with respect and affection. Maria-Louisa was happy to see him, but the many tears she shed were not all tears of joy. After the first effusion of filial tenderness, she complained of the situation to which she was reduced. Her father himself, deeply affected, could however do no more than sympathize with her, since her misfortunes were irreparable. But time passed on, and Alexander was momentarily expected; the Emperor of Austria was therefore obliged to apprize his daughter that the Russian monarch was on his way, desirous of an interview with her. At first, Maria-Louisa decidedly refused to see him, and for some time persisted in this resolution. She said to her father, Does he intend to make me a prisoner before your eyes? If he enters here by force, I will retire to my chamber. There I presume he will not dare to follow me, whilst you are present.' Not a moment was now to be lost, for Francis II. heard the carriages of the Emperor Alexander rolling through the court-yard of Rambouillet, and his entreaties to his daughter became more and more urgent. At length she yielded to his solicitations, and the Emperor of Austria went himself to meet his ally, and conduct him to the saloon where Maria-Louisa remained in deference to her father. She did not, however, carry her deference so far, as to give a favourable reception to him, whom she regarded as the author of all her misfortunes. She listened with much coldness to all the offers and protestations of Alexander, and merely replied, that all she wished for was, the liberty of returning to her family. A few days after this painful interview, Maria-Louisa and her son set off for Vienna.

I must now direct the attention of the reader to Italy, which was the cradle of Napoleon's glory, and towards which he in imagination transported himself from his palace of Fontainebleau. Eugene had succeeded in keeping up his means of defence until April, but on the 7th of that month, having received positive information of the reverses by which France was overwhelmed, he found himself constrained to accede to the propositions of Marshal de Bellegarde, to treat for the evacuation of Italy; and on the 10th a convention was concluded, in which it was stipulated that the French troops, under the command of Eugene, should return within the limits of old France. The clauses of this convention were exe

cuted on the 19th of April. General Grenier and several other officers about him, endeavoured to persuade Eugene to accompany them into France, and to conduct, in person, to the restored king, the remains of that noble army which he had, as it were, so miraculously preserved. It still amounted to 21,000 men, and upwards of 5000 cavalry. But Eugene, thinking that, in the general partition of provinces, the son-in-law of the King of Bavaria would not be passed over, refused to return to France, declaring that he would await the decision of the Allies amidst his former Italian subjects.

Thinking that the Senate of Milan was favourably disposed towards him, Eugene solicited that body to use its influence in obtaining the consent of the Allied Powers to his continuance at the head of the government of Italy; but this proposition of the son of Napoleon was now contemptuously rejected by the Senate. Public feeling throughout the whole of Italy was highly exasperated, and the army had not proceeded three marches beyond Mantua, when an insurrection broke out in Milan. The finance minister, Prina, was assassinated, and his palace demolished; and nothing could have saved the viceroy from sharing the same fate, had he remained in his capital. Amidst this popular excitement, and the eagerness of the Italians to be released from the dominion of the French, the friends of Eugene thought him fortunate in being able to join his father-inlaw at Munich, almost incognito. Thus, at the expiration of nine years, fell the iron crown which Napoleon had placed on his head, saying, 'Dieu me l'a donné : gare à qui la touche.'

CHAP. XLVIII.

Napoleon consents to proceed to Elba-his Farewell to his Troops-his Journey-embarks for Elba.

NAPOLEON having consented to proceed to the island of Elba, conformably with the treaty he had ratified on the 13th, requested to be accompanied to the place of embarkation by a commissioner from each of the Allied Powers. Count Schuwaloff was appointed by Russia, Colonel Neil Campbell by England, General Kohler by Austria, and Count Waldburg Truchess by Prussia. On

the 16th, the four commissioners came for the first time to Fontainebleau, where the emperor, who was still attended by Generals Drouet and Bertrand, gave to each a private audience on the following day.

Although the emperor received with coldness the commissioners whom he had himself solicited, there was still a marked distinction in his behaviour towards them. He who experienced the best reception was Colonel Campbell, whose person still exhibited many traces of wounds. Napoleon asked him in what battles he had received them, and on what occasions he had been invested with the orders he wore. He next questioned him as to the place of his birth. Colonel Campbell having answered that he was a Scotchman, Napoleon congratulated him on being the countryman of Ossian, his favourite author, whose poetry he greatly praised. At this first audience, Napoleon said to the Colonel, 'I have cordially hated the English-I have made war against you by every possible means—but I esteem your nation. I am convinced, there is more generosity in your government than in any other. I should like to be conveyed from Toulon to Elba by an English frigate.'

