words, and at the voice and the sight of him who uttered them, the commanders in chief appointed to oppose him lost all command, all authority, all power, and took flight; thousands rushed on his passage; acclamations rent the air. At that moment his own guard descended; the imperial march was sounded; the eagles once more displayed; and those whose deadly weapons were to have been aimed at each other's life, embraced as brothers and joined in the universal shout.

The first news of Bonaparte's disembarkation reached Paris on the 5th of March. It spread consternation and -alarm through the palace, and the Duc d'Berri, Monsieur the Duc d'Orleans, Marshal Macdonald, and General Gouvion St. Cyr, immediately set out to collect a force to oppose the invader. The king also issued a proclamation, declaring Napoleon Bonaparte a traitor and rebel, and enjoining all sovereigns as well as his own subjects to run him down, to arrest him, and to bring him forthwith before a court martial, which, after having ascertained his identity, should adjudge him to suffer the punishment prescribed by law. This royal ordinance was strengthened by the following order of the day, from the ministry of war.

Order of the Day-To the Army.

'Soldiers!-The man who so lately abdicated, in the face of all Europe, an usurped power, of which he made so fatal a use, Bonaparte, has landed on the soil of France-a soil to which he should have never returned. What does he want? Civil war! -Who desires it; Traitors! Where shall we find them? Should it be among the soldiers whom he has deceived and sacrificed so many times? Should it be in the bosoms of those families whom his very name is sufficient to affright? Bonaparte mistakes us enough to believe, that we can abandon a legitimate and well-beloved sovereign, to partake the fate of a man who is no more than an adventurer.-He believes it. What stupidity! and his last act of madness places it beyond doubt. Soldiers! the French army is the bravest in Europe-it will prove itself also the most faithful. Let us rally then round the banner of the Lily, to the voice of the father of his people, of the worthy inheritor of the virtues of Henry IV. He has prescribed to you

!

the duties you have to fulfill. He has put at your head a Prince, the model of French chivalry, whose blessed return to our country has chased away the usurper, and who this day goes by his presence to destroy his last and only hope.'

Paris, March 8.

'DALMATIA.'

In this moment of alarm, the Peers and the chamber of deputies were convened. The most false and flattering accounts were industriously published. Bonaparte was represented as wandering with a handful of wretched troops in a state of deep dejection. Vast armies were enclosing him on every side. Grenoble was stated to have been retaken from the small garrison he left to occupy it. His reception at Lyons was represented as most melancholy, and Marshal Macdonald, who had retreated to procure a few cannon, was ready to re-enter that loyal city, while Marshal Ney with his veterans was advancing against the traitor by forced marches. Yet though Napoleon was said to have but 4000 troops under his command, the French nation was called upon to rise en masse to oppose him! The students of law at Paris, petitioned to be allowed to march against him, and 40,000 citizens volunteered their services for the same purpose. Immense crowds, it was said, assembled in the court of the Thuilleries, and cries of Vive le Roi, were heard at different

times.'

When the defection of the troops sent to intercept Bonaparte in the south was heard, the king on the 16th, repaired in great state to the chamber of deputies, where, being placed on the throne, he spoke in the following terms:--

GENTLEMEN,"

'In this momentous crisis, when the public enemy has penetrated into a part of the kingdom, and threatens the liberty of the remainder, I come in the midst of you to draw closer those ties which unite us together, and which constitute the strength of the State; I come, in addressing myself to you, to declare to all France my sentiments and my wishes. I have visited my country, and reconciled her to all foreign nations, who will, C

without doubt, maintain with the utmost fidelity those Treaties which had restored to us peace. I have laboured for the benefit for my people, I have received, and still continue daily to receive, the most striking proofs of their love. Can I, then, at 60 years of age, better terminate my career than by dying in their defence? -therefore, I fear nothing for myself, but I fear for France. He who comes to light again amongst us the torch of civil war, brings with him also the scourge of foreign war; he comes to reduce our country under his iron yoke; he comes, in short, 'to destroy that constitutional charter which I have given youthat charter, my brightest title in the estimation of posteritythat charter which all Frenchmen cherish, and which I here swear to maintain. Let us rally, therefore, around it! let it be four sacred standard! The descendants of Henry the Fourth will be the first to range themselves under it; they will be followed by all good. Frenchmen, in short, Gentleman, let the concurrence of the two Chambers give to authority all the force that is necessary; and this war, truly national, will prove by its happy termination, what a great nation, united in its love to its king and its laws, can effect.'

