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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Memoirs of the Private Life, Return, and
+Reign of Napoleon in 1815, Vol. I, by Pierre Antoine Edouard Fleury de Chaboulon
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Memoirs of the Private Life, Return, and Reign of Napoleon in 1815, Vol. I
+
+Author: Pierre Antoine Edouard Fleury de Chaboulon
+
+Release Date: August 17, 2007 [EBook #22345]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NAPOLEON ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by StevenGibbs, Christine P. Travers and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+[Transcriber's note: Obvious printer's errors have been corrected,
+all other inconsistencies are as in the original. The author's
+spelling has been maintained.]
+
+
+                        MEMOIRS
+
+                         OF THE
+
+                      PRIVATE LIFE,
+
+                    RETURN, AND REIGN
+
+                           OF
+
+                        NAPOLEON
+
+                        IN 1815.
+
+
+        _Ingrata patria, ne ossa quidem habes._ SCIPIO.
+
+
+                BY M. FLEURY DE CHABOULON,
+
+     Ex-Secretary of the Emperor Napoleon and of his Cabinets,
+     Master of Requests to the Council of State, Baron, Officer
+     of the Legion of Honour, and Knight of the Order of Reunion.
+
+
+                         VOL. I.
+
+
+                         LONDON:
+              JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET.
+                          1820.
+
+
+
+
+TO THE READER.
+
+
+The revolution of the 20th of March will form unquestionably the most
+remarkable episode in the life of Napoleon, so fertile as it is in
+supernatural events. It has not been my intention, to write the
+history of it: this noble task is above my powers: I have only
+attempted, to place Napoleon on the stage of action, and oppose his
+words, his deeds, and the truth, to the erroneous assertions of
+certain historians, the falsehoods of the spirit of party, and the
+insults of those timeserving writers, who are accustomed to insult in
+misfortune those, to whom they have subsequently paid court.
+
+Hitherto people have not been able to agree on the motives and
+circumstances, that determined the Emperor, to quit the island of
+Elba. Some supposed, that he had acted of his own accord: others, that
+he had conspired with his partisans the downfal of the Bourbons. Both
+these suppositions are equally false. The world will learn with
+surprise, perhaps with admiration, that this astonishing revolution
+was the work of two individuals and a few words.
+
+The narrative of Colonel Z***, so valuable from the facts it reveals,
+appears to me to merit the reader's attention in other respects. On
+studying it carefully, we find in it the exhibition of those defects,
+those qualities, those passions, which, confounded together, form the
+character, so full of contrasts, of the incomprehensible Napoleon. We
+perceive him alternatively mistrustful and communicative, ardent and
+reserved, enterprising and irresolute, vindictive and generous,
+favourable to liberty and despotic. But we see predominant above all,
+that activity, that strength, that ardour of mind, those brilliant
+inspirations, and those sudden resolves, that belong only to
+extraordinary men, to men of genius.
+
+The conferences I had at Bâle with the mysterious agent of Prince
+Metternich have remained to this day buried in profound secrecy. The
+historians, who have preceded me, relate, without any explanation,
+that the Duke of Otranto laid before the Emperor, at the moment of his
+abdication, a letter from M. de Metternich; and that this letter,
+artfully worded, had determined Napoleon to abdicate, in the hope that
+the crown would devolve to his son. The particulars given in these
+Memoirs will entirely change the ideas formed of this letter, and of
+its influence. They confirm the opinion too, pretty generally
+prevalent, that the allied sovereigns deemed the restoration of the
+Bourbons of little importance, and would willingly have consented, to
+place the young Prince Napoleon on the throne.
+
+It had been supposed, that the famous decree, by which Prince de
+Talleyrand and his illustrious accomplices were sent before the courts
+of justice, was issued at Lyons in the first burst of a fit of
+vengeance. It will be seen, that it was the result of a plan simply
+political: and the noble resistance, which General Bertrand (now
+labouring under a sentence of death) thought it his duty to oppose to
+this measure, will add, if it be possible, to the high esteem, merited
+on so many accounts by this faithful friend to the unfortunate.
+
+The writings published previously to this work, equally contain
+nothing but inaccurate or fabulous reports, with regard to the
+abdication of Napoleon. Certain historians have been pleased, to
+represent Napoleon in a pitious state of despondency: others have
+depicted him as the sport of the threats of M. Regnault St. Jean
+d'Angely, and of the artifices of the Duke of Otranto. These Memoirs
+will show, that Napoleon, far from having fallen into a state of
+weakness, that would no longer permit him to wield the sceptre,
+aspired, on the contrary, to be invested with a temporary
+dictatorship, and that, when he consented to abdicate, it was because
+the energetic attitude of the representatives disconcerted him, and he
+yielded to the fear of adding the calamities of a civil war to the
+disasters of a foreign invasion.
+
+It was perfectly unknown too, that Napoleon was detained a prisoner at
+Malmaison after his abdication. It was presumed, that he deferred his
+departure, in the hope of being replaced at the head of the army and
+of the government. These Memoirs will show, that this hope, if it
+dwelt within the breast of Napoleon, was not the real motive of his
+stay in France; and that he was detained there by the committee of
+government, till the moment when, honour outweighing all political
+considerations, it obliged Napoleon to depart, to prevent his falling
+into the hands of Blucher.
+
+The negotiations and conferences of the French plenipotentiaries with
+the enemy's generals; the proceedings of the Prince of Eckmuhl; the
+intrigues of the Duke of Otranto; the efforts of those members of the
+committee, who remained faithful to their trust; the debates on the
+capitulation of Paris, and all the collateral facts, connected with
+these different circumstances, had been totally misrepresented; These
+Memoirs establish or unfold the truth. They bring to light the conduct
+of those members of the committee, who were supposed to be the dupes
+or accomplices of Fouché; and that of the marshals, the army, and the
+chambers. They contain also the correspondence of the plenipotentiaries,
+and the instructions given to them; documents hitherto unpublished,
+which will make known, what the politics and wishes of the government
+of France at that time were.
+
+Finally I shall observe, in order to complete the account I think it
+right to give the reader of the substance of this work, that it
+furnishes elucidations of the campaign of 1815, the want of which has
+been imperiously felt. The causes, that determined Napoleon, to
+separate from his army at Laon, were not known: I point them out.
+General Gourgaud, in his narrative, could give no explanation of the
+march of the corps of Count Erlon at the battle of Ligny, of the
+conduct of Marshal Ney on the 16th, of the inactivity of Napoleon on
+the 17th, &c. All these points, I believe, I have elucidated. I show
+also, that it was not, as General Gourgaud and other writers assert,
+to raise the spirits, and excite the courage of the French army, that
+its leader announced to it the arrival of Marshal Grouchy. It is a
+certain fact, that Napoleon was himself deceived by a brisk firing,
+which took place between the Prussians and Saxons; and it is falsely,
+that he has been charged with having knowingly deceived his soldiers,
+at a moment when the laws of war and of humanity presented to him, to
+think rather of a retreat, than of continuing the battle.
+
+I had at first rejected from these Memoirs such official papers, as
+had already been made known: but have since thought, that they ought
+to be inserted. This work, which embraces all the events of the reign
+of a Hundred Days, would be imperfect, if the reader were obliged to
+refer to the papers of the day; to read or consult the act of the
+congress of Vienna, that placed the Emperor Napoleon out of the pale
+of the law of nations; the Additional Act, which occasioned his loss
+of popularity; and the eloquent speeches and nervous declarations by
+which Napoleon, his ministers, and his counsellors, sought to explain
+and justify the 20th of March. I have thought, besides, that perhaps
+the reader would not find it uninteresting, to witness the contests
+exhibited, at that important period, between the legitimacy of
+nations and the legitimacy of sovereigns.
+
+The colours under which I represent Napoleon, the justice I do him for
+the purity of his intentions, will not please all the world. Many
+persons, who would blindly have believed any ill I could say of the
+ancient sovereigns of France, will give little credit to my eulogies:
+they are wrong: if praises lavished on power be suspicious, those
+bestowed on the unfortunate will be true; to doubt them would be
+sacrilege.
+
+Neither can I conceal from myself, that the men, who, from principle,
+see nothing but a hateful conspiracy in the revolution of the 20th of
+March, will accuse me of having embellished facts, and designedly
+distorted the truth. No matter: I have depicted this revolution as I
+saw it, as I felt it. How many others are pleased, to tarnish the
+honour of the nation, to represent their countrymen as composed of
+rebels or cowards! For my part, I think it the duty of a good
+Frenchman, to prove to all Europe, that the king was not guilty of
+abandoning France:
+
+That the insurrection of the 20th of March was not the work of a few
+factious persons, who might have been repressed; but a grand national
+act, against which the efforts and volitions of individuals would have
+been vain:
+
+That the royalists were not cowards, and all other Frenchmen traitors:
+
+Lastly, that the return from the island of Elba was the terrible
+consequence of the faults of ministers and the ultras, which called to
+France the man of fate, as the conductor draws down the lightning from
+heaven.
+
+This sentiment naturally led me, to conclude these Memoirs by a
+philosophical examination of the Hundred Days, and a refutation of the
+reproaches daily bestowed on the men of the 20th of March: but
+considerations, easy to divine, held my pen. It was my duty, to
+content myself with placing a statement of the facts before the eyes
+of the grand jury, the public, and leave it to decide. I know, that
+the question has been determined in the fields of Waterloo; but a
+victory is not a judicial sentence.
+
+Whatever opinion the impartial reader may form of this work, I can
+protest beforehand, that I have not allowed myself to be influenced by
+any private consideration, by any feeling of hatred, affection, or
+gratitude. I have followed no impulse but that of my conscience, and I
+may say with Montaigne: "This is an honest book."
+
+Too young to have participated in the errors or crimes of the
+revolution, I began and ended my political career without blot, and
+without reproach. The places, titles, and decorations, which the
+Emperor deigned to bestow on me, were the reward of several acts of
+great devotion to his service, and of twelve years of trials and
+sacrifices. Never did I receive from him any favours or gifts: I
+entered his service rich, I quitted it poor.
+
+When Lyons opened to him its gates, I was free: I spontaneously
+embraced his cause: it appeared to me, as to the immense number of
+Frenchmen, that of liberty, honour, and our country. The laws of
+Solon declared infamous those, who took no part in civil troubles. I
+followed their maxims. If the misfortunes of the 20th of March must
+fall on the heads of the guilty, these guilty, I repeat, will not be
+in the eye of posterity, the Frenchmen who abandoned the royal
+standard, to return to the ancient colours of their country; but those
+imprudent and senseless men, who, by their threats, their acts of
+injustice, and their outrages, compelled us to choose between
+insurrection and slavery, between honour and infamy.
+
+During the Hundred Days, there was no person to whom I did an ill
+turn; frequently I had an opportunity of doing good, and seized it
+with joy.
+
+Since the return of the regal government, I have lived tranquil and
+solitary; and, whether from forgetfulness, or from a sense of justice,
+I escaped in 1815 the persecutions, which the partisans and servants
+of Napoleon experienced.
+
+This explanation, or this apology, appeared to me necessary: it is
+right the reader should know, who it is that addresses him.
+
+I could have wished, to abstain from speaking of the royal government
+in the first part of this work: but it was impossible. It was
+necessary for me, prominently to exhibit the errors and faults of the
+king's ministers one by one, to render evident this truth, _that they
+were the sole authors of the 20th of March_. When elsewhere, as here,
+I say the government, I mean not to designate the King, but his
+ministers. In a constitutional monarchy, in which the ministers are
+responsible, we cannot, and ought not to confound them with the King.
+"It is from the King," said the keeper of the seals, when he proposed
+to the deputies of the nation the project of a law on the
+responsibility of ministers, "that every act of equity, protection,
+and clemency, and every regular employment of power, emanates: it is
+to the ministers alone, that abuses, injustice, and misconduct, are to
+be imputed."
+
+
+
+
+MEMOIRS,
+
+&c. &c.
+
+
+
+
+Until the close of the Spanish war, Napoleon, whether as the First
+Consul of the Republic, or as the Chief of the Empire, had never
+ceased to be the object of the love, the pride, and the confidence of
+the people. But the multitude neither judge, nor can judge of the
+actions of their rulers but from appearances which often mislead them
+in their judgment; and the loyalty of the nation then became
+enfeebled. The conduct of Napoleon was stigmatized as a series of
+hateful aggressions; the war, as an unjustifiable act of violence.
+Disaffection increased. Napoleon was assailed by the anger of his
+subjects, and, for the first time, they upbraided him with having
+spilt their blood, and wasted their riches, in gratifying his vain and
+culpable ambition.
+
+At this juncture the public mind became absorbed in the contemplation
+of the invasion of Russia, and the general discontent was withdrawn
+from the events which had taken place in the peninsula.
+
+Our arms were crowned with good fortune and glory at the commencement
+of the Russian war; but that conflict was ended by a catastrophe which
+has no parallel in the annals of the world.
+
+The Emperor, who escaped almost alone from the perils of the campaign,
+returned to the capital. His countenance was that of a hero who defies
+adversity. But his firmness was deemed to be the result of heartless
+insensibility. Instead of inspiring the people with hope, it
+embittered their feelings. Louder murmurs broke forth; their
+indignation expressed itself with greater emphasis. Yet such was the
+enthusiasm which was even then inspired by the proud recollections of
+the triumphs of Napoleon, that France, blushing for her disgrace,
+implored him to win new victories. Armies formed themselves as if by
+enchantment, and Napoleon stood again in the midst of Germany, more
+terrible than ever.
+
+After we had conquered at Lutzen, at Bautzen, and at Dresden, the
+battle of Leipsic was fought[1]. Never before that day had we been
+doomed to witness our national armies flying before the enemy. The
+scattered wrecks of our battalions, which had been created by the last
+hope, by the last effort of our country, at length reached our
+frontiers. But our soldiers were no longer the vigorous and resolute
+warriors of France; they were bowed down by want, toil, and
+humiliation. Soon afterwards they were followed by wandering trains of
+military carriages, loaded with diseased and wounded wretches, who
+festered beneath the corpses amongst which they were heaped, and who
+at once absorbed and diffused the germs of pestilence and contagion.
+Even the firmest minds now yielded to despair; and the grief
+occasioned by the havoc now made amongst our defenders renewed the
+sorrows of the mothers and the wives of those who erewhile had
+perished in Russia and in Spain. Curses upon Napoleon, the author of
+all these evils, resounded from side to side of the empire.
+
+                   [Footnote 1: The misfortunes of that eventful day,
+                   and of the remainder of the campaign, were caused
+                   by the treachery of the Saxons and the defection of
+                   the Princes of the Confederation of the Rhine.]
+
+As long as good fortune waited upon Napoleon, his most ambitious
+attempts commanded the applauses of the nation. We boasted of his
+profound political wisdom, we extolled his genius, we worshipped his
+courage. When his fortune changed, then his political wisdom was
+called treachery, his genius, ambition, and his courage,
+fool-hardiness and infatuation.
+
+Napoleon was not to be depressed by ingratitude or misfortune. He
+re-assembled the feeble fragments of his armies, and proclaimed aloud
+that he would conquer or die at the head of his soldiery. This
+resolution only produced a momentary impression. The French, who so
+lately believed that the happiness and salvation of France depended
+only upon the life of Napoleon, now coolly considered that his death,
+the fate which he was prepared to encounter, afforded the only means
+of putting an end to the calamities of war, for peace otherwise
+appeared unattainable.
+
+Napoleon departed. He achieved prodigies, but to no effect. National
+spirit no longer existed, and the nation had gradually sunk into that
+state of insensibility so fatal to sovereigns, when the public mind
+has no perception of their dangers, and abandons them to their
+destiny.
+
+France was thus affected when Napoleon consented to divest himself of
+his crown[2]. The apathy of the nation drove him to this extremity;
+for it deprived him of the means either of carrying on the war, or of
+making peace.
+
+                   [Footnote 2: Napoleon, according to the common
+                   report, was frequently heard to repeat, after his
+                   abdication, "I have been ruined by liberal ideas."
+                   I do not think that he ever expressed himself in
+                   this manner. I do not intend to doubt the
+                   irresistible force which liberal ideas have now
+                   acquired; but I do not think, that they contributed
+                   to effect the first downfal of the imperial throne.
+                   Nobody thought about liberal ideas at that period.
+                   France had been trained to the government of
+                   Napoleon, and his despotism gave rise to no
+                   complaints. She was not free in the manner
+                   according to which the nation now wishes to enjoy
+                   liberty. But the liberty which France then
+                   possessed was enough for the French. Napoleon would
+                   often exercise unlimited authority, but the country
+                   had only one master, and _he_ was the master of
+                   all. If it is true that the French abandoned
+                   Napoleon in 1814, it was not because we were tired
+                   of Napoleon or discontented with his government,
+                   but because the nation was exhausted, discouraged,
+                   and demoralized by an uninterrupted succession of
+                   calamitous wars. The people would still have been
+                   delighted to obey him, but they had neither
+                   strength nor soul.
+
+                   The real causes of the downfal of Napoleon are to
+                   be found in his hatred towards England, and in the
+                   continental system, which resulted from that
+                   hatred. This gigantic system, which oppressed all
+                   Europe, could not fail to raise the entire
+                   continent against Napoleon and France, and thus to
+                   bring on the ruin of both. "Rome," as it is said by
+                   Montesquieu, "extended her empire because her wars
+                   only followed in succession. Each nation, such was
+                   her inconceivable good fortune, waited till another
+                   had been conquered, before beginning the attack."
+                   Rome fell as soon as all the nations assailed and
+                   penetrated on every side.]
+
+Hostilities ended with the abdication of Napoleon. The people of
+Paris, who had scarcely recovered from the panic with which they were
+struck by the marauding hordes of Russia, displayed the most
+extravagant gladness when they thought that they were delivered from
+the visitation, which again threatened them in the presence of the
+allies and the imperial army.
+
+The neighbouring departments, which the enemy prepared to invade,
+rejoiced on being relieved from impending pillage and devastation.
+
+The departments which had been occupied by the enemy were intoxicated
+with joy, when they anticipated the termination of their sufferings.
+
+Thus almost all the people of France turned away from their discarded
+sovereign. And they abandoned themselves to joy when they thought that
+they were delivered from the scourge of war, and that they could hope
+to enjoy the blessings of peace.
+
+It was in the midst of this pouring out of the spirit of selfishness,
+that the senate raised the brother of Louis XVI. to the throne. His
+election was not in conformity to the expectations of the people, and
+it disappointed the wishes which had been uttered in favour of the
+Empress and her son; yet the choice of the senate was but slightly
+opposed, because the recall of Louis seemed to be necessarily the
+pledge of peace. And peace was more the object of the public wish than
+any other thing. Besides which, the Bourbons followed the wise
+counsels which had been given to them. They lost no time in issuing
+their proclamations, couched in fair language, in order to calm the
+fears and diminish the antipathies excited by their recall.
+
+"We will guarantee," said they, "the rank, the honours, and the
+rewards of the military.
+
+"The magistracy and all public functionaries shall retain their
+offices and their pre-eminence.
+
+"To the people we promise a total oblivion of their political conduct;
+and we will maintain them in the full enjoyment of their civil rights,
+their property, and their social institutions."
+
+The French nation, whose confidence is so easily abused, considered
+these promises as sacred and inviolable, and they delighted in
+repeating the happy reply of the Count of Artois[3], "Il n'y aura rien
+de changé en France, il n'y aura que quelques Français de plus."
+They, the men, who had banished the imperial dynasty, laboured to
+foster the growing confidence of the nation. The press was brought
+into full play, and the country teemed with publications in which they
+represented the sovereign whom they had brought in, as invested with
+those attributes which were calculated to conciliate the nation. The
+public were carefully informed, that the king "opened and read all the
+dispatches himself. It is he who dictates every answer. Where it
+becomes necessary to meet the ministers of foreign powers, he
+transacts business with them; he receives the reports of their
+missions, which he answers either by word of mouth, or in writing. In
+short, he alone directs all the concerns of the government, both at
+home and abroad. If his virtues and goodness are such as to cause the
+French to know that they will now find a kind and affectionate father
+in their King, they may also look with confidence to the future fate
+of the nation, relying on his brilliant information, his strength of
+character, and his aptitude for business[4]."
+
+                   [Footnote 3: He arrived at Paris before his august
+                   brother, and by these pleasing expressions he
+                   replied to the addresses of congratulation
+                   presented to him by the municipality of Paris.]
+
+                   [Footnote 4: Extracted from the Journal des Débats.
+                   The principal proprietor and editor of this paper
+                   was Monsieur Laborie, one of Talleyrand's
+                   creatures, and private secretary to the provisional
+                   government.]
+
+Thus the people congratulated themselves, when they were assured that
+their Chief Magistrate was an enlightened sovereign, a kind sovereign,
+an equitable sovereign, and one who was determined not to allow the
+guiding reins of the state to slip from his paternal hands into those
+of his ministers. Our lively imagination gave us a present enjoyment
+of the blessings, which, as we anticipated, would hereafter be
+diffused over the kingdom by his goodness, his prudence, and his
+acquirements. If this glowing vision of hope and loyalty was slightly
+dimmed by a few secret doubts, such misgivings were checked and
+repelled by the name of our native country; nay, by the name of the
+Emperor himself. For when Napoleon bade farewell to his trusty
+soldiers, it was in these words: "Be faithful to the new sovereign of
+France; do not rend asunder our beloved and long-suffering land."
+
+These circumstances (nor must the charm of novelty be excluded) united
+in favour of the king, and won every head and every heart. He
+appeared--he was received with acclamations of love and gladness,
+which resounded until he entered the palace of his forefathers.
+
+No counter revolution ever effected the change of a royal dynasty,
+under such favourable auspices.
+
+The French nation felt jaded by civil dissensions, by misfortune--even
+their victories had weaned them. They longed for the happiness of
+repose. Memorable were the words of the king's brother; "let us forget
+the past, let us look only towards the future, let us all unite in the
+good work of labouring to heal the wounds of our common country;" and
+these honoured precepts had become implanted in every mind. They
+formed the canon of all our feelings and all our duties.
+
+As long as the machinery of the new government did not begin to work,
+this loyal harmony subsisted, and no longer. For when it became
+necessary to settle the organization of the army, the ministry, and
+the magistracy, then self-love gained an easy victory over patriotism,
+and the bad passions, pride, ambition, and party-hatred, roused
+themselves from their slumber.
+
+During a quarter of a century, our emigrants had sojourned in a
+strange country. Useless and troublesome guests to the strangers by
+whom they were fed, their lives had been droned away in shameless and
+cowardly idleness. They could not cheat themselves into a belief that
+they possessed the talents and experience of the sons of the
+revolution. But they imagined that nobility, as in the old time, might
+pass for worth; and that their patents and pedigrees still gave them
+a right to monopolize all power and all honour.
+
+The citizens, the soldiers, the nation, relied on the lawfulness of
+their rights no less than on the promises of the king. The members of
+the old privileged caste, instead of exciting suspicion, were only the
+objects of harmless mirth. The people laughed at the grotesque
+appearance of some, and at the decrepit sottishness of others. They
+never dreamed that these pretended warriors, whose bloodless swords
+had rusted in their scabbards, would attempt to snatch the staff of
+command from the veteran generals of France; and that nobles who had
+grown old in sloth and ignorance would aspire to the direction of
+public affairs.
+
+But though merit and valour were denied to them, they stood upon a
+vantage ground, which gave them a direful and incalculable
+preponderance in the state. They surrounded the throne. Soon did their
+insolence announce that they had craftily availed themselves of the
+advantages which they possessed; and we foresaw with affliction that
+inveterate prejudice, malignant prepossessions, and old habits of
+familiarity, would, sooner or later, crush the principles of justice
+and equity, however solemnly proclaimed.
+
+The emigrants, rendered arrogant by the prospects which opened upon
+them, now treated their rivals with contemptuous disdain. They dared
+not insult the defenders of our country face to face, because the
+scars of the warriors scared them. But they were spitefully active in
+disparaging their birth, their services, and their glory, and these
+noble retainers of royalty took care to impress the soldiers of
+Napoleon with a due sense of the width of the gulf which was
+henceforth to separate a gentleman of good family, from an upstart
+soldier of the revolution.
+
+The women of the _ancien régime_ did not share in the timidity which,
+to a certain degree, still restrained their husbands. They threw off
+all decency and all reserve, and indulged in all the fury of their
+spite and pride. Without attempting to disguise their sentiments, they
+openly insulted the titled dames belonging to the new nobility, and
+such of the latter as were compelled to go to court on account of the
+situations held by their husbands, never entered the saloon without
+dread, and never quitted it without being bathed in tears.
+
+Uneasy, harassed, and discontented, the people implored the fulfilment
+of the king's promises: they prayed with confidence; but the
+government heard them not, and repulsed them harshly. The Doge of
+Genoa, speaking of Louis XIV, said, "his majesty steals our hearts by
+his amiability, but his ministers give them back again to us." The
+apophthegm of the Doge might have been pertinently applied to Louis
+XVIII. by the people.
+
+Hitherto the government appeared to adhere to the resolution of
+dealing out impartial justice to both parties, and of performing the
+covenant which the new monarch had entered into with the nation. But
+now he was bound by an influence which he could not withstand.
+Ensnared by the machinations, the threats, and the fears of his
+emigrant court, and perhaps believing that the new order of things was
+incompatible with the stability of the Bourbon dynasty, the maxims of
+his government underwent a total change. He was taught to consider the
+equality of civil rights as a revolutionary conquest, the liberties of
+the nation as an usurpation of the authority of the throne, the new
+constitution as insulting the independence of the sovereign. It was
+therefore determined that all "dangerous characters[5]" should be led
+quietly out of all civil and military offices. The old trustworthy
+nobility of the old kingdom were again to become the sole depositaries
+of the power of the state: and by slow but sure degrees it was
+resolved to cancel the royal charter, and either by fair means or by
+foul, to place the nation again beneath the yoke of absolute power.
+
+                   [Footnote 5: This expression was one of those of
+                   which the ministers made the worst use. If they
+                   were told that any magistrate, any officer, any
+                   functionary, whom they had turned out, had
+                   fulfilled his duties with honour and distinction,
+                   that he was loved and regretted by the people, they
+                   answered, "he is a dangerous character," and there
+                   was an end of the business.]
+
+The government often appealed to the authority of the King's
+predecessor on the throne--of Bonaparte. Bonaparte, it was said, had
+acknowledged that it was dangerous to concede a representative
+government to the people, and that it was fit and proper to rule them
+despotically. But Napoleon, he who re-established the authority of
+royalty, morality, and religion--who had re-organized society--who had
+given tranquillity to France, at the same time that he rendered her
+formidable to the world--he had earned his authority by his services
+and his victories, and, if I may venture to use the expression, he had
+acquired a legitimate right of despotism, which neither belonged, nor
+could belong, to a Bourbon. Besides which, in spite of the real or
+pretended despotism of the imperial government, it was still a
+national government; a character wholly foreign to the Bourbon
+government, and which it had no tendency to acquire.
+
+The prognostics of the re-action which the ministers intended to bring
+about were disclosed in all parts of the body politic. Alarm seized
+even the Chamber of Deputies: it hastened to become the organ of the
+uneasiness of the people, and to remind the King of the warranty which
+he had given to the nation.
+
+In the address, or rather in the protest presented by the chamber on
+the 15th of June, the national representatives say, "The charter
+secures to the voice of truth every channel which leads to the throne,
+since it consecrates the liberty of the press, and the right of
+petition.
+
+"Amongst the guarantees which it contains, the nation will attend to
+that which insures the responsibility of any minister who may betray
+the confidence reposed in him by your Majesty, by trespassing on the
+public or private rights insured by the constitutional charter.
+
+"By virtue of this charter, nobility in all future times will only
+command the respect of the people as surrounded by proofs of honour
+and glory, which the recollections of feudality will not have the
+power of tarnishing.
+
+"The principles of civil liberty are founded upon the independence of
+judicial authority, and the retention of trial by jury, that
+invaluable guarantee of all our rights."
+
+If the King had known the truth, this energetic address would have
+attained its end. But the truth could not reach him. At first he
+intended to bestow his personal confidence upon the greater part of
+the leading "notables" of the revolution; but by means of
+remonstrances and recriminations, another party contrived to place his
+good sense again under the yoke of prejudice, and he surrounded
+himself with old nobility alone, with men who had refused to obey the
+constitution sanctioned by Louis XVI., because it destroyed their
+privileges; and who, for the same reason, had refused to acknowledge
+the new constitution, against which they had even dared to protest.
+His companions were so blinded, so besotted by their presumption, that
+they imagined that decrees and ordinances gave them the faculty of
+overturning the edifice which the nation had erected during five and
+twenty years of revolution. His confidents were those alone who,
+instead of wishing to reveal to their sovereign the object of the
+projects of the ministry, and of the faction which had rendered the
+ministry their tools, had become the accomplices of ministerial guilt,
+joint conspirators in the plot which was to destroy the royal charter.
+
+The cabinet contained, however, some able and experienced statesmen.
+They were convinced that instead of teasing the nation by holding out
+the probability of the restoration of ancient privileges, it was the
+duty of government to tranquillize the country by guaranteeing the
+stability of the new system of polity. These ministers were aware of
+the impolicy of attempting to re-establish the monarchy on its ancient
+principles; because by such an attempt it would be deprived of the
+only advantage which it possessed over the late government--that of
+being liberal. And, lastly, they felt that if despotism and violence
+had been the distinguishing characteristics of the government of
+Napoleon, it was necessary that moderation and justice should be the
+attributes of the government of a Bourbon.
+
+But they had not sufficient authority or personal influence to enable
+them to struggle against the emigrants, and the protectors of the
+emigrant faction. In the council chamber their opinions, often well
+concerted, and always benevolent, were sanctioned and approved. Out
+of the council, each minister acted according to his own plans; and,
+unfortunately, those departments which ramify most deeply into the
+nation and its affairs were confided to men who seemed to think that
+they were bound to irritate and sour the public mind.
+
+General Dupont obtained the important office of minister of the war
+department, as a reward due to his proscription. According to the
+government party, the general had been proscribed by the Emperor. An
+odious name was thus given to the lenient punishment which had been
+inflicted upon Dupont, he who had shuffled off the allegiance which he
+owed to his Emperor, and whose cowardice had surrendered into
+captivity the legions intrusted to his command[6]. Weak, indolent,
+irresolute, devoid of character and resources, he never had the wish
+or the ability of becoming any thing else than the pliant functionary
+of the court and the ruling courtiers.
+
+                   [Footnote 6: When Dupont capitulated to the
+                   Spaniards, the insurgents refused to acknowledge
+                   the Emperor. Dupont therefore only took the title
+                   of general in the French service.]
+
+Another, the Abbé de Montesquiou, received the "porte-feuille" of the
+home department. When a member of the Constituent Assembly he had
+been honourably distinguished by his soft and persuasive eloquence.
+The temperance of his public conduct seemed to be insured by his
+personal character; he was a servant of the altar, his health was
+delicate, he had lived long in quiet retirement. But Montesquiou,
+meek, mild, and timid as long as he was in the background, became
+scornful, angry, and overbearing the instant that he stepped into
+power. He detested and despised the revolution--I may almost say, he
+detested and despised the nation. This sentiment was the principle
+which guided him. Montesquiou never deigned to inquire whether any
+given portion of our polity was sound or useful, whether it had been
+formed with difficulty, whether it could be modified, or ameliorated,
+or fitted into existing circumstances. He only inquired into the date
+of its institution--and the date decided the question.
+
+A third, Dambray, the chancellor, and the chief law officer of the
+nation, had distinguished himself in his youth as a Judge of
+Parliament. His credit arose from his prudence and his principles no
+less than from his talents. He had been long since recalled to his
+country. During the reign of Napoleon he fulfilled the duties of a
+citizen and a subject with zeal and fidelity. We never doubted but
+that he would protect those constitutional forms of government under
+which he had flourished in peace and honour. Scarcely, however, was
+the Chancellor clothed in his robe, when he became the oppressor of
+the magistracy, the antagonist of our new system of jurisprudence, and
+the dull partisan of those slavish forms and barbarous customs and
+oppressive edicts, which had been long since annihilated by reason,
+liberty, and knowledge.
+
+The trust reposed in this portion of the cabinet was a source of
+unhappiness to the nation, but it was not the only one. Louis,
+according to the promises held out on his restoration, was to reign in
+person; and the more the French have ever been desirous to obey their
+sovereign with cheerful alacrity, the greater is the repugnance which
+they feel to submit to the orders of his minions. Dismay, therefore,
+prevailed throughout the kingdom when we learnt that Louis, weakened
+by an obstinate and painful disease, had entirely divested himself of
+his royal authority in favour of Monsieur de Blacas. And how much more
+painful did our consternation become, when we were able to understand
+the views and projects of this Mayor of the palace, and when we
+ascertained the baneful extent of his ascendancy.
+
+It was impossible that the royal government, including such elements
+in its composition, could retain its hold on public opinion. It was
+seen too clearly that the effects of a despicable coterie would tend
+either to involve our country in a civil war, or overwhelm us again
+with the wretchedness and slavery from which we had been delivered by
+the revolution.
+
+The absolute necessity of rising in opposition to these nefarious
+attempts was felt by the entire country. Not a man would remain
+neuter.
+
+During the earliest period of the reign of Louis, the emigrant faction
+comprehended nothing but the party composed of the relics of the
+ancient privileged cast. The _parvenus_ of the imperial government
+alone constituted the so called Bonapartists. Considering their
+private gratification and profit as of greater importance than the
+public cause, each party had hitherto only wrangled for place and
+power. Their war was a matter of calculation and selfishness. But soon
+their disputes involved the fate of the main interests created by the
+revolution the emigrants directed their attacks not only against
+individuals but also against principles, and the people, who had
+hitherto only looked on, now shared the quarrel, and all France was
+divided into two great hostile parties[7].
+
+                   [Footnote 7: I speak only of acting and thinking
+                   beings. In all countries there is to be found a
+                   class of cyphers, who are so careless, stupid, or
+                   selfish, that they belong to no party, and indeed
+                   to no nation.]
+
+The court, the courtiers, and the ministry appeared as the central
+phalanx of the _pure royalists_. As their auxiliaries, they had the
+old nobility,--the priesthood,--a certain number of apostates who had
+skulked away from the imperial government,--and lastly, all those who
+had been disqualified by their incapacity and disloyalty from
+obtaining employment under Napoleon. It was the undisguised wish of
+this party to wash out every stain of the revolution, and to effect a
+full and unqualified restoration of the _ancien régime_ in all its
+parts, and to all intents and purposes.
+
+On the other side were arrayed the party designated as that of the
+Bonapartists, led on by our most honourable and most virtuous
+citizens, and numbering within its ranks the great body of the people;
+this party strove to withstand the impending resuscitation of the
+privileges and abuses of the old government, and which was to be
+effected only by the total subversion of our existing institutions.
+
+The pure royalists endeavoured to annihilate the charter, which their
+opponents defended, and thus a strange contradiction took place. The
+royal charter had the royalists for its enemies, whilst its defenders
+were only found amongst those who were stigmatized as the adherents of
+Bonaparte.
+
+Abortive attempts were made by the pure royalists to palliate the
+treachery of the government. They tried to persuade the people that
+the tranquillity and welfare of the nation depended but on the
+re-establishment of an absolute monarch, of a feudal aristocracy, and
+of all the trumpery of superstition. Such was the tendency of the
+publications which issued from the ministerial press, owing their
+birth to writers who had either sold themselves to the government, or
+who had denationalized themselves by their political intolerance. But
+it must not be supposed that liberty could remain in need of
+advocates.
+
+Each of the earliest stages of the growth of the young government of
+royalty had been marked by obscure yet decisive symptoms of bad faith,
+not the less mischievous because they were restricted to signs, and
+symbols, and phrases. Instead of the constitution voted by the senate,
+and which the king had engaged to accept and ratify, he graciously
+granted and conceded a charter, by which he gave a new form to the
+government; and which, according to its tenor, emanated from the
+sovereign in the full and free exercise of his royal authority. The
+tricoloured cockade worn by Louis XVI. and which our armies had
+rendered illustrious, was exchanged for the white, though to the
+mind's eye the latter was seen drenched in the blood of the people.
+Louis took the title of Louis XVIII. King of France and Navarre, and
+he dated his proclamations and ordinances in the 19th year of his
+reign, and thus it was to be inferred, that the nation had been in a
+state of rebellion during five and twenty years. He had disdained to
+receive his crown from the will of the people, and rather chose to
+hold it by divine right and the good offices of the Prince Regent.
+These ungracious affronts wounded the national feelings, but no notice
+was taken of them at the time, because it was apprehended that angry
+recriminations might endanger the profit which had resulted from the
+important sacrifices to which we had consented for the public good.
+But when the government unveiled its deformity, the silence of the
+patriotic party was at end, and they attacked the government most
+unrelentingly. The editors of the Censeur were most conspicuous. Every
+abuse of power, every violation of the charter, was proclaimed to
+France by these young tribunes of the people; and the country was loud
+in applauding their zeal, their talents, and their courage. Other
+writers of a more lively class stung the emigrants to the quick by
+sarcasms and satire, and brought down the chastisement of contempt and
+ridicule upon those who had been spared by the gravity of the Censeur.
+
+The nation also obtained a clear development of the anti-revolutionary
+conspiracy of the administration, from the "Memoir" of Carnot, and the
+pamphlets of Benjamin Constant. The undeniable facts, and the
+unwelcome truths which were brought forward and stated by these
+writers, apprized the people that their rights and liberties were in
+fearful danger.
+
+A judicial blindness had fallen upon the ministers. All warnings, all
+lessons, all reproaches, were lost upon them. Far from being awed by
+public opinion, they thought they deserved high honour for defying it.
+The ministers had made up their mind. Deceived by the opinions which
+they had formed respecting the preponderance of their faction, they
+miscalculated the influence and resources of the partizans of the
+revolution. Confiding in their power, and in the fear inspired by
+their power, they thought it useless to maintain any further reserve;
+and that they could charge onwards to the end of the career which
+they had in view. Intoxicated by their ignorant enthusiasm, they
+insulted the nation in the person of each individual, whilst they
+encroached upon the rights which he valued most, and insulted him both
+in his interests and his feelings. The imperial guard was removed from
+Paris: the emigrants grudged the renown of these troops, and feared
+their patriotism. It was given out that the discontent evinced by the
+guard when the king came in, was the cause of the punishment which
+they received[8].--But had not the government called forth this
+discontent? Surely it was ungenerous to compel those heroes to walk as
+attendants in the triumph of a new master. Their grief and fidelity
+deserved not to be thus insulted. I then saw these honoured warriors.
+Haggard looks and sullen silence revealed their feelings. Absorbed by
+grief, they appeared to be insensible to the outward world. "Vive la
+Garde Impériale" was the shout of the pitying Parisians, who wished
+to cheer them. These salutations, which, perhaps, they despised, were
+unheeded. Submissive to their superiors, they obeyed the word of
+command which told them that they must march: they marched, and that
+was all.
+
+                   [Footnote 8: The accusation that a spirit of mutiny
+                   prevailed amongst them cannot be refuted more
+                   effectually than by quoting the expressions used by
+                   M. de Montesquiou on the 14th of March. "In the
+                   last two months," said he, "not _one_ of the
+                   soldiers or officers belonging to the corps of the
+                   old guard composing the garrison of Metz, has been
+                   _once_ reprimanded."]
+
+Troops of the line replaced the imperial guards, who were drafted out
+of the capital with great expedition. Little time elapsed before the
+dissatisfaction of the new troops became manifest. The regiments were
+wholly disorganized; officers were thrust upon the soldiers, amongst
+whom they stood as complete strangers. In consequence of these changes
+the troops were put out of temper; and they became disgusted with
+service, because they were wearied by endless parades and reviews
+which took place, not to perfect them in their discipline, but for the
+instruction of their raw commanders. The government broke their spirit
+by affronting them: they were compelled to present arms to the king's
+body guard, whom they detested. The re-establishment of the "Maison du
+Roi" was opposed by the general feeling of the nation, and it
+particularly tended to rouse the jealousy and discontent of the
+garrison of Paris. The troops of the line and the national guards who
+were on duty at the Tuileries could not submit to acknowledge the
+"gardes du corps" as their superiors, and refused to present arms to
+them. The "gardes du corps" complained, and it was ordered that the
+troops of the line should salute them with military honours, or be
+punished. After this victory, the young "gardes du corps," who were
+proud of it, used to walk up and down before the sentinels, in order
+to force the latter to worship their epaulettes. It may easily be
+imagined how such childish insults, which were never checked, must
+have mortified the old soldiers of Napoleon: and we all know that the
+self-love of a Frenchman is not to be offended with impunity.
