s arose,
and adopted it spontaneously, with shouts a thousand times repeated of
"Long live the nation! Liberty for ever!" It was resolved, that it
should be sent immediately to the chamber of peers: "It must be made
known," said M. Dupin, "that the whole of the national representation
shares the noble sentiments expressed in this declaration. It must be
made known to all worthy and reasonable men, the friends of judicious
liberty, that their wishes have found interpreters here, and that
force itself cannot prevent us from uttering them."

At the same moment M. Bedoch announced, that our plenipotentiaries
were returned; and that one of them, M. Pontecoulant, had affirmed,
that "the foreign powers, and particularly the Emperor Alexander, had
shown favourable dispositions he had frequently heard it said and
repeated, that it was not the intention of the allied sovereigns, to
put any constraint on France in the choice of a government; and that
the Emperor Alexander would be at Nancy in a few days[90]."

[Footnote 90: The plenipotentiaries, who set out from
Laon on the 26th of June, arrived on the 1st of July at
Hagueneau, the head-quarters of the allied sovereigns.

The sovereigns did not think fit, to give them an
audience; and Count Walmoden was appointed on the part
of Austria, Count Capo d'Istria on that of Russia,
General Knesbeck on that of Prussia, to hear their
proposals. The English ambassador, Lord Stewart, having
no powers _ad hoc_, was simply invited, to be present at
the conferences.

Lord Stewart did not fail, as was foreseen in the
instructions given to the plenipotentiaries, to dispute
the legality of the existence of the chambers and of the
committee; and asked the French deputies, by what right
the nation pretended to expel their King, and choose
another sovereign. By the same right, answered M. de la
Fayette, as Great Britain had to depose James, and crown
William.

This answer stopped the mouth of the English minister.

The plenipotentiaries, warned by this question of the
disposition of the allies, exerted themselves less for
obtaining Napoleon II., than for rejecting Louis XVIII.