that what was gained by conquest, might be resumed on reconquest. Prussia was the first claimant on this ground; and Marshal Blucher, on his entrance into Paris, sent to demand from M. Denon, director of the museum, every thing in it belonging to that kingdom. Denon referring the affair to a future negociation with his government, he was arrested in a military manner, and threatened with being confined in a Prussian fortress. His compliance was the consequence of this menace, and Prussian commissaries carried off not only the spoils of Berlin and Potsdam, but of Cologne and Aix le Chapelle. For a considerable time the French were suffered to flatter themselves that this retribution would be limited to the power most hostile to them; but at length the recovery of the rich plunder of the Belgian churches became an object to the new king of that country, as a means of ingratiating himself with the catholic clergy, and the British government supported his application. The Duke of Wellington thought it incumbent upon him to afford the aid of his soldiers in removing some of the great works reclaimed by the Belgian agents; and having been much reflected upon in France for his conduct on this occasion, he wrote a letter to Lord Castlereagh in explanation, which was made public. The paragraph with which it concluded was probably not less grating to the feelings of the French, than the act itself. "It is to be wished (says his Grace) as well for the happiness of France, as of the world, that

if the French people are not already convinced that Europe is too strong for them, they may be made to feel that however extensive for a time their temporary and partial advantages over one or more of the powers of Europe may be, the day of retaliation must at length come. According to my feelings, then, it would not only be unjust in the sovereigns to gratify the French people, but the sacrifice they would make would be impolitic, as it would deprive them of the opportunity of giving the French nation a great moral lesson."

The other

The Austrians then began to make reclamations for Venice, and the famous Corinthian Horses were carried off under the eyes of the King from the Tuilleries. The Pope obtained restitution, through the influence of the British minister, of the valuable products of art and literature carried away from Rome. Italian states recovered their lost treasures; and at length, amidst the groans, exclamations, and execrations of the Parisians, the gallery of the Louvre was wholly stript of all its foreign spoils, and reduced to the productions of French artists, and the few other articles of legitimate acquisition.

The extreme unpopularity thrown upon the King and Court by these occurrences may be inferred from the circulation of a paper, purporting to be a letter of the late French ministers to the King, explaining the motives for their retiring. It contained many severe strictures on the encouragement at court of factions, to the injury of legiti mate authorities, and obviously intimated

ber of deputies, concluded his speech to that chamber, seems to have been best accommodated to circumstances: "Let us leave it to God, who afflicts this nation, to judge kings; but let us surround our Sovereign with all the power which is necessary for extinguishing discord, causing France to be respected, and protecting publie liberty."

intimated a preference given to the councils of royalist favourites, to the general wishes of the nation. The following passage points at the grievances which at that time chiefly pressed upon the public feelings. "Meanwhile foreigners possess France as a conquered country to civil discord they add the ravage of provinces; they dissipate the funds which ought to find their way into the treasury: they devour the provisions of the people, who are threatened with approaching famine; they carry off the magazines of arms, the ammunition of war, and the cannon from the ramparts of our cities. The white flag floats only over ruins. They despoil us of our public monuments, the tokens of our former glory; they seize the monuments of art which alone remain to us after twenty years of conquest. It is dishonour, Sire, which the people are most reluctant to pardon; and your Majesty has remained silent in the midst of all these attacks on the national honour !" To these keen and natural complaints the only reply to be made was, You are a conquered people, and what you are now suffering is no more than you have inflicted upon half Europe. It is obvious that the King, whom they had deserted, and who could only have been restored by foreign arms, was entirely powerless to resist foreign compulsion; and it was perfectly natural on his part that he should give his chief confidence to that domestic party from which alone he could expect personal attachment. The sentiment with which M. Laine, president of the cham

The apprehensions of the court from the prevailing spirit of discontent were manifested by a law-project, or bill, presented by the King to the chambers on October 17th, for the suppression of seditious cries, speeches, papers, and other incitements to insurrections, which descended to minute particulars that, in a well-estabished government, would scarcely have been thougnt worthy of notice. This proposed measure was the subject of much discussion, and various amendments were suggested, which were consented to by the King. The law was carried by great majorities. The principal court of justice, named the Cour Royal, was opened on November 2d. Its first president, Seguier, delivered an address, which afforded a specimen of the political doctrine that may be expected to obtain court favour under the renewed reign of the Bourbons. "All authority (said he) proceeds from God, and it is not given to the people to dispose of it. Our ancestors, who guarded their franchises, and cherished their liberty, wiser than we, recognized that our kings reigned by the grace of God, and not by constitutions. The monarch, an image of the Divinity, is not less

a re

a representative of his subjects, than a father is of his children. The supremacy of both constitutes the essentially natural state. Every other political form is a derogation from the general rule, and contains a principle of relapse to primordial disorder." It will remain to be seen how far present France is brought to acquiesce in such a theory of Government.

