heads hanging down, and covered 
 with blood and mud. 
 
 What a difference between them now, and in the 
 morning. Then the companies were half destroyed, 
 but still they were companies. Confusion was com- 
 ing. It had taken only three hours to reduce us to 
 the same condition we were in at Leipzig at the end 
 of a year. The remains of the two battalions still 
 formed only one line, in good order, and I must admit 
 that we began to be anxious. 
 
 When men have tasted nothing for twenty-four 
 hours, and have exhausted all their strength by fight- 
 ing all day, the pangs of hunger seize them at night, 
 fear comes also, and the most courageous lose hope. 
 All our great retreats, with their horrors, are trace- 
 able to the want of food. 
 
 For in spite of every thing we were not conquered ; 
 the cuirassiers still held their position on the plateau, 
 and from all sides over the thunder of cannon, over all 
 the tumult, the cry was heard, " The Guard is com 
 
WATERLOO. 319 
 
 i.ng!" Yes, the Guard was coming at last! We 
 could see them in the distance on the highway, 
 with their high bear-skin caps, advancing in good 
 order. 
 
 Those who have never witnessed the arrival of the 
 Guard on the battle-field, can never know the confi- 
 dence which is inspired by a body of tried soldiers ; 
 the kind of respect paid to courage and force. 
 
 The soldiers of the Old Guard were nearly all old 
 peasants, born before the Republic ; men five feet 
 and six inches in height, thin and well built, who had 
 held the plow for convent and chateau ; afterward 
 they were levied with all the rest of the people, and 
 went to Germany, Holland, Italy, Egypt, Poland, 
 Spain, and Russia, under Kleber, Hoche, and Mar- 
 ceau first, and under Napoleon afterward. He took 
 special care of them and paid them liberally. They 
 regarded themselves as the proprietors of an immense 
 farm, which they must defend and enlarge more and 
 more. This gained them consideration ; they were 
 defending their own property. They no longer 
 knew parents, relatives, or compatriots; they only 
 knew the Emperor ; he was their God. And lastly 
 they had adopted the King of Rome, who was to in 
 herit all with them, and to support and honor them 
 in their old age. Nothing like them was ever seen, 
 
320 WATERLOO. 
 
 they were so accustomed to march, to dress their 
 lines, to load, and fire, and cross bayonets, that it was 
 done mechanically in a measure, whenever there was 
 a necessity. When they advanced, carrying arms, 
 with their great caps, their white waistcoats and 
 gaiters, they all looked just alike , you could plainly 
 see that it was the right arm of the Emperor which 
 was coming. When it was said in the ranks, " The 
 Guard is going to move," it was as if they had said, 
 " The battle is gained." 
 
 But now, after this terrible massacre, after the 
 repulse of these furious attacks, on seeing the Prus- 
 sians fall on our flank, we said, " This is the decisive 
 blow." 
 
 And we thought, " If it fails, all is lost." 
 
 This was why we all looked at the Guard as they 
 marched steadily up on the road. 
 
 It was Ney who commanded them, as he had com- 
 manded the cuirassiers. The Emperor knew that 
 nobody could lead them like "Nej, only he should 
 have ordered them up an hour sooner, when out 
 cuirassiers were in the squares ; then we should have 
 gained all. 
 
 But the Emperor looked upon his Guard as upon 
 his own flesh and blood ; if he had had them at Paris 
 five days later, Lafayette and the rest of them would 
 
WATERLOO. 321 
 
 not Lave remained long in their chamber to depose 
 him, but he had them no longer. 
 
 This was why he waited so long before sending 
 them; he hoped that Ney would succeed in over 
 whelming the enemy with the cavalry, or that the 
 thirty-two thousand men under Grouchy would re- 
 turn, attracted by the sound of the cannon, and then 
 he could send them in place of his Guard ; because 
 he could always replace thirty or forty thousand by 
 conscription ; but to have another such Guard, he 
 must commence at twenty-five and gain fifty victo- 
 ries, and what remained of the best, most solid, and 
 the toughest would be the Guard. 
 
 It came, and we could see it. N"ey, old Friant, and 
 several other generals, marched in front. "We could 
 see nothing but the Guard — the roaring cannon, the 
 musketry, the cries of the wounded, all were for- 
 gotten. 
 
 But the lull did not last long ; the English per- 
 ceived as well as we, that this was to be the decisive 
 blow, and hastened to rally all their forces to re- 
 ceive it. 
 
 That part of the field at our left was nearly desert- 
 ed ; there was no more firing, either because their 
 ammunition was exhausted, or the enemy were form- 
 ing in a new order. 
 14* 
 
322 WATERLOO. 
 
 On the right, on the contrary, the cannonade was 
 redoubled ; the struggle seemed to have been trans- 
 ferred to that side, but nobody dared to say, " Tho 
 Prussians are attacking us ; another army has come 
 to crush us." 
 
 No ! the very idea was too horrible ; when sud- 
 denly a staff officer rushed past like lightning, 
 shouting : 
 
 " Grouchy, Marshal Grouchy is coming I" 
 
 This was just at the moment when the four battal- 
 ions of the Guard took the left of the highway in or- 
 der to go up in the rear of the orchard, and com- 
 mence the attack. 
 
 How many times during the last fifty years I have 
 seen it over again at night, and how many times I 
 have heard the story related by others. In listening 
 to these accounts you would think that only the Guard 
 took part in the attack, that it moved forward like 
 ranks of palisades ; and that it was the Guard alone 
 which received the showers of shot. 
 
 But in truth this terrible attack took place in the 
 greatest confusion ; our whole army joined in it ; all 
 the remnant of the left wing and center, all that was 
 left of the cavalry exhausted by six hours of fighting ; 
 every one who could stand or lift an arm. The in- 
 fantry of Reille which concentrated on the left, we 
 
WATERLOO. 323 
 
 who remained at Haie-Sainte, all who were alive 
 and did not wish to be massacred. 
 
 And when they say we were in a panic of terror 
 and tried to run away like cowards, it is not true. 
 When the news arrived that Grouchy was coming, 
 even the wounded rose up and took their places in the 
 ranks ; it seemed as if a breath had raised the dead ; 
 and all those poor fellows in the rear of Haie-Sainte 
 with their bandaged heads and arms and legs, with 
 their clothes in tatters and soaked with blood, every 
 one who could put one foot before the other, joined 
 the Guard when it passed before the breaches in the 
 wall of the garden, and every one tore open his last 
 cartridge. 
 
 The attack sounded, and our cannon began again 
 to thunder. All was quiet on the hill-side, the 
 rows of English cannon were deserted, and we might 
 have thought they were all gone, only as the bear-skin 
 caps of the Guard rose above the plateau, five or six 
 volleys of shot warned us that ttey were waiting 
 for us. 
 
 Then we knew that all those Englishmen, Germans, 
 Belgians, and Hanoverians, whom we had been saber 
 iug and shooting since morning, had re-formed in the 
 rear, and that we must encounter them. Many of 
 the wounded retired at this moment, and the Guard, 
 
324 WATERLOO. 
 
 upon which the heaviest part of the enemy's fire had 
 fallen, advanced through the showers of shot almost 
 alone, sweeping every thing before it, but it closed 
 up more and more, and diminished every moment, 
 [n twenty minutes every officer was dismounted, and 
 the Guard halted before such a terrible fire of mus- 
 ketry, that even we, two hundred paces in the rear, 
 could not hear our own guns ; we seemed to be only 
 exploding our priming. 
 
