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Fleurus is inserted with that of the marshal-major-general of the army, stating that already eight thousand prisoners are taken, and twenty pieces of cannon, and many stand of colours. A charge of the old guard is said to have decided the battle. It is not said whether Prussians or English were chiefly engaged. In the sitting of the peers on the 17th, the report of the minister of police was read, and a discussion took place, similar to that in the representatives, relative to the initiative in the proposal of laws, which terminated in the suggestion of Count Thibeaudeau, that the communication between the executive and the legislative should be regulated by a special commission, consisting of commissioners named by the government and by each of the houses. In the chamber of representatives, on the same day, previously to the business already recorded, Mr. Malleville developed his project for the repression of the abuse of the liberty of the press, and a debate ensued relative to evacuating the galleries, which ended in the regulation, that on the demand of twenty-five members the house must, at any time, resolve itself into a secret committee. Mr. Crochon said, in his speech, "we are here by the people and for the people, and it is in their presence that we ought to determine even upon our internal expenses." This drew down loud applauses from the galleries, which, however, were reminded that all signs of praise or blame were forbidden. At the sitting of the 19th, in the chamber of representatives, Mr. Crochon proposed a regulation relative to vacancies in the chamber, in which he insisted on the necessity of permitting the monarch to choose his ministers amongst the representatives of the people, citing the example of England, who you will observe to be still the model of those whom she is labouring to destroy. The minister of state, Defermont, read the report of the minister of finances, and the remainder of the sitting was taken up with determining the interior regulations respecting committees, and discussing the necessity of enquiring into the conduct of the editor of the Journal General de France, who had published that General Travot had been defeated in La Vendée, made prisoner, and exchanged for an insurgent chieftain. Much indignation was excited against the author of this seditious intelligence, which Mr. Regnault de St. Jean d'Angely asserted to be positively false; but Mr. Dupin carried the order of the day, upon the presumption that the competent authorities would punish the delinquency.

The Moniteur of the 20th contains nothing relative to the war but a letter from an officer of the general staff, stating the battle of Fleurus to have been a complete victory, in which the combined armies were separated, four or five thousand Scotchmen cut to pieces, adding these words-" Le noble lord doit être

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confondu.* The grand total of the enemy's loss is fifty thousand."

The last words are to us of painful interest: "Quant aux Anglais, on verra aujourd'hui ce qu'ils deviendront. L'Empereur est la." It is plain, then, the main English army has not been engaged.‡

LETTER XXIV.

Bourg, June 25.

WE have received an answer from the Duke of Albufera: he regrets that the minister Count Mollien's letter cannot in this case be immediately attended to, nor any request short of a positive order from the minister of war, who, together with the minister of the interior, has transmitted express commands to all the prefects, commanders of gendarmerie, and the government agents on the frontiers, to prevent the passage to and from the enemy; for so it appears Switzerland is now to be considered; and I see that your friend Mr. S. Canning has conferred upon the cantons what he calls the advantage of participating in the present honourable contest. This being the case, the prefect Baron Baude has advised us to return to Paris, to procure the necessary permission from Marshal Davoust; and we have resolved upon this journey, intending to retire immediately to the frontier upon procuring our permission to pass. Our casual acquaintance here would advise us to remain at Bourg for a day or two longer, in which time Geneva will be, say they, in the hands of the French, and we may proceed thither without interruption. Our host has promised to transmit a letter or two to Geneva for us, which may account for this alteration in our movements. The Moniteur of the 21st is just arrived. The lower chamber on the 20th finally determined to commence its labours on the constitution, by choosing a representative from the members of each department, and forming the eighty-seven thus chosen into eight committees, which, together with a ninth from the commercial deputations, may prepare respective projects until the presidents of each committee, formed into a central committee, can compare the several propositions, and unite them in one

"The noble lord must be confounded."

"As for the English, we shall see to-day what is to become of them. The Emperor is there!" + See Appendix-No. 23.

project, for the discussion and adoption of the whole assembly. One of the motives for hastening the formation of the commission, stated by M. Duchesne, was, to provide a law relative to any addition to the empire, which the late victory might render it natural to expect; the additional act only relating to exchanges of territory.*

The Moniteur of the 21st says not one word of this victory, a circumstance which we have taken the liberty to remark to our French acquaintance here, as a sign by no means equivocal, that the "complete victory" over the Prussians and English cannot have been so complete as was at first imagined. The details must have reached Paris before the date of this Moniteur, and, had they been favourable, would have appeared in the columns of this number. The people here draw no such conclusions; they look upon a drawn battle as impossible, and, judging from the spirit of all the neighbouring departments, are confident of present and final success. I must inform you, that from Fontainbleau to the frontiers, through all the country which we have traversed, there appears but one sentiment-that of defending the national cause to the last. In the Jura and the long line of frontier we have pursued, the whole population is in arms. Posts and beacons are established at every turn of the road, and guarded by peasants of all ages, with pikes and fowling-pieces. In Franche Comté the school children have enrolled themselves, and a body of them actually passed in review before a general at Dole: a hundred of these infant warriors last year cast consternation into the Austrian garrison at Salines, by some pranks which they played to alarm them during the night. I do not say that the Emperor, in these countries, is the object of unqualified regard, but I do assert that the Bourbons are much less so; and that scarcely any innkeeper or postmaster fails to tell some tale to their disadvantage, with which these princes furnished them in their unpaid progresses through the provinces. The usual character given of Napoleon here is, that he is a great man, fit for France and Frenchmen, but too fond of war. predominant wish, I may say passion, of the people and soldiers, in every part of the country I have seen, is peace, which the ignorant sanguinary statesmen of congress will not see or allow, because they are in want of war themselves. Nothing but the general recognition of the necessity of defending their indepen

