ducted with all the attention to spectacle which is so important an affair in France. A spacious amphitheatre was erected in the Champ de Mars, covered with an awning, under which were seated the electors, and the military deputations (for the constitution had been submitted to the soldiers and sailors, as well as to the civil portion of the community.) Napoleon arrived at the place at one o'clock, accompanied by his brothers Joseph, Lucien, and Jerome, dressed in Roman costume. After the performance of High Mass, one of the deputies harangued the emperor, and the arch-chancellor declared the acceptance of the new act by nearly an unanimity of votes. Napoleon then made a discourse to the electors and deputies, beginning with the declaration, that as Emperor, consul, and soldier, he held every thing from the people. He afterwards took an oath to observe the constitutions of the empire, and to cause them to be observed." It was followed by an oath of obedience to the constitution, and of fidelity to the Emperor, pronounced by the arch-chancellor, and repeated by the whole assembly. Napoleon then descended from the throne, and advancing to the middle of the Champ de Mars, distributed the imperial eagles to the troops of the line and the national guards as they marched by him, and swore to defend them at the hazard of their lives, and never to suffer foreigners to dictate laws to their country. Thus terminated this ceremony, which passed over with the Parisians as a shew, and was VOL. LVII.

attended with nothing of the enthusiasm manifested on some former occasions. It could not but be felt that all was false and hollow; that the change in the government had been effected by a military conspiracy originating in devoted attachment to a chief; that this chief had for many years ruled by his sword; and that his boundless ambition had united all Europe in a league against him, which still subsisted, and was about to involve the country again in all the calamities of war. At the same time the internal state of the nation was full of danger. The minister of police had just announced that insurrection had broken out in several points of the departments of the West; and troops were required to secure obedience at home, whilst all the force that could be mustered was little enough to meet the foreign storm on the frontiers. Unanimity was far from prevailing in the legislative body. The chamber of peers, composed in great part of military men, and nominated by Buonaparte, was indeed subservient to his will; but the chamber of representatives, in their election for president, nominated by a considerable majority M. Lanjuinais, who had formerly distinguished himself by the freedom of his conduct, and had opposed the first elevation of Napoleon to the imperial rank. The election was however confirmed. When the form of the constitutional oath was discussed in that assembly, voices were heard objecting to the clause of "fidelity to the Emperor," and proposing the substitution of "fidelity to the nation," but they were silenced [F]

by

by the general vote. On June 8th the members of both chambers assembled in presence of Napoleon, and severally took the oath in the same terms as had been done by the electors. Napoleon then pronounced a speech, in which he congratulated himself on having just commenced the constitutional monarchy. Ile recommended to their deliberation the consolidation of their constitutions into one body; alluded to the formidable coalition of kings which threatened their independence; and announced the probability of his being soon called to appear at the head of the army.

The grand conflict was now at hand, and its scene was clearly decided for the Flemish border, the old battle-field of Europe. It was mentioned at the conclusion of the last year's historical record, that the whole of the fortified line of the Low Countries towards France was occupied by strong garrisons chiefly in English pay. From the time of the alarm excited by Buonaparte's success, reinforcements had been sending from England without intermission; and the Duke of Wellington had arrived to take the supreme command of the troops, native and foreign, in Belgium. In the latter end of May the head-quarters of the French army of the North were established at Avesnes in French Flanders; and in the apprehension of an invasion by the allied armies on that part, Laon and the castle of Guise were put in a defensible state. Field-Marshal Prince Blucher about this time

arrived with the Prussian army in the neighbourhood of Namur, and held frequent conferences with Wellington.