 At last the whole army, in front, on the right and 
 on the left, with the cavalry on the flanks, fell upon 
 us. 
 
 The four battalions of the Guard, reduced from 
 three thousand to twelve hundred men, could not 
 withstand the charge, they fell back slowly, and we 
 fell back also, defending ourselves with musket and 
 bayonet. 
 
 We had seen other battles more terrible, but this 
 was the last. 
 
 When we reached the edge of the plateau, all the 
 plain below was enveloped in darkness and in the 
 confusion of the defeat. The disbanded troops were 
 flying, some on foot and some on horseback. 
 
 A single battalion of the Guard in a square near the 
 farm-house, and three other battalions farther on, with 
 another square of the Guard at the junction of the 
 
WATERLOO. 325 
 
 route at Planchenois, stood motionless as some firm 
 structure in the midst of an inundation which sweeps 
 away every thing else. 
 
 They all went — hussars, chasseurs, cuirassiers, artil- 
 lery, and infantry — pell-mell along the road, across 
 the fields, like an army of savages. 
 
 Along the ravine of Planchenois the dark sky was 
 lighted up by the discharges of musketry ; the one 
 square of the Guard still held out against Bulow, and 
 prevented him from cutting off our retreat, but nearer 
 us the Prussian cavalry poured down into the valley 
 like a flood breaking over its barriers. Old Blucher 
 had just arrived with forty thousand men : he doub- 
 led our right wing and dispersed it. 
 
 What can I say more ! It was dissolution — we 
 were surrounded. The English pushed us into the 
 valley, and it was through this valley that Blucher was 
 coming. The generals and officers and even the 
 Emperor himself were compelled to take refuge in a 
 square, and they say that we poor wretches were 
 panic-stricken ! Such an injustice was never seen. 
 
 Buche and I with five or six of our comrades ran 
 toward the farm-house — the bombs were bursting 
 all around us, we reached the road in our wild flight 
 just as the English cavalry passed at full gallop, 
 shouting, " No quarter ! no quarter I" 
 
326 WATERLOO. 
 
 At this moment the square of the Guard began to 
 retreat, firing from all sides in order to keep off the 
 wretches who sought safety within it. Only the offi- 
 cers and generals might save themselves. 
 
 I shall never forget, even if I should live a thou- 
 sand years, the immeasurable, unceasing cries which 
 filled the valley for more than a league ; and in the 
 distance the grenadi&re was sounding like an alarm 
 bell in the midst of a conflagration. But this was 
 much more terrible ; it was the last appeal of France, 
 of a proud and courageous nation ; it was the 
 voice of the country saying, " Help, my children ! 
 I perish !" 
 
 This rolling of the drums of the Old Guard in the 
 midst of disaster, had in it something touching and 
 horrible. I sobbed like a child ; — Buche hurried me 
 along, but I cried, " Jean, leave me — we are lost, every 
 thing is lost !" 
 
 The thought of Catherine, and Mr. Goulden, and 
 Pfalzbourg, did not enter my mind. What astonish- 
 es me to day is, that we were not massacred a hun- 
 dred times on the road, where files of English and 
 Prussians were passing. But perhaps they mistook 
 us for Germans, or they were running after the Em- 
 peror, for they were all hoping to see him. 
 
 Opposite the little farm of Rossomme, we were 
 
WATERLOO. 327 
 
 obliged to turn off the road to the right, into the field , 
 it was here that the last square of the Guard still held 
 out against the attack of the Prussians ; they soon 
 gave way, for twenty minutes afterward the enemy 
 poured over the road, and the Prussian chasseurs 
 separated into bands to arrest all those who straggled 
 or remained behind. This road was like a bridge ; 
 all who did not keep on it fell into the abyss. 
 
 At the slope of the ravine in the rear of the inn 
 " Passe- Avant," some Prussian hussars rushed upon 
 us : there were not more than five or six of them, and 
 they called out to us to surrender ; but if we had 
 raised the butts of our muskets, they would have 
 sabered us. We aimed at them, and seeing that we 
 were not wounded, they passed on. 
 
 This forced us to return to the road, where the up- 
 roar could be heard for at least two leagues ; cavalrv 
 infantry, artillery, ambulances, and baggage-wagons, 
 were creeping along the road pell-mell, howling, beat- 
 ing, neighing, and weeping. The retreat at Leipzig 
 furnished no such spectacle as this. 
 
 The moon rose above the wood behind Planchenois, 
 and lighted up this crowd of shapskas,* bear-skin caps, 
 helmets, sabers, bayonets, broken caissons, and aban- 
 doned cannon; the crowd and confusion increased 
 * Polish military cap. , 
 
328 WATERLOO. 
 
 every moment, plaintive howls were heard from one 
 end of the line to the other, rolling up and down the 
 hill-side and dying away in the distance like a sigh.i 
 
 But the saddest of all, were the cries of the women, 
 those unhappy creatures who follow armies. When 
 they were knocked down or crowded out on to the 
 slope with their carts, their screams could be heard 
 above all the uproar, but no one turned his head, not 
 a man stretched out a hand to help them : " Every 
 one for himself! — I shall crush you, — so much the 
 worse for you, — I am the stronger — you scream, but 
 it is all the same to me ! — take care, — take care — I 
 am on horseback — I shall hit you ! room — let me 
 get away — the others do just the same — room for the 
 Emperor ! room for the marshal !" The strong crush 
 the weak — the only thing in the world is strength ! 
 On ! on ! Let the cannons crush every thing, if we 
 can only save them ! 
 
 But the cannon can move no farther, — unhitch 
 them, cut the traces, and the horses will carry us off. 
 Make them go as fast as possible, and if they break 
 down — then let them go? If we were not the 
 stronger our turn would come to be crushed — we 
 should cry out and everybody would mock at our 
 complaints. Save himself who can — and " Vivi 
 I 'Mnpereur /" 
 
WATERLOO. 329 
 
 " But the Emperor is dead !" 
 
 Everybody thought the Emperor had died with 
 the Old Guard; that seemed perfectly natural. 
 
 The Prussian cavalry passed us in files with drawn 
 sabers, shouting, " Hurrah !" They seemed to be es- 
 corting us, but they sabered every one who straggled 
 from the road, and took no prisoners, neither did they 
 attack the column ; a few musket-shots passed over 
 us from the right and left. 
 
 Far in the rear we could see a red light : this was 
 the farm-house at Caillou. 
 
 We hastened onward, borne down with fatigue, 
 hunger, and despair ; we were ready to die, but still 
 the hope of escape sustained us. Buche said to me as 
 we went along, " Joseph, let us help each other." 
 
 " I will never abandon you," I replied. " We will 
 die together. I can hold out no longer, it is too 
 terrible, — we might better lie down at once." 
 
 " No, let us keep on," said he. " The Prussians 
 make no prisoners. Look ! they kill without mercy, 
 just as we did at Ligny." 
 
 We kept on in the same direction with thousands 
 of others, sullen and discouraged, and yet we would 
 turn round all at once and close our ranks and fire, 
 when a squadron of Prussians came too near. We 
 were still firm, still the stronger from time to time 
 
330 WATERLOO. 
 
 we found abandoned gun-carriages, caissons, and can 
 nous, and the ditches on either side were full of knap- 
 sacks, cartridge-boxes, guns, and sabers, which had 
 been thrown away by the men to facilitate their 
 flight. 
 
 But the most terrible thing of all was the great am- 
 bulances in the middle of the road filled with the 
 wounded. The drivers had cut the traces and fled 
 with the horses for fear of being taken prisoners. 
 The poor half-dead wretches, with their arms hang- 
 ing down, looked at us as we passed with despairing 
 eyes. 
 
