ted but splendid galleries of that
old palace. What must have been his feelings on revisiting the chamber
in which, the year before, it is said he had attempted suicide!

Louis XVIII., left the Palace of the Tuileries at nearly the same hour
that Bonaparte entered that of Fontainebleau.

The most forlorn hope of the Bourbons was now in a considerable army
posted between Fontainebleau and Paris. Meanwhile the two armies
approached each other at Melun; that of the King was commanded by Marshal
Macdonald. On the 20th his troops were drawn up in three lines to
receive the invaders, who were said to be advancing from Fontainebleau.
There was a long pause of suspense, of a nature which seldom fails to
render men more accessible to strong and sudden emotions. The glades of
the forest, and the acclivity which leads to it, were in full view of the
Royal army, but presented the appearance of a deep solitude. All was
silence, except when the regimental bands of music, at the command of the
officers, who remained generally faithful, played the airs of "Vive Henri
Quatre," "O Richard," "La Belle Gabrielle," and other tunes connected
with the cause and family of the Bourbons. The sounds excited no
corresponding sentiments among the soldiers.

At length, about noon, a galloping of horse was heard. An open carriage
appeared, surrounded by a few hussars, and drawn by four horses. It came
on at full speed, and Napoleon, jumping from the vehicle, was in the
midst of the ranks which had been formed to oppose him. His escort threw
themselves from their horses, mingled with their ancient comrades, and
the effect of their exhortations was instantaneous on men whose minds
were already half made up to the purpose which they now accomplished.
There was a general shout of "Vive Napoleon!" The last army of the
Bourbons passed from their side, and no further obstruction existed
betwixt Napoleon and the capital, which he was once more--but for a brief
space--to inhabit as a sovereign.

Louis, accompanied only by a few household troops, had scarcely turned
his back on the capital of his ancestors when Lavalette hastened from a
place of concealment and seized on the Post-office in the name of
Napoleon. By this measure all the King's proclamations' were
intercepted, and the restoration of the Emperor was announced to all the
departments. General Excelmans, who had just renewed his oath to Louis,
pulled down with his own hands the white flag that was