sion, the type and banner of revolt and civil war. * He was also provided with national cockades, which were concealed within the hollow of the drums. Buonaparte had held repeat ed communications with this officer by means of Cambrone, and all was prepared for the part he was to play on this important occasion. The first meeting betwixt Buonaparte and the soldiers of Louis took place near the village of Mure, where the outposts of the garrison of Grenoble were posted. The adventurer advanced towards them, accompanied only by an aid-de-camp, and two or three officers; the soldiers kept their ranks, but seemed irresolute. "He that would slay his emperor," said Napoleon, advancing and opening his bosom, "let him now act his pleasure." The appeal was irresistiblethe soldiers threw down their arms, crowded around the general who had led them so often to victory, and shouted, with one voice, Vive l'Empereur ! This scene was doubtless so prepared as to ensure the probability of its passing with safety to Buonaparte's person; but, allowing all possible precautions to have been taken by the disaffected officers in seducing men of kindred feelings, so many chances might have deranged their calculations, that Napoleon must not be denied the credit of having gone through this trying scene with venturous courage and decision. The soldiers instantly united their ranks with those of Elba, and continued to advance towards Grenoble, whence fresh reinforcements had already sallied to join them. Des Villiers, commandant of Cham berri, had reached Grenoble on the *The classical reader cannot have forgotten the passage in Cicero's Oration against Catiline, in which this eagle is mentioned," Sciam a quo aquilum illam argenteam, quam tibi, ac tuis omnibus perniciosum esse confido et funestam futuram; cui domi tua sacrarium scelerum tuorum constitutum fuit, sciam esse præmissam? Tu ut illa diutius carere possis, quam venerari, ad cædem proficiscens, solebas? a cujus altaribus sæpe istam dexteram impiam ad necem civium transtulisti ?" and with a compliment to his fidelity. The magistrates urged the hero of the day to take up his abode in the house of the mayor, but he conceived he owed that distinction to an inn called the Three Dolphins, the master of which, Labarre, had served formerly in his corps of guards. In this place the members of the conspiracy had held many private meetings; and, in the month of January preceding, it was said Bertrand had been his guest, disguised as a waggoner, upon a secret expedition from the Isle of Elba. Grenoble, thus fallen, placed him at the head of a small army of nearly three thousand men of all arms, with a considerable train of artillery, and corresponding magazines of ammunition, which, in the opinion of many, had been deposited in that town in order that they might augment his re sources. All, meanwhile, was bustle and confusion at Paris. The first news of Buonaparte's arrival on the coast of Provence, reached Paris the day before he occupied Grenoble, and like a distant peal of thunder in a serene day, rather excited surprise and curiosity than apprehension. But when it was known that he had traversed the country with his handful of men without semblance of opposition, mens' minds became agitated with the apprehension of some strange and combined treason. That the Bourbons might not be wanting to their own cause, Monsieur, with the Duke of Orleans, set instantly out for Lyons, to make head against the invader in the south, and the Duke D'Angouleme, who was at Bourdeaux, had instructions to repair to Nismes. Meanwhile, the spirit of the better orders of the legislative bodies, and of the national guards, seemed to be roused, and to express itself decidedly in favour of Louis XVIII. The Count de Viomenil, a royalist, and the Count de Latour-Maubourg, a constitutionalist, each enrolled a corps of royal volunteers, which were speedily filled up. The ancient noblesse hastened to offer their services to augment the household troops; and the temporary enthusiasm in favour of the Bourbons rose so high, that a female exclaimed on the staircase of the Tuilleries, as the king shewed himself to the assembled.multitude," If Louis has not men enough to fight for him, let him summon to arms the widows and childless mothers whom the usurper has rendered miserable." An appeal, drawn up by Benjamin Constant, was remarkable for the eloquence which it breathed, as well as for the subsequent conduct of the author. It placed in the most striking light the contrast between the lawful government of a constitutional monarch, and the usurpation of an Attila, or Genghis, who governed only by the sword of his Mamelukes. It reminded France of the general detestation with which Buonaparte had been expelled, and proclaimed them to be the scorn of Europe, should they again stretch their hands voluntarily to the shackles which they had burst and hurled from them. All Frenchmen were summoned to arms, more especially those to whom liberty was dear; for in the triumph of Buonaparte it must find its grave forever." With Louis," said the address, " was peace and happiness;-with Buonaparte, war, misery, and desolation." It was resolved to form a camp at Melun for the protection of the capital. Meanwhile, Buonaparte was declared an outlaw by the royal proclamation; addresses poured in to the king from every quarter; the diplomatic body of ambassadors and envoys of foreign powers hastened to assure him of the amity and