+
+Self-love is the medium through which the soldier ascends into glory.
+When Napoleon earned immortal fame in Italy, he nourished and
+dignified this passion by addressing his soldiers in language
+breathing the lofty spirit of the heroic age, he rekindled the courage
+of his army, and every man became a conqueror. But the royalist
+officers sought to destroy all warlike sentiment by expressing their
+contempt for our national victories, by displaying the puffed
+insolence of birth and rank; and they lost the confidence and the
+esteem of the army which they were appointed to command.
+
+Widely different, indeed, was the example which was set by the most
+exalted and most formidable of our enemies. It is needless to name
+him. This sovereign never tried to undervalue our glory: he was only
+happy when he could bear testimony again and again to the talents and
+the courage of the French nation. When he received our officers he did
+not treat them with that ill-concealed disdain, so often lavished on
+the conquered, but with the honest esteem inspired by valour; and with
+that delicacy, I would almost say respect, which is due to honourable
+misfortune. The subject of his discourse sometimes compelled him to
+allude to our reverses; but he never failed to allay the smart by
+lavishing his praises on the efforts which we had made to deprive him
+of victory. He seemed to be astonished that he had been able to
+withstand us.
+
+How deeply were our warriors affected when they contrasted his
+chivalrous magnanimity with the endeavours of their royalist masters,
+who tried incessantly to poison the fond recollection of their former
+triumphs, and to deprive them of the only consolation which remained
+to them in the hour of affliction.
+
+Whatever discontent might prevail amongst the troops, yet the greater
+part of the staff and regimental officers had transferred themselves
+to the Bourbons with cordial sincerity. Perhaps a few, who were less
+confident than the rest, still appeared distrustful and lukewarm; but
+they might have been easily won over, either by those sugared and
+alluring phrases which sound so sweetly when pronounced by royalty, or
+even by merely leaving them quiet until their resentment could cool of
+itself.
+
+When Henry IV. recovered his throne, the bigoted partisans of the
+league, whom he had pardoned, continued still to threaten and revile
+him. It was suggested that he should punish them; but Henry said,
+"No,--we must wait, they are yet vexed." Those who were constantly
+invoking the memory of good king Henry, never sought to imitate his
+conduct. Instead of allowing time to our generals to get over their
+vexation, they embittered their temper by daily insults. Our officers
+were treated like ruffian bandits; they were branded as rebels, who
+were too happy if they obtained a pardon. Praise and favour fell only
+to the share of the army of Condé, the Vendeans, and the Chouans. The
+triumphal arches destined to eternize the exploits of our armies were
+menaced with sacrilegious ruin; and it was solemnly proposed to erect
+a monument to the memory of the Vendeans and the emigrants who fell at
+Quiberon.
+
+Certainly our deluded brethren deserved to be regretted and mourned.
+Yet they had turned their weapons against the sacred bosom of their
+country. They were either the auxiliaries or the hirelings of our
+implacable enemies the English, and if honours were paid to them as
+illustrious victims, it was equivalent to a declaration that their
+conquerors were their murderers.
+
+Our warriors had been graced with titles of nobility, bought with the
+blood which they had shed in the defence of the country. Their honours
+were treated with insolent scorn, and the ghost of Georges Cadoudal, a
+murderer in effect, and a traitor in intent, was ennobled by the
+gracious patent which was bestowed upon his father.
+
+Georges in attempting the life of Napoleon had committed an act
+against all law, whether human or divine. If such a crime was decked
+out as a virtue, if signal rewards were allotted to the memory of the
+criminal, the government abetted assassination and regicide. The
+safety of Louis XVIII. and of every other monarch was compromised, and
+a sanction was given to the dangerous and antisocial doctrine which
+teaches that any individual may sit in judgment on the legitimacy of
+the title of the occupier of the throne, and then determine to murder
+his sovereign if he doubts the validity of his rights.
+
+Other affronts exactly of the same complexion were offered to France
+and to the army. Titles, military commissions, and pensions, were
+showered, in La Vendée, upon the heads of such of the Chouans as were
+most celebrated for their cruelty[9], and these marks of favour were
+distributed amongst them in the presence of the victims of their
+rapine and ferocity.
+
+                   [Footnote 9: The Chouans never allowed the
+                   opportunity of committing murder to escape them.
+                   They carried their muskets as they walked by the
+                   side of the plough, and the furrows which they trod
+                   were frequently sprinkled with blood. The priests
+                   who had taken the oaths, and the purchasers of
+                   national domains, were particularly the objects of
+                   the refinements of their cruelty. They seldom
+                   entered a town without plundering the inhabitants,
+                   and without slaughtering those who had been pointed
+                   out to their vengeance.--_Lacretelle, Précis de la
+                   Revolution._]
+
+The members of the ruling faction thought that they had not done
+enough in endeavouring to honour the French enemies of France at the
+expense of her defenders, and therefore they compassed the degradation
+and destruction of the institutions which reminded the people of the
+praises and the glory of our national armies.
+
+In despite of the most solemn engagements the government robbed the
+legion of honour of its prerogatives. Then the ministerial papers
+hinted that henceforward the order of St. Louis was to be the only
+military order; and that the legion of honour was to be the reward of
+civil merit. The blow was aimed at the heart; the army shuddered, our
+marshals burned with indignation. The government was compelled to
+disclaim and abandon its intent.
+
+Yet one sure method of debasing the legion of honour was completely in
+the power of government; they could make it cheap, and to this plan
+they resorted. Under Napoleon the Cross was never granted until it had
+been long and truly deserved: now it became the prey of meanness. The
+order was prostituted and cast to favourite underlings and intriguers,
+to whom it was distributed by caprice or bribery.
+
+Our soldiers, who had purchased this distinction with their
+blood,--the magistrates, the functionaries, the learned, the
+manufacturers, who had received it as the reward of the services which
+they had rendered to the state, to the arts, to useful industry,--all
+were filled with consternation when they found themselves elbowed by a
+mean and worthless mob. Yielding to their honest pride, the greater
+part of our old legionaries refused to wear the insignia, which,
+instead of conferring distinction, could only confound them with men
+whom public opinion had branded and proscribed.
+
+Success encouraged the government, and they did not stop. Richly
+endowed asylums for the daughters of the deceased members of the
+legion had been founded by the Emperor. Under the pretext of economy,
+of saving the annual sum of forty thousand francs, the ministers took
+the King by surprise, and hurried the Sovereign into the signature of
+an order for turning the orphans out of doors. Marshal Macdonald
+declared in vain that the old leaders of the army would never abandon
+the children of their companions, and that they were ready to defray
+the expense which was falsely assigned as the motive of the expulsion
+of the girls. Equally fruitless was the generosity of Madame Delchan,
+the matron of the establishment of Paris, who offered to continue its
+management without any assistance from the government, and to expend
+her entire fortune in the support of her pupils. Nor did the ministers
+pay the least attention to those who stated that the greater part of
+the children had neither friends nor relations, and that if they were
+thrown destitute upon the world, they would be inevitably consigned to
+misery or vice. No consideration could move the pity of the ministry.
+
+But at length the indignation of the public found a voice in the Lower
+House, and the representatives of the people were about to remonstrate
+with the Sovereign. Ministers were disconcerted and abashed, and they
+abandoned their profligate enterprise.
+
+This check, however, did not amend them. A few days afterwards they
+dissolved the military academies of St. Cyr and St. Germain, alleging
+that they were superfluous; and at the same moment the "École Royale
+Militaire" was re-established, "in order that the nobility of the
+kingdom might enjoy the advantages secured to them by the edict of
+January 1757."
+
+By this impudent violation of the principles of the charter our
+representatives were again roused, and the ministers were again
+obliged to recede.
+
+Irritated by these defeats, they sought revenge and actuated by an
+ill-judged hope of weakening the resisting obstacles, they dismissed a
+countless multitude of military officers, who were turned out of the
+army upon half pay, though their full pay had been formally
+guarantied. It must be acknowledged that the number of the officers of
+the imperial army was much greater than was required by the strength
+of the royal army; but as it was alleged that they were useless and
+expensive, it was not right to insult them in their misfortunes by
+ministerial profusion; for, at the same time, they saw the government
+granting rank and pay to a number of emigrants who were good for
+nothing in the army. The government raised six thousand "gardes du
+corps," troops of musketeers and light horse, "gendarmes de la garde,"
+&c. who scandalized Paris, and disgusted the army by their new
+epaulettes, and their sumptuous and splendid uniforms. Lastly, the
+government, led on by its innovating madness, did not respect those
+veterans whom Death had spared on the field of battle. Without pitying
+age or infirmities, the ministers, using their accustomed pretext of
+economy, withdrew the benefactions which a grateful nation had
+bestowed upon two thousand five hundred of these objects of
+compassion.
+
+Since the ministers did not dread giving public offence to the army,
+and in matters where the offence would be felt most acutely,--since
+they refused to recognize both its services and its rights, it may be
+easily supposed that the military were disgusted and oppressed when
+they appeared before the ministry as individuals. It is not intended
+to detail the complaints and accusations which then justly abounded;
+but one fact may be stated as giving a double illustration of the
+spirit which prevailed.
+
+General Milhaud had distinguished himself in the course of our
+national wars, by success and bravery. At the time when France was
+invaded by the allies, he "covered himself with glory" at the head of
+a handful of dragoons, who cut a considerable corps of the enemy's
+troops entirely to pieces. This officer, in consequence of his rank,
+his standing, and his services, had been appointed a chevalier de St.
+Louis as a matter of right; but at the moment of his reception, the
+cross was taken from him with ignominy, because he had been so
+unfortunate as to vote for the death of the King twenty years before.
+
+Louis XVIII., when he returned to France, had promised that he would
+not inquire into the votes which had been given against his august
+brother. This promise, which had been demanded from him, and which he
+ratified by his charter, could not be otherwise than a painful victory
+over the feelings of his heart. He must have grieved when he found
+himself under the necessity of admitting those judges into his court,
+who had condemned Louis XVI. to the scaffold, and to present them to
+the daughter of the murdered monarch. But still he had sworn not to
+avenge his death, and the oaths by which a monarch binds himself to
+his people should be inviolable.
+
+All resentment was to be repressed. The voters had been pardoned, and
+therefore the government could not be justified in reviving the memory
+of their crime, and in bringing down vengeance and death upon their
+heads. A funeral veil ought to have been drawn over that period of our
+revolution, during which we were all equally misled or guilty.
+Besides, we must state plainly and distinctly, that the grief excited
+by the murder of Louis XVI., was not the true cause of the invectives
+with which the regicides were assailed by the emigrants. Unfortunately
+the effect produced at Coblentz by the trial and execution of the
+king, is too well known. If the errors of some of the men of the
+revolution were hunted out with so much malignant zeal, it was only
+for the purpose of coming to this result--that as the revolution was
+the work of crime, it was necessary to root out every thing which had
+proceeded from the revolution.
+
+The insult to which General Milhaud was subjected, was therefore
+rather a political movement, than a punishment inflicted on an
+individual. In selecting Milhaud as the object of the first assault
+against the regicides, the government gave a proof of their want of
+tact; for if they wanted to render the regicides contemptible or
+odious, they should have avoided attacking an officer who had long
+since washed away the stains of the blood of his King, by imbruing
+himself in the blood of our enemies!
+
+But whilst the military, from the highest to the lowest, were exposed
+to the persecution and tyranny of the prevailing faction, the
+magistracy, and the civil functionaries of the state, suffered no less
+from ill treatment and injustice. Commissioners had been despatched
+into the departments, even at the beginning of the new reign, "in
+order to consolidate the royal government, and to examine into the
+conduct of the public functionaries under existing circumstances;"
+that is to say, at the moment of the restoration of the Bourbons.
+
+Such was the confidence which the nation placed in the promises of the
+King, that no jealousy was excited by this measure. On the contrary,
+people expected that great good would result from it, that party heat
+would be allayed, and public interest and opinion become more speedily
+united to the throne.
+
+This pleasing illusion was soon dispelled. A great number of
+emigrants, who had just come in again, were appointed commissioners.
+Instead of listening to cool and experienced advisers, they gave
+themselves up to the priests and nobles who beset them, and who were
+neither moderate nor enlightened.
+
+The middling classes, who, from their habitual intercourse with the
+lower orders, possess so great an influence over the body of the
+people, were considered by the commissioners as a rabble multitude of
+upstart "_roturiers_." They treated the middling class with disdain
+and contempt. Deceived by the recollection of the excesses of the
+revolution, they fancied, that whoever could win the populace, became
+the ruler of the country. When money is not to be had, the surest way
+of getting over the multitude, is by appealing to its passions. They
+therefore announced, that they were sent to do justice to the people,
+to listen to their complaints, to reform abuses, and to abolish the
+"_droits réunis_," and the conscription.
+
+Meetings were announced in the villages and in the country towns. All
+persons of respectability kept away; but the populace, who are always
+delighted with uproar and novelty, crowded in. There was no end to the
+preposterous charges which were preferred against the magistrates, the
+prefects, the under-prefects, the mayors, the administrators of
+public affairs, the officers of revenue; in short, none of the
+depositaries of public authority were spared.
+
+Instead of despising such accusations, or submitting them to an
+impartial inquiry, the commissioners hailed the popular clamour with
+transport. They triumphed in the tumult; they were overflowing with
+happiness at the fancied success of their efforts; they continued
+exclaiming with increasing joy, "that is right, Good People; the King
+is your father; these fellows are nothing but _canaille_; upon our
+word of honour, we will kick them out."
+
+These promises were kept. The public officers and functionaries of all
+classes were gradually dismissed, and their places given to informers,
+or to the old nobility. As the common people cooled, they became
+undeceived, and it was found that they had gained neither in riches
+nor in loyalty. The commissioners, instead of adding as they expected
+to the popularity of the government, only helped to cry it down. The
+cause of royalty was compromised by the scenes of riot which they
+encouraged, and they degraded it by acts of injustice and oppression.
+The non-emigrant commissioners acted far otherwise. They knew how to
+value the lying declamations of the nobles, and of the mob whom the
+nobles had set on. From the different conduct pursued by each party,
+effects resulted which exhibited the most striking contrast. In one
+department the public functionaries retained their situations, in
+another they were disgraced and vituperated.
+
+These scandalous proceedings excited the general indignation of the
+country. The government was universally blamed. The important task of
+instituting inquiries, which were to affect the honour and the civil
+existence of the most respectable characters, had been entrusted to
+emigrants who had lived amongst strangers during the best part of
+their lives. And these men, who knew nothing of the forms, the
+principles, or even the faults of the imperial government, were
+consequently wholly unable to appreciate the conduct, whether
+praiseworthy or blameable, of the depositaries of public authority.
+
+The people discovered that they had been cheated, and that this
+measure, disguised by specious representations, was in truth adopted
+only for the purpose of more effectually displacing the old
+functionaries of the nation. And, lastly, it was evident that this
+general dismission would carry off those authorities who were the
+natural guardians of every individual who had taken a part in the
+revolution. And that all who were thus affected would be placed
+beneath the sway of their sworn enemies, the nobles, the priests, and
+their adherents.
+
+Indications were given by the government that a "purification" of the
+courts of justice was in contemplation; and the public apprehension
+increased. The independence and immovability of the judges had been
+guaranteed to the nation, and this guarantee was certainly the most
+valuable of the rights which we had gained. But on account of its
+importance, the government were the more desirous of violating it.
+
+When the proposed "purification" became known, our national
+magistrates trembled in their chairs, and they foresaw that they would
+be plucked out for the purpose of making way for the antiquated
+survivors of the courts of parliament.
+
+The nation was alarmed, and protested against the measure. But the
+"purification" was not to be stopped in its swoop. The process began
+in the supreme tribunal of the kingdom, the Court of Cassation. And,
+to remove all doubts respecting the ulterior object of the government,
+it was officially announced that the _elimination_, disguised under
+the name of the "installation royale," had been deferred only for the
+purpose of "obtaining the information which was necessary to direct or
+decide the choice of the judges, and that it would take place
+successively in all the courts and tribunals of the kingdom."
+
+The "installation" was felt to be not only a breach of faith, but an
+open conspiracy against the security of the person and property of the
+subject. We knew that the tribunals would now be filled with
+magistrates whose prejudices, principles, and interest, must be in
+perpetual hostility against our national laws, and that the new men
+would seek to elude or crush our juridical system. The royal
+magistrates, as it was but too evident, would be the relations, the
+friends, or the creatures of the nobility, the emigrants, and of all
+who claimed to be restored to their rights and privileges. Nor could
+we hope that judges so constituted would deal out impartial justice
+between the ci-devant privileged tribes, whom they would naturally
+consider as the victims of revolutionary principles, and the children
+of the revolution, who, according to the same mode of reasoning, they
+could not fail to consider as the oppressors and robbers of the
+privileged tribes.
+
+The owners of national property were most alarmed by the approaching
+expulsion of the revolutionary judges. By the charter, the
+inviolability of their property had been guaranteed to them. But they
+had not forgotten that a violent debate arose on the "redaction" of
+this article; and that the ministers had been already accused on
+account of the obscurity of the clause, which they refused to correct
+into such words as might prevent all future quibbling and special
+pleading.
+
+If the emigrants, the priesthood, and the nobility, did not scruple to
+express their hopes aloud that the sales of the national domains might
+be declared null and void, it was equally well known to the public
+that certain Great Personages entertained the same hopes in secret.
+Doubts respecting the legality, and, consequently, of the validity of
+the sales, were expressed in the ministerial journals; and various
+publications were industriously disseminated, in which the purchases
+were directly impugned. The authors of these works were favoured and
+protected[10]; and it was whispered that the Great Personages, to
+whom we have already alluded, had deliberated on the means of
+realizing their hopes. All these tokens of the times united in giving
+too reasonable a ground for the apprehensions entertained by the
+proprietors of the confiscated lands; and the disorganization of the
+tribunals was considered as a national calamity.
+
+                   [Footnote 10: M.M. David and Falconnet. In order to
+                   appease the public indignation, a summons was
+                   issued against these writers, it being stated in
+                   the process that they had endeavoured to excite
+                   civil war. There was no difficulty in guessing that
+                   this proceeding was a farce, and that by
+                   overcharging the crime it was the intention of the
+                   government to favour the acquittal of the accused;
+                   and accordingly they were acquitted.]
+
+It is calculated that the individuals who are interested directly or
+indirectly either in the purchases of the national domains, or in the
+rights and liabilities arising out of them, amount in number to
+somewhat between nine and ten millions.
+
+An opportunity offered itself when all the uneasiness felt by this
+integral portion of the population of France might have been removed.
+It was when the law; by which the emigrants recovered possession of
+such part of their property as had not been alienated, came under
+consideration. It was natural to suppose that the administration would
+take advantage of the capability of the proceeding, in order to revive
+the confidence of the public, and to renew the guarantee of the
+charter. Such was not their conduct. On the contrary, M. Ferrand, the
+government orator, one of the men who did most mischief to the King
+and the kingdom, abandoned himself--we borrow the expression of the
+reporter of the committee--to all the acrimony of his passions, and
+all the profligacy of his principles. His fury could only be equalled
+by his folly. He did not scruple to maintain, in the midst of the
+representatives of the nation, that the emigrants had the greatest
+right to claim the justice and favour of the royal government, because
+they alone had not wandered from the righteous path. And starting with
+this position, he represented the forfeiture and sale of their
+property, not as the justifiable acts of a legislative body, but as
+revolutionary outrages and robberies which the nation ought to hasten
+to make good.
+
+The Chamber of Deputies passed their censure upon the inflammatory
+doctrines and language of the royalist orator, and expunged the word
+"restitution" from the law. It had not been inserted without design,
+for "restitution" supposes a previous robbery, and the emigrants had
+not been robbed of the property: it had been confiscated by virtue of
+a law sanctioned by the King; and which law was only a new application
+of the system of confiscation created and followed up by the King's
+predecessors.
+
+Without travelling into more remote periods, we may ask if it was not
+with the spoils of the victims who had been sacrificed to the
+murderous policy of Richelieu, and the religious intolerance of Louis
+XIV., that the first families had been enriched? And who can tell
+whether the lands which the emigrants reclaimed with so much pride and
+bitterness, were not the same which their ancestors had received
+without a blush from the bloody hands of Richelieu and Louis?
+
+It must be confessed that the unalterable fidelity of a certain number
+amongst the emigrants bound the royal government to reward their
+fidelity and to alleviate their misfortunes. But all had not an equal
+right to the affection and gratitude of the King. If some had
+generously sacrificed their fortunes and their country in the cause of
+royalty, yet others only fled from France because they wished to
+escape their creditors[11], and thought that in strange countries they
+might find dupes to feed upon, and thus exist upon swindling resources
+to which they could no longer resort with impunity at home.
+
+                   [Footnote 11: Before the revolution it was
+                   customary for "_les grands seigneurs_" to obtain
+                   what were called "_lettres de surséance_," by means
+                   of which they avoided the payment of their debts,
+                   and defeated their creditors.]
+
+It was therefore necessary to separate the first class of emigrants
+from the last; and after establishing this distinction, the government
+should have made a fair appeal to the justice and generosity of the
+nation. Frenchmen, who yield so readily to every dignified sentiment,
+would not have allowed the faithful and virtuous servants of their
+King to languish in poverty. We may appeal to the universal assent
+which was given to the proposal[12] made by the marshal duke of
+Tarentum, that ten millions of francs should be annually appropriated
+for the indemnification of the emigrants who had been deprived of
+their property, and of the soldiers who had lost their "_dotations_."
+
+                   [Footnote 12: This proposal was not carried into
+                   execution.]
+
+But the government party should not have attempted to assist the
+emigrants by resorting to means offensive to the nation, and
+derogatory to the charter. And, above all, they should not have puffed
+up the emigrants with proud and silly hopes. If they had been left to
+themselves, they would have fallen in with the purchasers of their
+property, they would have treated for an amicable settlement of their
+claims, and they would have regained possession of their hereditary
+estates without jarring and without scandal.
+
+The partiality which was shown towards the emigrants on all occasions
+produced another evil of still greater extent. It contributed, even
+more than the efforts of disaffection, in persuading the peasantry
+that the government wished to chain them again to the soil, and to
+render them once more the tributaries both of the nobility and of the
+priesthood.
+
+The revolution has taught the countryman to know that he is somebody
+in the state. After the revolution the peasants became rich, and they
+were delivered from the double vassalage of former days, when they
+crouched before the priest and the lord: therefore they could not
+think of any alteration without horror. Day after day they heard or
+they read (in France every body reads now,) that the government
+intended to restore the "_ancien régime_." And the restoration of the
+"_ancien régime_" was interpreted by them, as well as by many others,
+to mean the restoration of tithes, vassalage, and feudal rights. They
+were confirmed in their dangerous and disquieting opinion by the
+outrageous claims of the emigrants, and the declamations of the
+priests. It was to no purpose that the government tried to re-assure
+them. They had been already deceived and it seldom happens that you
+can catch a French peasant twice in the same snare. The abolition of
+the conscription had been promised, and the old code was continued in
+force with all its harshness, and still the refractory conscripts were
+sent away in chains, whilst fines were imposed upon their families.
+The abolition of the "_droits réunis_" had also been promised, and
+they were not only levied with greater rigour and harshness than
+before, but even some of these imposts had been greatly increased.
+
+Such was the fatality which influenced all the actions of the
+government, that all proceedings which in themselves were simple and
+reasonable, became venomous and corrupted when conducted by the
+ministry, and only added to the general disorder and discontent,
+instead of producing the good effects which they might have been
+justly expected to produce.
+
+The discontent of the people, the inevitable result of the injuries
+inflicted on the feelings and interests of individuals[13], was
+increased by the open infringement of the rights of the people,
+although these rights were secured to the country by a compact which
+seemed to be inviolable.
+
+                   [Footnote 13: There are times when a government may
+                   attack general principles without danger. But men
+                   and their personal interests can never be assailed
+                   with impunity. Personal interest is the prime mover
+                   of public opinion and feeling; and however
+                   degrading the truth may appear, it is not to be
+                   disputed. After a great national catastrophe this
+                   baleful egotism is particularly evident. Dignified
+                   passions become extinct for want of fuel; and the
+                   human mind, destitute of external occupation, works
+                   inward upon itself, and begets selfishness, the
+                   true pestilence of the soul. When this disease
+                   affects a nation, the government is lost if it
+                   attacks the interests of individuals.]
+
+Liberty of conscience had been promised by the charter, and this
+liberty was immediately annihilated. An ordonnance was issued by the
+police[14], which revived regulations enacted in _an age of
+intolerance_, for enforcing the strict and universal observance of the
+Lord's day, and the festivals of the church. Napoleon, anxious to
+preserve a strict neutrality between the catholics and the
+protestants, prohibited the religious processions of the former in all
+towns containing places of worship belonging to the latter communion.
+His prohibition was removed, and the catholic priesthood exulted in
+their processions, in which they marched in triumph. They ought to
+have tranquillized the apprehensions of their opponents, and to have
+edified the faithful by humility, or at least by feigning humility;
+but they disdained to conciliate the public, whom they scandalized by
+their pride and irritated by their violence[15].
+
+                   [Footnote 14: By means of ordonnances the ministers
+                   legislated according to their pleasure in matters
+                   which ought only to have been regulated by the law,
+                   so that the greater part of the bills presented to
+                   the chambers "had been already enacted and executed
+                   in the shape of ordonnances; and the legislature
+                   had no other function except that of giving a legal
+                   sanction to the arbitrary decrees of the
+                   ministers."--_Censeur._]
+
+                   [Footnote 15: Even in Paris several persons were
+                   ill treated and bayoneted, because they refused to
+                   pull off their hats and kneel, whilst the
+                   processions were passing by.]
+
+The imagination of the priests became fired by the victory which they
+supposed they had gained. They dreamt that they were in full
+possession of their ancient power; and they wished immediately to
+revive it according to their ancient fashion. An actress belonging to
+the Theatre Français died without being absolved, and without
+suspecting that it was necessary to be absolved, from the
+excommunication which had been formerly fulminated against stage
+players; and which, as every body knows, deprived Moliere of Christian
+burial.
+
+Following the same precedents, the clergy would not allow the rites of
+sepulture to the actress in question. The populace, who followed the
+funeral out of curiosity, learnt the affront which was thus offered to
+her remains. Transported by sudden indignation, they rushed to the
+hearse, and dragged it onwards. The doors of the interdicted church
+were burst open in a moment. They called for a priest; no priest
+appeared. The tumult augmented. The church and the neighbouring
+streets resounded with the groans and threats of ten thousand persons.
+Their agitation became more violent, and there was no possibility of
+foreseeing where the effervescence of popular feeling would stop, when
+a messenger arrived from the court, who ordered, in the name of the
+King, that the funeral should proceed.
+
+The accounts of this event, and the comments to which it gave rise,
+excited the most lively interest in Paris and throughout France: nor
+did it fail to give the greatest pleasure to the enemies of religion.
+The friends of public decency and good order accused the government of
+encouraging the alarming progress of sacerdotal despotism. It was
+particularly in the smaller towns, and in the country, that the
+priests behaved with the most blamable audacity, abusing the privilege
+of speech which had been restored to them[16]. The pulpit became a
+tribunal from whence they pronounced sentence of present infamy, with
+the reversion of eternal damnation, upon all who refused to
+participate in their opinions and bigotry. Making common cause with
+the emigrants, they employed hints, inuendoes, insinuations,
+arguments, promises, and threats of every species, for the purpose of
+compelling the owners of the national property to yield up their
+lands, and of leading the wretched peasantry again beneath the tyrant
+yokes of feudality and superstition.
+
+                   [Footnote 16: Under the reign of Napoleon, if a
+                   priest had ventured to utter any opinion contrary
+                   to the system of government, he would have been
+                   immediately removed.]
+
+During the revolution, the priesthood had betrayed its real character.
+Contempt had fallen on the clergy, and it was out of the power of the
+government to invest them suddenly with the salutary influence which
+they had lost. This influence ought to be gained by wise and prudent
+conduct, by active and impartial benevolence, by the practice of
+sacerdotal virtues. It cannot be gained by ordonnances of police, by
+abuse, by violence, by mumming processions, which, in our times, are
+out of character and ridiculous.
+
+By the charter the liberty of the press had been guarantied as well as
+the liberty of public worship; yet every day innumerable publications
+were seized or suppressed contrary to the laws. M. Durbach, a deputy
+who never equivocated with his conscience or yielded to danger,
+complained on this subject in the chamber: the opinion of the house
+went along with him; and the government, pretending to yield to the
+feeling of the deputies, presented a bill to the chambers through the
+medium of M. de Montesquiou, which, instead of delivering the press
+from its slavery, gave full establishment to the censorship, and
+legalized the tyranny which had been exercised over the press by mere
+force under the former government.
+
+Benjamin Constant attacked the bill with vigour: the same side was
+taken by the public journals, and by all public writers; but there was
+no possibility of putting M. de Montesquiou out of countenance. It was
+demonstrated to him that his law would wholly destroy the liberty of
+the press. By holding the charter before his eyes, the advocates of
+public rights proved that the charter only declared that the licence
+of the press was to be restrained, and that his bill was therefore
+radically unconstitutional, because the preliminary censorship was not
+intended to restrain abuses, but to prevent their taking place.
+Montesquiou answered gravely, that the persons with whom such
+objections originated did not understand French; that the words
+"_prévenir_" and "_réprimer_" were perfectly synonymous: and that the
+bill, instead of being offensive or unconstitutional, contained a most
+complete and a most liberal development of the clause in the charter.
+
+This unparalleled endeavour of Montesquiou, who persuaded himself that
+he could convince an assembly of Frenchmen that they did not
+understand their own language, was justly considered by the chamber as
+a matchless specimen of impudence and folly. Lexicographical
+subtleties were employed with bitter mockery for the purpose of
+destroying a public right, consecrated by the constitutional compact.
+Never had insolence and bad faith been displayed so prominently:
+Raynouard, the reporter of the committee, exclaimed in the language of
+grief and indignation, "Minister of our King, confess, at least, that
+your law is contrary to the constitution, since you cannot refute the
+evidence adduced against it: your obstinacy in contesting such an
+indisputable truth would not then inspire us with such just alarms."
+
+The law was ultimately adopted by both chambers; ministerial influence
+triumphed over reason, and rased the most important bulwark of the
+rights guarantied to the nation. The result of the conflict produced
+the most lively sensation. No man who was capable of forethought and
+reasoning could remain undisturbed. Notwithstanding the patriotism of
+Dupont (of the department of the Eure), of Raynouard, of Durbach, of
+Bedoch, of Flaugergues, it was seen too clearly that the chamber of
+deputies could not oppose any effectual obstacle to the despotic and
+anti-constitutional plans of the government; and that the ministers
+would have full power, whenever they thought proper, to interpret the
+clauses of the charter according to their own way, and to rob the
+French nation of the few rights which it yet might promise to them.
+"By means of such interpretations," the people said, "the senate
+sacrificed the independence of the nation to Napoleon. But at least
+the imperial despotism assumed a character by which it was justified
+and ennobled. It tended to render our nation the greatest nation in
+the world; but the despotism which awaits us has no other
+accompaniment but bad faith, and no other end except the degradation
+and slavery of France."
+
+By such reflections, the suspicion and disgust and aversion inspired
+by the government, were excited to the utmost pitch. The public
+feeling did not stop there: the French people are naturally inconstant
+in their opinions and sentiments; and their former prejudices against
+Napoleon were changed into transports of admiration. France, under the
+royal government, was humiliated, disorganized, and degenerate; and
+they contrasted the present state of the country with the influence,
+the strength, the compactness, which it enjoyed under the reign of
+Napoleon; and He, who had lately been cursed as the root of all evil,
+now appeared to be the greatest of men, and the greatest of heroes,
+though in misfortune.
+
+The government knew that Napoleon was again admired by the people, and
+that they regretted his loss. To counteract these sentiments, coarse
+and vulgar caricatures were exposed to the eyes of the populace; and
+his person and his character became the theme of false and scandalous
+libels published under the direction of the ministry. No effect was
+produced. The mob looked at the caricatures with a smile of contempt;
+and the actions of Napoleon, which, under his reign, excited the
+greatest censure and disapprobation, now found the most zealous
+apologists and defenders.
+
+If Napoleon was accused of having overthrown the republican
+government, and enslaved the country by the revolution of the 18th
+Brumaire, they answered[17]:--"At that era, anarchy, emboldened by the
+misfortunes of the country, could only be repressed by victory. Civil
+war had been organized in twenty departments; insurrections had taken
+place in many, rapine infected them all; robbery and murder took place
+with impunity on many of the principal high roads. Two dreadful laws,
+the law of the hostages, and that of the forced loans, occasioned
+greater evils than they could cure. No nation had ever existed in
+which the finances of the state were in equal confusion; and a
+succession of partial bankruptcies prolonged the opprobrium of the
+general bankruptcy of the country. The money of the public was robbed
+whilst in transit on the high roads. Robbers even carried it off from
+the houses of the receivers, and the deficiency could not be made good
+by the most violent exactions. The jacobins were on the point of
+recommencing their reign of terror. The royalists had recourse without
+scruple to all the measures which might enable them to satiate their
+revenge; and the peaceable friends of the law were placed between the
+conflicting parties in a state of disgraceful weakness and neutrality.
+Such was the desperate situation of France when Napoleon seized the
+helm of the state. Instead of imputing the slavery of the country to
+him, he ought to have been blessed; for he delivered us from the
+spoliations, the murders, and the tyranny which were consequent upon
+the reign of anarchy and terror."
+
+                   [Footnote 17: I cannot express their thoughts more
+                   forcibly than by copying the passage, which I have
+                   quoted in my text, from the View of the Revolution
+                   by Lacretelle.]
+
+Was it maintained that Napoleon had reigned despotically? They held
+that this accusation was unjust; and they had recourse to the
+following reasoning. "Anarchy was silenced by Napoleon." It became
+necessary, that order should take the place of disorder; that the
+authority of one should be substituted for the authority of all.
+Parties were to be restrained within the bound of moderation; traitors
+were to be annihilated. It was necessary to curb the prejudices of the
+nobility, and the revolutionary habits and manners of the jacobins.
+This great work could not be accomplished, without engaging in a
+conflict against individual interests and opinions. Napoleon was
+considered as a despot; this was inevitable. Whenever the existing
+polity of a state has been totally subverted, he who first raises the
+edifice of society from its ruins, is necessarily accused of
+despotism, because apparently he has no other rule except his own
+will. Nor must we forget that Napoleon had been accustomed to command
+implicit obedience in the camp. He retained his military attitude on
+the throne. He usually addressed his courtiers, his connexions, and
+his ministers, in the tone which he had formerly adopted when speaking
+to his soldiers or their generals[18]. An appearance of despotism was
+certainly given to his way of reigning and commanding, by such
+language which is seldom heard in civil society. And in almost all
+cases, appearance is taken for reality.
+
+                   [Footnote 18: From his early youth, it may be even
+                   said from his days of boyhood, Napoleon felt an
+                   inward presentiment that he was not destined to
+                   live in mediocrity. This persuasion soon taught him
+                   to treat others with disdain, and to entertain the
+                   highest opinion of himself. Scarcely had he
+                   obtained a subaltern command in the artillery, when
+                   he considered himself as the superior of his
+                   equals, and the equal of his superiors. In his 20th
+                   year he was placed at the head of the army of
+                   Italy. Without appearing to be in the slightest
+                   degree surprised by his elevation, he passed from a
+                   secondary station to the chief command. He
+                   immediately treated the old generals of the
+                   army--they who were so proud of the laurels--with
+                   an air of dignity and authority, which placed them
+                   in a situation which was probably new to them. But
+                   they did not feel humiliated, and their inferiority
+                   seemed to result as a matter of course, for the
+                   ascendancy exercised by Napoleon was irresistible;
+                   and he was thoroughly endued; with that instinct of
+                   authority, that talent of ensuring obedience, with
+                   those faculties which are usually confined to those
+                   who are kings by birth. Napoleon could probably
+                   have attained to supreme authority in any country
+                   in the world. Nature had formed him for command,
+                   and she never creates such men for the purpose of
+                   leaving them in obscurity. It seems, according to
+                   the remark of a writer whose name I have forgotten,
+                   that she is proud of her own work, and that she
+                   wishes to offer it to admiration, by placing it at
+                   the head of human society.]
+
+At first the imperious tone adopted by Napoleon was blamed, next it
+was admired. He soon employed it in his intercourse with foreign
+ambassadors, with foreign sovereigns. The wily forms of ancient
+diplomacy were discarded. Napoleon did not negociate; he issued his
+orders. With one hand he brandished his victorious sword; in the other
+he held crowns and sceptres. He bade the sovereigns of Europe make
+their choice; he offered his friendship or his hatred, kingdoms or
+blows. The monarchs who stood before his throne were taught wisdom by
+experience. They knew that Napoleon could reward and punish; they
+crowded into the ranks of his allies; and they consoled themselves for
+their weakness, by crying out upon his tyranny[19].
+
+                   [Footnote 19: The continental system induced
+                   Napoleon to exercise a real tyranny over Europe. We
+                   do not pretend to deny the fact; but we only wish
+                   to add, that this exterior despotism always induced
+                   a belief amongst foreigners, that Napoleon, who
+                   tyrannized so violently over nations which did not
+                   belong to him, must necessarily be the tyrant of
+                   his own subjects.]
+
+When these causes were united, they aided in persuading the world
+that Napoleon was really a despot. For, as Montesquieu observes, there
+are some things which we believe at last, merely because we hear them
+continually repeated. But if the government of Napoleon is considered
+impartially, we shall feel convinced, that the despotism attributed to
+him existed rather in words and forms, than in deeds. Let the acts of
+his reign be scrutinized, and none will be found impressed with the
+character of real despotism; that is to say, of despotism founded on
+the mere arbitrary will and pleasure of the prince. On the contrary,
+they all prove that the interest and aggrandizement of France entered
+alone into the views of Napoleon, and that instead of being under a
+tyrannical government, the people never enjoyed the benefits of
+distributive justice with greater equality, and were never protected
+more completely against the oppressions of public functionaries, and
+of the higher ranks. He may, perhaps, be censured for having violated
+certain laws, for violations in which the senate and the
+representatives of the people were his accomplices. But laws are only
+binding upon sovereigns in the ordinary course of things, and the most
+rigid writers on the law of nations acknowledge this principle. When
+extraordinary and unforeseen circumstances take place, it is the duty
+of the sovereign to be above the law. In order to judge fairly of the
+actions of a monarch, we must not consider them separately. Many an
+action which, if taken singly, appears unjustifiable or hateful, loses
+that character when viewed as one of the series of events from which
+it arose, as a connecting link in the political chain of which it
+forms a part. Neither should the conduct of a sovereign be judged
+according to the principles of natural equity. In the estimation of
+those, upon whom the task of ruling nations has devolved, necessity
+and the public safety ought to know no law. Every apprehension of
+injuring private interest vanishes, and must ever vanish, before state
+considerations.
+
+"After all," continued they, "the real point at issue is, not whether
+the government of Napoleon was more or less despotic; but whether it
+was such as was required by the character of his people and of his
+times,--such as it needed to be, in order that France might become
+tranquil, happy, and powerful." Now it is impossible to deny but that,
+during the reign of Napoleon, the interior of France enjoyed an
+unruffled calm, and that the ascendancy of his genius bestowed upon
+the country a degree of power and prosperity, which it never attained
+before, and which probably it will never possess again.
+
+Was the emperor taxed with boundless ambition? Were the calamities of
+Spain and Russia laid to his charge?--his indefatigable apologists
+found a ready answer.--The Spanish war, instead of being an unjust
+aggression, was an enterprise guided by the soundest political talent.
+It had been provoked by the wavering treachery of that allied
+government, which, in spite of its engagements, was secretly
+negociating with the English; and which, yielding to their
+instigations, had endeavoured to take advantage of our difficulties
+and of the absence of our armies, in order to invade our territory,
+and to become a sharer in the plots of our enemies.