Nothing could be of more importance to the confirmation of that spirit of vigour, which the French ministry had determined to exert with respect to the treatment of state criminals, than the issue of Marshal Ney's trial, which had now been so long depending, that an opinion prevailed, of a want of resolution in the court to come to extremities against a man so high in military reputation. The decision had at first been committed to a court martial, in which there appeared a manifest reluctance to pass judgment upon one of their own body; and after a second sitting, the court pronounced, by a majority of five to two, that it was not competent to try Marshal Ney. Immediately after, on November 11, the King published a decree, enjoining the Chamber of Peers to proceed without delay to the trial of the culprit, accused of high treason, and of an outrage against the safety of the state. The process immediately commenced, and after several sittings, was concluded on December 6, when the Marshal was capitally condemned by 139 votes out of 160. Seventeen peers voted for his banishment, and four declined giving any vote. He was executed on the following day (see the Chronicle for particulars),

and the general impression made by this act, appears to have been favourable to the stability of the government, since the funds experienced an immediate rise.

The

The rage of bigotry at Nismes at length rose to a height which obliged the Government to interpose with a strong hand. The Duke of Angouleme, whose devoted attachment to the Catholic religion had rendered him suspected of conniving at the persecution of the protestants, had redeemed his character on a visit to Nismes, by a gracious reception of the Protestant deputation, and an order for the re-opening of their places of worship. On leaving the place, he had directed General de la Garde to see that this promise was fulfilled. While executing his duty on Sunday, November 12, a furious mob assembled to oppose him, and a villain levelled a pistol and shot him through the breast. wound was very severe, but not mortal; and the assassin was seized by the military, but afterwards escaped. Other violences were subsequently committed by the populace. When this atrocity was made known at Paris, an ordinance was issued by the King, which, after recognizing the liberty of worship granted by the constitutional charter to dissen, tients from the religion of the State, directed that proceedings should be commenced against the authors of the assassination of General la Garde; that troops should be sent to Nismes, and remain there at the expense of the inhabitants, till the criminal and his accomplices should be brought to justice; and that such of the inhabitants

inhabitants should be disarmed as were not entitled to form part of the national guard. The Duke of Angouleme returned to Nismes, but such a spirit was prevalent there, that it was not thought prudent to open the Protestant churches. The national guard, which had been ordered to disband, refused to lay down their arms; and no prospect then appeared of the restoration of tranquillity. Before the termination of the year, however, the interference of Government seems to have been effectual; and on December the 25th, the Protestant churches in Nismes were re-opened, and their congregations assembled with all the usual publicity. Yet, it is to be apprehended, that the past scenes of violence and animosity will have left an impression on the minds of the two parties, which will long foster the rancour of religious discord in that part of France.

The foreign troops having, for the most part, been withdrawn from the interior of France, she was left to her own management of domestic affairs; but the terms on which she was to be re-admitted into the European community were still under determination by the congress of Vienna, and it was not till after a long and anxious state of suspense, that she was apprised of its final award. The London Gazette, of November the 23d, informed the public of the signature at Paris, on the 20th, of the several treaties and conventions for the restoration and maintenance of peace between the allied powers on the one part, and his most Christian Majesty on the other, but without any mention

of the articles. These, however, were soon after communicated to both Chambers by the Duke of Richelieu, and it may easily be conceived that the scene would be equally trying to the feelings of the Speaker and the audience. The basis laid down by the allied powers was, that the indemnity due to the powers for their exertions, occasioned by the late enterprise of Buonaparte, cannot consist wholly either in cessions of territory, or in pecuniary payments, without greatly injuring the essential interests of France; and therefore that it is better to unite them; and also, that it is necessary for a certain time to keep the frontier provinces of France occupied by a certain number of the allied troops. Of the articles which follow, the first declares, that the frontiers of France remain as they were in 1790, with the exception of the modifications subsequently described. These cannot be understood without a particular map; but the principal cessions of territory are on the borders of Belgium and the Upper Rhine, and in the vicinity of Geneva, the whole not considerable in extent, but important in point of situation. The indemnity in money to the allied powers was fixed at seven hundred millions of francs, the mode and periods of payment being regulated by a separate convention. The frontier towns to be occupied by the allies, for a term not exceeding five years, and which circumstances might reduce to three, were seventeen in number, along the frontiers of French Flanders, Champagne, Lorrain, and Alsace: the establishment of troops not to be

greater

greater than 150,000 men, to be maintained by France, and under a commander in chief nominated by the allied powers. Particular conventions were made for liquidating the claims of different powers on the French Government. Such was the bitter cup of humiliation which France was doomed to drain, after so many triumphs over her neighbours, enjoyed with so little moderation. As she had risen higher under her late Ruler than at any former period, so she was called upon to submit to a greater abasement. The terms imposed were however a proof of the dread still entertained of her power.

With respect to her internal condition, the past experience of the rapid changes it has undergone, the known restlessness and impetuosity of the national character, and the present superintendence exercised by foreign armies, render wholly vague all conjectures on this head for the future; and even throw much uncertainty on the actual state of things. The press is no medium

of information to be depended upon, since journals and periodical works are under a supervision, not less strict on account of its being privately exercised. In the published debates of the two chambers, we see an intemperate and almost incontrolable ardour for speaking, and much violence of language and manner, together with an apparent ardour of loyalty, breaking out in mobbish shouts of Vive le Roi; and what seems more important, a preponderance of what is termed ultraroyalism, which opposes the moderation of the court and ministers respecting political criminals, and inclines to carry retrospective punishment to the greatest practicable severity. This spirit has been particularly displayed in the debates on the proposed law of amnesty, with which the year concluded, and seems to forbode a stormy season to come, unless Government shall have acquired the strength and the wisdom to hold the helm with a steady hand.

CHAPTER