The
"have-nots" cheered him, but the "haves" shivered at his coming, for
every thinking man knew that it implied war with Europe.[465] Napoleon
saw the danger of relying merely on malcontents and sought to arouse a
truly national feeling. He therefore on March 13th issued a series of
popular decrees, that declared the rule of the Bourbons at an end,
dissolved the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, and summoned the
"electoral colleges" of the Empire to a great assembly, or Champ de
Mai, at Paris. He further proscribed the white flag, ordered the
wearing of the tri-colour cockade, disbanded the hated "Maison du
Roi," abolished feudal titles, and sequestered the domains of the
Bourbon princes. In brief, he acted as the Bonaparte of 1799. He then
set forth for Paris, at the head of 14,000 men.

Ney was at the same time marching with 6,000 men from Besancon. He had
lately assured Louis XVIII. that Napoleon deserved to be brought to
Paris in an iron cage. But now his soldiers kept a sullen silence. At
Bourg the leading regiment deserted; and while beset by difficulties,
the Marshal received from Napoleon the assurance that he would be
received as he was on the day after the Moskwa (Borodino). This was
enough. He drew his troops around him, and, to their lively joy,
declared for the Emperor (March 14th). Napoleon was as good as his
word. Never prone to petty malice, he now received with equal
graciousness those officers who flung themselves at his feet, and
those who staunchly served the King to the very last. Before this
sunny magnanimity the last hopes of the Bourbons melted away. Greeted
on all sides by soldiers and peasants, the enchanter advances on
Paris, whence the King and Court beat a hasty retreat towards Lille.

Crowds of peasants line and almost block the road from Fontainebleau
to catch a glimpse of the gray coat; and, to expedite matters, he
drives on in a cabriolet with his faithful Caulaincourt. Escorted by a
cavalcade of officers he enters Paris after nightfall; but there the
tone of the public is cool and questioning, until the front of the
Tuileries facing the river is reached.[466] Then a mighty shout arises
from the throng of jubilant half-pay officers as the well-known figure
alights: he passes in, and is half carried up the grand staircase,
"his eyes half closed," says Lavalette, "his hands extended before him
like a blind man, and expressing his joy only by a smile." Ladies are
there also, who have spen