50 Memoirs of Napoleon. [Aug. I, 
on the contrary, at the mention of his 
name and his presence, he was received 
every wherewith acclamations and cries 
of Vive IS Empereur. 
Marshal Ney and his small corps went 
over to him; Generals Drouet, Lalle- 
rnand, and Lefebvre, finding resistance 
useless, gave him their support. On the 
20th of March, at eight o’clock in the 
evening, he entered the capital. The 
following day he reviewed the army, 
thanked them for their zeal and fidelity, 
and then received the congratulations 
of his generals, of his ministers, his 
councillors of state, the magistracy, &c. 
&c. and announced the approaching re¬ 
turn of the Empress. 
On the opening of the assembly of 
representatives, on the 7th of June, he 
said, he was about to begin in Europe 
a constitutional monarchy. But the al¬ 
lies were very rapid in their movements; 
already they menaced the northern 
frontiers of France, and Bonaparte 
having collected an immense materiel , 
quitted Paris on the 12th of June, to 
meet and oppose their progress: he ar¬ 
rived, on the 13th, at Avesnes, on the 
15th he forced the enemies' lines on the 
Sombre, and on the 16th he repulsed 
the Prussian army. On the 18th, the 
decisive battle of Waterloo was fought. 
He attacked the superior army of the 
Duke of Wellington on the heights; 
and it must be confessed that never was 
a contest conducted with more skill or 
determined bravery, and which, in its 
consequences, was of such moment. 
The issue decided the fate of Europe. 
The dispositions which he made for the 
onset were masterly, and a complete 
victory over Wellington was snatched 
from his hands by the arrival of two 
bodies of 60,000 Prussians, and by the 
treachery of Grouchy, who was connect¬ 
ed with the party of his enemies. The 
struggle was long, obstinate,and bloody, 
but terminated by moonlight in the total 
rout of the French. 
The bravest men of the French army 
fell in this action, the remainder were 
dispersed ; so that of 95,000 men, not 
more than 45,000 afterwards reached 
Paris. Betrayed during the battle, 
and fearing domestic treasons, he 
instantly returned to the capital. 
The French people, soured by the re¬ 
sult of this action, were disposed to 
withdraw their confidence, for they 
feared the introduction of the allied 
troops into the capital. Those who 
had been opposed to his return, stirred 
up his friends to urge him to abdicate 
the throne. He consented at last, not 
without some difficulty, to this second 
abdication, taking care to provide for 
his interest in the empire, by proposing 
to abdicate in favour of the young Na¬ 
poleon, under the title of Napoleon the 
Second. 
Relying on the supposed liberal cha- 
ractei of the British government, he 
proposed to deliver himself into their 
hands, conceiving that in England he 
should find an asylum worthy of him 
to receive, and of a liberal nation and 
powerful enemy to grant. It seems, 
however, that he was not quite deter¬ 
mined afterwards upon the asylum he 
should seek, for he embarked at Roche¬ 
fort with a view to emigrate to Ame¬ 
rica; but learning that the English 
cruizerswere on the alert, he hesitated, 
and, at length, made up his mind to 
put himself into the hands of the com¬ 
mander of one of the English ships. 
44 I come,” said he, on appearing before 
him, 44 to deliver myself up to the most 
implacable, but, at the same time, the 
most generous, of my enemies.” He 
was then conducted on board the Bel- 
lerophon man-of-war, where he was 
received with respect. He was very 
anxious to be permitted to land in 
England, and wrote a letter to the 
Prince Regent on the subject. The 
English ministers determined not to 
accede to his desire ; and it was settled 
that he should be sent, for safe cus¬ 
tody, to the island of St. Helena (which 
for a year before had been publicly 
named as his destination), there to be 
kept for the remainder of his life. To 
this arrangement the allied sovereigns 
consented. England, Russia, Austria, 
Prussia, and France, each sent a com¬ 
missioner, and the governor specially 
appointed to guard him in that island 
was Sir Hudson Lowe; an officer who, 
during the previous campaign, had 
been employed as a sort of military 
secretary, following the Prussian army, 
to report, from time to time, to the 
British government. 
On the generosity of this conduct to 
the fallen hero, it is not necessary 
to make any comment. Since his con¬ 
finement in St. Helena, Napoleon has 
often remonstrated, but without effect, 
against the petty vexations, insults, 
and privations to which he has been 
exposed. He engaged himself in writ¬ 
ing a history of his life, the ninth book 
of which has already been published, 
containing his own views of the events 
of the year 1815, with full details of 
