territory, the troops of the nations which are at present under the command of field-mar, shal the duke of Wellington are desired to recollect that their respective sovereigns are the allies of his majesty the king of France, and that France therefore ought to be treated as a friendly country. It is then required that nothing should be taken either by the officers or soldiers, for which payment be not made. The commissaries of the army will provide for the wants of the troops in the usual manner, and it is not permitted, either to officers or soldiers, to extort contributions. The commissaries will be authorised, either by the marshal, or by the generals who command the troops of the respective nations, in cases where their provisions are not supplied by an English commissary, to make the proper requisitions, for which regular receipts will be given; and it must be strictly understood, that they will themselves be held responsible for whatever they obtain in the way of requisition, from the inhabitants of France, in the same manner in which they would be esteemed accountable for purchases made for their own government in the several dominions to which they belong. (Signed) J. WATERS, A. A. G. I acquaint all Frenchmen, that I enter their country at the head of a victorious army, not as an enemy, the usurper excepted, who is the enemy of human nature, and with whom no peace and no truce can be maintained. I pass your boundaries to relieve you from the iron yoke by which you are. oppressed. In consequence of this determination I have given the following orders to my army, and I demand to be informed of any one who shall presume to disobey them. Frenchmen know, that I have a right to require that they should conduct themselves in a manner that will enable me to protect them against those by whom they would be injured. It is therefore necessary that they should comply with the requisitions that will be made by persons properly authorised, for which a receipt will be given, which they will quietly retain, and avoid all communication or correspondence with the usurper and his adherents. All those persons who shall absent themselves from their dwellings, after The conduct of the English presented a striking and honourable contrast to the licentious ferocity of the Prussians. They punctually and liberally paid for every article obtained from the inhabitants. At the approach of the Prussians, who marched in a parallel line with the British, the inhabitants abandoned their habitations, and fled into the woods, and on their return frequently discovered that their dwellings were in flames. The British, on the contrary, as they advanced into the country, and the report of their good conduct had preceded them, were received with respect and kindness, and supplied with every necessary and convenience by the citizens, who frequently refused the proffered remuneration. The harvest was advancing to maturity. Where the path was so narrow as to impede their progress, they uniformly halted, and broke into files of two or three a-breast, that the corn might remain uninjured. The admirable demeanour of the troops, in an enemy's country, and amidst so many temptations to riot and lawless licentiousness, does the highest honour to the commander, beneath whose auspices they were marching to the capital. The intentions of the allies were uncertain, but suspicious. It was known that Blucher was averse to the execution of any pledge which might imply the restoration of the Bourbons; and, had he been left to his own discretion, would have marched directly to Paris; have levied a contribution equal to the expenses of the war; have wrested from them their frontier towns; have deprived them of every vestige of their former triumphs, and then have left them to choose what government they pleased, and to fight it out among themselves. Notwithstanding the silence of the confederate sovereigns, in their recent proclamations, with respect to the re-accession of the Bourbons, it would appear that they had already, and mutually, agreed to hasten that event. It cannot be supposed that the duke of Wellington would identify the interests of Louis with those of the allied monarchs without their concurrence: yet, immediately after the battle of Waterloo, the duke espoused his cause, not only in the proclamation which has been inserted, but by other proceedings which will presently be related. On the 20th he continued his march to Malplaquet, a distance of 17 miles, and there crossed the French frontier, advancing to Cateau Cambrensis, whence he dispatched a corps to the right to enter Cambray. General Colville, General Colville, to whom this enterprise was confided, exe'cuted his commission with exemplary skill. He first summoned the town, in the name of Louis XVIII., and on the refusal of the governor, fired a few cannon-shot, with the purpose of intimidation rather than of destruction. Finding that these demonstrations had no effect on the resolution of the governor, it was determined to carry the place by escalade. Notwithstanding the walls were fifty-eight feet in height, the British troops attacked the place at four different points, obtained possession of the town, and compelled the garrison, with the loss of 130 prisoners, to retire to the citadel. The inhabitants materially favoured the success of the assailants, and, unobserved