or want of employment, calling to memory those terrific vociferations which preceded the horrible events of the Reign of Terror.

Many of the provincial towns had also their clubs, with which a regular correspondence was kept up, carried on, it is averred, through the royal post-office, contained in letters sealed with the King's seal, and dispatched by couriers wearing his livery. This intercourse was said to have been much favoured by La Valette, who having been for a long period Director General of the posts under the Imperial Government, preserved his influence over the subordinate agents of that department who retained their situations after the return of Louis. As in all secret societies, the conspirators had a distinct symbol, by which they might be known to each other; the violet was chosen upon the present occasion. When a Bonapartist met a person whom he wished to sound, he asked him with apparent indifference," Are you fond of violets?" If the answer was simply "Yes," no farther notice was taken. But if the answer was "Ah! well," the stranger was recognized as a brother, and the sentence was completed by "Elle reparaitra au printems," "It will re-appear in the spring." Rings of a violet colour, with the same device, became fashionable : ladies wore violet silks, and the health of Bonaparte under the name of Corporal Violet or Jean d'Epée, was pledged by many a royalist, who was wholly ignorant of its secret meaning.

But the chief hope of the conspirators still lay in the army, whose disaffection to the cause of the Bourbons became every day more manifest. Early in the month of January, 1815, Napoleon dismissed his old and favourite guard to give to the world, said the French journals, a convincing proof that he had renounced all his ambitious projects. But his motives for this step were of a very different nature. Three hundred of those guards were landed at Frejus, from whence they dispersed themselves all over France, to sow the seeds of insubordination amongst the different regiments, and prepare the way for the return of Napoleon.* Marshal Soult, the newly appointed Minister at War, is suspected of favoring the project: the

The following proclamation, in cipher, from Bonaparte to the French Army, was in the hands of some persons of almost every regiment in the service:

"Francais! votre pays etait trahi, votre Empereur seul peut vous remettre dans la position splendide que convient a la France. Donnez toute votre confiance a celui qui vous a toujours conduit a la gloire.

"Ses aigles planeront encore en l'air, et etonneront les nations."

TRANSLATION.

"Frenchmen! your country was betrayed; your Emperor alone can replace you in the splendid state suitable for France. Give your entire confidence to him who has always led you to glory.

"His eagles will again soar on high, and strike the nations with astonishment."

fact, at all events, is undeniable, that the troops which were most attached to the royal cause were removed to a distance, while those on whom Napoleon could place the greatest reliance, were stationed on the route which he must necessarily pur

sue.

An affair which occurred about this period, affords the most demonstrative proof of the little authority possessed by the Bourbon Government over the army, which seemed now to affect an independent existence as a distinct order of the State. The French Court entertained the most hostile feelings against the King of Naples, as the brotherin-law and creature of Napoleon, whose interests he only deserted, when such a line of conduct appeared to have become necessary to the preservation of his own dominions. His name was not permitted to appear in the Royal Almanack of France amongst the Sovereigns of Europe, and all Frenchmen civil and military were recalled from his service. Murat had, however, many friends in France, and the number was probably increased by these hostile proceedings. Many letters to the King of Naples were intercepted, and amongst others, one from General Count Excelman, Inspector General of the first division at Paris, in which besides expressing his own devoted attachment, he assured him, " that thousands of brave officers formed in his school, and under his eye, would

VOL. XI.

3 M

CHAP. XLII.

have been ready at his call, had matters not taken a turn in his favour." For this offence Excelman

He was

was placed on half-pay, and ordered to retire to Bar-sur-Ornain but he refused to obey the order, and escaped from the officers who were sent to arrest him. He then petitioned the Chamber of Deputies, against what he called an abuse of power; but his petition being rejected, he surrendered himself, and on the 15th of January 1815, he was tried at Lisle by a court-martial, of which Count d'Erlon was president. He was accused of having corresponded with the public enemy, Joachim Murat, whose sovereignty had not been recognized by France; and with having committed an act of espionage by acquainting Murat with the dispositions of the French officers in his favor. also charged with having written things derogatory to the King's person and authority, disobeyed the orders of the Minister at War, and violated his oath as a Chevalier of St. Louis. Previous to his trial, Excelman had expressed the strongest confidence in the justice and enlightened sentiments of the members of the court-martial, and they justified his anticipations by an unanimous acquittal, which seemed to sanction the wish of the army to free themselves from subordination to the King. Excelman immediately presented himself at the foot of the throne, to thank his Majesty for the justice which had been rendered him, and renew

his oath of fidelity to him-an obligation, however, which was speedily forgotten.

The apathy with which the gathering storm was viewed, not only by the French Government, but by the other States of Europe, is to the present a subject of wonder and astonishment. The disaffection of the French army and the secret machinations of the Jacobins, had for a long period been notorious facts, and their connexion with the Imperial exile was not unknown. Information to this effect was communicated to the Ministers from various quarters, but a consciousness of their imbecility, or, perhaps, worse motives, caused them to adopt no effectual measure for checking the progress of the conspiracy, until it burst upon Europe with a terrific explosion. There can be no doubt that even when the mask of loyalty was generally worn, treason lurked in every department of the state. The military, the police, and all the public officers, were more or less infected; and all these powerful bodies were prepared to co-operate in the restoration of their warlike chieftain. Their desires obtained a temporary gratification-peace once more fled the earth, nor was it fixed on a solid basis, but by the extermination of that army to whom it had become so odious.