soldiers could recover from their surprise he was in their ranks, addressing them on all sides, and apostrophizing each regiment. The troops whom he first met trampled on the white cockade, and shouted Vive l'Empereur! The cry resounded from rank to rank; all order and subordination were at an end. The national guard caught the impulse, and at the head of that very army which had assembled in the morning to oppose him, he entered triumphantly into Paris on the 19th March. On reaching the Thuilleries, an immense crowd of subaltern officers had assembled at the foot of the great staircase, and carried him in their arms into the saloon.

In this manner, with almost incredible rapidity, and without the effusion of blood, was achieved a revolution, to which, under all its circumstances, history affords no resemblance. The King, on hearing the defection of the army on which he had relied for defending his capital, quitted Paris in the evening of the 19th, accompanied by Monsieur and the Duke de Berri, and took the route to the frontiers. His first destination was Lille, where Marshal Mortier (Duke of Treviso) commanded. The troops on his route, struck with reverence and a sense of duty, for a short time conducted themselves to the royal fugitive with decency and outward submission; but their patience was soon exhausted, and the Duke of Treviso was compelled to inform his master that he could not answer for his safety if he remained longer on the frontiers. In consequence of this admonition Louis repaired to Ghent, where he remained until the campaign was decided.

Upon his quitting France, he issued a proclamation, in which he called upon all Frenchmen to rally round the standard of the successor of St. Louis, and abandon the falling cause of the usurper; at the same time protesting against all acts of the imperial government.

Whilst these events occurred in the north, the Duke and Duchess d'Angoulême raised the standard of loyalty in the south of France: the Duke de Bourbon attempted the same thing in Bretagne, but failed. One of the first objects of Napoleon was to establish a ministry; and in selecting the members,

it was evident that he had been constrained to put himself into the hands of the Jacobins. General Carnot, an officer of distinguished science and reputation, formerly a member of the Committee of Public Safety, and who had most gallantly defended Antwerp in the campaign of 1814, was appointed Minister of the Interior, with the title of Count. In a state of affairs so difficult and precarious, no situation could be more confidential, nor any more important. Certainly extensive powers could not have been committed to abler hands. Another distinguished Jacobin, (to whom Napoleon was now reconciled,) was his brother Lucien. In the zenith of Napoleon's prosperity, Lucien had quarrelled with him, and sought in foreign countries, and even in England itself, a refuge from his haughty and persecuting temper: but when the Ex-. Emperor had been humbled by adversity, Lucien no longer disdained his advances.

All the emigrants who had returned with Louis to France, were banished; the property of the Bourbons was confiscated; the Legion of Honour restored to its original splendor and decorations; and, generally, all the institutions of the imperial government were renewed, which were compatible with the genius of a monarchy strictly limited. But the chief attention of Napoleon was directed to the state of the army, which had been very much reduced in number, quality, and equipment, by his predecessor. His exertions in recruiting his forces; in storing the depôts; in creating a formidable train of artillery; mounting the cavalry; establishing manufactories for small arms; providing clothing; and supplying the fortresses on the frontiers with all the necessaries to sustain sieges for six months, were almost miraculous, and such as probably no other man but himself, environed by so many dangers, and perplexed by so many cares, could have effected within so brief a period as ten weeks. Other considerations, equally important, engaged his attention.

Aware that his present power, unsupported even by the shadow of a popular election, was palpably usurped, he appointed a great confederation of delegates from all the de

partments, to assemble in the capital on the 31st May, and swear fidelity to a constitution which would by that time be submitted to the people at large, and which would contain strict limitations upon the exercise of the sovereign authority. As an earnest of his intention to reign in future as a constitutional prince, he accepted graciously an address from the Council of State, which contained a direct censure upon the arbitrary spirit of his former administration. Professing an inviolable respect for the treaties into which Louis had entered, he ratified his resumption of the sovereign authority to all the monarchs of Europe, in a circular state paper, which also contained an enumeration of the grounds on which he rested his claim to be considered and recognised as a lawful prince.

But whilst he thus endeavoured to fortify his authority without, he was equally determined to establish it in the interior of France.

