result of the impending conflict. No | the conflict, and they were many, shared one who was then of an age to under- in the general exultation: grief was alstand what was going on, can ever forget the entrancing joy which thrilled the British heart when the thunder of artillery proclaimed the glorious news, and when Wellington's letter was read aloud to crowds with beating hearts, in every street, by whoever was fortunate enough to have obtained first a copy of the London Gazette.+ Even those who had lost sons or brothers in * The total loss of the allied armies under to the 3d July, was as follows: OFFICERS. most overwhelmed amidst the universal joy: it was felt that life could not have been so well sacrificed as for the advancement of such a cause. The lover left his fair one, the mother her child. Spontaneous illuminations were seen in every city; exultation beamed in every eye; gratitude was felt in every heart. All work, alike in the streets and the fields, was suspended.+ Blucher and Wellington, from the 15th June Killed. Wounded. Missing. Wounded Missing. It is singular how frequently a rumour of a great and decisive victory prevails at a great distance in an inconceivably short space of time after its actual occurrence. In the London papers of Tuesday the 20th June, a rumour was mentioned of Napoleon "having been defeated in a great battle near Brussels, on Sunday evening, in which he lost all his heavy artillery." The official despatches did not arrive in London till midnight on Wednesday. It was the same with the battle of the Metaurus in the second Punic war, which determined its issue. "A doubtful rumour," says Arnold, "at first arose, that a great battle had been fought only two days before: two horsemen of Narnia had ridden off from the field to carry the news to their home: it had been heard and published in the camp of the reserve army of Narni. But how could a battle fought in the extremity of Umbria be heard of only two days after at Rome?"-LIvy, xxvii. 50; ARNOLD'S Rome, iii. 377. A similar incident is recounted of the Battle of Platea, under circumstances still more extraordinary: "Eodem fortè die quo Mardonii copiæ deleta sunt, etiam navali prœlio in Asia sub monte Mycale adversus Persas dimicatum est. ante congressionem, quum classes ex adverso starent, fam a ad utrumque exercitum venit, vicisse Græcos, et Mardonii copias occidione occidisse. Tanta famæ velocitas fuit, ut quum matutino tempore prælium in Boeotia commissum sit, meridianis horis in Asiam, per tot maria et tantum spatii, tam brevi horarum momento de victoria nuntiatum sit." It is a singular circumstance, that a similar and almost miraculous rapidity should have occurred in the transmission of the intelligence of the battles of Platæa, the Metaurus, and Waterloo, the most decisive in their consequences, and influential of the fate of future ages, in ancient and modern times. It would seem that an unerring instinct tells mankind when actions of vast moment have been fought, and leads them to make almost supernatural efforts in the transmission of the accounts of them. The same paper (Courier, June 20, 1815) mentions that "Rothschild had made great purchase of stock, which raised the Three per Cents from 56 to 58." Perhaps, in the latter instance, this may explain the prodigy. "Oh se vedessi In quai teneri eccessi D'insolito piacer prorompe ogni alma! Chi sparge fior, chi se ne adorna; i Numi Sè stessi invigorir. Sino i fanciulli, I fanciulli innocenti, Non san perchè, ma sul comune esempio Van festivi esclamando: al tempio, al tempio." Ibi METASTASIO, Ciro, Act iii. scene 11. coutrements. But their aspect was not on that account the less striking. It had less of the pomp of the melodrama, but more of the reality of war. With inexpressible feelings the French beheld the standards riddled with shot and blackened by fire; the proud but grave air of the men; the soiled coats but clear and burnished arms; the splendid The plough was left in the furrow, the hammer on the anvil, the shuttle in the loom. The streets from morning till night were thronged with crowds too excited to rest, wandering about intoxicated with transport. Children even, too young to know the cause, shared in the general joy, and discharged little guns they knew not why. The aged, on the brink of the grave, recov-bearing and magnificent horses of the ered the fire of youth. The veterans recounted their combats; the young envied what they had done. A general thanksgiving, appointed by government, met with a responsive echo in every heart; both houses of parliament unanimously voted their thanks to the Duke of Wellington and the soldiers who had fought at Waterloo; and a medal was struck, by orders from the commander-in-chief, which was given to every officer and man who had borne arms on the eventful day. In almost all cases, it was preserved by them and their descendants with religious care to the latest hour of their lives. Yet was the most touching proof of the universal sympathy of the nation afforded by the general subscription, spontaneously entered into in every chapel and parish in the kingdom, for the widows and orphans of those who had fallen at Waterloo, or the relief of those who had been maimed in the fight, and which soon amounted to the immense sum of five hundred thousand pounds sterling. 