264 CAUSES WHICH LED TO HIS RETURN. ally exercised upon the subject of regaining his lost power and greatness. But the causes of that revolution, which placed him once more upon the throne of France, are as mysterious as its character is astonishing and unprecedented. This revolution is a phenomenon in the political world; it is not only without any example, but the history of human affairs, furnishe no event, which bears any likeness, or similarity to it. Many of the greatest and best men of Greece, were exiled by the Ostracism, by the influence of opposing factions, or a gust of popular phrenzy, and were afterwards recalled. Marius, who had become an exile, and as powerless as Bonaparte at Elba, retrieved his fortunes and returned to Rome, but he entered the city at the head of an army collected abroad, and the best blood of Rome, testified to the cruelties, and honours of his triumph. Instead of the whole population of the city, going out to welcome his return, it was filled with consternation and gloom. These examples, or any other on record afford no similarity to the astonishing revolution, which reinstated the exile of Eiba, on the throne of France, and expelled from the same the legitimate Sovereign, who had been placed there by half a million foreign bayo nets. As we have already observed, the immediate causes of this revolution, are involved in great uncertainty, and darkness. It is even doubtful whether Napoleon had had any communication with France, previously to his embarking in this extraordinary enterprise; and it is altogether probable that he had no definite arrangements made, and no specific information or assurance of the support which he received after his arrival. There can be no doubt, however but that he was acquainted generally, with the situation of France, with the state of the public mind, and with those causes and circumstances, which would be likely to operate in his favour. He knew that he had long CAUSES WHICH LED TO HIS RETURN. 265 been, the idol of the army, that he was endeared to the soldiers by a thousand recollections, by a thousand triumphs, by their mutual toils and honours, by innumerable victories, and by the glories of twenty years of successful war; he was sensible that all these considerations, attached the soldiers to him, and he did not believe that their attachments could be obliterated. A portion of the people too, he was satisfied were attached to him; and all true Frenchmen to the glory of France, which he had promoted, and raised to the highest pitch. It is probable too, that he had been advised of the indignant feelings of the soldiers, at the degradation of their country, and their own; feelings, which were constantly aggravated by considering their king as forced upon them by foreigners, by the presence of foreign troops among them; by frequent collisions with them, and by the return and insolence of the old royalists. The prisoners, who had returned from England, Russia, and Prussia, amounting to about 150,000 men, felt still stronger prejudices against the new order of things, brought about by the enemies of their country, from the sufferings and misfortunes, to which they had been exposed. But what operated most, on the minds of the soldiers, was the mortifying reflection that France, after so many years of triumphs and glories, had apparently been conquered by her enemies. This reflection, sunk deep into their hearts, wounded their pride: and they were anxious to wipe away this stigma. The return and imprudent zeal, and high pretensions of the old royalists, occasioned great indignation, and alarmed the constitutionalists; and the republicans, who had been disaffected under Bonaparte, were still more so under Louis. Those interested in the national domains, became alarmed for their property. From these various causes, the public mind was generally agitated, and disaffection extensivey prevailed. The admirers of Bonaparte felt degraded and indignant at the humiliating condition of their country; 266 CAUSES WHICH LED TO HIS RETURN. and those, with the exception of the old royalists, who were opposed to the tyranny of Bonaparte, were still more opposed to Louis, as the glory and power of France under the former, afforded some consolation for the oppression which the nation suffered. But under Louis they beheld France weak and contemptible; degraded at home and abroad, without liberty and without power. Napoleon was acquainted with these facts; and he may have had a correspondence with some of his old officers upon the subject of his return to France. It has been said that during the winter, the soldiers were so well assured of his return, that they commemorated him over their cups, by the name of corporal Violet, alluding to the approaching spring when this event was expected to take place. But it would be a very absurd thing to suppose, that if a conspiracy against Louis, had taken place at Paris, and the conspirators had opened a correspondence with the exiled chief, and invited him to return, that it should have been communicated to