Buonaparte left Paris on June 12th, accompanied by Marshal Bertrand and General Drouet, and proceeded to Laon. It was always his maxim to push forward to the most important point; and this, beyond question, was now the position occupied by the combined British and the Prussian armies, whilst the Russians and the Austrians were still at a distance. At the head of a numerous army, composed of the very flower of the French troops, and full of confidence in his fortune and talents, he made an attack at daylight of the 15th on the Prussian posts on the Sambre. Charleroi, of which they were in possession, was carried, and General Ziethen, their commander, retired upon Fleurus, where he was attacked by the French, and sustained a considerable loss. Blucher concentrated the rest of the Prussian army upon Sambref; and the French continued their march along the road from Charleroi to Brussels, and attacked a brigade of the Belgian army under the Prince of Weimar, which was forced back to a farm-house called Quatre Bras. Lord Wellington was not informed of these events till the evening, when he immediately ordered his troops to march to the left to support the Prussians.

On the 16th Blucher, who was posted on the heights between Brie and Sombref, and occupied two villages in front, although all the corps of his

army

army had not joined, determined to await the combat. His force is stated at 80,000 men, and that of the French at 130,000, but allowances are always to be made in such estimates, and it appears that a part of the French were elsewhere engaged. The battle raged with great fury from three in the afternoon till late in the evening, the Prussians being exceedingly pressed, and in vain expecting succour. They were at length obliged to retire, leaving behind them 15 pieces of cannon, and a great number of killed and wounded. They formed again at a short distance from the field of battle, and were not pursued. The veteran Blucher made the greatest exertions, and was brought into imminent danger. Lord Wellington in the meantime had directed his whole army to march upon Quatre Bras, and the 5th division under General Picton, arrived there early in the afternoon, and was followed by the corps commanded by the Duke of Brunswick, and by the contingent of Nassau. Blucher was at this time engaged with the enemy, and it was the desire of Wellington to lend him assistance, but he was himself attacked by a large body of cavalry and infantry, with a powerful artillery, his own cavalry not having yet joined. Many charges were made by the French, but all were repulsed with the greatest steadiness. The loss was however great, and included that of the Duke of Brunswick, who fell at the head of his troops.

Although Blucher had maintained his position at Sombref, he found himself so much weak

ened, that he fell back during the night to Wavre. This movement rendering a corresponding one necessary on the part of the Duke of Wellington, he retired upon Genappe, and on the morning of the 17th moved to Waterloo, no other attempt being made by the enemy to molest his rear, except by following with a body of cavalry the cavalry under the Earl of Uxbridge. The Duke took a position at Waterloo which crossed the high roads to Brussels from Charleroi and Nivelle, and had in its front the house and garden of Hougomont, and in another part, the farm of la Haye Sainte. By his left he communicated with the Prussians at Wavre.

Buonaparte employed that night and the morning of the 18th in collecting his whole force upon a range of heights opposite to the British, with the exception of the third corps, which was sent to observe Blucher and at ten o'clock he commenced a furious attack on the post at Hougomont. This was renewed in different efforts during the whole of the day, but was resisted with so much gallantry, that the post was effectually maintained. At the same time a very heavy cannonade was carried on against the whole British line, and repeated charges were made of cavalry and infantry, which were uniformly repulsed, except that the farm-house of la Haye Sainte was carried in one of them. At about seven in the evening a desperate attempt was made to force the British left centre near that farm-house, which produced a very severe contest, and for a [F2] time

time it appeared dubious whether the resistance against superior numbers of fresh troops could be longer persisted in. But the Prussians, who had themselves been attacked, and who found great difficulty in passing a defile between their position and that of the British, began at length to appear. As soon as their cannon were heard, Wellington seized the moment, and advanced th ewnole line of infantry, supported oy the cavalry and artillery. In every point this attack succeeded. The French were forced from their position on the heights, and fled in the utmost confusion, leaving behind them about 150 pieces of cannon with their ammunition. The British pursued till long after dark, and the General then halted, only on account of the fatigue of his troops, and because he found himself on the same road with Marshal Blucher, who promised to continue the pursuit during the night.

