iumphal procession. One day
we read of his arrival at Munich, whither the Empress had gone to meet
him. There he was welcomed with the most frantic enthusiasm: he had
restored to them their army almost without loss, and covered with
laurels; he had elevated their elector to a throne; while he cemented
the friendship between the two nations by the marriage of Eugene
Beauharnais with the Princess of Bavaria. Another account would tell
us of sixteen thousand Russian prisoners on their way to France,
accompanied by two thousand cannon taken from the Austrians. All
that could excite national enthusiasm and gratify national vanity was
detailed by the Government press, and popular excitement raised to a
higher pitch than in the wildest periods of the Revolution.

Hourly was his arrival looked forward to with anxiety and impatience.
Fetes on the most splendid scale of magnificence were in preparation,
and the public bodies of Paris held meetings to concert measures for
his triumphal reception. At last a telegraphic despatch announced his
arrival at Strasburg. He crossed the Rhine at the very place where,
exactly one hundred days before, he passed over on his march against
the Austrians; one hundred days of such glory as not even his career had
equalled,--Ulm and Austerlitz, vanquished Russia, and ruined Austria the
trophies of this brief space! Never had his genius shone with greater
splendor; never had Fortune shown herself 'more the companion of his
destiny.

Each hour was now counted, and every thought turned to the day when he
might be expected to arrive; and on the 24th came the intelligence that
the Emperor was approaching Paris. He had halted part of a day at Nancy
to review some regiments of cavalry, and now might be expected in less
than twenty-four hours. The next morning all Paris awoke at an early
hour; when what was the surprise and disappointment to see the great
flag floating from the pavilion of the Tuileries! His Majesty had
arrived during the night, when, at once sending for the Minister of
Finance, he proceeded, without taking a moment's repose, to examine into
the dreadful crisis which threatened the Bank of France and the very
existence of the Government.

At eleven, the Council of State were assembled at the Tuileries; and
at twelve, a proclamation, dispersed through Paris, announced that M.
Molien was appointed minister, and M. Marbois was dismissed from his
office. The rapidity of these changes, and t