Wellington, soldier and statesman, and the revival of the military power of England . n 1814 ; ere long he was on his way to St. Helena,the last scene of a strange, eventful history, unparal-leled in the annals of mankind. The ProvisionalGovernment was largely composed of regicides; theChambers were distinctly opposed to the despatched envoys to Blucher and Wellingtonwho, in the first instance, curtly refused the over-tures that were made for an armistice ; they issuedproclamations calling on Frenchmen to rise up inarms, and to repeat-the national efforts of 1792-94;as if the cir
Wellington, soldier and statesman, and the revival of the military power of England . n 1814 ; ere long he was on his way to St. Helena,the last scene of a strange, eventful history, unparal-leled in the annals of mankind. The ProvisionalGovernment was largely composed of regicides; theChambers were distinctly opposed to the despatched envoys to Blucher and Wellingtonwho, in the first instance, curtly refused the over-tures that were made for an armistice ; they issuedproclamations calling on Frenchmen to rise up inarms, and to repeat-the national efforts of 1792-94;as if the circumstances were not wholly different,and as if the shadow of a government sitting inParis could be a second convention reviving theReign of Terror. But Fouche judged the positionof affairs correctly; he knew the Assembly, and themen he had to deal with ; he allowed noisy patriot-ism to vent itself in clamour, indeed seemed to pro-mote it in different ways; but with great tact andadroitness, and with duplicity skilfully concealed,he took care to paralyse every attempt to resist the. NAPOLEON BY A DYING CAMP FIRE.(From a drawing by Charlet.) The Army of Occtipatzon 311 invaders, and steadily plotted to restore LouisXVIII. to the throne ; his real object was, in 1815,to play the part played by Talleyrand the yearbefore. He refused to give arms to the populationof Paris, already beginning to menace traitors ; theold Jacobin terrified the Chambers with reports of aJacobin rising ; he did nothing to strengthen the for-tified works begun around the capital. He placedMassena at the head of the National Guard ofParis, thus giving this force the sanction of an illus-trious name; but Massena was no friend of thefallen Emperor; he had no thought but that of aninglorious repose, and of preserving the wealth hehad amassed by rapine; the National Guard, com-posed of the timid bourgeoisie, was soon persuadedthat its real and only mission was to maintain the same time the astute and ba
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