 When I think of all this now, it reminds me of 
 the tufts of straw and hay which lodge among the 
 bushes after an inundation. We say " That is our 
 harvest, this is our crop, that is what the tempest has 
 left us." 
 
 Ah ! I have had many such reflections during fifty 
 years ! 
 
 What grieved me most and made my heart bleed 
 
 in the midst of this rout was that I could not discover 
 
 a single man of our battalion besides ourselves. I 
 
 said to myself, "They cannot all be dead;" and I 
 
 sa ; d to Buche : 
 
 " If I could only find Zebede it would give me 
 
 back my courage." 
 
WATERLOO. 331 
 
 But he replied : " Let us try to save ourselves, Jo- 
 seph. As for me, if I ever see Harberg again, I will 
 not complain because I have to eat potatoes. No, no 
 God has punished me. I shall be contented to work 
 and go into the woods with my ax on my shoulder. 
 If only I do not go home maimed, and if I am not 
 compelled to hold out my hand at the road-side in 
 order to live, like so many others. Let us try to get 
 home safe and sound." 
 
 I thought he showed great good sense. 
 
 At about half-past ten, as we reached the environs 
 of Genappe, terrible cries were heard in the distance. 
 Fires of straw had been lighted in the middle of the 
 principal street to give light to the multitude, and 
 we could see from where we were, that the houses 
 were full of people and the streets so full of horses 
 and baggage that they could not move a step. We 
 knew that the Prussians might come at any moment, 
 and that they would have cannon ; and that it would 
 be better for us if we went round the village than to 
 be taken prisoners altogether. This was why we 
 turned to the left across the grain fields with a great 
 many others. We crossed the Thy in water up to 
 our waists, and toward midnight we reached Quatre- 
 Bras. 
 
 We had done well not to stop at Genappe, for we 
 
332 WATERLOO. 
 
 already heard the roar of the Prussian cannon and 
 musketry near the village. Great numbers of fugi- 
 tives came along the road, cuirassiers, lancers, and 
 chasseurs. Not one of them stopped. 
 
 We began to be terribly hungry. We knew very 
 well that every thing in these houses must have been 
 eaten long ago, but still we went into the one on the 
 left. The floor was covered with straw, on which the 
 wounded were lying. We had hardly opened the 
 door when they all began to cry out at once ; to tell 
 the truth, the stench was so horrible that we left 
 immediately and took the road to Charleroi. The 
 moon shone beautifully, and we could see on the right 
 amongst the grain a quantity of dead men, who had 
 not yet been buried. 
 
 Buche followed a furrow about twenty-five paces, 
 to where three or four Englishmen were lying one on 
 the top of the other. I asked him what he was going 
 to do amongst the dead. 
 
 He came back with a tin bottle, and shaking it 
 it his ear, he said, " Joseph, it is full." 
 
 He dipped it in the water of the ditch before open- 
 ing it, and then took out the cork and drank, saying 
 " It is brandy !" 
 
 He passed it to me, and I drank also. I felt my 
 life returning, and I gave him back the bottle 
 
WATERLOO. 333 
 
 half fill], thanking God for the good idea that he had 
 given us. 
 
 We looked on all sides to see if we could not find 
 some bread in the haversacks of the dead, but th6 
 uproar increased, and as we could not resist the Prus- 
 sians if they should surround us, we set off again full 
 of strength and courage. The brandy made us look 
 at every thing on the bright side already, and I said 
 
 to Buche : 
 " Jean, now the worst is over and we shall 
 
 see Pfalzbourg and Harberg again. "We are on a 
 good road which will take us back to France. 
 If we had gained the battle, we should have 
 been forced to go still farther into Germany, and 
 we should have been obliged to fight the Aus- 
 trians and the Russians, and if we had had the good 
 fortune to escape with our lives, we should have re- 
 turned old gray-haired veterans, and should have 
 been compelled to keep garrison at c Petite Pierre,' 
 or somewhere else." 
 
 These miserable thoughts ran through my head, 
 but I marched on with more courage ,and Buche said : 
 
 "The English are right in having their bottles 
 made of tin, for if I had not seen this shining in the 
 moonlight, I should never have thought of goii g tc 
 look for it." 
 
334 WATERLOO. 
 
 Every moment while we were talking in this way 
 men were riding by, their horses almost ready tc 
 drop, but by beating and spurring, they Kept them 
 trotting just the same. 
 
 The noise of the retreating army began to reach 
 our ears again in the distance, but fortunately we had 
 the advance. 
 
 It might have been about one o'clock in the morn- 
 ing, and we thought ourselves safe, when suddenly 
 Buche said to me : 
 
 " Joseph, here are the Prussians !" 
 
 And looking behind us, I saw in the moonlight 
 five bronzed hussars from the same regiment as 
 those who, the year before, had cut poor Klipfel to 
 pieces. I thought this was a bad sign. 
 
 " Is your gun loaded ?" I asked Buche. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Well ! let us wait, we must defend ourselves, I 
 will not surrender." 
 
 " Nor I either," said he, " I had rather die than tc 
 be taken prisoner." 
 
 At the same moment the Prussian officer shouted 
 arrogantly, " Lay down your arms." 
 
 Instead of waiting, as I did, Buche discharged the 
 contents of his musket full in the officer's breast. 
 Then the other four fell upon us. Buche received a 
 
WATERLOO. 335 
 
 blow from a saber which cut his shako down to the 
 visor, but with one thrust with his bayonet he killed 
 his antagonist. Three of them still remained. My 
 musket was loaded. Buche planted himself with his 
 back against a nut-tree, and every time the Prussians, 
 who had fallen back, approached us, I took aim. 
 Neither of them wanted to be the first to die ! As 
 we waited, Buche with his bayonet fixed and I with 
 my musket at my shoulder, we heard a galloping 
 on the road. This frightened us, for we thought more 
 Prussians were coming, but they were our lancers. 
 The hussars then turned off into the grain, and 
 Buche hastened to re-load his gun. 
 
 Our lancers passed and we followed them on the 
 run. 
 
 An officer who joined us, said that the Emperor 
 had set out for Paris, and that King Jerome had just 
 taken command of the army. 
 
 Buche's scalp was laid completely open, but the 
 bone was not injured, and the blood ran down his 
 cheeks. He bound up his head with his handker- 
 chief. 
 
 After that we saw no more Prussians. 
 About two o'clock in the morning, we were so 
 weary we could hardly take another step. About 
 two hundred paces to the left of the road there was 
 
336 WATERLOO. 
 
 a little beech grove. Buche said : " Look, Joseph, let 
 us go in there and lie down and sleep." 
 
 It was just what I wanted. 
 
 We went down across the oat-field to the wood, 
 and entered a close thicket of young trees. 
 
 We had both kept our guns and knapsacks and 
 cartridge-boxes. We laid our knapsacks on the ground 
 for a pillow, and it had long been broad daylight, 
 and the retreating crowd had been passing for hours, 
 when we awoke and quietly pursued our journey. 
 
WATERLOO. 337 
 
 XXII. 
 
 J^umbees of our comrades and of tne wounded 
 remained behind at Gosselies, but the larger part of 
 the army kept on their way, and about nine o'clock 
 we began to see the spires of Charleroi in the dis- 
 tance, when suddenly we heard shouts, cries, com- 
 plaints, and shots intermingled, half a league be- 
 fore us. 
 