by the troops, handed ladders to the British over the walls, or assisted them to ascend the battlements. Intelligence of the battle of Waterloo arrived at Ghent on the 19th of June. On the entrance of the allies into France, Louis had signed a secret treaty, in which he had purchased their alliance, by granting them all the guarantees which they could desire. He consented to surrender the most formidable bulwarks of the French frontier, and thus enable the confederates, at any future period, to effect an immediate irruption into the territories of France. Secure in the attachment of the allied sovereigns, he disregarded the persuasions of his ministers to reside for some time at Ghent, and to persevere in remaining at a distance from the melancholy scene of France reconquered. Let it appear, said these enlightened states men, that the war is carried on between the coalesced sovereigns and the adherents of Buonaparte, and not between the king of France and his subjects. The allies are suffi ciently strong to overcome all your enemies; and your presence, while it could add little to their numerical force, would impede their operations, throw suspicion on the sincerity of their professions, and raise against them an unnecessary and murderous opposition. Your unwillingness to appear, while the blood of Frenchmen continues to flow, will be attributed to an amiable and honourable feeling, and will make a favourable impression on the minds of your subjects. But, were you to advance in conjunction with the allies, it would shew that you are determined to be king again, whether they will have it so or not, and would infallibly cause much indignation and disgust. You have friends enough among the allies, and secret friends enough at Paris, to take care of your interests there, while you will have the merit of being recalled by the affection and fidelity of your subjects, and not forced upon them by the bayonets of foreigners. The indifference of the king to the advice of his most enlightened counsellors was confirmed by a message from the duke of Wellington, felicitating Louis on the victory which again assured his crown, and requesting him to join the armies of the confederate sovereigns, as their acknowledged friend and ally. On the 22d of June he quitted Ghent, and on the 23d arrived at Mons, in the direction of Cateau Cambrensis. From the latter place he dispatched an officer to summon the citadel of Cambray in his name. The garrison obeyed the summons, and on the following day he entered the city. On the entrance of the king the inhabitants, who had on former occasions exhibited the most devoted attachment to Napoleon, displayed the usual versatility of the French character, selected from the young men of the most respectable families a guard of honour, and erected a triumphal arch, while the female gentry of the town scattered flowers before the carriage of the monarch, as he passed to the hotel de ville. The same populace who, within less than a fortnight, had hailed with universal acclamations the troops of Buonaparte, as they has tened to the frontiers, now abandoned themselves to a delirium of joy at the arrival of the Bourbon sovereign, testified their attachment by general illuminations, and drew the monarch in triumph to the mansion-house. Elated by his reception, he endeavoured to confirm the supposed enthusiasm of the towns and provinces by the circulation of the subjoined address: LOUIS XVIII. TO THE FRENCH PEOPLE. The gates of my kingdom at last open before me. I hasten to bring back my misled subjects to their duty, to mitigate the calamities which I had wished to prevent,-to place myself a second time between the allies and the French armies, in the hope that the feelings of consideration of which I may be the object, may tend to their preservation. This is the only way in which I have wished to take part in the war. I have not permitted any prince of my family to appear in foreign ranks, and have restrained the courage of those of my servants who had been able to range themselves around me. Returned to the soil of my country, I take pleasure in speaking confidence to my people. When I first re-appeared among you, I found men's minds agitated and heated by conflicting passions. My views encountered on every side nothing but difficulties and obstacles. My government was liable to commit errors; perhaps it did commit them.There are times when the purest intentions are insufficient to direct, and sometimes they even mislead. Experience alone could teach; it shall not be lost. All that can save France is my wish. My subjects have learned, by cruel trials, that the principle of the legitimacy of sovereigns is one of the fundamental bases of social order; the only one upon which, amidst a great nation, a wise and well-ordered liberty can be established. This doctrine has just been proclaimed as that of all Europe. I had previously consecrated it by my charter, and I claim to add to that charter all the guaran tees which can secure the benefits of it. The unity of the ministry is the strongest that I can offer. I mean that it should exist, and that the frank and firm march of my council should guarantee all interests, and calm all inquietudes. Some have talked latterly of the restoration of tithes and feudal rights. This fable, invented by the common enemy, does not require confutation. It