be executed, and on alighting at his residence, threw his gloves on the table, and, with his whip still in his hand, ordered a council of war to be assembled.

The attempt just made by some royalists, at Troyes, was connected with the secret machinations of the partizans of the House of Bourbon, to draw to it, at the same time, the attention of the French and that of the allied sovereigns;—of the former, by giving sanction in our provinces to the opinion that the white colours alone could disarm the enmity of the allies;-of the latter, by holding out to them that shadow of a royalist party as a real party; and its colours, under which a small number of disheartened individuals fled to take refuge, as an appeal made by public opinion in favour of the ancient family. What fear had thus commenced in some departments, in spite of the people, seemed on the point of being accomplished by hostile influence, in defiance of the allies themselves. Whatever may have been said by the Prince of Lichtenstein on this subject, England had seriously undertaken the restoration of the Bourbons, and the intrigues of her agents assumed, in every quarter, a more decided character. It became necessary to intimidate their presumption, by putting the severity of the laws in force against them. In such circumstances, the jealousy of authority sometimes punishes on the slightest appearance of guilt; in this case, a weak or cruel prince would have found but too many pretences for shedding torrents of blood!...... But Napoleon had, until then, rejected all severe proceedings, so much was he disgusted at the remedy of executions!...... Reasons of state, at length, spoke so emphatically, that he was compelled to heed them. The entrance of the Count d'Artois into Franche-Comté had been just ascertained. Not only that prince and his sons seemed to come forward for the purpose of convulsing France from one extremity to the other, but the head of their house, Louis XVIII. himself, had succeeded in getting his addresses, insinuations, pardons, and promises, circulated throughout Paris. He wrote from the bosom of his retreat at Hartwell, in England, to the principal functionaries of the empire, to the senators, members of the council, and magistracy. His letters had been clandestinely delivered to the individuals to whom they were addressed, and some of the persons who had received them were already calculating the chances of a new revolution! Secret rumours were also disseminated in the capital, while a conspiracy broke out in the provinces occupied by the enemy, and more particularly in the south. Such was the substance of the latest accounts received from all quarters. The affair of the royalists of Troyes was but too much aggravated by this state of things. The infliction of punishment became a duty; yet, in adopting that measure, the field of battle, by which we were surrounded, was, probably, the decisive consideration. Every day, even hourly, some of our people were destroyed by the enemy; in the midst of that incessant slaughter, the life of an obscure conspirator had scarcely any weight in the sanguinary balance of war. Among the names of such as had been designated guilty by the public outcry, those of two ancient emigrants, accused by the whole town, not only of having worn the white cockade, and resumed the cross of Saint-Louis, but publicly attempted to influence the Emperor of Russia in favour of the Bourbons, were recorded, and their persons seized. The individuals in question were the Sieurs Govaut and Vidranges; the latter took refuge at Chaumont, but Govaut reVOL. IV. 51,

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mained, who was crushed by the thunderbolt which he had defied. Being brought before the council of war, he received condemnation, and suffered by way of example.*

It results from the note which M. Vidranges caused to be inserted in M. Beauchamp's work, Vol. I. "That the presence of the Allies in the ancient capital of Champagne had re-animated the hopes of the partisans of the Bourbons; that one of them, M. de Vidranges, a gentleman of Lorraine, resolved to gain over that city; that he was seconded by M. Govaut, Chevalier de Saint-Louis; that the Count de Rochechouart and Colonel Rapatel having informed him of the arrival of the princes on the Continent, and told them that it was time to declare their sentiments, they had felt themselves electrified, and resumed the cross of Saint Louis; that the Prince having encouraged them to address the Emperor of Russia, they waited upon that prince, in the names of the leading royalists of Troyes, and had even presented a memorial, in which they solicited the re-establishment of the Bourbons on the throne of France."

M. de Vidranges concludes, with a still more remarkable acknowledgement, importing that the Emperor of Russia could not help observing to them, "that he considered the step they had taken a little premature; that the chances of war were uncertain, and that he should be sorry to see them sacrificed."

CHAP. IV.

Battle of Craone-Congress at Chatillon Battles of Areis-sur-Aube, and Magnanimity of Napoleon-Conjectures as to the probable Cause of the Emperor's Movements-Political View of the State of France-Anecdotes respecting Napoleon and Maria Louisa, and the Emperor's false Calculation respecting the Manœuvres of the Allies-Winzingerode and his Body of Cavalry overthrown-Defeat of Mortier and Marmont-Position of the French Forces under the Walls of the Capital Battle of Paris-Defec tion of Marmont and Capitulation-Abdication of Napoleon decided on-Character of Talleyrand-Ingratitude towards the Emperor-Anecdote of Cambaceres-Curious State Secret as delivered in Writing to the Editor by the Marquis de Maubreuil -Napoleon signs the Act of Abdication.

THE Emperor arrived, on the 4th of March, at Nismes, when the Dukes of Ragusa and Treviso proceeded upon Soissons to pass the Aisne, while Napoleon marched upon Mery; thus placing the enemy's army in a most dangerous position. The general, however, commanding at Soissons, through cowardice, abandoned that city by capitulation, leaving the town with his troops and artillery, and retiring with the garrison to Villars Coterets. Thus, at the very moment the enemy's army conceived itself lost, it was given to understand that the bridge of Soissons was in its power, which had not been destroyed.

