result is that you often, through this description of individual experiences, get an extraordinarily clear idea of a movement, a great episode, or a decisive battle. I share also in the pleasant impression the book has universally made as to the personality of the author. His honesty, bravery, and good faith shine out in every page of the book: and it can be easily understood why Marbot—though he served under the Bourbons—was dear enough to Napoleon to be especially mentioned in his last will, and to get a small legacy all to himself.
I.
GLIMPSES OF THE TERROR.
I do not purpose to devote much of my space to the author. His career has an interest of its own; but the chief interest of the book is his descriptions of the men bigger than himself with whom he was brought in contact. Suffice it to say that he was the son of a distinguished French general. He was born in 1782, and in his childhood he had an opportunity of getting some glimpses of the Reign of Terror under the men of the Convention. In 1793, when eleven years of age, he and his father made a stoppage at Cressensac on their way to Toulouse. He goes on to say:
"While we were halting here I saw a sight that I had never seen before. A marching column of gendarmes, National Guards, and volunteers entered
