A struggle—a one-sided struggle—took place between the Emperor and the Chambers. The former could only rely upon his previous military prestige and upon the halo of influence that still might be supposed to surround his name; but he did nothing to rouse himself out of the lethargy that oppressed his moral faculties. The latter, representing the reactionary and Republican parties, were tired of Napoleon and of his greatness. They regarded him as the sole obstacle to peace, and as a fallen leader who must be swept away in the interests of the country. So fickle were the French to the man they received as their ruler in defiance of Europe four months before, and who had been their unquestioned master for nearly fifteen years, and so intent were they to be rid of him, that they only granted him—and that with difficulty—but one short hour to make up his mind to vacate his throne; in default, he was to be discrowned by force. Napoleon was indignant, but he did not resist. “I have not returned from Elba,” he said, “to deluge Paris with blood;”[7] and, fearing to provoke a civil war, he accepted the inevitable, and abdicated in favour of his son within thirty-six hours of his arrival in the capital. ----- Footnote 7: Lamartine, ii. 478. ----- And yet his overweening pride was still thirsting for power, and this act of renunciation was neither tendered nor accepted in good faith. Napoleon II., as he was called, was a child, and was in Austria, and the Emperor still clung to the delusive hope that he might be re-installed in the power he had lost, though he could only wield it in the name of his son. On the other hand, the Chambers, fearing to drive their antagonist to extremes, and dreading above all things a revival of his wonted energy, agreed to an equivocal recognition of Napoleon II. In this way they also satisfied the cravings of the army for Imperialism; but the assent was a mere fictitious one, which was intended to have no meaning and which had no result. The Empire was indeed doomed, its founder dishonoured, and his dynasty destroyed. It was a wretched end to a glorious career, not even redeemed by that fortitude and personal dignity which mark the fall of the truly great. This final downfall is without parallel in history, and the weakness of human nature and the vanity of man’s personal ambition stand out prominently, as the main features of the drama. The last scene was approaching, and may be described in a few words.