service of the great Napoleon: and another, who was undergoing the extraction of a ball from his left side, near the heart, exclaimed, as the probe went into the wound, "An inch deeper, and you will find the Emperor." No man who was not humane and noble, was ever loved to this degree by large masses of his fellow-beings. In all such instances,-they are very few, the instincts of human nature are infallible. Brilliant talents, alone, never secure a deep and general love.

The remains of the French army were retreating on several different points. Entrusting the assemblage of the fugitives, at Avesnes, to Prince Jerome, assisted by General Flahault, and at Philippeville, to Marshal Soult,-the Emperor sent an aide-de-camp to Guise, for the same purpose, and stationed another aide-de-camp at Laon, to make preparations for the fresh army which he intended to assemble beneath the walls, in that advantageous position. He then proceeded at full speed to Paris, accompanied by the Duke of Bassano, the Grand Marshal Bertrand, and his aides-de-camp Labedoyère, Bernard, Drouot, and Gourgaud. It was his intention to anticipate any political disturbances to which the sudden news of the recent defeat might give rise; to settle all the arrangements for the complete defence. of the capital; to prepare the public mind for the grand crisis in which the country was about to be placed by the junction of the great armies of Prussia, England, Austria, and Russia; to direct on Laon all the troops that could be safely withdrawn from the depôts and fortified places, and to prepare for the grand final struggle of France as an independent nation. All these arrangements he intended. to put in process of execution, within the space of eight-and-forty hours after his arrival in Paris, and then return direct to Laon.

The battle of Waterloo, disastrous as it had been, had not exhausted the resources of the Empire. Every preparatory measure had been taken, on the supposition of the failure of the attack on Belgium. From twenty-five to thirty thousand men, including the reserves of the guard, were in readiness to march from Paris and the depôts. General Rapp, with twenty-five thousand men, chosen troops, was expected on the Marne in the beginning of July. Paris alone had contained five hundred pieces of field artillery, of which only one hundred and seventy had been lost. The fate of Grouchy's division, amounting to nearly thirty thousand men, was uncertain at that moment; but by that marshal's well-ordered retreat, it was brought back intact; and Soult rallied from five-and-thirty to forty thousand men of the fugitives from Waterloo, between Laon and Paris, on the 27th. Thus, an army of one hundred and twenty thousand men, with three hundred and seventy pieces of cannon, might cover Paris early in July. That

d

capital possessed, independently of these means of defence, thirty-six thousand men of the national guard, thirty thousand sharp-shooters, six hundred battering cannon, and formidable entrenchments on the right bank of the Seine; while in a few days, those of the left bank would have been entirely completed. The armies of Wellington and Blucher, diminished as they were by the battles they had fought, must have waited on the Somme for the co-operation of the Austrian and Russian armies, no part of which could be on the Marne before the 15th of July, and the mass of them still later. Paris had twenty-five days to prepare for defence, to complete the arming of its inhabitants, its fortifications, and supplies, and to draw troops from every part of France. Arms, ammunition, and officers, were abundant; and the field-artillery could have been augmented to six hundred. Marshal Suchet and General Lécourbe would have had at the same time upwards of thirty thousand men before Lyons, independently of the garrison of that city, which was well armed, supplied with provisions, and protected by strong entrenchments. The defence of all the fortresses was secured; they were commanded by chosen officers, and garrisoned by faithful troops. A new levy of men must be called out; all preparations must be continued; everything might be repaired. But decision, energy, and firmness, on the part of the officers of the government, of the Chambers, and of the whole nation, were necessary.

Such were the thoughts which filled the mind of Napoleon in his rapid course towards the capital; while the ghastly witnesses of the late deadly struggle still strewed the bloody and trodden field of Waterloo.

NAPOLEON RETURNS TO PARIS-HOLDS A COUNCIL-LA FAYETTE-THE CHAMBERS DECLARE THEIR SITTINGS PERMANENT-ABDICATION OF NAPOLEON-HE RECEIVES THE THANKS OF THE CHAMBERS-DEMANDS TWO FRIGATES TO CONVEY HIM TO AMERICA-RETIRES TO MALMAISON-ADVANCE OF THE ALLIES, AND PROCLAMATION OF LOUIS XVIII.-NAPOLEON DEPARTS FOR ROCHEFORT-THE PORT BLOCKADED BY BRITISH SHIPS-LETTER TO THE PRINCE REGENT FROM NAPOLEON-HE EMBARKS IN THE BELLEROPHON, WHICH SAILS FOR ENGLAND HE IS NOT PERMITTED TO LAND-IS TRANSFERRED TO THE NORTHUMBERLAND-DEPARTURE FOR ST. HELENA.

