Besides, the renown of so great an expedition was full of charm; its success seemed certain; it promised to be nothing but a military march to Petersburgh and Moscow.  With this last effort his wars would probably be terminated.  It was a last opportunity, which one would repent to have let escape; one would be annoyed by the glorious narratives which others would give of it.  The victory of to-day would make that of yesterday so old!  And who would wish to grow old with it?

And then, when war was kindled in all quarters, how was it possible to avoid it?  The scenes of action were not indifferent; here Napoleon would command in person; elsewhere, though the cause might be the same, the contest would be carried on under a different commander.  The renown shared with the latter would be foreign to Napoleon, on whom, nevertheless, depended glory, fortune, every thing; and it was well known, whether from preference or policy, that he was only profuse in his favours to those whose glory was identified with his glory; and that he rewarded less generously such exploits as were not his.  It was requisite, therefore, to serve in the army which he commanded; hence the anxiety of young and old to fill its ranks.  What chief had ever before so many means of power?  There was no hope which he could not flatter, excite, or satiate.

Finally, we loved him as the companion of our labours; as the chief who had conducted us to renown.  The astonishment and admiration which he inspired flattered our self-love; for all these we shared in common with him.

With respect to that youthful elite, which in those times of glory filled our camps, its enthusiasm was natural.  Who is there amongst us who, in his early years, has not been fired by the perusal of the warlike exploits of the ancients and of our ancestors?  Should we not have all desired, at that time, to be the heroes whose real or fictitious history we were perusing?  During that state of enthusiasm, if those recollections had been suddenly realized before us; if our eyes, instead of reading, had witnessed the performance of those wonders; if we had felt their sphere of action within our reach, and if employments had been offered to us by the side of those brave paladins, whose adventurous lives and brilliant renown our young and vivid imaginations had so much envied; which of us would have hesitated?  Who is there that would not have rushed forward, replete with joy and hope, and disdaining an odious and scandalous repose?

Such were the rising generations of that day.  At that period every one was free to be ambitious! a period of intoxication and prosperity, during which the French soldier, lord of all things by victory, considered himself greater than the nobleman, or even the sovereign, whose states he traversed!  To him it appeared as if the kings of Europe only reigned by permission of his chief and of his arms.