sloop of war was in waiting to convey him wherever he pleased, he refused the offer, and meant to embark in a Danish cutter. He declared that he would not go to Copenhagen, but would be landed at Sanderberg in the Belt; and thus terminated his short-lived royalty, the assumption of which, whether dictated by patriotism or ambition, was an indication rather of spirit than of political wisdom. On October 20th, the Norwegian Diet, by a majority of 74 voices to 5, came to the following resolution. "Norway shall, as an integral state, be united to Sweden under one king, with the preservation of its constitution, subject to such necessary alterations as the welfare of the country may require, having at the same time regard to the union with Sweden. These alterations, which his Swedish Majesty has recognised in the convention of Moss, are to be considered and determined on by the Diet as speedily as possible; and as soon as this has been done, the Diet will solemnly elect and acknowledge the King of Sweden, his Majesty Charles XIII, as the constitutional King of Norway." This resolution was made public in a proclamation of the representatives of Norway to their countrymen. The election of the king by the Diet took place with entire unanimity on November 4th, and seven of its members were deputed to convey the intelligence of this event to the Crown Prince of Sweden. His Royal Highness, accompanied by his son Prince Oscar, set out from Frederickshall for Christiania on the 8th, and on the 10th repaired in state to the hall of the Diet. He delivered a speech, which was repeated in the Swedish language by Prince Oscar; after which the assembly took the oath of fidelity to the king, and his Royal Highness delivered to the president his Majesty's promise of governing according to the national laws. On the following day Fieldmarshal Count d'Essen was invested with the dignity of Stadtholder of the kingdom of Norway. On the 18th a solemn Te Deum was celebrated in the cathedral church of Christiania, and an eloquent discourse composed for the occasion was delivered by the Bishop of Aggerhuus. Thus the great national act was completed, in a manner which at least bore every semblance of being free and voluntary. The Diet was closed on the 26th with a speech from the Crown Prince, the following paragraph of which affords an intimation of what may have occurred in the discussions on the constitution; "If, in passing rapidly from an absolute government, to one found ed on the laws, the wishes which you have sometimes expressed have been mixed with fears and disquietudes, they must be ascribed to the recollection of times and of relations which no longer exist. You were animated with the zeal of defending the rights of the people; the king was desirous of re cognizing them, and he was induced so to do, as much by his particular sentiments, as by the free constitution of Sweden.” For the articles of the Norwegian constitution we refer to the State Papers. CHAPTER CHAPTER V. Entrance of Louis XVIII. to Compeigne and Paris.-His Declaration respecting the Constitution.-His Address to the Nation on the Armies of the Allies.-Funeral Service for Louis XVI. &c.-Military Promotions of Princes of the Blood.-Buonaparte's Departure to Elba.Peace signed with the Allied Powers, and Conditions.-Constitution presented by the King to the Legislative Body.-State of Parties in France.-Discussions on the Liberty of the Press. Exposé of the State of the Nation.-Legion of Honour continued.-French BudgetKing's Debts.-Emigrant Property, and Debates thereon.-Clerical Education.-Civil List. THE HE King of France made his entry into Compeigne on April 29th, under different military escorts, the Marshals Ney and Marmont riding by the side of the carriage in which were his Majesty and the Duchess of Angouleme. Six other marshals of France, Moncey, Mortier, Lefebvre, Jourdan, Brune, and Serrurier, with Prince Berthier, were in waiting for him at that town, so generally had these great officers conformed to the new order of things. They all had the honour of dining with the king. On the same day he received a deputation from the legislative body, the president of which addressed him in a congratulatory speech. One of its sentences de clared the political expectations entertained by that body: "By you will be cemented the bases of a government wisely and prudently balanced. Your Majesty wishes only to enter into the exercise of rights which suffice for the royal authority; and the execution of the general will, intrusted to your paternal hands, will thereby beVOL. LVI, come more respectable and more assured." Similar sentiments were expressed in an address by the president of the senate. On May 3d, the grand and interesting ceremonial took place of the solemn entrance of Louis XVIII into his capital. He was attended by a great concourse of people who had gone to meet him, to the gate of St. Denis, whence he slowly proceeded to the metropolitan church of Notre Dame. He was there seated uuder a canopy, over