martyrdom rather than part with his money. Nowhere did God's ministers give up their worldly wealth without the most lamentable wailings.

These anecdotes had lightened the toils of the march; the men continued their gossip and their amusing stories even after they had reached the field of battle. The troops received the order to form; still the conversation did not cease, until an old hussar put an end to it by a sally.

"We have other amusements now, friends," he exclaimed; "Here we are, nez à nez,* (Ney à Neu). Let us see how matters will come to pass.'

"

And in truth they came to pass very favourably for the French troops, who immediately formed and advanced towards the enemy, amid shouts of laughter. The Austrians were driven back upon the town; but having immediately received reinforcements, they rallied, re-formed, and prepared again to advance upon the French. Ney spared them part of the trouble, and, rushing upon them, broke through their ranks, put them completely to the rout, and took six pieces of cannon, together with six hundred prisoners.

Receiving, almost immediately after, intelligence of the Armistice of Parsdorf, he gave information of it to General Neu, and proposed a suspension of hos

* Nez à nez (nose to nose), pronounced Ney à Ney. The pronunciation of the German Neu is between the name Ney and the English monosyllable Nigh. Thus the English reader may easily understand the double-entente.

tilities; but the obstinate old German, exasperated by his defeat, replied that he had no instructions, and was not at all disposed to allow himself to be shut up.

Very well," Ney replied; "your will be done. To keep you in, is not what embarrasses me. I only wish to place upon your shoulders the responsibility of the blood which will be uselessly spilt. I therefore await your pleasure."

This softened Neu, and the strife of war ceased at Ingoldstadt, as it had along the rest of the line. But the Austrian commander, obliged to give way on the main point, was stubborn in matters of less importance.

One day he established his troops in the villages contained within the line of demarcation, and on the following, refused to permit an account to be taken of his force. Ney's remonstrances against this were of no avail; the old German would never admit the unreasonableness of his pretensions. In vain did the French general urge, that, although authorized to let the provisions pass which were necessary for the subsistence of the garrison, he would not allow the governor to rob the farmers of their crops, nor to introduce into the place a stock of provisions beyond its present wants. Neu took no notice of these objections, and persisted in his measures. Ney was therefore forced to give way on one point, in order not to ruin the villages; but he was inexorable on the other; he stopped the governor's waggons,

seized his convoys, and cut off his provisions. The Austrian was now in his turn obliged to give way, and furnish a statement of his situation, which he had before obstinately refused.

There was another measure equally unpleasant, which Ney felt compelled to adopt. The Austrian general had flattered himself that the occupation of the villages would procure him the resources he wanted. But Ney had an exact inventory made of the corn, the cattle, and even the wood included in the line of demarcation, and it was not without considerable vexation that the governor perceived he could make away with nothing.

The war operations being thus suspended, the republicans flattered themselves that a peace would soon follow. The conditions had been not only discussed but agreed upon, and their ratification was expected to take place immediately. But Austria never negotiates except to take breath. She had still a very numerous army remaining, and she determined again to try the chances of war. On a sudden she raised scruples to entering into any treaty without the concurrence of Great Britain; and a refusal was actually given to receive the officer despatched to present the preliminaries to the Emperor for ratification. This subterfuge led to preparations for an immediate renewal of the campaign. Ney gave notice to the Governor of Ingoldstadt of the rupture of the armistice, and summoned him to yield the ground he could no longer defend, and

quietly evacuate the villages which he occupied. This was a demand by no means pleasing to the Austrian commander, but his memory was good, and profiting by the lesson which the French had before given him, he yielded compliance.

The Austrian forces accordingly re-entered the place. Bonnet occupied Abach; General Desbrulys was in position on the right bank of the Danube ; General Goba held the left bank; and Ney was preparing to act vigorously against the garrison of Ingoldstadt. But the Austrians now eluded the war, as they had just before eluded peace. In order to prolong the cessation of hostilities, they gave up Ingoldstadt, Ulm, and Philipsburg. Great Britain, so haughty at the commencement of the campaign, now not only consented, but even solicited to treat for peace. All seemed to promise a term to this horrible destruction of human life; and yet it was as far distant as ever.

CHAPTER III.

THE interference of the British Government rendered the question under debate much more complicated than it really was. France demanded that Great Britain should be placed in the same situation as herself: that the war should cease on the sea as it had ceased on the land. The cabinet of St. James's considered this demand unreasonable, and pretended that a compliance with it would prove very detrimental to British interests. This might be true; but, as the cabinet of St. Cloud observed, if a long suspension of hostilities were prejudicial to Great Britain, a lengthened armistice was not less so to France. The then state of things must necessarily lead to a speedy settlement of the question of peace The maritime armistice would serve as a guarantee to the Consular Government of the sincerity of the British Government in the establishment of a peace; whilst the continental armistice would be security to the latter government of the sincerity of France in her exertions for the same object. Austria, in the state in which the chances of war had placed her, was necessarily anxious for a prompt solution of the question. The three powers were thus in a situation not to hesitate about the

or war.