It remains a question whether BLÜCHER, had he confined himself during the latter part of the action to the same defensive system he had so successfully carried on up to that time, instead of detaching his Reserves to the Right, and preparing for an attack upon the Enemy's Left, might not have fully maintained his original position until dark, and thus have saved his Army from defeat. By the arrival of BÜLOW's Corps during the night, he would then have been prepared to meet his opponent on the following morning with a greatly preponderating force; whilst, on the other hand, WELLINGTON, having concentrated a considerable portion of his Army, would have been placed in an equally advantageous position as regards the already vanquished Enemy in his own front. When it is considered that along the whole extent of BLÜCHER's line, the French had not gained any material advantage upon one single point, and that the Prussians continued to hold their ground with most exemplary firmness; the circumstance of his not having delayed the collecting of his Reserves, for a grand attack upon the Enemy's Left, until actually joined by either the British or BÜLOW's troops, can scarcely be explained except by a reference to the peculiar character of the Prussian Chief, whose natural fiery temperament led him, in all probability to seize with avidity the first prospect which opened itself of a favourable opportunity of aiming a deadly thrust at his hated foe, rather than to adhere to that comparatively passive kind of warfare which so ill suited his own individual inclination and disposition. * * * * * NAPOLEON had undoubtedly gained the victory from the moment he succeeded in penetrating the Prussian Centre; but it was not distinguished by that brilliant success, or by those immediate and decisive advantages, which might have been anticipated from the admirable manner in which the attack had been prepared, and the care with which it was concealed from the Prussians, at a moment when they had no Reserve remaining, and when the co-operation of the British on their Right, or the arrival of BÜLOW's Corps from Hannut, had become quite impracticable. This appears the more surprising when we reflect that he had a considerable Corps of Cavalry under GROUCHY at hand to support this attack, and that the whole of LOBAU's Corps was in the Field, fully prepared for active operations. The consequences resulting from the absence of energetic measures on the part of the French Emperor, in following up the defeat of the Prussians, on the evening of the 16th and morning of the 17th, will be fully developed in subsequent Chapters. CHAPTER VII.