The National Register.
London, England, 1815-04-16 00:00:00

SUNDAY, APRIL 16, 1815.

No. 381.

POI,I7ICAI, 01S21.11SITIO.A'.

CONDUCT OF PARTIES DURING THE LATE REVOLU.
TION IN i RANCE.

Every thing which tends to throw some light on the as-
tonishing revolution wihich has once more rendered France
an object of terror to Europe, cannot fail to prove highly
interesting. For some time, at least, the only sources of
information must be found in the French papers, and were
they conducted in the manner which disgraced the latter•
years of Napoleon's despotism, we should not consider
any of their statements entitled to more attention than the
laboured descriptions of romance. As not only interest,
but actual necessity, however, compel Napoleon for the
present, in his new character of the apostle of liberty, to
keep his promise and leave the press unfettered, and as
French writers seem to have availed themselves of their
privileges, thinking them probably temporary, and hasten.
ing to enjoy them before they should be withdrawn, we
shall make 'ow farther apology for translating the follow-
ing highly interesting account of the state of the public
mind and the conduct of all parties in France, frcm the
moment the landing of Buoneparte was known to that of
his arrival at Paris. It is from the pen of one of the best
living writers in France, Mr./oily, who, under the assumed
characters of the Hermit e ofthe (lanes& d' Ant in, and Gail-
lenume le Franc Parleur, has for several years instructed
and amused the Parisian public, with essays on events and
manneis, which would have done honor to the pages of
our own Spectator, as they displayed a deep knowledge
of the hidden springs of human nature, pointed wit to ex-
pose the follies and vices of society, soundness of sense,
and an dnimated, easy and captivating style to cort-
ley with n, common force and effect the result of his
observations. If he has condescended to burn some incense

before Napoleon, yet the feeling and indignant man-
ner in which he reproves the cowardly desertion of Louis
XVIII. at the hour of misfortune, by his followers in
prosperity is a pledge of his honesty and independence.
The following is the essay to whish we allude and .which
appeared a few c:ays since in the Gazette de France.

THE RETURN OP THE EMPEROR.
`lnca amor patriz, laudum que inunensa cupido.
Ving. En. I. 6.
This capital has witnessed twice in the same year, one of
of those memorable events which are generally placed at
the greatest distance in the course of ages ; the fall of a
toTereign precipitated from the first Throne in the world
to which victory bad elevated him, and the restoration of
&Royal Family that had been banished for the
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Every thing led to the belief that such a spectacle wou:d
not again have presented itself to the eyes of cotern-
pornries. Napoleon appeared lost to the Empire for C e:,
even whilst the fame of his name still rosounded througi
Europe, and France was in a manner covered with tho
wrecks of his glory.

The Bourbons might think themselves fixed, if not an
the Throne of Henry IV. at least on that of Louis XV.
and the nation, painfully awakened from her dreams of
grandeur, resigned itself reluctantly to the.torced repose
which her situation imposed upon her. r shall pitss over
the political causes, which have so suddenly brought
about a new revolution, and without encroaching a second
time upon the province of the historian, will hasten to re-
new my modest function of observer. Even an imper-
fect sketch of the events that took place in the Capital
during March 1815, will be very interelifilig iu futurv,
and perhaps of some utility at present. Those who judgGd
of the situation of France, by that of the Court, during
the three first days of March last, were dupes to the ap-
parent calm that seemed to subsist in the Capital. The
Parisians had atlength formed their determination upon
the decisions of a congress in which France had made
so ridiculous a figure. Scarcely did some old poli-
ticians, of the Cafe *de Foy, condescend to follow 0:e
course of the conferences at Vienna. The armi-t
buried in their cantonments, no longer thought of
victory, and received with contemptuous -indifferencol
the Ministerial favorites Who Were substituted for their
former chiefs. The Priests did not sufficiently conceal the
end and motive of their hopes; they looked upon the c-, -.-
cessions which were made to them merely as the me..r.s
of obtaining more, The Court, without a Queen, with-
out courtesy, and Without eclat, amused itself In re-estab-
lishing the barriers of etiquette, and the Ministers, inca-
pable of great actions, occupied themselves in
.trifiing
intrigues. One employed all the resources of his inv.-
gination in confirming, to a foreign singer, a privilege of
which he had deprived the legitimate possessor. Ano-
ther, saw the salvation of France in reform only, that :.s
to say, in the destruction of the National Institute at.tl
the University. A third, to whom tho sales of justi--„,.
had been confided, weighed in them only the interests oi'
his vanity, his prepossessions, and his averilons. The 3QC -
nals, to amuse the people, made a kind of daily wror ;
some exerted all their force for absolute power, other 4
defended (or pretended to defend) the constitutional chq.n-
ter, and others, for perhaps the first time, placf:it
~rkison anti laughter cn the same side. Such was the
gt r
S Of .errand thirigs when a low anddistattt report
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THE NA.

