battalions rising as if by magic from the ground. It was astonishing that, after all the drafts of men which France had undergone in the last twenty years, never had soldiers of such good quality been enlisted. This was due to several causes; first, there had been for some years in each of the hundred and twenty existing departments a so-called 'departmental' company of infantry—a kind of prætorian guard to the prefects, and formed by their picked men, who, being well looked after and not overworked, had time to grow to their full strength, and being regularly drilled and exercised, needed only their 'baptism of fire' to make them perfect troops. The companies varied in strength from one hundred to two hundred and fifty men; the Emperor sent them all to the army, where they were merged in line regiments. Secondly, a great number of conscripts from previous years, who, for one reason or another, had obtained leave to be placed at the 'tail' of their depôts, to wait until they were required, were called up. They, too, as they grew older, had nearly all become strong and vigorous."
XVIII.
THE BLOOD TAX.
There is something strangely moving and pathetic in this picture of the readiness of the people of France to place themselves at the
