marshal is dead!”—­ “Duroc?  But you must be mistaken.  He was here a moment ago by my side.”  Several aides-de-camp arrived, and a page with his Majesty’s field-glass.  The fatal news was confirmed, in part at least.  The Grand Duke of Frioul was not yet dead; but the shell had wounded him in the stomach, and all surgical aid would be useless.  The shell after breaking the tree had glanced, first striking General Kirgener, who was instantly killed, and then the Duke of Frioul.  Monsieurs Yvan and Larrey were with the wounded marshal, who had been carried into a house at Markersdorf.  There was no hope of saving him.

The consternation of the army and his Majesty’s grief on this deplorable event were indescribable.  He mechanically gave a few orders and returned to camp, and when he had reached the encampment of the guard, seated himself on a bench in front of his tent, with lowered head and clasped hands, and remained thus for nearly an hour without uttering a word.  Since it was nevertheless essential that orders should be given for the next day, General Drouot approached,

[Count Antoine Drouot, chief of artillery of the guard, born at Nancy, 1774; fought as captain at Hohenlinden,1800; distinguished himself at Wagram (1809) and Borodino (1812); made general of division at Bautzen, 1813; went to Elba as commander of the guard, and was by the Emperor’s side at Waterloo; died in 1847.  He was a Protestant, and was often seen during heavy firing reading his Testament calmly.]

and in a voice interrupted by sobs asked what should be done.  “To-morrow, everything,” replied the Emperor, and said not a word more.  “Poor man!” exclaimed the old watchdogs of the guard; “he has lost one of his children.”  Night closed in.  The enemy was in full retreat; and the army having taken its position, the Emperor left the camp, and, accompanied by the Prince de Neuchatel, M. Yvan, and the Duke of Vicenza, repaired to the house where the grand marshal had been conveyed.  The scene was terrible.  The Emperor, distracted with grief, repeatedly embraced this faithful friend, endeavoring to cheer him; but the duke, who was perfectly conscious of his condition, replied only by entreaties to have opium given him.  At these words the Emperor left the room; he could no longer control his emotions.

The Duke de Frioul died next morning; and the Emperor ordered that his body should be conveyed to Paris, and paced under the dome of the Invalides.

[On either side of the entrance to the sarcophagus of porphyry which holds the mortal remains of the great Emperor, rest Duroc and Bertrand, who in life watched over him as marshals of his Palace.—­ TRANS.]

He bought the house in which the grand marshal died, and charged the pastor of the village to have a stone placed in the spot where his bed had stood, and these words engraved thereon: 

“Here general Duroc, duke of Frioul,
grand marshal of the palace of the emperor Napoleon,
mortally wounded by A shell,
died in the arms of his friend, the emperor.”