RUMOURS of the disastrous defeat which the French army had sustained, reached Paris as early as the 19th of June, when the public rejoicings for the victory of Ligny were scarcely concluded; but few had credited the evil tidings, when the sudden return of Napoleon at once confirmed them. He reached Paris during the night of the 20th, and alighted at the palace of the Elysée, where he was immediately joined by Joseph and Lucien. A letter from himself had informed his brother Joseph, who presided at

the council of ministers, of the whole truth, disguising nothing, but recommending that no means should be neglected for preparing the public mind for a vigorous defence, and for sacrifices commensurate

with the extent of the danger. It was in this spirit that Napoleon met his ministers, whom he summoned on the instant of arrival. He was covered with dust, as he had left the field of Waterloo; yet, unexhausted by the fatigues of three battles, the dreadful events of the flight, and the hurry of his journey, he gave a rapid but distinct view of the resources of the country, the strength already organised for resistance, and the far greater power still capable of development.

Napoleon decided that the extent of the disaster at Waterloo, and the means of its reparation should be immediately laid before the houses of legislature, and their co-operation demanded for defence. The opinion of his councillors, in general, coincided with his own. Fouché, and those among them who were treacherous, dissembled their ideas; Lucien and the Duke of Bassano recommended the immediate dissolution of the Chambers, and the assumption of a military dictatorship by Napoleon. He, however, refused this course. He knew the spirit of the Chamber of Representatives, but he believed that the pressure of the danger would induce the members to support him, from the necessity of employing his military talents. Had he possessed the same powers as a public speaker which he possessed as a military commander and civil administrator, he ought to have gone down to the Chambers on the morning of the 21st, and there proclaimed his resources, and insisted on a fair hearing; but, as it was, he appointed a deputation for this important purpose, and then yielding at length to the excess of his physical fatigue, took his usual refreshment of the bath.

The Chambers met at eight o'clock in the morning. The report of the Emperor's arrival was quickly spread throughout the assembly. Strange surmises and exaggerated rumours of calamities, even more extensive than had occurred, flew from mouth to mouth, and the idea that a dissolution was to be instantly expected, became current. Fouché was the originator of this idea, and at the same time Fouché was the disseminator of the reports of the spirit of the Chambers, and the instigator of the advice to dissolve them. His intrigues were apparently about to be crowned with success. While the excitement was reaching its height, La Fayette rose, and after a speech, in which he invited the representatives of the people to rally round the ancient standard of liberty, equality, and public order, he proposed the following resolutions:-"First:-The Chamber of Representatives declares that the independence of the country is menaced. Secondly:-The Chamber declares itself permanent. Every attempt to dissolve it is a crime of high treason. Whoever is guilty of such an attempt is a traitor to his country, and shall be instantly condemned as such." These leading clauses were followed by others, to the effect that

"the army had deserved well of the country,--that the national guard should be called out, and that the ministers should be invited to place themselves in the bosom of the assembly." La Fayette was seconded, and his resolutions carried, with the sole exception of that which proposed the calling out of the national guard,-a measure which was declared premature. Thus the Chamber of Representatives overturned. the new constitution, and put aside the authority of the Emperor.

It was not till after these decisions that the deputation of ministers, accompanied by Lucien, was introduced. This was a great error: they should have forestalled the discussion. They proceeded to lay before the assembly the events of the battle of Waterloo without any disguise; they then attempted to detail the resources of the country, and to demand the co-operation of the Chambers with the head of the state, for the national defence. They could scarcely obtain a hearing. A stormy discussion followed. It became evident that a separation from the cause of the Emperor was regarded as the only means to obtain peace and liberty. Lucien argued in vain that it was, on the contrary, the means of delivering France to the enemies of her liberty; and that by the course which the representatives were pursuing, they were going beyond the most sanguine hopes of the allies. He could not make himself heard. At the same time, to complete the evidence of their delusion, the members brought forward anew, and confirmed, that article of the constitution which proscribed the restoration of the house of Bourbon; while by their acts they had smoothed away the only difficulty which lay in the way of the return of the Bourbons. The resolutions of the lower house were immediately communicated by a message to the Chamber of Peers. No one opposed them, and they were adopted.

The Emperor held a council in the afternoon, at which there were few who did not recommend his abdication. The Duke of Bassano again vehemently opposed it; and Carnot, whose knowledge of the real state of affairs was too clear to permit him to be deceived, argued strenuously against it. So earnest was this veteran republican, that when he heard the contrary opinion prevail, and the abdication insisted on, he leaned on a table, and hid his face with his hands, which were observed to be wetted by his tears. Napoleon said little, and dissolved the council without announcing his decision. Amidst the various conjectures, affirmations, denials, and animadversions, concerning the course which he pursued, his own exposition of his feelings and motives given to Las Casas at St. Helena, is a guide to the simple truth: it bears internal evidence of sincerity, and every authentic account corroborates its correctness. "I have often asked myself," said Napoleon, "whether I have done for the French people