Wellington had formally declared in favour of Louis XVIII.; and had
said, that this sovereign would make his entrance into Paris on the
8th of July.

"That General Pozzo di Borgo had repeated the same declaration in the
name of the Emperor of Russia; and had communicated to him a letter
from Prince Metternich, and from Count Nesselrode, expressing the
resolution, to acknowledge only Louis XVIII, and to admit no proposal
to the contrary." He added, "that the Duke of Wellington had conducted
him to the King: that he had gone _for his sake_ (_pour son compte_);
that he had left him ignorant of nothing with respect to the situation
of France, or to the disposition of people's minds against the return
of his family. That the King had listened to him with attention, and
with approbation that he had manifested an inclination, to add to the
charter fresh guarantees, and to remove all idea of reaction. _That,
as to the expressions in the proclamations, they would rather furnish
opportunities for clemency, than means of severity._" In fine, he
added, "that he had spoken of the tri-coloured cockade, but that all
explanation had been refused: that the opposition appeared to him, to
proceed less from the King, than from those about him, and from M. de
Talleyrand."

After this interview, the Duke of Otranto appeared to act separately
from his colleagues; and no longer made his appearance with
punctuality at their frequent meetings.

The newspapers soon made public, that he was appointed minister of
police to the King. This he had concealed from the committee. The
royalists congratulated him on this mark of favour; the patriots
loaded him with curses, considering it as the reward of his treachery.

The King's party, which had hitherto kept itself in obscurity, was
desirous of making reparation for this long and pusillanimous
inactivity by some brilliant act. It plotted the disarming of the
posts of the national guard, under favour of night; seizing the
Tuileries, dissolving the committee and the chambers, and proclaiming
Louis XVIII.

Some precautions taken by the Prince of Essling taught the
conspirators, that their designs were known: and they prudently left
the execution of them to foreign bayonets. They had not to wait long.
On the 7th of July, at five o'clock in the afternoon, several Prussian
battalions, in spite of the convention, surrounded the palace, where
the government was sitting. An officer of the staff delivered