terrified the Court, astonished Paris, and electrified
the Army. The eyes of every person were turned
towards the South or France, from whence the
blow proceeded ; nothing more was to be seen at first
than a luminary sped( in the horizon, but suddenly the
meteor arose, enlarged, approached, and filled the. space..
It vas Napoleon ! ! From the high rock which he !rad
chosen for his Asylum, his eyes had hovered over France;
he measured the abyss which separated him from it, under-
took to conquer all difficulties, to regain the sceptre which
had fallen from his hand, This project, the most daring
that ever was conceived by man, he executed at the head
of 600 brave fellows, whom he admitted to be partners
of his immortality.

The news of his landing arrived in Paris on Sunday the
sth of March, but either because dread at first chilled every
mind, or from a fear of interrupting the pious exercises
to which that day was devoted, they put off till the mor-
row taking any measures for an event, in which the delay
of an hour might occasion the loss of a throne. On the
Monday morning, this inconceivable intelligence passed
the boundaries of the Thuilleries, and was circulated in
the city, where it produced such different, and such
changeable opinions, that at that time no character could
be assigned to them. The Ilioniteur in 'officially giving it
publieitY,,preserited it as in act of madness which a few
coast guard, wonld be sufficient to repress and punish.
Every one Who approached the Court affected the same
confidence, anal the,toOst zealous, even treated it with con-
tempt ; alarth etas in one part of the city, and hope in the
other. ',.ritiAiliittryitione prFdlcied the success of the en-
terprize th.ce male* thq. kne* it. Tfie scenes which had
taken Place in..3llVch, of Ole precedhig year, were quickly
renewed. e 7tfi, 6roifili*Sernbled near the Thuil-
leriei, lionleVicitiL the coffee-houses were
Billed *iih Of whom hid his confiden-
tial lett&.in l is peCk.eti acid iltikreadlit of the Moniieur) •
which was done in a Wait. fake, was ititeirupted by ob-
se rtationi? btan openly to shew it-
self. Frotri cliatike fit the contitenance of the
military "Was oliiinf; to he discovered
without difficulty, and its effect easy to be foreseen—
Thdse, whom triiiing.circu*ances do not escape; and-
who frequently draw frorii .ttietn iMportaht indactiOns,
perceived that at thi,,,Very Period the decoraticitii of the,
jteur de • Isete less general, •:11
known-; tikat.thettijaii the soldieri had from
• a sort of preienti,ment and ta,ti-greentefitf when ih pri!.
vate within their garraWil given: the. giilpe'ror the; mys-
terious surname a riief, to 010 therattached the
idea of his return fh Thisiecrk- thought from.
that moment assilited int..Otitvr.aid Mask.. •The,most de-
voted partizans of l'ftapoleon alaqngst the citizens .atioPted
a bunck of. violets, as a tnealm, of understanding and re-
cognizing each other, whilst the military for the • same
purpose ne li ntly tied the ribton of the legion in their
Governnient (whose conduct bpon