Italy will declare for me.' On the parade he looked horribly pale and thoughtful; and his convulsive motions shewed his internal struggles; he did not stop above eight or ten minutes. When he got into the palace, he sent for the Duke of Reggio, and asked him if the troops would follow him?'No, Sir,' answered the Duke, you have abdicated.' 'Yes, but upon certain conditions.' The soldiers,' resumed the duke, 'don't comprehend the difference: they think you have no more any right to command them.'Well then,' said Napoleon, this is no more to be thought of; let us wait for the acounts from Paris.' The marshals returned in the night between twelve and one. Marshal Ney entered first, Well, have you succeeded?' exclaimed the emperor. Revolutions do not turn back; this has begun its course; it was too late. To-morrow the senate will recognize the Bourbons.' 'Where shall I be able to live with my family? Where your majesty shall please, and for example, in the Isle of Elba, with a revenue of six millions' (24,000l. sterling). Six millions! that is a great deal for a soldier, as I am. I see very well I must submit. Salute all my companions in arms.'

Throughout the whole of these circumstances which preceded Bonaparte's abdication, there does not appear a single circumstance to give him credit for fortitude, or characterize him as a hero. His fall was distinguished by pusillanimity and hypocrisy; and what he has done through fear, he wished to have it thought proceeded from a love of the French nation! Had he accepted the liberal terms proposed to him by the allies at the congress held at Chatillon, he would have saved an immense effusion of human blood, and the lives of many heroes; he would now have reigned the sovereign of the fairest portion of Europe, instead of being a degraded outcast, and execrated by the world. The dazzling lustre of this man's character as a general, for a series of years, is now dimmed by his mean and paltry conduct in the hour of trial and of danger. His character presents a strange mixture; of which perfidy, obstinacy, cruelty, arrogance, ambition, and pusil

lanimity, are the leading features. Had his soul possessed its boasted Roman virtue, he would not have survived the disgrace by which he has been overwhelmed: nor become the pauper of those whom, in his days of prosperity, he treated with the most audacious arrogance and unwarrantable insult.

We are bewildered in the contemplation of such changes. They seem rather the illusions of magic deception, than facts substantially realized. That Bonaparte, the Emperor of the French the Protector of that vast fabric the Confederation of the Rhine-the Mediator of Switzerland-the King of the finest portion of Italy-the Creator of Nine Kingdoms, each acknowledged by the general consent of Europe-a Captain (till lately) of undisputed pre-eminence-who spread the devastation of his victories to a greater extent over Europe than any preceding conqueror had ever done :-that this man, whom not a month ago France would acknowledge as her Chief, and whose government Europe would have recognized as legitimate, should sink at once, with no gradation of decay,' into absolute insignificance and obscurity,-yet secure in his person, and unmolested in his retreat,-is an event that we believe to be unparalleled in the annals of the human creation.

The British were much and unfortunately engaged during the termination of this grand and terrible drama. General Sir Thomas Graham failed in an attempt to storm Bergen-opZoom, and his troops which displayed unusual gallantry suffered severely. Sir John Hope, who besieged the fortress of Bayonne, seized the earliest opportunity to inform the French commander of the revolution at Paris, who it appears disbelieved it, and during the night of April 15th, made a most furious sally. Whatever his intentions were, he failed, being driven back with great gallantry; but Sir John Hope in the dark, fell among a party of the assailants, by whom he was wounded and taken prisoner. It is also to be lamented that the intelligence at Paris was retarded in its progress to the

south, in consequence of which Lord Wellington attacked Soult and Suchet in a most formidable position, which they occupied in front of Toulouse, and after a sanguinary action defeated the French, who were compelled to evacuate Toulouse. But on the evening of the day that Lord Wellington entered the city, he received intelligence from the French government, when a suspension of hostilities took place.About the same time intelligence arrived of the capture of Genoa, by the English, under Lord William Bentinck.

When the approach of the grand allied army to Paris was ascertained, the empress and her son were sent to a place of safety; and after the deposition of Bonaparte, the Duchies of Parma, Placentia, and Guastalla, were settled upon her and her infant son, and this unfortunate princess was again called the Archduchess Maria Louisa. An estate in Normandy was also assigned for the support of the ex-empress Josephine, who shortly after died universally and deeply lamented for her many amiable qualities.

Joseph and Jerome Bonaparte retired to Switzerland, and Louis for Gratz, in the Austrian dominions. The latter also renounced, for himself and family, all right to the pensions and estates alloted to him by the allies. Lucien, who had for some time resided in England, chose Italy for his retreat, where he might prosecute his favourite studies in the fine

arts.

Napoleon had seized the crown, jewels, and regalia, and also the national treasury before the allies had entered Paris, but the greater part of them was recovered. He was, however, permitted to retain a great quantity of valuables, which were to be conveyed safely to his retreat. At last he prepared to depart from Fontainbleau, previous to which he addressed the guards in an affecting style, kissed an eagle, and, turning from his companions in arms, proceeded on his journey, under a military escort, and accompanied by an officer from each of the great allied powers. After several adventures he arrived at Frejus, on the 27th of April, where he had his

choice of embarking in the Undaunted, English frigate, or a French corvette. He chose the former, and reached the Island of Elba on the 3d of May, 1814.

Napoleon affects the utmost indifference and composure in his banishment. He has promised to write his own life, and only regrets the absence of his wife and son, between whom a mutual attachment seems to exist. His surprising activity continues undiminished, and every day he is industriously employed in forming roads, erecting fortifications, and inspecting his small band of troops. He still holds his court, and has put money in circulation, bearing on one side his head, and on the other the following inscription:-Napoleon I. Imperator atque Rex umbicumque felix. Isola d'Elba 1814. He treats the English with peculiar favour and attention, viewing them, no doubt, as the only great people that had the courage and the wisdom to persevere in resisting his plans of aggrandisement and subjection, an acquiescence in which had successively rendered every continental nation contemptible, even in the eyes of Napoleon Bonaparte.

*

The Editor begs leave to acknowledge the assistance. he has received from William Burdon, Esq. of Hartford, near Morpeth; a writer well known in the literary world, and who also a few years ago, published an accurate delineation of the character of the modern Scourge of Europe.

FINIS