The point is--we must profit by our victory and
outstrip Bonaparte! We must take Paris!"
CHAPTER XLVIII.
THE DISEASED EYES.
Upward of a month had elapsed since the victory of La Rothiere, and
Blucher's ardent wish had not yet been fulfilled; the allies were
not in Paris. The system of procrastination had again obtained the
upper hand at the headquarters of the allies. Austria hesitated to
use her power in a decisive manner against Napoleon, the emperor's
son-in-law; the crown prince of Sweden wished to spare France, and
was still in hope that the congress, which had been in session at
Chatillon since the 4th of February, would conclude a treaty of
peace. Among the very attendants of the Emperor of Russia and the
King of Prussia this peace party had its active supporters, who
opposed an energetic policy, and wished the congress of Chatillon,
and not the army, to put an end to the war.
Blucher once had dared openly to oppose these "peace apostles," and
disregarded the instructions received from the allied monarchs to
move farther back from Paris, and, instead of crossing the Seine,
retreat with his army to Chaumont and Langres. This order filled the
field-marshal with anger, and his generals and staff-officers shared
it. Great as he was in all his actions, Blucher took the bold
resolution to pay no attention to the retrograde movements of
Schwartzenberg and the crown prince of Sweden, but to continue his
march, even at the risk of appearing in front of Paris without
support.
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