PARIS. 
Beaumont, and the combined forces under Wellington 
by Bavay. The former advanced upon the road to St. 
Quentin, and the latter to Cambray and Peroufe. 
The French army, under Soult, retreated on Laon in 
great cpnfufion. The troops commanded by Grouchy, 
which had reached Dinant, retired in better order; but 
they were cut off from the wreck of the main army, and 
alfo from the direct road to Paris. Grouchy, therefore, 
was compelled to take the road to Bethel, whence he 
proceeded to Rheims; and, by forced marches, he endea¬ 
voured to force a junction with Soult, and thus reach the 
capital before the allies. The duke of Wellington pro¬ 
ceeded rapidly into the heart of France; but, as there 
was no enemy in the field to oppofe his progrefs, the for¬ 
tifies alone demanded his attention. 
The following order of the day was ifl'ued to the Bri- 
tifli army before they entered France. “As the army is 
going to enter the French territory, the troops of different 
nations, now under the command of field-marflial the 
duke of Wellington, are defired to remember, that their 
refpeftive Sovereigns are the allies of his majerty the king 
of France, and that France muff therefore be confidered 
as a friendly country. It is ordered, that nothing be 
taken either by the officers or foldiers without payment.” 
The regulations contained in the above order were 
ItridHy adhered to, which refledts the higheft credit on 
the Britifh army and their commander. The Englifti 
foldiers, wherever they were quartered, paid the greateft 
refpedl to the inhabitants; and, every thing which was 
furnifhed them being punctually paid for, the French 
looked upon them rather as friends than as enemies. 
The conduit of the Pruffians, on the other hand, was 
direCtly the reverfe : their footfteps were every where 
marked with blood and rapine, and the mod brutal be¬ 
haviour towards the unfortunate inhabitants, whom 
they plundered of every thing they could lay their hands 
on, and then wantonly fet fire to their habitations. Thele 
barbarians excited fuch a dread among the peafantry, 
that they deferred their villages, apd fled into the woods, 
til! at length the country looked like a complete defert. 
From Beaumont, the Pruffians advanced to Avefnes, 
which furrendered to them on the zift. The French at 
firft feemed determined to defend the place to the laft ex¬ 
tremity, and made confiderable refiltance ; but a maga¬ 
zine having blown up, by which 400 men were deftroyed, 
the reft of the garrifon, which confided chiefly of national 
guards, and amounting to 439 men, furrendered at dis¬ 
cretion. The greateft- exceffes were committed by the 
Prufiian fok’tiery, when they entered the town, which in- 
ftead of being refrained was encouraged by the officers. 
The following letter wiil give the reader forne idea of 
the manner in which this war was conduced by the 
Pruffians.—“Sir, The fortrefs of Avefnes fell into our 
power this morning," and the garrifon are prifoners of war. 
The officers are to be conduced to Wefel, and ftriftly 
guarded in the citadel ; the foldiers are ueftined for Co¬ 
logne, that they may be employed in working on the 
fortifications. All are to be treated with the neceflary 
feverity. Blucher.” 
The duke of Wellington, on his arrival at Malplaquet, 
the fcene of one of Marlborough’s victories, ifl’ued a pro¬ 
clamation to the French people, in which he referred to 
the order of the day addreffed to his army, as containing 
an explanation of the principles by which his conduct 
would be guided. It is as follows: “ I announce to the 
French that I enter their territory at the head of an army, 
already viftorious, not as an enemy, (except of the iifur- 
per, the enemy of the human race, with whom there can be 
neither peace nor truce,) but to aid them to fliake off the 
iron yoke by which they are oppreffed. I therefore give 
to my army the fubjoined orders, and I defire that every 
one who violates them may be made known to me. 
“The French know, however, that I have a right to 
require that they conduft themfelves in fuch a manner 
that I may be able to protect them againft thofe who 
Vol, XVIII. No. 1264. 