General Corbineau, aide-de-camp of the Emperor, and the general of cavalry, Laferriere, having proceeded upon Rheims, entered that city on the 5th, by turning a corps of the enemy, consisting of four battalions, which covered the place, the allied troops being made prisoners, and every thing in Rheims falling into the hands of the French.* On the 5th, Napoleon slept at Bery-au-Bac; when Ge

Letter from Napoleon to the Duke of Vicenza. "Monsieur le Duc, "Rheims, March 17, 1814. "I have received your letters of the 13th, and have directed the Duke of Bassano to answer them in detail. I give you direct authority to make such concessions as may be necessary for maintaining the activity of the negotiations, and arriving at the knowledge of the ultimatum of the Allies, it being well understood that the result of the treaty shall be the evacuation of our territory and the mutual exchange of all prisoners. May God have you in his holy keeping. "NAPOLEON."

(Signed)

neral Nansouty forced a passage by the bridge of that town, routed a division of cavalry which covered it, obtained possession of two pieces of cannon, and took 300 cavalry, among whom was Colonel Prince Gagarin, commander of the brigade.

On the 6th, the Emperor arrived at Corbani, when the heights of Craone were attacked and carried by two battalions of the guards, while the Prince of Moskwa marched on the farm of Urtubre. The enemy then retired and posted himself on a height, which was reconnoitred on the 7th, at day-break, when the position was found excellent; the enemy's right and left being supported by ravines, having also a third in his front, so that he defended the only passage, a hundred toises broad, which joined his position to the plateau of Craone.

The Duke of Belluno marched with two divisions of the young guards to the Abbey of Vaucler, to which the enemy had set fire; when he drove him from the same, and passed the defile defended by sixty pieces of cannon. At the same moment, the Prince of Moskwa, having traversed the ravine on the left, debouched on the enemy's right, when the cannonade proved very heavy. General Grouchy equally bore down with his cavalry, while Nansouty cleared the ravine on the enemy's right, with two divisions of horse. The defile being thus passed, and the enemy, forced in his position, was pursued for four leagues, and cannonaded by eighty pieces of artillery, with grape-shot, which did terrible execution.

The Emperor having moved his head-quarters to Bray, on the following morning the French pursued the enemy to the defile of Urcel, and on the same day entered Soissons, where the Allies had left a bridge-equipage. Thus terminated the battle of Craone, in which the Allies lost six generals, and from 5 to 6000 men; while that sustained by the French was computed at 1800, in killed and wounded. The result of those several operations proved a loss to the enemy of from 10 to 12,000 men, and thirty pieces of cannon.

*

At night the imperial head-quarters were removed from the field of battle into the valley of the Aisne, and the night was passed in the little village of Bray, in Laonnais.

Napoleon, after the conflict of Craone, in all the dangers of which he had shared, still agitated by the uncertainty of battle, harassed with fatigue, and surrounded with wounded and dying men, was subjected to witness those painful moments when the disgusting horrors

The day after the battle of Craone, the enemy was pursued, by the Prince of Moskwa, to the village of Etonville, which was guarded by General Woronzoff, with 8000 men, being a very difficult position to attain, as the road conducting to it runs for a league between two impracticable marshes. Baron Gourgault set off, during the night, from Chavignon, with two battalions of the old guard, turned the position, and proceeded by Challevois upon Chivi. He there came up with the enemy, whom he attacked, with the bayonet, at one in the morning; when the Russians, being awakened with the cries of Vive l'Empereur, passed to Laon, the Prince of Moskwa debouching by the defile.

On the 9th, the French reconnoitred the enemy, who had joined the Prussian corps, when his position was such as to be deemed unattackable.

The Duke of Ragusa, who had slept on the 8th at Corbone, appeared, at two in the afternoon, at Veslud, where he overthrew the enemy's advanced guard, attacked the villages of Althius, which he carried, and proved successful during the whole day.

At the same time, General Charpentier, with his divi

of war would satiate the most martial disposition, at which juncture the arrival of despatches, from Chatillon, was announced. They were brought by Rumigny, one of the secretaries of his cabinet, and contained words of no conciliatory import. Napoleon had never been more inclined to listen to terms of peace.

The congress of Chatillon, which the military conferences of Lusigny bad for some days suspended, having resumed its sittings, the plenipotentiaries of the Allies had displayed the rigour of their new instructions. The pretensions manifested by France, at Lusigny, were called a breach of the terms of the negotiation, and the Duke of Vicenza was no longer allowed to enter into any discussion; he was required to subscribe to the condition of the ancient limits, or give in his counter-project; and they did not hesitate to declare that they would separate, should France propose articles contrary to the basis from which they were determined not to depart. Such was the substance of the despatches received by Napoleon on the field of battle, at Craone. The Duke of Vicenza, therefore, demanded definitive instruction respecting the counter-project which he was to give in. Napoleon had made up his mind that the conditions would be painful; he was resigned to the greatest sacrifices; the concessions for which he had prepared himself were immense; but he would not add to such humiliations that of promoting them by an act emanating from himself." If I am to receive a whipping," said he, "it is not my business to expose myself willingly to it, and the very least I can do is to have it applied by violence.' Rumigny was, consequently, ordered not to take back the counter-project for which he had been sent, but recollect the words which had just escaped Napoleon.