will not be expected that the king should stoop to refute calumnies and lies. The success of the treason has too clearly indicated their source. If the purchasers of national property have felt alarm, the charter should suffice to re-assure them. Did I not myself propose to the chambers, and cause to be executed, sales of such property? This proof of my sincerity is unanswerable. In these latter times, my subjects of all classes have given me equal proofs of love and fidelity. I wish them to know how sensibly I feel them, and that it is from among all Frenchmen I shall delight to choose those who are to approach my person and my family. I wish to exclude from my presence none but those whose celebrity is matter of grief to France, and of horror to Europe. In the plot which they contrived, I perceive many of my subjects misled, and some guilty. I promise-I who never promised in vain (all Europe knows it)-to pardon, to misled Frenchmen, all that has passed since the day when I quitted Lille, amidst so many tears, up to the day when I re-entered Cambray, amidst so many acclamations. But the blood of my people has flowed in consequence of a treason of which the annals of the world present no example. That treason has summoned foreigners into the heart of France. Every day reveals to me a new disaster. I owe it, then, to the dignity of my crown, to the interest of my people, to the repose of Europe, to except from pardon the instigators and authors of this horrible plot. They shall be designated to the vengeance of the laws by the two chambers, which I propose forthwith to assemble. Frenchmen, such are the sentiments which he brings among you, whom time has not been able to change, nor calamities, fatigue, nor injustice made to stoop. The king, whose fathers reigned for eight centuries over your's, returns to consecrate the remainder of his days in defending and consoling you.-Given at Cambray, the 28th of June, 1815, and of our reign the twenty-first. LOUIS. This ill-timed and injudicious proclamation did much injury to the cause of the Bourbons. While it abounds in professions of moderation and philanthropy, it denounces as the objects of grief and horror the very individuals in whose wisdom and energy the French confided for deliverance from their sufferings. Had the aspersion been true, it was at least imprudent; but its falsehood was too obvious not to excite a feeling of general indignation among all ranks of the Parisians. By placing himself " a second time between the allies and the French armies," Louis insultingly assumed the sole merit of every pacific and generous arrangement which might be granted by the belligerents. The cant of legitimacy was hateful to the nation, and the ancient monarchs of the Bourbon family, with the exception of Louis XIV. and Henry IV., were remembered with aver sion. To assert, therefore, that the principle of legitimacy was the basis of all social order, and to remind the people that the fathers of Louis had reigned over the French nation, had no other tendency than to exasperate resentment, and to excite unpleasing recollections. The menace of inflicting signal vengeance on the authors and abettors of the plot for the return of Buonaparte, applied to individuals who now held the reins of power, and whom it would have been prudent to conciliate. Cateau, to allow the pontoons and the necessary stores to come up, and on the 26th attacked Peronne. The hornwork which covered the suburb was carried with trifling loss, and the town surrendered. On the 28th Wellington was at St. Just; on the 29th and 30th he passed the Oise, establishing his right at Rochebourg, and his left at the forest of Bondy. It will now be necessary to revert to the proceedings of the provisional government. As soon as the avowed object of the war, the abdication of Napoleon and his brothers, had been accomplished, and the nomination of an executive committee had destroyed all plans for a regency, an embassy was immediately sent to the allied powers, to stop the march of their armies, and gain information of their intentions relative to peace. The plenipotentiaries were general La Fayette; M. le Forest, a veteran in diplomacy, and the friend of Talleyrand; general Sebastiani; M. D'Argenson, a descendant of one of the most illustrious families of France; M. Pontecoullant, member of the Bourbon chamber of peers, and of the imperial chamber, where he had resisted, with great energy, the proposal of a regency; and M. Benjamin Con stant. The plenipotentiaries first repaired to the French advanced posts, to ask of the duke of Wellington and Blucher a suspension of hostilities. Blucher, who was the nearest, charged himself with the answer. He demanded not only that the fortified posts before and around him should be given up, but that all those of the Ardennes, and in Lorraine, should be evacuated. The plenipotentiaries could not accept these conditions; they wrote to Paris to send other commissaries to the two generals, and, furnished with a passport from general Blucher, they reached, amidst many difficulties and delays, the head-quarters of the allied sovereigns, at Haguenau. Neither the monarchs, nor even their first ministers, were visible, but lord Stewart, the English ambassador, count Capo d'Istria for Russia, count Walmoden for Austria, and general Konesbeck for Prussia, held