The Austrian and Russian commissioners were received coolly, but without any marked indications of displeasure. It was not so with the Prussian commissioner. The two former Napoleon had detained in conversation about five minutes, but to the latter he said, drily, Are there any Prussians in my escort?'-'No, Sire.' Then why do you take the trouble to accompany me?' 'Sire, it is not a trouble, but an honour.' 'These are mere words, you have nothing to do here.' 'Sire, it was impossible for me to decline the honourable mission with which the king, my master, has intrusted me.' At these words Napoleon turned his back on Count Truchess.

The commissioners expected that Napoleon would be prepared for an immediate departure, but such was not the case. Having asked to see the itinerary of his route, he wished to make some alterations in it, and this afforded a pretext for farther delay, as the commissioners were unwilling to oppose his wishes, and were instructed to treat him with all the respect and etiquette due to a sovereign. They accordingly suspended the departure, but as they could not take upon themselves

to acquiesce in the changes wished for by the emperor, they requested Caulincourt to wait on their respective sovereigns for fresh instructions. On the night of the 19th they were authorized to travel by any road the emperor might prefer, and the departure was then definitively fixed for the 20th.

Accordingly, at ten in the morning of the 20th, the carriages were in readiness, and the imperial guard was drawn up in the grand court of the palace of Fontainebleau, called the Court of the White Horse. All the population of the town and the neighbouring villages thronged round the palace. Napoleon sent for General Kohler, and complained of Maria-Louisa not being allowed to accompany him; but at length yielding to the representations that were made to him, he added, Well, I prefer remaining faithful to my promise, but if I have any fresh cause of complaint, I shall consider myself freed from all my engagements.'

At eleven o'clock, Count de Bussy, one of the emperor's aides-de-camp, was sent by the grand marshal to announce that all was ready for departure. Am I, then,' said Napoleon, to regulate my actions by the grand marshal's watch? I will go when it suits me. Perhaps I shall not go at all. Leave me.'

All the forms of imperial etiquette were observed, to avoid wounding the feelings of Napoleon, who loved them so much; and when he at length thought proper to leave his cabinet to enter the saloon, where the commissioners were waiting, the doors were thrown open as usual, and The Emperor' announced; but no sooner was the word uttered than he hastily turned back again. However, he soon re-appeared, rapidly crossed the gallery, and descended the staircase, and at twelve o'clock precisely he stood at the head of his guard, as if at a review in the court of the Tuileries in the brilliant days of the consulate and the empire. Then took place a really affecting scene-Napoleon's farewell to his soldiers. Of this I may forbear entering into any details, since they are known every where and by every body; but I may subjoin the emperor's last address to his old companions in arms, as it belongs to history. This address, delivered in a voice as firm and sonorous as in the days of his triumphs, was as follows:

Soldiers of my old guard, I bid you farewell. For twenty years I have constantly accompanied you on the road to honour and glory. In these latter times, as in the days of our prosperity, you have invariably been models of courage and fidelity. With men such as you, our cause could not be lost, but the war would have been interminable; it would have been civil war, and that would have entailed deeper misfortunes on France. I have sacrificed all my interests to those of the country. I go; but you, my friends, will continue to serve France. Her happiness was my only thought. It will still be the object of my wishes. Do not regret my fate: if I have consented to survive, it is to serve your glory. I intend to write the history of the great achievements we have performed together. Adieu, my friends! Would I could press you all to my heart.' Napoleon then ordered the eagles to be brought, and having embraced them, he added, 'I embrace you all in the person of your general. Adieu, soldiers ! Be always gallant and good.'

Napoleon's parting words to his soldiers were, 'Adieu, my friends. My wishes will always accompany you. Do not forget me!' He then stepped into his carriage, accompanied by Bertrand.

During the first day, cries of Vive l'Empereur!' resounded along the road, and Napoleon, resorting to his usual dissimulation, affected to upbraid the people for their disloyalty to their legitimate sovereign, which he did with ill-disguised irony. The guard accompanied him as far as Briare, where he passed the night. Here he invited Colonel Campbell to breakfast with him. He conversed on the last war in Spain, and spoke in complimentary terms of the English nation, and the military talents of Wellington.

On the night of the 21st, Napoleon slept at Nevers, where he was still received with the acclamations of the people, who here, as in several other towns, mingled their shouts of enthusiasm, caused by their late emperor's presence, with imprecations against the commissioners of the Allies. He left Nevers at six on the morning of the 22d. The guards not now forming a part of his escort, Napoleon no longer heard the cries of Vive l'Empereur!' and as a corps of Cossacks