+
+The detention of Ferdinand ceased to be an odious breach of faith. It
+resulted necessarily from his duplicity, his parricidal projects, and
+his English connexions. The nomination of Joseph as King of Spain and
+the Indies, had been universally attributed to the excessive vanity of
+Napoleon, who, as it was supposed, was determined to drop a crown upon
+the head of every member of the imperial family. But now opinion
+changed. King Joseph's promotion was felt to have been caused by the
+necessity of placing Spain for ever out of the reach of English
+influence. Had not Napoleon allowed the Cortes of Spain to elect their
+monarch of their own uncontrolled authority? Had he not said to them
+in public, "Dispose of the throne. Little do I care whether the king
+of Spain is called Ferdinand, or whether he is called Joseph; let him
+only be the ally of France, and the enemy of England[20]?"
+
+                   [Footnote 20: The Emperor thus addressed the
+                   Spanish Cortes; when assembled at Bayonne.]
+
+It was still more easy to justify the Russian war. A Quixotic love of
+the marvellous was no longer supposed to be the passion which excited
+it. In making war against Russia, he was actuated by the desire of
+avenging the injuries which that power had occasioned to France, at
+the moment when the Russian government again opened its ports to the
+English, thus snatching from the nation the reward of the sacrifices
+which we had made for the establishment and consolidation of the
+continental blockade,--of that universal barrier which made England
+and her thousand vessels tremble!
+
+The invasion of Germany was no longer the effect of Napoleon's
+insatiate thirst of power and glory[21]. It was seen, that there was
+no other sure method, by which the English, the irreconcilable
+enemies of France, could be deprived of their fatal continental
+influence, by which they could be compelled to abandon the empire of
+the seas. In short, Napoleon was only inflicting a salutary and
+equitable punishment, deserved by those sovereigns of all sizes. After
+having implored or obtained the alliance of Napoleon, and after having
+ratified the bond by engagements and promises upon which he generously
+relied, they compelled him to take up arms, in order to prevent them
+from receiving the agents of England into their cabinets, and her
+merchandizes into their ports.
+
+                   [Footnote 21: Napoleon was accused of having
+                   aspired to universal monarchy. In all ages, this
+                   desire has been imputed to powerful and ambitious
+                   sovereigns. Let us confess that no monarch was ever
+                   better justified in yielding to the seductions of
+                   this brilliant phantom than Napoleon. From the
+                   summit of his throne he held the reins which guided
+                   the greater part of Europe, whose docile monarchs
+                   instantly obeyed any direction which he chose to
+                   give them. At the first word, at the slightest
+                   signal, their subjects were arrayed beneath the
+                   imperial eagle. Their continual intercourse with
+                   us, the obligation of obeying Napoleon, an
+                   obligation imposed upon them by their own princes,
+                   had accustomed them to consider the Emperor as
+                   their chieftain. But whatever ambition may have
+                   been attributed to Napoleon, his good sense
+                   restrained him from aspiring to universal monarchy.
+                   He had another plan; he intended to re-establish
+                   the eastern and western empires. It would now be
+                   useless to reveal the lofty and powerful
+                   considerations by which this grand and noble idea
+                   was suggested to Napoleon. Then, France might have
+                   been allowed to grasp again the sceptre of
+                   Charlemagne: but now, we must forget that we have
+                   been the masters of the world.]
+
+Thus the partisans of Napoleon invented arguments by which they
+palliated his faults and justified his errors. No objection, no
+reproach was left without its answer. After defending him against his
+accusers they became his advocates; and, turning to the fairer pages
+of his history, their praises knew no bounds; these eulogiums were
+certainly more just, and, perhaps, more sincere.
+
+"Napoleon," said they, "had all the great qualities of the greatest
+monarchs, whilst he was exempted from their vices. Napoleon was not
+stained by the lechery of Cæsar, nor by the drunkenness of Alexander,
+nor by the cruelty of Charlemagne."
+
+At an age when others scarcely start in life, his years were
+outnumbered by his victories; and the kings of Europe, conquered by
+his sword or subjugated by his genius, cowered before the imperial
+eagle.
+
+In France, when aggrandized by the conquests of Napoleon, the empire
+of ancient Rome was re-produced before the astonished world. The
+French name, tarnished by the crimes of the revolution, regained its
+ancient honour and its mastery. The nation was feared, admired, and
+respected by the entire universe.
+
+Philosophy graced Napoleon no less than warlike prowess. After he had
+covered the nation with glory by his victories, he was willing to
+insure our welfare by his laws. He bestowed upon us that immortal code
+of jurisprudence which invested him with the title of the legislator
+of France, a title to which our former kings had aspired in vain. He
+organised that admirable system of finance and administration, which
+their subjects, groaning under misrule, implored but without effect.
+
+Still he had not accomplished enough to satisfy his noble and
+beneficent ardour. Arts, sciences, and industry were to flourish in
+our country. The munificent aids[22] which were granted by Napoleon,
+created the thousands and thousands of manufactories from whence
+proceeded those finished works of skill and labour which became the
+pride of the French, and the despair and ruin of foreign nations. The
+sons of Apollo[23], on whom he lavished his gifts and favours, seized
+the crayon, the compass, and the chisel. Paris became a second
+Athens, when adorned by the wonders of art to which his munificence
+gave birth. We then saw the venerable Louvre rise, as by enchantment,
+from its deserted ruins; the palaces of our Kings became more
+gorgeous; the temples of the arts were enriched by productions which
+rivalled the relics of antiquity; our native land brought forth those
+establishments so proudly useful to the public, and those monuments
+destined to transmit the recollections of our fame and glory to the
+most distant posterity.
+
+                   [Footnote 22: Neither the nature nor the extent of
+                   these aids has been well understood out of France.
+                   Napoleon revived our industry by the loans, which
+                   he never hesitated to grant to any enterprising
+                   manufacturer who needed capital; and this
+                   assistance was always liberal and well-timed.]
+
+                   [Footnote 23: Louis XIV., who has been so much
+                   praised for his liberality, only distributed 52,300
+                   francs per annum to the literati and artists of
+                   France, and 14,000 francs to foreigners.]
+
+At the same moment his sovereign will guided the hands which curbed
+the waves of the ocean, and caused them to roll over a new abyss. He
+directed those labours which substituted wide harbours, superb
+dock-yards, and fertilizing canals, in the place of desert shores and
+pestilential marshes, restoring commerce and existence to the
+innumerable inhabitants of the sea coast, and of the banks of the
+Scheld and the Somme. At the same moment his voice created those Roman
+highways, branching through all parts of France, and Germany, and
+Italy, equally useful and majestic, and which afforded to the
+inhabitants of those countries means equally speedy and secure of
+communicating with each other, and of exchanging the products of their
+industry: and never will the friend or even the enemy of Napoleon
+cross the summits of the Alps, or ascend their craggy sides, without
+venerating the magnanimous sovereign, who, anxious to guide the steps
+and protect the life of the traveller, has enclosed the precipice,
+chained the torrent, and linked the great mountains of the earth,
+which during so many ages have braved the might of man and time. When
+future ages shall gather up in memory the glorious and transcendent
+deeds of Napoleon; when they shall number the blessings which he
+dispensed, and the victories which he gained, never will they believe
+that one man can have worked such miracles in so short a period. They
+will rather fancy that the historian was playing with the credulity of
+posterity, that he culled out all the great deeds performed by
+successive generations of the greatest men during an infinite series
+of ages, and that he has attributed them all to his ideal hero.
+
+The soldiers who had bled beneath the banners of Napoleon would not
+listen in silence to the praises which others bestowed upon his name.
+His foreign conquests, which even they had lately considered as the
+causes of our misfortunes, became again the sources of inexhaustible
+admiration.
+
+They recollected that Napoleon had ruled as the master of Madrid, of
+Lisbon, of Munich, of Warsaw, of Hamburgh, of Berlin, of Vienna, of
+Milan, of Amsterdam, of Rome, of Moscow, of Cairo.
+
+Some recalled the memory of the day of Lodi. They saw him standing on
+the bridge re-animating his dispirited followers, defying danger and
+death whilst he waved the national flag, and drove the enemy from
+their entrenchments, and blasted their glory. Others pointed him out
+whilst crossing the perpetual snows and yawning chasms of Mount St.
+Bernard, and then victorious on the plains of Marengo, where he won
+that battle which insured the peace and glory of the country.
+
+Austerlitz had its chroniclers, who described Napoleon as he fell with
+the rapidity and violence of the thunderbolt on the battalions of the
+Austrian and the Russian, and when he afforded to those trembling
+monarchs an example of magnanimity which they knew not how to imitate
+when generosity became their duty. Nor did his enthusiastic advocates
+omit the field of Jena, where his victorious ensigns chased the flying
+troops of Frederic, who, deceived by their recollections, yet held
+themselves to be the paragons of military worth. They retraced his
+paths amidst the burning sands of Egypt, amidst the icy wastes of
+Muscovy; and in either region Napoleon supported fire and frost
+without ostentation, and taught resignation and endurance to his
+soldiers by his unshaken constancy.
+
+More recent and more painful victories contributed equally to endear
+him. They saw Napoleon in Champagne, when his veteran army scarcely
+equalled one of the numerous divisions of the enemy. At the head of
+his scanty troops he watched, and avoided, and surprised the
+Austrians, the Russians, and the Prussians: wounding them on all sides
+by his victorious weapons, and with such promptitude, that he seemed
+to have bestowed wings upon iron and death. They placed him at Arcis
+sur Aube, advancing before his squadrons, and rushing forward to meet
+the balls and bullets of the enemy; for he sought to sacrifice on the
+field of battle that life, which he foresaw he could no longer
+dedicate on the throne, to the glory and prosperity of the nation.
+
+In short, generals, officers, and soldiers, all vied with each other
+in calling to mind the marches, the sieges, the conflicts, the
+attacks, the days, which had immortalized their general[24]; and is
+there a heart amongst us which does not beat higher at these
+recollections?
+
+                   [Footnote 24: The soldiers identified the name of
+                   Napoleon with their country and their honour. When
+                   the accession of Louis XVIII. put an end to the
+                   sufferings and captivity of those who were
+                   imprisoned in England, they returned to France,
+                   cursing the cause of their liberty, and exclaiming,
+                   "Vive l'Empereur!" Even in the deserts of Russia,
+                   neither threats of ill treatment, nor promises of
+                   assistance offered to the French prisoners at the
+                   moment when they were starving, could extort a
+                   single complaint against Napoleon.]
+
+The sentiments thus awakening in favour of Napoleon were cherished by
+his friends, and by all those who, wearied of the Bourbons or
+discontented with their government, now wished for his return. His
+name, which lately we had scarcely dared to utter, was now in every
+mouth, his image in every mind. The nation began to regret the
+Emperor, then they longed for him; and every one was impressed by a
+secret presentiment that these expectations would soon be realized.
+
+Whilst this formidable revulsion of opinion was increasing and
+appearing throughout the kingdom, it was scarcely heeded by the
+ministry, the court, and the emigrants, who reposed with complacent
+security on the volcano which they had kindled, and without
+entertaining the slightest apprehension of the approaching explosion.
+
+"If they wish to go out of the kingdom," said M. de Chateaubriand,
+when alluding to the partisans of the Emperor, "if they wish to return
+again, to receive or despatch letters, to send expresses, to make
+proposals, to circulate false intelligence, and even to distribute
+bribes, to assemble in secret or in public, to menace, to disseminate
+libels, in short, to conspire against the government,--they are at
+liberty to do their worst. The royal government, which began but eight
+months ago, now rests upon so sure a basis, that, were it now to be
+obstinate in repeating folly after folly, it would hold good in spite
+of all its errors."
+
+This infatuation, however, soon diminished. Without understanding the
+full extent of the evil, the government ascertained that the army and
+the nation were agitated and discontented, and they deliberated on the
+methods which it would be proper to employ, not for the purpose of
+conciliation, but for enforcing silence.
+
+Acquainted with the uneasiness of the government, certain frantic
+Chouans gave out that it was full time to despatch the Bonapartists.
+One chieftain, celebrated in the annals of La Vendée, was even so
+audacious as to declare to general Ex..... that he only waited for the
+arrival of his faithful Vendeans, and then he would fall upon the
+Jacobins.
+
+The news of this massacre soon reached the ears of the intended
+victims. Some quitted Paris, others armed themselves, and prepared to
+sell their lives as dearly as they could. It is said that the
+government became acquainted with the bloody conspiracy of the
+Chouans, and that they relieved France and the world from the
+spectacle of another St. Bartholomew's day.
+
+This intended massacre (I have never been able to believe in it,)
+persuaded the revolutionists that they could expect neither respite
+nor mercy from the royalists, and that one of the two parties would be
+compelled to destroy the other. The soldiers of Napoleon began to
+unite, and to make themselves ready. The ministers were anxious to
+disperse these assemblages, which gave them uneasiness; orders were
+issued, by which all officers, whether of the staff or regimental,
+were prohibited from residing at Paris without permission; and all who
+were not Parisians by birth were ordered to return to their native
+provinces. This measure increased the exasperation of the military,
+and it did not diminish the danger. The reduced officers, instead of
+conforming to the order, encouraged each other in disobedience.
+According to the regulations of the war department, their contumacious
+residence at Paris would subject them to the loss of their half-pay;
+and many of them, though in poverty, preferred independence to
+submission. The ministers were irritated by this resistance, and they
+determined to make an example. It happened that a letter of
+congratulation which General Excelmans addressed to his former
+sovereign, the king of Naples, was intercepted. This opportunity was
+gladly seized by the new Minister at war[25]. He put the General on
+the half-pay list, and ordered him to retire immediately, and until
+further orders, to the distance of sixty leagues from Paris. Excelmans
+maintained that the Minister at war had no right to remove an officer,
+not being in active service, from his domicile; and he would not go:
+upon this he was immediately taken into custody. It was pretended that
+he had been guilty of a traitorous intercourse with the enemies of the
+King, and that he was also guilty of disobedience to his Majesty's
+orders. The government expected that this blow would produce the best
+possible effect; but it recoiled against them: Excelmans was known to
+all France; he was valued as one of her bravest and most estimable
+children. The spite and hatred of the ministers had loaded him with
+accusations; but his alleged treasons, far from depriving him of
+public esteem and public affection, only endeared him to his
+companions in arms, and to the nation at large.
+
+                   [Footnote 25: Marshal Soult had just succeeded
+                   General Dupont.]
+
+Excelmans was brought to trial, and the court acquitted him[26]. The
+council of war, by sanctioning the disobedience of the General,
+declared that the government did not possess that authority over
+reduced officers which they had assumed; and from this moment the
+government was ruined. The decision by which the half-pay military
+were enfranchised, and which left them at liberty to brave the
+commands of the government, was a shock which beat the royal authority
+to the ground.
+
+                   [Footnote 26: M. Comte, one of the acute and
+                   courageous editors of the Censor, was chosen by the
+                   general as his "counsel." General Fressinet was his
+                   advocate. (According to the forms of the French
+                   courts of judicature, the counsel assists by his
+                   advice, the advocate pleads.) This officer, equally
+                   distinguished by his firmness, his talents, and his
+                   bravery, was afterwards punished and exiled on
+                   account of the generous assistance which he gave on
+                   this important occasion to General Excelmans, his
+                   fellow soldier and friend.]
+
+Here I shall stop. It would be of no further use to lengthen the
+history and the investigation of the absurd tyranny of the government.
+If we trace the progress of the principles successively enounced by
+the ministry, and the actions of which they were the authors, we shall
+see that they had formed and executed the project of re-establishing
+the old monarchy, and of overturning the constitutional government
+either by artifice or by main force. The royal charter was spurned by
+them, and they trampled without scruple on the civil and political
+rights which it consecrated. Every guarantee given to the army, the
+magistracy, the public functionaries, or the nation, was forgotten,
+attacked, or violated. Our national glory was insulted; public feeling
+was wounded. The manners and customs and opinions of the new era were
+all treated with harshness: all ranks and classes of citizens
+experienced those vexations which filled them with discontent. By
+injustice and bad faith the government deprived the King of our
+confidence and love, and caused the restoration of the Emperor to
+become the hope of the nation. In spite of the obstacles experienced
+by the ministry, in spite of the affronts to which they had been
+subjected, in spite of the retrograde steps which they had been
+compelled to take, they still clung to the baneful system which they
+had fostered; and, bigoted to these plans, they continued to persevere
+in those errors which recalled Napoleon from his exile, just as
+Napoleon persevered in the errors which recalled the Bourbons back
+from theirs.
+
+But whilst the storm was gathering in France, how was Napoleon
+employed? Ambition had taken flight, and he was seen to prefer a life
+of unostentatious retirement to all his former grandeurs. Repose had
+greater charms for him than the noble turmoil of war; and his genius,
+no longer teeming with meditation, yielded to the pleasures of
+retirement. The study of botany, the cares of his household, the
+plantations which he had made, and those which he was still planning,
+beguiled his hours[27]; and, like the Roman Diocletian, he might have
+said to those who suspected that he longed in secret after the throne,
+"Come and see me in my retirement: I will show you the gardens which I
+have planted, and you will talk no more to me about the empire."
+
+                   [Footnote 27: It has been alleged, but without
+                   foundation, that he retained his taste for military
+                   exercises. Not one review took place during his
+                   residence at Porto Ferrajo; arms seemed to have no
+                   attractions for him.]
+
+Napoleon, during the early part of his retirement in Elba, felt only a
+vague desire of reigning. Grieved by the miseries of France, the
+country which he loved so truly, wearied by the vicissitudes of
+fortune, disgusted with mankind, he feared that, if he attempted to
+seize the sceptre again, he should involve France and himself in new
+troubles; and, without abandoning his expectation of re-ascending the
+throne, he resolved to allow his resolutions to be guided by futurity.
+
+The turn taken by public affairs soon roused the Emperor from this
+state of indifference and hesitation. At first he hoped, and I have
+heard him say so, that the Bourbons, instructed by adversity, would
+confer liberty and happiness upon the nation. But when he witnessed
+the power which was bestowed upon the priesthood, the emigrants, and
+the courtiers, he foresaw that the very same causes which had produced
+the first revolution, would soon occasion a second. From that period
+he watched the continent; nor did he lose sight, even for a moment, of
+the congress, or of France, or of the Bourbons. He could tell the
+talents[28], the principles, the vices, and the virtues of all those
+who had acquired the confidence of Louis XVIII, either by intrusion or
+by favour. He could measure the degrees of influence which each was
+capable of acquiring and exercising, and he calculated beforehand on
+the errors which they would inevitably induce his docile successor to
+commit.
+
+                   [Footnote 28: It is well known that there was not a
+                   single individual of note in the service, either of
+                   his allies or of his enemies, whose strong and weak
+                   points were not perfectly understood by Napoleon.]
+
+Napoleon now employed himself again in reading the public journals of
+France and of foreign countries; he read assiduously all periodical
+works of a political tendency; he studied these productions; he
+investigated them with acuteness, and he could well divine the meaning
+of a writer who was compelled to be silent, and conjecture the nature
+of intelligence which an editor was forced to suppress.
+
+Strangers of distinction, and particularly the English, were received
+by Napoleon with affability and kindness, and he used to talk freely
+with his visitors on public affairs. He knew how to draw them out, and
+to lead them to expatiate on points which he wished to penetrate; and
+he seldom failed to obtain much useful information from those
+interviews. By these simple methods Napoleon obtained a correct idea
+of the events which were taking place on the continent; he was too
+well acquainted with revolutions not to be sensible that the sway of
+events would open the gates of France, and admit him; and he was too
+wary to enter into a private correspondence with his partisans, when
+any accident might have revealed his secret wishes, and have afforded
+a pretext to his enemies for attacking his independence and his
+liberty.
+
+Napoleon thus waited in silence till the fated time of his
+re-appearance in France should arrive, when a French Officer[29],
+disguised as a sailor, disembarked at Porto Ferrajo.
+
+                   [Footnote 29: This officer is the person who is
+                   named in the declaration made on the 15th of March
+                   to the prince of Essling, then governor of the 8th
+                   military division, by Monsieur P*****, who landed
+                   with Napoleon from the Isle of Elba, and was
+                   arrested at Toulon by order of the prefect of the
+                   department of the Var.]
+
+Some few days before this Officer set out to join the army in the year
+1815, he gave over to me the manuscript narrative of his voyage to the
+Isle of Elba. "To you," added he, "I deliver my history, which is also
+that of the revolution of the 20th of March. As the Emperor, when
+regaining his throne, did not think fit to speak of me, I was
+therefore bound to be silent; but I am as eager to live in the memory
+of after-ages as he can possibly be[30]. It is my wish that posterity
+may learn, that I too shared in the glorious enterprise of subverting
+the Bourbon government, and of bringing back the Emperor. My mind
+misgives me. I have a presentiment that I shall die in this campaign.
+Keep my manuscript, and promise to publish it when the time shall
+arrive." I gave my word accordingly; and the forebodings of my friend
+were realised, for he was killed at Waterloo.
+
+                   [Footnote 30: At Malmaison the Emperor asked me
+                   what had become of M. Z***. I answered that he had
+                   been killed on Mount St. Jean: "Well," answered the
+                   Emperor, "he is happy. But pray did he tell you
+                   that he had been at Elba?"--"Yes, Sire; he even
+                   entrusted me with the narrative of his voyage, and
+                   of the conversations which he had with your
+                   Majesty."--"You must give me this narrative: I will
+                   take it with me: it will help me in the composition
+                   of my memoirs."--"Sire, it is no longer in my
+                   possession."--"What have you done with it? you must
+                   get it back, and let me have it to-morrow."--"I
+                   have deposited it with a friend, who happens to be
+                   absent from Paris."--"So the narrative will be
+                   handed about at the mercy of the world."--"No,
+                   Sire. It is inclosed in an envelope, and deposited
+                   in a box of which I keep the key; but if I should
+                   not be able to deliver it to your Majesty, before
+                   your Majesty's departure, it will yet come to your
+                   knowledge, for I intend to publish it according to
+                   the last wishes of M. Z***, unless your Majesty
+                   forbids me."--"No; I allow you to print it, only
+                   leave out whatever may tend to compromise those who
+                   have displayed their attachment towards me. If Z***
+                   has made a faithful report of all that passed, the
+                   people will know that I sacrificed myself for their
+                   good; and that it was not the love of power which
+                   brought me again into France, but that I yielded to
+                   the desire of restoring to the French those gifts
+                   which are dearest to great nations--independence
+                   and glory. Take care lest they should get hold of
+                   your manuscript--they will falsify it. Send it to
+                   England to *****; he will print it; he is devoted
+                   to me, and he may be very useful to you. M. ***
+                   will give you a letter for him: do you understand
+                   me?"--"Yes, Sire."--"But do your utmost to recover
+                   your manuscript before my departure. I see that you
+                   are anxious to keep it, and I will leave it with
+                   you. I only wish to read it." The Emperor read the
+                   manuscript, and he returned it to me, saying, "Z***
+                   has told the truth, and nothing but the truth; keep
+                   his manuscript for future generations."]
+
+I now fulfil my promise. I have not dared to make any alterations in
+the narrative: if I had, I should have felt that I was betraying the
+wishes of my friend. But I have suppressed the names of the parties
+concerned, and I have expunged some passages, in which the Bourbon
+family were treated with disrespect.
+
+
+
+
+HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION OF THE 20th OF MARCH.
+
+
+When Napoleon resigned his crown, I broke my sword. I swore that I
+never more would use it in the service of France, or of the new
+Sovereign of the nation. But the generous farewell of the Emperor
+could not fail to affect me; and, conquered by the irresistible
+influence which the love of glory and of our native land exercises
+upon a French soldier, I soon awoke to more praiseworthy and more
+tempered feelings. My recollections faded, my regrets were softened,
+and I aspired most sincerely to the honour of being again useful to my
+country, and to my country's King.
+
+At first the character which I had earned, procured for me the most
+gratifying reception. Dazzling prospects were held out to me. I
+believed that I was treated with sincerity. This error was of short
+duration. Deceived and baffled, I now understood that they were
+cheating the army and myself. They affected to honour us in the
+aggregate, because they were afraid of us; and they insulted us
+individually, in conformity to their systematic hated. My character
+was too proud to allow me to bear with the insults and the contempt
+which they wished to pour out upon me. I resigned my commission.
+France and her government sickened me; but my military enthusiasm had
+not abated. I thought that I should be recollected by the Emperor, who
+had distinguished me in the field of battle; and that he would deign
+to grant that boon which was dearest to my heart; that he would allow
+me to live and die in his service. I therefore made up my mind to
+visit the isle of Elba.
+
+Just, however, as I was on the point of departing, I was stopped by a
+sudden thought. Abandoned, betrayed, and denied, by men whom he has
+heaped with rewards and honours, will the Emperor really believe that
+I am really attached to him? Perhaps he will even suspect that I am a
+spy, and that the Bourbons have sent me to watch his words and
+actions. I was still in relation with those persons who had formerly
+enjoyed the confidence of the Emperor. Since the restoration, their
+conduct had been marked by frankness and honesty. Their feelings led
+them to be faithful to the person of Napoleon; their patriotism and
+their principles led them to be devoted to his cause; and they had not
+sought to conceal either their fidelity or their devotion. Many
+efforts had been made to gain them over to the royal party, but they
+had continued immoveable. I therefore thought, that whatever
+recommendation I could obtain from any one of the persons in question,
+would protect me from the suspicions of the Emperor; and to them I
+therefore confided my plans and the causes of my uneasiness, without
+hesitation or reserve.
+
+The first, and the second, to whom I thus applied, severally assured
+me that they took the most lively interest in the undertaking, and
+they betrayed the most tender anxiety for its result. They desired me
+to express to the Emperor the grief which his loss had occasioned to
+them, and their hopes of seeing him once more; but both were afraid to
+compromise themselves by writing to him, and I quitted them without
+having obtained my wishes. Then I proceeded to the third, whom I shall
+call Monsieur X. We had known each other in those eventful periods
+when men are put to the test, and he had kindly formed and retained a
+favourable opinion of my character and courage. I unveiled my projects
+and my fears. "Your fears," answered he, "are well founded. The
+Emperor will distrust you, and probably he will not allow you to
+continue with him. My recommendation would, without doubt, be of great
+utility to you, but I cannot give it without danger. Not that I should
+be in danger, for my affection towards the Emperor is well known to
+all the world, but we might put the Emperor himself in jeopardy; for,
+if they were to take my letter from you, they might give it over to a
+spy, nay, even to an assassin."
+
+This argument appeared conclusive to me, but I answered, "A lucky
+thought flashes across my mind. You have acted so long and so often in
+connexion with the Emperor, that surely you must be able to recollect
+some circumstances, some disclosures known only to yourselves, which,
+if I relate them to his Majesty, will prove to him that you trust me,
+and that I am worthy of his trust."--"Your idea is excellent; yet,"
+added he, "I must either give you insignificant details, and then the
+Emperor will have forgotten them, or I must reveal important secrets
+to you, and I am forbidden by my duty to do so; yet I will turn the
+matter over in my mind. Call here again to-morrow morning."
+
+I called again. "I have ransacked my memory," said M. X*** as he
+accosted me, "and here is the very thing which you want." He then
+delivered a note to me. "I had only considered your expedition to
+Elba," continued M. X***, "in relation to your own concerns; but it is
+of much greater importance than you imagine, or than I myself thought
+it would be. It may produce tremendous consequences. It is impossible
+that the Emperor can be indifferent to what is going on in France. If
+he was to put any questions to you on that head, how would you answer
+him? You must be fully aware how very dangerous it might be if you
+were to give him an erroneous idea of our political situation."--"Though
+I am a soldier by profession, yet I am not an utter novice in
+politics. I have often reflected on the present position of France. I
+really think that I understand enough of the matter to be able to
+satisfy the curiosity of Napoleon."--"I don't doubt it: but, come,
+what is your opinion of affairs?"
+
+In answer to this interrogatory, I entered into an illustrative
+analysis of the faults of government, and of the consequences ensuing
+therefrom. Our conversation became warmer, and when, after having
+discussed the time present, we began to contemplate futurity, our
+thoughts were evolved with so much rapidity; we were carried so much
+further than we intended, that we ourselves were astonished, and we
+then both continued during a short interval in a kind of reverie. I
+was the first who broke silence. "Well," said I, "suppose the Emperor,
+after having questioned me, were to ask, Do you think the time of my
+re-appearance in France is arrived, what must I answer?"--"You will
+tell his Majesty that I could not dare to decide so important a
+question; but that he may consider it as a positive and incontestible
+fact that our present government (as you have well observed) has
+wholly lost the confidence of the people and of the army; that
+discontent has increased to the highest pitch; and that it is
+impossible to believe that the government can stand much longer
+against the universal dislike. You will add, that the Emperor is the
+only object of the regret and hope of the nation. He, in his wisdom,
+will decide what he ought to do."--"If he asks me whether this opinion
+is only yours, or whether Messrs. ******* all share in it, what shall
+I answer?"--"Tell him that since his abdication those persons have
+ceased to be in communication with each other, but that my opinion is
+conformable to the general opinion."--"I am now able to answer all
+the questions which the Emperor may ask. Adieu."
+
+We embraced each other repeatedly, and we parted.
+
+As soon as I had quitted M. X*** all that had passed between us filled
+my mind again. I now contemplated at leisure the mission which I was
+called upon to fulfil. I measured its extent, and weighed its
+consequences, and I could not help feeling astonished, and in some
+measure alarmed, by the result of this self-examination. So long as I
+merely intended to go to Elba for the sole purpose of offering my
+services to the Emperor, my journey appeared to be nothing out of the
+common course of things, and I thought that I should not have
+hesitated to declare to the government that I was going to rejoin my
+former benefactor, the Sovereign of my choice; but since the object of
+my journey had become so much more important; since, to use the words
+of M. X***, it might produce tremendous consequences, it seemed that
+the government would not fail to watch me; that it would dog me in my
+path, and endeavour to spy out all my words and actions.
+
+Hence I became suspicious and uneasy. The note of M. X*** appeared an
+immense burthen. I got it by heart, and then I threw it in the fire.
+Instead of asking at once for a passport to Genoa or Leghorn, as I had
+at first intended, I asked for a passport to Milan. There was a
+General officer then residing in that city whom I knew; and I thought
+that if the Police were to question me, I might then declare that I
+was going to Milan in order to settle my accounts with my friend the
+General, he being in my debt for money which I had advanced to him.
+
+Having thus settled my plan, I went on to the "prefecture de police."
+Whilst I was stepping across the threshold of the door, my heart began
+to beat so violently that I could hardly move or breathe. If at that
+instant any body had cried out to me, "Rascal, what are you about?" I
+think I should have dropped, and that I should have let out the whole
+secret. It must not be thought that my confusion arose from cowardly
+fear; no, it was the impression which every honest man ought to feel,
+when, for the first time in his life, he commits an action which he is
+under the necessity of concealing.
+
+In a few minutes I came to myself again. In I went, and presented
+myself boldly to Monsieur Rivière, the Prefect of Police. He
+cross-questioned me at full length, but my answers were clear and
+firm. My countenance was unabashed, and appeared to preclude all
+suspicion, and he granted my passport. Yet, at all events, I thought
+it prudent to ascertain whether I was watched, and to my great
+surprise I found that during two days I was closely followed. I did
+not give any token by which my spy could ascertain that I was aware of
+his company, and, in order to mislead him, I went to the
+_messageries_, where I took and paid for a place in the Lyons
+diligence. But when night came I hired post-horses under a feigned
+name, and set off as fast as possible, and in a few days I was at
+Milan.
+
+My friend the General was absent: I wrote to him, and he hastened to
+meet me. I confessed that I intended to try to obtain employment under
+Napoleon.--"You won't get it," said he; "Napoleon has not ready money
+enough to pay his body guard. A good many of my old officers have
+joined him, and for themselves and their families they only receive
+fifty, or perhaps sixty francs a month. They are in a state of
+starvation and despair."--"No matter; I love the Emperor, and come
+what may, I will join him. Do tell me how I can soonest put to
+sea."--"The thing is not easy; there is no place from whence you can
+sail, except only from Leghorn or from Genoa; and those two points are
+under such close inspection, that you will be sure to be taken up, if
+you are known to be a Bonapartist. You might slip through with greater
+ease if you could pass for a tradesman of this town. I will try to get
+you a passport, but I am afraid it will be a difficult job."--"Besides,
+there is another difficulty, which is still greater; _ma foi_! I can't
+speak a dozen words of Italian."--"Is it possible?"--"Yes, I am in
+earnest."--"And you would venture on such a scheme! are you
+crazy?"--"Crazy or not, I will venture; but can I really embark no
+where but at Leghorn or Genoa?"--"There are very many small ports on
+the coast of Tuscany, but if you go to any of them you must stop till
+there is an opportunity of getting out; and in the mean time you would
+be under the _surveillance_ of the authorities, who are, one and all,
+exceedingly ill-disposed towards the Emperor and his people. Perhaps
+you might be able to embark immediately in the gulf of Spezzia at
+Lerici; but, in order to get there, you must go through Genoa, and
+along the shore; and then there is great reason to fear that you may
+be snapped either by the Piedmontese carabineers, or by the new consul
+at Genoa, who, according to what I hear, is quite outrageous. There is
+another road through the mountains of Spezzia, but it has not been
+used for a long time, and you would run the risk either of breaking
+your neck, or of being knocked on the head."--"No matter, if there is
+no danger in the victory there is no glory in the triumph. That road
+suits me; and to-morrow I will set out on my expedition."--"Is your
+passport all right?"--"I will go and get it marked for Lerici."--"Another
+piece of stupidity; don't you know that here you have to deal with our
+implacable enemies, the Austrians, who will raise all kinds of
+difficulties; but I know a Tedesco Colonel (in Italy an Austrian is
+called a Tedesco), who will probably be able to do the needful for us:
+we will ask him to come and dine with us. Business or quarrels can all
+be settled with these gentry when they are feeding."
+
+Our Tedesco Colonel really got my passport through the office. I left
+my "calèche" and my baggage at Milan, and the next day I started in a
+"seggiola," a kind of a little cabriolet, in which you drive along at
+an infernal rate. I travelled through cross roads till I came to the
+foot of the mountains. As it was impossible to ascend them in a
+wheeled carriage, I was compelled, though reluctantly, to separate
+myself from my "conducteur." I bought two horses, one for myself, and
+the other for my new guide; this new guide could not speak a word of
+French. I had taken care to provide myself with a pocket dictionary,
+French and Italian; but I was completely ignorant, or at least very
+nearly so, of the way either of pronouncing Italian words, or of
+arranging them; and thus our conversation was reduced on both sides to
+a few detached phrases, which were often mutually unintelligible.
+
+We set out at break of day. About noon the snow began to fall, and we
+had the greatest difficulty imaginable in reaching a hamlet, the name
+whereof I have forgotten. The next day the weather became still more
+wretched; my guide's horse foundered in the snow, and we lost two
+hours in hauling him out again. My guide was an Italian, and, like all
+Italians, he was full of superstition, and easily discouraged. He
+considered this accident as a bad omen, and he wanted to turn back; I
+could only conquer his repugnance by means of a double Napoleon d'or.
+Scarcely had I given it to him when I felt the extent of my
+imprudence; I was exciting his avarice, and perhaps exposing myself to
+become his victim. As we advanced, the road became worse and worse; at
+every step we encountered pits and holes, or the road was stopped by
+rocks which had fallen in, and which forced us to scramble through new
+paths. So much snow had fallen in the north of Italy, and particularly
+in the district which we were then crossing, that even the muleteers
+had deserted the mountains: and my guide, unable to discern the beaten
+road, was compelled to make a survey at every step, lest we should
+either lose ourselves, or else tumble down the precipices which
+bordered our road of danger. The next day we arrived at Borcetto; the
+perils which I had escaped taught me caution: I hired two more horses,
+and another guide; and for this addition to my train, I paid out of
+all reason. I then met with a custom-house officer, who either out of
+kindness, or for the purpose of alarming me, I know not which, warned
+me to be particularly on my guard in crossing "la Size," a very lofty
+and dangerous mountain, for he told me that it swarmed with robbers. I
+put fresh priming in my pistols; I turned up my eyes toward Heaven to
+implore its protection, and I set out. When we had proceeded half
+way up the mountain, I was accosted by a soldier, who compelled me to
+enter the guard-house, and to produce my passport. This post, which
+had been lately established for the security of travellers, was
+occupied by a subaltern and by six soldiers, who had all served in the
+imperial army. They guessed by my looks that I had seen some service,
+and, after a short conversation, they asked me to come in and warm
+myself by drinking the health of the Emperor Napoleon. I refused at
+first, lest I should be entrapped, but they insisted so frankly that I
+was compelled to yield. On taking leave I gave them a twenty-franc
+piece, in order to drink the health of Napoleon, and mine too; and I
+begged them to recommend my guides to take care of me. The commandant
+called the guides, and at the same time that he fired a volley of
+oaths and curses, he declared that if any accident happened to me, he
+would shoot them both on their return. My worthy military friends also
+escorted me during a considerable distance, and we separated with
+feelings which no one but a soldier can appreciate or understand.
+
+We were to sleep at Pontremoli. Our halt retarded us, and night
+overtook us. In order to shorten the distance, my guides led me by a
+broad path which wound round the side of the mountain. The descent
+was so steep that our horses came down every moment, and we ourselves
+were obliged to slide along. I found myself at the foot of the
+mountain in a spot which was so dark and dreary, that I fancied my
+guides had conducted me thither in order to dispatch me. After having
+groped along for some time, my guides stopped. The darkness and the
+snow concealed the face of the country to such a degree, that they did
+not know where they were, nor which way they ought to turn: their fear
+became excessive; they prayed to all the Saints in heaven in their
+turn: they shook each other by the hand, and embraced each other like
+sailors on the point of being shipwrecked. My _sang froid_ did not
+desert me; I took one of the horses which looked like an old roadster;
+I dropped the bridle on his neck, and gave him a sound cut with my
+whip; he started, I followed, and a few minutes afterwards, to the
+inexpressible surprise, and also to the inexpressible satisfaction of
+my guides, we found ourselves in the right road, and within half an
+hour's ride of Pontremoli, where we arrived towards midnight.
+
+From Pontremoli to Spezzia there was yet a journey of four-and-twenty
+hours; and four-and-twenty hours on such roads as I had gone over
+are equal to four-and-twenty centuries. But how great was my delight
+on quitting Pontremoli, when, instead of the frozen rocks and deserts,
+which I had crossed the eve before, I saw nothing as I looked around,
+but valleys clothed with verdure, and enamelled with flowers; and
+hills surrounded and crowned by evergreens and olive-trees. On the day
+before, winter reigned with all his severity; the day after exhibited
+spring with all her charms. This pleasing transition beguiled my
+impatience; and the agitations which had become habitual to my soul
+were succeeded by that happy tranquillity, which is inspired by the
+contemplation of the beauties and the gifts of nature.
+
+A few leagues beyond Pontremoli the road is interrupted by a deep and
+rapid stream. There is a ford across this torrent. It had scarcely
+been indicated to me by my guides, beyond whom I had advanced, when I
+dashed into the water; but instead of guiding my horse to the right
+(as I ought to have done), I took the opposite direction. My guides,
+who saw my mistake, screamed out in Italian, "fermate, fermate!" which
+means, "stop, stop!" I thought it meant "firm, firm!" so I whipped and
+spurred my horse with all my might; he lost his footing, and I
+narrowly escaped drowning. When I reached the opposite shore my
+guides treated me with a sermon, which I dare say was very energetic,
+and in which the "Devil and the Frenchman" appeared to be the leading
+actors.
+
+I arrived on the **** at Lerici. I rejoiced when I saw the sea before
+me, when I saw the last obstacle which was interposed between the
+fulfilment of my hopes and the termination of my labours. But
+unhappily my joy was of short duration; in the course of the night I
+was attacked by an oppression on my chest, accompanied by a burning
+fever: this was the result of the cold bath which I had taken in the
+river. My mental sufferings were severe: I thought to myself, if I
+should be so unlucky as to get an inflammation on my lungs, what will
+become of me here without help, without friends, and in a strange
+land? Ah, my beloved country! ah, my dear mother! have I left you
+both, in order to perish in the arms of hirelings and of strangers!