 The whole immense column of miserable wretches 
 halted, shouting: " The city closes its doors against 
 us ! we are stopped here !" 
 
 Consternation and despair were stamped on every 
 face. 
 
 But a moment after, the news came that the con- 
 voys of provisions were coming and that they would 
 Dot distribute them. 
 
 " Let us fall upon them ! Kill the rascals who are 
 
 starving us ! We are betrayed I" 
 It 
 
$38 WATERLOO. 
 
 The most fearful and the most exhausted quickened 
 their pace, and drew their sabers or loaded their 
 muskets. 
 
 It was plain that there would be a veritable butch- 
 ery if the guards did not give way. Buche himself 
 shouted : 
 
 " They ought all to be murdered, we are betrayed. 
 Come, Joseph, let us bo revenged." 
 
 But I held him back by the collar and exclaimed : 
 
 " No, Jean, no ! We have had murders enough al- 
 ready, and we have escaped all, and we do not want 
 to be killed here by Frenchmen. Come !" 
 
 He struggled still, but at last I showed him a vil- 
 lage on the left of the road and said : 
 
 "Look! there is the road to Harberg, and there 
 are houses like those at Quatre Yents ; let us go there 
 and ask for bread ; I have money, and we shall cer- 
 tainly find some. That will be better than to attack 
 the convoys like a pack of wolves." 
 
 He allowed himself to be persuaded at last, and 
 we set off once more through the grain. If hunger 
 had not urged us on, we should have sat down on the 
 side of the path at every step. But at the end of 
 half an hour, thanks to God, we reached a sort of 
 farm-house ; it was abandoned, with the windows 
 broken out, and the door wide open, and great heap* 
 
WATERLOO. 339 
 
 of black earth lying about. We went in and shouted; 
 " Is there no one here ?" 
 
 We knocked against the furniture with the butts 
 of our muskets, but not a soul answered. Our fury 
 increased, because we saw several wretches, follow 
 ing the route by which we had come, and we thought, 
 " They are coming to eat up our bread." 
 
 Ah ! those who have never suffered these priva- 
 tions can not comprehend the fury which possessed 
 us. It was horrible — horrible ! 
 
 We had already broken open the door of a cup 
 board filled with linen, and were turning over every 
 thing with our bayonets, when an old woman came 
 out from behind a table, which hid the passage to 
 the cellar. She sobbed and exclaimed: 
 
 " My God, my God ! have mercy upon us." 
 
 The house had been pillaged early in the morn- 
 ing ; they had taken away the horsey the master had 
 disappeared and the servants had fled. 
 
 In spite of our fury the sight of the poor old 
 woman made us ashamed of ourselves, and I said to 
 her: 
 
 " Do not be afraid, we are not monsters, only give 
 us some bread, we are starving." 
 
 She was sitting on an old chair with her withered 
 hands crossed over her knee, and she said : 
 
340 WATERLOO 
 
 " I no longer have any, they have taken all. My 
 God! all! all!" 
 
 Her gray hair was hanging down over her face i 
 and I felt like weeping for her and for ourselves 
 " Well !" I said, " we must look for ourselves, Buche.' 
 We went into all the rooms and the stables, there was 
 nothing to be seen, -every thing had been stolen and 
 broken. 
 
 I was going out, when in the shadow behind the 
 old door, I saw something whitish against the wall. 
 I stopped, and stretched out my hand. It was a 
 linen bag with a strap. I took it down, trembling in 
 my hurry. Buche looked at me — the bag was heavy 
 ■ — I opened it, there were two great black radishes, 
 half of a small loaf of bread, dry and hard as stone, 
 a large pair of shears for trimming hedges, and quite 
 in the bottom some onions and some gray salt in a 
 paper. 
 
 On seeing these we made an exclamation of joy, 
 but the fear of seeing the others come in, made us 
 run out in the rear, far into the rye-field, skulking 
 and hiding like thieves. 
 
 We had regained all our strength, and we went 
 and sat down on the edge of a little brook. Buche 
 said : 
 
 " Look here ! T must have my part." 
 
WATERLOO. 341 
 
 u Yes, — half of all," I replied. " You let iLe drink 
 from your bottle, I will divide with you." 
 
 Then he was calm again. I cut the bread in two 
 with my saber and said : " Choose, Jean ; that is your 
 radish, and there are half the onions, and we will 
 share the salt between us." We ate the bread with- 
 out soaking it in the water, we ate our radishes, our 
 onions and the salt. We should have kept on eating 
 still, if we had had more to eat, but yet we were 
 satisfied. 
 
 We knelt down with our hands in the water and 
 we drank. 
 
 " Now let us go," said Buche, " and leave the bag." 
 
 In spite of our weary legs, which were ready to 
 give out, we went on again toward the left ; while on 
 the right behind us, toward Charleroi, the shouts and 
 shots redoubled, and all along the road we could see 
 nothing but the men fighting, but they were already 
 far away. 
 
 We looked back from time to time, and Buche 
 said : 
 
 " Joseph, you did well to bring me away, had it 
 not been for you, I might have been stretched out 
 over there by the road-side, killed by a Frenchman, 
 l was too hungry. But where shall we go now ?" 
 
 I answered, " Follow me !" 
 
342 WATERLOO. 
 
 We passed through a large and beautiful village 
 pillaged and abandoned also. 
 
 Farther on we met some peasants, who scowled a 
 us from the road-side. We must have had ill-looking 
 faces, especially Buche with his head bound up, and 
 his beard eight days old, thick and hard as the bris- 
 tles of a boar. 
 
 About one o'clock in the afternoon we recrossed 
 the Sambre, by the bridge of Chatelet, but as the 
 Prussians were still in pursuit we did not halt there. 
 I was quite at ease, thinking : 
 
 "If they are still pursuing us, they will follow 
 the bulk of the army, in order to take more pris- 
 oners and pick up the cannon, caissons, and bag- 
 gage. 
 
 This was the manner in which we were compelled 
 to reason, we, who three days before had made the 
 world tremble. 
 
 I recollect that when we reached a small village 
 about three o'clock in the afternoon, we stopped at a 
 blacksmith's shop to ask for water. The country 
 people immediately began to gather round, and the 
 smith, a large, dark man, asked us to go to the little 
 inn, opposite, saying he would join us and take a 
 glass of beer with us. 
 
 Naturally enough this pleased us, for we were 
 
WATERLOO. 343 
 
 afraid of being arrested, and we saw that these 
 people were on our side. 
 
 I remembered that I had some money in my knap- 
 sack, and that now it would be useful. 
 
 We went into the inn, which was only a little shop, 
 with two small windows on the street, and a round 
 door opening in the middle, as is common in our 
 country villages. 
 
 When we were seated the room was so full of men 
 and women, who had come to hear the news, that we 
 could hardly breathe. 
 
 The smith came. He had taken off his leather 
 apron and put on a little blue blouse, and we saw at 
 once that he had five or six men with him. They 
 were the mayor and his assistant, and the municipal 
 councilors of the place. 
 
 They sat down on the benches opposite, and or- 
 dered the favorite sour beer of the country for us to 
 drink. Buche asked for some bread ; the innkeeper's 
 wife brought us a whole loaf and a large piece of beei 
 in a porringer. 
 
 All urged us to "Eat, eat!" When one or an- 
 other would ask us a question about the battle, the 
 smith or ihe mayor would say : 
 
 " Let the men finish, you can see plainly that they 
 have come a long way." 
 
