After the conclusion of the First Peace of Paris the allied armies evacuated France, and Louis XVIII. was left at liberty to administer the affairs of his kingdom. He opened the new legislative Chambers, June 4, 1814, when he promulgated a new Charter, or constitution, slightly differing from the one which he had promised before his entry into Paris. He declared that all the powers of government rightfully belonged to the crown; but that, in consequence of the changed condition of the times, he, following the example of several of his predecessors, resolved to make several changes in the constitution and of his own free will granted this Charter to his subjects. There was to be a Chamber of Peers, whose members were to be nominated by the crown either for life or with hereditary descent, and their number was to be unlimited. The Chamber of Deputies was to consist of representatives chosen by the qualified voters of France, and its members were required to have reached the age of forty and to pay at least one thousand francs annually in taxes. The right of suffrage was restricted to persons thirty years of age and over who should pay an annual tax of three hundred francs. The sole power of proposing laws was vested in the king. The Chambers had the privilege of requesting the king to propose a law upon any subject which they considered necessary, but if he should refuse their request they could not renew it until their next session. The Roman Catholic Church was declared the state-religion of France, but full toleration was granted to all Christian sects. Louis XVIII. and the New French Charter. SECTION XIIL-BOURBON RESTORATION AND THE THE Bourbons were no sooner restored to the throne of France than they endeavored to reëstablish the state of things which existed before the Revolution, and their imprudent and impolitic conduct excited the Bonapartists and the republicans against them. The tricolor was displaced by the white ensign of the Bourbons, and the memory of the Republic and of the Empire was obliterated as much as possible. The stipulated pension which was to be paid to Napoleon was also withheld. The old aristocracy treated the new nobility with insolence and contempt and drove them from the vicinity of the royal court, and the Legion of Honor was disgraced, being rendered mean and contemptible by the distribution of innumerable crosses to the unworthy. The royal guards were discharged and their places were supplied by wellpaid Swiss. The officers of the Grand Army were dismissed with halfpay. The clergy and the Emigrants met with special favor at the royal court, so that they expected a restoration of their lost estates, Impolitic Conduct Bourbons. of the Plots for Napoleon's tion. titles and feudal privileges. The royal court was under the influence of the king's brother, the Count of Artois, and of the Duchess of Angoulême, daughter of Louis XVI., who had the most bitter hatred for the men of the Revolution and of the Napoleonic period. Thus the Bourbons showed that they "had learned nothing and forgotten nothing." The impolitic conduct of the restored Bourbons caused great discontent among the French people, and this conduct of the Bourbons Restora- and other causes led to the formation of plots for the restoration of Napoleon to power. The majority of the French people felt deeply the humiliation of living under a king forced upon them by foreign bayonets, and longed for that Emperor under whose banners their armies had so often been led to battle and to victory. The desire for Napoleon's restoration became specially strong when almost a hundred thousand French soldiers who had garrisoned foreign fortresses or had served some time as prisoners of war returned to their own country and diffused their Bonapartist sentiments throughout the land. During the winter of 1813-14 Sir Niel Campbell, the British Resident at Elba, gave intimations of plots for Napoleon's restoration to power in France. A Congress composed of plenipotentiaries of the European powers assembled at Vienna, October 2, 1814, for the settlement of European affairs. The most prominent figures in the Congress of Vienna were the Emperor Alexander I. of Russia, Prince Metternich of Austria, Talleyrand of France and Lord Castlereagh of Great Britain. This Congress of Vienna was a brilliant assembly, and the princes and plenipotentiaries of the allied powers were there rejoicing over their great victory over the potentate who had so long held Europe in thraldom. There was no end to the balls, banquets and entertainments. Congress of Vienna. Its Dissen sions. Napoleon's Return to France. Amid all this show and pomp were bitter passions and angry feelings. Divisions arose in the Congress on the question of the rearrangement of the conquered countries. Prussia demanded the whole of Saxony, and Russia insisted on absorbing the whole of Poland; but both demands were stoutly resisted by the other powers. The armies were placed upon a war footing, and it seemed probable that the powers which had so recently combined to overthrow Napoleon would turn their arms against each other; but when the astounding intelligence that Napoleon had left Elba and had landed on the southern coast of France reached the Congress all divisions were cast aside, and the Congress unanimously agreed to take vigorous measures for the overthrow of the man whose ambition troubled the world. Encouraged by the discontent of the French people with the rule of the Bourbons, Napoleon left Elba; and on the 1st of March, 1815, he landed at Cannes, near Frejus, on the southern coast of France. He His Reception was accompanied by only one thousand men, but he trusted that the prestige of his name and the zealous attachment of the troops whom he had so often led to victory would restore him to power. The troops that had been sent against him joined his standard with the wildest enthusiasm. The tricolor was again displayed everywhere. The citizens of Grenoble opened their gates to him, and Colonel Labedoyère joined him with the garrison of the town. When Napoleon ap- at proached, the garrison had orders to fire upon him; but the ex-Emperor advanced alone at the head of his followers and bared his breast, exclaiming: "Is there any of you who will fire at his Emperor!" Thereupon the garrison, seized with one wild impulse of enthusiasm, shouted: "Vive l'Empereur!" The garrison and its commandant then joined Napoleon, whose rapid progress northward thenceforth was one continual triumphal tour. The Count of Artois, brother of the King Louis XVIII., vainly tried to keep the troops at Lyons firm to their allegiance to their king. They unanimously declared for Napoleon, crying: "Vive l'Empereur!" Marshal Ney, who had been sent against Napoleon and who had sworn that he would bring the ex-Emperor to Paris in chains, joined him with the troops. All the old marshals, except Marmont, Macdonald and Augereau, espoused the cause of Napoleon, who entered Paris on the evening of the 20th of March, 1815, Louis XVIII. having left the city on the morning of the same day. Thus, in the course of three weeks, without one drop of bloodshed, Napoleon was again master of all France. Then began the period historically known as the Hundred Days. 66 Grenoble. His Entry into Lyons and Paris. His Tempo rary Restora tion. and the French Louis XVIII. and a few faithful adherents fled to Ghent, while Napoleon Napoleon again took up his residence in the Tuileries and formed a new Ministry from among his partisans. Clubs were again formed in Liberals. France, and the songs of the Revolution were again heard. But Napoleon still entertained his dislike for popular movements, thus showing that he also had learned nothing and forgotten nothing." The liberal party in France resisted his scheme for the reëstablishment of the imperial throne with its splendor and its national nobility, and was dissatisfied with the new constitution which was sworn to at the festival of the Champ de Mai, April 21, 1815, although it was more liberal than the Charter granted by Louis XVIII., and although Napoleon had thus made great sacrifices in order to conciliate the liberal party, which plainly intimated to him that he could reign thenceforth only as a constitutional sovereign. Napoleon promised the allied powers to abide by the conditions of the First Peace of Paris and never again to disturb the tranquillity of Europe, if he or his son were left in possession of the crown of France. |