who had hitherto only beheld liberty in promises, and who were blind enough to believe that the idol of France would be restored by Napoleon.

In February, 1815, when all the arrangements for the departure from Elba had been completed, Murat applied to the court of Vienna for permission to march through the Austrian provinces of Upper Italy an army destined for France. On the 26th of the same month, Napoleon escaped from Elba. These two facts have necessarily a close connexion with each other; for however extravagant Murat's ideas might have been, he never could have conceived it possible to compel the king of France by force of arms to recognise his claim to the crown of Naples. Since the return of Louis XVIII., the cabinet of the Tuileries had never regarded Murat in any other character than that of an usurper; and I know that the French plenipotentiaries at the congress of Vienna had special instructions to insist that the restoration of the throne of Naples in favour of the Bourbons of the Two Sicilies should be a consequence of the restoration of the throne of France. I likewise know that this demand was strongly resisted on the part of Austria, whose government had never viewed without extreme jealousy three European thrones in the occupation of the single house of Bourbon. Murat, therefore, was well aware of the part he might play in France, by supporting the conspirators and the interests of Napoleon. Thus he daringly advanced to the banks of the Po, leaving his country and his capital exposed; and incurring by this movement the hostility both of Austria and France. It is incredible that he would have acted in this manner unless he had previously been assured of a powerful diversion, and the assistance of Napoleon in his favour. There is a possibility, indeed, that Murat contemplated securing himself in Italy while the whole powers of Europe should be engaged anew with Napoleon; but both suppositions lead to the same conclusionthat he was a party to the enterprise of Bonaparte. Murat, however, thus acting rather like an adventurer than a monarch, and having failed in an attack against the bridge of Occhio-Bello, was obliged to retreat, and by this ill-judged expedition ruined the great cause in which he was intended to co-operate.

According to information which I received from au

thority on which I can rely, the following were the plans which Napoleon conceived at Elba. Almost immediately after his arrival in France, he was to order the marshals on whom he could rely to defend to the last extremity the entrance of the French territory, and the approaches to Paris, by manoeuvring within the triple line of fortresses which gird the north and east of France. Davoust was set apart for the defence of Paris; he was to arm the population of the suburbs, and to have besides 20,000 men of the national guards at his disposal. Napoleon, not knowing well the situation of the Allies, never supposed that they could concentrate their forces and march against him so speedily as they did. He hoped to take them by surprise, and defeat their projects by causing Murat to march upon Milan, and exciting insurrection in Italy. The Po once passed, and Murat approaching the capital of Italy, Napoleon, with the corps of Suchet, Brune, Grouchy, and Massena, increased by troops sent by forced marches to Lyons, was to cross the Alps and revolutionize Piedmont. There, having recruited his army from amongst the insurgents, and joined the Neapolitans at Milan, he was to proclaim the independence of Italy, unite the whole country under a single chief, and afterwards march, at the head of 100,000 men, upon Vienna, through the Julian Alps, across which victory had conducted him in 1797. This was not all; numerous emissaries, scattered through Poland and Hungary, were there to foment troubles, to raise the cry of independence, so as to alarm Russia and Austria. It must be confessed it would have been an extraordinary spectacle to see Napoleon giving liberty to Europe in revenge for not having succeeded in enslaving her.

By means of these bold manoeuvres and vast combinations, Napoleon had calculated upon assuming the initiative in military operations. Perhaps his genius was never more fully developed than in this vast conception, which was not matured in one day. This design, in fact, comprised the essence of all he had ever aspired to accomplish-embraced all the great enterprises which he had meditated from the first of his fields to his latest hour on the imperial throne. The final object alone was changed from empire to liberty; but success would in all probability have restored the original plan of his

selfish ambition. According to this plan he was to extend his military operations over a line of 500 leagues, from Ostend to Vienna, by the Alps and Italy. He would thus have secured immense resources of every kind, would not only have prevented the Emperor of Austria from marching. his troops against France, but, perhaps, have obliged him to terminate a war by which the hereditary states would exclusively suffer. Such was the bright prospect which presented itself to Napoleon, when he stepped on board the vessel which was to convey him from Elba to France. But the mad precipitation of Murat put Europe on the alert, and the brilliant illusion faded like a dream.

After assuring myself that all was tranquil, and that the royal family were secure against every danger, I set out, alone, at four o'clock on the morning of the 20th of March, taking the road to Lille, where I arrived about midnight on the 21st, and found the gates closed, which obliged me to content myself with a miserable lodging in the suburbs for the night.