344. WATERLOO. 
 
 And it was only when we had finished eating, that 
 they questioned us, asking if it was true that the 
 French had lost a great battle. The first report was 
 that we were the victors, but afterward they heard 
 a rumor that we were defeated. 
 
 We understood that they were speaking of Ligny, 
 and that their ideas were confused. I was ashamed 
 to tell that we were overthrown ; I looked at Buche, 
 and he said : 
 
 " We have been betrayed. The traitors revealed 
 our plans. The army was full of traitors, who cried, 
 * Sauve qui peut !' How was it possible for us not 
 to lose, under such circumstances." 
 
 It was the first time I had heard treason spoken of; 
 some of the wounded, it is true, had said, " We are 
 betrayed," but I had paid no attention to their words, 
 and when Buche relieved us from our embarrassment 
 by this means, I was glad of it, though I was aston- 
 ished. The people sympathized with us in our indig- 
 nation against the traitors. 
 
 Then we were obliged to explain the battle and 
 the treason. Buche said the Prussians had fallen 
 upon us through the treason of Mars 1 al Grouchy. { 
 
 This seemed to me to be going too far, but the 
 peasants in their pity for us had made us drink again 
 and again, and had given us pipen and tobacco 
 
WATERLOO. 345 
 
 and at last I said the same as Buehe. It was not 
 till after we had left the place that the recollection 
 of our shameful falsehoods made me ashamed of 
 myself, and I said to Buche : 
 
 " Do you know, Jean, that our lies about the trai- 
 tors were not right? If every one tells as many, we 
 shall all be traitors, and the Emperor will be the 
 only true man amongst us. It is a disgrace to the 
 country to say that we have so many traitors ; it is 
 not true." 
 
 " Bah ! bah !" said he. " We have been betrayed ; 
 if we had not, the English and Prussians could never 
 have forced us to retreat." 
 
 We did nothing but dispute this point till eight 
 o'clock in the evening. By this time we had reach 
 ed a village called Bouvigny. 
 
 We were so tired that our legs were as stiff as 
 stakes, and for a long while we had needed a great 
 deal of courage to take a single step. 
 
 We were certain that the Prussians were no longer 
 near, and as I had money we went into an inr and 
 asked for a bed. 
 
 I took out a six-franc piece in order to let them 
 see that we could pay. I had resolved to change 
 my uniform the next day, to leave my gun and knap- 
 sack and cartridge-box here and to go hone, for T 
 16* 
 
346 WATERLOO. 
 
 believed that the war was over, and I rejoiced in the 
 midst of my misfortunes that I had escaped with my 
 arms and legs. , 
 
 Buche and I slept that night in a little room, with 
 a Holy Virgin and infant Jesus in a niche between 
 the curtains over our heads, and we rested like the 
 blessed in heaven-. 
 
 The next morning, instead of keeping on our 
 way, we were so glad to sit on a comfortable chair 
 in the kitchen, to stretch our legs and smoke our 
 pipes as we watched the kettles boiling, that we said, 
 " Let us stay quietly here. To-morrow we shall be 
 well rested, and we will buy two pairs of linen pan- 
 taloons, and two blouses, we will cut two good sticks 
 from a hedge, and go home by easy stages." 
 
 The thought of these pleasant plans touched us. 
 And it was from this inn that I wrote to Catherine 
 and Aunt Gredel and Mr. Goulden. I wrote only a 
 word: 
 
 "I have escaped, let us thank God, I am coming, I embrace 
 
 you a thousand times with all my heart. 
 
 "Joseph Bertha." 
 
 I thanked God as I wrote, but a great many things 
 were to happen before I should mount our staircase 
 at the corner of the rue Fouquet opposite the " Red 
 Ox." When one has been taken by conscription he 
 
WATERLOO, 347 
 
 must not be in a hurry to write that he is released. 
 That happiness does not depend upon us, and the best 
 will in the world helps nothing. 
 
 I sent off my letter by the post, and we staid all 
 hat day at the inn of the " Golden Sheep. ,r 
 
 After we had eaten a good supper, we went up 
 to our beds, and I said to Buche, " Ha ! Jean, to do 
 what you please is quite a different thing from being 
 forced to respond to the roll-call." 
 
 We both laughed in spite of the misfortunes of the 
 country, of course without thinking, otherwise we 
 should have been veritable rascals. 
 
 For the second time we went to sleep in our good 
 bed, when about one o'clock in the morning we were 
 wakened in a most extraordinary manner : the drums 
 were beating and we heard men marching all over 
 the village. 
 
 I pushed Jean, and he said, " I hear it, the Prus 
 eians are outside." 
 
 You can not imagine our terror, but it was much 
 worse a moment after ; some one knocked at the door 
 of the inn, and it opened ; in a moment the great hall 
 was fuil of people. Some one came up the stairs 
 We had both got up, and Buche said, "I shall 
 defend myself if they try to take me." 
 
 I dared not think what T was going to d:>. 
 
848 WATERLOO. 
 
 We were almost dressed, and I was hoping to 
 escape in the darkness without being recognized, 
 when suddenly there was a knock at the door and a 
 shout, " Open." 
 
 We were obliged to open it. 
 
 An infantry officer, wet through by the rain, with 
 his great blue cloak thrown over his epaulettes, fol- 
 lowed by an old sergeant with a lantern, came in. 
 
 We recognized them as Frenchmen, and the officer 
 asked brusquely, " Where do you come from ?" 
 
 " From Mont-St.-Jean, lieutenant," I replied. 
 
 " From what regiment are you ?" 
 
 " From the Sixth light infantry," I answered. 
 
 He looked at the number on my shako, which was 
 lying on the table, and at the same time I saw 
 that his number was also the Sixth. 
 
 " From which battalion are you ?" said he, knit- 
 ting his brows. 
 
 " The third." 
 
 Buche, pale as ashes, did not say a word. The 
 officer looked at our guns and knapsacks and car- 
 tridge-boxes behind the bed in the corner. 
 
 " You have deserted," said he. 
 
 "No, lieutenant, we left, the last ones, at eight 
 o'clock, from Mont-St-Jean." 
 
 " Go down-stairs, we will see if that is true." 
 
WATERLOO. 349 
 
 We went down-stairs. The officer followed us, 
 and the sergeant went before with his lantern. 
 
 The great hall below was full of officers of the 12th 
 mounted chasseurs, and of the 6th light infantry 
 The commandant of the 4th battalion of the Gth 
 was promenading up and down, smoking a little 
 wooden pipe. They were all of them wet through 
 and covered with mud. 
 
 The officer said a few words to the commandant 
 who stopped, and fixed his black eyes upon us, 
 while his crooked nose turned down into his gray 
 mustache. 
 
 His manner was not very gentle as he asked us 
 half a dozen questions about our departure from 
 Ligny, the road to Quatre-Bras, and the battle. He 
 winked and compressed his lips. The others walked 
 uj3 and down dragging their sabers without listening 
 to us. At last the commandant said, " Sergeant, these 
 men will join the second company ; go ! " 
 
 He took his pipe again from the edge of the mantel, 
 and we went out with the sergeant, happy enough 
 to get off so easily, for they might have shot us as 
 deserters before the enemy. 
 
 We followed the sergeant for two hundred paces 
 to the other end of the village to a shed. Fires had 
 been lighted farther on in the fields; men were 
 
350 WATERLOO. 
 
 sleeping under the shed, leaning against the doors of 
 the stables, and the posts. 
 
 A fine rain was falling and the puddles quivered in 
 the gray uncertain moonlight. We stood up under 
 a part of the roof at the. corner of the old house 
 thinking of our troubles. 
 
