BOOK XVI. CRAP. IV. 1815. CHAPTER IV. Remarks on the Restoration of Louis XVIII.-List of his new Ministers.--Conduct of the Pr sians at Paris.-Confused State of France.-Royal Ordinance.-Proceedings of the French Army.—Proclamation of Davoust.-Submission of the French Generals.—Proceedings of Bona parte.-His Surrender to the English.-Brought to Torbay.-His Conduct there.-—Sent to St. Helena.-Description of that Island. THE warlike operations of prominent importance being brought to a conclusion, we shall now offer a few remarks on the manner in which the restoration of Louis XVIII. was effected. Our readers will recollect, that Great Britain did not sign the alliance of the 25th of March, without annexing to it a declaration that, as it was directly repugnant to the principles of the British constitution to fo.ce a sovereign upon any nation, Britain joined the alliance, not for the purpose of forcing Louis on the people of France. The allies also acceded to this. What was the fact? The French were defeated at the battle of Waterloo: the conquerors marched to Paris, with Louis in their train. Paris submitted under a convention; the chambers called upon the allied sovereigns to remember their declaration, when they insisted Louis should be restored. We are not prepared to say, that the chambers represented the wishes of the majority of the French people : let it be granted that they did not; still it cannot be denied that Louis was replaced on the throne without ascertaining the wishes of the nation, and merely in consequence of the victories of the allies. If the allies concurred that it was necessary for the repose of Europe, not only that Bonaparte should be again driven from France, but also that Louis should be again placed on the throne of that kingdom, they should have clearly said so at least they should not have disclaimed all intention of interfering with the internal government of France, and with the right of the French to choose their own sovereign. We are by no means of opinion, that a nation has a right, whenever they please, to dethrone a sovereign, or to change the ruling dynasty: because this doctrine leads to the absurd conclusion, that a nation has a right to do wrong; since, it they dethroned a good sovereign, and chose a bad one, they would undoubtedly be doing what was wrong; that is, injurious to their own happiness. A nation, therefore, as well as an individual, has only a right, usually speaking, to do an action, when that action is right; but it by no means follows, because a nation, ir dethroning their sovereign, or changing the dynasty, may do wrong; that is, may really injure themselves; that, therefore, any foreign nation has a right to interfere in the affairs of that nation. At the same time, we would carry the doctrine of fo reign interference so far, as to admit that it is justifiable in all cases when the peace of other countries is actually endangered, or undoubtedly threatened, by the principles avowed, the me sures adopted, or the conduct regularly pursued, by any particular country. Hence we think, that the allies were perfectly justified in forcing France to give up Bonaparte; but we doubt whether they were justified in placing Louis again on the throne, without ascertaining whether the French nation wished him there. On the same day that Louis entered Paris, the following royal order was issued by General De solles, the commander of the national-guards "Signals of rallying, which address themselves to the eyes, and strike the imagination, are ou of the most powerful means which the spirit of faction has employed to agitate nations, and die turb states. These ensigns, which have no other value than that which is attributed to them, de generate and change their signification as the parties which employ them change their object and interest. Thus they have been often turned to account to mislead the soldier as to the in portance which be attached to an ensign under which he had been long victorious. It was will the aid of the same ensign that a faction endea voured to support the interests and opinions of A party, at the risk of seeing the citizens and the army buried under the ruins of the capital. It with the same object that this faction has held out the white cockade as the sign of a party, though so long the national colour; though i again became so when the whole nation resumed it; though the national-guard received it as the national cockade; and though, from this me ment, it can only be regarded as the true rallying sign of Frenchineu, and the signal of union and fidelity. Such are the considerations which have not permitted the king to regard as national, the wish expressed by some citizens to retain the incolour cockade, while a great many departments have spontaneously hoisted the white cockade In consequence, his majesty orders the resp tion of the white cockade as the national cockade, and as the only rallying sign of Frenchmen. But, at the same time, the king wishes that indulgence be exercised towards those whom error and a heated mind prevent from immediately resuming this sign of union. He forbids all violence on the part of citizens, to compel such resumption, wishing that the magistrates shall alone execute the laws of the state on this head. In consequence, the national-guard will arrest, and place at the disposal of police, both the individuals who shall appear with other ensigns than the white cockade, and those who, under pretence of compelling its assumption, shall seek to disturb public order. His majesty, on this occasion, depends more than ever on the prudence and firmness of the national-guard, which he honors and cherishes as a corps that has twice saved the capital, and twice extinguished the fire of civil war in its bosom." A strong curiosity and interest were naturally excited to learn on whom Louis would fix for his ministers. In