wherewith to meet their concentrated force on a basis of something like equality.

Of course in the crisis of his great decision he could not stand alone; he must be sure of his lieutenants. Accordingly, after a few hours of secret communings, he summoned a council, and laid before it his considerations substantially as enumerated. Those present were Berthier, Ney, Lefebvre, Caulaincourt, and Maret; Oudinot and Macdonald, at Bar on the Ornain and Perthes respectively, were too distant to arrive in time, but he knew their opinion, that the war should be continued either in Lorraine or from a center of operations to be established at Sens. Berthier was verging on desperation, and so was Caulaincourt, who, since leaving Chatillon, had been vainly struggling to reopen negotiations for peace on any terms; Ney, though physically brave, was not the stuff from which martyrs are made, and Lefebvre, naturally weak, was laboring under an attack of senility. The council was imperative for peace at any price; the Emperor, having foreseen its temper, had little difficulty in taking the military steps for carrying out its behests. Early in the morning of the 28th the army was set in motion toward Paris. The line of march was to be through Bar on the Aube, Troyes, and Fontainebleau, a somewhat circuitous route, chosen apparently for three reasons: because the region to be traversed would still afford sustenance to the men, because the Seine would protect its right flank, and because the dangerous point of Meaux was thus avoided. Such a conclusion is significant of the clearest judgment and the nicest calculation. Pages have been written about Napoleon's hallucinations at the close of his career; neither here nor in any of the courses he adopted is there aught to sustain the charge. At breakfast-time a squad of jubilant peasants brought in a prisoner whom they believed to be no less a person than the Comte d'Artois. In reality it was Weissenberg, an Austrian ambassador on his way to London. He was promptly liberated on parole and despatched with letters to Francis and Metternich. By a curious adventure Vitrolles was in the minister's suite disguised as a serving-man, but he was not detected.

At Doulevent Napoleon received ciphered despatches from La Valette, the postmastergeneral in Paris, a trusted friend. The writer urged his Emperor to come quickly or all would be lost. This gave wings to Napoleon's impatience, and, as new couriers were met at Doulaincourt with messages of like import, the troops were spurred to fresh exertions,

their marches were doubled, and at nightfall of the 29th Troyes was reached. Snatching a few brief hours of sleep, Napoleon at dawn next morning threw discretion to the winds, and started with an insufficient escort, determined to reach Villeneuve on the Vanne before night. The task was performed, but no sooner had he arrived than at once he flung himself into a post-chaise, and, with Caulaincourt at his side, flew toward Paris; a second vehicle, with three adjutants, followed as best it might, and a third containing Gourgaud and Lefebvre brought up the rear. It will be remembered that Gourgaud was an able artillerist; the doting Lefebvre, it was hoped, could rouse the suburban populations for the defense of Paris. At Sens Napoleon heard that the enemy was ready to attack; at Essonnes he was told that the decisive battle was raging; and about ten miles from the capital, at the wretched posting-station of La Cour de France, deep in the night, fell the fatal blow. Paris had surrendered. The terrible certainty was assured by the bearer of the tidings, Belliard, a cavalry officer despatched with his troop by Mortier to prepare quarters for his own and Marmont's men.

Marie Louise had played her rôle of Empress regent as well as her immature age and slender abilities would permit; only once in his letters did the Emperor chide her, and that was for a fault venial in European royalty, receiving a high official, in this case the archchancelor, in her bedchamber. On the whole, she had been dignified and conciliatory; once she rose to a considerable height, pronouncing with great effect a stirring speech composed by her husband and forwarded from his headquarters. About her were grouped a motley council: Joseph, gentle but efficient; Savary, underhanded and unwarlike; Clarke, working in the war ministry like a machine; Talleyrand, secretly plotting against Napoleon, whose title of vice-grand elector he wore with outward suavity; Cambacérès, wise but unready; Montalivet, adroit but cautious. Yet, while there was no one combining ability, enthusiasm, and energy, the equipment of troops had gone on with great regularity, and each day regiments of half-drilled, halfequipped recruits had departed for the seat of war. The national guards who garrisoned the city, some 12,000 in all, were ill-disposed and sensitive to the shafts of royalist wit; yet they had held their peace and performed the round of their duties. Everything had outwardly been so quiet and regular that Napoleon actually contemplated a new levy, but the emptiness of the arsenals compelled him to

dismiss the idea. Theoretically a fortified military depot, Paris was really an antiquated fortress with arsenals of useless weapons. Spasmodic efforts had been made to throw up redoubts before the walls, but they had failed from lack of energy in the military administration.