 At the end of an* hour, the drums began to beat 
 with a dull sound ; the men shook the straw from 
 their clothes and we resumed our march. It was 
 still dark — but we could hear the chasseurs sounding 
 their signal to mount, behind us. 
 
 Between three and four in the morning, at dawn, 
 we saw a great many other regiments, cavalry, 
 infantry, and artillery, on the march like ourselves 
 by different roads, all the corps of Marshal Grouchy 
 in retreat ! The wet weather, the leaden sky, the 
 long files of weary men, the disappointment of being 
 retaken, and the thought that so many efforts and 
 so much bloodshed had only terminated a second 
 time in an invasion, all this made us hang down our 
 heads. 
 
 Nothing was heard but the sound of our own foot- 
 steps in the mud. 
 
 I could not shake off my sadness for a long time, 
 when a voice near me said : 
 
 " Good morning, Joseph." 
 
WATERLOO. 351 
 
 I was awakened, and looking at the man who spoke 
 to me, I recognized the son of Martin the tanner, our 
 neighbor at Pfalzbourg ; he was corporal of the Sixth, 
 and the file-closer, marching with arms at will. We 
 shook hands. It was a real consolation for me to see 
 some one from our own place. 
 
 In spite of the rain which continued to fall and 
 our great fatigue, we could talk of nothing but 
 this terrible campaign. 
 
 I related the story of the battle of Waterloo, and 
 he told me that the 4th battalion on leaving Fleurus 
 had taken the route toward Wavre with the whole 
 of Grouchy's corps, and that in the afternoon of the 
 next day, the 18th, they heard the cannon on their 
 left and that they all wanted to go in that direction, 
 even the generals, but the marshal having received 
 positive orders, had continued on the route to 
 Wavre. It was between six and seven o'clock, 
 before they were convinced that the Prussians had 
 escaped ; then they changed their course to the left 
 in order to rejoin the Emperor, but unfortunately, it 
 was too late, and toward midnight they were 
 obliged to take a position in the fields. \ 
 
 Each battalion formed in a square. At three 
 o'clock in the morning the cannon of the Prussians 
 had awakened the bivouacs, and thev had skirmished 
 
352 WATERLOO. 
 
 until two o'clock in the afternoon, when the order to 
 retreat reached them. 
 
 Again, Martin said they were too late, for a part 
 of the enemy's force which had been engaged with 
 that of the Emperor, was in their rear, and they were 
 obliged to march all the rest of that day and the 
 night following in order to escape from their 
 pursuers. 
 
 At six o'clock the battalion had taken a position 
 near the village of Temploux, and at ten the Prus- 
 sians came up in superior force. They opposed them 
 in the most vigorous manner in order to give the 
 baggage and artillery time to get over the bridge at 
 ISFamur. 
 
 Fortunately the whole army corps had escaped 
 from the village except the 4th battalion which, 
 through a mistake of the commandant, had turned 
 off the road at the left, and was obliged to throw 
 itself into the Sambre in order to escape being cut 
 off. Some of the men were taken prisoners and some 
 were drowned in trying to swim across the river. 
 
 This was all that Martin told me ; he had no news 
 from home. 
 
 That same day we passed through Givet; the bat- 
 talion bivouacked near the village of Hierches half a 
 league farther on. The next day we passed through 
 
WATERLOO. 353 
 
 Fumay and Rocroy, and slept at Bourg-Fideles, the 
 23d of June at Blombay, the 24th at Saulsse-Lenoy 
 — where we heard of the abdication of the Emperor — 
 and the days following at Vitry, near Rheims, at 
 Jonchery, and at Soissons. From there the battalion 
 took the route toward Ville-Cotterets, but the enemy 
 was already before us, and we changed our course to 
 Ferte-Milon, and bivouacked at Neuchelles, a village 
 destroyed by the invasion of 1814, and which had 
 not yet been rebuilt. We left that place on the 29th, 
 about one o'clock in the morning, passing through 
 Meaux. 
 
 Here we were obliged to take the road to Lagny, 
 because the Prussians occupied that which led to 
 Claye. We marched all that day and the night 
 following. 
 
 On the 30th, at five in the morning, we were at the 
 bridge of Saint-Maur. 
 
 The same day we passed outside of Paris and 
 bivouacked in a place rich in every thing, called 
 Vaugirard. 
 
 The first of July we reached Meudon, a superb 
 place. We could see by the walled gardens and 
 orchards, and by the size and good condition 
 of the houses, that we were in the suburbs of the 
 most beautiful city in the world, and yet we were in 
 
354 WATERLOO. 
 
 the midst of the greatest danger and suffering, and 
 our hearts bled in consequence. 
 
 The people were kind and friendly to the soldiers, 
 and called us the defenders of the country, and even 
 the poorest were willing to go to battle with us. 
 
 We left our position at eleven o'clock in the even- 
 ing of the 1st of July, and went to St. Cloud, which 
 is nothing but palace upon palace, and garden upon 
 garden, with great trees, and magnificent alleys, and 
 every thing that is beautiful. At six o'clock we 
 quitted St. Cloud to go back to our position at 
 Vaugirard. 
 
 The most startling rumors filled the city. The 
 Emperor had gone to Rochefort— they said ; the King 
 was coming back — Louis the XVIII. was en route — ■ 
 and so forth. 
 
 They knew nothing certain in the city, where they 
 should soonest know every thing. 
 
 The enemy attacked us in the suburbs of Issy 
 about one o'clock in the afternoon, and we fought 
 till midnight for our capital. 
 
 The people aided as much as possible ; they carrk-d 
 off the wounded from under the enemy's fire ; even 
 the women took pity on us. 
 
 What we suffered from being driven to this, I can 
 not describe. 1 have seen Bnche himself cry be- 
 
WATERLOO. 355 
 
 cause we were in one sense dishonored. I wished 1 
 had never seen that time. Twelve days before I did 
 not know that France was so beautiful. But on 
 seeing Paris with its towers and its innumerable pal- 
 aces extending as far as the horizon, I thought, "This 
 is France, these are the treasures that our fathers 
 have amassed during century after century. "What 
 a misfortune that the English and Prussians should 
 ever come here. 
 
 At four in the morning we attacked the Prussians 
 
 rith new fury, and retook the positions we had lost 
 
 ihe day before. Then it was that some generals came 
 
 and announced a suspension of hostilities. This took 
 
 place on the 3d of July, 1815. 
 
 We thought that this suspension was to give no- 
 tice to the enemy, that if he did not quit our country, 
 France would rise as one man, and crush them all as 
 she did in '92. These were our opinions, and seeing 
 that the people were on our side, I remembered the 
 general levies which Mr. Goulden was always talk- 
 ing about. 
 
 But unhappily a great many were so tired of Napo- 
 leon and his soldiers, that they sacrificed the country 
 itself, in order to be rid of him. They laid all the 
 blame on the Emperor, and said, if it had not been 
 tor him, our enemies would never have had the force 
 
356 WATERLOO. 
 
 or the courage to attack us, that he had exhausted 
 our resources, arid that the Prussians themselves 
 would give us more liberty than he had done. 
 
 The people talked like Mr. Goulden, but they had 
 neither guns nor cartridges, their only weapons were 
 pikes. 
 
 On the 4th, while we were thinking of these things, 
 they announced to us the armistice, by which the 
 Prussians and English were to occupy the barriers of 
 Paris, and the French army was to retire beyond the 
 Loire. 
 