his former reign he was thought to have acted imprudently, by selecting, as his ministers, some of Bonaparte's oldest and staunchest adherents; but it was believed that, taught by experience, he would, on this occasion, make a more judicious and prudent selection. This idea, however, was proved to be ill-founded, by an official declaration of the 9th of July, from which it appeared that his majesty decided on having an administration composed of a privy. council, and a council of ministers. In the former, the princes, the ministers of state, and the persons whom his majesty thought proper to add, were to have seats. This council, to be assembled only by special convocation, was to afford the means for discussing before the king, in a solemn manner, a certain portion of affairs; and was, at the same time, to give his majesty an opportunity of recompensing services performed-the number of the members of the council not being fixed. Next to the council was that of the responsible ministers, which can only consist of ministers, secretaries-of-state, having departments: of these ministers, the following is a list : "The Prince of Talleyrand, peer of France, is appointed president of the council of ministers, and secretary-of-state for the department of foreign affairs. "Baron Louis, secretary-of-state for the finances. "The Duke of Otranto, secretary-of-state for the department of general police. "Baron Pasquier, secretary-of-state for the department of justice, and keeper of the seals. "Marshal Gouvion St. Cyr, peer of France, secretary-of-state for the department of war. The Count de Jaucour, peer of France, mi CHAP. I nister secretary-of-state for the marine depart- BOOK XVI. ment. "The Duke de Richelieu, peer of France, secretary-of-state for the department of the household. "The portfolio of the minister of the inter or shall be provisionally confided to the minister of justice. "Given at Paris, on the 9th of July, in the year of grace 1815, and the twenty-first of our reign. (Signed) " LOUIS. By the king, "The Prince TALLEYRAND." Of those appointed to inferior posts were also several who had been in office under Bonaparte; a proof that it was thought necessary to conciliate a party which still remained numerous and pow. erful. The ministers of Louis were certainly, placed in most difficult circumstances. The allies had resolved to punish Frauce; but how could they do it, without the certainty of increasing the unpopularity of the sovereign? Blucher more especially, and the Prussians, were determined that Paris should this time feel sensibly that she was a conquered city, and be no longer permitted to boast of the trophies of the subjugation and humiliation of their own country. One of the bridges over the Seine, erected under the rule of Napoleon, was named that of Jena, in memorial of the victory which laid Prussia at his feet. Marshal Blucher determined to use the right of retribution in obliterating this triumphal inonument, by blowing up the bridge, a fine piece of art, and his soldiers had already made excava tions in some of the piers, and filled them with gunpowder, and stripped the bridge of its pavement, when an order was given for putting an end to this demolition. The order is said to have' proceeded from the Emperor Alexander, after the Duke of Wellington had in vain interposed. That sovereign, with the Emperor of Austria and the King of Prussia, being then in Paris. As Blucher was determined to chastise the Parisians, he imposed on the city a military contribution of 100 millions of francs; and threatened. to send a considerable number of the bankers and merchants to prison, unless a fifth part of that sum was paid within twenty-four hours. To enforce this demand be actually arrested two of the principal bankers, by placing guards in their houses. They were, however, removed, on the interference of the sovereigns, who were satisfied with. the immediate payment of eight millions of francs, Meanwhile, heavy contributions were levied upon Versailles and the surrounding country, by the Prussians, who besides committed the greatest excesses, by robbing and ill-treating the inhabitants. They burnt Malmaison. 1815. On the 13th, the King of France published an ordinance announcing the dissolution of the chamber of deputies, and regulating the mode of election for a new one. By these rules the candidates were declared eligible at the age of twentyfive, the deputies were to be persons paying at least 1,000 francs in taxes, and the whole number was augmented from 262, as fixed by the constitutional charter, to 395. In the meantime, Louis was advised to take some measures against those who had favored Bonaparte during his last reign; and, on the 24th of July, the two following ordinances were published. "Louis, by the grace of God, King of France and Navarre, to all who shall see these presents, greeting: "An account has been laid before us that several members of the chamber of peers accepted seats in the self-styled chamber of peers, nominated and assembled by the man who had usurped the power in our states, from the 20th of March up to our re-entrance into the kingdom. It is beyond doubt that peers of France, so long as they are not made hereditary, could and can give in their demission, because in so doing they only dispose of interests which are purely personal to them. It is equally evident that the acceptance of functions, incompatible with the dignity with which they are invested, supposes and leads to the demission of that dignity, and, consequently, the peers who are in the situation above announced, have really abdicated their rank, and have in fact demitted the peerage of France. "For these causes we have ordained, and do ordain as follows: -- Art. I.