friendly disposition of their sovereigns; and the most animating proclamations called on the people and army to rally around the sovereign. Distrust, however, speedi ly followed on learning the defection at Grenoble, and Soult, the minister at war, was its first object. It was remarked, that the arrangement of the troops in the south had been such as had completely answered Buonaparte's plan. It was remembered that Soult had precipitated the king upon the affair of Excelman, which his predecessor had hushed up, and that many of his words and actions were particularly calculated to disgust the officers on half-pay, to whom, when they became clamorous in their petitions, he used to recommend to go and drown themselves. Yet now, one of the same minister's favourite resources was to call out these very half-pay officers, as if, having first rendered them the king's enemies by his conduct, he was determined they should not want the means and opportunity of acting ef fectually to his ruin. Having heard that there was a design to impeach him before the Chamber of Deputies, Soult took the measure of resigning his situation of minister, and offered his sword to the king, with the portfolio of his office. Louis accepted his resignation with apparent reluctance, for it might have been dangerous to express doubts of the fidelity of a popular general at this trying crisis, and returned his sword with expressions of confidence, to which the marshal probably listened with haughty indifference and contempt. The port-folio of the war-minister was given to Clerk, (called Duke of Feltré) a more worthy man, though less known as a soldier than his predecessor. To accept a situation so responsible at a moment of such danger, and on such brief warning, was in itself an act of loyal devotion, with which every action of the new minister corresponded. Daily instances Low occurred to shew the danger of the task be had undertaken. Measures had been concerted among the conspirators that the troops in the north of France might be induced to declare for Buonaparte, whilst those in Dauphiné joined his standard. The principal agents in this quarter were the dishonoured Lefebre Desnouettes, (known in England by his breach of parole) and General Allemand, with his brother. Had this part of the scheme succeeded like the others, the person of Louis must have fallen into the power of his enemy, since his retreat to Belgium, which he afterwards accomplished with difficulty, would have been totally intercepted. On the 10th of March, Lefebre, arriving from Lisle at Cambray, announced to his regiment of chasseurs the royal orders that they should advance to Compeigne. Various occurrences on the route tended to excite the suspicions of Baron Lyons, the major, and other officers; and on their arrival at Compeigne, they compelled their commanding officer to throw off the mask, and announce his intention to lead them over to the emperor. The officers refused to listen to his arguments, and Lefebre was obliged to make a hasty escape from the arrest with which they threatened him. The plan of General Allemand corresponded with that of Lefebre. Six thousand men of the garrison of Lisle were put in motion by forged orders, under pretext that there was an insurrection at Paris. This part of the conspiracy was deranged by the accidental arrival of Marechal Mortier, who, meeting the troops on the march, de tected and defeated the conspiracy. The two Allemands fled, but were taken by the police. To have executed them instantly as traitors, might have struck terror into such as wavered in their allegiance; but the ministers dared not venture on a measure of such energy. Meanwhile the enemy, although the northern conspiracy had failed, became more formidable every day. When Monsieur and the Duke of Orleans arrived at Lyons, where they were joined by Marechal Macdonald, they used every effort to awaken a spirit of loyalty among the troops and people. The national guard seemed favourably disposed, but the mob of the large suburb of La Guillotiere, where the lower order of manufacturers dwelt, openly raised the cry of Vive l'Empereur. The troops of the line were mournful and silent; and to the personal appeals which Monsieur made to individuals among them, they answered plainly, that they would not fight against their ancient commander." You, at least," said Monsieur, addressing himself to a soldier, scarred with marks of combat, and wearing three badges of military distinction," You, at least, as becomes a brave Frenchman, will cry Vive le Roi?" "I will not," answered the veteran sternly," not a soldier here will fight against their father. I will cry Vive l'Empereur!" While matters were in this state, the advanced guard of the enemy apMarechal proached the suburbs. Macdonald marched against them with two battalions, and occupied the bridge which divides the city from the suburb La Guillotiere. But on the advance of Napoleon, Macdonald's troops broke their ranks, and deserted their leader, so soon as they beheld the well-known eagles and the tri-coloured cockades of Buonaparte's followers. After exerting every effort to bring back his soldiers to better sentiments, and having very nearly become their prisoner in the attempt, the marechal carried back news to the princes that all was lost. The temper of the troops which remained in the city was the same, or even worse, than that of the battalions which Macdonald had led forward, and Monsieur had no alternative