which was the figure of St. Louis; and having on his knees devoutly kissed the relic of the true cross; and received the holy water, he was addressed by the vicar-general, M. Lamyre, as the organ of the Parisian clergy. "The God of St. Louis (said he) has re-established your throne, you will reestablish his altars. God and the king, such is our motto; such has ever been that of the clergy of France." Te Deum was then celebrated, in the presence of the senate, the legislative body, and a vast assembly of distinguished [E] spec spectators; after which his Majesty, with the Duchess of Angouleme, proceeded for the Thuilleries. At the palace he was met by Monsieur, and the two brothers tenderly embraced, amidst the repeated acclamations of the multitude. We shall not attempt a detail of the public decorations and displays of rejoicing on this memorable day. It has been binted by observers that the tokens of satisfaction were not so lively and general as might have been wished; the idea of receiving a sovereign imposed on the nation by hostile armas, probably intruding to damp the patriotic feelings that ought to be excited by the restoration of peace and a mild system of government. The most perfect order and tranquillity however prevailed throughout Paris; and the behaviour of his Majesty in the whole scene was such as did honour to the sensibility and humanity of his character. On the preceding day, Louis published a declaration respecting that most important subject, the future Constitution of France. He said," After having read attentively the plan of the Constitution proposed by the Senate in the session of the 6th of April last, we have recognized that the bases were good, but that a great many articles, bearing the appearance of the precipitation with which they have been digested, cannot, in their existing form, become the fundamental law of the state." He then mentioned having convoked the present senate and legislative body for the 10th of June next, in order to take into consideration the result of the labours of himself in conjunction with a commission chosen out of those two bodies, in framing a constitution, of which the following are to be the bases: The representative body to be maintained as it exists at this day, divided into two bodies, the senate, and the chamber of deputies of the departments; the taxes to be freely granted; public and individual liberty to be secured; the liberty of the press respected, saving the necessary precautions for the public tranquillity; the liberty of worship guaranteed; property to be inviolable, and the sale of national estates irrevocable; the ministers responsible; the judges irremoveable, and the judicial power independent; the public debt guaranteed; the pensions, ranks, and honours of the mili tary, and the ancient and new nọbility, to be preserved; the legion of honour maintained; all Frenchmen to be admissible to employments, civil and military: individual to be disturbed for his opinions or votes. This declaration appears to have given general satisfaction; indeed, the bases, if liberally construed, contain all the fundamental points of free government. The two legislative bodies, who were presented in ceremony to the King on May 6th, expressed by their presidents the most respectful sentiments of attachment to his person, and confidence in his assurances. The impatience of the French to be freed from those armies of foreigners which had been their conquerors, and could not be otherwise than burthens to the couptry, was not put to a trial longer than necessity required. Some difficulties having been experienced with regard to the cession of the administration of several provinces in France occupied by the allies, as as stipulated by an article of the armistice, the Baron de Stein, chief of the central department, issued an order on May 9th, commanding the immediate resignation, by the authorities of the allied powers, of the administration of those provinces to the commissioners of the king of France. At the same time Louis published an address to the nation, in which he mentioned that the allied armies were beginning to move to the frontiers; gently noticed some abuses that had been committed by levying contributions upon the departments since the conclusion of the armistice; and forbade compliance with such illegal demands; and required all the civil and military authorities in his kingdom to redouble their attention for supplying the armies of the allied sovereigns with every thing necessary for their subsistence and wants. A touching solemnity appropriate to the restoration of the Bourbon line took place at Paris on May 14. It was a funeral service at the metropolitan church for Louis XVI. and XVII. Queen Marie Antoinette, and Madame Elizabeth de France. The king repaired thither without a cortége, and assisted incognito at the ceremony in a tribune prepared for ahe purpose, with the Duchess of Angouleme, also incognito, in another tribune. The chief mourners were Monsieur, the Duke of Berri, and the