*

'There are some impressions' says a French writer, who describes this scene which the pen dares not trace for fear of weakening them: who, in truth, could describe the feelings which seized all hearts, the real and touching transports which burst forth on all sides during his Majesty's sublime discourse, frequently interrupted by an enthusiasm which respect could not restrain? The firm tone, the calm expression, the energetic and serene physiognomy of our august Monarch, conveyed to all hearts at once confidence and emotion, admiration and respect. The whole sssembly, electrified by the sublime words of the King, stood up, their hands stretched towards the throne. Nothing but these words were heard, Long live the King! we will die for the King! the King in life and death! repeated with a-transport which all French hearts will participate at this feeble recital of a scene the most touching and the most honourable to the national character."

After some more acclamations and swearing, and theatrical exhilons of feelings and transports, the king retired. The

most active measures continued to be pursued, in order to defend the Bourbon throne. The Duke of Feltre (General Clarke) replaced the Duke of Dalmatia (Soult), whose fidelity began to be suspected. Marshal Macdonald was appointed commander in chief, under the orders of the Duke of Berri, of the army assembled for the defence of Paris: and his majesty at the same time, addressed the following pro.clamation to the French army:

OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS,

'I have answered for your fidelity to all France; you will not falsify the word of your King. Reflect that, if the enemy should triumph, civil war would soon be lighted up among you, and that at the same moment more than 300,000 foreigners, whose arms I could no longer check, would pour down on all sides of our country. So conquer or die for it-let this be our war-cry. -And you, who at this moment follow other standards than mine, I see in you only deluded children: abjure, then, your error, and come and throw yourselves into the arms of your father; and I here engage my faith, every thing shall be immediately forgotten. Reckon all of you on the rewards which your fidelity and services shall merit.

March 18, 1815.

LOUIS.'

However, on the 19th, his majesty announced the necessity that existed for his leaving the capital, but stated his determination to remove to some other point of his kingdom, where his loyal subjects might rally around him.

The Court had placed much confidence in Marshal Ney, who had in the effusion of loyalty repaired to the Thuilleries, and proffering his services, had assured the king on receiving his commission, that he would bring Bonaparte to Paris in an iron cage! On leaving Paris, he had carried with him a million of livres for the pay of the troops. In proportion to the hopes entertained from his honour and bravery, was the disappointment experienced at the news of his defection. Marshal Mortier, Duke of Treviso, also on repairing to his head-quarters at Lisle, met on the road 10,000 troops marching to Paris. The astonished Marshal demanded where they

were going, and found that they had received orders to march to Paris to save the city from pillage, and rescue the king from the hands of the populace. The order was forged, and the troops of course were ordered back to their quarters. General Lefebre Denouettes, had also entered Le Fere in Picardy with troops, but the commander of this place being joined in the cry of Vive le Roi by the soldiery, Lefebre and Lallemand were arrested. These circumstances convinced the court, that Bonaparte's friends were active in every quarter, and that no confidence could be placed in the fidelity of the troops.

Shortly after midnight, on the morning of the 20th, Louis XVIII. left his palace, amidst the tears and regrets of his household, accompanied by a number of priests, and his gardes du Corps. Indeed a very sincere sentiment of commiseration, appears to have been felt for the Bourbon family, whose private virtues were universally acknowledged, whatever opinions might be entertained respecting their political conduct.

On the evening of the 20th, the king arrived at Abbeville, where he intended to await the arrival of his household troops, but Marshal Macdonald advised him to proceed further, and to shut himself up in Lille. On the 22d, he reached this place, being preceded by the Duke of Orleans and the Duke of Treviso. The latter immediately recalled the garrison, which rather increased the danger of his majesty, for all the troops that composed it remained cold and reserved, and maintained the most gloomy silence. But when it was known that the Duke of Berri was about to arrive with the household troops, and two Swiss regiments, the whole garrison evinced a determination to mutiny. To avoid the consequences that might follow, his majesty left Lille, with a picquet of the national guard of that place, and a detachment of the Royal Cuirassiers, and Chasseurs. Marshal Macdonald and the Duke of Treviso, accompanied the king