Bonaparte.]

"Whatever faults may have been committed," said the Chamber of
Deputies, "the present is not the moment for inquiring into them. It
is the duty of all of us, to unite against the common enemy, and
afterwards endeavour, to render this crisis beneficial to the security
of the throne and its public liberty."

The King did not stop at empty proclamations. He decreed,

That a new army should be assembled in front of Paris, under the
orders of the Duke of Berri and the command of Marshal Macdonald:

That all the soldiers on furlough, or conditionally discharged, should
rejoin their corps:

That all the half-pay officers should be called out:

That the three millions of national guards of the kingdom should take
up arms, in order to check the factious and disperse their meetings,
_while the army took the field_:

That the young national guards, who were desirous of forming a part of
the acting army, should be armed and accoutred, and sent to the parts
that were threatened.

That to render useful the services of those brave Frenchmen, who on
all sides were demanding to be led against the enemy, battalions of
royal volunteers should be formed, and make a part of the army of the
Duke of Berri.

Marshal Ney, whose popularity and influence were well known, was
appointed to take the command of the troops of the east.

The Duke de Feltre took the place of Marshal Soult.

In short, the King omitted nothing, that could concur in protecting
his throne from the dangers, with which it was threatened.

Such measures, sufficient to stop an army of three hundred thousand
men, could only attest the success of Napoleon; and yet the ministry
daily caused the most encouraging reports to be spread among the
people, and confirmed by the newspapers.

M. de Montesquiou, faithful to the system of deception he had adopted,
continued to mislead the deputies, cheating them by false
intelligence, and lulling them with hopes, which he himself no longer
entertained. He knew the intoxication, which was excited in every
place by the approach and passage of Napoleon. He knew, that he was
master of Grenoble and Lyons; that the troops attempted to be opposed
to him had joined his with enthusiasm: and nevertheless he announced
to the chamber, "that the population of all the departments invaded by
the adventurer of the island of Elba loudly manifested their
indignation against this audacious robber; that they may h