The Prussians well performed their part in this great engagement, and the Duke of Wellington, with the liberality of an honourable mind, in his public dispatches, made the fullest acknowledgment of their services. "I should not (said he) do justice to my feelings, or to Marshal Blucher and the Prussian army, if I did not attribute the successful result of this arduous day to the cordial and timely assistance I received from them. The operation of General Bulow upon the enemy's flank was a most decisive one; and even if I had not found my self in a situation to make the attack which produced the final result, it would have forced the

enemy to retire if his attacks should have failed, and would have prevented him from taking advantage of them, if they should unfortunately have succeeded.” The Prussian pursuit was most active and vigorous. The Marshal had ordered that the last man and the last horse should join in it, and nothing could be more complete than the discomfiture of the French. "The causeway (says the Prussian narrative) was covered with an innumerable quantity of cannon, caissons, carriages, baggage, arms, and wrecks of every kind. Those of the enemy who had attempted to repose for a time, and had not expected to be so quickly pursued, were driven from more than nine bivouacs. The whole march was a continued chase. About 40,000 men, the remains of their whole army, saved themselves retreating through Charleroi, partly without arms, and carrying with them only 27 pieces of their numerous artillery."

Such was the battle of Waterloo, one of the most warmly contested, and most decisive, in modern military history. It shed the brightest lustre on the British arms, and raised their great commander to the summit ofmartial reputation. In his own modest narratives his name has rarely appeared; but all the private accounts of this engagement were filled with anecdotes of his extraordinary coolness in the most trying circumstances, and of the intrepidity with which he exposed himself where the danger was most urgent. Such a victory was necessarily purchased at a high cost; and in no action of the present war has so bloody a return

been

been given of British officers. Among the killed, were the Generals Sir Thomas Picton, and Sir W. Ponsonby, and four colonels: among the wounded, nine generals and five colonels: of inferior officers in both, a full proportion. The killed, wounded, and missing of non-commissioned officers and privates, British and Hanoverians, were stated at between twelve and thirteen thousand. The conduct, in this field of carnage, of the man on whose account all these lives were lavished, is differently represented according to the differeut feelings attached to his name. It is certain that he was present near the scene of the hottest conflict; but it has been affirmed, that his post was a hollow way out of the reach of shot. When all was lost, it seems never to have occurred to him, that the field in which an Emperor had ceased to reign, was his only bed of honour. He hastened back to Paris, where, during the past four days of successive action, emotions of triumph, doubt, and despair had rapidly followed each other; and on the morning of the 20th, it was cautiously whispered, "The Emperor is here!"

On the arrival of Buonaparte, he assembled his counsellors, when, it is affirmed, that he proposed proclaiming himselfdictator, and that his brother Lucien was peremptorily in favour of such a measure, but that several members of the council declared their opinion, that in the present temper of the public there was no probability that it could be carried. It is further asserted, that M. de la Fayette being made acquainted with what was agitating, repaired

immediately to the chamber of representatives, of which he was a member, and that this was the cause of the propositions which he laid before them. By these, the independence of the nation was asserted to be in danger: the sittings of the chamber were declared permanent, and all attempts to dissolve it were pronounced treasonable. The minister of the interior was invited to assemble the commanders and chief officers of the Parisian national guard, to consult upon the means of arming and completing it; and the ministers of war, of foreign affairs, of police, and of the interior, were invited to repair to the hall of the assembly. The propositions were adopted, and being communicated, to the chamber of peers, that body also declared itself permanent. Whatever might have been the intentions of Buonaparte, it was now manifest, that there were no longer any hopes of his being able to make his will the law of the nation; and after some vacillation, on June 22, he published the following declaration to the French people:--" Frenchmen! in commencing war for maintaining the national independence, I relied on the union of all efforts, of all wills, and the concurrence of all the national authorities. I had reason to hope for success, and I braved all the declarations of the powers against me. Circumstances appear to me changed. I offer myself a sacrifice to the hatred of the enemies of France. May they prove sincere in their declarations, and really have directed them only against my power. My political life is terminated, and I proclaim my son under the title of Napo

leon