tinies in his own hand. What he lingered for was a strong appeal from the Army. It did not arrive. In the very address sent to the Chamber by the Generals, Napoleon's name was not mentioned! But that, like the abdication, was a trick. Napoleon I. abdicated, thinking he should soon reappear as the General for Napoleon II.; the generals omitted his name, because they also desired to obtain their end indirectly.

The army had come up to the lines of Paris, the boom of the cannon aroused the dwellers in La Malmaison, but with the army had also come the enemy. Even now, while Napoleon, excited by the sounds of strife, declared he would remain and meet his fate at La Malmaison, a body of Prussian horse, intent on his capture, were within half a mile, riding up and down the right bank near Chatou, enraged to find the bridge burned. Davoust had foreseen this raid on the part of Blucher, and by his orders Becker and Gourgaud had caused the bridge to be destroyed. Yet there remained the bridge of St. Germain; if the Prussians seized that and swept round the curve of the river, what would become of Napoleon? The Provisional Government, now seriously alarmed lest the murderer of the Duc d'Enghien should fall into the hands of Blucher, again implored, entreated Napoleon to go without safeconducts, since they could not be had. Duke Decrès and M. Boulay de la Meurthe were to hasten to La Malmaison, and see that he vanished in the direction of the road to Rochefort.

In spite of the proximity of the enemy, Napoleon still persisted in his resolution to stay where he was. "The best thing I can do," he exclaimed, "is to throw myself into the arms of my soldiers. My appearance will electrify the army; they will destroy the foreigners. When they know I am with them, ready to conquer or die, they

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will do whatever you demand." But he added presently, 'I cannot take on myself so great a responsibility. I ought to wait for the call of the people, the soldiers, the Chambers. Mais comment Paris ne me demande-t-ellepas?" No; neither Paris nor the Chambers summoned him. But the soldiers ?-what if they could have got to him or he to them! Davoust, however, had prepared for that contingency, by placing a secret cordon round La Malmaison, and instructing the commandant at Montmartre to hold a body of National Guards in readiness to countercheck the "Emperor."

§ 2. Flight.

In the midst of the exciting discussions at La Malmaison Duke Decrès and M. Boulay arrived soon after sunrise, and gave the Emperor the last order of the Provisional Government directing him to go forthwith. Napoleon, before he obeyed, played his last card. He had learned something of the relative positions of the armies; he had been inspired, it is said, by the sound of Blucher's cannon; and he directed Becker to hasten to the Provisional Government, to tell them that he desired to be appointed general, to win one victory as a basis of negotiation, and, that done, he promised to retire. Becker hastened on his errand, while Napoleon's war-horses were saddled, and he himself put on his battle-dress-green coat, white breeches, and long boots. In this costume General Becker found him, when, late in the afternoon, he returned to La Malmaison with a written refusal of Napoleon's last request. The die was cast, the game played out. The green uniform was replaced by the maroon coat of a civilian, and the cocked hat laid aside for a round one the white breeches, the long boots, and the sword

disappeared. Napoleon had become a private person. He gave orders for his departure, and it was time, for the Prussian cavalry were at St. Germain, and Von Sohr was already on his way towards the left bank. Frustrated, wearied, powerless, Napoleon bade farewell to Hortense with some show of tenderness; embraced the friends who still clung to him; and, as the shades of evening fell, he was driving in a plain carriage, in company with Bertrand, Savary, and Becker, on the road to Rambouillet. Two other carriages followed, in one of which sat General Gourgaud, resplendent in full uniform. His design was to attract attention to himself in case of danger, and devote his life, if need were, to save that of Napoleon.

The hope of being recalled by the army kept Napoleon unquiet and eager for news from Paris. He halted at Rambouillet, and three times during the night Gourgaud was sent forth to watch for messengers spurring from the lines of the capital. They came not. The roads were deserted and silent. Napoleon's hopes were unfulfilled. How reluctantly he surrendered even the faintest chance of renewed power is shown by the fact that, although his safety, perhaps his life, depended upon his early arrival on the coast, yet he did not drive out of Rambouillet until late in the forenoon. Another long halt took place at Niort, where he arrived on the evening of the 1st, and where he remained until the 3rd of July. There were soldiers here, and as Napoleon stood at the window on the morning of the 2nd, one of them, recognizing him, raised a cry, and forthwith a crowd assembled, and insisted that the Emperor should appear. Napoleon would not show himself to the mob, but he received the officers of the garrison and the civic dignitaries, and listened with complaisance to the earnest exhortations of the soldiers. They urged him to hasten at once to Orleans, there to

rally an army for the defence of France. His answer to them was, “I am nothing; I can do nothing;" but he caused General Becker to write a report of all that had occurred, and send it to Paris. He had learned that the exit from Rochefort was barred by an English cruiser: news had come that Paris was still defended on the 30th. "If, in this situation," Napoleon said, "the English cruiser bars the way to our frigates, the Provisional Government can dispose of the Emperor as general, solely occupied with a desire to be useful to the country." On the 3rd Napoleon resumed his flight, silent and bowed down in thought, revolving in his vast mind projects for the future, dreaming of another 20th of March, while on that very day the Commissioners at St. Cloud were settling the details of the capitulation of Paris!

§ 3. At Rochefort: Hesitations.

Five days Napoleon lingered in Rochefort, now buoyed up by extravagant hopes, now harassed by a vagrant will, which passed lightly from resolve to resolve, entertained at once several schemes of escape, and adopted none. Here again came offers of devotion from the army-would he not concentrate the garrisons of the West and tempt once more the fortunes of war? Would he strive to gain the Gironde, and trust himself on board a corvette there ready to venture out to sea? Would he risk his fate in a Danish brig commanded by a Frenchman, or would he set forth in a perilous voyage in smaller craft manned by devoted crews? All this time Captain Maitland in the Bellerophon watched the roadstead, aware that he barred the road selected for the exit of Napoleon from France. While he was wavering and debating General Becker received positive orders to force him respectfully out of

Rochefort. Napoleon yielded, and on the 8th embarked in the boats of the Saale, to take up his abode in that frigate, thus quitting the mainland of France at the very moment when Louis XVIII. entered Paris. It is recorded, with what truth we know not, that just before he left Rochefort some Parisian newspapers were brought in and placed before him. The first thing which he saw in their pages was, "The capitulation of Paris!" and throwing down the journal he rushed into his chamber and locked himself in. Soon, half-stifled sounds were heard by those who listened breathlessly at the door. "Napoleon wept.'

Another week was spent in this famous roadstead. Adverse winds and now two British men-of-war interposed between Napoleon and the professed object of his desire, the United States. More than one daring plan of escape was projected, discussed, half adopted, abandoned. doubtful whether Napoleon really wished to end his days in the Western Continent; it is doubtful whether he had not all along cherished the idea that the British nation, moved by a passionate admiration of his greatness, would compel the Government to give him an asylum. His views of England and the English people were founded upon false information, and his judgment was misled by his sense of his own importance into believing that his sole enemies in England were the British "oligarchy." Sheltered in England, what happy chances might not be in store for him? In conversation with Benjamin Constant at the Elysée, it is true, he ridiculed the idea of a residence in England, depicting with keen irony the fears and suspicions his presence there would arouse. But he let fall one phrase which may have been the key to his real thoughts. "I should compromise all the world," he said, and “à force de dire, voilà qu'il arrive, on me donnerait la tentation d'arriver." Now, to arrive-that is, arrive at