+Have I only reached the long wished-for shores of Spezzia but to
+experience the grief of not being able to sail from them! Ah, if I
+could but have reached the Emperor, if I could but have spoken to him,
+if I could but have expired at his feet, then I should not have
+regretted life! My devoted attachment would have been known; my memory
+honoured; my name, linked to the destiny of the Emperor, would,
+perhaps, have descended with his unto posterity.... I sent for a
+doctor: by singular good fortune, the medical man who came to attend
+me was a retired army surgeon, a worthy man, and a great admirer of
+the French. When I was quite out of danger, he expressed a wish to
+know the motives which had induced me to cross the mountains to
+Lerici: and he gave me to understand that he guessed my views. A man
+who speaks is always liable to less suspicion than a man who says
+nothing; I therefore thought it right to allay the doctor's curiosity.
+After exhorting him to secrecy, and making a great mystery of the
+matter, I confessed that I was a Colonel in the French army, and that
+an officer who held a high rank in the service of Napoleon had married
+my sister. My sister, I proceeded to state, was so afflicted and
+broken down by the expatriation of her husband, that her medical
+attendants had declared her life to be in the greatest danger. My
+sister's illness, and the care of her four small children, prevented
+her from rejoining her husband; and therefore, in order to restore
+health and happiness to my poor dear sister, I had determined to go to
+Elba, for the purpose of reminding my brother-in-law of the duty which
+he owed to his wife and children, and that I hoped to be able to
+induce him to return to France, at least for a short time.
+
+I took care to diversify my romance with sighs and sentimental
+reflections, and it appeared to affect him exceedingly. He condoled
+with me, he tried to console me; he gave me the most flattering hopes,
+and he promised to serve me to the utmost of his power, and with all
+his heart and soul.
+
+As soon as I was in a state of convalescence, I became more ardent
+than before, in search of an immediate opportunity of embarking. My
+complaisant doctor introduced me to the captain of a running felucca,
+and I hired his vessel for a fortnight.
+
+The captain asked me for my passport, in order that he might receive
+his "_feuille de bord_" and his "_boletta_" from the port officer.
+This was in consequence of regulations of which I was wholly ignorant.
+The fact is, that no vessel can clear out of one port, or enter
+another, without a "_feuille de bord_," stating the complement of the
+crew, and the number of passengers; and a "_boletta_," or certificate,
+delivered by the health officers to each of the passengers and crew
+individually, stating that the bearer has not been attacked by any
+infectious disorder. These papers are only delivered on the
+production of the passports, to which they must correspond exactly. I
+did not expect this proceeding; my plans were all disorganized: my
+passport did not authorize me to embark; and I was afraid if I
+produced it, (for in such situations we are afraid of every thing),
+that difficulties might arise, and that they would refer to the Consul
+or his agents.
+
+The Captain guessed the cause of my uneasiness, and he offered to
+procure a passport and a _boletta_ under a feigned name. I refused: I
+thought it more advisable to run the risk of being punished as a
+Bonapartist than as an impostor. "Since you will not do so," said the
+captain, "there is but one course which you can pursue: you must get
+on board a boat, and pass for a common sailor. I will manage the
+business for you."--Some hours afterwards the captain came to me with
+a Gallo-Genoese sailor, who offered to take me, without any papers,
+wherever I wished to go. He added, that he had a relation who was a
+gunner on board the Inconstant, a brig belonging to Napoleon, and that
+he should be very glad to see him again. I judged that my design of
+going to Elba had got wind: I therefore determined, if possible, to
+depart that very night. It was therefore agreed that Salviti, so the
+sailor was called, should fetch me, and that we should put out to sea,
+however bad the weather might prove.
+
+Whilst these arrangements were going on my doctor paid me a visit. The
+doctor told me that the commandant of the town, whom he attended, was
+going to send a file of his carabineers to bring me before him in
+order to ascertain the reason of my arrival, and of my residence on
+the shores of the gulf. "I told him," continued the doctor, "that you
+are unwell, and that you are going to your family in Corsica, and that
+you intend to begin your voyage as soon as you are able to support the
+fatigue. I think I have made him easier, yet don't trust him: be off
+as quick as you can."--"I shall be off to-night; but as your
+commandant or his gensdarmes might take a fancy to lay hold of me
+between this and then, I therefore think it will be more prudent for
+me to go to him of my own accord, and to confirm the story which you
+have had the goodness to tell him." Accordingly I went immediately to
+the Commandant; and as the doctor had let me into the character of the
+man, I easily succeeded in pleasing and tranquillizing him. However,
+he made me promise that I would bring my passport to him to-morrow. I
+gave as many promises as he could wish. At midnight we set sail; and
+by break of day we had already lost sight of the gulf of Spezzia, and
+of the majestic scenery which surrounds it. The bark which carried me
+and all my fortunes was only a common boat with four oars and a lateen
+sail. The crew consisted of six men; Salviti could speak French, and
+he was a good-looking fellow: the countenances of the others displayed
+want and utter profligacy. They examined me with great curiosity, and
+they were constantly talking about me. Salviti interpreted their
+discourse. I gave them civil language. We even seek to please sailors
+when we are in need of their help[31]. I was sea-sick without
+intermission; and to complete my misfortunes I had omitted to furnish
+myself with provisions. I was therefore obliged to mess with my
+companions; and their food consisted of stinking salt fish, and
+chiefly of _bacalao_, or salt cod, which is eaten quite raw.
+
+                   [Footnote 31: On cherche à plaire même à des
+                   matelots quand on a besoin d'eux.]
+
+The wind was against us, therefore we did not come in sight of the
+lighthouse of Leghorn until the morning of the second day. How can I
+express my surprise and anger when I saw that our vessel was making
+the mouth of the harbour! "Salviti, where are you taking me?"--"To
+Leghorn."--"I won't go to Leghorn," I exclaimed with a great oath. "It
+is not to Leghorn that you promised to take me."--Salviti answered,
+with confusion, that he was not the owner of the vessel, but that he
+hired it in partnership with the rest of the crew, that they were all
+smugglers, and that they were going to Leghorn for the purpose of
+arranging an expedition of consequence with other smugglers there.
+Their business would be soon settled, and then they would take me to
+Porto Ferrajo; and he declared that he gave his word of honour that he
+would do so, and that I might trust him.--"I will not agree to all
+this," I exclaimed, presenting my pistols to his breast: "Let us go
+straight on to Elba, or I will shoot you."--"Shoot away, if you like,
+but you will not do yourself much good: my companions will heave you
+into the sea, or else you will be guillotined at Leghorn." The
+coolness of the fellow completely disarmed me. "Well, then," said I,
+"swear that you will take me to-morrow to the isle of Elba."--"I have
+told you already that I am a scoundrel if I break my word." The
+sailors did not understand a word of our dialogue, nor could they
+make out what was the cause of my fury. One of them, who had deserted
+from the English navy, seized a big knife in the shape of a stiletto.
+The others seemed to wait the result, in order to throw themselves
+upon me. When this scene had finished, I endeavoured to bribe Salviti
+to turn back, but no; he had given his word of honour to go to
+Leghorn, and his word of honour was inviolable. Thus I was conducted
+against my will into the trap which I wished to avoid. I was worked up
+to the highest pitch of fury and vexation; I foamed with rage and
+despair. Thus, thought I, wringing my hands, these ruffians will
+deprive me of the reward which I was to obtain for my sufferings.
+Alas! the Emperor, the Emperor! so near him--under his eyes--at the
+moment that--"Rascal!" I cried out to Salviti, "I will follow you like
+your shadow, and sooner than allow myself to be arrested, I will blow
+out your brains!"--Salviti shrugged up his shoulders, and answered,
+"Well and good; but, in the mean time, strip, and dress yourself like
+a sailor."--"Why?"--"Why! why, because you have no passport, and they
+will lock you up."--I submitted to this new tribulation. One of the
+wretches pulled off a heavy jacket with a hood attached to it, in
+which I arrayed myself. A coloured handkerchief, all drenched with
+sweat and filthiness, was taken from the neck of another of them, and
+tied round mine. A third gave me his woollen cap; and in spite of my
+unavoidable disgust, I was compelled to draw it on my head down to my
+eyes. My beard, by good luck, did not disgrace my unshaved messmates,
+and in order that the colour of my hands might not betray me, I washed
+them in the bilge-water which stagnated beneath the flooring of our
+boat. More remained to be done: our "_feuille de bord_" stated that
+our crew consisted of six men: we were seven. It therefore, became
+necessary to hide one[32]. We chose him who was the shortest, and the
+most slender. He nestled at the end of the boat, and we covered him
+with some old mats and sailors' jackets. These preparations being
+terminated, I was told to seat myself in the place of a rower, and to
+take an oar in my hand; and at night-fall we came into the road of
+Leghorn.
+
+                   [Footnote 32: As only six were noted in the
+                   "_feuille de bord_" they took an extra sailor, in
+                   order that there might be six on board after my
+                   landing, otherwise, on landing, they would have
+                   been obliged to account for the sailor whom I
+                   represented.]
+
+Salviti presented his papers. The date was too old[33]. The officers
+raised objections: he lost his temper; and by way, both of punishment
+and precaution, we were ordered to submit to the lesser quarantine,
+that is to say, to remain prisoners in the roads during three days.
+
+                   [Footnote 33: The time required for sailing from
+                   one port to another is pretty well ascertained; if
+                   this period is exceeded, and no sufficient reason
+                   can be assigned for the delay, it is assumed that
+                   the vessel may have touched at some infected port;
+                   and, by excess of caution, they compel you to
+                   undergo the lesser quarantine. The lesser
+                   quarantine is also ordered as a punishment when the
+                   master of a vessel does not behave with due respect
+                   and submission to the health officers.]
+
+Salviti came with a sorrowful visage and announced this fresh
+misfortune; our vessel tacked about, and we reached our station of
+exile.
+
+On the morning of the third day Salviti informed me that, according to
+custom, they intended to put an "inspector of health" on board of our
+vessel, who would pass the night with us, in order to ascertain
+whether we were all well. From the person who had brought, or who,
+rather, had thrown us our provisions (for all contact is prohibited
+under pain of death), he had ascertained the name of our intended
+inspector. He was a gamester and a drunkard. Salviti procured cards
+and wine; and he assured me that he would manage the inspector in such
+a manner as to prevent his taking any notice of me.
+
+As for me, I was not as easy as Salviti. I was afraid lest the
+inspector might discover the sailor whom we had hidden, or that he
+might guess by my manner, my looks, and my awkwardness, that I was not
+really the character which I seemed to be. Besides, a single question
+would have ended the matter. I did not understand a single word of
+Italian, and I should have betrayed myself either by answering him, or
+by remaining silent. It came into my head to counterfeit deafness:
+this would excuse me from taking a part in the conversation: and to
+make believe that I had a wound in my hand: this would account for my
+inactivity, and prevent his observing how little I knew of my
+pretended occupation. I drew a few drops of blood, which I smeared
+upon some dirty rags, in which I wrapped my hand. Salviti explained my
+stratagem to my companions, and their loud peals of laughter explained
+to me that they approved of it. The inspector arrived. I kept myself
+to myself. Salviti acted his part admirably. So did I: and to my great
+delight the evening closed, and nothing disagreeable had happened.
+Until this night I had always slept separately from the rest on a
+tolerable mattress. But the inspector was now accommodated with my
+birth and my bed; and I was compelled to lie on the floor with the
+sailors; my head being placed even with the feet of my two next
+neighbours. The stench and closeness of the atmosphere of my den drove
+the blood into my head, and I thought I should have been suffocated.
+Early in the morning my companions began to eat and drink: I kept at a
+distance. "Come here, and eat," said Salviti.--"I can't."--"The
+inspector will fancy that you are ill, and that will be enough to give
+us another quarantine."--I ate. At ten o'clock the health-officers
+came near us; and as our inspector made a favourable report, we were
+allowed to enter the harbour. I remained on board with one of the
+crew, whom I kept as a hostage. The smugglers broke up their cabinet
+council about two o'clock; and at three o'clock we quitted our
+anchorage. A fair wind filled the sail, and I forgot all my sufferings
+and my dangers when I perceived the rock where I was to meet with
+Napoleon the Great.
+
+We entered the road of Porto Ferrajo[34], without any difficulty, at
+the moment when the cannon fired, announcing that the harbour was
+about to close. I heard the French drums sounding the roll: my heart
+beat high: I passed the night on the deck of the boat. Notwithstanding
+the joy which I felt at my arrival, I could not help indulging in a
+certain degree of melancholy, inspired, perhaps, by the silence of the
+night, and the aspect of the arid and gloomy mountains which
+surrounded me. Ah, how vain is human grandeur! thought I. The air of
+that sterile islet is breathed by that incomprehensible man who lately
+felt that he had not breathing room in Europe. It is in that humble
+hovel that he now dwells with his scanty train of faithful followers;
+He whom I have seen in the palace of the Cæsars, receiving the homage
+and the worship of the most brilliant court in the world; He whom I
+have seen sitting covered, whilst eight Kings stood before him with
+their hats in their hands. It is over this little tribe alone, not
+exceeding the population of a village, that Napoleon the Great is now
+doomed to reign! Napoleon the Great! He who endowed the thrones of his
+allies with the leavings of his conquests--He who so long was the
+master and the terror of the universe!
+
+                   [Footnote 34: I had believed, according to the
+                   statements in the ministerial journals, that the
+                   sea was covered by French and English ships, by
+                   which all vessels and passengers, proceeding to the
+                   island, were intercepted. I did not meet with a
+                   single ship of this description. The ports were
+                   placed under a "surveillance," equally brutal and
+                   tyrannical, but the sea was free. All vessels went
+                   in and out of Porto Ferrajo without experiencing
+                   the slightest obstacle.]
+
+The sun rose, and put an end to my musings. My joy was inexpressible
+when I recognized on the ramparts those old grenadiers whom I had so
+often admired and honoured on the field of battle.
+
+I jumped on shore, and I rushed into the nearest inn for the purpose
+of putting off my sailor's dress, and then flying to the palace of
+Napoleon. But I had been watched and followed: and the functionaries
+despatched by general Cambronne, the Commandant of the town,
+immediately appeared to secure me. I tranquillized them, and they
+accompanied me to the town-house, where General Bertrand then lodged.
+I sent in my name, and the General came out. "Sir, do you come from
+France?"--"Yes, Monsieur le Maréchal."--"What do you want here?"--"I
+wish to see the Emperor, and to solicit employment."--"Does the
+Emperor know you?"--"Yes, Sir, and M. X*** has also given me the
+means of proving to the Emperor that I am not unworthy of his
+goodness."--"Do you bring us any news from France?"--"I do, Monsieur
+le Maréchal; and I think that the intelligence which I bring is
+good."--"Well, Heaven hears you; as for us, we are so wretched--I am
+dying with impatience to have a talk with you about France; but I must
+inform the Emperor of your arrival. Perhaps he may not be able to see
+you immediately. To-day the English corvette[35] is here, and those
+people are suspicious of every thing: is it publicly known who you
+are?"--"It is known that I am a French officer."--"So much the worse;
+hide your decorations, hold your tongue, and remain within doors and
+rest yourself at your inn. I will send for you."--Half an hour
+afterwards the Marshal desired me to proceed as quickly as possible to
+the Emperor's garden-gate: the Emperor, would come there, and speak to
+me without appearing to know me. I went accordingly: the Emperor,
+according to his custom, was walking with his hands behind his back.
+He passed several times before me without lifting up his eyes; at last
+he looked at me: he stopped, and asked me in Italian what countryman
+I was. I answered in French that I was a Parisian; that business had
+called me to Italy; and that I could not resist the desire of seeing
+my old sovereign.--"Well, Sir, talk to me about Paris and
+France;"--and as he finished these words he began to walk again. I
+accompanied him; and after he had put several indifferent questions to
+me aloud, he desired me to enter his apartments: he then ordered
+Bertrand and Drouot to retire, and forced me to sit down by his side.
+Napoleon began in a reserved and absent manner: "The grand Marshal
+tells me that you have just arrived from France."--"Yes, Sire."--"What
+do you want here?"--"Sire, I wish to offer my services to you; my
+conduct in 1814--" Napoleon interrupting me,--"Sir, I do not question
+but that you are a very good officer, however I have so many officers
+with me already, that it will be very difficult for me to assist you;
+yet we will see: it appears that you know M. X***."--"Yes,
+Sire."--"Has he sent a letter for me by you?"--"No, Sire."--Napoleon,
+interrupting me, "I see he forgets me just like the rest; since I have
+been here, I have not heard a word of him or of any body."--I
+interrupted the Emperor in my turn, "Sire, he has never ceased to
+entertain those sentiments of devotion and attachment towards your
+Majesty which are still cherished by all true Frenchmen; and--"
+Napoleon, with disdain; "What, do they still think of me in
+France?"--"Never will they forget you."--"Never! that is a strong
+expression; the French have another Sovereign, and they are commanded
+both by their duty and their tranquillity to think on him alone." This
+answer did not please me: the Emperor, thought I to myself, is out of
+humour because I have not brought him any letters; he mistrusts me: it
+was not worth while to come so far for the sake of such an ungracious
+reception.--Napoleon, continuing, "What do they think about me in
+France?"--"There, your Majesty is universally deplored and
+regretted."--"Yes, and there, also, they manufacture all sorts of lies
+concerning me. Sometimes they say that I am mad, sometimes that I am
+ill, and you may see (here the Emperor looked at his _embonpoint_), if
+I look like an ailing man. It is also given out that they intend to
+transport me either to St. Helena or to Malta. I would not advise them
+to try. I have provisions for six months, and brave followers to
+defend me: but I cannot think that Europe will be so dishonourable as
+to rise in arms against a single man, who has neither the power nor
+the inclination of hurting others. The emperor Alexander has too much
+love for posterity to lend himself to such a crime. They have
+guaranteed the sovereignty of the isle of Elba to me by a solemn
+treaty. Here I am in my own home; and as long as I do not go out to
+pick a quarrel with my neighbours, they have no right to come and
+disturb me ... have you served in the grand army?"--"Yes, Sire, I had
+the felicity of distinguishing myself under your Majesty's eyes in the
+plains of Champagne; your Majesty appeared to take such particular
+notice of me, that I had dared to hope that your Majesty would
+recollect me."--"Why, yes; I thought, somehow, that I knew your face
+when I saw you, but I have only a confused recollection of you."--Poor
+mortals! thought I to myself, go and expose your lives for the sake of
+Kings, go and sacrifice your youth, your repose, your happiness for
+their sake!--"In what affairs have you distinguished yourself?"--"Sire,
+at *****, and at ***** Marshal Ney there presented me to your majesty,
+saying, 'Sire, here is the intrepid S.... P..... of whom I have spoken
+to your Majesty.'"--"Ah! ah! I really do recollect--yes, I was very
+well pleased indeed, with your behaviour at **** and at ****; you
+showed much resolution, much strength of character. Did I not
+'decorate' you on the field of battle?"--"Yes, Sire."--Napoleon, with
+greater warmth and confidence, "_Eh bien!_ how are they all treated in
+France by the Bourbons?"--"Sire, the Bourbons have not realized the
+expectations of the French, and the number of malcontents increases
+every day."--Napoleon, sharply; "So much the worse, so much the worse:
+but how, has not X. sent me any letters?"--"No, Sire; he was afraid
+lest they might be taken from me; and as he thought that your Majesty,
+being now compelled to be vigilant, and to distrust all the world,
+might distrust me also, he has revealed several circumstances to me,
+which are only known to your Majesty and to himself; thus enabling me
+to give a proof that I am worthy of your Majesty's confidence."--"Let
+us hear them." I began my detail, but he exclaimed, without allowing
+me to finish, "that's enough; why did you not begin by telling me all
+that? there is half an hour that we have lost." This storm[36]
+disconcerted me. He perceived my confusion, and resumed his discourse
+with mildness.--"Come, make yourself easy, and repeat to me, with the
+greatest minuteness, all that has passed between you and X****." I
+then related the circumstances which had induced me to have an
+interview with Monsieur X****. I repeated our conversation word for
+word. I gave him a complete account of all the faults and excesses of
+the royal government; and I was going to draw the inferences which had
+occurred to Monsieur X**** and me. But the Emperor, who, when he was
+affected, was incapable of listening to any recital without
+interrupting it, and making his comments at every moment, stopped my
+mouth. "I thought so, too," said he, "when I abdicated, that the
+Bourbons, instructed and disciplined by adversity, would not fall
+again into the errors which ruined them in 1789. I thought that the
+King would govern you '_en bon homme_.' This was the only way by which
+he could obtain a pardon from you, for having been put upon you by
+foreigners. But since they have stepped into France, they have done
+nothing but acts of madness. Their treaty of the twenty-third of
+April," (raising his voice,) "has made me deeply indignant: with one
+stroke of the pen they have robbed France of Belgium, and of all the
+territory acquired since the revolution. They have deprived the nation
+of its docks, its arsenals, its fleets, its artillery, and the immense
+_materiel_ which I had collected in the fortresses and the ports which
+they have ceded. Talleyrand has led them into this infamous business:
+he must have been bribed. Peace is easy upon such terms. If, like
+them, I had consented to the ruin of France, they would not now be on
+my throne:" (with energy,) "I would sooner have cut off my right hand.
+I preferred renouncing my throne rather than to retain it by staining
+my glory, and the honour of the French nation.... A degraded crown is
+an intolerable burthen. My enemies have published everywhere, that I
+obstinately refused to make peace. They have represented me as a
+wretched madman, eager only for blood and carnage: this language
+answered their turn. When you wish to hang your dog, you give out
+that he is mad: _Quand on veut tuer son chien, il faut bien faire
+accroire qu'il est enragé._ But Europe shall know the truth: I will
+let the world know all that was said and done at Chatillon. I will
+unmask the Austrians, the Russians, and the English with a powerful
+hand. Europe shall judge: Europe shall say who was the rogue, and who
+was wishing to shed human blood. If I had been mad for war, I might
+have retired with my army beyond the Loire, and I might have enjoyed
+mountain warfare to my heart's content. I would not; I was tired of
+carnage ... my name, and the brave fellows who remained faithful to
+me, yet made the allies tremble, even in my capital. They offered
+Italy to me as the price of my abdication: I refused it. After once
+reigning over France, one ought not to reign anywhere else. I chose
+the isle of Elba. They were too happy to give Elba to me. This
+position suited me. I can watch France and the Bourbons. All that I
+have done has been only for France. It is for her sake and not for
+mine that I wished to render her the first nation in the universe. My
+glory is made for myself[37] *******. If I had only thought of
+myself, I would have returned to a private station, but it was my duty
+to retain the imperial title for my family and my son.... Next to
+France, my son is the dearest object in the world to me."
+
+                   [Footnote 35: The corvette commanded by Captain
+                   Campbell.]
+
+                   [Footnote 36: Napoleon usually liked to intimidate
+                   and disconcert those who approached him. Sometimes
+                   he feigned that he could not hear you, and then he
+                   would make you repeat in a very loud tone what he
+                   had heard perfectly well before. However, he was
+                   really deaf in a slight degree. At other times he
+                   would overwhelm you with such rapid and abrupt
+                   interrogatories, that you had not time to
+                   understand him, and were compelled to give your
+                   answers in confusion. He used then to laugh at your
+                   embarrassment; and when he had driven you out of
+                   your presence of mind and confidence, he amused
+                   himself at your expense.--_Note of the author of
+                   the work._]
+
+                   [Footnote 37: "Ma gloire est faite à moi. _Mon nom
+                   vivra autant que celui de Dieu!!!_"]
+
+During the whole of this discourse, the Emperor continued striding up
+and down, and appeared violently agitated. He paused a little while,
+and then he began again. "They (i.e. the emigrants) know too well that
+I am here, and they would like to assassinate me. I discover new
+plots, new snares every day. They have sent to Corsica one of the
+assassins of Georges, a wretch whom the English journals themselves
+have pointed out to Europe as a blood-thirsty assassin; but let us be
+on the alert. If he misses me, I won't miss him. I shall send my
+grenadiers after him, and he shall be shot as an example to others."
+
+After a few moments of silence, he said, "Do my generals go to court?
+they must cut a sad figure there." I waited for the end of this
+digression, in order to resume the thread of my discourse. As I was
+convinced that I could not possibly lead the conversation, I resolved
+to let the Emperor have it according to his own way, and I answered,
+"Yes, Sire, and they are furious to see themselves superseded in
+favour by emigrants who have never heard the sound of a cannon."--"The
+emigrants will never alter. As long as they were only required to
+dance attendance in my anti-chamber, I had more than enough of them.
+When it was necessary to show any heart, they slunk away like.... I
+committed a great error, when I recalled that anti-national race into
+France. If it had not been for me, they would have died of starvation
+abroad; but then I had great motives. I wanted to reconcile Europe to
+us, and to close the revolution.... What do my soldiers say about
+me?"--"The soldiers, Sire, talk constantly about your immortal
+victories. They never pronounce your name but with respect,
+admiration, and grief. When the Princes give money to the soldiers,
+they drink it out to your health, and when they are forced to cry
+_Vive le Roi!_ they add in a whisper, _de Rome_."--"And so they still
+love me?" (smiling.)--"Yes, Sire, and I may even venture to say, more
+than ever."--"What do they say about our misfortunes?"--"They consider
+them as the effect of treachery; and they constantly repeat, that they
+never would have been conquered, if they had not been sold to their
+enemies. They are particularly indignant with respect to the
+capitulation of Paris."--"They are right: had it not been for the
+infamous defection of the Duke of Ragusa, the allies would have been
+lost. I was master of their rear, and of all their resources; not a
+man would have escaped. They too would have had their twenty-ninth
+bulletin. Marmont is a wretch; he has ruined his country, and
+delivered up his sovereign. His convention with Schwartzenburg would
+alone suffice to dishonour him. If he had not known when he
+surrendered, that he compromised my person and my army, he would not
+have found it necessary to make stipulations in favour of my liberty
+and life. This piece of treachery is not the only one. He has
+intrigued with Talleyrand to take the regency from the Empress, and
+the crown from my son. Caulincourt, Macdonald, and the rest of the
+marshals, have been cheated and gulled by him in the most shameful
+manner. All his blood would not be sufficient to expiate the harm
+which he has done to France.... I will devote his name to the
+execration of posterity. I am glad to learn that my soldiers retain
+the feeling of their superiority, and that they attribute our great
+misfortunes to the right authors. I collect with great pleasure, from
+the intelligence which you have brought, that the opinion which I had
+formed respecting the situation of France, is correct. The family of
+the Bourbons is not fit to reign. Their government may be good for
+priests, nobles, and old fashioned countesses: it is good for nothing
+for the present generation. The revolution has taught the people to
+know their rank in the state. They will never consent to fall back
+into their former nullity, and to be tied up by the nobility and the
+clergy. The army can never belong to the Bourbons. Our victories and
+our misfortunes have established an indissoluble tie between the army
+and myself. It is only through me that the soldiers can earn
+vengeance, power, and glory. From the Bourbons they can get nothing
+but insults and blows. Kings can only retain their power by the love
+of their subjects or by fear. The Bourbons are neither loved nor
+feared. At last they will throw themselves off their throne; but they
+may yet retain their position for a long time. Frenchmen do not know
+how to conspire."
+
+In pronouncing these words, the Emperor continued walking hastily, and
+using many gestures. He rather appeared to be soliloquizing than
+addressing any one else; he then continued, looking at me aside, "Does
+M. X*** think that those people can stand much longer?"--"His opinion
+on this point is exactly conformable to the general opinion; that is
+to say, it is now the general impression and conviction, that the
+government is hastening to its fall. The priests and the emigrants are
+its only partisans; every man of patriotism or soul is its
+enemy."--Napoleon (with energy), "Yes, all men in whose veins any
+national blood is flowing must be its enemies; but how will all this
+end? Is it thought that there will be a new revolution?"--"Sire,
+discontent and irritation prevail to such an extent, that the
+slightest partial effervescence would inevitably cause a general
+insurrection, and nobody would be surprised if it were to take place
+to-morrow."--"But what would you do were you to expel the Bourbons:
+would you re-establish the republic?"--"The republic, Sire! nobody
+thinks about it; perhaps they would create a regency."--Napoleon (with
+vehemence and surprise), "A regency! And wherefore? am I dead?"--"But
+your absence...."--"My absence makes no difference. In a couple of
+days I would be back again in France, if the nation were to recal me.
+Do you think it would be well, if I were to return?" The Emperor
+turned away his eyes, and I could easily remark, that to this
+question he attached more importance than he cared to manifest, and
+that he expected my answer with anxiety. "Sire, I dare not personally
+attempt to answer such a question, but...."--Napoleon (abruptly),
+"That's not what I am asking you; answer yes or no."--"Why then,
+Sire,--yes."--Napoleon (with tenderness), "You really think
+so?"--"Yes, Sire, I am convinced, and so is M. X****, that the people
+and the army would receive you as their deliverer, and that your cause
+would be embraced with enthusiasm."--Napoleon (appearing agitated and
+impatient), "Then X*** advises me to return?"--"We had foreseen that
+your Majesty would make inquiries on this point, and the following is
+literally his answer. You will tell his Majesty that I would not dare
+to decide so important a question, but that he may consider it as a
+positive and incontrovertible fact, that our present government has
+wholly lost the confidence of the people and of the army; that
+discontent has increased to the highest pitch, and that it is
+impossible to believe that the government can stand much longer
+against the universal dislike. You will add, that the Emperor is the
+only object of the regret and hope of the nation. He, in his wisdom,
+will decide what he ought to do."
+
+The Emperor became silent and pensive; and, after a long meditation,
+he said, "I will reflect upon it; I will keep you with me. Come here
+to-morrow at eleven o'clock."
+
+On leaving the Emperor, I met the Grand Marshal, who said, "the
+Emperor has detained you a long time. I am in terror lest this
+interview should have been noticed. We are surrounded by English
+spies. The slightest indiscretion might cost us dear. I do not ask you
+to relate to me any thing which was reserved for the Emperor; but if,
+without violating your duty, you could give me any details relating to
+France, you would be doing me a great favour. We hear nothing of what
+is going forward, except from the journals and a few commercial
+travellers; and the intelligence which we thus obtain is so trifling
+and so contradictory, that we do not know what to make of it."--"I can
+satisfy you, Monsieur le Maréchal, and without acting indiscreetly:
+what I have told to the Emperor is known to all France. Discontent is
+at its greatest height, and the royal government is on its last
+legs."--"I cannot tell what futurity promises to us; but whatever our
+fate may be, we cannot be worse off than we are at present. Our
+resources are dwindling away daily; we are becoming home-sick. If we
+were not a little upheld by hope, I really do not know what would
+become of us. Has the Emperor allowed you to remain with us?"--"Yes,
+Monsieur le Maréchal."--"I give you joy, but I pity you. There is no
+happiness out of one's own country. I do not regret having followed
+the Emperor--this step was dictated to me by my duty and my gratitude;
+but I regret France, like an infant who has lost its mother; like a
+lover who has lost his mistress." The Grand Marshal's eyes were filled
+with tears; he pressed my hand affectionately, and then said, "Come
+and breakfast with us to-morrow morning. I will introduce you to my
+wife; it will be as good as a fête to her when she has an opportunity
+of receiving a Frenchman, and above all, a true Frenchman."
+
+It was soon known all over the town, that a Frenchman had arrived from
+the continent. My inn was besieged by a crowd of officers and
+grenadiers, who overwhelmed me with inquiries after their friends and
+relations. They seemed to think that I must be acquainted with every
+living creature in France. Many inquired respecting the state of
+public affairs. I evaded their interrogatories, by declaring that I
+had quitted France five months since.
+
+I waited on the Grand Marshal according to his invitation. He resided
+in one wing of the building occupied by the municipality. In his
+apartment, there was hardly any thing to be seen except the four
+walls. He took notice that I was surveying its appearance.--"You are
+contemplating our misery," said he: "Perhaps it contrasts itself with
+the opinion which you may have formed respecting our situation. It is
+supposed throughout Europe, that the Emperor carried off immense
+treasures; but his camp-plate, his camp bed, and a few broken down
+horses, are the only objects which he has preserved, or which he
+wished to preserve. Like Saladin, he could cause an outcry to be made
+at his door, whilst he exposes our tatters,--behold all that Napoleon
+the Great, the conqueror of the universe, has retained from his
+conquests!"
+
+The General was as good as his word: he introduced me to Madame la
+Maréchale. I was enchanted by her manners and her amiability. Our
+conversation turned upon France and the Isle of Elba, the present and
+the future; and on quitting Madame Bertrand, I did not know what I
+ought most to admire--the lively graces of her mind, or the dignity
+and energy of her character.
+
+At eleven o'clock I attended, to present myself to the Emperor. They
+made me wait in his saloon on the ground floor. The striped silk
+hangings were half worn out and faded; the carpet was threadbare, and
+patched in several places; a few shabby arm chairs completed the
+furniture of the apartment. I thought upon the splendour of the
+imperial palaces, and I drew a deep and melancholy sigh. The Emperor
+arrived: he had assumed a degree of calmness in his manner, which was
+belied by his eyes. It was easy to see that he had been violently
+agitated. "Sir," said he, "I declared to you yesterday, that I
+retained you in my service. I repeat the same to you to-day. From this
+instant you belong to me, and I hope you will fulfil your duties
+towards me like a good and faithful subject: you swear that you
+will--is it not so?"--"Yes, Sire, I swear."--"That's right." After a
+pause, "I had foreseen the crisis to which France would come, but I
+did not think that things were so ripe. It was my intention not to
+interfere any longer in political affairs. The intelligence which you
+have brought to me has changed my resolutions. I have caused the
+misfortunes of France; therefore I must remove them: but before I
+commit myself, I wish to have a thorough knowledge of the state of
+our affairs. Sit down: repeat to me all that you told me yesterday; I
+like to hear you."
+
+Re-assured by these words, and by a look full of kindness and
+benignity, I abandoned myself without reserve to all the inspirations
+of my heart and soul. The picture which I drew of the sufferings and
+hopes of the nation, which I presented to the Emperor, was so touching
+and so animated, that he was astonished. "You are a noble young
+fellow," said he, "you have truly the soul of a Frenchman; but are you
+not carried away by your imagination?"--"No, Sire; the recital which I
+have made to your Majesty is quite faithful. I may have expressed
+myself with warmth, because I cannot express my feelings otherwise;
+but all that I have told you is exact and true. Under such important
+circumstances, I should have thought it a crime to substitute the
+inspirations of my imagination in the place of truth."--"You therefore
+think that France awaits her redemption from me; that I shall be
+received as a deliverer."--"Yes, Sire; I will even say more: the royal
+government is so exceedingly hateful and disgusting to the French, the
+government weighs so very heavily on the nation and the army, that not
+only your Majesty, but any body else who would endeavour to liberate
+the French would find them disposed to second him."--Napoleon (with
+dignity): "Repeat that to me again."--"Yes, Sire, I do repeat it. The
+French are so wearied, and degraded, and incensed, by the
+anti-national yoke of the emigrants and the priests, that they are
+ready to join any one who will promise to deliver them."--"But if I
+were to disembark in France, is there not reason to fear that the
+patriots may be massacred by the emigrants and the chouans?"--"No,
+Sire, I do not think so; we are the most numerous and the bravest
+party."--"Yes, but they may heap you in the prisons, and cut your
+throats."--"Sire, the people will not let them do that."--"I hope you
+may not be deceived; to be sure, I shall get to Paris so speedily,
+that they won't have time to consider where they are to hide their
+heads. I shall be there as soon as the news of my disembarkation....
+Yes," the Emperor continued, after taking a few steps, "I have
+resolved.... It was I who gave the Bourbons to France, and it is I who
+must rid France of them.... I will set off.... The enterprise is vast,
+it is difficult, it is dangerous, but it is not beyond me. On great
+occasions fortune has never abandoned me.... I shall set off, but not
+alone; I won't run the risk of allowing myself to be collared by the
+gensdarmes. I will depart with my sword, my Polanders, my grenadiers
+... all France is on my side. I belong to France; and for her I will
+sacrifice my repose, my blood, my life, with the greatest joy." After
+this speech, the Emperor stopped; his eyes sparkled with hope and
+genius: his attitude announced energy, confidence, victory; he was
+grand, he was beautiful, he was adorable!--he resumed his discourse,
+and said, "Do you think that they will dare to wait for me?"--"No,
+Sire."--"I don't think so, either: they will quake when they hear the
+thunder of my name; and they will know that they can only escape me by
+a speedy flight. But what will be the conduct of the national guards?
+Do you think they will fight for them?"--"I think, Sire, that the
+national guards will remain neutral."--"Even that's a great deal; as
+to their 'gardes du corps,' and their red regiments, I am not afraid
+of them: they are either old men or boys: they will be frightened by
+the mustachios of my grenadiers. I will make my grenadiers hoist the
+national flag;" lifting up his voice and his hand: "I will appeal to
+my old soldiers; I will speak to them. None of them will refuse to
+hear the voice of their old general.... It is certain that the
+soldiers cannot hesitate to choose between the white flag and the
+tricoloured flag; between me, by whom they have been covered with
+rewards and glory, and the Bourbons, who wish to dishonour them....
+And the Marshals, what will they do?"--"The Marshals, who are full of
+money and titles, have nothing to wish for but repose. They would fear
+to compromise their existence by embracing a doubtful party; and
+perhaps they will continue merely spectators of the crisis. Perhaps
+even the fear lest your Majesty may possibly punish them for their
+defection or treason in 1814 may induce them to adhere to the
+king."--"I will punish no one. Do you take me rightly? Tell M. ****
+clearly, that I will forget every thing. We have all reason to
+reproach each other."--"Sire, I will tell him so with the greatest
+joy. This assurance will completely gain all opinions over to your
+side; because even amongst your partisans there are men who dread your
+return; lest you should revenge yourself."--"Yes, I know that it is
+thought that I am revengeful, and even sanguinary; that I am
+considered as a kind of ogre, as a man-eater. They are mistaken: I
+will make every one do his duty, and I will be obeyed; and that's
+all. A weak sovereign is a calamity to his subjects. If he allows
+criminals and traitors to fancy that he does not know how to punish,
+there is no longer any security either for the state or for
+individuals. More crimes are prevented than repressed by severity. A
+sovereign must govern by his head, and not by his heart. Yet, tell
+X*** that I except Talleyrand, Augereau, and the Duke of Ragusa, out
+of the general pardon. They caused all our misfortunes. The country
+must be revenged."--"But why exclude them, Sire? Is there not reason
+to fear that this exclusion may deprive you of the fruits of your
+clemency, and may even raise doubts as to your sincerity in
+future?"--"It would be much more exposed to doubt were I to pardon
+them."--"But, Sire...."--"Don't you trouble your head about it ...
+what is the strength of the army?"--"Sire, I do not know; I only know
+that it has been much weakened by desertion and by discharges, and
+that few of the regiments consist of more than three hundred
+men."--"So much the better; those who are good for nothing have
+probably left the army; the good soldiers will have remained. Do you
+know the names of the officers who command the maritime districts, and
+the eighth division?"--"No, Sire."--Napoleon (out of temper), "Why
+did not X*** give you that information?"--"Sire, both M. X*** and
+myself were far from supposing that your Majesty would immediately
+embrace the glorious resolution of re-appearing in France; besides
+which, he might believe, according to the common report, that your
+agents did not allow you to remain in ignorance of any circumstance
+which might interest you."--"I do know that the newspapers gave out
+that I had agents.... It is an idle story. It is true that I sent some
+of my people to France, in order to learn what was going on; but they
+stole my money, and only treated me with the gabble of the canaille.
+C**** has been to see me, but he knew nothing. You are the first
+person from whom I have ascertained the situation of France and the
+Bourbons under all its extensive bearings. Had it not been for you, I
+should never have known that the hour of my return had struck. Had it
+not been for you, they would have left me here to dig in my garden. I
+have received--I do not exactly know from what quarter--the
+description of certain assassins, hired against me; and one or two
+anonymous letters besides--all from the same hand, in which I was told
+to remain quiet, that the embroideries were coming into fashion, and
+other nonsense in the same style; but that's all. It is not upon such
+data that one is induced to attempt a crash. But how do you think
+foreigners will like my return: there is the great question?"--"Foreign
+nations, Sire, have been compelled to confederate against us in order
+to protect themselves; allow me to say it...."--"Speak out, speak
+out."--"In order to protect themselves against the effects of your
+ambition, and the abuse of your strength. Now that Europe has
+recovered her independence, and that France has ceased to be
+dangerous, foreign powers will probably be unwilling to run the risk
+of a new war, which may end by restoring to us that ascendancy which
+we have lost."--"If the allied sovereigns were at home in their
+capitals they would certainly consider the matter twice before they
+would take the field again; but they are yet face to face; and it is
+to be feared that war may become an affair of vanity. Do you think it
+is true that they are on ill terms with each other?"--"Yes, Sire, it
+appears that discord reigns in the congress; that each of the great
+powers wishes to seize the largest share of the booty."--"It appears,
+also, that their subjects are discontented: is it not so?"--"Yes,
+Sire; kings and people, every thing seems to unite in our favour. The
+Saxons, the Genoese, the Belgians, the inhabitants of the banks of the
+Rhine, the Polanders, all refuse the new sovereigns to whom they are
+to be given. Italy, tired of the avarice and the grossness of the
+Austrians, pants for the moment of withdrawing from their sovereignty.
