Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III NAPOLEON AGAIN LOUIS had surrounded his departure with so much secrecy that his Ministers had only been informed of it during the night. They were directed to follow His Majesty to Lille, and each of them was given a large gratuity to cover expenses. The news of the King's flight spread rapidly.1 Lavalette heard of it at six o'clock, and hurried to the Post Office to obtain confirmation of the rumour. This was his explanation when he was called upon a few months later to justify his conduct. At the Ministry Lavalette found Ferrand, the Postmaster-General, in the act of leaving and in some trepidation lest he should be detained. He put no obstacles in his way, and at once installed himself in his place. His first measure was to despatch a message to Napoleon, who was now at Fontainebleau, to acquaint him of the King's flight, and in the afternoon, having doubtless received instructions from him, he caused proclamations to be posted up, announcing that the Emperor would arrive in the course of a few hours and that " there would be no civil war."2 In the meantime a crowd had collected round the Tuileries, where, towards ten o'clock, General Exelmans, in uniform and wearing the tricolour cockade, arrived followed by many half-pay officers. The General proceeded to take charge of the Palace. By two o'clock the tricolour was flying over the Hotel de Ville and from the summit of the Vendome column. In the streets bands of working men marched in procession cheering the Emperor, but the shopkeepers and business people, haunted by the fear of war, were gloomy and depressed.3 On the BcHtrse, however, matters were viewed in a more hopeful spirit. The rente, which on the 18th had fallen to 68, rose to 73 francs now 1 Chateaubriand, Memoires, VI. pp. 383-386. 2 Lavalette, Mem...