The enthusiasm which animated every corps of the French army, and was felt through every fibre of the nation, had full sway in the little world of the military school. There, every battle was known and conned over; we called every spot of our playground by some name great in the history of glory; and among ourselves we assumed the titles of the heroes who shed such lustre on their country; and thus in all our boyish sports our talk was of the Bridge of Lodi, Arcole, Rivoli, Castiglione, the Pyramids, Mount Tabor. While the names of Kleber, Kellerman, Massena, Desaix, Murat, were adopted amongst us, but one name only remained unappropriated; and no one was bold enough to assume the title of him whose victories were the boast of every tongue. If this enthusiasm was general amongst us, I felt it in all its fullest force, for it came untinged with any other thought. To me there was neither home nor family; my days passed over in one unbroken calm,--no thought of pleasure, no hope of happiness, when the fête day came round. My every sense was wrapped up in the one great desire,--to be a soldier; to have my name known among those great men whose fame was over Europe; to be remembered by him whose slightest word of praise was honor itself. When should that day come for me? When should I see the career open before me? These were my earliest waking thoughts, my last at nightfall. If the intensity of purpose, the strong current of all my hopes, formed for me an ideal and a happy world within me, yet did it lend a trait of seriousness to my manner that seemed like melancholy; and while few knew less what it was to grieve, a certain sadness in me struck my companions, on which they often rallied me, but which I strove in vain to conquer. It was true that at certain times my loneliness and isolation came coldly on my heart; when one by one I saw others claimed by their friends, and hurrying away to some happy home, where some fond sister threw her arm around a brother's neck, or some doting mother clasped her son close to her bosom and kissed his brow, a tear would find its way down my cheek, and I would hasten to my room, and locking the door, sit down alone to think, till my sad heart grew weary, or my sterner nature rose within me, and by an effort over myself, I turned to my studies and forgot all else. Meanwhile I made rapid progress; the unbroken tenor of my thoughts gave me a decided advantage over the others, and long before the regular period arrived, the day for my final examination was appointed.