+Experience has taught the King of Naples that you are his surest
+protector, and he will assist the rising of the Italians whenever you
+wish it. The princes of the confederation of the Rhine, warned by the
+example of Saxony, will become the allies of your majesty after the
+first victory. Prussia and Russia will sit quiet, if you will only
+allow them to retain their new acquisitions. The Emperor of Austria,
+who has every thing to fear from Russia and Prussia, and nothing to
+hope for from the King of France, will easily consent, if you only
+guarantee Italy to him, to allow you to do what you think best with
+the Bourbons. In short, all the powers of Europe, England only
+excepted, are more or less interested in not declaring themselves
+against you; and before England can have corrupted, or raised the
+continent, your Majesty will be so firmly fixed on the throne, that
+your Majesty's enemies may try in vain to make you totter."
+
+Napoleon (shaking his head), "All this is very fine; ... however, I
+consider it as certain, that the Kings who have fought against me are
+no longer guided by the same unity, the same views, the same
+interests. The Emperor Alexander must esteem me: he must be able to
+estimate the difference which exists between Louis XVIII. and myself.
+If he were to understand his policy rightly, he would rather see the
+French sceptre in the hands of a powerful sovereign, the relentless
+enemy of England, than in the hands of a weak sovereign, the friend
+and vassal of the Prince Regent. I would give him Poland, and a great
+deal more, if he wished it: he knows that I have been always more
+inclined to tolerate his ambition than to restrain it. If he had
+continued my friend and my ally, I would have made him greater than he
+ever will be now. Prussia, and the petty Kings of the Rhenish
+confederation, will follow the lot cast by Russia. If I had Russia on
+my side, she would secure me all the second-rate powers. As to the
+Austrians, I do not know what they would do: they have never treated
+me candidly. I suppose I could keep Austria in order by threatening to
+deprive her of Italy. Italy is yet very grateful to me, and much
+attached to me: if I were to ask that country for an hundred thousand
+men, and an hundred millions, I should have the men and the money. If
+they were to force me to make war, I could easily revolutionize the
+Italians; I would grant them whatever they might wish, independence or
+Eugene. Mejean and some others have done him harm, but, in spite of
+that, he is warmly loved, and highly esteemed: he deserves to be so;
+he has shown that he possesses a noble mind. Murat is ours. I have had
+great reason to complain of him. Since I have been here, he has wept
+for his errors, and has done his utmost to repair the injuries which
+he has inflicted upon me. He has regained my friendship and my
+confidence: his assistance, if I were engaged in war, would be very
+useful to me. He has little brains; he has nothing but hand and heart;
+but his wife would direct him. The Neapolitans like him tolerably
+well; and I have yet some good officers amongst them who would keep
+them in the right way. As to England, we should have shaken hands from
+Dover to Calais, if Mr. Fox had lived; but as long as that country
+continues to be governed by the principles and passions of Mr. Pitt,
+we must always be as hostile as fire and water.... From England I
+expect no quarter, no truce.... England knows that the instant I place
+my foot in France, her influence will be driven back across the seas
+... as long as I live I will wage a war of extermination against her
+maritime despotism. If the continental powers had seconded me; if they
+had not been afraid of me; if they had understood my ambition, their
+flags would have floated from the mast-head throughout the universe,
+and the world would have enjoyed peace. All things considered, foreign
+powers have great reasons to declare war against me; whilst there are
+also great reasons to induce them to remain at peace with me. It is to
+be feared, as I have already said to you, that they may turn the war
+into an affair of vanity, or that they make it a point of honour. On
+the other hand, it is possible that they may renounce their coalition,
+which has now no longer any object, in order to watch their subjects;
+preserving at the same time an armed neutrality, until I shall have
+given them sufficient guarantees.
+
+"Their determinations, whatever they may be, will not influence mine.
+France speaks, and that is sufficient for me. In 1814 I had to deal
+with all the powers in Europe, but they should not have laid down the
+law to me if France had not left me to wrestle alone, against the
+entire world. Now the French know my value; and, as they have regained
+their courage and their patriotism, they will triumph over the enemies
+who may attack them, just as they triumphed in the good days of the
+revolution. Experience has shown that armies cannot always save a
+nation; but a nation defended by the people is always invincible.
+
+"I have not settled the day of my departure: by deferring it I should
+have the advantage of allowing the Congress to run out; but then, on
+the other hand, I should run the risk of being kept here as a close
+prisoner by the vessels of the Bourbons and of the English, if, as
+every thing appears to indicate, there should be a rupture amongst
+foreign powers. Murat would lend me his navy if I wanted it; but if we
+do not succeed he would be compromised. We must not be anxious about
+all these matters: we must allow some room for destiny to come into
+play.
+
+"I think we have considered all the points upon which it was important
+that I should be settled, and that we should understand each other.
+France is tired of the Bourbons; she demands her former sovereign. The
+people and the army are for us: foreign powers will be silent. If they
+speak, we shall be able to reply: this, in short, is the state of the
+present time and of the future.
+
+"Depart. Tell X*** that you have seen me, and that I have determined
+to expose myself to every danger for the purpose of yielding to the
+prayers of France, and of ridding the nation of the Bourbons.... Say
+also that I shall leave this place with my guard, on the first of
+April--perhaps sooner. I pardon every thing. I will give to France and
+to Europe all the guarantees which can be expected or demanded of me.
+I have renounced all my plans of aggrandizement, and I wish to repair
+the evils which war has caused to us, by a permanent peace.
+
+"You will also tell X*** and the rest of my friends to nourish and
+strengthen the good disposition of the people and the army by all
+possible means. Explain to X*** that if the excesses of the Bourbons
+should hasten their fall, if the French should drive them out before
+my disembarkation, then I will not allow of a regency, or any thing in
+the shape of it; but let them establish a provisional government,
+composed of ... of ... of ... of ... and of.... Go, Sir, I hope that
+we shall soon meet again."--"Sire, where shall I land?"--"You must
+proceed to Naples; here is a passport of the island, and a letter for
+****. Pretend to place great trust in him, but do not trust him with
+any thing. You will give him a loose account of the French news; and
+you may tell him that I send you there to explore the soundings, and
+settle some concerns of moment. I have directed **** to furnish you
+with a passport, in order that you may be able to return to Paris
+without meeting with any obstacle or danger."--"Your Majesty has then
+determined to send me back to France?"--"It must absolutely be
+so."--"Your Majesty knows my attachment, and that I am ready to prove
+it in any way which may be required. But, Sire, deign to consider,
+both for your interest and for that of France, that my departure has
+been remarked, and that my return will excite still more notice, and
+that it may give rise to suspicion, and perhaps induce the Bourbons to
+put themselves on their guard, and cause them to watch the coasts and
+the island of Elba."--"Bah! do you suppose that fellows of the police
+know every thing, and can foresee every thing? More is invented than
+is discovered by the police. The agents of our police were decidedly
+as good as those of the present people, and yet they frequently knew
+nothing of what was going on but at the end of a week or a fortnight;
+and then they found it out only by chance, or incaution, or treason. I
+don't fear that any disclosures will be obtained from you by any of
+these means. You are clever and decided, and, if they were to work
+upon you, you would easily get clear. Besides, when you once arrive at
+Paris, don't show yourself; creep into a corner, and nobody will think
+of ferreting you out. I could certainly confide this mission to some
+of the people who are about me; but I do not wish to make any
+additional confidant: you are trusted by X***: I trust you; and, in
+one word, you are exactly the man whom I want. Your return is
+certainly exposed to objections, but they are as nothing when compared
+to its advantages. All that we have said about the Bourbons, and about
+France, and about myself, is mere talk, and talk won't overturn a
+throne. In order that my enterprise may not be rendered abortive, it
+must be seconded, and the patriots must prepare to attack the Bourbons
+on one side, whilst I shall occupy them on the other. And, above all,
+it is necessary that they should know that they may depend upon me;
+that they may know my sentiments, my views, and the resolution which I
+have made of submitting to every sacrifice, and exposing myself to
+every danger, for the purpose of saving the country."--The Emperor
+stopped to look at me. He certainly thought that I was one of those
+men who only appear reluctant to obey, in order to enhance the price
+of their services; so he said, "Money is always wanted in travelling;
+I will order them to pay you a thousand Louis, and then you may set
+off."--"A thousand Louis!" I exclaimed with indignation, "Sire, I must
+answer your Majesty in the words with which the soldier answered his
+general, 'These actions are not performed for pay.'"--"That's very
+right; I like to see pride."--"Sire, I am not proud, but I have a
+soul; and if I thought that your Majesty could believe that I embraced
+your Majesty's cause for the sake of filthy lucre, I should request
+your Majesty to cease to rely on my services."--"If I had believed
+that to be the case, I should not have trusted you. No person ever
+received a more honourable and splendid proof of my confidence, than
+that which I am now bestowing upon you, in deciding, merely on the
+strength of your word, to quit the isle of Elba, and in directing you,
+as my precursor, to announce my speedy arrival in France. But do not
+let us talk any more on that head; and tell me if you recollect fully
+all that I have told you."--"I have not lost one of your Majesty's
+expressions. They are all engraven on my memory."--"Then I have only
+to wish you a pleasant journey. I have directed that everything should
+be got ready for your departure.
+
+"This evening, at nine o'clock, you will find a guide and horses at
+the gate of the town: you will be taken to Porto Longone. The
+commandant has been authorised to furnish you with the necessary
+quarantine documents. He knows nothing; say nothing to him. At
+midnight a felucca will leave the port, by which you will reach
+Naples. I am sorry to have hurt your feelings by offering money to
+you, but I thought you might be in want of it. Adieu, Monsieur; be
+cautious. I hope we shall soon meet again, and I shall acknowledge, in
+a manner worthy of your merits, your exertions in favour of the
+country and of myself."
+
+Hardly had I gone down to the town, when he sent for me again. "I have
+considered," said he, "that it is desirable that I should know what
+regiments are stationed in the eighth and tenth military divisions,
+and the names of the commanding officers. You will take care to
+procure this information during your journey, and transmit it to me
+without the slightest delay. Write triplicates of your letters. Send
+one by way of Genoa, the second by Leghorn, and the third by Civita
+Vecchia. You will take care to write this name legibly, (here he gave
+me a memorandum containing the name of an inhabitant of the island).
+Fold your letters in a business-like way. In order that the secret of
+your correspondence may not be discovered, should any accident happen,
+you will put your intelligence in the shape of commercial
+transactions, and you will imitate the usual style of bankers. I will
+suppose, for example, that between Chambery and Lyon, going by the way
+of Grenoble, there are five regiments. You will write to me ... in my
+way I have seen the five merchants whom you mentioned; their views
+continue the same: your credit is increasing daily. The concern will
+turn out well ... do you understand me?"--"Yes, Sire; but how am I to
+send the names of the colonels and the generals in command?"--"Transpose
+the letters of their names, and nothing will be more easy. There is
+not a single colonel or general whom I do not know, and I shall soon
+be able to recompose their names."--"But, Sire, the anagrams which I
+shall make will perhaps be so uncouth, that it will be seen at the
+post-office, that the names are disguised on purpose."--"Do you think
+then, that they amuse themselves at the post-office by opening and
+reading all the letters of business which pass through? They could not
+get through them. I have attempted to unravel the correspondence
+carried on under the disguise of banking transactions, but I could
+never succeed. The post-office is like the police, only fools are
+caught; yet think of any other method: I shall have no objection."
+
+After I had considered a little while, I said to the Emperor, "Sire,
+there is a method which perhaps will do. Your majesty has the imperial
+calendar."--"Yes, sure."--"Well, Sire, the calendar contains the lists
+of the general officers and colonels of the army. Now, I will suppose,
+for example, that the regiment quartered at Chambery is commanded by
+Colonel Paul. I look into the calendar, and I find that Paul stands
+forty-seven in the list of colonels. I will also suppose that, between
+ourselves, 'bill of exchange' means 'colonel' or 'general.' Then I
+shall write to your Majesty, I have seen your correspondent at
+Chambery; he has paid me the amount of your bill of exchange, No. 47.
+Your Majesty will turn to your Majesty's calendar, and then your
+Majesty will see, that the 47th colonel who commands the regiment of
+Chambery, is called 'Paul.' And, lastly, in order that your Majesty
+may be able to tell when I speak of a colonel, a general, or a
+marshal, I shall take care to indicate the rank of the officer by one,
+two, or three dots, placed after the 'No.' The colonel will have one
+dot, No. .; the general two, No. .., &c."--"Very good, very good. Here
+is a calendar for you. Bertrand has one which I will take."
+
+The calendar given to me by the Emperor was richly bound, and stamped
+with the imperial arms. I tore off the binding. The Emperor kept
+walking up and down, and saying, as he laughed, "It is really
+excellent; they will never be able to see through it." When I had
+finished, he said, "One thought brings on another. I have asked myself
+how you would manage to write to me, if you should have any thing of
+unexpected importance to communicate. For instance, suppose any
+extraordinary event should make you think that my disembarkation ought
+to be accelerated or retarded; if the Bourbons were to be on their
+guard; in short, I know not what." He remained silent, and then began
+again. "I only know one way to provide for it: the confidence which I
+place in you ought to be unbounded. I will give you the key to a
+cipher which was composed for my use, in order that I might employ it
+in corresponding with my family under the most important
+circumstances. I need not tell you that you must keep it with care:
+always carry it about you, lest it should be lost: and if the smallest
+danger arises, burn it or tear it at the slightest suspicion. With
+this cipher you may write any thing to me which you like. I would
+rather that you should use it, than be under the necessity of coming
+back, or of sending any messenger to me. If they intercept a letter
+written in my cipher, it will take them three months to read it;
+whilst the capture of an agent might ruin all in an instant." He then
+went and looked out his cipher; he made me employ it under his eyes,
+and delivered it to me, exhorting me not to use it unless all other
+modes of communication should become insufficient.
+
+The Emperor continued, "I do not suppose that you will have occasion
+to return here before my departure, unless the sudden overthrow of our
+projects should force you to seek an asylum here. In such a case,
+apprise me of your intended return, and I will send for you to any
+place which you may name. But we must hope that victory will declare
+for us. She loves France.... You have not spoken to me about the
+affair of Excelmans: if such a thing had happened in my time, I should
+have thought myself lost: when the authority of the master is not
+recognised, all is over. The more I think upon the matter (here he
+displayed a sudden emotion), the more I am convinced that France is
+mine, and that the patriots and the army will receive me with open
+arms."--"Yes, Sire, I swear to you, upon my soul, the people and the
+army will declare for you as soon as they hear your name, as soon as
+they see the caps of your grenadiers."--"Provided the people do seek
+to do themselves justice before my arrival, a popular revolution would
+alarm foreign powers: they would dread the contagion of example. They
+know that royalty only hangs by a thread, that it does not agree with
+the ideas of the age; they would rather see me seize the throne, than
+allow the people to give it to me. They have re-established the
+Bourbons in order to convince the people that the rights of sovereigns
+are sacred and inviolable. They have blundered. They would have done
+more for the cause of legitimacy by leaving my son there, than by
+re-establishing Louis XVIII. My dynasty had been recognised by France
+and by Europe; it had been consecrated by the Pope. They ought to have
+respected it. By abusing the rights of victory, it was in their power
+to deprive me of the throne: but it was unjust, odious, impolitic, to
+punish the son on account of the wrongs of his father, and to deprive
+him of his inheritance. I was not an usurper: they may say so as long
+as they like; nobody will believe them. The English, the Italians, the
+Germans, are now too enlightened to allow themselves to be crammed
+with old ideas, with antiquated notions. In the eyes of nations, the
+Sovereign who is chosen by the entirety of the nation, will always be
+the legitimate Sovereign.... The sovereigns who sent their ambassadors
+to me with servile solemnity; who placed in my bed a girl of their
+breed; who called me their brother, and who, after doing all this,
+have stigmatized me as an usurper, they have spit in their own faces
+by trying to spit at me. They have degraded the majesty of kings. They
+have covered majesty with mud. What is the name of an emperor? A word
+like any other. If I had no better title than that, when I shall
+present myself to future ages they would scorn me. My institutions, my
+benefactions, my victories--these are the true titles of my glory. Let
+them call me a Corsican, a corporal, an usurper.... I don't care.... I
+shall not be less the object of wonder, perhaps of veneration, in all
+future time. My name, new as it is, will live from age to age, whilst
+the names of all these kings, and their royal progeny, will be
+forgotten before the worms will have had time to consume their
+carcases." The Emperor stopped, and then continued; "I forget that
+time is precious; I will not detain you any longer. Adieu, Monsieur;
+embrace me, and depart; my thoughts and good wishes follow you."--Two
+hours afterwards I was at sea. My attention, my faculties were wholly
+absorbed by the Emperor, his words, his disclosures, his plans. I had
+neither leisure nor opportunity to think of myself. As soon as I was
+quite out at sea, my ideas were filled by the extraordinary part which
+chance had assigned to me. I contemplated it with pride, and I
+returned my thanks to destiny for having selected me as the instrument
+by which its impenetrable decrees were to be accomplished. Perhaps no
+man was ever placed in so "imposing" a situation. I was the arbiter of
+the fate of the Bourbons, and of the Emperor, of France and Europe.
+With one word I could destroy Napoleon; with one word I could save
+Louis. But Louis was nothing to me: in him I only saw a sovereign who
+had been forced upon the throne by foreign hands still imbrued with
+French blood. In Napoleon I saw the sovereign to whom France had
+freely offered the crown as the reward of twenty years of danger and
+of glory. The perspective of the evils which the attempt of Napoleon
+might bring upon France did not arise before my imagination. I was
+persuaded that all foreign powers (England excepted), would remain
+neutral; and that the French would receive Napoleon as a deliverer,
+and as a father. Still less did I consider myself as engaged in
+treason or conspiracy against the Bourbons. Since I had taken the oath
+of allegiance to Napoleon, I considered him as my legitimate
+sovereign; and I rejoiced to think that the confidence which Napoleon
+reposed in me had induced him to call upon me to concur in restoring
+to France the liberty, the power, and the glory of which the country
+had been unjustly deprived. I enjoyed, by anticipation, the public
+eulogiums, which, after his success, he would bestow upon my courage,
+my self-devotion, my patriotism. In short, I abandoned myself with
+rapture and with pride to all the thoughts, and all the generous
+resolutions which can be inspired by the love of fame and the love of
+our country.
+
+The dialogues which had taken place between me and the Emperor
+continued impressed on my memory; yet, lest I might vary them, or omit
+any part, I employed my time during the voyage in recalling his own
+expressions, and in classing his questions and my answers. I
+afterwards got the whole by heart, just as a scholar learns his
+lesson, in order that I might be able to affirm to M. X*** that I was
+making a faithful and literal report to him of all that the Emperor
+had said, and of all that he had ordered me to tell him.
+
+The weather being tolerably favourable, we soon reached Naples. I went
+immediately to M. ****: he put a great number of indiscreet questions
+to me; and I replied by an equal number of unmeaning answers. He
+probably thought that I knew no better, and therefore my caution did
+not offend him. When our preliminary conversation was exhausted, I
+desired him to give me my passport; he did so immediately: it was a
+Neapolitan passport. "This won't do for me," said I; "I must have a
+French passport."--"I have not got one."--"The Emperor told me that
+you could get one."--"That is just like the Emperor; he thinks every
+thing is possible: where does he suppose that I can procure it? I am
+doing a great deal in giving you a passport as a subject of his
+Majesty. It is already known that we are in relation with the isle of
+Elba. If they were to find out that you are attached to Napoleon, and
+that you are going back to France by his directions, and with the
+assistance of the King, all Europe would hear of it, and the King
+would be committed. Why does not the Emperor keep himself quiet? he
+will ruin himself, and ruin us all along with him."--"It is not fit
+that I should examine the conduct of his Majesty, much less that I
+should censure it. I am in his service; and my duty commands me to
+obey him. I want a French passport: can you, or can you not get me
+one?"--"I tell you again that it is impossible: it is doing too much
+if I give you one as a Neapolitan subject."--"Then I must return to
+Porto Ferrajo: but I cannot conceal from you that the Emperor is very
+desirous that I should return to France; and he will certainly be very
+much displeased, both with you and with the King."--"Then he will act
+unfairly: the King has done, and will do, every thing in his power for
+him: but the Emperor should know what the King may do under his
+present critical situation, and what he may not. But why won't you
+take the passport which I offer you?"--"Because I do not understand
+Italian, and consequently your passport would expose me to greater
+suspicion than my own."--"Then why don't you try to push on as far as
+Rome? there you will find the family of the Emperor. Louis XVIII. has
+a legation there; and perhaps money may get you a passport."--"Your
+idea is excellent: I will go. Inform the Emperor of the delay which I
+have experienced, in order that he may send another agent, if he
+thinks it advisable so to do."
+
+When the mind is in perpetual activity, and constantly assailed by new
+feelings, there is no time for reflection. I thus went to Rome, full
+of the idea that I should visit the family of the Emperor, and request
+their help to aid me out of my difficulties. But when the time came,
+and I was to present myself, it then struck me that the Emperor,
+though aware that I was to pass through Rome, had not directed me to
+see them; and I concluded that he had his reasons. I therefore
+determined to continue my route. From Naples I have proceeded to Rome
+without any obstacle; and I shall proceed, thought I to myself, from
+Rome to Milan without any greater obstacle: there I shall meet my
+friend and his Tedesco; I will get them to legalize my French passport
+for the second time, and destiny will accomplish the rest.
+
+I therefore presented myself boldly to the police at Rome, in order to
+have my Elba passport indorsed for Milan. I was introduced to his
+Eminence the Director-general, who, as I believe, had been shut up at
+Vincennes under the imperial government. He received me with great
+rudeness; and he wished to compel me to present myself to the French
+embassy. I would not consent. I answered, firmly, "The King of France
+is no longer my sovereign; I am the subject of the Emperor Napoleon:
+the allied sovereigns have proclaimed and recognized him as the
+sovereign of the isle of Elba: he therefore reigns at Porto Ferrajo
+like the Pope at Rome, George at London, and Louis XVIII. at Paris.
+The Emperor and his Holiness are on good terms with each other. The
+subjects and the vessels of the Roman states are well received in the
+isle of Elba[38], and therefore you are bound to afford aid and
+protection to the Elbese, so long as the holy father shall not become
+the enemy of Napoleon."
+
+                   [Footnote 38: I obtained this information in the
+                   course of my voyage.]
+
+This reasoning produced its effect; and his Eminence ordered, though
+he continued grumbling, that my demand was to be granted. "What are
+you going to do at Milan?" said he, and I think he muttered an oath
+between his teeth: "I am going," I answered, "relative to the
+dotations which were assigned to us upon the 'Mont Napoléon.'" He was
+satisfied with my answer, and so was I. I wrote to M. ****, the
+Neapolitan consul, transmitting my letter; and I requested him to send
+to the island an account of my new route.
+
+I continued my journey. My passport was headed by the imperial arms.
+The name of Napoleon, and his title of Emperor, were inscribed in
+large letters. I was the first Frenchman from the island who had been
+able or who had dared to traverse Italy. How many things there were
+which roused curiosity and commanded attention! I was overwhelmed with
+questions relative to Porto Ferrajo and its illustrious sovereign. I
+answered as fully as they wished. Whilst they were busying themselves
+about the Emperor, they did not think of me, and that was what I
+wanted. In order to avoid troublesome examinations, I took care to
+pass through the towns at night, and never to stop in them. At length,
+thanks to my address and good fortune, I arrived safe and sound at
+Milan; there I found my friend and his colonel, and every thing was
+settled admirably.
+
+I set off again for Turin with all possible speed. When I arrived on
+the Place of ... I perceived several numerous groups of persons, who
+appeared exceedingly animated. How great was my surprise when I found
+that they were talking of Napoleon, and his escape from the isle of
+Elba. This piece of intelligence, which had been just received, put me
+in a violent passion: I accused the Emperor of perfidiousness. I
+reproached him with having misled, deceived, and sacrificed me.
+
+When my first fit of ill humour was calmed, I considered the conduct
+of the Emperor under another aspect. I thought that unexpected
+considerations might have induced him to embark precipitately. I was
+ashamed of my suspicions and of my violence, and I only wished to fly
+to his footsteps; but already orders had been given to prevent
+communication. I passed eight days, which appeared so many ages, in
+soliciting permission to return to France; and at last I obtained it.
+I arrived at Paris on the 25th of March: on the 26th M. X*** presented
+me to the Emperor: he embraced me, and said, "I have weighty reasons
+for wishing that you and X*** may both forget whatever passed at the
+isle of Elba. I alone will not forget it. Rely on my esteem and
+protection on all occasions[39]."
+
+                   [Footnote 39: This narrative evidently shows, that
+                   the revolution of the 20th of March was not the
+                   effect of a conspiracy, but, strange to say, the
+                   work of two men, and a few words.
+
+                   The share that M. Z*** had in the return of
+                   Napoleon will, perhaps, call down upon his head the
+                   censures of those who judge events only from their
+                   results. Will this opinion be well founded? Are men
+                   responsible for the caprice of fate? Is it not to
+                   fortune, rather than to M. Z***, that we must
+                   impute the disastrous end of this revolution, begun
+                   under such happy auspices?
+
+                   More fortunate than Napoleon, M. Z*** was killed on
+                   Mount St. Jean, the moment when our troops
+                   penetrated thither amidst the plaudits of the army.
+                   He was permitted to draw his last breath on the
+                   standards, which the conquerors of Ligny had just
+                   snatched from the English; and, far from foreseeing
+                   that his visit to the island of Elba would at some
+                   future day be a reproach to his memory, he died
+                   with the persuasion, that victory had irrevocably
+                   fixed his destiny, and that his name, cherished by
+                   the French, cherished by the hero whom he had
+                   restored to them, would be for ever hallowed by the
+                   gratitude of France, become once more the great
+                   nation.
+
+                   I shall not prematurely rob his manes of this
+                   consoling illusion; I shall not inform them, that
+                   ... no! it will be time enough hereafter to disturb
+                   their repose, and I shall await the attack before I
+                   begin the defence.]
+
+Here ends the memoir of M. Z****.
+
+This officer had scarcely quitted the island of Elba, when the Emperor
+(and I had the particulars from his Majesty himself) acknowledged and
+deplored the imprudence of which he had been guilty, in sending Z***
+to the continent. The character and firmness of this faithful servant
+were sufficiently known to him, to prevent his feeling any anxiety on
+his account. He was certain (I use his own words), that he would
+suffer himself to be cut to pieces, before he would open his mouth:
+but he was afraid, that the inquiries he had directed him to make on
+the road, the letters he might address to him, or the conferences he
+might have at Paris with M. X*** and his friends, would excite the
+suspicions of the police; and that the Bourbons would station
+cruizers, so as to render an escape from the island of Elba, and a
+landing on the coast of France, altogether impossible.
+
+Thus the Emperor felt that there was but one way of preventing the
+danger, that of departing immediately.
+
+On this point he did not hesitate. From that moment every thing
+assumed a different aspect in the island of Elba.
+
+This island, but the moment before the abode of philosophy and peace,
+became in an instant the imperial head-quarters. Couriers, orders, and
+counter-orders, were incessantly going and returning from Porto
+Ferrajo to Longone, and from Longone to Porto Ferrajo. Napoleon,
+whose fiery activity had been so long enchained, gave himself up,
+with infinite delight, to all the cares, that his audacious enterprise
+demanded. But in whatever mystery he fancied he had shrouded himself,
+the unusual accounts he had caused to be delivered in, the particular
+attention he had paid to his old grenadiers, had excited their
+suspicion; and they scarcely doubted, that he had it in contemplation
+to quit the island. Every one supposed, that he would land at Naples,
+or in some other port of Italy: no one ventured even to imagine, that
+his plan was to go and expel Louis XVIII. from the throne.
+
+On the 26th of February, at one o'clock, the guard and the officers of
+his household received orders to hold themselves in readiness to
+depart. Every thing was in motion: the grenadiers with joy resumed
+their arms, that so long had lain idle, and spontaneously swore, never
+to quit them but with life. The whole population of the country,
+crowds of old men, women, and children, eagerly rushed to the shore;
+the most affecting scenes were exhibited on all sides. They thronged
+round the faithful companions of Napoleon in his exile, and contended
+with each other for the pleasure, the honour, of touching them, seeing
+them, embracing them for the last time. The younger members of the
+families of the first distinction in the island solicited as a
+favour, the danger of sharing in the perils of the Emperor. Joy,
+glory, hope, sparkled in every eye. They knew not whither they were
+going, but Napoleon was present, and with him could they doubt of
+victory?
+
+At eight in the evening a gun gave the signal for departure. A
+thousand times embraces were immediately lavished and returned. The
+French rushed into their boats; martial music struck up; and Napoleon
+and his followers sailed majestically from the shore, amid the shouts
+of "Long live the Emperor!" a thousand times repeated[40].
+
+                   [Footnote 40: The flotilla of Napoleon consisted of
+                   the brig Inconstant, carrying twenty-six guns and
+                   four hundred grenadiers, and six other light
+                   vessels, on board which were two hundred foot, two
+                   hundred Corsican chasseurs, and about a hundred
+                   Polish light horse. The feluccas and the brigs had
+                   been so fitted up, as to show no signs of the
+                   troops, and to have the appearance of mere
+                   merchantmen.]
+
+Napoleon, when he set foot on board his vessel, exclaimed with Cæsar,
+"The die is cast!" His countenance was calm, his brow serene: he
+appeared to think less of the success of his enterprise, than of the
+means of promptly attaining his object. The eyes of Count Bertrand
+sparkled with hope and joy: General Drouot was pensive and serious:
+Cambronne appeared to care little about the future, and to think only
+of doing his duty well. The old grenadiers had resumed their martial
+and menacing aspect. The Emperor chatted and joked with them
+incessantly: he pulled their ears and their mustachios, reminded them
+of their dangers and their glory, and inspired their minds with that
+confidence, with which his own was animated.
+
+All were burning to know their destination: respect did not allow any
+one to ask the question: at length Napoleon broke silence.
+"Grenadiers," said he, "we are going to France, we are going to
+Paris." At these words every countenance expanded, their joy ceased to
+be mingled with anxiety, and stifled cries of "France for ever!"
+attested to the Emperor, that in the heart of a Frenchman the love of
+his country is never extinct.
+
+An English sloop of war, commanded by Captain Campbell, appeared to
+have the charge of watching the island of Elba[41]: she was
+continually sailing from Porto Ferrajo to Leghorn, and from Leghorn
+to Porto Ferrajo. At the moment of embarkation she was at Leghorn, and
+could occasion no alarm; but several vessels were descried in the
+channel, and their presence gave room for just apprehensions. It was
+hoped, however, that the night breeze would favour the progress of the
+flotilla, and that before daybreak it would be out of sight. This hope
+was frustrated. ""Scarcely had it doubled Cape St. Andrew, in the
+island of Elba, when the wind fell and the sea became calm. At
+daybreak it had advanced only six leagues, and was still between the
+islands of Elba and Capræa.
+
+                   [Footnote 41: People are pretty generally of
+                   opinion, that the escape of the Emperor from the
+                   Island of Elba was favoured by Captain Campbell. I
+                   do not think so: but every thing leads to the
+                   belief, that this officer had received orders from
+                   his government, not to prevent such a step.--(_Note
+                   by the author of the Memoirs._)]
+
+""The danger appeared imminent: several of the seamen were for
+returning to Porto Ferrajo. The Emperor ordered them to hold on their
+course, as, at the worst, he had the chance either of capturing the
+French cruiser, or of taking refuge in the island of Corsica, where he
+was assured of being well received. To facilitate their manoeuvres,
+he ordered all the luggage embarked to be thrown overboard, which was
+cheerfully executed at the instant.""
+
+About noon the wind freshened a little. At four o'clock they were off
+Leghorn. One frigate was in sight five leagues to leeward, another on
+the coast of Corsica, and a man-of-war brig, which was perceived to be
+Le Zéphir, commanded by Captain Andrieux, was coming down upon the
+imperial flotilla right before the wind. It was first proposed to
+speak to him, and make him hoist the three-coloured flag. "The
+Emperor, however, gave orders to the soldiers of the guard to take off
+their caps and conceal themselves below, choosing rather to pass by
+the brig without being known, and reserving himself in case of
+necessity, for the alternative of making him change his colours. At
+six o'clock the two brigs passed alongside of each other, and their
+commanders, who were acquainted, spoke together. The captain of Le
+Zéphir inquired after the Emperor, and was answered through a speaking
+trumpet by the Emperor himself, that he was extremely well.
+
+""The two brigs, steering opposite courses, were soon out of sight of
+each other, without Captain Andrieux having any suspicion of the
+valuable prize, that he had allowed to escape.
+
+""In the night of the 27th the wind continued to freshen. At day-break
+a seventy-four was descried, which appeared steering for San
+Fiorenzo or Sardinia, and it was soon perceived, that she took no
+notice of the brig[42].""
+
+                   [Footnote 42: The passages between two sets of
+                   inverted commas are copied from the official
+                   account published on the 22d of March. This account
+                   was drawn up by Napoleon, and I thought I could not
+                   do better than borrow his words.]
+
+The Emperor, before he quitted the island of Elba, had prepared with
+his own hand two proclamations, one addressed to the French people,
+the other to the army; and he was desirous of having them copied out
+fairly. His secretary and General Bertrand, being neither of them able
+to decipher them, carried them to Napoleon, who, despairing of doing
+it himself, threw them into the sea from vexation. Then, after
+meditating for a few moments, he dictated to his secretary the two
+following proclamations on the spot.
+
+
+     _Proclamation._
+
+          Gulf of Juan, March the 1st, 1815.
+
+Napoleon, by the grace of God and constitution of the empire, Emperor
+of the French, &c. &c. &c.
+
+     _To the Army._
+
+Soldiers!
+
+We have not been vanquished: two men, who issued from our ranks,
+betrayed our laurels, their country, their prince, their benefactor.
+
+Shall they, whom we have seen for five and twenty years traversing all
+Europe, to stir up enemies against us--who have spent their lives in
+fighting against us in the ranks of foreign armies, and cursing our
+lovely France--now pretend to command us, and to enchain our eagles,
+the looks of which they could never withstand? Shall we suffer them to
+inherit the fruits of our glorious toils? to seize upon our honours,
+and our property, and calumniate our fame? Should their reign
+continue, all would be lost, even the remembrance of our memorable
+victories.
+
+With what virulence do they distort them! They endeavour to poison
+what is the admiration of the world; and if any defenders of our glory
+still remain, it is among those very enemies whom we combated in the
+field.
+
+Soldiers! in my exile I heard your voice: I am arrived through every
+obstacle, through every danger.
+
+Your general, called to the throne by the voice of the people, and
+raised on your shields, is restored to you. Come and join him.
+
+Tear down those colours, which the nation has proscribed, and which
+for five and twenty years served as a signal to rally all the enemies
+of France. Mount that tricoloured cockade, which you wore in our
+great victories. We must forget, that we have been the masters of
+other nations; but we must not suffer any to interfere in our affairs.
+Who shall pretend to be our master? Who is able to be so? Resume the
+eagles you bore at Ulm, at Austerlitz, at Jena, at Eylau, at Wagram,
+at Friedland, at Tudela, at Eckmuhl, at Essling, at Smolensko, at
+Moscow, at Lutzen, at Wurtchen, at Montmirail. Think you that handful
+of Frenchmen, now so arrogant, can support their sight? They will
+return whence they came; and there, if they please, they may reign, as
+they pretend to have reigned for nineteen years.
+
+Your property, your rank, your glory--the property, the rank, the
+glory of your children--have no greater enemies than those princes,
+who have been imposed on us by foreigners. They are the enemies of our
+glory; since the recital of so many glorious actions, which have
+rendered illustrious the French people, fighting against them to
+emancipate themselves from their yoke, is their condemnation.
+
+The veterans of the armies of the Sambre and Meuse, of the Rhine, of
+Italy, of Egypt, of the west, of the grand army, are humiliated; their
+honourable scars are disgraced; their successes would be crimes, the
+valiant would be rebels, if, as the enemies of the people assert,
+legitimate sovereigns were among the foreign armies. Their honours,
+rewards, affections, are for those who have served them, against us
+and against our country.
+
+Soldiers, come and arrange yourselves under the standards of your
+chief: his existence consists only of yours; his rights are only those
+of the people and of you; his interest, his honour, his glory, are no
+other than your glory. Victory will march forward with the charge
+step: the eagle, with the national colours, will fly from steeple to
+steeple till it reaches the towers of Notre Dame. You may then display
+your scars with honour, you may then boast of what you have done: you
+will be the deliverers of your country.
+
+In your old age, surrounded and respected by your fellow citizens,
+they will listen with veneration to the recital of your noble deeds:
+you may proudly say, I too was in that grand army which twice entered
+the walls of Vienna, and those of Rome, of Berlin, of Madrid, and of
+Moscow, and which cleansed Paris from the stain inflicted on it by
+treason and the presence of the enemy. Honour to those brave soldiers,
+the glory of their country! and eternal shame to those guilty
+Frenchmen, in whatever rank it was their fortune to be born, who
+fought for five and twenty years in company with foreigners, to wound
+the bosom of their country.
+
+                                        Signed, NAPOLEON.
+
+     By the Emperor.
+
+The grand marshal, executing the functions of major-general of the
+grand army.
+
+                                        Signed, BERTRAND.
+
+
+     _Proclamation._
+
+          Gulf of Juan, March 1, 1815.
+
+Napoleon, by the grace of God and the constitution of the empire,
+Emperor of the French, &c. &c. &c.
+
+     _To the French People._
+
+Frenchmen!
+
+The defection of the Duke of Castiglione gave up Lyons without defence
+to our enemies. The army, the command of which I had entrusted to him,
+was capable, from the bravery and patriotism of the troops of which it
+was formed, of beating the Austrian army opposed to it, and taking in
+the rear the left flank of the enemy's army, that threatened Paris.
+
+The victories of Champ Aubert, of Montmirail, of Château Thierry, of
+Vauchamp, of Mormane, of Montereau, of Craone, of Rheims, of
+Arcy-sur-Aube, and of St. Dizier; the insurrection of the brave
+peasantry of Lorraine, of Champagne, of Alsace, of Franche Comté, and
+of Burgundy; and the position I had taken in the rear of the enemy's
+army, cutting it off from its magazines, its parks of reserve, and
+convoys, and all its waggons, had placed it in a desperate situation.
+The French were on the point of being more powerful than ever, and the
+flower of the enemy's army was lost without resource; it would have
+found its grave in those vast countries, which it had so pitilessly
+ravaged, when the treachery of the Duke of Ragusa delivered up the
+capital, and disorganized the army. The unsuspected conduct of these
+two generals, who betrayed at once their country, their prince, and
+their benefactor, changed the fate of the war: the situation of the
+enemy was such, that, after the affair that took place before Paris,
+he was without ammunition, in consequence of being separated from his
+parks of reserve[43].
+
+                   [Footnote 43: They had fled precipitately as far as
+                   Basil.]
+
+Under these new and important circumstances, my heart was torn, but my
+mind remained unshaken: I consulted only the interests of our country,
+and banished myself to a rock surrounded by the seas: my life was
+useful to you, and was destined still to be so. I would not permit
+the great number of citizens, who were desirous of accompanying me, to
+share my fate: I deemed their presence advantageous to France, and I
+took with me only the handful of brave fellows necessary for my guard.
+
+Raised to the throne by your choice, every thing that has been done
+without you is illegal. Within these five and twenty years France has
+acquired new interests, new institutions, new glory, to be guarantied
+only by a national government, and a dynasty born under these new
+circumstances. A prince who should reign over you, who should be
+seated on my throne by the power of the same armies, that have ravaged
+our territories, would seek in vain to support himself by the
+principles of feudal right; he could secure the honour and the rights
+only of a small number of individuals, enemies to the people, who have
+condemned them in all our national assemblies for five and twenty
+years. Your tranquillity at home, and estimation abroad, would be lost
+for ever.
