ed only in our principles
and in our courage, _we shall find_ in our laws, in our constitution,
in our representative system. For whatever may be the intelligence,
the virtues, the personal qualities of a monarch, these can never
suffice, to render the people secure against the oppressions of power,
the prejudices of pride, the injustice of courts, and the ambition of
courtiers.

"Frenchmen, peace is necessary to your commerce, to your arts, to the
improvement of your morals, to the development of the resources
remaining to you: be united, _and you are at the end of your
calamities_. The repose of Europe is inseparable from yours. Europe is
interested in your tranquillity, and in your happiness.

"Given at Paris, July the 5th, 1815.

(Signed) "The president of the committee,

"The Duke of OTRANTO."

By the terms of the convention, the first column of the French was to
commence its march on the 4th. The soldiers, still irritated, declared
they would not set out, till they received their arrears of pay. The
treasury was empty, credit extinguished, the government at bay. The
Prince of Eckmuhl proposed, to seize the funds of the bank: but this
attempt struck the committee with horror. One resource alone, one only
hope, remained: this was to invoke the support of a banker, at that
time celebrated for his wealth, now celebrated for his public virtues.
M. Lafitte was applied to: the chances of the future did not deter
him; he listened only to the interest of his country; and several
millions, distributed by his assistance through the ranks of the army,
disarmed the mutineers, and crushed the seeds of a civil war.

The army began its march. Amid the despair, into which it had been
plunged by the capitulation, it had frequently called on Napoleon! The
committee, apprehensive that the Emperor, having no longer any
measures to keep, would come and put himself in a state of desperation
at the head of the patriots and soldiers, sent orders by a courier to
General Beker, "to effect the arrival of Napoleon at Rochefort without
delay; _and, without departing from the respect due to him, to employ
all the means necessary, to get him embarked_; as his stay in France
compromised the safety of the state, and was detrimental to the
negotiations."

The retreat of the army, the occupation of Paris by the foreigners,
and the presence of the King at Arnouville, unveiled the futur