 When we heard this, our indignation was so great 
 that we were furious. Some of the soldiers broke 
 their guns, and others tore off their uniforms, and 
 everybody exclaimed, "We are betrayed, we are 
 given up." The old officers were quiet, but they 
 were pale as death, and the tears ran down their 
 cheeks. 
 
 Nobody could pacify us, we had fallen below con- 
 tempt, we were a conquered people. 
 
 For thousands of years it would be said, that Paris 
 had been taken by the Prussians and the English. It 
 was an everlasting disgrace, but the shame did not 
 rest on us. 
 
 The battalion left Vaugirard at five o'clock in the 
 afternoon to go to Montrouge. When we saw thai 
 
WATERLOO. 357 
 
 the movement toward the Loire had commenced, each 
 one said, " What are we then ? Are we subjects to 
 the Prussians ? because they want to see us on the 
 ">ther side of the Loire, are we forced to gratify them ? 
 ,N"o, no ! that can not be. Since they have betrayed 
 us, let us go ! All this is none of our concern any 
 longer. We have done our duty, but we will not 
 obey Blucher !" 
 
 The desertion commenced that very night ; all the 
 soldiers went, some to the right and some to the left; 
 men in blouses and poor old women tried to take us 
 with them through the wilderness of streets, and en- 
 deavored to console us, but we did not need conso- 
 lation. I said to Buche : " Let us leave the whole 
 thing, and return to Pfalzbourg and Harberg, let 
 us go back to our trades and live like honest people. 
 If the Austrians and Russians come there, the 
 mountaineers and villagers will know how to defend 
 themselves. We shall need no great battles to de- 
 stroy thousands of them, let us go !" 
 
 There were fifteen of us from Lorraine in the bat- 
 talion, and we all left Montrouge, where the head- 
 quarters were, together; we passed through Ivry 
 and Bercy, both places of great beauty but our 
 trouble prevented us from seeing a quarter of what 
 we should have done. Some kept their uniforms, 
 
358 WATERLOO. 
 
 while others had only their cloaks, and the rest had 
 bought blouses. 
 
 We found the road to Strasbourg at last, in the 
 rear of St. Mande, near a wood to the left of which 
 we could see some high towers, which they told us 
 was the fortress of Vincennes. 
 
 From this place, we regularly made our twelve 
 leagues a day. 
 
 On the 8th of July we learned that Louis XVIIL 
 was to be restored, and that Monseigneur le Comte 
 d'Artois would secure his salvation. All the wagon" 
 and boats and diligences already carried the white 
 flag, and they were singing " Te Deums" in all the 
 villages through which we passed ; the mayors and 
 their assistants and the councilors all praised and 
 glorified God for the return of " Louis the well-be- 
 loved." 
 
 The scoundrels called us " Bonapartists," as they 
 saw us pass, and even set their dogs on us. 
 
 But I dp not like to speak of them ; such people 
 are the disgrace of the human race. 
 
 We replied only by contemptuous glances, which 
 made them still more insolent and furious. 
 
 Some of them flourished their sticks, as much as to 
 say, — "If we had you in a corner, you would be as 
 meek as lambs." 
 
WATERLOO. 359 
 
 The gendarmes upheld these Pinacles and we were 
 arrested in three or four places. They demanded 
 our papers and took us before the mayor, and the ras 
 cals forced us to shout " Vive le Roil" 
 
 It was shameful, and the old soldiers rather than 
 do it allowed themselves to be taken to prison. 
 Buche wanted to follow their example, but I said to 
 him, " What harm will it do us to shout Vive Jean 
 Claude, or Vive Jean Nicholas ? All these kings and 
 emperors, old and new, would not give a hair of their 
 heads to save our lives, and shall we go and break 
 our necks in order to shout one thing rather than an- 
 other ? No, it does not concern us, and if people will 
 be so stupid, as long as we are not the strongest, we 
 must satisfy them. By and by, they will shout some- 
 thing else, and afterward still something else. Every 
 thing changes — nothing but good sense and good 
 will remain." 
 
 Buche did not want to understand this reasoning, 
 but when the gendarmes came, he submitted not- 
 withstanding. 
 
 As we went along, one after another of our little 
 party would drop off in his own village, till at lapfi 
 no one was left but Toul, Buche, and I. 
 
 We saw the saddest sight of all, and this was the 
 crowds of Germans and Russians in Lorraine and 
 
360 WATERLOO. 
 
 Alsace. They were drilling at Luneville, at Blamont, 
 and at Sarrebourg, with oak branches in their wretch- 
 ed shakos. What vexation to see such savages liv- 
 ing in luxury at the expense of our peasants. 
 
 Father Goulden was right when he said that milL 
 tary glory costs very dear. I only hope the Lord 
 will save us from iA for a^es to come ! 
 
 At last, on the 16th July, 1815, about eleven o'clock 
 in the morning, we reached Mittelbronn, the last vil- 
 lage on that side, before reaching Pfalzbourg. The 
 siege was raised after the armistice, and the whole 
 country was full of Cossacks, Landwehr,* and Kai- 
 serliks.f Their batteries were still in position around 
 the town, though they no longer discharged them ; 
 the gates were open, and the people went out and in 
 to secure their crops. 
 
 There was great need of the wheat and rye, and 
 you can imagine the suffering it caused us, to feed so 
 many thousands of useless beings, who denied them 
 selves nothing, and who wanted bacon and schnapps 
 every day. 
 
 Before every door and at every window there was 
 nothing to be seen but their flat noses, their long 
 filthy yellow beards, their white coats filled with 
 vermin, and their low shakos, looking out at you, aa 
 
 * German rrilitiamen. f German imperial troops. 
 
WATERLOO. 361 
 
 they smoked their pipes in idleness and drunkenness. 
 We were obliged to work for them, and at last hon 
 est people were compelled to give them two thousand 
 millions of francs more to induce them to go away. 
 
 How many things I might say against these lazy- 
 hones from Russia and Germany, if we had not done 
 ten times worse in their country. You can each one 
 make reflections for yourself, and imagine the rest. 
 
 At Heitz's inn I said to Buche, " Let's stop here. 
 My legs are giving out." 
 
 Mother Heitz, who was then still a young woman, 
 threw up her hands and exclaimed, " My God ! there 
 is Joseph Bertha ! God in heaven ! what a surprise 
 for the town !" 
 
 I went in, sat down and leaned my head on a 
 table and wept without restraint. 
 
 Mother Heitz ran down to the cellar to bringj a 
 bottle of wine, and I heard Buche sobbing in the cor- 
 ner. Neither of us could speak for thinking of the 
 joy of our friends. The sight of our own country 
 had upset us, and we rejoiced to think that our 
 bones would one day rest peacefully in the village 
 cemetery. Meanwhile we were going to embrace 
 those we loved best in the world. 
 
 When we had recovered a little, I said to Buche:- 
 
 "Jean, you mist go on before me, so that my wife 
 16 
 
362 WATERLOO. 
 
 and Mr. Goulden may not be too much surprised 
 You will tell them that you saw me the day 
 after the battle, and that I was not wounded, and 
 then you must say, you met me again in the suburbs 
 of Paris, and even on the way home, and at last, that 
 you think I am not far behind, that I am coming — • 
 you understand." * 
 
 " Yes, I understand," said he, getting up after hav- 
 ing emptied his glass, " and I will do the same thing 
 for grandmother, who loves me more than she does 
 the other boys ; I will send some one on before me." 
 
