cher while they were unsupported, he could have no hope of finding a more favourable opportunity when the Allied armies had reached the frontiers. But defeated by the valour and military skill opposed to him, he is now thrown back upon France, and new strength is added to the confederated powers."

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CHAPTER IV.

Flight of Napoleon.-Narrow Escape at Genappe.Arrival at Paris.-State of Parties there-Conference with the Ministers.-Determination not to dissolve the Chambers.-Fouché.-The Princess Hortensia.-The Council.-Tumultuous Meeting of the Deputies. Decided Conduct of La Fayette. -Declaration of the Chamber that their Sitting was permanent.—Grand Council in the Evening: Their Determination.-Agitation of the different Parties.-Meeting of the Deputies.-Motion for the Forfeiture of the Crown.-The Decision suspended for an Hour.-Irresolution of Napoleon. Interview with Lucien.-Regnault.—Solignac. Abdication of Napoleon.-Reflections on it.

NAPOLEON remained in the hollow under the British lines, until he had witnessed the defeat of his last hope, the hitherto invincible guards; he then hastily retired to his former position near the farm of La Belle Alliance. Here he beheld with vexation, rage, and despair, the superb charge of the whole British line, the feeble resistance which his troops opposed, the strange and irremediable

confusion which so soon pervaded his whole army, and the noble stand which was made by the remaining battalions of his old and favourite guard. During the day, except when he had yielded to momentary fits of rage at the unexpected and unconquerable obstinacy of the British, he had been cool and collected, and had fought the battle with more than usual skill. But he was now suddenly bereft of the powers of recollection and motion, and stood an image of horror and despair. Some occasional indistinct and incoherent expressions of admiration of his faithful and devoted guard, or of fierce indignation at the cowardice of the rest of his troops, alone shewed that he breathed. In vain his officers applied to him for orders; in vain one messenger after another demanded what was to be done in different parts of the field. He heard them not. He was incapable of reply.

My guard, my faithful guard!" he exclaimed. A moment afterwards he added "Ah! the game is indeed lost, and." He was now surrounded and borne away by crowds of fugitives. Some of his officers who had not separated from him during the battle, broke through the crowd, and forced him along with them, almost unconscious of life.

For a few moments they sought refuge in the cottage of a shepherd, near La Belle Alliance ; : but the Prussian hussars began to scour the field in every direction. Napoleon had now somewhat recovered himself: but it had become impossible

to issue any orders. He had no aides-de-camp by whom to send them, nor did he know where to find the commander of a single division. He was therefore compelled to abandon his army to their fate, and to seek his own safety in the most rapid flight.

As Napoleon and his suite issued from the cottage and galloped across the plain to reach some of his equipage, they saw several parties of Prussian hussars busily employed in the work of plunder or death. Fortunately they were not perceived, and Napoleon was conducted in safety to one of his carriages. He drove furiously towards Genappe. Having arrived there he found the streets completely thronged with carriages of every description. They were all obliged to defile over one bridge, and in their haste to rush on and effect their escape, they impeded each other's progress, and produced the most fatal confusion. For more than an hour he remained entangled in the crowd, which resisted every effort that even royal authority could make to open a passage. Every mo ment new crowds of fugitives, cavalry, infantry, guns, baggage-waggons, and carriages of every kind, rushed into the place, increased the tumult, and rendered the passage of the bridge impracticable.

To complete the horror of the scene the Prussians now approached. Their shouts were distinctly heard, and the shrieks of the miserable wretches who were perishing under their sabres.

The streets were hastily barricadoed, and every preparation which fear or despair could suggest was made for a last defence. The issue of this contest has already been described. The Prussians broke through every obstacle, and entered the town at full speed.

The carriage of Napoleon was soon recognised, and the conquerors dashed at it, hoping to secure the most invaluable of all prizes, the person of the Emperor himself. The coachman was on the box, and the postilion had mounted the leaders, and they were making a desperate attempt to force their way through the throng. The Prussian officer who headed the foremost troop eagerly called to the coachman to stop, but he only lashed his horses with greater violence. The hussars then cut down the postilion, and killed the leaders, while the sabre of the officer brought the coachman from his box with a single stroke*. He

*The carriage of Napoleon was afterwards brought to England by Major Von Kohler, into whose hands it fell, and is now exhibited (Jan. 1, 1816) at Mr. Bullock's Museum, in Piccadilly. The history of this vehicle is remarkable, and many circumstances render it an object of much curiosity. It was built at Brussels, to convey Napoleon on his ill-fated expedition to Russia. It travelled as far as Moscow, and constituted almost the whole of the equipage, either of himself or his army, which escaped in his disastrous retreat. It afterwards carried him to Dresden, and brought him back a second time in disgrace to France. After the campaign of Paris, it bore him to the shores of the Mediterranean, and was shipped with him for Elba. It was there used in all his excursions round that island; indeed he would never enter any other vehicle. When he planned his bold