EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND TWELVE.*
THE historical subject of this fiction is the invasion of Russia ; upon which are engrafted some private affairs to form the romance. A Ger- man student falls in love with a travelling incognita in Switzerland, and rescues her and her party from the pursuit of one of Napoleon's police agents, who is gratifying a private revenge under the cloak of public ser- vice. The student, Ludwig Rosen, is in consequence forced to take ser- sice in a Polish legion, to escape the malice of the enemy he has made; du- ring the retreat from Moscow he falls in with his ladye love, Feodorovrna or Bianca ; and she turns out to be the sister of his friend Bernard, an artist, whose assistance to Ludwig has rendered it prudent for him to join the army. Besides these persons, and Lndwig's family, there is a group of Polish nobles and ladies ; one of whom Rasinski is the friend of the two Germans, and receives them into his regiment. There is also a love affair connected with the younger officers Boleslaw and Jaromir ; the fortune of which, as in the case of Ludwig, is developed by means of the campaign.
Miss Norman, the translator of the book " from the German," ac- knowledges that "some few liberties have been taken with the romance." These appear to have been slight, and to refer to what may be called excrescences : the romance is quite German in its character, and dis- plays considerable ability. The writer seems to be acquainted with the country in which his scenes are laid, from Italy to the Russian frontiers ; he has studied the history of the Russian campaign from original sources; and is able, by his military knowledge, to give accuracy to his warlike descriptions, and to bring out the soldierly character with mach reality. A good deal of skill is shown in the selection of incidents, and in turning natural occurrences to account, either in war or travelling ; while the foreign manners, with the German view of Napoleon and the campaign, make a change from the common run of home fictions. The high imaginative power necessary to impart vitality and to create an enchain- ing interest is wanting. The story, and the events of the campaign, by which the story to a great degree is affected, enable the reader to get along ; but it is the war rather than the romance which attracts him. Thefietion is little save in an occasional "situation."
Some readers may think that part of the defect we speak of is owing to the military matter. The great events of the campaign not only over- whelm individual interests, but are made the staple of the book ; the story being subordinate to the history, while cannon-balls, frost, artillery- wheels, and all the other casualties of war, are made means of disposing of persons. The campaign, however, forms the feature of Eighteen Hundred and Twelve ; and the striking horrors of the retreat are forcibly exhibited by well-chosen circumstances. The following is from the last night of the march before the disorganized soldiery reached Wilna • * Eighteen Hundred and Twelve ; an Historical Romance. prom the German, by Mary Norman. In three volumes. Published by Bentley.
The persons of the novel, including Bianca, have been compelled to bivouac with the rest of the army in a pine forest under the leadership of Rasinski.
"When Rasinski summoned his followers to prepare for departure, thick morn- ing mists were falling around, and veiling the forests with gloomy indistinetnesa But they were not damp vapours that floated over the brushwood and filled the atmosphere; they were small icy particles, which seemed to petrify all they touched. It was as though the hour when all living things must perish had ar- rived.
" ' Up, up, ye sleepers !' cried Rasinski. Forward ! today you may perhaps reach the end of your labours.' "But only a few could hear his voice. Some made a slight movement, groan- ing bitterly, and then fell back again to breathe out the remnant of their exist_ mice; meet lay already in the cold arms of death; and only a small circle of living beings surrounded the expiring fire. Jaromir was still among those who rose. He looked like a spirit-form, but he was alive. Ludwig and Bernard felt that today their last remaining powers must be spent Bianca, strange to say, seemed less exhausted than any of them; as though her physical powers corresponded with her mental, and were more capable of endurance than those of her athletic COM- panions. "It was with extreme repugnance that they strode over the circle of frozen bo- dies; the ground was literally strewn with them far and wide; so that they could not avoid setting their feet upon their fellow creatures.
" Jaromir alone seemed to feel nothing of all this; he walked beside Rasinski, and unconsciously obeyed his slightest command.
"A deathlike silence still reigned throughout the barren, gloomy forest; for those who were encamped around the expiring bivouac-fires were still either fast asleep, or stretched cold in the indissoluble embrace of death. Their way led among high pine-trees, whose dusky boughs arched over their heads, while upon the ground were seen frozen bodies in all kinds of postures, as though death had suddenly attacked and converted them into stone statues. Some few still grasped in their clenched fists the axe with which they had made the futile attempt of hewing down these gigantic trees. Others had just as fruitlessly tried to set fire to the trunks, in order to obtain a warm life-giving blaze: they were seen kneeling, their faces bent over the knotty roots, their hands still holding the half-lighted pine-cone. With their outlines dimmed or obscured by the moist va- pour of the morning, these figures resembled huge phantoms in their appalling immoveability and petrifaction. "Rasinski hastened to escape this horrible place; but the whole road presented spectacles equally harrowing, and at every step the foot stumbled against some revolting obstacle. At last, after an hour's march, the forest became lighter, and when the mists ascended a house was perceived at some distance. With re- doubled speed the wanderers strode on. But as they came nearer, and discovered windows from which frames and wood-work had alike been broken, and perceived the traces of fires upon the ground, they became aware of the futility of their hopes,—they saw plainly that this could be no place for living men. Rasinski, however, went up closer, and opened the door of a large building, apparently a barn or a stable; but in speechless horror he shrank back, on finding the floor covered with corpses heaped revoltingly one upon another, their hollow open eyes staring up at him. 'Does any one human being still live here?' demanded he, raising his voice. But the deathlike silence of this vast charnel-house remained unbroken, and his voice reechoed through the empty space. Lives any one here still?' repeated he, louder than before; for his heart revolted at the idea that amid this hideous throng and confusion of human bodies, not one spark of life might yet be lingering. But so it really was; for on taking out his pistol and firing over the heads of the crowd, not one stirred; all was silent as in the deep solitude of the wilderness. Under other circumstances, perhaps, he would not have remained satisfied with this ; but now, when he knew himself and his followers to be in such immediate peril, even his generous nature seemed blunted against this sight of helpless misery, and he turned away saying, It is all of no use! Only come on, come on!' So they continued their journey with as much haste as was possible; for destruction followed in their wake like a hungry wild beast searching for his prey; and whoever stopped, even for a minute, to take breath, was greedily caught up by his bloodthirsty talons."
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