 He went out at once, and I waited a few minutes ; 
 Mother Heitz talked to me but I did not listen ; I was 
 thinking how far Buche had gone ; I saw him near 
 the ford, at the outworks, and at the gate. Sudden- 
 ly I went out, saying to Mother Heitz, " I will pay 
 you another time." 
 
 I began to run; I partly remember having met 
 three or four persons, who said, " Ah ! that is Joseph 
 Bertha !" But I am not sure of that. 
 
 All at once, without knowing how, I sprang up the 
 btairs, and then I heard a great cry — Catherine was 
 in my arms. 
 
 My head swam — in a minute after I seemed to 
 come out of a dre,« m ; I saw the room, Mr. Goul- 
 den, Jean Buche, and Catherine ; and I began to sob 
 
WATERLOO. 363 
 
 bo violently, that you would have tnought some 
 [jreat misfortune had happened. I held Catherine on 
 my knee and kissed her, and she cried too. After a 
 'ong while I exclaimed : 
 
 " Ah ! Mr. Goulden, pardon me ! I ought to have 
 embraced you, my father ! whom I love as I do 
 myself!" 
 
 "I know it, Joseph," said he with emotion, "I 
 know it, I am not jealous." And he wiped his eyes. 
 " Yes — yes^ — love — and family and then friends. It 
 is quite natural, my child, do not trouble yourself 
 *ibout that." 
 
 I got up and pressed him to my heart. 
 
 The first word Catherine said to me was, "Joseph, 
 I knew you would come back, I had put my trust in 
 God ! Now our worst troubles are over, and we shall 
 always remain together." 
 
 She was still sitting on my knee with her arm on 
 my shoulder, I looked at her, she dropped her eyes 
 and was very pale. That which we had hoped for 
 before my departure had come. 
 
 We were happy. 
 
 Mr. Goulden smiled as he sat at his w( rkbench— 
 Jean stood up near the door and said : 
 
 "Now I am going, Joseph, to Harberg. Fathe? - 
 and grandmother are waiting for me." 
 
364 WATERLOO. 
 
 "Stay, Joan, you will dine with us; iJ Mr. Gouldec. 
 and Catherine urged him also, but he would not wait. 
 F embraced him on the stairs and felt that I loved 
 him like a brother. 
 
 He came often after that, but never once for thirty 
 years without stopping with me. Now he lies be- 
 hind the church at JHommert. He was a brave man 
 and had a good heart. 
 
 But what am I thinking of? I must finish my 
 story, and I have not said a word of Aunt Gredel, 
 who came an hour afterward. Ah ! she threw up 
 her hands, and she embraced me, exclaiming : 
 
 " Joseph ! Joseph ! you have then escaped every 
 thing ! let them come now to take you again ! 
 let them come ! oh ! how I repented of letting you 
 go away ! how I cursed the conscription and all the 
 rest ! but here you are ! how good it is ! the Lord 
 has had mercy upon us I" 
 
 Yes, all these old stories bring the tears to my 
 eyes, when I think of them ; it is like a long 
 forgotten dream, and yet it is real. These joys 
 and sorrows that we recall, attach us to earth, and 
 though we are old and our strength is gone and 
 our sight is dim, and we are only the shadows of 
 ourselves ; yet we are nevei ready to go, we never 
 say, "It is enough !" 
 
WATERLOO. 365 
 
 These old memories are always fresh; when we 
 speak of past dangers we seem to be in the midst of 
 them again ; when we recall our old friends, we again 
 press their hands in imagination, and our beloved is 
 again seated on our knee, and we look in her face, 
 thinking, " She is beautiful !" and that which seemed 
 to us just and wise and right in those old days, seems 
 right and wise and just still. 
 
 I remember — and I must here finish my long 
 story — that for many months and even years there 
 was great sorrow in many families, and nobody 
 dared to speak openly, or wish for the glory of the 
 country. 
 
 Zebede came back with those who had been dis- 
 banded on the other side of the Loire, but even he 
 had lost his courage. This came from the vengeance 
 and the condemnations and shootings, massacres and 
 revenge of every kind which followed our humilia- 
 tion ; from the hundred and fifty thousand Germans, 
 English, and Russians, who garrisoned our for- 
 tresses, from the indemnities of war, from the 
 thousands of emigres, from the forced contribu- 
 tions, and especially from the laws against suspects, 
 and against sacrilege, and the rights of primogeni- 
 ture which they wished to be re-establish. 
 
 All these things so contrary to reason and to the 
 
360 WATERLOO. 
 
 honor of the nation, together with the denunciations 
 of the Pinacles and the outrages that the old revolu- 
 tionists were made to suffer — altogether these things 
 have made us melancholy, so that often when we 
 were alone with Catherine and the little Joseph, 
 whom God had sent to console us for so many mis- 
 fortunes, Mr. Goulden would say, pensively : 
 
 " Joseph, our unhappy country has fallen very low. 
 When Napoleon took France she was the greatest, 
 the freest, and most powerful of nations, all the world 
 admired and envied us, but to-day we are conquered, 
 ruined, our fortresses are filled with our enemies, who 
 have their feet on our necks ; and what was never be- 
 fore seen since France existed, strangers are masters 
 of our capital — twice we have seen this in two years. 
 See what it costs to put liberty, fortune, and honor 
 in the hands of an ambitious man. We are in a very 
 sad condition, the great Revolution is believed to be 
 dead, and the Rights of Man are annihilated. But 
 we must not be discouraged, all this will pass away, 
 those. who oppose liberty and justice will be driven 
 away, and those who wish to re-establish privileges 
 and titles will be regarded as fools. The great na- 
 tion is reposing, is reflecting upon her faults, is ob« 
 serving those who are leading her contrary to her 
 own interests : she reads their hearts, and in spite of 
 
WATERLOO. 367 
 
 the Swiss, in spite of the royal guard, in spite of the 
 Holy Alliance, when once she is weary of her suffer- 
 ings she will cast them out some day or other. Then 
 it will be finished, for France wants liberty, equality, 
 and justice. 
 
 "The one thing which we lack is instruction, 
 though the people are instructing themselves every 
 day, they profit by our experiences, by our mis- 
 fortunes. 
 
 "I shall not have the happiness, perhaps, of see- 
 ing the awakening of the country, I am too old to 
 hope for it, but you will see it, and the sight will 
 console you for all your sufferings ; you will be 
 proud to belong to that generous nation which 
 has outstripped all others since '89; these slight 
 checks are only moments of repose on a long 
 journey." 
 
 This excellent man preserved to his last hour his 
 calm confidence. 
 
 I have lived to see the accomplishment of his pre 
 dictions, I have seen the return of the banner of lib 
 erty, I have seen the nation grow in wealth, in pros- 
 perity, and in education. I have seen those who ob- 
 structed justice and who wished to establish the old 
 regime, compelled to leave, I have seen that mind 
 always progresses, and that even the peasants are 
 
368 WATERLOO. 
 
 willing to part with their last sou for the good of 
 their children. 
 
 Unfortunately we have not enough schoolmasters 
 If we had fewer soldiers and more teachers the work 
 would go on much faster. But — patience — that will 
 come. 
 
 The people begin to understand their rights, they 
 know that war brings them nothing but increased 
 contributions, and when they shall say, " Instead of 
 sending our sons to perish by thousands under the 
 saber and cannon, we prefer that they should be 
 taught to be men ;" who will dare to oppose them ? 
 To-day the people are sovereign ! 
 
 In this hope, my friends, I embrace you with my 
 whole heart, and bid you, Adieu ! 
 
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