the common soldiers! There is no evidence that any conspiracy had been formed, or any arrangements made between Bonaparte, and any of his friends in France. This wonderful enterprise, probably originated with the exile of Elba alone, it was carried into effect and consumated by him alone, by his own personal exertions and influence. Louis, possessing all the advantages of legitimacy, and beloved as he was by the French nation, as it was affirmed, who had been placed upon the throne, by half a million foreign soldiers, was expelled from it by ONE MAN, and without shedding one drop of blood, or firing a single gun! The emperor had made all his arrangements for this great enterprise in such perfect secrecy, that no one had any knowledge, or even suspicion of it, except those to whom he had communicated his designs. For several days previous to his embarking, an em-.. bargo had been laid on the vessels in the port. The joy of the soldiers on learning that their destination was France, exceeded all bounds; they jump EMBARKATION AT ELBA. 267 ed, ran about and embraced each other, like persons deprived of their senses. Napoleon's mother and sister, the princess Paulina, with eyes suffused with tears, beheld from the windows of the palace, the interesting and impressive spectacle, of so many brave and united hearts, animated by one soul; transported by the same sentiments, impelled by a common impulse, engaging in an enterprise so wonderful, so novel, so momentous-upon the issue of which, the fate of the Emperor, their own, his brave followers, and perhaps that of France, hung suspended. How deeply they were impressed by the scene, and how much they were affected by the noble devotion of these faithful adherents to the cause of the Emperor, they expressed by waving of handkerchiefs, and all the signs they were able to make visible at so great a distance; but the brave Spartan phalanx, ready to hazard their lives in an enterprise apparently more forlorn than that of Thermopylæ, and animated to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, answered their expressions, by repeated cries of, Paris or Death! The shores were lined with the inhabitants, many of whom by this time, knew that they were about to lose their Emperor and benefactor-the air resounded with shouts of long live the Emperor ! General Lapi, Chamberlain to his majesty, who had been appointed governor of the island, issued the following proclamation: "Inhabitants of the island of Elba! our august sovereign, recalled by providence to the career of glory, has been induced to leave your island, of which he has left me in command. The administration will be composed of a junto of six inhabitants, and the defence of the fortress is committed to your devotion and bravery. "I am about to depart from the island of Elba, (said he,) I am much pleased with the conduct of its inhabitants. I leave to them the defence of this country, to which I attach the highest value. I cannot give them a greater proof of my confidence, than by leaving under their protection my mother and my 260 HIS PROCLAMATION TO THE ARMY, sister. The members of the junto, and the inhabitants generally, may rely on my good offices, and special protection." At eight in the morning of the 26th of February, 1815, the Emperor went on board the brig; and counts Bertrand, Drouet, and the superior officers who had accompanied him to the Island, embarked in the Inconstant. As his majesty came on board, a gun was fired, as a signal for departure, and they immediately set sail. He had prepared the following proclamations to the army, and the people of France, which breathed forth the very soul of their author. They were published and oxtensively circulated, on his reaching the shores of France. GULF OF JUAN, 1st of March, 1815. Napoleon, by the grace of God, and the constitution of the state, emperor of the French, &c. TO THE ARMY. Soldiers! We have not been vanquished. Two men, deserting our ranks, have betrayed our laurels, their country, their prince, their benefactor. Those whom we have seen, during five and twenty years, traversing all Europe to excite enemies against us, who have passed their lives in fighting against us in the ranks of foreign armies while loading with curses our beautiful France; shall they pretend to command and enchain our eagles; they who have never dared to encounter the sight of them? Shall we suffer them to inherit the fruits of our glorious achievements; to engross our honors; our wealth; to calumniate our glory? If their reign should continue, every thing would be lost, even the remembrance of those immortal victories. With what fury do they pervert them! They endeavour to poison what the world admires; and if there still remain any defenders of our glory, it is amongst those very enemies whom we have encounter. ed on the field of battle. Soldiers! In my exile I have heard your voice, I have arrived in spite of every obstacle, and every danYour general, called to the throne by the choice of the people, and borne on your shields, is restored to ger. |