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 bee done by the electors. Na poleon then pronounced a speech, in which he congratulated him, self on having just commenced the constitutional monarchy. He 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 combine ed 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 ta→ lents, 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 atacked 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, whe was posted on the heights between Brie and Sombref, and occupied two villages in front although all the corps of his T 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, leav ing behind them 15 pieces of cannon, and a great number of killed and wounded. They form ed 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 afternooon, 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 dur ing 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 be 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 inaintained. 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 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 the whole line of infantry, supported by 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 despatches, made the fullest acknowledgement 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 myself 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 of martial 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 given of British Officers. Among the killed, were the Gene rals 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 different 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!" 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 On the arrival of Buonaparte, relied on the union of all efforts, he assembled his counsellors, of all wills, and the concurrence when, it is affirmed, that he pro- of all the national authorities. I posed proclaiming himselfdictator, had reason to hope for success, and and that his brother Lucien was I braved all the declarations of the peremptorily in favour of such a powers against me. Circumstances measure, but that several members appear to me changed. I offer of the council declared their opi-myself a sacrifice to the hatred of nion, that, in the present temper the enemies of France. May they of the public, there was no pro- prove sincere in their declarations, bability that it could be carried. and really have directed them only It is further asserted, that M. de against my power. My political la Fayette being made acquainted life is terminated, and I proclaim with what was agitating, repaired my son under the title of Napo. leon II. Emperor of the French, The present ministers will provisionally form the council of the government. The interest which I take in my son, induces me to invite the chambers to form, without delay, the regency by a law. Unite all for the public safety, that you may continue an independent na, tion. NAPOLEON." This declaration was conveyed to both the chambers, which voted deputations to the late Emperor, accepting his abdication; but in their debates, the nomination of his son to the succession was eluded, and nothing was positively determined on that head. The chamber of representatives voted the nomination of a commission of five persons, three to be chosen from that chamber, and two from that of peers, for the purpose of provisionally exercising the functions of government, and also that the ministers should continue their respective functions under the authority of this commission. The persons chosen by the chamber of representatives were, Carnot, Fouche, and Grenier; those nominated by the peers were, the duke of Vicenza (Caulaincourt), and baron Quinette. The commission nominated five persons to repair to the allied army for the purpose of proposing peace. The proceedings of deliberate assemblies were, however, rendered of little importance, by the resolution of the victors to advance to Paris. Continuing their march on the left of the Sambre, marshal Blucher crossed that river on the 19th, in pursuit of the French; and both armies entered the French territory on the 21st; the Prussians by Beaumont, and the combined forces under lord Wellington, by Bavay. The remains of the French had retired in wretched condition upon Laon. The only corps which continued entire, was that which had been posted at Wavre to observe the Prussians, and which made good its retreat on the 20th by Namur and Dinant after a sharp action, in which it underwent much loss. From Malplaquet, the scene of one of Marlborough's victories, Wellington addressed a proclamation to the French, announcing that he entered their territory, not as an enemy, except of the usurper, the foe of the human race, with whom there could be neither peace nor truce, but to enable them to shake off the yoke by which they were oppressed. He required them to conduct themselves peaceably; to remain at their homes, and to furnish the requisitions that would be made, taking the proper receipts. On the 23rd, the Duke sent a detachment under Sir C. Colville against Cambray, which was taken with small loss on the next day by escalade. At this time St. Quentin and the Castle of Guise were in the possession of the Prussians. Louis XVIII. now moved to Cambray, where, on the 28th, he issued a proclamation to the French people. He hastened, he said, to place himself a second time between the allied and the French armies, in the hope that the feelings of which he might be the object would tend to their preservation: this was the only way in which he had wished to take part in the war; and he had not suffered one prince of his family to appear in foreign ranks. He |