+
+Frenchmen! in my exile I heard your complaints and wishes: you called
+for that government of your own choice, which alone is legitimate; you
+blamed my long slumber; you reproached me with sacrificing the great
+interests of the country to my own repose.
+
+I have crossed the seas amid perils of every kind: I arrive among you
+to resume my rights, which are also yours. Every thing that
+individuals have done, written, or said, since the taking of Paris, I
+shall consign to everlasting oblivion; it shall have no influence on
+the remembrance I retain of the important services they have rendered,
+for there are events of such a nature, that they are above the frame
+of man.
+
+Frenchmen! there is no nation, however small, that has not possessed
+the right of withdrawing, and that has not withdrawn itself, from the
+disgrace of obeying a prince imposed upon it by an enemy temporarily
+victorious. When Charles VII. re-entered Paris, and overturned the
+ephemeral throne of Henry VI., he acknowledged, that he held his crown
+from the valour of his brave people, and not from the Prince Regent of
+England.
+
+It is to you only, and to the brave men of the army, that I make, and
+shall always make it my glory, to owe every thing.
+
+                                        Signed, NAPOLEON.
+
+     By the Emperor.
+
+The grand marshal, executing the functions of major-general of the
+grand army.
+
+                                        Signed, BERTRAND.
+
+
+The Emperor, while he dictated these proclamations, appeared to be
+animated with the most profound indignation. He seemed to have before
+his eyes, both the generals, whom he accused of having given up
+France, and the enemies, who had subjugated it. He incessantly
+repeated the names of Marmont and Augereau, and they were always
+accompanied with threats and with epithets, suited to the idea he had
+conceived of their treachery.
+
+When the proclamations were transcribed, the Emperor directed them to
+be read aloud, and invited all those who could write a good hand to
+copy them. In an instant, benches and drums were converted into
+tables; and soldiers, sailors, and officers, set themselves gayly to
+work.
+
+After a certain time, his Majesty said to the officers around him,
+"Now, gentlemen, it is your turn, to speak to the army: you must tell
+it what France expects of it under the important circumstances in
+which we shall soon find ourselves. Come, Bertrand, take your pen."
+The grand marshal excused himself. The Emperor then resumed his
+discourse, and dictated, without stopping, an address to the generals,
+officers, and soldiers of the army, in which the imperial guard
+conjured them, in the name of honour and their country, to shake off
+the yoke of the Bourbons.
+
+"Soldiers," said they to them, "the drum beats the general, and we
+march: run to arms, come and join us, join your Emperor, and our
+eagles.
+
+"And if these men, now so arrogant, who have always fled at the sight
+of our weapons, dare wait for us, where can we find a fairer occasion
+of shedding our blood, and chanting the hymn of victory?
+
+"Soldiers of the seventh, eighth, and nineteenth military divisions,
+garrisons of Antibes, Toulon, and Marseilles, retired officers,
+veterans of our army, you are called to the honour of setting the
+first example: come with us to conquer that throne, which is the
+palladium of your rights; and let posterity some day tell,
+'Foreigners, seconded by traitors, had imposed a disgraceful yoke on
+France; the brave arose, and the enemies of the people, of the army,
+disappeared, and returned to their original nothingness.'"
+
+This address was scarcely finished, when the coast of Antibes was
+descried at a distance. Immediately on this, the Emperor and his brave
+fellows saluted the land of their country with shouts of "France for
+ever! Success to the French!" and at the same instant resumed the
+tricoloured cockade[44].
+
+                   [Footnote 44: The cockade adopted by Napoleon, as
+                   sovereign of the island of Elba, was white and
+                   amaranth powdered with bees.]
+
+On the 1st of March, at three o'clock, they entered the Gulf of Juan.
+General Drouot, and a certain number of officers and soldiers, who
+were on board the felucca Caroline, landed before the Emperor, who was
+still at a considerable distance from the shore. At this moment they
+perceived to the right a large vessel, which appeared to them (though
+they were mistaken in this) to be steering with all sails towards the
+brig. Suddenly they were seized with the greatest disquiet; they
+walked backward and forward, testifying by their gestures and their
+hurried steps, the emotion and fear with which they were agitated.
+General Drouot ordered the Caroline to be unloaded, and to hasten to
+meet the brig. In an instant cannons, carriages, chests, baggage,
+every thing was thrown out upon the sand, and already the grenadiers
+and brave sea officers of the guard were rowing away with all their
+strength, when acclamations from the brig saluted their ears and their
+affrighted eyes. It was the Emperor: whether from prudential motives
+or impatience, he had got into a simple boat. Their alarms ceased;
+and the grenadiers, stretching out their arms to him, received him
+with the most affecting demonstrations of devotedness and joy. At five
+o'clock he landed. I have heard him say, that he never felt an emotion
+so profound.
+
+""His quarters for the night were taken up in a field surrounded by
+olive-trees. This, he exclaimed, is a happy omen: may it be
+realized!""
+
+A few peasants were seen: the Emperor ordered them to be called, and
+interrogated them. One of them had formerly served under him: he knew
+his old general, and would not quit him. Napoleon, turning to the
+grand marshal, said to him, with a smile, "Well, Bertrand, you see we
+have a reinforcement already." He spent the evening chatting and
+laughing familiarly with his generals and the officers of his
+household. "I see from this spot," said he, "the fright I shall give
+the Bourbons, and the embarrassment of all those who have turned their
+backs upon me." Then, continuing to joke on the same subject, he
+defined, with his wonted sagacity, the characters of the marshals and
+great personages, who had formerly served him; and was much amused
+with the endeavours they would make ""to save appearances, and
+prudently await the moment for declaring themselves for the strongest
+party.""
+
+The success of his enterprise appeared less to employ his thoughts,
+than the dangers to which his friends and partisans, whom he no longer
+called by any other name than that of patriots, were going to be
+exposed. "What will become of the patriots before my arrival at
+Paris?" he frequently exclaimed: "I tremble lest the Vendeans and
+emigrants should massacre them. Wo betide those who touch them! I will
+have no mercy on them."
+
+Immediately after he landed, the Emperor had despatched a captain of
+the guard with five and twenty men to Antibes: their instructions
+were, to present themselves as deserters from the island of Elba; to
+sound the disposition of the garrison; and, if this appeared
+favourable, to seduce it: but, led away by their imprudent ardour,
+they entered the city, shouting, "Long live the Emperor!" and the
+commandant caused the drawbridge instantly to be raised, and detained
+them as prisoners. Napoleon, finding they did not return, sent for a
+civil officer of the guard, and said to him, ""You will immediately
+repair to the walls of Antibes: you will deliver this despatch, or
+cause it to be delivered to General Corsin: you will not enter the
+place, as you might be detained: you will draw together the soldiers,
+you will read to them my proclamations, and you will harangue them. Do
+you not know, you will say to them, that your Emperor is here? that
+the garrisons of Grenoble and Lyons have marched to join him with the
+charge step? What do you wait for? Will you leave to others the honour
+of joining him before you? the honour of marching at the head of his
+advanced guard? Come, and salute our eagles and our tricoloured flags.
+The Emperor and your country command it; then come.""
+
+This officer, on his return, said, that the gates of the town and
+harbour were closed, and that it was not possible for him to see
+General Corsin, or to speak to the soldiers. Napoleon appeared
+disappointed, though but little disturbed by the disappointment. At
+eleven in the evening he began his march, with four small pieces of
+artillery in his train. The Poles, though unable to embark their
+horses, had brought with them their accoutrements, and gayly marched
+in the advanced guard, bending beneath the weight of their enormous
+luggage. Napoleon purchased for them every horse he met with, and thus
+remounted his handful of cavalry one by one.
+
+He proceeded to Cannes, thence to Grasses, and, in the evening of the
+2d, arrived at the village of Cerenon, having marched twenty leagues
+this first day. Every where he was received with sentiments, that
+presaged the success of the enterprise.
+
+On the 3d the Emperor slept at Bareme, and on the 4th at Digne. The
+report of his landing, which preceded him from place to place, excited
+every where a mingled feeling of joy, surprise, and anxiety. The
+peasants blessed his return, and expressed their good wishes to him in
+their simple language; but when they saw his little troop, they looked
+on him with tender pity, and had no hope of his being triumphant with
+such feeble means.
+
+On the 5th Napoleon slept at Gap, and retained with him only six
+horsemen, and forty grenadiers.
+
+In this city he printed, for the first time, his proclamations: they
+were diffused with the rapidity of lightning, and inflamed every head
+and every heart with such violent and prompt devotedness, that the
+whole population of the country was desirous of rising in a body, and
+marching as his advanced guard.
+
+In these proclamations he did not borrow, as has been asserted, the
+title of general in chief, or of lieutenant general of his son.
+Before he quitted the island of Elba, he had determined to resume the
+style of Emperor of the French as soon as he landed.
+
+He was aware, that any other title would diminish his strength, and
+his ascendancy over the people and the army; would render his
+intentions doubtful; would give rise to scruples and hesitation; and
+besides, would place him in a state of hostility against France. In
+short, he was aware, that it would always be in his power to give
+legitimacy to his title of Emperor of the French, should the suffrages
+of the nation prove necessary, to restore to him in the eyes of
+Europe, and even of France, those rights, which might have been
+temporarily lost by his abdication.
+
+The superior authorities of Gap had retired at his approach: he had to
+receive the congratulations only of the mayor, the municipal council,
+and the half-pay officers. He discoursed with them on the benefits of
+the revolution, the sovereignty of the people, liberty, equality, and
+particularly of the emigrants and the Bourbons. Before he left them,
+he addressed his public thanks to the inhabitants of the Upper and
+Lower Alps, in the following words:
+
+     Citizens,
+
+I have been strongly touched by all the sentiments that you have
+testified towards me: your prayers will be heard; the cause of the
+nation will still triumph. You have reason to call me your father; I
+live only for the honour and happiness of France. My return dissipates
+your disquietudes; it guarantees the preservation of every one's
+property, the equality of all classes; and those rights, which you
+have enjoyed for twenty-five years, and for which our forefathers so
+frequently sighed, now form a part of your existence.
+
+In whatever circumstances I may be placed, I shall always remember,
+with a lively interest, what I have seen in traversing your country.
+
+
+[45]""On the 6th, at two o'clock in the afternoon, the Emperor left
+Gap, and the whole city went out to see him set off.
+
+                   [Footnote 45: The passages marked with two sets of
+                   inverted commas continue to be extracts from the
+                   official account.]
+
+""At St. Bonnel the inhabitants, seeing the small number of his
+soldiers, were full of fears, and proposed to him to sound the
+alarm-bell, in order to collect the neighbouring villagers, and
+accompany him in a body. 'No,' said the Emperor, 'your sentiments
+convince me, that I have not deceived myself; they are a sure
+guarantee of the sentiments of my soldiers; those whom I meet will
+range themselves on my side; and the more they are, the more certain
+will be my success. Remain, therefore, tranquil at home.'""
+
+The same day the Emperor came to sleep at Gorp; General Cambronne and
+forty men, forming the advanced guard, pushed on as far as Mure.
+
+Cambronne most commonly proceeded alone before his grenadiers to
+explore the road, and cause quarters and subsistence to be provided
+for them. Scarcely had he pronounced the name of the Emperor, when
+every one was eager to testify to him the most lively and tender
+solicitude. One mayor alone, the Marquis de ***, mayor of Sisteron,
+tried to raise the inhabitants of that _commune_, describing to them
+the soldiers of Napoleon as robbers and incendiaries. Confounded by
+the sudden appearance of General Cambronne alone, and with no other
+weapon than his sword, he changed his language, and pretended to have
+had no fear but that of being paid[46]. Cambronne coolly threw him his
+purse, and said, "Pay yourself!" The indignant people were eager to
+furnish more provision than was demanded; and when the battalion of
+Elba appeared, they offered it a tricoloured flag, as a sign of their
+esteem and devotedness.
+
+                   [Footnote 46: The public papers, since the second
+                   restoration, have not failed to assert, that the
+                   troops of the Emperor disgracefully pillaged the
+                   _communes_ through which they passed. This
+                   imputation, like many others, is a cowardly
+                   slander. The Emperor had recommended to his
+                   grenadiers, and it is well known that they never
+                   disobeyed him, to exact nothing from the
+                   inhabitants; and in order to prevent the least
+                   irregularity, he took care himself to arrange the
+                   means of ascertaining every thing that was
+                   furnished, and paying for it. He had given this in
+                   charge to an inspector in chief of reviews, M.
+                   Boinot, and a commissary at war, M. Ch. Vauthier,
+                   for whose zeal and integrity he had the highest
+                   esteem. Whatever was furnished was paid for on
+                   delivery by the treasurer, M. Peyruse, on an
+                   account authenticated by M. Vauthier, and at the
+                   prices fixed by the mayors themselves.]
+
+On quitting the mayor, General Cambronne and his forty grenadiers met
+a battalion sent from Grenoble to block up their passage. Cambronne
+wished to parley with them, but they would not listen to him. The
+Emperor, informed of this resistance, immediately went forward: his
+guard, exhausted by a long march through the snow and rough roads, had
+not all been able to follow him; but when it heard of the affront
+offered to Cambronne, and the dangers the Emperor might run, it forgot
+its fatigues, and hastened after him. Those soldiers, who could no
+longer support themselves on their galled or wounded feet, were
+assisted by their comrades, or carried by them on litters formed with
+their musquets: all swore, like the soldiers of Fabius, not to conquer
+or die, but to be victors. When the Emperor perceived them, he held
+out his hand to them, and said, "With you, my brave soldiers, I should
+not be afraid of ten thousand men."
+
+Meantime the troops come from Grenoble had retreated, and taken a
+position three leagues from Gorp, between the lakes, and near a
+village. The Emperor went to reconnoitre them. He found in the line
+opposed to him a battalion of the fifth regiment, a company of
+sappers, and a company of miners; in all seven or eight hundred men.
+He sent to them _chef d'escadron_ Roul: they refused to listen to him.
+On this, Napoleon, turning to Marshal Bertrand, said, "_Z. has
+deceived me; no matter, forwards_!" Immediately, alighting from his
+horse, he marched straight to the detachment, followed by his guard,
+with arms secured (_l'arme baissée_): "What, my friends!" said he to
+them, "do you not know me? I am your Emperor: if there be a soldier
+among you, who is willing to kill his general, his Emperor, he may do
+it: here I am!" and he placed his hand upon his breast....
+
+The unanimous shout of "Long live the Emperor!" was the answer.
+
+""Immediately they requested permission, to be the first to march
+against the division, that covered Grenoble. The march commenced amid
+a crowd of the inhabitants, which increased every instant. Vizille
+distinguished itself by its enthusiasm: "It is here the revolution is
+born," said these brave fellows: "we are the first who have dared to
+claim the privileges of men: it is here, too, that French liberty
+revives, and that France recovers its honour and independence."
+
+""Between Vizille and Grenoble, an adjutant-major of the seventh of
+the line came to announce, that Colonel Labedoyère, deeply wounded by
+the dishonour that affected all France, and governed by the noblest
+sentiments, had separated from the division of Grenoble, and with his
+regiment was hastening with all speed to meet the Emperor.""
+
+Soon after, numerous acclamations were heard at a distance: they were
+from Labedoyère, and the seventh. The two troops, impatient to join,
+broke their ranks: embraces, and shouts a thousand times repeated, of
+"The guard for ever! the seventh for ever! long live the Emperor!"
+became the pledge of their union, and of their sentiments.
+
+Napoleon, who saw his forces and the public enthusiasm increase at
+every step, resolved to enter Grenoble that very evening.
+
+Before he reached the city he was stopped by a young merchant, an
+officer of the national guard. "Sire," said he, "I come to offer your
+Majesty a hundred thousand francs, and my sword."--"I accept both:
+remain with us." Farther on he was joined by a party of officers, who
+confirmed to him what he had learned from Labedoyère, that General
+Marchand and the prefect had declared against him, and that neither
+the garrison, nor the national guard, had yet displayed any favourable
+disposition.
+
+""In fact, General Marchand had caused the troops to re-enter
+Grenoble, and closed the gates: the ramparts were covered by the third
+regiment of engineers, composed of two thousand sappers, all veterans,
+covered with honourable scars; by the fourth of artillery of the line,
+the very regiment in which the Emperor had been made a captain five
+and twenty years before; then the two battalions of the fifth of the
+line, and the faithful hussars of the fourth.""
+
+Never did a besieged town exhibit a similar spectacle; the besiegers,
+with arms reversed, and marching in joyful irregularity, approached
+the walls singing. No noise of arms, no warlike shouts from the
+soldiers, rose to affright the air: nothing was heard but repeated
+acclamations of "Grenoble for ever! France for ever! Napoleon for
+ever!" no cries but those of the most unrestrained gaiety, and the
+purest enthusiasm. The garrison, the national guard, the
+town's-people, spread over the ramparts, beheld at first with
+surprise, with emotion, these transports of joy and attachment. It was
+not long before they shared them; and the besiegers and besieged,
+united by the same thoughts, the same sentiments, uttered at once the
+rallying words, "Long live the Emperor!" The people and the soldiers
+repaired to the gates, which were in an instant beaten down, and
+Napoleon, surrounded, thronged by an idolizing crowd, made his
+triumphant entry into Grenoble. A few moments after, the people came
+and brought him the fragments of the gates with trumpets sounding, and
+said, "For want of the keys of the good town of Grenoble, here are
+the gates for you."
+
+The possession of this place was of the highest importance to
+Napoleon: it afforded him a point of support, ammunition, arms, and
+artillery. He could not conceal his extreme satisfaction, and said
+repeatedly to his officers, "All is now decided; we are sure of
+getting to Paris." He questioned Labedoyère at large on the state of
+Paris, and the situation of France in general. This young colonel,
+full of the noblest sentiments, expressed himself with a frankness
+that sometimes staggered Napoleon. "Sire," he said, "the French will
+do every thing for your Majesty; but then your Majesty must do every
+thing for them: _no more ambition, no more despotism: we are
+determined to be free and happy_. It is necessary, Sire, to renounce
+that system of conquest and power which occasioned the misfortunes of
+France, and of yourself."--"If I succeed," answered Napoleon, "I will
+do every thing requisite to fulfil the expectations of the nation: its
+happiness is dearer to me than my own: it is to render it free and
+happy, that I have embarked in an undertaking, which might not
+succeed, and might cost me my life; but we shall have the consolation
+of dying in our native land."--"And of dying," added Labedoyère, "for
+its honour and its liberty."
+
+The Emperor gave orders to have his proclamations printed in the
+course of the night, and despatched emissaries in every direction to
+announce his having entered Grenoble; that Austria was for him; that
+the king of Naples was following him with eighty thousand men; ...
+and, in short, to discourage, intimidate, and curb, by false alarms
+and false confidences, the partisans and agents of the regal
+government.
+
+The proclamations, posted up in abundance, produced the most lively
+sensation, as at Gap. In fact, never had the national pride,
+patriotism, and the noblest passions of the mind, been addressed with
+more fascination, strength, and eloquence. The soldiers and citizens
+were never tired of reading and admiring them. Every person was
+desirous of having them. Travellers, and the inhabitants of the
+neighbouring country, received an immense quantity, which they took
+upon themselves to spread abroad on their road, and to send to all
+parts.
+
+The next day, the 8th, the clergy, the staff-officers, the imperial
+court, the tribunals, and the civil and military authorities, came to
+acknowledge Napoleon, and to offer him their congratulations. He
+conversed familiarly with the judges on the administration of justice;
+with the clergy on what was necessary to public worship; with the
+soldiery on the armies; with the municipal officers on the sufferings
+of the people, the towns, and the country places; and delighted them
+all by the variety of his knowledge, and the benevolence of his
+intentions. He then said to them: "I knew that France was unhappy; I
+heard its groans and its reproaches; I am come with the faithful
+companions of my exile, to deliver her from the yoke of the Bourbons
+... their throne is illegitimate ... my rights were conferred on me by
+the nation, by the unanimous will of the French people: they are no
+other rights than theirs.... I am come to resume them; not to reign,
+the throne is nothing to me: not to revenge myself, for I shall forget
+every thing that has been said, done, or written, since the
+capitulation of Paris; but to restore to you the rights, which the
+Bourbons have taken from you, and to emancipate you from the
+subscription to the glebe, the vassalage, and the feudal system, with
+which you are threatened by them.... I have been too fond of war; I
+will make war no more: I will leave my neighbours at rest: we must
+forget, that we have been masters of the world.... I wish to reign,
+in order to render our lovely France free, happy, and independent; and
+to place its happiness on foundations not to be shaken; _I wish to be
+less its sovereign than the first and best of its citizens._ I might
+have come to attack the Bourbons with ships and numerous fleets; but I
+would have no assistance from Murat or from Austria. I know my fellow
+citizens, and the defenders of my country, and I reckon on their
+patriotism."
+
+The audience ended, the Emperor reviewed the garrison, consisting of
+five or six thousand men. As soon as he appeared, the sky was darkened
+by the multitude of sabres, bayonets, grenadier-caps, _chacos_, &c.,
+which the people and the soldiers raised in the air, amid the most
+lively demonstrations of attachment and love.
+
+He said a few words to the people, which could not be heard, and
+repaired to the front of the fourth of artillery. "It was among you,"
+said he, "that I began my career in arms. I love you all as old
+comrades; I have observed you in the field of battle, and I have
+always been satisfied with your conduct. But I hope, that we shall
+have no occasion for your guns: France has need of moderation and
+repose. The army will enjoy, in the bosom of peace, the benefits I
+have already conferred on it, and those I shall yet bestow. In me the
+soldiers have found again their father: they may reckon upon the
+rewards they have deserved."
+
+After this review, the garrison set out on its march to Lyons.
+
+In the evening Napoleon wrote to the Empress and Prince Joseph. He
+directed him to make known at Rome, at Naples, and at Porto Ferrajo,
+that his enterprise had every appearance of being crowned with the
+most speedy and brilliant success. The couriers departed with great
+noise; and care was taken to make known, that they were carrying to
+the Empress the news of the Emperor's return, with orders to come
+immediately, with her son, and join him.
+
+On the 9th the Emperor declared the establishment of the imperial
+power by three decrees.
+
+The first directed all public acts, and the administration of justice,
+to be executed in his name from the 15th of March.
+
+The two others organized the national guards of the five departments
+of the Upper and Lower Alps, la Drôme, Mont Blanc, and the Izère, and
+entrusted to the honour and patriotism of the inhabitants of the
+seventh division the fortified towns of Briançon, Grenoble, Fort
+Barreaux, Colmar, &c.
+
+The moment he set off, he addressed to the inhabitants of the
+department of the Izère the following proclamation:
+
+     Citizens,
+
+When in my exile I learned all the misfortunes, that oppressed the
+nation; that all the rights of the people were disregarded, and that I
+was reproached with the state of repose in which I lived: I lost not a
+moment: I embarked on board a slight vessel, crossed the sea in the
+midst of ships of war belonging to various nations, landed alone on
+the shores of our country, and thought of nothing but of arriving with
+the rapidity of an eagle in this good city of Grenoble, of the
+patriotism of which, and its personal attachment to me, I was well
+aware. Men of Dauphiny, you have answered my expectation.
+
+I have endured, not without a wounded heart, but without being
+dejected, the misfortunes to which for a twelvemonth I have been a
+prey. The spectacle displayed to my eyes by the people on my journey
+has inspired me with the most lively emotions. Though a few clouds
+have altered the high opinion I entertained of the French people,
+what I have seen has convinced me, that they are still worthy of the
+name of the Great People, which I gave them twenty years ago.
+
+Men of Dauphiny, about to quit your country, to repair to my good city
+of Lyons, I could not refrain from expressing to you all the esteem,
+with which your lofty sentiments have inspired me. My heart is filled
+with the emotions, that you have excited in it, and I shall never
+forget them.
+
+
+The news of the Emperor's landing did not reach Paris till the 5th of
+March, at night. It transpired on the 6th; and on the 7th a royal
+proclamation appeared in the Moniteur, convoking the chambers
+immediately; and a decree, that placed Napoleon, and all who should
+join or assist him, out of the protection of the law[47]; without any
+farther particulars.
+
+                   [Footnote 47: This mode of proceeding, worthy of
+                   the barbarous ages, was a new infraction of the law
+                   of nations, and of the constitutional laws of
+                   France, on the part of the ministry. No article of
+                   the charter conferred on the monarch the right of
+                   life and death over his subjects; and consequently
+                   he had no authority to proscribe those who
+                   accompanied and assisted Napoleon. If they were
+                   considered as robbers, it was the office of the
+                   tribunals to judge and to punish them.
+
+                   Neither was he authorized, to order Napoleon to be
+                   murdered. He had preserved the title of Emperor,
+                   legally enjoyed the prerogative of sovereignty, and
+                   might make war or peace as he pleased.
+
+                   The title of Emperor of the French, which he
+                   arrogated to himself, could not be a title to
+                   proscription. George III., previous to the treaty
+                   of Amiens, styled himself King of France and
+                   Navarre. Had he made a descent in arms on our
+                   territory, would any one have had a right, to
+                   proclaim him out of the pale of the law, and order
+                   the French people to murder him?]
+
+On the 8th the Moniteur and other newspapers announced, that Bonaparte
+had landed with eleven hundred men, most of whom had already deserted
+him; that he was wandering in the mountains, accompanied only by a few
+individuals; that he had been refused provision, was in want of every
+thing, and, pursued and on the point of being surrounded by the troops
+sent against him from Toulon, Marseilles, Valence, and Grenoble, he
+must speedily expiate his rash and criminal enterprise.
+
+This news struck all parties with astonishment, and made different
+impressions on them, according to their different sentiments and
+opinions.
+
+The discontented had no doubt of the success of the Emperor, and the
+ruin of the Bourbons.
+
+The courtiers regretted that there was not sufficient danger in this
+mad and audacious enterprise, to give at least some value to their
+attachment.
+
+The emigrants looked at it with pity, turned it into ridicule; and, if
+they had wanted nothing more than jests, abuse, and swaggering, to
+beat Napoleon, there could have been no doubt of their victory.
+
+The government itself participated in their boasting and security.
+
+Fresh despatches soon made known the progress of Napoleon.
+
+The Count d'Artois, the Duke of Orléans, and Marshal Macdonald, set
+off hastily for Lyons.
+
+The royalists were uneasy, the government removed their fears.
+
+The Count d'Artois, they said, at the head of fifteen thousand
+national guards, and ten thousand of the troops of the line, must stop
+him before Lyons.
+
+General Marchand, General Duverney, the Prince of Essling, and the
+Duke d'Angoulême, were getting into his rear, and would cut off his
+retreat.
+
+General Le Courbe was manoeuvring on his flanks.
+
+Marshal Oudinot was arriving with his faithful royal grenadiers.
+
+The national guards of Marseilles, and the whole population of the
+south, were marching from all quarters in pursuit of him; and it was
+impossible for him to escape.
+
+This was the 10th of March.
+
+The next day an officer of the King's household appeared in the
+balcony of the Tuileries, and, waving his hat, announced, that the
+King had just received an official account of the Duke of Orléans, at
+the head of twenty thousand men of the national guard of Lyons, having
+attacked Bonaparte on the side towards Bourgoing, and completely
+beaten him.
+
+The same day information was given, that Generals d'Erlon, Lefevre
+Desnouettes, and Lallemand, who had attempted to seduce the troops
+under their orders, had completely failed, and taken flight[48].
+
+                   [Footnote 48: These four generals had agreed, to
+                   repair together to Paris. The troops of Count
+                   d'Erlon, quartered at Lisle, deceived by
+                   supposititious orders, were on their march, when
+                   they were met by the Duke de Trévise, who was going
+                   to take the command of his government. He
+                   interrogated them, perceived the plot, and ordered
+                   them back.
+
+                   Count Lefevre Desnouettes, ignorant of this unlucky
+                   circumstance, put in motion his regiment, which was
+                   in garrison at Cambrai. When he reached Compiègne,
+                   he did not find the troops he expected, and showed
+                   some hesitation. The officers of his corps, and
+                   particularly Major Lyon, questioned him, and
+                   finally abandoned him.
+
+                   On the other hand, the brothers Lallemand, one of
+                   whom was general of artillery, had marched to Fère
+                   with a few squadrons, intending to seize the park
+                   of artillery. The resistance they met from General
+                   d'Aboville disconcerted them, and, after they had
+                   attempted in vain to seduce the garrison, they
+                   fled, but were shortly after arrested.
+
+                   It was supposed, that this rising in arms had been
+                   concerted with Napoleon; but I know from good
+                   authority, that it was solely the result of an
+                   evening spent at General ***'s. A few bowls of
+                   punch had heated their brains; they complained of
+                   their situation; they were indignant, that a
+                   handful of cowardly emigrants should prescribe laws
+                   to them; they were persuaded it would be easy to
+                   displace them; and, proceeding from one step to
+                   another, they concluded by agreeing to march to
+                   Paris, and compel the King to change his ministry,
+                   and banish from France all those whom the public
+                   voice denounced as enemies to the charter, and
+                   disturbers of the public tranquillity and
+                   happiness. Such was their true and only object.]
+
+The malecontents were in doubt: the royalists were intoxicated.
+
+On the 12th, the victory of the Duke of Orléans was contradicted. The
+official paper announced, that Bonaparte must have slept at Bourgoing;
+that he was expected to enter Lyons on the evening of the 10th of
+March; and that it appeared certain, that Grenoble had not yet opened
+its gates to him.
+
+The Count d'Artois soon arrived, and confirmed by his return the
+taking of Lyons, and the inutility of his efforts.
+
+The alarm was renewed.
+
+The King, whose countenance was at the same time dignified and
+affecting, invoked by eloquent proclamations the attachment of the
+French, and the courage and fidelity of the army.
+
+The army maintained silence. The judicial bodies, the civil
+authorities, the order of advocates, and a number of individual
+citizens, answered the King's appeal by addresses testifying their
+love and fidelity.
+
+The two chambers equally laid at the foot of the throne the expression
+of their sentiments: but their language differed.
+
+"Sire," said the Chamber of Peers, "hitherto paternal goodness has
+marked all the acts of your government[49]. If it be necessary that
+the laws should be rendered more severe, you would no doubt lament it;
+but the two chambers, animated with the same spirit, would be eager
+to concur in every measure that the importance of circumstances, and
+the safety of the people, may require."
+
+                   [Footnote 49: The chancellor, no doubt, had
+                   forgotten the proscription, that delivered over to
+                   death all those Frenchmen who joined or assisted
+                   Bonaparte.]
+
+"Whatever faults may have been committed," said the Chamber of
+Deputies, "the present is not the moment for inquiring into them. It
+is the duty of all of us, to unite against the common enemy, and
+afterwards endeavour, to render this crisis beneficial to the security
+of the throne and its public liberty."
+
+The King did not stop at empty proclamations. He decreed,
+
+That a new army should be assembled in front of Paris, under the
+orders of the Duke of Berri and the command of Marshal Macdonald:
+
+That all the soldiers on furlough, or conditionally discharged, should
+rejoin their corps:
+
+That all the half-pay officers should be called out:
+
+That the three millions of national guards of the kingdom should take
+up arms, in order to check the factious and disperse their meetings,
+_while the army took the field_:
+
+That the young national guards, who were desirous of forming a part of
+the acting army, should be armed and accoutred, and sent to the parts
+that were threatened.
+
+That to render useful the services of those brave Frenchmen, who on
+all sides were demanding to be led against the enemy, battalions of
+royal volunteers should be formed, and make a part of the army of the
+Duke of Berri.
+
+Marshal Ney, whose popularity and influence were well known, was
+appointed to take the command of the troops of the east.
+
+The Duke de Feltre took the place of Marshal Soult.
+
+In short, the King omitted nothing, that could concur in protecting
+his throne from the dangers, with which it was threatened.
+
+Such measures, sufficient to stop an army of three hundred thousand
+men, could only attest the success of Napoleon; and yet the ministry
+daily caused the most encouraging reports to be spread among the
+people, and confirmed by the newspapers.
+
+M. de Montesquiou, faithful to the system of deception he had adopted,
+continued to mislead the deputies, cheating them by false
+intelligence, and lulling them with hopes, which he himself no longer
+entertained. He knew the intoxication, which was excited in every
+place by the approach and passage of Napoleon. He knew, that he was
+master of Grenoble and Lyons; that the troops attempted to be opposed
+to him had joined his with enthusiasm: and nevertheless he announced
+to the chamber, "that the population of all the departments invaded by
+the adventurer of the island of Elba loudly manifested their
+indignation against this audacious robber; that they may have been
+surprised, but not subjugated; that all his summonses of places, and
+the orders he had attempted to issue to the local authorities, had
+been rejected with firmness; that the Lyonese had displayed the
+attachment, that was to be expected from their noble character; that
+the departments of Burgundy, Franche Comté, Lorraine, Champagne,
+Picardy, &c. &c. rivalled each other in their attachment and energy;
+that the good disposition of the troops was answerable to that of the
+citizens; and that all together, generals, officers, soldiers, and
+citizens, concurred in the defence of their country and of their
+King."
+
+These political juggleries were not without effect. They satisfied
+some credulous men, and inflamed the courage and imaginations of a few
+youths. The enrolments of volunteers were more numerous: a certain
+number of pupils of the schools of law and physic offered their
+services, and traversed the streets of Paris, shouting "Long live the
+King! Down with the Corsican! Down with the tyrant! &c."
+
+This effervescent movement could not be durable; and whatever pains
+were taken to deceive the metropolis, the truths announced by
+travellers and private letters opposed these ministerial falsehoods.
+
+The defection of Marshal Ney soon came to tear off the veil, and
+spread affright and consternation among the ministers and their
+partisans.
+
+The King repaired to the Chamber of Deputies, in the hope of
+confirming their attachment, and of dissipating by a solemn oath those
+doubts of his adherence to the charter, and of his intention to
+maintain it, which his ministers occasioned. Never was a more imposing
+and pathetic spectacle exhibited. What heart could steel itself
+against the sorrows of that august and aged man, against the sound of
+his mournful voice? Those prophetic words, "I fear nothing for myself,
+but I fear for France: at sixty years of age can I better close my
+career, than by dying in defence of the state?" These words of the
+King excited the most lively emotion, and tears in abundance fell from
+every eye.
+
+The oath pronounced by the King, to maintain the charter, was
+immediately repeated by the Count d'Artois, who had hitherto refrained
+from it. "We swear," said he, "on our honour, I and my family, to
+live and die faithful to our King, and to the constitutional charter,
+which assures the happiness of France." But these tardy protestations
+could not repair the mischief, that the disloyal conduct of the
+government had done to the Bourbons and their cause.
+
+In vain did the words country, liberty, and constitution, recur in
+every discourse, and in every proclamation.
+
+In vain was it solemnly promised, that France, as soon as it was
+delivered, should receive all the securities claimed by the public
+voice, and that the press should recover perfect freedom.
+
+In vain was the lustre and the prerogative, of which the legion of
+honour had been despoiled, offered to be restored to it.
+
+In vain were pompous eulogies and brilliant promises lavished on the
+army.
+
+The time was past.
+
+The minister had robbed the King of confidence, which is the prime
+agent of the ascendancy of princes over the people; and of strength,
+which can alone supply the place of confidence, and command fear and
+obedience.
+
+The approach of Napoleon;
+
+The desertion of Marshal Ney;
+
+The declaration made by those generals, who still retained their
+fidelity, that the troops would not fight against the Emperor, left
+the government no doubt of the fate that awaited it.
+
+From that moment there was no longer harmony in their designs, or
+concert in the means of executing them.
+
+Orders and counter-orders were given on the one hand, and revoked on
+the other. Schemes of every kind, all equally inconsiderate and
+impracticable, were approved and rejected, resumed and abandoned.
+
+The chambers and the government had ceased to act in unison. The
+ministers complained of the deputies; the deputies publicly demanded
+of the King the dismissal of his ministers, and that he would place
+around himself men, "who have been the constant defenders of justice
+and liberty, and whose names shall be a guarantee for the interest of
+all[50]."
+
+                   [Footnote 50: It is asserted, that on this occasion
+                   a conference took place, at which M. Lainé, MM. de
+                   Broglie, la Fayette, d'Argenson, Flaugergue,
+                   Benjamin Constant, &c. were present, where it was
+                   decided, that the King should be required in the
+                   name of the public safety:
+
+                   1. To dismiss MM. de Blacas, Montesquiou, Dambray,
+                   and Ferrand:
+
+                   2. To call to the Chamber of Peers forty new
+                   members, chosen exclusively from men of the
+                   revolution:
+
+                   3. To confer on M. de la Fayette, the command of
+                   the national guard: and
+
+                   4. To despatch patriotic commissioners, to
+                   stimulate the attachment, the zeal, and the
+                   fidelity of the troops.]
+
+The same disorder, the same disunion, manifested themselves every
+where at the same time: there was only one point in which people
+agreed; that all was lost.
+
+In fact so it was.
+
+The people, whom the nobles had humbled, vexed, or terrified by
+haughty and tyrannical pretensions;
+
+They who had acquired national domains, whom they had wished to
+dispossess;
+
+The protestants, who had been sacrificed;
+
+The magistrates, who had been turned out;
+
+The persons in office, who had been reduced to want;
+
+The soldiers, officers, and generals, who had been despised and
+ill-treated;
+
+The revolutionists, who had been incessantly insulted and menaced;
+
+The friends of justice, and of liberty, who had been abused;
+
+All the French, whom the government had reduced, as it were, in spite
+of themselves, to wish for another order of things; eagerly embraced
+the cause of Napoleon, which had become the national cause through
+the faults of the government.
+
+Royalty had no defenders left but women _and their handkerchiefs_;
+priests without influence; nobles without courage; body guards without
+youth, or without experience.
+
+The legions of the national guard, on which such great reliance had
+been placed, were reviewed by their colonel-general: he harangued them
+on the charter, and the tyranny of Bonaparte; he told them, that he
+would march at their head, and said: "Let those, who love their King,
+come out from their ranks, and follow me." Scarcely two hundred obeyed
+the order.
+
+The royal volunteers, who had made so much noise, when they expected
+to be victors without incurring any peril, had gradually dispersed;
+and those, whom the approach of danger had neither intimidated nor
+cooled, were too few to have any weight in the balance.
+
+The government had one sole and last hope remaining: it was, dare I
+say it? that Napoleon would be assassinated.
+
+The same men who had preached up a civil war, _and declared, that it
+would be shameful not to have one_; soiled the walls of Paris with
+provocations to murder, and fanatic praises bestowed beforehand on
+murderers. Emissaries, mixing in the various groups of the people,
+endeavoured to put the poniard into the hands of the new Jacques
+Clements. A public act had proscribed Napoleon; a reward was publicly
+offered for his head. This call for a crime, which indignant France
+first heard from the assassins of Coligny, was repeated by men, who,
+like them, had the sacred words of morality, humanity, and religion,
+continually in their mouths, and who, like them, thirsted only after
+vengeance and blood.
+
+But while they were conspiring at Paris to assassinate Napoleon, he
+peaceably pursued his triumphant march.
+
+Quitting Grenoble on the 9th, he came that night and slept at
+Burgoing. [51]""The crowd and the enthusiasm continued to increase:
+"We have long expected you," said all these brave fellows to the
+Emperor; "at length you are come, to deliver France from the insolence
+of the nobility, the pretensions of the priests, and the disgrace of a
+foreign yoke."
+
+                   [Footnote 51: The double sets of inverted commas
+                   are still used to distinguish passages extracted
+                   from the official account.]
+
+""The Emperor, being fatigued[52], was in his calash, the horse
+walking, surrounded by a crowd of peasants, singing songs, that
+expressed the noble sentiments of these brave Dauphinese. "Ah!" said
+the Emperor, "I here find again the sentiments, which twenty years ago
+led me to hail France by the name of the great nation! Yes, you are
+still the great nation, and you shall ever be so."""
+
+                   [Footnote 52: He had travelled from Cannes to
+                   Grenoble partly on horseback, but chiefly on foot.]
+
+They approached Lyons: the Emperor had sent his emissaries before him,
+who informed him, that the Count d'Artois, the Duke of Orléans, and
+Marshal Macdonald, had determined to defend the city, and that they
+were going to break down the bridges de la Guillotière and Moraud.