—“The undernamed no longer form part of the chamber of peers :Count Clemont de Ris Cornudet D'Aboville Marshal Duke of Cornegliano Soult Alix Tre Excelmans Count Barral, Archbi. shop of Tours Boissy d'Anglas Duke of Cadure Debelle Bertrand Drouet Cambrone Lavalette Rovigo. whose names follow Mebée Thibaudeau Felix Lepelletier Boulay (de la Meurthe) Vandamme Fressinet Lamarque (General) Le Lorgue-Dideville Pire chingen Albufera II. Those, however, of the above-named may be excepted from this arrangement, who shall prove that they have neither sat nor wished to sit in the self-styled chamber of peers, to which they were summoned, they being bound to prove Pommereuil Arrighi (of Padua) Bouvier Dumolard Hullin Courtin Bassano shall within three days depart from the city Paris, and shall retire into the interior of Frauce, to the places which our minister of general-police shall indicate to them, where they shall remain under his superinspection, until the chambers decide as to which of them ought either to depart the kingdom, or be delivered up to prosecution before the tribunals. "Those who shall not repair to the spot assigned to them by our minister of general-police, shall be immediately arrested. III." The individuals condemned to depart kingdom shall be at liberty to sell their goods and property within a year's interval, to dispose of and transport the produce out of France, and in the mean time to receive the revenue in foreign parts, on furnishing proof of their obedience to the present ordinance. IV." The lists of all the individuals to whom Articles I. and II. may apply, are and remain closed with the nominal designations contained in these articles, and can never be extended to others for any cause, or under any pretext whatever, otherwise than in the terms and according to the constitutional laws, from which there is nothing expressly derogated but in this case only. "Given at Paris, this 24th of July, 1815, &c. (Signed) "LOUIS. By the king. "The Duke of OTRANTO, "Minister secretary-of-state for the general police." From this moment, the events which took place in France can scarcely be reduced to any regular order. The whole appears a mass of confusion, through which scarcely any light is afforded to conduct the inquirer on his way. The humbled pride of the French nation refused to tell what took place, and the policy of the allies had the same effect with regard to them. Seated, however, again in the Thuilleries, as he now was, Louis XVIII. did not find himself in an enviable situation, nor in that state of apparent tranquillity in which he found himself on the preceding year. The capital and the country remained in the most dreadful state of alarm and agitation. The army refused to submit for a considerable time; and even when they did so, they did it in a manner that left their intentions very doubtful, and confirmed the fact that they did it with the deepest regret. All, or nearly all, the fortified places refused to acknowledge the king's authority; till pressed by the allied arms, and driven to the necessity of either surrendering or of being taken by assault, their commanders then, and only then, in many instances, hoisted the white flag, pretending they acknowledged the king, and making a merit of saying, they did not give up the place to a foreign eneiny. This, however, had, in most instances, no effect with the allies, but particufarly with the Prussians. It was not the hoisting labour, blood, and danger; and, accordingly, they BOOK XVI. continued the sieges of the various frontier towns, till these were forced to surrender. In some in- CHAP. IV, stances, the places thus taken were surrendered to the king's authority, and in others were retained 1815. by the conquerors. Paris, from the time of the capitulation till the time of its complete evacuation by the French armies, continued in the most dreadful state of agitation and alarm. Soldiers, mad from disasters, which had for ever stopped the career of their destructive pursuits-disappointed politicians, whose golden dreams of power were vanished-incendiaries of all descriptions; profligates of every degree, for whom that capital had so long been the centre, and with whom it was so fully peopled, were eager and anxious to commence any desperate undertaking, and plunge into fresh confusion and blood. Groupes of people assembled in all quarters of the city, and its suburbs and environs. Cries of rage, menacing gestures, threats of the most alarming description, cannon and muskets fired along the streets, the Boulevards, and from the bridges, filled the night with deeper horror, and the minds of the peaceable inhabitants with terror and alarm. The shops were shut-terror was at its height in the different quarters of the city. Nothing but the immediate presence of the allied troops in the environs of Paris, and ready to enter it, could have prevented this fury from exerting its strength in scenes of confusion and blood. At length the entrance of the allied troops gave some assurance that order would be maintained in the place. Nevertheless, that was a matter of great difficulty. An exasperated population, which was increased by deserters from the army, threatened Paris with the severest calamities. Quarrels daily took place between the inhabitants and the Prussian soldiers, in which many lives were lost. It was calculated that there was more than 30,000 deserters from the army in Paris; and the fedères were every where in motion. Strong measures, however, were taken by the allies for preserving tranquillity. Their guards were augmented-their forces were stationed so as they could assemble in force at any given point, upon the shortest notice; and cannon, loaded with grape-shot, were planted on the bridges and public places; where, by night and by day, the artillerymen stood beside the pieces with lighted matches. In the places, however, where only the national-guards were stationed, the most daring movements took place. These were either afraid or unwilling to