_Vive l’Empereur!_ rolled in thunder tones as the troops marched before him. The drum-beat was drowned in the mighty shout of the legions as they went down into the valley of the shadow of death. It was, on the vastest scale, the old, old cry of the gladiators as they trooped past the imperial box to take their stations in the arena--“_Caesar! we, who are about to die, salute you!_” As the regiments passed in review, the eagles were dipped to the Emperor, every saber flashed in the sun, every bayonet waved a hat or cap, every pennon was wildly shaken, every band struck up the national air, “_Let us watch over the safety of the Empire_”--and over everything, drowning the roll of the drums and the call of the bugles, rose that frantic cry of frenzied devotion, “_Vive l’Empereur!_” Napoleon’s eye dilated, his breast expanded with pride--for the last time, the very last time. Proud he had often been, and in most instances he had won the right to be so. On the heights of Rossomme and on the plateau of La Belle Alliance, he was, this Sunday morning, deservedly proud. He had reconquered an empire without drawing the sword, had almost done what Pompey had boasted that he could do--_called forth an army by the stamp of his foot_; had smitten his enemies and put them to rout, and now while his lieutenant, on the right, would “cut off the Prussians from Wellington,”--as Grouchy had written that he would,--he, Napoleon, would crush the English, and so win back peace with honor. A more magnificent army than that which he proudly views has never been marshalled for battle, for here are heroes whose record reaches all the way back through Montmirail, Dresden, Wagram, Jena, Borodino, Austerlitz, Eylau and Friedland, to Marengo. And Napoleon is proud, this last time. * * * * * In the field Napoleon had 74,000 men and 246 guns; Wellington had 67,000 men and 184 guns. But the British position was strong. The hollow road of Ohain gave them the benefit of its trench for 400 yards. There were barricades of felled trees on the Brussels and Nivelles roads. There was a sand-pit which served as an intrenchment, and the strong buildings and enclosure of Hougoumont, La Haye-Sainte and Papelotte were formidable defences. Yet General Haxo, who was sent by Napoleon to inspect the enemy’s lines, reported that he could not perceive any fortifications! In addition to the hollow road, the natural advantage of the position of the English was that, from the crest which they were to defend, the ground fell away so as to form a declivity behind the crest, and along this hillside the English were partially sheltered from the French fire and altogether hidden from view. From where he was, Napoleon could not see more than half of Wellington’s army. Another natural protection to the English position were the tall, thick hedges, impassable to the French cavalry.