+""The Emperor laughed at these ridiculous preparations: he could not
+doubt the disposition of the Lyonese, still less those of the
+soldiers; yet he gave orders to General Bertrand, to collect boats at
+the Mirbel, intending to cross the river in the night, and cut off the
+roads to Moulins and Macon for the Prince, who wanted to prevent his
+passing the Rhone. At four o'clock a reconnoitring party of the
+fourth hussars arrived at la Guillotière, and were received with
+shouts of "Long live the Emperor!" by the immense population of the
+suburb, that has always been distinguished for its attachment to its
+country.""
+
+The Emperor immediately countermanded the passage at Mirbel, and
+desirous of availing himself of this first enthusiastic movement, as
+at Grenoble, galloped forward to the suburb of Guillotière.
+
+The Count d'Artois, less fortunate, could not even succeed in opposing
+to his adversary a shadow of defence.
+
+He was desirous of destroying the bridges, but the city opposed it.
+
+The troops, whose attachment he fancied he could purchase by the
+distribution of money, or the bait of rewards, had remained deaf to
+his words, his entreaties, his promises. Passing before the thirteenth
+regiment of dragoons, he said to a brave fellow, decorated with three
+chevrons and with scars: "Come, comrade, shout Long live the
+King!"--"No, Sir," answered the brave dragoon, "No soldier will fight
+against his father; I can only answer you by saying Long live the
+Emperor!" Confused and in despair, he exclaimed in a sorrowful tone,
+"All is lost!" and these words, instantly spreading from one to
+another, only strengthened the prevailing ill will or discouragement[53].
+
+                   [Footnote 53: It was a great oversight, to send the
+                   Count d'Artois to face Napoleon. It was easy to
+                   foresee, that, if this prince should fail in a city
+                   of a hundred thousand inhabitants against eight
+                   hundred men, the business would be decided.]
+
+Marshal Macdonald, however, who was well known to the troops, had
+succeeded in barricading the bridge of la Guillotière, and led two
+battalions of infantry thither in person; when the hussars of Napoleon
+came out from the suburb, and presented themselves before the bridge,
+preceded, surrounded, and followed, by all the youth of the place.
+
+The marshal restrained the soldiers a few minutes: but moved, seduced,
+borne away, by the incitements of the people and the hussars, they
+rushed to the barricadoes, burst them, and were quickly in the arms
+and in the ranks of the soldiers of Napoleon.
+
+The Count d'Artois, foreseeing this defection, had quitted Lyons,
+unaccompanied by a single gendarme, but escorted by a detachment of
+the thirteenth dragoons, commanded by lieutenant Marchebout. It is due
+to the troops to say, that they did not cease to respect him, and that
+he ran no risk[54].
+
+                   [Footnote 54: Marshal Macdonald was not so happy.
+                   Two hussars, one of whom was drunk, pursued him,
+                   and would have arrested him, if he had not been
+                   extricated by his aide-de-camp.]
+
+At five in the evening the whole garrison rushed out to meet Napoleon.
+
+An hour after, the imperial army took possession of the city.
+
+At seven Napoleon made his solemn entry, proceeding alone before his
+troops, but preceded and followed by an immense crowd, expressing, by
+incessant acclamations, the intoxication, happiness, and pride, they
+felt at seeing him again. He alighted at the archbishop's palace, and
+quietly took his rest in the very places, which the Count d'Artois,
+yielding to despair, had just watered with his tears.
+
+Napoleon immediately entrusted the guarding of his person, and the
+interior charge of the palace, to the national guard. He would not
+accept the services of the horse-guards. "Our institutions," said he
+to them, "know nothing of national guards on horseback; besides, you
+behaved so ill with the Count d'Artois, that I will have nothing to
+say to you."
+
+In fact the Emperor, who had always respected misfortune, had made
+inquiries concerning the Count d'Artois on his arrival; and had
+learned, that the nobles, of whom the horse-guards were chiefly
+composed, after having sworn to the prince to die for him, had
+deserted him; one excepted, who remained faithfully attached to his
+escort, till the moment he thought his life and liberty out of all
+danger.
+
+The Emperor did not confine himself to commendation of the conduct of
+this generous Lyonese. "I never left a noble action," said he,
+"without reward:" and he appointed him a member of the Legion of
+Honour.
+
+I was at Lyons the moment when Napoleon arrived. He knew it, and sent
+for me that very evening. "Well!" said he to me with a smile, "you did
+not expect to see me again so soon[55]."--"No, Sire; your Majesty
+alone is capable of occasioning such surprises."--"What do they say of
+all this at Paris?"--"Why, Sire, there, as here, they are rejoiced, no
+doubt, at your Majesty's happy return."--"And public opinion, how is
+that?"--"Sire, it is greatly changed: formerly we thought of nothing
+but glory, now we think only of liberty. The struggle that has arisen
+between the Bourbons and the nation has revealed to us our rights; it
+has engendered in men's minds a number of liberal ideas, that did not
+exist in your Majesty's time; people feel, people experience, the
+necessity of being free; and the most certain means of pleasing the
+French would be to promise, and to give them, laws truly popular."--"I
+know that the discussions they[56] have suffered to take place, have
+diminished the respect for power, and enfeebled it. Liberal ideas have
+resumed all the ground I had gained for it. I shall not attempt to
+reconquer it: no one should attempt to contend with a nation; it is
+the earthen pot against the iron pot. The French shall have reason to
+be satisfied with me. I know, that there is both pleasure and glory in
+rendering a great people free and happy. I will give pledges to
+France: I did not stint it in glory, I will not stint it in liberty. I
+will retain no farther power than is necessary to enable me to govern.
+Power is not incompatible with liberty: on the contrary, liberty is
+never more entire, than when power is well established. When it is
+weak, it is captious: when it is strong, it sleeps in tranquillity,
+and leaves the reins loose on the neck of liberty. I know what is
+requisite for the French; we shall settle that point: but no
+licentiousness, no anarchy; for anarchy would lead us to the despotism
+of the republicans, the most fertile of all despotisms in tyrannic
+acts, because every body takes a share in it.... Do they suppose we
+shall come to a battle?"--"They do not think it: the government have
+never had confidence in the soldiery; it has made itself detested by
+the officers; and all the troops that may be opposed to your
+Majesty's, will be so many reinforcements sent you."--"I think so too:
+and the marshals?"--"Sire, they cannot but be apprehensive, that your
+Majesty will remember Fontainbleau; and perhaps it will be well to
+remove their fears, and to make known to them personally your
+Majesty's intention of consigning every thing to oblivion."--"No, I
+will not write to them; they would consider me as under obligations to
+them; and I will be obliged to no person. The troops are well
+disposed, the officers are good, and if the marshals wished to
+restrain them, they would be hurried along by them ... where is my
+guard?"--"I believe at Metz and at Nancy."--"Of that I am sure, do
+what they will, they will never corrupt it. What are Augereau and
+Marmont about?"--"I do not know."--"What is Ney doing? On what terms
+is he with the king?"--"Sometimes good, sometimes bad: I believe he
+has had reason to complain of the court on account of his wife."--"His
+wife is an affected creature; no doubt she has attempted to play the
+part of a great lady, and the old dowagers have ridiculed her. Has Ney
+any command?"--"I do not think he has, Sire."--"Is he one of
+us?"--"The part he took in your abdication"--"Ay, I read that at
+Porto Ferrajo: he boasted of having ill-treated me, of having laid his
+pistols on my table: it was all false. Had he dared to fail of respect
+to me, I would have ordered him to be shot. A heap of tales has been
+spread respecting my abdication. I abdicated, not in consequence of
+their advice, but because my army was out of its senses: besides, I
+would not have a civil war. It was never to my taste. It was said,
+that Augereau, when I met him, loaded me with reproaches ... it was a
+lie: no one of my generals would have dared, in my presence, to forget
+what was due to me. Had I known of the proclamation of Augereau, I
+would have forbidden him my presence[57]: cowards only insult
+misfortune. His proclamation, which I was reported to have had in my
+pocket, was unknown to me till after our interview. It was General
+Koller who showed it me; but let us quit these popular rumours. What
+has been done at the Tuileries?"--"Nothing has been altered, Sire;
+even the eagles have not yet been removed."--(Smiling) "They must have
+thought my arrangement of them admirable."--"So I presume, Sire: it
+has been said, that the Count d'Artois went through all the apartments
+immediately after his arrival, and could not cease to admire
+them."--"I can readily believe it. What have they done with my
+pictures?"--"Some have been taken away, but that of the battle of
+Austerlitz is still in the council-chamber."--"And the theatre?"--"It
+has not been touched: it is no longer used."--"What is Talma
+doing?"--"Why, Sire, he continues to deserve and obtain public
+applause."--"I shall see him again with pleasure. Have you been at
+court?"--"Yes, Sire, I have been presented."--"I am told, they all
+have the air of upstarts of yesterday; that they know not how to utter
+a word, or take a single step, with propriety: have you seen them on
+grand public days?"--"No, Sire, but I can assure your Majesty, that
+people pay as little regard to ceremony at the Tuileries, as at their
+own homes: they go thither in dirty boots, common frock-coats, and
+round hats."--"That must have a very majestic appearance. But how do
+all those old _thicksculls_ spend their money? for every thing has
+been restored to them."--"But, probably, Sire, they wish to wear out
+their old clothes."--"Poor France! into what hands hast thou thrust
+thyself! And the king, what sort of a countenance has he?"--"He has a
+tolerably fine head."--"Is his coin handsome?"--"Of this your Majesty
+may judge: here is a twenty-franc piece."--"What! they have not
+re-coined louis: I am surprised at this. (Turning the piece over) He
+does not look as if he would starve himself: but observe, they have
+taken away _Dieu protège la France_ (God protect France), to restore
+their _Domine, salvum fac regem_ (Lord, preserve the King). This is as
+they always were: every thing for themselves, nothing for France.
+Where is Maret? where is Caulincourt? where is Lavalette? where is
+Fouché?"--"They are all at Paris."--"And Môlé?"--"He, too, is at
+Paris; I observed him a short time ago at the Queen's."--"Have we any
+persons hereabout, who were nearly attached to me?"--"I do not know,
+Sire."--"You must inquire, and bring them to me. I should be glad to
+be thoroughly acquainted with the spirit of the times, and know
+something of the present state of affairs. What does Hortense
+do?"--"Sire, her house is still the resort of men, who know how to
+appreciate wit and elegance: and the Queen, though without a throne,
+is not less an object of the respect and homage of all Paris."--"She
+did a very foolish thing, in exhibiting herself as a spectacle before
+the tribunals. They who advised her to it were blockheads. Why, too,
+did she go and demand the title of duchess?"--"She, Sire, did not
+demand it, it was the Emperor Alexander...."--"No matter, she ought
+not to have accepted, any more than demanded it: she should have
+called herself Madame Bonaparte: this name is full as good as any
+other. Besides, what right had she to have her son made a duke of St.
+Leu, and a peer of the Bourbons? Louis was in the right to oppose it:
+he was sensible, that the name of her son was sufficiently honourable,
+not to suffer himself to change it. If Josephine had been alive, she
+would have prevented her from engaging in such a foolish piece of
+business. Was she much regretted?"--"Yes, Sire, your Majesty knows how
+much she was beloved and honoured by the French."--"She deserved it.
+She was an excellent woman: she had a great deal of sense. I greatly
+regretted her too, and the day when I heard of her death was one of
+the most unhappy of my life. Was there a public mourning for
+her?"--"No, Sire. Indeed I think she would have been refused the
+honours due to her rank, had not the Emperor Alexander insisted on
+their being paid her."--"So I heard at the time, but I did not believe
+it. He was no way interested in it."--"The generosity of Alexander was
+not confined within any limits: he showed himself the protector of the
+Empress, the Queen, Prince Eugene, the Duke of Vicenza, and a number
+of other persons of distinction, who, but for him, would have been
+persecuted or ill treated."--"You love him, it seems."--"Sire...."--"Is
+the national guard of Paris well disposed?"--"I cannot positively
+affirm it; but of this at least I am certain, that if it do not
+declare for your Majesty, at least it will not act against us."--"I
+imagine so too. What is it supposed, that the foreigners will think of
+my return?"--"It is thought, that Austria will connect itself with
+your Majesty, and that Russia will behold the disgrace of the Bourbons
+without regret."--"Why so?"--"It is said, Sire, that Alexander was not
+pleased with the princes while at Paris. That the predilection of the
+king for England, and his attributing his crown to the Prince Regent,
+offended him."--"It is well to know that. Has he seen my son?"--"Yes,
+Sire: I have been assured, that he embraced him with a tenderness
+truly paternal, and exclaimed: He is a charming fellow: how have I
+been deceived!"--"What did he mean by that?"--"They say he had been
+informed, that the young prince was rickety and imbecile."--"Wretches!
+he is an admirable child: he gives every indication of becoming a
+distinguished character. He will be an honour to his age. Is it true,
+that so much was made of Alexander at Paris?"--"Yes, Sire, nobody else
+was attended to but he: the other sovereigns appeared as if they were
+his aides-de-camp."--"In fact, he did a great deal for Paris: but for
+him the English would have ruined it, and the Prussians would have
+set it on fire.--He acted his part well ... (with a smile) if I were
+not Napoleon, perhaps I would be Alexander."
+
+                   [Footnote 55: Those who have been about Napoleon's
+                   person know, that he recommended to his
+                   secretaries, and the officers of his household, to
+                   take notes of what he said and did on his journeys.
+                   A number of notes of this nature must have been
+                   found at the Tuileries, most of which contained
+                   particulars that were highly interesting. I
+                   preserved mine, and from them I have composed, in
+                   great measure, the present work.]
+
+                   [Footnote 56: The Bourbons.]
+
+                   [Footnote 57: The newspapers of the day asserted,
+                   that Napoleon, though he had in his pocket the
+                   proclamation of Augereau, filled with reproaches
+                   and invectives, had thrown himself into his arms,
+                   and heard the cutting reprehensions of the marshal,
+                   without saying a word.]
+
+The next day he reviewed the division of Lyons in Bellecour Square. "I
+shall see that square again with pleasure," said he, to the chiefs of
+the national guard, who stood round him: "I remember, that I raised it
+from its ruins, and laid the first stone of it fifteen years ago." He
+went out merely preceded by a few hussars. A crowd of men, old men,
+women and children, thronged the bridges, the quays, and the streets.
+They rushed under the horses' feet to hear him, to see him, to have a
+closer view of him, to touch his garments ... it was an actual
+delirium. Scarcely had he proceeded a few steps, when the crowd, that
+had already seen him, ran to another spot, to see him again. The air
+rung with uninterrupted acclamations. It was a rolling volley of "The
+nation for ever! The Emperor for ever! Down with the priests! Down
+with the royalists!" &c.
+
+The division of Brayer, as soon as reviewed, set out on its march to
+Paris.
+
+When the Emperor returned to the archiepiscopal palace, the great
+gallery was crowded with generals, colonels, magistrates, and public
+officers of all ranks and kinds. You might have thought yourselves in
+the Tuileries.
+
+The Emperor stopped a few minutes: he embraced Generals Mouton
+Duvernay, Girard, and other officers, whom Paris supposed to be in
+pursuit of him; and after having distributed on the right and left a
+few smiles and many compliments, he proceeded to his saloon, and
+admitted to be presented to him the imperial court, the municipal
+body, and the chiefs of the military corps and the national guard.
+
+He conversed a long time with them on the faults of the Bourbons, and
+the deplorable situation in which he found France. He confessed to
+them with noble frankness, that he was not altogether inculpable for
+its misfortunes. "I was hurried on," said he, "by the course of
+events, into a wrong path. But, taught by experience, I have abjured
+that love of glory, so natural to the French, which has had such fatal
+consequences to them and to me.... I was mistaken in supposing, that
+the time was arrived for rendering France the metropolis of a great
+empire: I have renounced for ever that grand enterprise; we have
+enough of glory, we want repose.
+
+"It is not ambition, that has brought me back to France: it is the
+love of the country. I could have preferred the tranquillity of the
+island of Elba to the cares of a throne, had I not known, that France
+was unhappy, and had need of me.
+
+"On setting foot on our dear France," continued he, after a few
+unimportant answers from his auditors, "I made a vow to render it free
+and happy: I bring nothing to it but benefits. I am returned to
+protect and defend those interests, to which our revolution has given
+birth: I return to concur with the representatives of the nation in a
+family compact, that shall preserve for ever the liberty and the
+rights of every Frenchman: henceforward it will be my ambition, and my
+glory, to effect the happiness of the great people from whom I hold
+every thing. I will not, like Louis XVIII., grant you a revocable
+charter; I will give you an inviolable constitution, and it shall be
+the work of the people, as well as of myself."
+
+Such were his words. He pronounced them with an air of such
+satisfaction, he appeared so confident of himself and of the future,
+that a man would have thought himself criminal to suspect the purity
+of his intentions, or to doubt the happiness he was about to secure to
+France.
+
+The language he held at Lyons we perceive was not the same, as that he
+had uttered at Gap and at Grenoble. In the last-mentioned towns he
+sought principally to excite in men's minds hatred of the Bourbons,
+and the love of liberty: he had spoken as a citizen, rather than a
+monarch. No formal declaration, not a single word, revealed his
+intentions. It might as well have been supposed, that he thought of
+restoring the republic, or the consulship, as the empire. At Lyons,
+there was no longer any thing vague, any thing uncertain: he spoke as
+a sovereign, and promised to give a national constitution. The idea of
+the Champ de Mai had recurred to him.
+
+Not one of us suspected the sincerity of the promises and resolves of
+Napoleon.
+
+Time, reflection, misfortune, the grand teacher of mankind, had
+effected the most favourable changes in the principles of Napoleon.
+
+Formerly, when unforeseen obstacles arose, suddenly to thwart his
+projects, his passions, accustomed to no restraint, to respect no
+bridle, burst forth with the fury of a raging sea: he spoke, he
+ordered, he decided, as if he had been master of the earth and of the
+elements; nothing appeared to him impossible.
+
+After his reverse of fortune, he had learned in the calm of solitude
+and meditation, to control the violence of his will, and to subject it
+to the yoke of reason and prudence. He had read attentively the
+writings, pamphlets, and even libels, published against him: and amid
+the revilings, calumnies, and absurdities, which they frequently
+contained, he had found useful truths, judicious observations, and
+profound views, of which he knew how to benefit himself.
+
+"Princes," observes the learned author of the Spirit of Laws, "have in
+their lives periods of ambition to which other passions, and even
+indolence, succeed." Napoleon's hour of indolence was not yet come:
+but to the ambition of increasing his power without limit, had
+succeeded the desire of rendering France happy, and of repairing by a
+durable peace, and a paternal government, all the evils that had been
+brought upon it by war.
+
+The Emperor spent the evening of the 11th in his closet: his first
+thought was for the Empress. He wrote her a very tender letter, which
+began with these remarkable words. "Madam and dear wife, I have
+re-ascended my throne."
+
+He informed Prince Joseph[58] also, that he had resumed his crown; and
+directed him to make known to foreign powers, through their ministers
+to the Helvetic Confederation, that he intended never more to disturb
+the tranquillity of Europe, and faithfully to maintain the treaty of
+Paris. He particularly recommended to him, strongly to impress upon
+Austria and Russia, how desirous he was of re-establishing his former
+connexions with them in the most intimate manner.
+
+                   [Footnote 58: He had retired to Switzerland.]
+
+He appeared to set a particular value on the alliance of Russia. His
+predilection was founded, no doubt, on political motives not difficult
+to guess; yet I believe he was equally induced to it by Alexander's
+generous conduct towards the French. The popularity and renown, which
+this prince had acquired in France, excited, and could not but excite,
+the jealousy of Napoleon: but this jealousy, the attribute of great
+minds, did not render him unjust; he knew how to estimate Alexander.
+
+Hitherto Napoleon has been engaged only in depriving the King of his
+army; he now thought the time was come, to take from him also the
+sceptre of civil government. "On this I have resolved," said he to me:
+"I will now annihilate the royal authority, and dismiss the chambers.
+Since I have resumed the government, no authority but mine ought to
+exist. The public must be taught from this moment, that they are to
+obey me alone." He then dictated to me in succession the following
+decrees, known by the name of the decrees of Lyons.
+
+
+                                        Lyons, 13th of March, 1815.
+
+NAPOLEON, Emperor of the French, &c. &c.
+
+Considering, that the Chamber of Peers is partly composed of persons
+who have borne arms against France, and who are interested in the
+re-establishment of feudal rights, in the destruction of the equality
+of the different classes, in the nullification of the sale of the
+national domains, and finally in depriving the people of the rights
+they have acquired by fighting for five and twenty years against the
+enemies of the national glory:
+
+Considering, that the powers of the deputies of the legislative body
+have expired, and that from that moment the Chamber of Commons has no
+longer a national character; that a part of this chamber has rendered
+itself unworthy the confidence of the nation, by assenting to the
+re-establishment of the feudal nobility, abolished by the constitution
+accepted by the people; by making France pay debts contracted with
+foreign powers for negotiating coalitions, and paying armies, against
+the French people; by giving to the Bourbons the title of legitimate
+King, which was declaring the French people and the armies rebels,
+proclaiming those emigrants, who for five and twenty years have been
+wounding the vitals of their country, the only good Frenchmen, and
+violating all the rights of the people, by sanctioning the principle,
+that the nation is made for the throne, not the throne for the nation:
+
+We have decreed, and do decree, as follows:
+
+
+        Article I.
+
+The Chamber of Peers is dissolved.
+
+
+        Article II.
+
+The Chamber of Commons is dissolved: it is ordered, that every one of
+the members convened and arrived at Paris since the 7th of March last
+shall repair to his home without delay.
+
+
+        Article III.
+
+The electoral colleges of the departments of the empire shall assemble
+at Paris in the course of the month of May next, in order to take
+proper measures for correcting and modifying our constitutions
+agreeably to the interests and will of the nation; and at the same
+time to assist at the coronation of the Empress, our dear and
+well-beloved wife, and that of our dear and well-beloved son.
+
+
+        Article IV.
+
+Our Grand Marshal, executing the functions of Major-general of the
+grand army, is appointed to take necessary measures for making public
+the present decree.
+
+
+        SECOND DECREE.
+
+NAPOLEON, &c.
+
+
+        Article I.
+
+All the emigrants, whose names have not been erased, amnestied, or
+eliminated, by us, or by the governments that have preceded us; and
+who have returned to France since the 1st of January, 1814, shall
+immediately quit the territory of the empire.
+
+
+        Article II.
+
+Those emigrants, who shall be found in the territory of the empire
+fifteen days after the promulgation of the present decree, shall be
+arrested and tried conformably to the laws decreed by our national
+assemblies: unless however it be proved, that they had no knowledge
+of the present decree; in which case, they shall merely be arrested,
+and conducted out of the territory by the gendarmerie.
+
+
+        Article III.
+
+All their property, moveable and immoveable, &c. &c. shall be placed
+in sequestration.
+
+
+        THIRD DECREE.
+
+NAPOLEON, &c.
+
+
+        Article I.
+
+The nobility is abolished, and the laws of the Constituent Assembly
+shall be put in force.
+
+
+        Article II.
+
+Feudal titles are suppressed.
+
+
+        Article III.
+
+Those individuals, who have obtained from us national titles, as
+national rewards, and whose letters patent have been verified before
+the council by the seal of state, shall continue to bear them.
+
+
+        Article IV.
+
+We reserve to ourselves the power of giving titles to the descendants
+of those men, who have rendered the French name illustrious in various
+ages, whether in the command of armies by land and sea, in the
+councils of sovereigns, in the administration of justice or of civil
+authority, or finally in the arts and sciences, commerce, &c.
+
+
+        FOURTH DECREE.
+
+NAPOLEON, &c.
+
+
+        Article I.
+
+All those generals and officers by land and sea, of whatever rank, who
+have been introduced into our armies since the 1st of April, 1814, who
+had emigrated; or who, not having emigrated, had quitted the service
+at the period of the first coalition, when the country had the
+greatest need of their services; shall immediately cease their
+functions, relinquish the marks of their rank, and repair to their
+homes, &c. &c.
+
+
+        FIFTH DECREE.
+
+NAPOLEON, &c.
+
+Considering, that by our constitutions the members of the judicial
+order are not removable, we decree:
+
+
+        Article I.
+
+All the arbitrary changes made in our inferior tribunals and courts
+are null, and to be considered as having never taken place.
+
+
+        Article II.
+
+The presidents of the court of cassation, our procureur-général
+(attorney-general), and the members who have been unjustly, and from a
+spirit of reaction, dismissed from the said court, are restored to
+their functions, &c. &c.
+
+
+By four other decrees the Emperor ordered, that the property of the
+Bourbon family should be placed in sequestration.
+
+That all the property of emigrants, which belonged to the Legion of
+Honour, hospitals, communes, the sinking fund, or the national
+domains, should be restored to these different establishments.
+
+That the King's household and the Swiss should be dismissed, and that
+no foreign corps should be admitted as a guard to the sovereign.
+
+And that the decoration of the lily, and the orders of St. Louis, the
+Holy Ghost, and St. Michael, should be abolished.
+
+These decrees, which embraced at once every part of the political,
+civil, and military administration of the state, succeeded each other
+so rapidly, that Napoleon had scarcely time to interpose a few words
+between them.
+
+By restoring to their seats those magistrates, who had been expelled
+from them, he gained with a stroke of the pen all the members of the
+judicial order; but I know not why he did not extend this beneficial
+measure to the functionaries of the administrative order, particularly
+to the prefects and sub-prefects, whom M. de Montesquiou had so
+cruelly persecuted. Among these functionaries there were
+unquestionably some, who, from the weakness or incapacity they had
+shown during the last moments of the imperial government, merited no
+confidence: but the greater part of them had remained worthy of it;
+and Napoleon, by placing them at the head of their former offices,
+would have added to the advantage of publicly repairing an act of
+royal injustice, that of entrusting the administration to experienced
+men, and who, already knowing the partisans of the revolution and
+those of the Bourbons, had only to show themselves, to intimidate the
+latter, and render effective the patriotism of the former.
+
+With this exception, every thing he did at Lyons appeared to me a
+master-piece of wisdom and address.
+
+It was necessary, to overturn the Chamber of Peers: he did it at one
+stroke. "It is composed," said he, "only of men who have borne arms
+against their country, and who are interested in restoring feudal
+rights, and annulling the national sales."
+
+The Chamber of Deputies had shown some resistance to the ministers,
+and attachment to liberal doctrines; it was difficult, therefore, to
+render it unpopular, yet the Emperor did it by a word: "It has shown
+itself unworthy of the confidence of the nation, by making the people
+pay debts contracted with foreigners for the shedding of French
+blood."
+
+It was necessary, to remove the apprehensions of France respecting the
+future: he called the electors to the Champ de Mai. It was necessary,
+to excite the belief, that he had a good understanding with Austria,
+and that Maria Louisa would be restored to him: he announced the
+approaching coronation of the Empress and her son.
+
+It was necessary, to seduce the patriots, the republicans: he
+abolished the feudal nobility; and declared, that the throne was made
+for the nation, not the nation for the throne. It was necessary, to
+tranquillize those, who had acquired national domains; he expelled the
+emigrants not erased from the lists, and resumed their property: to
+please the peasantry and the poor, he restored to the hospitals the
+property of which they had been despoiled: to flatter the guard and
+the army, he expelled from their ranks foreigners and emigrants,
+dismissed the King's household, and restored to the Legion of Honour
+its endowments and prerogatives.
+
+Men may censure his conduct at Lyons; may represent it as that of a
+madman, resolved to alter, to destroy, to overturn every thing: no
+matter ... they who judge with impartiality, I believe, will find,
+that he conducted himself with all the skill of a consummate
+politician. He knew how to inspire confidence, dissipate
+apprehensions, confirm attachments, and fill the people and the army
+with enthusiasm: what could he do more?
+
+The steps taken at Paris against him were known to him on the 12th. He
+appeared delighted, that a command was given to Marshal Ney; not that
+he held any intelligence with him; but because he knew the weakness
+and fickleness of his character. He directed the Grand Marshal to
+write to him. "You will inform him," said he, "of the delirium excited
+by my return, and of all the forces sent against me having joined my
+army in succession. You will tell him, that the troops under his
+command will infallibly follow the example of their brave comrades,
+sooner or later: and that the efforts he might make would have no
+farther effect, than at most to retard the fall of the Bourbons a few
+days. Give him to understand, that he will be responsible to France,
+and to me, for the civil war and bloodshed, of which he would be the
+cause. _Flatter him_," added the Emperor, "but do not _caress_ him too
+much; he would think me afraid of him, and require to be entreated."
+
+Letters were written also to all the commanders of corps, that were
+known to be quartered in the neighbouring departments. None of them
+were in a supplicatory style: the Emperor already spoke as a master;
+he did not entreat, he commanded.
+
+Every thing being finished, on the 13th Napoleon departed; and
+profoundly moved with the affection the Lyonese had shown him, he
+bade them adieu in the following words:
+
+     "Lyonese,
+
+"At the moment of quitting your city to repair to my capital, I feel
+it necessary, to make known to you the sentiments with which you have
+inspired me: you have always ranked with the foremost in my
+affections. On the throne or in exile, you have always displayed the
+same feelings towards me: the lofty character that distinguishes you,
+has merited my entire esteem: in a period of greater tranquillity, I
+shall return, to consider the welfare of your manufactures, and of
+your city.
+
+     "Lyonese, I love you."
+
+
+These last words were the ingenuous expression of his feelings: in
+dictating, he pronounced them with that indefinable charm, that was
+impressed on his words when they came from the heart.
+
+So much has been said of the hardness of Napoleon's heart, and the
+harshness of his language, that whatever is at variance with the
+received opinion must appear fabulous. Yet it is a truth, and they who
+have been about the Emperor's person will vouch for it, that he was
+far from being so unfeeling, as he was commonly thought. His military
+education, and the necessity of commanding fear and respect, had
+rendered him grave, severe, and inflexible; and had accustomed him, to
+check and despise the suggestions of his sensibility. But when nature
+resumed her rights, he felt a delight in yielding to the movements of
+his soul, and he then expressed the emotions or sentiments, that had
+overpowered him, in an ardent and impassioned tone, and with a
+sweetness and grace, as seducing as it was inimitable.
+
+Indeed the Lyonese merited the esteem and love, that Napoleon avowed
+for them. Though yet young, I have more than once seen popular
+displays of enthusiasm and infatuation; yet never did I see any thing
+comparable to the transports of joy and tenderness, that burst from
+the Lyonese. Not only the quays, and the places near the palace of the
+Emperor, but even the most distant streets rung with perpetual
+acclamations[59]. Workmen and their masters, the common people and
+the citizens, rambled about the city arm in arm, singing, dancing, and
+giving themselves up to the impulse of the most ardent gaiety.
+Strangers stopped one another, shook hands, embraced, and
+congratulated each other on the return of the Emperor, as if he had
+conferred on them fortune, life, and honour.
+
+                   [Footnote 59: The author of a libel entitled _Les
+                   Quinze Semaines_, "The Fifteen Weeks," asserts,
+                   that shouts were heard of "Death for ever! Guilt
+                   for ever! Down with virtue! Down with God!" Such a
+                   charge requires no refutation: I mention it here
+                   only to show, to what a point the spirit of party,
+                   and the rancorous passions, have misled writers,
+                   who call themselves royalists. It has been equally
+                   asserted, that the people plundered and destroyed a
+                   number of shops and warehouses. This, too, is
+                   false: no disorder occurred, except in Bellecour
+                   Square, where the people broke the windows and
+                   tables of the Bourbon coffee-house, known to be the
+                   place where the ultra-royalists assembled; and this
+                   disorder was quieted and suppressed immediately.]
+
+The national guard, affected by the confidence he had shown it, by
+entrusting to it the care of his person, participated with equal
+ardour the general intoxication; and the day of Napoleon's departure
+was a day of sorrow and regret to the city of Lyons, as that of his
+arrival had been a day of real festivity.
+
+We slept at Macon. The Emperor would not alight at the prefect's, but
+went to lodge at the sign of the Savage. He found it was no longer
+necessary, to wait at the gates of the towns, as at Grenoble and
+Lyons: the people and the magistrates ran out to meet him, and
+disputed the honour of being foremost, to do him homage, and express
+their good wishes.
+
+The next morning he received the felicitations of the national guard,
+the municipal body, &c. One of the colleagues of the mayor gave us a
+long, ridiculous harangue, which amused us much. When he had finished,
+the Emperor said to him: "You were much astonished, then, at hearing
+of our having landed?"--"Yes, faith:" answered the orator: "when I
+knew you had landed, I said to every body, the man must be mad, he
+will never be able to escape."--Napoleon could not help laughing at
+this simplicity. "I know," said he, with a sarcastic smile, "that you
+are all a little inclined to be frightened; you gave me a proof of
+this last campaign; you should have behaved as the men of Chalons did;
+you did not maintain the honour of the Burgundians."--"It was not our
+fault, Sire," said one of the party: "we were badly commanded; you had
+not given us a good mayor."--"That is very possible; we have all been
+guilty of foolish actions, and they must be forgotten: the safety and
+happiness of France are henceforward the only objects, to which we
+ought to attend." He dismissed them in a friendly manner.
+
+The prefect had taken flight. The Emperor asked me his name. It was
+one Germain, whom he had made a count, and a gentleman of the
+bedchamber, without well knowing why. "What!" said he to me, "does
+that little Germain fancy it necessary to shun me? he must be brought
+back:" and he thought no more of him.
+
+He directed me, to cause an account of the events at Grenoble and
+Lyons to be inserted in the newspaper of the department. The editor, a
+furious royalist, had hidden himself. I entrusted to the new
+subprefect the business of fulfilling the Emperor's orders; but,
+whether it were carelessness or incapacity on his part, he had
+recourse to the printer of the paper, who supplied him with an article
+far from answering our views.
+
+It began with a very just, but ill-timed eulogy of the goodness of
+Louis XVIII.; and ended with declaring in substance, that so good a
+king was not fitted to reign over the French, and that they required a
+sovereign such as Napoleon, &c.
+
+The Emperor, who would read every thing, asked me for the paper. I
+pretended I could not lay my hand upon it: but, after a thousand
+attempts to put him off from seeing it, I was at length obliged to
+bring it him. I thought he would have given me a severe reprimand, but
+he contented himself with saying: "Change that man, he is a fool; and
+desire him for the future, never to attempt a eulogy of me." I sent
+for him, scolded him, and, like me, he was let off for the fright.
+
+It was at Macon, that we first received official news of what was
+going on at Paris. It was brought us by M. ***. The unskilful manner
+in which the royalist party superintended the police of the roads, was
+truly astonishing. Not one of its emissaries escaped us, while ours
+went and came without any obstruction. Rage or fear must have turned
+the brains of all the royalists. M. *** assured the Emperor, that the
+national guard appeared determined to defend the king, and that the
+king had declared, he would not quit the Tuileries. "If he choose to
+wait for me there," said Napoleon, "I have no objection: but I doubt
+it much. He suffers himself to be lulled by the boastings of the
+emigrants; and when I get within twenty leagues of Paris, they will
+abandon him, as the nobles of Lyons abandoned the Count d'Artois. What
+indeed could he do with the old puppets that are about him? One of our
+grenadiers would knock down a hundred of them with the butt-end of
+his musket.... The national guard shouts at a distance; when I am at
+the barriers it will be silent. Its business is not to raise a civil
+war, but to maintain peace and order in the country. The majority is
+sound; there is nothing rotten in it but a few officers; and them I
+will expel. Return to Paris; tell my friends not to implicate
+themselves, and within ten days my grenadiers will mount guard at the
+Tuileries: go."
+
+We arrived at Chalons on the 14th, at an early hour. It was terrible
+weather, yet the whole population had come out of the city, to see the
+Emperor a few minutes the sooner. On approaching the walls, he
+perceived artillery and ammunition waggons, and was surprised at it.
+"They were intended," said the people, "to act against you; but we
+have stopped them on their way, and present them to you."--"That's
+right, my lads; you have always been good citizens."
+
+He was well pleased, to find himself among the Chalonese, and received
+them with much affection and regard. "I have not forgotten," said he,
+"that you resisted the enemy for forty days, and valiantly defended
+the passage of the Saône. Had all the French possessed your courage
+and patriotism, not a single foreigner would have escaped out of
+France." He expressed to them his desire of knowing the brave men, who
+had most distinguished themselves; and on their unanimous testimony,
+he granted on the spot the decoration of the Legion of Honour to the
+mayor of St. Jean Delonne. "It was for the brave men like him and
+you," said he to them, "that I instituted the Legion of Honour, and
+not for emigrants pensioned by our enemies." When the audience was
+ended, he said to me: "The mayor of Chalons is not come; yet it was I
+who appointed him: but he is related to an ancient family, and
+probably has his scruples. The inhabitants complain of him, and will
+make him suffer for it. You must go and see him. If he object to you
+his oath, tell him, that I absolve him from it; and make him sensible,
+that, if he wait till he is freed from it by Louis XVIII., he will
+wait a long time. Say to him, in short, what you please; I care little
+about his visit; it is for his own sake I wish him to come. If he do
+not come, the people will stone him to death after I am gone. Germain
+was lucky to escape[60]; let his example be a lesson to him."
+
+                   [Footnote 60: He attempted to harangue the
+                   Chalonese, but they allowed him only time to take
+                   to his heels.]
+
+I repaired immediately to the municipality, where I found the mayor,
+and a few municipal counsellors. He appeared to me a man of merit. I
+informed him, that it was my usual office, to introduce to his Majesty
+the municipal authorities; that I had observed with surprise, he had
+not been as eager as the mayors of other cities, to pay his duty to
+the Emperor; and that I was come to remove his fears, &c. He answered
+me frankly, that he had great respect and admiration for Napoleon;
+but, having sworn fealty to Louis XVIII., he thought it his duty to
+keep his oath, till he was absolved from it. I had my answer ready.
+"I, like you," said I, "consider perjury as the most degrading act, of
+which man can be guilty. But it is necessary, to make a distinction
+between a voluntary oath, and the stipulated oath, which people take
+to their government. In the eye of reason, this oath is merely an act
+of local submission; a pure and simple formality, which the monarch,
+whoever he may be, has a right to require of his subjects; but which
+cannot, as it ought not, enchain their persons and faith to
+perpetuity. France, since 1789, has sworn by turns to be faithful to
+royalty, to the convention, to the republic, to the directory, to the
+consulship, to the empire, to the charter: if those Frenchmen, who
+had taken an oath to royalty, had sought to oppose the establishment
+of a republic, by way of acquitting themselves of their oaths; if
+those, who had taken an oath to the republic, had opposed the
+establishment of the empire, &c.; into what a state of anarchy and
+disorder, into what a deluge of blood and evils, would they not have
+plunged our unhappy country? On similar occasions, the national will
+ought to be the sole guide of our conscience and our actions: the
+moment it is manifested, it is the duty of good citizens, to yield and
+obey."
+
+"These principles," replied he, "may be very good as a general rule;
+but our present case is an exception, never before known. When the
+governments, that have existed since the revolution, were overturned,
+the new government seized the authority, and it ought to be presumed,
+that the assent of the nation was on its side: but here it is a
+different affair; the royal government subsists; the Emperor abdicated
+voluntarily; and till the king has renounced the crown, I shall
+consider him as the sovereign of France."
+
+"If you wait for the king's renunciation," rejoined I, "before you
+acknowledge the Emperor, you will wait a long time. Has not the king
+pretended, that he has not ceased to reign over France these
+five-and-twenty years? And if he thought himself sovereign of France
+at a time, when the imperial government was rendered legitimate by the
+unanimous suffrages of France, and acknowledged by all Europe, do you
+think he will renounce the crown at present?
+
+"The time when kings reigned in virtue of right divine is far removed
+from us: their rights are no longer founded on any thing but the
+formal or tacit consent of nations: the moment nations reject them,
+the contract is broken; the conditional oaths taken to them are
+annulled in law and in fact, without their intervention or consent
+being necessary; for, as the proclamations of Napoleon say, kings are
+made for the people, not the people for kings.
+
+"As to the abdication of Napoleon, whether voluntary or compulsive,
+and the rights newly acquired by Louis XVIII., it would be requisite,
+in order to answer this part of your objections, to inquire, whether
+the chief of a nation have a right to relinquish the authority
+entrusted to him, without the consent of that nation; and whether a
+government imposed by foreigners, either through influence or force of
+arms, unite those characters of legitimacy, which you ascribe to it.
