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was immediately to be raised; and the French troops forming part of the army of Italy, or occupying its strong places, or those on the Mediterranean, were to be recalled. Blockades by sea were also to be raised, and liberty to be given to the French fisheries and coasting trade. All prisoners on both sides were to be sent back without ransom. There were other articles relative to time and matters of regulation which need not here be specified.

We now return to a review of some of the more important transactions which took place at Paris. On April 14th, Monsieur received the senate and the legislative body, the former being presented to him by its president, the prince of Benevento. The senate passed a decree conveying the provisional government to Monsieur, under the title of Lieutenant-general of the kingdom," until Louis Stanislaus Xavier of France, called to the throne of the French, has accepted the Constitutional Charter." It is worthy of observation, how carefully this body in its language avoids any recognition of indefeasable hereditary right, and inculcates the ideas of election, or contract. When the decree was presented to Monsieur, he made a reply, in which he said, "I have taken cognizance of the Constitutional Charter, which recalls to the throne of France, the king my august brother. I have not received from him the power to accept the constitution; but I know his sentiments and principles, and I do not fear being disavowed, when I assure you in his name, that he will admit the bases of it." He afterwards nominated

nine persons to be the provisional council of state, the prince of Benevento standing first. The marshals Moncey and Oudinot were of the number. The duke of Berri, son of Monsieur, made his entrance into Paris, on the 21st, escorted by a detachment of horseguards, and with a marshal of France on each hand. He was welcomed by the acclamations of the public. On the 22d, Monsieur issued a decree, by virtue of which an extraordinary commissioner of the king was deputed to each of the military divisions of the kingdom, for the purpose of disseminating an exact knowledge of the events, which have produced the restoration of the legi timate sovereigns of France; of insuring the execution of all the acts of the provisional govern ment; of taking the requisite measures for facilitating the establishment of the government; and of collecting information relative to all branches of the public service. They were invested with powers to command the assistance of all the civil and military authorities; to suspend those whose conduct had been faulty, and appoint provisional successors; to set at liberty all persons under arbitrary arrests; to put a stop to all prosecutions and punishments, consequent upon military conscription, and to suspend all requisitions, levies, works, &c. ordered by the late government on account of the war.

On April 20th, Buonaparte, whose departure had been delayed by various causes, left Fontainbleau for the island of Elba. Though his fall from the highest rank of sovereignty, and the real

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power of wielding the first sceptre in Europe, to the station of lord of a petty island, was one of the greatest that history records, yet the alleviations by which it was attended might in some degree flatter his pride, and support his ideas of self-consequence. The circumstances of the parting scene are thus described in a French paper. To the officers and subalterns of the old guard, who were still with him, he spoke in nearly the following words: "I bid you farewell. During the twenty years that we have acted together, I have been satisfied with you: I have always found you in the path of glory. All the powers of Europe have armed against me: part of my generals have betrayed their duty: France itself has betrayed it. With your assistance, and that of the brave men who remained faithful to me, I have for three years preserved France from civil war. Be faithful to the new king whom France has ahosen; be obedient to your commanders; and do not abandon your dear country which too long has suffered. Pity not my fate: I shall be happy when I know that you are so likewise. I might have died: nothing would have been easier to me: but I still wish to pursue the path of glory. What we have done I will write. I cannot embrace you all; but I will embrace your general. Come, general. Let the eagle be brought to me, that I may also embrace it. Ah, dear Eagle! may the kisses which I bestow on you resound to posterity! Adieu, my

children! Adieu, my brave companions! Once more encompass me." The staff, accompanied by the commissioners of the four allied powers, formed a circle round him, and Buonaparte got into his carriage, manifestly affected with the scene, and dropping some tears. He was followed by fourteen carriages, and his escort employed sixty post-horses. The four commssioners accompanied him, and four officers of his household were part of his suite. Few of the military attended him. Thus France was quitted by its late ruler, it may be hoped, never to return.

A very different scene was soon after witnessed by the shores of England. Lewis XVIII, who had first been received as a sovereign, with the greatest respect and cordiality, in the British capital, (See the Chronicle,) proceeded to Dover, the place of embarkation for his kingdom, attended by the Prince Regent, and a company of persons of rank, English and French. From that port he sailed on April 24th, in the Royal Sovereign yatch, convoyed by the Duke of Clarence in the Jason flag ship, and in the view of an immense concourse of applauding spectators; and after a passage of three hours, anchored in Calais roads. He was welcomed in that town with all the demonstrations of loyal affection, and by slow stages took his journey towards bis capital, where vast preparations were making for his reception; and with this memorable event we close the present chapter.

CHAP.

CHAPTER III.

Holland.-Mode of referring the new Constitutional code to the decision of the nation. Its acceptance, and the oath taken by the Prince Sovereign.-Appointments made by him.-Catholic Netherlands.-Carnot's conduct at Antwerp.-Military operations in Italy.-Armistice. -Occupation of Genoa by the forces under Lord W. Bentinck.Affairs of Spain.-Treaty between Napoleon and Ferdinand.-Transactions of Cortes.-Reyna.-French garrisons surrendered.—Arrival of Ferdinand in Spain.-The Pope returns to Italy.

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HE deposition of Buonaparte, and the restoration of the Bourbons, being the great crisis to which every other civil and military occurrence on the European continent was subordinate, we shall now bring up to that period, the events which had been taking place in other parts.

In Holland, after the unfortunate failure at Bergen-op-Zoom, no military operation of consequence was undertaken, both parties probably waiting for the issue of the grand contest in France. A civil transaction of the greatest importance, however, rendered memorable the close of March.

