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 spent the weary hours of waiting in stripping off
_fleurs-de-lys_, and gleefully exposing the N's and golden bees
concealed by cheap Bourbon upholstery. Anon they fly back to this
task; the palace wears its wonted look; and the brief spell of Bourbon
rule seems gone for ever.

To his contemporaries this triumph of Napoleon appeared a miracle
before which the voice of criticism must be dumb. And yet, if we
remember the hollowness of the Bourbon restoration, the tactlessness
of the princes and the greed of their partisans, it seems strange that
the house of cards reared by the Czar and Talleyrand remained standing
even for eleven months. Napoleon correctly described the condition of
France when he said to his comrades on the "Inconstant": "There is no
historic example that induces me to venture on this bold enterprise:
but I have taken into account the surprise that will seize on men, the
state of public feeling, the resentment against the allies, the love
of my soldiers, in fine, all the Napoleonic elements that still
germinate in our beautiful France."[467]

Still less was he deceived by the seemingly overwhelming impulse in
his favour. He looked beyond the hysteria of welcome to the cold and
critical fit which follows; and he saw danger ahead. When Mollien
complimented him on his return, he replied, alluding to the general
indifference at the departure of the Bourbons: "My dear fellow! People
have let me come, just as they let the others go." The remark reveals
keen insight into the workings of French public opinion. The whole
course of the Revolution had shown how easy it was to destroy a
Government, how difficult to rebuild. In truth, the events of March,
1815, may be called the epilogue of the revolutionary drama. The royal
House had offended the two most powerful of French interests, the
military and the agrarian, so that soldiers and peasants clutched
eagerly at Napoleon as a mighty lever for its overthrow.

The Emperor wisely formed his Ministry before the first enthusiasm
cooled down