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The house appears to have thought it expedient to strengthen themselves and their constituents, whilst the Emperor was adding to his personal pretensions. It must be recollected that the representatives voted the formation of this magna charta, at the instant that one hundred and one cannons were announcing the victory of Ligny, and the new claims of Napoleon to the confidence and gratitude of France.

dence, could have prompted the noble exertions which, whatever may be their issue, must give them claim to an admiration that no belligerents, since the struggles of the Swiss and Dutch reM. Dupublics, can extort from an unprejudiced observer. chesne has a right to tell the representatives that "this time the justice of their cause is certain;" "and France, fighting for her independence, ought to be for ever invincible." I trust he has added the latter sentence in a spirit of prophecy, and I should express the same wish were any other name inserted in the place of France-why else do we drink "to the cause of liberty all over the world?"

I shall write from Paris: we go across the country to Macon, and return to the capital by the great Lyons road.

LETTER XXV.

Paris, June 28.

Our surmises at Bourg have been more than justified, by the stupendous event which overpowers the imagination, and which would seem likely to be the last of those mighty shocks that have so often appeared to exhaust all the principles of convulsion, but have been too often repeated to allow us to hope that we have survived them all.

We had passed Macon, and had arrived at the little town of St. Albin, the next stage: the horses were put to our carriages, when a man on horseback begged to say a word to us, and asked, in a whisper, whether we had heard the news. What news? Why, bad news-the worst. The Emperor had returned to Paris-had abdicated. Two merchants, passing through Tournus, on their way to Lyons, had shewn a Paris journal, stating the fact. What journal? The Journal Général. It was natural that we should add, "You must not believe that journal-it is a suspected paper." Our informant replied, that he thought so too, and that the merchants had been followed by a gendarme and taken to the prefect; who, however, upon examining their paper, had suffered them to depart. The fact was the more unaccountable, as the telegraph at Lyons had that morning announced a second victory, gained over the allies, in which their cavalry had been nearly annihilated. Our informant assigned no cause for the event, but said there had been some insigne trahison (uncommon treason) at the bottom of it: so the mer

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chants had averred. He did not believe the story, but was evidently much disturbed, and accompanied us to the next stage, to meet the courier from Paris. At Tournus we were stopped in the streets, for the examination of our passports, and found every one in extreme anxiety. The post-house was surrounded with crowds, who, although they knew we came from the opposite quarter, wished to know our opinion on the subject, and who were not a little pleased at hearing our arguments on the improbability of the fact. Tournus is one of the towns which distinguished itself last year, in the defence made against the allies. At Sennecy, the next stage, in the road to which place we met the courier, the truth burst upon us. We paused, but did not still altogether resign our incredulity, for we could only see a paper, called Le Journal des Campagnes, in a small tavern, where some country fellows, and people of the town, were dining, and joined with us in still wishing to wait for the Moniteur itself, of which, however, an extract was given in this journal. The fatal intelligence was read aloud-Napoleon had gained victories on the 16th and 17th, attacked the English on the 18th, and beat them up to half past eight in the evening, when a desperate charge being made on some English batteries, by four battalions of the middle guard, and these battalions being thrown into confusion, by a charge of cavalry, a route took place. The French army thought the old guard had been repulsed-la vieille garde est repoussée* was the cry, which was followed up by shouts of sauve qui peut ;t the whole army began to run: in vain the old guard tried to stop them, and was itself borne down by the mass of fugitives; even the squadrons of the body guard about the Emperor were borne backwards; all rushed to the point of communication, and a complete defeat ensued. Cannons, carriages, all the park of artillery, all the reserve of the whole army, was left, and taken on the field of battle. The Emperor returned to Paris. His abdication was not mentioned.

At the close of the recital, the persons present said it was not, could not be true. One added, "if so, the Bourbons will come back: they may-but they shall reign over stones; the men will die, or depart to some happier country."

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We spoke to the postmaster, and asked him if the Emperor had really been defeated: it will require some time to forget the air and accent with which he replied, mais, oui, completement battu, At Chalons sur Saone we read the Journal de l'Empire of the 22d. All was confirmed relative to the total defeat of

* The old guard is repulsed. + See Appendix.

† Save himself who can.
But, yes-completely beaten.

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