conferences with them. In the consultation, general Sebastiani declared that the The duke of Wellington had halted at only object of the war existed no longer, that In the meantime the troops of Blucher continued their advance to Paris, while the French army, under Soult and Grouchy, hastened, in a parallel direction, to outstrip the enemy, and assist in the defence of the capital. The two armies came in contact at Villars Coterets, and a severe engagement ensued, in which the French were defeated with the loss of six pieces of cannon and one thousand prisoners. They then endeavoured to retire by the road of Soissons, but were intercepted, and attempted to escape in the direction of Meaux. At that place they reAt that place they received a severe repulse from the corps of Bulow; but they succeeded in arriving at the metropolis before the invaders, with much of their artillery. The Prussians continued to advance, and on the 29th of June arrived before the walls of Paris. Buonaparte, now become a private indivi, dual under the care of the government, desired only a passport to go to the United States, or to England; that M. Otto was gone to London to ask this permission; that the brothers of Buonaparte were not of the government; that the name of the young Napoleon, detained at Vienna, was so much the less obnoxious to the allies, as a provisional government had been named altogether opposed to an imperial regency; that nothing prevented an immediate suspension of arms, or conference for a peace; that the plenipotentiaries had extensive powers; and that if the allies should propose any measures which they (the French commissioners) had not authority to guarantee, they would immediately refer to the government. Sebastiani's colleagues adhered to his declaration. Two conferences passed, and nothing was decided. In a third conference the commissioners earnestly demanded some specific proposal, or ultimatum, on the part of the allies; a request which, however reasonable, was only answered by the assurance that the English ambassador was not invested with power to treat with the new government. Lord Castlereagh, however, ventured, in conformity to the tenor of his instructions, to demand that Buonaparte should be unconditionally delivered into the hands of the allies. This proposition excited the utmost indignation and astonishment. La Fayette immediately replied, that Napoleon having voluntarily abdicated, that he might be no obstacle to the welfare of France, his person was under the protection of the national gratitude and honour; and that when it was proposed to the French people to commit an act of unexampled treachery, they should not have addressed themselves in preference to the prisoner of Olmutz. All discussion was rendered unavailing by this unexpected requisition, and the commissioners, departed perfectly unacquainted with the demands of the allies, but having received a positive assurance, that the foreign courts made no pretensions to interfere with the form of the French government: a declaration falsified by the whole tenor of their subsequent conduct, by the tone of their manifestoes, and by the proceedings of the duke of Wellington. The plenipotentiaries were treated with great respect, but were accompanied on their return by two Prussian officers, and the road they were obliged to take was so prolonged that they did not reach Paris till the 5th of July, two days after the capitulation was signed. They found Wellington and Blucher preparing to enter the city, by virtue of a convention.The populace were waiting the arrival of Louis with apparent satisfaction, and every offensive caricature against him and his family had disappeared. The commissioners were not prepared for a change so singular and unexpected. But resistance was unavailing, and they individually acquiesced in the stipulations of the treaty. 66 The siege of Paris was regarded by the populace as a chimerical and dangerous enterprise. When Buonaparte, before leaving Paris for Avesnes, consulted Carnot on the means necessary for the defence of the metropolis, the latter estimated them at two hundred millions of livres, and the labour of three years." And when that sum of labour and treasure has been expended, sixty thousand good troops," continued the ex-director, " and a sustained assault of twenty-four hours, may render it all in vain." Nevertheless, Buonaparte undertook preparations for this gigantic and hopeless task. The heights of Montmartre were fortified with extreme care, and amply supplied with artillery. The village of St. Denis was also strongly garrisoned; and a partial inundation being accomplished, by means of stopping two brooks, the water was introduced into the half completed canal de l'Ourcq, the bank of which being formed into a parapet, completed a formidable line of defence on the northern side of the city, resting both flanks upon the Seine. The populace of Paris had laboured at these lines with an enthusiasm not surpassed during the frenzy of the revolution, nor were their spirits or courage at all depressed by the approach of the conquering armies of England and Prussia, supported by the demonstrations of Austria and Russia. They confided in the belief which had been carefully and repeatedly impressed upon their minds; and boasted that they now had Massena, Soult, and Davoust, to direct the de |