The peculiar talents of Berthier, his patience, industry, and wonderful habit of order, have been often admitted, but we do not remember to have seen his character placed in so amiable a light as here by his former aide-de-camp. M. de Fezensac continued upon his staff until after the battle of Borodino, when he was promoted by the Emperor, on Berthier’s recommendation, to the command of the 4th regiment of the line, vacant by its colonel’s death in that murderous fight. He was doubly grateful for this promotion, because it placed him under the orders of Marshal Ney, with whom he had served some years previously. As to the regiment itself, it was in no very flourishing state. Of 2800 men who had crossed the Rhine, 900 remained, so that the four battalions formed but two upon parade. The equipments, and especially the shoes, were in bad repair; supplies of provisions were irregular; and constant change of place was indispensable, for the troops ravaged within twenty-four hours the country they traversed. The majority of the officers were raw youths from the military schools, or old sergeants, whose want of education should have retained them in the ranks, but who had been promoted to sustain emulation, and to fill the enormous gaps occasioned by destructive campaigns. For the 4th was an old regiment, formed in the first years of the Revolution, and had fought through all the German wars, and numbered Joseph Buonaparte amongst its colonels. Its present shattered and unprosperous condition extended to the whole of Ney’s corps, which was reduced to a third of its original numbers. The losses were unparalleled, and so was the depression of the soldiers. Their gaiety had disappeared; a mournful silence replaced the songs and pleasant tales with which they formerly beguiled the fatigues of the march. The officers themselves were uneasy; they served for duty and for honour’s sake, but without ardour or pleasure. After a victory that opened the road to Moscow, this universal discouragement was strangely ominous. With his regimental command commences the interesting portion of M. de Fezensac’s journal, of which his staff experience occupies but a couple of chapters. Often as it has been described, he yet contrives to give freshness to his details of Moscow’s appearance after the terrible conflagration, at whose flame was sealed the doom of the Grand Army.