A close examination of what lay beneath the surface of Parisian society revealed much that was dangerous. Talleyrand's house was a nest of intrigue. Imperial prefects like Pasquier and Chabrol were calm but perfunctory. The Talleyrand circle grew larger and bolder every day. Moreover, it had influential members-De Pradt, Louis, Vitrolles, Royer-Collard, Lambrecht, Grégoire, and Garat, together with other high functionaries in all departments. Bourrienne developed great activity as an extortioner and briber; the old irreconcilables, Montmorency, Noailles, Denort, Fitz-James, and Montesquiou, were less nd less careful to conceal their activity. ucourt, one of Joseph's chamberlains, was spy carrying the latest news from headarters to the plotters. Napoleon was well ware of the increasing chaos, and smartly reproved Savary from Rheims. But Talleyrand was undaunted. At first he appears to have desired a violent death for Napoleon, in the hope of furthering his own schemes during a long imperial regency. At all events, he ardently opposed the departure of the Empress and the King of Rome from Paris. Nevertheless it was he who despatched Vitrolles, the passionate royalist, to Nesselrode with a letter in invisible ink which, when deciphered, turned out to be an inscrutable riddle capable of two interpretations. Lannes had long before stigmatized the unfrocked bishop as a mess of filth in a silk stocking; Murat said he could take a kick from behind without showing it in his face. His fellow-conspirators were scarcely less bitter in their dislike than his avowed enemies. Yet he pursued the even tenor of his course, scattering innuendos, distributing showers of anonymous pamphlets, smuggling English newspapers into the city, in fact working every wire of conspiracy. Surprised by the Minister of Police in an equivocal meeting with De Pradt, he burst out into hollow laughter, De Pradt joined, and even Savary himself found the merriment infectious. Toward the close of March the populace displayed a perilous sensitiveness to all these influences. The London «Times» of March 15, which was read by many in the capital, asked what pity Blücher and the Cossacks would show to Paris on the day of their vengeance, the editor suggesting that

VOL. LII.-94.

possibly as he wrote the famous town was already in ashes. Such suggestions created something very like a panic, and on the 28th the imperial officials held a council, in which it was determined to send the Empress and her son to Rambouillet on the very next day. This fatal decision was taken partly through fear, but largely in deference to Napoleon's letter containing the classical allusion to Astyanax. The very men who took it believed that the Parisian masses would have died for the young Napoleon, and deplored the decision they had reached. «Behold what a fall in history!» said Talleyrand to Savary on parting. «To attach one's r.ame to a few adventures instead of affixing it to an age. . But it is not for everybody to be engulfed in the ruins of this edifice.» From that hour the restoration of the Bourbons was a certainty. It was a mournful procession of imperial carriages which next morning filed slowly through the city, attracting slight attention from a few silent onlookers, and passed on toward Rambouillet. The baby king had shrieked and clutched at the doors as he was torn away from his apartments in the Tuileries, and would not be appeased; his mother and attendants were in consternation at the omen, and all thoughtful persons who considered the situation were convinced that the dissolution of the Empire was at hand. A deputation from the national guard had sought in vain to dissuade the Empress from her course; their failure and the distant booming of cannon produced wide-spread depression throughout the city, which was not removed by a spirited proclamation from Joseph declaring that his brother was on the heels of the invaders. All the public functionaries seemed inert, and everybody knew that there was no adequate means of resistance either in men or in arms should the populace rise. Clarke alone began to display energy; with Joseph's assistance, what preparations were possible at so late an hour were made: six companies were formed from the recruits at hand, the national guard was put under arms, the students of the polytechnic school were called out for service, communication with Marmont was secured, and by late afternoon Montmartre, Belleville, and St. Denis were feebly fortified. The allies had been well aware that what was to be done must be done before the dreaded Emperor should arrive, and on that same morning their vanguard had summoned the town; but during the parley their generals began to feel the need of greater streng h and further asked an armistice of four hours. This was granted on the usual condition that

within its duration no troops should be moved; but the implied promise was perfidiously broken, and at nightfall both Alexander and Frederick William, accompanied by their forces, were in sight of the far-famed city. Dangers, hardships, bygone insults and humiliations, all were forgotten in a general tumult of joy, wrote Danilevsky, a Russian officer. Alexander alone was pensive, well knowing that, should the city hold out two days, reinforcements from the west might make its capture impossible until Napoleon should arrive. Accordingly he took virtual command, and issued stringent orders preparatory for the assault early next morning.