It is previously to be mentioned, that on the 3rd of that month, there was issued by the Prince of Orange, a public paper giving an account of the measures he had adopted, for obtaining the sentiments of the inhabitants of the Netherlands respecting the constitutional code which had been drawn up pursuant to his directions. "We (said he) after a careful examination have given it our approbation; but this does not satisfy our heart. It respects the

concerns of the whole Netherlands; and the whole Dutch people must be recognised in this important work." Thinking it right therefore that the code should be submitted for maturer consideration, to a numerous assembly of the principal and best qualified persons in the country, he states that he has appointed a special commission, who are to choose, out of a numerous list given in to him, six hundred persons in due proportion to the population of the now existing departments, who are to assemble at Amsterdam, on the 28th inst. each person having received, with his letter of convocation, a plan of the constitution, on which they are to decide. In order to ascertain that the persons thus chosen are possessed of the general confidence, a list of those nominated for each department is to be made public, and all the inhabitants of the same, being housekeepers, shall have an opportunity, by signiug their names without any addition, in a register lying open for that purpose for eight days, to testify their disapprobation of such

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persons as they may deem unqualified. When, from the sumning up of the registers, it shall appear that the majority are satisfied with the persons thus submitted to their election, they shall be regarded as the representatives of the whole Dutch people.

On the day appointed for the meeting of these notables or leading men, the members repaired to the New Church at Amsterdam, where his Royal Highness the Prince of Orange, accompanied by his two sons, arriving at half past eleven, opened the business with a speech. After a congratulatory introduction, relative to the happy change which had restored him to his country, he reminded the assembly that he had said, upon the declaration of the majority of the nation, that they deposited the rights of sovereignty in his hands, that he assumed them upon one condition, which was that of a constitutional code, analogous to the wants of Holland, and the present state of Europe, and which should amply provide for freedom of person, security of property, and all the civil rights which distinguish a people really free. A committee of men whose patriotism and intelligence were above suspicion, had drawn up the plan of that constitution, the bases of which would be communicated to them; and as he did not wish this to be a mere idle ceremony, he recommended the subject to their most serious consideration. Mr. Van Maanen, first president of the high court of justice of the United Netherlands, then addressed the assembly, and explained succinctly the principles of the constitution. His Royal High

ness next delivered the plan of the constitution to the president, and returned to his palace amidst the acclamations of the people; and about two in the afternoon, a general discharge of artillery announced the acceptance of the constitution. The majority in its favour is said to have been 458 to 25. On the following day his Royal Highness took the oath to the constitution, and on that occasion again addressed the assembly. He observed, that exactly four months had elapsed since his return to the Netherlands, during which period the progress made in the restoration of the state, had much surpassed all that could have been expected. Foreign powers had not only by words, but by deeds, manifested their satisfaction at the recovery of independence by the Netherlands, and the conferring of the sovereignty upon his house. The most important of their foreign relations, that with the generous British nation, would soon acquire a new degree of intimacy by the marriage of his eldest son. The devotion of the country to the good cause had enabled him, notwithstanding the exhaustion of its finances, to raise more than 25,000 troops, for the most part well armed and equipped; whilst its unanimity had been displayed by the prompt organization of the militia, the levy in mass, the national guards, and now by the acceptance of the constitution. He concluded with promising to apply himself to the immediate enforcement of that constitution, and carrying into effect all the requisite arrangements.

On April 6th, the Prince Sove

reign issued his Letters Patent for the appointments which were placed under his authority, by the constitution. They consisted in governors of all the provinces, in the members and counsellors of the council of state, in the members of the assembly of the States General for the different provinces, in the ministers of state for the civil and military departments, and the members of the council of commerce and colonies. The superior direction of the war department in all its branches was conferred upon the Hereditary Prince, as general in chief. All the powers of the nation being thus vested in persons nominated by the head of the new government, the public tranquillity was effectually secured, which, indeed, there appeared no disposition in the people to disturb.

The Catholic Netherlands, or Belgium, had in the meantime been filling with allied troops, and the French garrisons had been gradually withdrawn from the more remote stations. They had made some movements for the purposes of contribution or depredation, and Bruges and Ghent had for some time been in their hands; but at length, on intelligence of the events at Paris, the garrison of Bergen-op-Zoom mounted the white cockade, and threw open its gates; and general Maison received orders from the new French minister at war to cease all hostilities, and regard the allies as friends. The Crown-prince of Sweden having written to general Carnot, governor of Antwerp, acquainting him with the deposition of Napoleon, and proposing to him to surrender his fortress, and

join the allied troops, that distinguished person, who can only be paralleled by the republican officers who served under Cromwell, returned for answer; that he commanded at Antwerp, in the name of the French government, which alone had a right to fix the duration of his office, and the orders of which he should obey when incontestably established on its new base. On April 18th he published a proclamation to his soldiers, informing them that the wishes of the nation being fully declared in favour of the restoration of the Bourbons, it became their duty to acknowledge them; and he concluded by an oath in his name, and those of the other commanders, to defend Antwerp to the last extremity in the name of Louis XVIII.

The Dutch admiral Verhuel, also, as late as April 16th, had deferred his surrender of the Texel; but a negotiation was going on with him, and in the mean time, he had declared that he would allow a free passage to all trading vessels.

The war in Italy was still vigorously maintained by the viceroy Beauharnois, who had to make head against the Austrian general, and the king of Naples now in co-operation with him. The French general of division, Grenier, having marched from Reggio by Guastalla, to make a junction with the viceroy, the king of Naples, on March 5th, after reinforcing the Austrian advanced guard, caused an attack to be made on the division of Severoli, in which he drove it back with considerable loss under the walls of Reggio; and on the 7th, his

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