On the 23d, Louis XVIII. arrived at Lille. His majesty also found the gates closed, and more than an hour elapsed before an order could be obtained for opening them; for the Duke of Orleans, who commanded the town, was inspecting the troops when his majesty arrived. The king was perfectly well received. There appeared some symptoms of defection, for it must be acknowledged that the officers of the old army had been completely sacrificed and passed over to favour the promotion of the returned emigrants; it was therefore very natural that the army should hail the return of a man who had so often led them to victory.

It was Louis XVIII.'s decided wish to continue in France as long as he could; but the Napoleon fever spread with such rapidity among the troops, that the garrison of Lille could not be depended upon. Marshal Mortier expressed to me his well-founded fears, and re commended me to urge the king to quit Lille speedily, in order to avoid any fatal consequence. At length, with great reluctance, the king consented to go to Ghent, and I left Lille the day before that fixed for his majesty's departure.

In September, 1814, the king had named me charge d'affairs from France to Hamburg, but not having re

ceived orders to repair to my post, I had not before mentioned it. However, when Louis XVIII. was on the point of leaving France, he thought my presence in Hamburg would prove useful to his interest. I set out immediately, and without reluctance, to a place where I was sure of finding many friends. Though thus removed from the immediate theatre of events, I continued to be informed of all important transactions.

Bonaparte entered Paris on the 20th of March, about nine at night. Nothing could be more gloomy than his entry. The darkness was increased by a thick fog, the streets were almost deserted, and a vague feeling of terror prevailed almost generally in the capital. I had not an opportunity of observing the aspect of Paris during that memorable period, recorded in history by the name of the hundred days; but the letters which I received at the time, together with all that I afterwards heard, concurred in assuring me that the capital never presented such melancholy appearance as during this period. None had confidence in the duration of Napoleon's second reign; and it was said without any reserve that Fouché, while serving the usurpation, would surely betray it. Throughout the whole mass of society, fears for the future agitated men's minds, and discontent had become general. The sight of the federates who paraded the Faubourgs and the Boulevards, shouting, 'Long live the republic,' and Death to the royalists !'--their sanguinary songs-the revolutionary airs played in the theatres-all tended to produce a fearful stupor over the mind, and the issue of the impending events was anxiously looked for.

One of the circumstances which, at the commencement of the hundred days, chiefly tended to open the eyes of those who were yet dazzled by the past glory of Napoleon, was the non-fulfilment of the promise which he made, that the empress and his son were to be restored to him immediately. It was evident that he could not count upon any ally; and in spite of the prodigious activity with which a new army was created, those persons must have been blind who could imagine the possibility of his triumphing over the whole of Europe, then evidently arming against him. I deplored the inevita ble disasters which Bonaparte's bold enterprise would entail; but I had such certain information respecting

the intentions of the Allies, and the spirit which influenced the plenipotentiaries at Vienna, that I could not, for a moment, doubt the issue of the contest.

When the first intelligence of Bonaparte's attempt was received at Vienna, the congress had made but little progress towards the final arrangement of affairs; they had been proceeding with caution, as their desire was to reconstruct a solid and durable order of things after the violent storm which had agitated and shaken so many thrones. Louis XVIII. had instructed his plenipotentiaries to defend and support the principles of justice, and the law of nations, so as to secure the rights of all parties, and to prevent the chances of new wars. The congress was occupied on these important deliberations, when intelligence was received of Napoleon's landing in the Gulf of Juan. The plenipotentiaries then signed the protocol of the conferences, and terminated the congress.*

CHAP. L.

Assurance of Protection from Bonaparte-Recollection of old Persecutions-Seals placed upon my Effectsuseless Search-Extracts from the Letters of M. de Talleyrand on the State of Affairs-Napoleon prepares for War-departs for the Army-Hostilities commence, and are terminated by the Battle of Waterloo-the King returns to Paris-my Depar ture from Hamburg, and Arrival at Paris-Fouché Minister-my Appointment as President of the Yonne, and Election as Deputy-named Counsellor and Minister of State-Abstract of the Campaign of 1815.

On my arrival at Lille, and afterwards at Hamburg, I received letters from my family, which gave me an account of what had taken place at Paris since the return

The instant that the news of Napoleon's daring movement reached Vienna, the congress published a proclamation in these words: By breaking the convention which established him in Elba, Bonaparte destroys the only legal title on which his existence depended. By appearing again in France, with projects of confusion and disorder, he has deprived himself of the protection of the law, and manifested to the universe that there can be neither peace nor truce with him. The powers consequently declare, that Napoleon Bonaparte has placed himself without the pale of civil and social relations, and that, as an enemy and disturber of the tranquillity of the world, he has rendered himself liable to public vengeance.'