talk: «Bonaparte » was conquered; the Bourbons would be restored; what a splendid man was this Marmont! Some weeks earlier the marshal had been told by his brother-in-law, Perregaux, a chamberlain of Napoleon's, that in case of a restoration he himself and Macdonald would be spared, whatever happened to the other great imperial leaders. Talleyrand had ostensibly taken flight with his colleagues, but by an interesting coincidence his coachman had sought the wrong exit, and had been turned back. That night he appeared in Marmont's presence with direct overtures from the Bourbons. His interview was short, and he seemed to have gained nothing; but he had left Marmont consumed with vanity, feeling that the destinies of France were in his hands alone, and this was much. Passing through the corridors, the sly diplomatist greeted Prince Orloff, and begged to lay his profound respect at the feet of the Czar. 1 shall not forget to lay this blank check be fore his majesty," was the stinging retort. But Alexander said on hearing of it, «As yet this is but anecdote; it may become history.

From early dawn until midday on March 30 the fighting before Paris was almost continuous; the assailants displayed an assurance of victory, the defenders showed the courage of despair. Marmont and Mortier kept their ranks in order, and the soldiers fought gallantly; elsewhere the militia and the boys emulated each other and the regulars in steadfastness. But when, shortly after noon, it became evident that Paris was doomed to fall before superior force, Joseph, as deputy emperor, issued to Marmont full powers to treat, and followed the Empress, whom he overtook at Chartres, far beyond Rambouillet. She had determined, for greater safety, to cross the Loire. At four in the afternoon the Prussians captured Montmartre, and prepared to bombard from that height; at the same moment the last ranks of the allied armies came up. Marmont felt further resistance to be useless; his line of retreat was endangered, and he had special directions not to expose the city to a sack. There was still abundant courage in the citizens, who stood behind the barricades within the gates clamorous for arms and ammunition. A messenger came galloping in with the news that Napoleon was but half a day distant. The lookouts now and then espied some general riding a white horse, and called, «"T is he!» But for all the enthusiasm the expected «he» did not appear, further carnage seemed useless, French honor had been vindicated, and when Marmont entered the town he was received as one who had done what man could do. Negotiations once opened, the allies displayed a sense of great relief, and were glad to make terms which provided for an armistice, assured kind treatment to the city, and permitted the withdrawal of the troops.

The triumphal entry of the allies into Paris began next morning at seven. It was headed by Alexander and his satellite king; Francis was in Dijon. The soldiers were orderly, and there was no pillage or license. Crowds of royalists thronged the streets acclaiming the conquerors and shouting for Louis XVIII. Throughout the afternoon Talleyrand and Nesselrode were closeted in the former's palace; and when, toward evening, they were joined by the Czar and Frederick William, who had devoted the day to ceremony, the diplomats had agreed that France must have the Bourbons. A formal meeting was instantly arranged; there were present, besides the monarchs and their ministers, Schwarzenberg, Lichtenstein, Dalbea Pozzo di Borgo. Alexander assur presidency, but Talleyrand, with con skill, monopolized the deliberations. suggested, as various bases for peace, Nan leon under all guaranties, Marie L regent for the King of Rome, the Bourbons, and, it is believed, hinted at Bernad the republic as possibilities. Of all these there was but one which represented the principle of legitimacy with which Alexander had in the coalition identified himself, and by which alone he, with his shady title, could hope to assert authority in western Europe. This was expounded and emphasized by the wily Talleyrand with tremendous effect. There was little difficulty, therefore, in reaching the decision not to treat with Napoleon Bonaparte o r with

Throughout the afternoon and evening Marmont's house was the rendezvous of the negotiators and of the few political personages left in the city. There was t freest

GE HUNTING BY JEAN-BAPTISTE-PAULIN

AUGUSTE

mber of his family. Th
eer's first stroke; his secon
at the servile senate was a
& provisional government

a new constitution, to be gu
That body, however obs
French, even the extreme
ented by Laine of P

any member of his family. This was the great schemer's first stroke; his second was equally brilliant: the servile senate was appointed to create a provisional government, and construct a new constitution, to be guaranteed by the allies. That body, however obsequious, was still French; even the extreme radicals, as represented by Lainé of Bordeaux, had to ac

ENGRAVED BY T. JOHNSON.

knowledge this. The new and subservient administration was at work within twentyfour hours; Talleyrand, with his two creatures, Dalberg and Jaucourt, Montesquiou the royalist, and Beurnonville, a recalcitrant imperialist, constituting the executive commission. The legislature was at once summoned, seventy ine deputies responded, and after de