At this time Louis was so infirm in his health that he was not able to leave England immediately ; but his bro ther was appointed Lieutenant-General of France, and re paired to Paris, where he was received with great enthusi asm. He declared his readiness to adhere to the constitu tion in the name of his brother, although he acknowledged he was not authorised to that effect. As soon as Louis was sufficiently strong, he left England, and on the 3d of May made his solemn entry into Paris. " When he came to the palace of his fathers, a vast crowd collected in the garden, appeared,by their lively acclamations,to solicit the presence of his majesty. The King presented himself in compli ance with the wishes of his people. The Duchess D'An gouleme was at his right hand, and the Duke de Berri at his left. Shortly afterwards, the daughter of Louis XVI. made way fin. Monsieur. The King instantly embraced his brother, and the acclamations were redoubled. The .enthusiasm was at its height, when the King, raising his arms towards the crowd, seemed to say, " You are my children, I speak to you from my heart, I embrace you thus." The people understood him, by crying out," Long live the King, long live our father." On the 30th of May, the definitive treaty of peace was signed at Paris, of which the following are the principal articles: The limits, as they existed January 1st 1792, are restored to France. Holland was to receive an accession of territory ; but this, as well as the regulation of Germa ny and Italy, was to be the subject of the deliberations of a Congress to be held at Vienna. All the colonies, fish ,crics, factories, which she possessed in 1792, except St Lucie, Tobago, and the Isle of f ranee, are restored. She is to erect no fortresses in the East Indies. Two. thirds of the shipping in the harbours of Antwerp and Flushing arc to he given up to her. The last article pro vides For a Congress to he held at Vienna by the Plenipo tentiaries of all the powers of Europe, to regulate the ar rangements requisite to carry this treaty into full effect.
Before Marshal Marmont agreed to give up Paris, he stipulated with the allies for the personal safety of Bona parte, and that a provision should be made for his future support. On the night of the 4th of April, a proposal was brought to the allies from Bonaparte, that he would abdi cate in favour of his son ; but as he was already deposed by the provisional government, no attention was paid to it. Ile then renounced the sovereignty in the following terms : " The allied powers having proclaimed that the emperor Napoleon is the only obstacle to the re-establishment of the peace of Europe, the Emperor Napoleon, faithful to his oath, declares, that he renounces for himself and his heirs, the thrones of France and Italy ; and that there is no personal sacrifice, even that of life, which he is not rea dy to make to the interest of France." Afterwards a for mal treaty was concluded at Fontainbleau between him and the allied powers, by which the titles of Bonaparte and of all his family are guaranteed to them during their lives ; the island of Elba is appointed his residence, of which he is to hold the full sovereignty, with an annual revenue of two millions of francs, in rent charge in the great book of France. By the fourth article, the duchies of Parma, Pla
centia, and Guastella, were granted in full sovereignty to the Empress, to pass to her son and his descendants in a right line. By the sixth article, a rent charge of 2,500,000 francs was decreed to the branches of Bonaparte's family ; and by the seventeenth article, he was allowed to take with him to the isle of Elba 400 men, and to retain them there as his guard. To all of this treaty the British court refus ed its sanction, except so far as regarded the arrangements for securing the Italian duchies to Maria Louisa, and the isle of Elba to Bonaparte. To this island he was conveyed with as little delay as possible. During his journey, espe cially in the south of France, he was frequently in danger of his life, from the violent hatred which the mob express ed against him.
Before we proceed to the narrative of events, that render even the extraordinary transactions which the Revolution had hitherto given rise to comparatively tame and common place, we shall offer some remarks, First, on the causes which produced the liberation of the continent of Europe from the dominion of the French, and also the overthrow of Bonaparte ; and, Secondly, on the condition and charac ter of the French people at the time when Louis XVIII. ascended the throne.
In the spring of 1812, nearly the whole of the continent of Europe was subservient to the will, and conducive to the interests of Bonaparte. In the Peninsula, indeed, he had not been equally successful ; but, at this period, it seemed as if it were only necessary for him to pour into it all his force, in order to reduce it to reluctant and restless submission, and to compel the English to retire to their lines in the vicinity of Lisbon. From the Emperor of Aus tria, after the humiliation to which he had submitted in the marriage of his daughter to Bonaparte, though no cordial and zealous co-operation could be hoped, no formidable or dangerous enmity was to be feared. The king of Prussia was still more humbled in spirit, and reduced in power. The Emperor of Russia, by the treaty of Tilsit, had deliv ered himself up, contrary to the interests of his kingdom, to the anticommercial schemes of Bonaparte ; and though, at this period, he was beginning to struggle to regain his liberty, yet the probable commencement of a new war, seemed to open up only new prospects of triumph and suc cess to his opponent. For never at any former period was the army of Bonaparte so numerous, or so well appointed in every respect. As soon as he had determined to com mence hostilities against Russia, nearly half a million of men were put in motion : Frenchmen, Dutch, Germans, Italians, Poles, and even Spaniards, marched under his ban ner : Of these dissimilar materials lie was the animating spirit ; and from the success which had hitherto attended his arms, there was great reason to dread that the empire of Russia would henceforth be obliged to contribute the re luctant service of her sons to the conqueror.