but a speedy and almost a solitary flight. The ancient capital of the Gauls, with its wealth, population, military stores, and materials of every kind, was abandoned to the invader, who entered amid the shouts of live l'Empereur, and might now be said, for the first time, to head an army, whose numerical strength, though it did not exceed seven thou sand men, bore some proportion to his high pretensions. in public opinion he was yet more formidable, since the princes of the house of Bourbon, after their utmost efforts, having been completely foiled, saw themselves obli ged to retr at before him. All hope was now over that the invader could be destroyed by a single blow, and the most sanguine royalists saw before them the bloody and doubtful prospect of a civil war. Maçon, Chalons, Dijon, and almost all Burgundy fol lowed the example of Lyons, and declared for the emperor. On the other hand, Provence, animated with the same spirit which pervaded the town of Marseilles, raised troops in the royal name; and the south of France, infuenced by the example of Bourdeaux, seemed to espouse the same cause. At Lyons Buonaparte made a pause, and was joined by some of the civilians of his party, while he received communications and assurances of fidelity from others. In the course of his rapid march, his guards had dispersed an address, in their own name, to their ancient companions in arms, and others, in the name of their mas ter, addressed to the army and to the people. They were of a martial character,-spoke of recovering the glory of France, and promised that victory should march at the charging step, and the eagle, with the national colours, fly from steeple to steeple, even to the towers of Notre Dame. It was now necessary to give to his cause such a colour as should have a shade of civil right as well as of military power. He commenced the organi zation of his government and administration. Cambaceres was named minister of justice; Carnot, of the interior; Fouché, of the police; and Davoust, minister at war. Decrees upon decrees issued forth with a rapidity which shewed how Buonaparte had employed those studious hours at Elba, which he was supposed to have dedicated to the composition of his Memoirs. They ran in the name of Napoleon, by the grace of God, Emperor of France, and were dated on the 13th of March, although not promulgated until the 21st of that month. The first of these decrees abrogated all changes in the courts of justice and tribunals which had taken place during the absence of Napoleon. The second displaced all officers belonging to the class of emigrants, and introduced into the army by the king. The third suppressed the order of St Louis, the white flag and cockade, and other royal emblems, and restored the threecoloured banner, and the imperial symbols of Buonaparte's authority. The same decree abolished the Swiss guard and the household troops of the king. The fourth sequestered the effects of the Bourbons. And a similar ordinance sequestered the restored property of emigrant families, and was so artfully worded as to represent great changes of property having taken place in this manner. The fifth decree of Lyons suppressed the ancient nobility and feudal titles, and formally confirmed proprietors of national domains in their possessions. The sixth declared sentence of banishment against all emigrants not erased from the list previous to the accession of the Bourbons, to which was added confiscation of their property. The seventh respected the Legion of Honour, and restored that order in every respect as it had existed under the emperor, uniting to its funds the confiscated revenues of the order of St Louis. The eighth and last decree was the most important of all. Under pretence that emigrants who had borne arms against France had been introduced into the body of the peers, and that the Chamber of Deputies had already sate for the legal time, it dissolved both Chambers, and convoked the Electoral Colleges of the Empire, in order that they might hold, in the ensuing month of May, an extraordinary assembly of the Champ-de-Mai. This convocation, for which the inventor found a name in the history of the ancient Franks, was to have two objects: First, to make such alterations and reformations in the constitution of the empire as circumstances should render advisable. Secondly, to assist at the coronation of the Empress and of the King of Rome. We cannot pause to criticize these various enactments. In general, however, it may be remarked, that they were admirably calculated to serve Napoleon's cause. They flattered the army, and at the same time heated their resentment against the emigrants, by insinuating that they had been sacrificed by Louis to the interest of these his followers. They held out to the republicans a speedy prospect of confiscations, proscriptions, and revolutions of government; while the imperialists were gratified with a view of ample funds for pensions, offices, and honorary decorations. To the proprietors of national domains was promised security, to the Parisians, the spectacle of the Champ-de-Mai; and to all France, peace and tranquillity, since the arrival of the empress and her son, so confidently asserted to be at hand, must be considered as a pledge of the friendship of Austria. Russia was also said to be friendly to Napoleon, and the conduct of Alexander toward the members of Buonaparte's family was boldly appealed to as evidence of the fact. England, it |