repress the violence of the multitude. In consequence of which, the king and the royal family were daily insulted in the most bitter and seditious language, even in the palace of the Thuilleries. Meanwhile, fresh armies continued to arrive at 300K XVI. and fresh corps were daily advancing from Germany, Italy, and England, and entering the CHAP. IV. French territory on the north and east. 1815. The French army, which retired behind the Loire, was under the command of Davoust, and who also at this time held the supreme command of all the military in France which had not acknowledged the king. The strength of this army was stated at about 70,000 men; for though desertion had made great ravages in it, it had nevertheless been augmented by corps from different quarters. The officers and men composing this force were decidedly adverse to the re-establishment of the Bourbons. With arms in their hands, it could not be expected that such men would at once surrender them without a struggle; or till they had received some terms from the king, in order to ensure not only their personal safety, but also, if possible, their existence as a body. Accordingly, they continued, for some time, to disown the king's authority, and refuse to submit to his sway. The advance, however, of the allied armies against them, and the submission of many places, and a large portion of the inhabitants, left them in a dangerous situation; and, accordingly, after some negociations, with the nature of which the public are yet unacquainted, they agreed to send in their submission to the king, which was accordingly transmitted by Davoust, but in a manner that it was difficult to say what their intentions were; and, at the same time, proved, unequivocally, with what reluctance they made any concession or advances towards submission. In his first proclamation, addressed to the army, announcing his intentions, Davoust stated, that "the army, on quitting Paris, and retiring bebind the Loire, according to the terms of the convention of the 3d of July, left with the provisional government commissioners appointed to require instructions, in case a new government should be established. These commissioners," said he, "in rendering an account to the army of the late events of the capital, and the entrance of the king, have informed me of the overtures which have been made to them to induce the army to recognise that its union with the system of the government could alone prevent the dissolution of the state. The commissioners, in their communications, give the assurance, that, under a constitutional government, no re-action is to be feared; that the passions will be neutralised; that the ministry will be one and responsible; that men and principles will be respected; that arbitrary dismissals shall not take place, either in the army or in other orders of society; and, finally, the army shall be treated conform ably to its honor: these are the terms tranemitted by the commissioners. As a pledge and a proof of what they advance, they state, as a certainty, that Marshal St. Cyr is appointed minister of war; that the Duke of Otranto is minister of police, and that he only accepts this office with the assurance that the government will proceed in a spirit of moderation and wisdom, of which he himself has always given the example." Davoust then proceeded thus:-"The senti ments of the army are well known: it has fought during these twenty-five years always for France, often for contested opinions. The only reward which it demands for the blood it has shed, i that no citizen be prosecuted for any of those op nions which he may have held with good faith, On these conditions, national interests ought freely to unite the army to the king. These in terests require sacrifices: they should be made with a good grace, with a modest energy; the army subsisting, the army united, will become, should our misfortunes increase, the centre and rallying-point of all Frenchmen, even of the most violent royalists. Every one must feel that union, and the oblivion of all dissensions, can alone effect the salvation of France, which will become inpossible, should hesitation, difference of opinion, or private considerations, bring dissolution to the army, either by its own means or those of foreign force. Let us unite, then-let us never separate The Vendeans have given us a touching exam ple; they have written to us, offering to lay aside all resentments, and to unite with us in the pa triotic wish of preventing all dismemberment of the country. Let us be Frenchmen: you know that this sentiment always reigned exclusively in my soul it will only leave me with my last breath. In this name I demand your confidence; I am sure of meriting and obtaining it.” This, however, did not fully convince the army, who remained obstinate; much to the satisfaction of Davoust and their other leaders, who were jealous of the king's intentions, and durst not trust his word. Time, however, pressed. He was without any regular means of supplying the wants of his troops, and the army must either a knowledge the king, and bow to his authority, unconditionally, or contend against the allied armies in battle. Accordingly, with great rele tance, this submission was announced in the fol lowing order of the day, issued by Daroust on the 16th of July : "Soldiers, I communicate to you, by an order of the day, the submission which the generals and officers of the army, of which the command is confided to me, have made to the government of Louis XVIII. It is for you, soldiers, to com plete this submission by your obedience; bois the white cockade and colours. I demand from you, I know, a great sacrifice; we have all been connected with these colours for these twenty-in years; but the interest of our country command this sacrifice. I am incapable, soldiers, of giving you an order not to be founded on these senti |