553 
would feek to do them evil. They mull, then, furnifh 
■the requilitions that will be made them by perfons autho¬ 
rized to make them, taking receipts in.due form and 
order ; and they muff remain quietly at their homes, and 
have no correfpondence or communication with the ufur- 
per or with his adherents. All thofe who fhall abfent 
themfelves from their homes after the entrance of the 
army into France, and’all thofe who /hall be abfent in 
the fervice of the ufurper, fhall he confidered as enemies 
and his adherents, and their property fhall be appropriated 
to the fubfiftenceof the army. Wellington.” 
On the 24th, fir Charles Colville took the town of 
Cambray by efcalade, the governor retiring into the ci¬ 
tadel, which he afterwards furrendered on the 25th, 
when it was given up to the order of Louis XVIII. St. 
Quintin was abandoned by the French, and was occupied 
by Blucher: and, on the evening of the 24th, the caftle 
of Guife furrendered to the Prufiian arms. On the 27th, 
Quefnoy furrendered to the prince Frederic of Orange : 
the garrifon, which amounted to 2800 men, chiefly na¬ 
tional guards, obtained liberty to retire to their homes. 
On the 26th, Peronne was fformed by the Britilh troops; 
the garrifon obtaining leave to retire to their homes. On 
the 28th, the Pruffians, under Blucher, were at Crefl’y, 
Senlis, and La Fere Millon ; and, on the 29th, their 
advanced-guards were at St. Denis and Gonaffe. The 
refiftance experienced by the Britilh army at Cambray 
and Peronne, detained them one day behind the Prulfian 
army; but forced marches enabled them to overtake it 
in the neighbourhood of Paris. 
In the mean time, Soult was difplaced from the chi&f 
command of the army, which was conferred on Grouchy. 
The reafon of this remarkable ftep, according to Soult, 
was becaufe the provifional government fufpeCted his 
fidelity. This was very likely the true reafon; or they 
could fcarcely at this moment have difmiffed a man con- 
fefledly fuperior to his fucceflbr, in point of abilities. 
The rapid advance of the allied armies caufed Grouchy 
to redouble his fpeed to reach Paris before them. This 
he effected, after confiderable lofs, particularly on the 
28th, at Villers Cotterets, where he fell in with the left 
wing of the Prufiian army, and afterwards with the divi- 
fion under Bulow, which drove him acrofs the Marne, 
with the lofs of fix pieces of cannon and 1500 prifoners. 
Grouchy fairly acknowledged, that his troops .would not 
fight, and that numbers deferted. In fait, though the 
French army was daily receiving reinforcements from the 
towns and depots in its route, and alfo from the interior, 
the defertion from it was fo great, that its number was 
little if any thing at all augmented. With the remainder, 
however, Grouchy fucceeded in throwing himfelf into 
Paris, where he joined the wreck of the main army, the 
whole confifting of about 40 or 50,000 troops of the line, 
the wretched remains of 150,000 men, which fought at 
Quatre Bras and Waterloo. To thefe, however, were to 
be added the national guards, a new levy called les tirail¬ 
leurs de la garde, and the fed&ris : according to Bonaparte’s 
portfolio, found at Waterloo, thefe latter amounted to 
14,000 men. All together, thefe forces were at leaft 
40,000 more. Paris was, therefore, ftill formidable, and 
capable of much refiftance. 
Meanwhile, the duke of Wellington continued his 
operations with unabating activity. As the armies ap¬ 
proached the capital, Fouche, prefident of the govern¬ 
ment, wrote the following letter to the Britilh commander, 
fupplicating him to arreff the progrefs of war. “ My 
Lord, You have juft illuftrated your name by new vic¬ 
tories over the French. It is you efpecially who can ap¬ 
preciate the French nation. In the council of fovereigns 
united to fix the deftinies of Europe, your influence and 
your credit cannot be lefs than your glory. Your law of 
nations has always been juftice, and your confluence has 
always been the guide of your policy. The French nation 
wifties to live under a monarch, but it wifties that that 
monarch fhoultl live under the empire of laws. The re- 
7 B public 