12. The 7th of July was the proudest day in the annals of England. On that day her victorious army, headed by Wellington, made their public entry, along with the Prussians, into Paris, where an English drum had not been heard for nearly four hundred years. They approached by the imposing entrance of the barrier of Neuilly, defiled through the Champs Elysées, and, dividing in the Place Louis XV., spread on either side round the Boulevards, and took military possession of all the principal points in the capital. The troops had not the splendid appearance of the Russian and Prussian Guards on the former entry; the brief but dreadful campaign of Waterloo had soiled their dress and torn their ac cavalry, by whom the last remains of the Old Guard had been destroyed. The Highland regiments in particular, arrayed in their full and beautiful national costume, attracted universal admiration. But it was a very different spectacle from the former entry of the Allies on the 31st of March 1814. Joy then beamed in every eye, hope was buoyant in every heart; all felt as if rescued from death. The reality of subjugation was now experienced: the crime of the nation had been unpardonable; its punishment was unknown, but all felt it could not but be great. With a proud step and beating hearts, to the triumphant sound of military music, with looks erect and banners flying, the British troops defiled through the capital. But the French regarded them with melancholy hearts and anxious looks. Few persons were to be seen in the streets; hardly any sound but the clang of the horses' hoofs was heard when they marched through the city. The English established themselves in the Bois de Boulogne, in a regular camp; the Prussians bivouacked in the churches, on the quays, and in the principal streets. 13. Meanwhile Louis XVIII. slowly advanced in the rear of the English army towards Paris. Pozzo di Borgo, immediately after the battle of Waterloo, had written to him to come "before his place was filled up," and he came by Mons, attended by his ministers and Talleyrand, who met him by the way, and soon regained his ascendancy over that weak monarch. On the day following that of the English army, Louis made his public entrance into Paris. But his entry was attended by still more melancholy circumstances, and of sinister augury to the future stability of his dynasty. Even the Royalists were downcast; their patriotic feelings and all the principal points of the town, were deeply wounded by the defeat of were occupied by strong bodies of inFrance; they augured ill of the return fantry and artillery; patrols of cavalry of the king in the rear of the British were to be seen at every step; the realbayonets. There was something in the ity of subjugation was before their restoration of the monarch, by the arms eyes. Blucher kept aloof from all inof the old rivals and enemies of France, tercourse with the court, and haughtily which added inexpressibly to its bitter- demanded a contribution of a hundred ness. It was no longer "Europe in millions of francs (£4,000,000 sterling) arms before her walls," in the words for the pay of his troops, as Napoleon of Alexander, which sought for amity had done from the Prussians at Berlin. as the reward of pardon; it was Eng. Already the Prussian soldiers insisted land and Prussia which made their with loud cries that the pillar of Aussingle and triumphant entry, and from terlitz should be pulled down, as Nawhom nothing could be expected on poleon had destroyed the pillar of this second overthrow but the stern Rosbach; and Blucher was so resolute maxim of war, "Woe to the vanquish- to destroy the bridge of Jena, that he ed!" The recollection of our Edwards had actually begun operations by runand Henrys, of Cressy and Poictiers, ning mines under the arches for blowmingled with the bitterness of presenting it up. subjugation. Louis appeared another Charles, led by another Henry, after a second Azincour,* destined in mock royalty to sign a second treaty of Troyes. Hereditary animosities, old injuries, joined with present mortification to render the feelings of all insupportable. Melancholy appeared in every visage; a load was felt on every heart; peace itself seemed dearly purchased at the price of such humiliation. The future was yet more disheartening than the present; the partition of France, possibly its destruction, might be approaching; even hope, the last consolation of the unfortunate, was gone. 14. Paris exhibited a melancholy aspect after the second restoration of Louis XVIII. On the same day on which it took place, Fouché announced the dissolution of the provisional gov ernment. The share he had had in recent events soon appeared in his appointment as minister of police to the restored monarch. But with him were not restored the visions which, to a considerable part of the nation, had obscured the bitterness of the former capture of Paris. The whole charm of the Restoration, in the eyes even of the Royalists, was gone; its hopes to the nation were at an end. The bridges, 15. A negotiation ensued on the subject between him and Wellington, in which the stern Prussian haughtily demanded this sacrifice to the injured genius of his country.+ Wellington as steadily resisted the ruthless act, but he had great difficulty in maintaining his point; and it was only by his placing a sentinel on the bridge, and repeated "Several reports have been brought to me during the night, and some from the government, in consequence of the work carrying on by your highness on one of the bridges the intention of your highness to destroy. over the Seine, which it is supposed to be "As this measure will certainly create a good deal of disturbance in the town, and as the sovereigns, when they were here before, the liberty of suggesting to you to delay the left all these bridges, &c., standing, I take destruction of the bridge till they arrive, or till I have the pleasure of seeing you to-mor8th July 1815, midnight; GURWOOD, xii. 549. row morning."-WELLINGTON to BLUCHER, Blucher, however, was not to be diverted from his project even by this judicious remonstrance; the preparations for blowing up the bridge still continued, and in consequence Wellington again addressed him in the following terms, on the following day: "The destruction of the bridge of Jena is highly disagreeable to the king and to the people, and may occasion disturbance in the city. It is not merely a military measure, but it is one likely to attach to the character of our operations, and is of political importis considered a monument of the battle of ance. It is adopted solely because the bridge It is a very curious coincidence that the Jena, notwithstanding that the government battle of Waterloo was fought just four hun-are willing to change the name of the bridge. dred years after that of Azincour: the former took place on 18th June 1815; the latter on Oct. 25, 1415.-BLAIR'S Chronology. Considering the bridge as a monument, I beg leave to observe, that its immediate destruc tion is inconsistent with the promise made to |