, 1864-01-23
Instantly Eugene was dispatched with 5,


erly the soldiers left their bivouac fires for
their midnight march For six miles they
toiled along through the snow and over an
unknown path, stopping to listen if they
could hear any sound of their lost friends
The river which was their only guide, flowed
drear andchill at their side, encumbered
with vast masses of floating ice. Gloomy
forests of evergreen frowned along their path,
and no sound but the tramp of Eugene's
battalion disturbed the silence Of the night.
At length Eugene ordered his artillery to
be discharged, as a shout to call the atten-
ton Of his friends Listening anxiously
they heard far of in the distance, in appar-
ent response, feeble report Of musketry.-
The Marshal had not a single piece of artil-
lery left. Both parties however, understood
the language of their guns, and they hasten
ed to meet each other. They were soon uni
ted. Officers and soldiers alike threw them
selves into each others arms, and many Of
these war-worn veterans wept for joy.
The reunited bands, forgetful Of the past
perils and the still greater ones they were
vet to encounter, returned rejoicingy to
Orcha AS Marshal Ney, with soldlerly sim
plicitv and unostentation, gave recital Of
the dangers and difficulties be had surmount-
ed, and the hardships he had endured, Ma
poleon grasped his hand, and immortaized
him with the title of the " bravest of the
brave" Again Napoleon said, in reference
To this same achievement, in words which
will never die. Better is an army Of deer
commanded by lion, than an army Of lions
commanded by a deer"
During this retreat an unnatural mother,
who was one of the camp followers, weary Of
nursing her crying child, threw it out into
the snow to perish. Ney CHANGED to witness
the inhuman deed, and lifting up the child
soothed it tenderly, and restored it to its
mother, in the sledge, commanding the moth
err to take charge of it. But soon again the
women, whose heart was rendered callOus by
misery threw the child again into the snow.
The Marshal again rescued the little one,
and took it under his special protection, car
rying it for some time in his own arms. The
indignant soldiers hurled the mother from
the 8edge and left her to be picked up by
the Cossacks or to perish on the frozen
ground. The little orphan was watched
over by the greatest care by the soldiers, as
they covered itup in furs and blankets in one
of the sledges The child was carried, in
the arms OF a soldier; through all the horrors
of the passage of the Beresina and surviving
the hardships of the most disastrous retreat
recorded in the history of the war, at length
reached Paris in safety.
In the passage of the Beresina, which
soon ensued, Ney again displayed his hero
ism through scenes of horror which have
rarely been paraleled, and never surpassed
upon this globe. The genius of the French
engineers speedily threw two bridges across
the stream. The French army consisted Of
but 27 900 fighting men, and disorganized
mass of 40, 900 straggers While the fren-
zied mass were struggling over those bridges,
the Russians from the adjacent heights,
were hurling upon them storm Of shot and
she'll Sixty thousand Russians manned
those batteries Ney, taking with him eight
thousand troops, plunged into the densest
masses of the foe, drove them before him,
and took six thousand prisoners.
Through the long hours Of winters night
this horrid scene of tumult and carnage con-
tinued. Thousands were crowded from the
bridges into the icy stream, and sank with
the shrieks which rose above the thunders
of the battle A fearful tempest arose Of
wind and smothering snow The black mass
of men and wagons, enabled the Russians to
direct their guns with more unerring aim
The howlings of the storm, the gloom OF the
night, the flash and roar of artillery, the eX-
plosion of shells and the whistlng Of balls
and bullets, the cries of onset and the shrieks
of the dying, presented a spectacle which
has given the passage Of the Beresina per-
haps the most prominent position among all
the horrors which have occurred in this
world The number lost was never fully
ascertained Thousands were swept to an
unknown burial But, in the spring, as the
ice melted, twelve thousand corpses were
dragged from the river.
WooL.-The history of the growth of wool
is curious. Fifty years ago not pound of fine
wool was raised in the United States, Great
Britain, or in any other country except
Spain. In the latter country the focks of
sheep were owned exclusively by the nobili-
tv or by the Crown In 1894 small flock
was sent to the Elector of Saxony as q pres
ent from the King of Spain, whence the en-
tire product OF SaXony now OF such immense
value. In 1909, during the second invasion
of Spain by the French, some Of the valua-
Bile crown focks were sold to raise money.
The American Consul at Lisbon, Jarvis,
purchased fourteen hundred head and sent
them to this country A portion of the blood
of these pure unmixed Merino focks is to be
found in Vermont at the present time. Such
was the origin of the immense focks of fine
wooled sheep in the United States.
A broker, whose mind was always full of
quotations was asked, few days since, how
his old father was. Well" said he, ab-
stractedly, q he is quoted at eighty, but there
is every prospect that he will reach par,
possibly be at premium"
The other night, a landlord, discovering