Many of the household troops were involved in a morass, where some perished; and at length when they arrived at Bethune, the Duke of Berri, whether fearful of bringing on the king an expense which he was ill able to support, or seeing some reluctance on the part of the household troops to move beyond the frontier, or for some unexplained reason, disbanded them, and recommended that they should return to their homes. This was no easy matter, and in the attempt some of these unhappy stragglers were slain, and almost all were plundered and insulted. Such were the melancholy circumstances which attended the fight of the king from his capital. He had no sooner left Lisle, than an order from Davoust, Buonaparte's minister at war, arrived for his arrest, and that of his family. The Duke of Orleans was yet in Lisle, but Mortier, in some measure, atoned for his preceding conduct, by suppressing the order until his royal high. ness had left the place.

Mean time Paris expected her new master. The most profound, but gloomy tranquillity marked the morning after the king's departure. Even the most zealous Buonapartists did not attempt to insult, by their triumph, the general sensation of awe and sorrow. All waited the issue of the meeting of the armies at Melun, which was not long dubious.

Marechal Macdonald commanded the troops of Melun in chief, under the directions of the Duke of Berri. On the 20th they were drawn out in order of battle to oppose Buonaparte, who was reported to be advancing from Fontainbleau. The general officers of the royal army were faithful, and used every means to keep their soldiers in the same sentiments. There was a long pause of anxious expectation, while the troops, drawn out under arms, awaited the appearance of the

hostile van-guard. The silence was only interrupted by the regimental bands of music, which occasionally played the airs of "O Richard". "Henri Quatre,"-" La Belle Gabrielle," and other pieces consecrated to the royal cause, but which excited no corresponding feeling in the minds of the soldiers. At length, about 12 o'clock, a party of cavalry appeared escorting an open carriage, and in a moment Buonaparte was among the ranks which had been drawn out to oppose him. His escort threw themselves from their horses, and embracing their ancient comrades, implored them to unite the French army once more, under the authority of the empe ror. The effect produced was instantaneous and electrical: All dropped their arms,-all left their ranks,-all shouted Vive Napoleon! and the superior officers, who remained loyal, were compelled to provide for their safety by a hasty flight. Thus Buonaparte a third time drew over to his standard the troops collected to oppose him; and the army of Melun, like those of Grenoble and Lyons, appeared only to have been formed for the purpose of affording him reinforcements.

In the meanwhile, the pause of consternation at Paris began to give way to tumult. Lavalette, who had for some days remained concealed in the hotel of the Duchess de St Leu, made his appearance at the post-office, and superseding the superintendant placed there by the king, took upon him, without opposition, the office of director of that important department, which he had formerly enjoyed under Buonaparte. He made use of the power thus acquired to intercept all the journals which contained the king's proclamation, and to dispatch an official intimation to the cities and departments, that Napoleon was in quiet and undisturbed posses

sion of his former authority. Lavalette also held an immediate communication with Buonaparte, now at Fontainbleau, and received from him advice to be intimated to his friends in Paris, that all had succeeded so much to his wish, that there was no occasion for the insurrection in the capital, for which preparations had been in forwardness.

The spirit of resentment and despair acting on the more zealous royalists, joined to the triumphant hopes of the opposite faction, threatened, notwithstanding the communication of Buonaparte's pleasure, an explosion which might have proved fatal to the capital. Numerous groupes assembled in the streets. The mob of the suburbs of Saint Antoine and Saint Marceau put themselves in motion, and in a manner besieged the Tuilleries. Scuffles, not without bloodshed, passed between parties of royalists and imperialists. The steadiness of the national guard, who doubled and trebled their sentinels upon every post, on this as on other occasions both before and after, saved Paris from a great convulsion. The accesses to the Tuilleries were filled with tumultuous groupes, and the sentinels could scarce prevent them from forcing the gate of the Place de Carousel, which occupies the front of the palace. Amidst these alarming symptoms, General Excelman, whose oath to serve the king for ever, (p. 136.) had scarce dried on his lips, appeared at the head of a body of soldiers, relieved the national guard at the Tuilleries, and entering the palace, took down the white flag which had floated over the dome since the restoration of the Bourbons, and replaced it by the three-coloured banner.

