fresh force of 30,000 Prussians turned the tide of battle; and how the famous Old Guard, that knew how to die but not how to surrender, made its last charge, and left its hitherto invincible squares upon the lost field.
A second time Napoleon was forced to abdicate, and a second time Louis XVIII. was lifted by the allies upon his unstable throne. Bonaparte desired to be allowed to retire to America, but his enemies believed that his presence there would not be consistent with the safety of Europe. Consequently he was banished to the island of St. Helena, in the South Atlantic, and there closely guarded by the British until his death, in 1821.
2. France since the Second Restoration (1815–).
Character of the Period.—The history of France since the second restoration of the Bourbons may be characterized briefly. It has been simply a continuation of the Revolution, of the struggle between democratic and monarchical tendencies. The aim of the Revolution was to abolish privileges and establish rights,— to give every man lot and part in shaping the government under which he lives. These republican ideas and principles have, on the whole, notwithstanding repeated reverses, gained ground; for revolutions never move backward. There may be eddies and counter-currents in a river, but the steady and powerful sweep of the stream is ever onward towards the sea. Not otherwise is it with the great political and intellectual movements of history.
The Revolution of 1830.—Profiting by the lessons of The Hundred Days, Louis XVIII. ruled after the second restoration with reasonable heed to the results and changes effected by the Revolution. But upon the death of Louis in 1824 and the accession of Charles X., a reactionary policy was adopted. The new king seemed utterly incapable of profiting by the teachings of the Revolution. His blind, stubborn course gave rise to the saying, " A Bourbon learns nothing and forgets nothing." The result might have been foreseen. The people rose in revolt, and by one of those sudden movements for which Paris is so noted, the despot