Prince of Condé. Tribunes were reserved for the Emperors of Austria and Russia, and the King of Prussia, and for several foreigners of distinction; deputations from the senate and legislative body, marshals of France, and other great officers, filled the choir and nave, Although no unnecessary splendour had been displayed in the preparations for this ceremonial, a vast crowd was attracted by the interest which its subject inspired, whose profound and respectful silence added to the solemnity of the scene. It might be politically regarded as a well-judged measure towards promoting that assocation between the sentiments of religion and of loyalty, which it appears to be particularly the object of the restored family to revive. A matter of still greater present importance was to conciliate to the new order of things that formida. ble army, which, having been treated with every distinction by the late ruler of France as the sole support of his despotism, and having under his command attained the summit of military glory, could not fail to look towards him with a remainder of former reve rence and attachment. It has been noticed that care had already been taken to gain over the marshals, by securing to them their honours and emoluments; and several instances of flattering attention to the army had been given by the members of the royal family. To connect the troops more closely with the Bourbon line, the king, on May 15th, published an order, by which Monsieur, the Prince of Condé, the Duke of Angouleme, the Duke of Berri, the Duke of Orleans, and the Duke of Bour bon, were declared colonels-general of different corps; and it was further provided, that the generals whom the preceding government had named to the functions of colonels-general, should have the title of first inspectors-general of their respective corps under the orders of the above princes, preserving [E 2] serving the pay, honours, and prerogatives which they now enjoy. At the same time the king issued an order, authorizing all conscripts of the class of 1815, who had been called out, to return to their homes, or to remain there if returned; and informing all other soldiers, who had quitted their colours on a false interpretation of a decree of the provisional government, that they should be considered as absent on a limited furlough. It may be a matter of some interest to trace the proceedings of the dethroned or abdicated em peror of France, to his arrival at the island allotted for his residence. As far as the account of his behaviour on his journey from Fontainebleau to the place of embarkation at St. Tropes in Provence can be relied upon, it displayed no marks of the equanimity and firmness of a great mind, but exhibited all the changes and gusts of contending emotions belonging to a violent and unbalanced character. The inhabitants of the south of France being generally disaffected to his person and government, his reception in some of the towns was such as to inspire him with alarm, the effects of which on his feelings he did not conceal; and he was obliged to the white cockade, and to occasional disguise, and sometimes to the interference of his attendants, for an unmolested passage. He was evidently impatient to arrive at the sea-coast; and having his choice of conveyance in an English frigate or a French corvette, he preferred the former, and seemed to experience a remarkable exhilaration of spirits when under the pro tection of the British flag and hớ, nour. On the evening of May 3, the frigate arriving off Porto Ferrajo, in the isle of Elba, several officers of the Russian, Austrian, and English staffs, with two French generals, landed, and having officially communicated to the commandant of the port the events which had brought thither the celebrated personage who was to assume the sovereignty of the island, preparations were made for his reception. On the next morning, a flag sent by Buonaparte was brought into the town in ceremony, and was immediately hoisted on the castle amidst a salute of artillery. Its ground was white, interspersed with bees, and in the centre were the arms of Buonaparte united with those of Elba. Soon after, the Ex-emperor landed with all his suite, under a salute of cannon, returned by the frigate. Preceded by three fiddlers and two fifers, he was conducted in the midst of a crowd of curious spectators to the house of the mayor, where he received the visits of the superior civil officers, speaking to each with an assumed air of frankness and even gaiety. He then mounted on horseback, and visited all the forts; and on the next day he extended his ride through his new dominions, particularly surveying the iron mines which constitute the chief wealth of the island, and inquiring into the revenue yielded by them; and thus commenced his mock sovereignty. His imperial title was continued as if he were still seated on the throne of the French empire; and the Great Napoleon's reign was ushered in by addresses from the vice-prefect and vicar-general to the people of |