We have already stated that the Duke and Duchess d'Angoulême had proceeded to the southern department, where they were well received, especially at Marseilles and Bourdeaux. Some troops of the line espoused the royal cause, and the people generally in those departments were inclined to adhere to it; but General Clausel obtained possession of Bourdeaux, in the defence of which the Duchess displayed a magnanimity worthy the descendant of Henri IV., and which not only excited the admiration of her friends, but the respect of Napoleon himself. Her husband, closely pursued, was obliged to surrender, and obtain permission to quit France, on condition that the royal diamonds should be restored.

Marseilles surrendered, and the imperial government seemed re-established in every part of the country.

During these transactions in the interior of France, the allied sovereigns, by repeated proclamations, designated Napoleon as an usurper and outlaw; declared their inflexible determination to oppose him by force of arms, and to enter into no treaty which should leave him upon the throne. As

energetic in actions, as decided in words, the allied sovereigns (by whom we are to understand chiefly the monarchs of Great Britain, Russia, Prussia, and Austria) assembled their forces. The troops in the Netherlands (now united with Holland by the treaty of Vienna, and governed by the Prince of Orange, with the title of king) were strongly reinforced, and large armies, under the order of the Duke of Wellington and Marshal Blucher, were organizing for the invasion of Picardy and Lorraine.

The southern and eastern departments of France were equally menaced with invasion by the troops of Russia and Austria; but the attention of the latter powers was seriously engaged in Italy, by the advance of Murat (King of Naples) into Tuscany,

This adventurer had long temporized between the allies and his brother-in-law, Napoleon. In the campaign of 1814 he assembled a large army against the Prince Viceroy; and his powerful co-operation turned the scale, until then equally poised, in that country in favour of the allies. Murat then urged his claims to the celebrated congress of Vienna, to be confirmed in the sovereignty of Naples; but those claims were ultimately rejected, on the ground of his insincere conduct. He then intrigued with Napoleon before his departure from Elba; precipitately took up arms, was completely beaten in the borders of the Roman states, and compelled to relinquish alike his project and his throne.

Justly alarmed at the power and hostile spirit of the confederacy against him, the Ex-Emperor adopted every measure which the most refined policy could suggest, to conciliate the affection and insure the support of the people; he restrained the natural turbulence and despotism of his temper, and seemed to devote all the energies of his mind unceasingly to the welfare of France. Those measures which had given umbrage during the royal government, were repealed. The liberty of the press was re-established.

A liberal and conciliatory spirit appeared to pervade the administration. Little blood was shed in the field, none on

the scaffold from domestic strife or conspiracy in consequence

of his usurpation.

The slave trade was abolished, and the princes of the House of Bourbon, although they had proscribed him as a traitor and outlaw, were permitted, unmolested, to quit the territory of France, whilst it was in his power to have arrested and detained them as hostages for his own safety. By these prudent measures he increased the number and animated the spirit of his partizans: but men of reflection, in and out of France, who contrasted his present demeanour with his former despotism, doubted, not only the sincerity of his reformation, but still more the ability of France to withstand the tremendous array of power against her, while she was rent with factions, and the prince actually in possession of the government held his title by a tenure so frail and apparently so objectionable. The Chambers of Peers and Deputies, who held their session during the reign of Louis, having been dissolved, the additional act to the constitution appeared, which, had it been carried faithfully and perseveringly into execution in all its parts, would have certainly greatly extended the liberties, and therefore eminently conduced to the happiness, of the people.

The day of the grand confederation arrived. Deputations from the different regiments attended to receive the eagles which were thenceforth to become their standards. Delegates from the Electoral Colleges formed part of the brilliant cortége. The oath of fidelity to the constitution was taken first by Napoleon, then by the civil, and finally the military, part of this great assembly, which professed, on this important occasion, to represent the whole empire. The two Chambers, who had been directed by Napoleon to replace the different bodies of that name, met; and in the Lower House, or Chamber of Deputies, a disposition immediately appeared to discuss and criticise every measure of the administration. The Ex-Emperor was provoked by this unseasonable display of their independence, and although the indecency of an open rupture was avoided, yet it was evident to him, as well as to every sagacious observer, that the spirit of liberty had taken deep