It was late in the evening ere Na.poleon himself entered, to assume possession of the vacant palace and unswayed sceptre. He entered in the

same carriage which he had brought with him from Elba, and at nine o'clock alighted at the Tuilleries, a journey of eighteen days having brought him from Cannes to Paris, and achie ved a revolution more remarkable, because less to be expected, than any of the extraordinary events which have distinguished the history of revolutionary France. The court was filled with his ancient courtiers, who crowded around so closely, that he was obliged to call out, "My friends, you stifle me;" and some of his aides. de-camp were actually obliged to carry him in their arms up the grand stair-case and into the royal apartments, where he was welcomed by his sisters Hortensia and Julia, and other members of the conspiracy, now assembled to gratulate its success, and gather the harvest of their labours.

No sooner was Buonaparte once more possessed of political power, than it seemed, from the subservience of all around, as absolute as if he had never been deprived of it. The ready and unscrupulous versatility with which almost all the men in public authority renewed to Napoleon the vows they had so lately made to Louis, is one of the most degrading features of these memorable transactions, and inspires us almost with a contempt of human nature. It is thus described by Chateaubriant, the most eloquent of the French modern writers: "Buonaparte, placed, by a strange fatality, between the coasts of France and Italy, has appeared, like Genseric, at the point to which he was called by the anger of God. He came, the hope of all those who had committed, and of all those who meditated to commit, crimes; he came, and he succeeded. Men, loaded with the king's bounties, and decorated with his honours, kissed in the morning that royal hand which they betrayed in the evening. Re

husband, was on a progress through the south of France, when they were surprised by the intelligence of Buonaparte's disembarkation. The Duke of Angouleme hastened to avail himseif of the zeal which the inhabitants of Provence, and particularly of Marseilles, testified for the royal cause; while the duchess remained to encourage the inhabitants of Bourdeaux, who had so early declared for the Bourbons in the preceding campaign. The inhabitants and national guard of that city, under the direction of Lynch, their loyal and faithful mayor, showed the best possible disposition; and the princess stood forth among them, like one of those heroic women of the age of chivalry, whose looks and words were able in moments of peril to give double edge to men's swords, and double constancy to their hearts. If shouts and vows of fidelity could have been a warrant for the faith of Frenchmen, it was impossible that this high-minded princess should have been forced to give way. But the troops which formed the garrison of Bourdeaux caught the contagion of revolt. General Decaen, who possessed the batteries which commanded the city, declared himself for the usurper; while Clausel advanced to the gates with a considerable force in the same cause. The duchess made a last effort, assembled around her the officers, and laid their duty before them in the most touching and pathetic manner. But when she saw their coldness, and heard their faul tering excuses, she turned from them in disdain," You fear," she said. "I pity you, and release you from your oaths." On the 30th March, she arrived at the little port of Poillac, to embark on board an English frigate, and the following minute circumstances of her departure are

given by an eye-witness. She had three or four carriages along with her, filled with her attendants, and was escorted by a party of the na tional guards. Their entry into Poillac formed a very mournful procession; she herself looked deadly pale, although seemingly calm and collected. We saw many of the officers of the national guard crowding round her with tears in their eyes. There was a little chapel close to where we were lodged, and while the other la dies went down to the frigate to prepare for the embarkation, we heard that the duchess herself had gone to mass. After we imagined that the service would be nearly concluded, two of the ladies of our party entered the chapel, and placed themselves near to where they knew she would pass. As she came near them, observing that they were English, and much affected, she held out her hand to them; one of them said, 'Oh, go to our England, you will be cherished there. Yes, yes,' replied she; I am now going to your country;' and when they expressed a wish that this storm would be quickly over, and that when she again returned to France, it would be for lasting happiness, the duchess replied, with an expression which was almost cheerful,

6

Indeed, I hope so.' This was the last time that any of us saw her. There was then in her expression a look of sweet and tranquil suffering, which was irresistibly affecting."Lynch and other loyalists took the same opportunity of escaping from the tyranny of Buonaparte. Bourdeaux was instantly occupied by General Clausel, whose arrival, in despite of the scenes which had preceded it, was welcomed with shouts of Vive l'Empereur !

Toulouse soon shared the fate of