The National Register.
London, England, 1815-03-12 00:00:00

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No. 376.

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DAY,

POLITIC4L DISQUISITION.
INVASION. OF FRANCE. BY BUONAPARTE.

The age of wonders is not past the days of universal peace
are not come. At the moment when the labours of that As•
sembly of Statesmen and Kings collected to settle the exist-
ence of nations, and fix the des-tinins of the world, seemed on

the point of being 'lased, an event has suddenly occurred
which may dash all the bOpes- of tnankind to the ground.
The triumphs of 18.14,111 e tesigriation'aftbe Imperialrrown,
the negotiations 'at Vitniia •had prodticed a delusive. calm
Whilst Sovereigns partitioned the world, and fondly thought
to give it peace, by a fair equipoise of power, Napoleon, from
his island in the Mediterranean, watched at once the coast
of ftrly and of Trance, and the feelings created among the
people by the dispositions of the Congress. The blindness
of thu Allied Princes, in yielding up that important post to a
man of his profound policy, and inordinate, though, for a
time, smothered ambition, is scarcely credible. Joy at, is

easy and unexpected resignation must have driven their
senses away, or else they never would have given him a posi-
tion which enabled him to maintain unbroken communica-
tions with all his partisans in France and Italy, to reconcile
Murat, and to prepare the blow which he has now struck.

During the later stages of the Congress, Talleyrand seems
to have opened the eyes of some of the negotiating Powers
to the danger resulting from Buonaparte's situation.
Baron Koller was several times sent to him from Vienna, to
endeavour, it was said, to prevail upon him to accept another'
residence. Offers of splendid estates in Scotland :were also
said to have been made to him; but conscious of the advan-
tages of his position, and probably already deeply engaged in
the plan which he has now executed, he obstinately rejected
every overture, and relying on Russia, who had gnaranteed
the treaty of Fontainbleau, founded his refusal on the ar-
ticles of that Convention. In vain did the Emperor Alex-
ander transcend all others in the magnitude and magnificence
of his allurements, to induce him to take up his residencela
his country and enter his service. -Even the offer of a king-
dom is Asia, with twelve millions of inhabitants, which we
are assured was made him on the part of the Autocrit, bad
no effect on his resolve. With affected moderation he re-
plied. " Let the affairs of Europe be first settled, we shall I
see what we can do after." Meanwhile all his looks
speeches were guarded : content and' chieffulnesi
Vol• VII,. No. CCCLXXVI.

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bea m on his countenance, and in his conversation he at-
tered nothing but respectful sentiments towards the Bour-
bons. It is probable that he still thought the time at
some distance when he could safely attempt the 'expe-
riment which be has now tried. But late events seem
to have accelerated his purpose. From the intelligence •
contained in the foreign papers, it appears that the de,
vision of the Congress has taken a turn totally 'unfa-
vourable to Murat's hopes. We have even heard of a letter
in which Talleyrand exultingly informed his Government
that King Joachim no longer bad any advocate at Vienna.
Alarmed for the safety of his Crown, he now reproaches
the Allies with ingatitude, increases his forie, invites the
Italians to rise, puts his troops in motion, and has, pro-
bably, offered to assist his brother-io-law to recover his
imperial diadem. The Treaty of Fontainbleau, by which
Napoleon resigned his dignity on condition of being made
',Sovereign of Elba, with a pension of six millions of
francs, is well known. Talleyrand has frequently boasted
that he had xo contrived to word the article which granted
' the six millions, as to leave it undecided by whom the money
.sbershibe paid, so that itwas likely it Would not be paid at all.
By The advice of the Chamber of DepUties, Loyie XVIII.
availed himielf of that circumstance about a mouth ago, and
refused to make the payments when they became due, on the
ground that he was no party to the treaty, which had been
signed by the Allied Powers alone. However just this ob-
jection might be, it was impolitic at a period when the par-
tiality of the French army for their deposed Commander had
not yet ceased to exist, and when an appeal to that subdued
feeling, supported by a plausible excuse,- might cause it to
break forth in all its former violence. This opportunity
Btionaparte has Unfortunately seized. Deprived of his re!
venue, he,saw that all his hopes of future restoration must be
abandoned, unless he should avail himself of the force he
still possessed, before his want of means to support it should
occasion its dissolution. His last words on quitting Fon- •
tainblcau had been. "I do not give France half an age
to repent of what it has dose, I. give it three years," for
he was convinced that the general enthusiasm expressed
in favourpf the Bourbons would not cease before that time.
He now, however, determined to try the temper of the
French nation before the period he bad allowed for the
triumph .of his successor had elapsed. To suppose that he
relied entirely on his fortune or the sincerity of Murat; both
of which have already failed him, would be to think him .
more bent on destruction than on success. He has, we fear,
noe6tilliscertained the disposition of the soldiery in his be-
WI, ton secured the co-operation of several-Marshals; other-
wise it is little credible that his first scat ofaction should have
been France. • Italy would have offered a more promising
field. niece the blessings of a paternal Government have
not replaced the severity of his sway. Divided, parcelled
out in little states, or reduced into provinces, the _ltalians
for a national existence, an as . the offers which

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