+I have read in our publicists, that we owe obedience to a government
+_de facto_: and since the Emperor has in fact resumed the sceptre, I
+think we cannot do better, than submit to his laws; with the proviso,"
+added I jocularly, "of leaving to posterity the task of deciding the
+question of right between Napoleon and Louis XVIII.
+
+"However," continued I, "I leave you perfectly at liberty to embrace
+which side you judge best: it is not my intention to take you by
+surprise, or to put any violence on your conscience; and I beg you to
+consider the attempts I have made to convince you, only as a proof of
+my desire to bring you over to my opinion by the force of reason."
+
+"Well, sir," said he, "I yield to your observations: be so good as to
+announce me to his Majesty."
+
+The next day he was displaced!
+
+On the 16th we slept at Avalon. Napoleon was received there as he had
+been every where; that is to say, with demonstrations of joy, that
+were actually bordering on madness. People crowded, thronged, to see,
+to hear, to speak to him; his quarters were instantly surrounded,
+besieged, by such a numerous and obstinate multitude, that it was
+impossible for us to enter or go out, without walking on the heads of
+all the population of the country. Those men who made part of the
+national guard would remain on duty from morning to night. Women of
+the greatest distinction in the place spent the day and night on the
+stairs and in the passages, to watch for his going by. Three of them,
+tired with standing the whole day for want of seats, requested
+permission to sit down by us: it was in the hall (adjoining the
+Emperor's chamber), in which some mattresses had been laid on the
+floor, in order that we might gain a few minutes' rest. It was
+pleasant enough, to see these three young and elegant Bonapartists
+timidly huddling together on a little couch in the midst of our dirty
+guardroom. We endeavoured to keep them company but our eyes closed in
+spite of us. "Go to sleep," said they to us, "we will watch over the
+Emperor." In fact, fatigue got the better of gallantry; and, to our
+shame be it spoken, we were soon asleep at their feet. When we awoke,
+we found one of these ladies keeping guard at Napoleon's door. We
+heard of it, and thanked her for her attachment, in very polite and
+pleasing terms.
+
+I think it was at Avalon[61], that an officer of the staff came and
+brought us Marshal Ney's submission, and his orders of the day[62].
+These orders of the day were printed that night; but the Emperor,
+after having read them over, directed them to be changed and
+reprinted. I know not whether his Majesty judged it proper to alter
+them, or whether the printer had made any mistake.
+
+                   [Footnote 61: I dare not positively affirm it, for
+                   in my memorandums I have confounded together
+                   Chalons, Avalon, &c.]
+
+                   [Footnote 62:
+
+                   ORDERS OF THE DAY.
+
+                   _The Marshal Prince of the Moskowa, to the troops
+                   of his Government._
+
+                   Officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers!
+
+                   The cause of the Bourbons is lost for ever. The
+                   legitimate dynasty, which the French nation has
+                   adopted, is about to re-ascend the throne: it
+                   belongs to the Emperor Napoleon alone, our
+                   sovereign, to reign over our fine country. Whether
+                   the nobility of the Bourbons take the step of
+                   expatriating itself again, or consent to live among
+                   us, is no concern of ours. The sacred cause of
+                   liberty, and of our independence, will no longer
+                   suffer from their fatal influence. They have
+                   endeavoured to debase our military glory; but they
+                   have found themselves mistaken. This glory is the
+                   fruit of labours too noble for us to lose the
+                   remembrance of it. Soldiers! those days are no
+                   more, when nations were governed by stifling their
+                   rights. Liberty is at length triumphant and
+                   Napoleon, our august Emperor, is about to confirm
+                   it for ever. Henceforth let this lovely cause be
+                   ours, and that of all Frenchmen: let all the brave
+                   fellows, whom I have the honour to command, be
+                   thoroughly imbued with this grand truth.
+
+                   Soldiers! I have often led you to victory; I am now
+                   going to conduct you to that immortal phalanx,
+                   which the Emperor Napoleon is conducting to Paris,
+                   and which will be there in a few days, and our
+                   hopes and our happiness will be for ever realized.
+                   Long live the Emperor!
+
+                         Lons le Saulnier, the 13th of March, 1815.
+                         The marshal of the empire,
+                         PRINCE OF THE MOSKOWA.]
+
+On the 17th the Emperor arrived at Auxerre, where he was received for
+the first time by a prefect. He alighted at the prefect's house. On
+the mantel-piece of the first saloon were the busts of the Empress,
+and of her son; and in the next was a whole-length portrait of
+Napoleon, in his imperial robes: it might have been supposed, that the
+reign of the Emperor had never been interrupted.
+
+Napoleon immediately received the congratulations of all the
+authorities, and of the tribunals. These congratulations began to be
+no longer a mark of attachment in our eyes, but the fulfilment of a
+duty. After having discoursed with them on the grand interests of the
+state, the Emperor, whose good humour was inexhaustible, began to
+joke about the court of Louis XVIII. "His court," said he, "has the
+air of that of King Dagobert: we see nothing in it but antiques; the
+women are old and frightfully ugly; there were no pretty women in it
+but mine, and those were so ill-treated, that they were obliged to
+desert it. All those people are made up of nothing but haughtiness and
+pride: I have been reproached with being proud; I was so to strangers;
+but never did any one see me suffer my chancellor to set one knee to
+the ground to receive my orders, or oblige my prefects and mayors to
+wait at table on my courtiers and dowagers[63]. They say, that the men
+about the court are little better than the women; and that, to
+distinguish them from my generals, whom I had covered with gold lace,
+they are dressed like beggars. My court, it is true, was superb: I was
+fond of magnificence; not for myself, a plain soldier's coat was
+sufficient for me; I was fond of it, because it encourages our
+manufactures: without magnificence there is no industry. I abolished
+at Lyons all that parchment nobility; it was never sensible of what it
+owed me: it was I that exalted it, by making counts and barons of my
+best generals. Nobility is a chimera; men are too enlightened to
+believe, that some among them are noble, others not: they all spring
+from the same stock; the only distinction is that of talents, and of
+services rendered the state: our laws know no others."
+
+                   [Footnote 63: He alluded to the installation of the
+                   council of state, where the chancellor actually
+                   dropped on one knee, to ask and receive the King's
+                   orders.
+
+                   And to the city entertainment, where the prefect,
+                   his wife, and the municipal body, waited at table
+                   on the King and his suite, consisting of forty
+                   ladies of the old court, and only four ladies of
+                   the new nobility, two of whom were the wives of the
+                   marshals on duty.]
+
+The Emperor imagined, that he should find Ney at Auxerre on his
+arrival: "I cannot conceive," said he to General Bertrand, "why Ney is
+not here: I am surprised at it, and uneasy: has he changed his
+opinions? I cannot think so; he would never have suffered Gamot[64]
+to implicate himself. Yet we must know on what we are to depend; see
+to it." A few hours after, the marshal arrived. It was about eight
+o'clock, and Count Bertrand came to inform the Emperor of it. "The
+marshal, before he comes into your Majesty's presence," said he, "is
+desirous of collecting his ideas, and justifying in writing his conduct
+both previous and subsequent to the events of Fontainbleau."--"What
+need is there of any justification to me?" answered Napoleon: "tell
+him, that I love him still, and that I will embrace him to-morrow." He
+would not receive him the same day, as a punishment for having had to
+wait for him.
+
+                   [Footnote 64: M. Gamot, prefect of Auxerre, had
+                   married the sister of Madame Ney.]
+
+The next day the Emperor, as soon as he perceived him, said: "Embrace
+me, my dear marshal; I am glad to see you. I want no explanation or
+justification: I have honoured and esteemed you as the bravest of the
+brave."--"Sire, the newspapers have told a heap of lies, which I wish
+to confute: my conduct has ever been that of a good soldier, and a
+good Frenchman."--"I know it, and accordingly never doubted your
+attachment."--"You were right, Sire. Your Majesty may always depend
+upon me, when my country is concerned.... _It is for my country I have
+shed my blood, and for it I would still spill it to the last drop. I
+love you, Sire, but my country above all! above all._"--(The Emperor
+interrupting him) "It is patriotism too, that brings me to France. I
+learned, that our country was unhappy, and I am come to deliver it
+from the emigrants and the Bourbons. I will confer upon it all that it
+expects from me."--"Your Majesty may be assured, that we will support
+you: he who acts with justice, may do what he pleases with the French.
+The Bourbons have ruined themselves, by having wished to act as they
+thought proper, and thrown aside the army."--"Princes who never saw a
+naked sword could not honour the army: its glory humbled them, and
+they were jealous of it."--"Yes, Sire, they incessantly sought to
+humiliate us. I am still enraged, when I think, that a marshal of
+France, an old warrior like me, was obliged to kneel down before
+that ... of a Duke of B..... to receive the cross of St. Louis. It
+could not last; and, if you had not come to expel them, we should have
+driven them out ourselves[65]."--"How are your troops disposed?"--"Very
+well, Sire; I thought they would have stifled me, when I announced to
+them, that they were about to march to meet your eagles."--"What
+generals are with you?"--"Le Courbe and Bourmont."--"Are you sure of
+them?"--"I will answer for Le Courbe, but I am not so sure of
+Bourmont."--"Why are they not come hither?"--"They showed some
+hesitation, and I left them."--"Are you not afraid of Bourmont's
+bestirring himself, and embarrassing you?"--"No, Sire, he will keep
+himself quiet: besides, he would find nobody to second him. I have
+expelled from the ranks all the light infantry of Louis XIV.[66], who
+had been given to us, and all the country is fired with
+enthusiasm."--"No matter, I shall not leave him any possibility of
+disturbing us: you will direct him and the royalist officers to be
+secured till we enter Paris. I shall be there without doubt by the
+20th or 25th, and sooner. If we arrive, as I hope, without any
+obstacle, do you think they will defend themselves"--"I do not think
+they will, Sire: you know what the Parisians are, more noise than
+work."--"I have received despatches from Paris this morning: the
+patriots expect me with impatience, and are on the point of rising. I
+am afraid of some quarrel taking place between them and the royalists.
+I would not for the world, that my return should be stained with a
+single drop of blood. It is easy for you, to hold communication with
+Paris: write to your friends, write to Maret, that our affairs go on
+well, that I shall arrive without firing a single musket; and let them
+all unite, to prevent the spilling of blood. Our triumph should be as
+pure, as the cause we serve." Generals Bertrand and Labedoyère, who
+were present, then mixed in the conversation; and after a few minutes
+the Emperor left them, and retired into his closet.
+
+                   [Footnote 65: It is indisputable, in fact, that a
+                   general insurrection, provoked by the oppressive
+                   and senseless conduct of the government, was ready
+                   to burst out, at the moment when Napoleon
+                   re-appeared.
+
+                   It is known, that France, wearied, disgusted, and
+                   discontented with the new order of things, wished
+                   heartily for a new revolution; and people had
+                   united and concerted measures for preparing the
+                   crisis, and causing it to turn to the advantage of
+                   the country.
+
+                   Some of the malecontents maintained, that the first
+                   step should be, to shake off the insupportable
+                   yoke, under which they were groaning, and then see
+                   what was to be done: the majority formally declared
+                   for the immediate recall of the Emperor, and were
+                   desirous, that emissaries should be deputed to him,
+                   or that vessels should be sent, to take him off
+                   from the island of Elba.
+
+                   The necessity of a change was unanimously agreed
+                   upon, and they were endeavouring to settle the
+                   rest, when the sudden arrival of Napoleon put an
+                   end to the discussion.
+
+                   After the 20th of March, the Emperor was made
+                   acquainted with these projects of insurrection; and
+                   knew that certain chiefs hesitated about having any
+                   thing to do with him. "The leaders," said he,
+                   "wished to take the business into their own hands,
+                   and labour for themselves; now they pretend, that
+                   they opened the way for me to Paris: I know better;
+                   it was the nation, the people, the soldiers, and
+                   the sub-lieutenants, who did all. It is to these,
+                   and to these only, that I owe every thing."]
+
+                   [Footnote 66: A nickname given to the emigrant
+                   officers.]
+
+He wrote to the Empress for the third time. This letter finished,
+Napoleon turned his thoughts to the means of embarking a part of his
+army, harassed by forced marches. He sent for the chief of the boat
+department, required an account of the number of boats, the means of
+preventing accidents, &c. He entered so minutely into particulars with
+him, that the man could scarcely recover from his surprise, or
+comprehend how an Emperor should know so much as a boatman. Napoleon
+persisted in the speedy departure of his troops. Several times he
+ordered me to go and hasten the embarkation: he was in the habit of
+employing those about him for every thing that came into his head. His
+genius knowing no bounds, he imagined, that we poor mortals ought
+equally to know every thing, and do every thing.
+
+The Emperor had given orders to his scouts, to bring him all the
+mails; and he had appointed me, to examine their contents. I waged
+implacable war with the correspondence of ministers; and if I
+frequently found in it threats and abuse, of which I came in for my
+share, it presented me at least with matters as important as curious.
+I particularly remarked two secret instructions, the publication of
+which, even now, would cover their authors with eternal disgrace. The
+letters _comme il faut_ were equally revolting. Most of them, dictated
+by frantic hatred, might have sanctioned the rigours of the law: but I
+considered them as the offspring of brains to be pitied for their
+diseased state, and contented myself with writing on them in large
+letters, before I returned to the post-boy, a _Seen_; which, like the
+head of Medusa, no doubt petrified more than one noble reader.
+
+The darksome conspiracies of the enemies of Napoleon were not the only
+objects, that met my indiscreet eyes. Sometimes I found myself
+unintentionally initiated into gentler mysteries and my pen, by
+mistake, traced the fatal _Seen_ at the bottom of epistles, which
+should have charmed the sight only of the happy mortals, for whom love
+had destined them.
+
+It was from the newspapers, and the private correspondence, we
+learned, that some Vendeans were set off from Paris, according to
+their own account, with the design of assassinating the Emperor. A
+paper, which it is unnecessary to name, even said, that these
+gentlemen were disguised as soldiers, and as women, and that most
+assuredly the Corsican could not escape them.
+
+Though Napoleon did not appear to be uneasy about these criminal
+plots, we were under apprehensions for him. Previously, when
+travellers were desirous of telling him news, I stepped aside to enjoy
+a few minutes' liberty: but from that time I never quitted him, and,
+with my hand on my sword, I never for a moment lost sight of the eyes,
+attitude, and gesture of the persons I admitted to his presence.
+
+Count Bertrand, General Drouot, and the officers of his household,
+equally redoubled their care and attention. But it seemed as if the
+Emperor made a point of setting his murderers at defiance. That very
+day he reviewed the 14th of the line in the public square, and
+afterwards mixed with the people and the soldiers. In vain did we
+endeavour to surround him; we were jostled with so much perseverance
+and impetuosity, that it was impossible for us to remain close to him
+for two minutes together. The way in which we were elbowed amused him
+extremely: he laughed at our efforts, and, in order to brave us,
+plunged himself still deeper amid the crowd that besieged us.
+
+Our mistrust was nearly fatal to two of the enemy's emissaries.
+
+One of them, a staff officer, came to offer us his services. Being
+questioned, he scarcely knew what answers to make. His embarrassment
+had already excited violent suspicions, when it was unfortunately
+perceived, that he had on green pantaloons. This was sufficient to
+convince every body, that he was one of the Artois guards in disguise.
+Interrogated anew, he answered still more awkwardly; and, attainted
+and convicted of being a highly suspicious person, and of wearing
+green pantaloons to boot, he was on the point of being thrown out of
+the window, when fortunately Count Bertrand happened to pass by, and
+ordered him merely to be turned out at the door.
+
+This officer of the new batch had not come to kill Napoleon; he had
+only been sent to spy what passed at his head-quarters.
+
+The same day witnessed another scene. A chef d'escadron of hussars,
+adorned with a sabre-cut in the face, came also to join us. He met an
+extraordinarily good reception, and was even invited to breakfast at
+the table of the great officers of the household. In wine there is
+truth; and the new comer, forgetting his part, explained himself so
+clearly, that it was easy to distinguish in him a false brother. He
+told us, that the national guard of Paris, and all the imperial guard,
+were for the King: that every soldier, who retained his fidelity, had
+a gift of a hundred francs, every officer a thousand, and was promoted
+a step, &c. &c; that Napoleon had been outlawed, and that if he were
+taken.... At these words Colonel ***, who sat next him, seized him by
+the collar; every body was for knocking him on the head at once; I
+alone was against it. "Gentlemen," said I, "the Emperor will not hear
+of any blood being shed; you have sworn to give no quarter to
+assassins, but this man is not one; he is no doubt a spy. We are not
+afraid of them; let them go, and report what they have seen to those
+who have sent them: let us all drink the health of our Emperor, Long
+live the Emperor!" He was spitten upon, turned out, and we saw him no
+more.
+
+Another deserter from the royal army presented himself, to reveal an
+important secret, as he said, to the Emperor. The Emperor, who knew no
+secret but strength, would not waste time in listening to him, and
+sent him to me. He was an officer of hussars, the friend and
+accomplice of Maubreuil. He did not think me worthy of his secrets,
+and I introduced him to the grand Marshal. The substance of what he
+said was, that he, as well as Maubreuil, had been commissioned by the
+provisional government, and by very great persons, to assassinate the
+Emperor, at the time of his departure for the island of Elba: that he
+held in execration such an execrable crime, and would not commit it;
+and that, after having once saved the life of Napoleon, he came to
+place himself near his person, to make a rampart for him with his body
+in case of necessity. He delivered to the grand Marshal a memorial of
+Maubreuil's, and divers papers, of which the Emperor directed me to
+give him an account. I examined them all with the greatest care. They
+proved incontestably, that mysterious rendezvous had been given to
+Maubreuil in the name of the provisional government; but they
+contained no clue, that could enable any one to penetrate the object
+and end of these secret conferences: the names of those illustrious
+personages, whom some persons have since been desirous of implicating
+in this odious plot, were not even mentioned in them. This officer
+reaped no benefit from his disclosures, real or pretended, and
+disappeared.
+
+From hearing so much of plots against his life, however, a painful
+impression was at length made on the Emperor. "I cannot conceive,"
+said he to me, "how men liable to fall into my hands can be
+incessantly urging my assassination, and setting a price upon my head.
+Had I wished to get rid of them by similar means, they would long ago
+have been mingled with the dust. Like them, I could have found
+Georges, Brularts, and Maubreuils. Twenty times, if I had wished it,
+persons would have brought them to me bound hands and feet, dead or
+alive. I had always the foolish generosity, to despise their rage: I
+despise it still; but wo betide them, wo to all their infernal gang,
+if they dare touch one of my people! My blood boils, when I think,
+that they have dared, in the face of nations, to proscribe without
+trial the thousands of Frenchmen, who are marching with us: is this
+known to the army?"--"Yes, sire, some persons have had the imprudence,
+to spread the report, that we are all proclaimed out of the protection
+of the laws, and that some of the body guards and Chouans have set out
+to assassinate you: accordingly, the troops have sworn, to give them
+no quarter, and already two spies have with difficulty escaped being
+knocked on the head before my eyes."--"So much the worse, so much the
+worse; such are not my intentions. I wish not a single drop of French
+blood to be shed, not a single gun to be fired. Girard[67] must be
+desired to restrain his soldiers; write: "General Girard, I am
+informed, that your troops, being acquainted with the decrees of
+Paris, have resolved, by way of reprisals, to kill all the Royalists
+they meet: you will meet none but Frenchmen; I forbid you to fire a
+single musket: calm your soldiers; contradict the reports by which
+they are exasperated; tell them, that I will not enter Paris at their
+head, if their weapons be stained with French blood[68].""
+
+                   [Footnote 67: He had just been appointed to the
+                   command of the advanced guard.]
+
+                   [Footnote 68: Napoleon had already given similar
+                   orders to General Cambronne. The following is his
+                   letter, which I reproach myself with not having
+                   quoted. "General Cambronne, to you I entrust my
+                   noblest campaign: all the French expect me with
+                   impatience: every where you will find none but
+                   friends: do not fire a single musket; I will not
+                   have my crown cost the French a drop of blood."]
+
+Ministers of the King, guilty authors of the parricidal ordinance of
+the 6th of March, read this and blush!
+
+The moment he was quitting Auxerre, the Emperor heard, that the
+Marseillese appeared to have an intention of annoying his rear. He
+gave orders to the general posted in échelon on the road, and set out
+without fear.
+
+In advance of Fossard, he perceived, drawn up in order of battle, the
+dragoons of the King's regiment, who had deserted their officers, to
+come and join him. He alighted, saluted them with that military
+gravity, which so well became him, and bestowed on them compliments
+and promotions. No regiment could escape us. When the officers
+demurred, the soldiers came without them. I am wrong, however: there
+was one regiment, the third of hussars, that the Emperor could not
+bring over to him. The brave Moncey, who commanded it, was a man of
+sound understanding, and his attachment to Napoleon, his ancient
+benefactor, could not be doubted: but all men do not see with the same
+eyes; some made their duty consist in running to meet Napoleon, Moncey
+thought himself obliged to avoid him.
+
+He had conjured his regiment, not to subject him to the disgrace of
+being deserted. His officers and his hussars, by whom he was adored,
+followed him, while they made the air ring with shouts of Long live
+the Emperor! thinking thus to reconcile their respect for their
+colonel with their devotion to the cause and person of Napoleon.
+
+We were informed on the road, that two thousand of the body guards
+were posted in the forest of Fontainbleau. Though this account was
+improbable, it was thought necessary, not to cross the forest without
+precaution. At our urgent solicitation, the Emperor took about two
+hundred horse to accompany him. Hitherto his only escort had been the
+carriage of General Drouot, which preceded his, and mine, which closed
+the march. Colonels Germanouski and Du Champ, Captain Raoul, and three
+or four Polanders, galloped by the side of them. Our horses, our
+postillions, our couriers, with tricoloured ribands, gave our
+peaceable party an air of festivity and happiness, that formed a
+singular contrast to the proscription suspended over our heads, and to
+the mourning and despair of the men who had proscribed us.
+
+We marched almost all night, as the Emperor was desirous of reaching
+Fontainbleau at break of day. I observed, that I thought it would be
+imprudent in him, to alight at the castle. "You are a child," answered
+he; "if any thing be to happen to me, all these precautions would be
+of no avail. Our fate is written above:" and he pointed with his
+finger to the sky[69].
+
+                   [Footnote 69: Napoleon was a fatalist, and
+                   superstitious; and made no secret of it. He
+                   believed in lucky and unlucky days. We might be
+                   astonished at this weakness, if we did not know,
+                   that it was common to the greatest men both of
+                   ancient and modern times.]
+
+I had imagined, that the sight of the palace of Fontainbleau, the
+place where he had so lately descended from the throne, and where he
+now re-appeared as conqueror and sovereign, would make some impression
+on him, and impel him to think of the fragility of human grandeur. I
+watched him attentively; but he did not appear to me, to experience
+any emotion. Immediately on his arrival, he rambled over the gardens
+and the palace with as much pleasure and curiosity, as if he came to
+take possession of them for the first time. Napoleon occupied the
+little apartments, and complaisantly made me notice their extreme
+elegance. He then led me to his library, and in going up, said with an
+air of satisfaction, "We shall be very well here."--"Yes, sire,"
+answered I, "people are always well at home." He smiled, and I believe
+was pleased with my well-timed compliment.
+
+At eleven o'clock he dictated to me the orders of the day; and these
+orders announced, that we should sleep at Essonne. It was not till
+noon, that the news of the King's departure was brought at once by a
+courier from M. de Lavalette, by a letter from Madame Hamalin, and by
+M. de Ség.... He sent for me immediately. "You will set out first," he
+said, "to get every thing ready."--"It is to Essonne, I presume, your
+Majesty orders me to repair?"--"No, to Paris. The King and the Princes
+have fled. I shall be at the Tuileries this evening." He gave me some
+secret directions, and I quitted Fontainbleau with a heart full of
+happiness and joy. I had never doubted Napoleon's triumph; but from
+hope to reality how great the distance!
+
+In fact the King had quitted Paris.
+
+The aspect of affairs had never changed since the royal session of the
+17th of March. The minister, persevering in his system of falsehood
+and dissimulation, still distorted the truth with the same impudence,
+and did not cease to predict the approaching destruction of Napoleon
+and his adherents. At length, after a thousand subterfuges, it became
+necessary to confess, that Napoleon was within a few leagues of Paris.
+The King, whom the minister had not been afraid to deceive, had
+scarcely time to think of retreating. In this painful situation, he
+displayed a strength of mind above all praise. His courage was not
+that of a warlike prince, who defends his capital inch by inch, and
+trembles with rage and despair when forced to quit it; but that of a
+good father, who separates himself with regret from his children, and
+from the roof under which they were born. The Bonapartists themselves,
+who made a great distinction between the king and his family, were not
+insensible to the tears of that august and unfortunate monarch, and
+sincerely prayed, that his flight might be exempted from danger and
+trouble.
+
+It was supposed, that Napoleon would make a triumphal entry into his
+capital. His old grenadiers, who had marched in seventeen days a
+distance that would commonly require five-and-forty, seemed, as they
+approached their object, to acquire fresh strength at every step. On
+the road you might see them in agitation, pressing upon and
+encouraging one another. They would have marched twenty leagues in an
+hour, if necessary, not to be deprived of the honour of entering Paris
+by the side of Napoleon. Their hopes were disappointed: the Emperor,
+who had witnessed their fatigues, ordered them to take a day's rest
+at Fontainbleau.
+
+At two o'clock on the 20th of March, Napoleon set out for Paris.
+Retarded by the crowd, that accumulated on his way, and by the
+felicitations of the troops and the generals, who had run to meet him,
+he could not reach it till nine in the evening. As soon as he
+alighted, the people rushed on him; a thousand arms lifted him up, and
+carried him along in triumph. Nothing could be more affecting than the
+confused assembly of the crowd of officers and generals, who had
+pressed into the apartments of the Tuileries at the heels of Napoleon.
+Happy to see themselves once more triumphant, after so many
+vicissitudes, humiliations, and disgusts, they forgot the majesty of
+the place, to give themselves up without constraint to the desire of
+expressing their happiness and joy. They ran to one another, and
+hugged each other again and again. The halls of the palace seemed
+metamorphosed into a field of battle, where friends, brothers,
+unexpectedly escaped from death, found and embraced one another after
+victory.
+
+We had been so spoiled on the road, however, that the Emperor's
+reception by the Parisians did not answer our expectations.
+Multiplied shouts of "Long live the Emperor!" saluted him on his way;
+but they wanted those characters of unanimity and frenzy, which were
+displayed by the acclamations, that had accompanied him from the gulf
+of Juan to the gates of Paris. It would be a mistake, however, to
+infer, that the Parisians did not behold the return of Napoleon with
+pleasure. We must only conclude, therefore, that the Emperor missed
+the proper time for his entrance.
+
+The people of great cities are eager for sights: to move their hearts,
+you must astonish their eyes. If Napoleon, instead of traversing Paris
+in the evening, and without being announced or expected, had put it
+off till the next day, and allowed the disquietudes inseparable from
+such a crisis time to be allayed; if he had given his entrance the
+pomp and splendour it ought to have had; if he had caused the troops
+and half-pay officers, who had hastened to his call, to march before
+him; if he had presented himself at the head of his grenadiers of the
+island of Elba, with all their decorations; if he had been surrounded
+by Generals Bertrand, Drouot, Cambronne, and the faithful companions
+of his exile; this grand and affecting train would have produced the
+most lively sensation, and the whole population of Paris would have
+applauded the return and the triumph of Napoleon. Instead of those
+unanimous transports, he received only the applauses of the populous
+part of the capital, that he had occasion to traverse; and his
+detractors did not fail, to compare this reception with that of Louis
+XVIII., and to publish, that he was obliged to enter Paris by night,
+in order to escape the maledictions and vengeance of the public.
+Napoleon, who had just travelled two hundred and fifty leagues amid
+the acclamations of two millions of Frenchmen, could not be agitated
+by any such fears; but it is well known with what confidence, what
+intoxication, he was inspired by the anniversary of a victory or happy
+event; and as the 20th of March was the birthday of his son, he
+determined at all events to enter the capital under such fortunate
+auspices.
+
+The very evening of his arrival, Napoleon had a long conversation with
+the Duke of Otranto, and the other dignitaries of the state, on the
+situation of France. They all appeared intoxicated with happiness and
+hope. The Emperor himself could not disguise his rapture: never did
+I see him so madly gay, or so prodigal of boxes on the ear.[70] His
+conversation savoured of the agitation of his heart: the same words
+incessantly recurred to his tongue; and, it must be confessed, they
+were not very flattering to the crowd of courtiers and great
+personages, who already besieged him: he was continually saying: "It
+was the disinterested persons, who brought me back to Paris; the
+sub-lieutenants and soldiers did every thing; I owe all to the people
+and the army."
+
+                   [Footnote 70: This was Napoleon's favourite
+                   compliment. The fonder he was of a person, the more
+                   he gave him, and the harder he struck.]
+
+That night and the following morning the Emperor was busied in the
+choice and nomination of his ministers.
+
+At their head Prince Cambacérès found himself placed. The system of
+defamation directed against him had not altered the high
+consideration, which he had acquired by his great wisdom, and constant
+moderation. The Emperor offered him the port-folio of the minister of
+justice, and was obliged to command him to accept it. His sagacity and
+foresight, no doubt, presaged the fatal issue of the new reign of
+Napoleon.
+
+The Prince of Eckmuhl was named minister of war. By the harshness of
+his manners, by acts of severity almost barbarous, he had formerly
+drawn upon himself universal animadversions; his fidelity to the
+Emperor, and his defence of Hamburgh, had subsequently conciliated
+public opinion. The feebleness and versatility of his character indeed
+excited some apprehensions; but it was hoped, that the Emperor would
+know how to master him, and that the army would derive happy
+advantages from his indefatigable zeal, and his strict probity.
+
+The Duke of Vicenza[71] was placed at the helm of foreign affairs.
+The rectitude of his principles, the firmness, nobleness, and
+independence of his character, had justly acquired him the esteem of
+France and of Europe; and his appointment was considered as a pledge
+of the loyal and pacific intentions of Napoleon.
+
+                   [Footnote 71: The Duke of Vicenza, convinced of the
+                   inutility of the efforts Napoleon might make, to
+                   establish any diplomatic connexion with foreign
+                   powers, refused to accept the post. The Emperor
+                   offered it to M. Môlé. M. Môlé objected, that he
+                   was an entire stranger to diplomacy, and requested
+                   Napoleon, to make another choice. Napoleon and his
+                   other ministers were then so pressing with the Duke
+                   of Vicenza, that he considered it his duty to
+                   yield. He would have preferred the Emperor's giving
+                   him a command in the army, where he would at least
+                   have found an opportunity of usefully serving his
+                   country and the Emperor.
+
+                   The ministry of the interior, intended at first for
+                   M. Costaz, was also offered to M. Môlé, and
+                   ultimately given to M. Carnot, at the
+                   recommendation of the Duke of Bassano.
+
+                   The Emperor was not pleased with the obstinate
+                   refusals of M. Môlé: he was fond of his name, and
+                   valued his talents. He had intended to appoint him
+                   governor of the Imperial Prince; and it was to this
+                   intention that M. Môlé was chiefly indebted for the
+                   high rank, to which he had been so rapidly raised.
+
+                   Nevertheless M. Môlé solicited and obtained the
+                   general superintendance of highways and bridges, a
+                   post which he occupied in 1813, before he was
+                   appointed minister of justice.]
+
+The Duke of Gaëta and Count Mollien became again ministers of the
+finances and the treasury. They had obtained the confidence of the
+public by the ability, prudence, and integrity of their preceding
+administration; and the choice of them met with general applause.
+
+The Duke of Otranto had the charge of the police. He had been at the
+helm of the state in circumstances of difficulty and peril; he had
+learned to form a sound judgment of the public mind, and to foresee,
+prepare, and guide events. Having belonged to all parties in
+succession, he knew their tactics, their resources, their pretensions;
+and the whole nation, convinced of his experience, talents, and
+patriotism, hoped, that he would successfully concur in the safety of
+the Emperor and the empire.
+
+The recall of the Duke of Bassano to the ministry, as secretary of
+state, displeased the court, and also those credulous people, who,
+having no opinions but what are suggested to them, adopt praise and
+blame without discernment.
+
+Few men have been so ill treated, as this minister.
+
+Every one has taken pleasure in disfiguring his character and even his
+features.
+
+The Duke of Bassano had an open countenance, an agreeable manner of
+conversation, a politeness always uniform, a dignity sometimes
+affected, but never offensive, with a natural propensity to esteem
+men, courtesy in obliging them, and perseverance in serving them. The
+favour he enjoyed was at first the reward of unexampled readiness in
+business; of indefatigable activity; of pure intentions, lofty views,
+probity, proof against all temptation, and I will even add an iron
+constitution; for physical strength also was a quality in the eyes of
+Napoleon. Subsequently it became the just return for an attachment not
+to be shaken; an attachment, which, by its force, vivacity, and
+constancy, seemed to be a compound of love and friendship.
+
+I must own, I believe, that M. de Bassano most frequently shared and
+approved without exception the opinions of the Emperor; but it was not
+from interested or base motives: the Emperor was the idol of his
+heart, the object of his admiration: with such sentiments, how was it
+possible for him, to perceive the errors and faults of Napoleon?
+Besides, having continually to express the ideas of the Emperor, and
+to imbue himself as it were with the emanations of his spirit, he had
+identified himself with his way of thinking and of viewing things, and
+saw and thought as he did with the most perfect sincerity. Not but
+that he sometimes differed from him in opinion; yet whatever efforts
+he made, he always yielded ultimately to the irresistible ascendancy,
+that the genius of Napoleon exercised over him, as it did over every
+other person.
+
+The Duke of Decrès was called anew to the post of minister of the
+navy, and this unexpected choice was completely disapproved. This
+minister was not deficient in understanding, talents, or bravery; but
+from the little importance he appeared to set on acting with justice
+or injustice, his cynicism, and his brutal contempt for those under
+him, he had acquired the aversion of all who came near him; and, as
+evil spreads readily, this aversion, though unjust, had become
+general.
+
+The discontent this appointment excited was repaired by the good
+effect, which was produced by that of M. Carnot to the ministry of the
+home department. The soldiery did not forget, that he had paved the
+way to victory for many years; and the citizens remembered with what
+zeal, this courageous patriot had shown himself the defender of public
+liberty under Napoleon, both when consul and when Emperor, and under
+Louis XVIII. To be a real patriot, says one of our celebrated writers,
+it is requisite, to possess greatness of soul; to have knowledge, to
+have probity, to have virtue. In M. Carnot all these rare and valuable
+qualities were combined: and, far from acquiring any personal lustre
+from this great name of patriot, he seemed on the contrary to
+embellish the name by wearing it; so well had he preserved it in its
+primitive purity, amid the debasement into which it had been plunged
+by the excesses of the revolution, and the abuses of despotism.
+
+The choice of such a minister was considered as a pledge to the
+nation. The sovereign, who was not afraid to introduce this
+illustrious citizen into the government of the state, could not but
+entertain the generous design of securing the happiness of his
+subjects, and respecting their rights.
+
+The same day the Emperor gave the chief command of the gendarmerie to
+the Duke of Rovigo.
+
+The Duke of Rovigo, an old aide-de-camp of Napoleon, had sworn him an
+eternal attachment, both from feeling and gratitude. This attachment,
+born in a camp, had retained the character of military obedience: a
+word, a gesture, was sufficient to call it into action. But however
+great its strength, or, if you will, its fanaticism, it never affected
+the rectitude and frankness, which were the base and ornament of the
+duke's character.
+
+From no other person, except the Duke of Vicenza, did the Emperor hear
+more bold and useful truths. Twenty times did he venture to say to
+him, as his ministerial correspondence testifies, that France and
+Europe were tired of shedding blood; and that, if he did not renounce
+his system of war, he would be abandoned by the French, and
+precipitated from the throne by foreigners.
+
+The command of the gendarmerie was taken from Marshal Moncey, not from
+disgust or dissatisfaction, but because the marshal showed little
+eagerness to retain it. On this occasion he wrote to the Emperor a
+letter full of fine sentiments, in which he requested him, to continue
+to his son the kindness he had formerly conferred on himself: it was
+difficult to reconcile the gratitude he owed Napoleon with the
+fidelity he had promised the King: in this he was so happy as to
+succeed.
+
+All the marshals were not so fortunate.
+
+M. de Montalivet, formerly minister of the home department, became
+intendant of the civil list, an office that suited him better. In
+administration, as in many other things, endeavours to do better
+prevent people from doing so well; and M. de Montalivet, from a desire
+to neglect no minute particular, and seeking to carry every thing to
+perfection, lost in empty trifles that time, which he might have
+employed in promoting the general good on a large scale.
+
+The strangest metamorphosis was that of the Duke de Cadore: he was
+made a surveyor of buildings.
+
+     "Soyez plutôt maçon, si c'est votre métier."[72]
+
+                   [Footnote 72:
+
+                   "Make him, nor think his genius check'd,
+                   A herald, or an architect."--GAY.]
+
+This place, hitherto the modest portion of auditors or masters of
+request, who had interest at court, was astonished at the honour of
+belonging to a duke and peer, ex-ambassador, ex-minister, ex-grand
+chancellor, &c. &c. &c. But so much was his excellency then devoted to
+the sovereign of the day, that he would readily have accepted the post
+of a gentleman usher, had there been no other to offer him.
+
+The council of state was re-established on the ancient footing, and
+composed of nearly the same members.
+
+The Emperor was neither politic nor prudent in ostensibly bestowing
+his confidence on some of them, who were obnoxious to the public. The
+usurpations of the imperial power were ascribed to their servile
+counsels, and their presence near the throne could not but revive
+recollections and anxieties, which it was of importance to destroy for
+ever. If their merit and experience rendered them necessary, they
+should have been consulted in private, but not held up to public view.
+A government firmly established may sometimes brave opinion, but a
+rising government ought to respect and submit to it.
+
+All the aides-de-camp of the Emperor, with the exception, I believe,
+of General Lauriston, whom he would not employ again, were recalled.
+He could not place around him officers more worthy of his confidence
+for their noble-mindedness and superior talents. Generals Le Tort and
+Labedoyère were added to their number. The Emperor, deceived by false
+appearances[73], had taken from the former the command of the dragoons
+of the guard, and to compensate for this involuntary injustice, he
+made him his aide-de-camp. The same favour was conferred on
+Labedoyère, as a recompense for his conduct at Grenoble; but he
+answered the kindness of Napoleon by a formal refusal. "I will not
+allow it to be thought," said he proudly, "that I joined the Emperor
+for the sake of reward. I espoused his cause, simply because it was
+that of liberty, and of my country; the honour of having served it is
+enough for me: I desire nothing more; the Emperor personally owes me
+nothing."
+
+                   [Footnote 73: General Le Tort's address to the
+                   King.]
+
+This noble refusal will not surprise those, who had an opportunity of
+knowing and esteeming the patriotism and disinterestedness of that
+brave and unfortunate young man.
+
+Introduced to society at an early age, he conducted himself at first
+as those generally do, who have a handsome face, elegance of manners,
+wit, a name, wealth, and no experience. Soon brought to himself, he
+felt, that he was not born to lead a life of dissipation; and his
+conduct became as honourable, as it had been irregular. His mind,
+turned to serious occupation, engaged in political speculations: his
+soul, naturally proud and independent, matured and enlarged itself,
+and expanded to those liberal ideas and noble sentiments, that the
+love of glory and of our country inspires. Nature, in giving him a
+lofty, firm, and daring character, unquestionably destined him to act
+an important part in the world; and if death, and what a death! had
+not struck him in the flower of his years, he would assuredly have
+fulfilled his shining destiny, and done honour to France.
+
+The Emperor set several persons to speak to him, and after three days
+negotiations Labedoyère yielded. Napoleon persisted in recompensing
+him. In ordinary cases, the Emperor looked with indifference on the
+endeavours made to please him; never was he known to say, I am
+pleased; and a person conjectured he had given him satisfaction, when
+he did not show any marks of discontent. If, on the other hand, the
+services rendered him made a noise, like those of Labedoyère, he was
+lavish of his praises and rewards: and in this he had two objects; the
+one, that of appearing not only just, but generous; the other, that of
+inspiring emulation. But frequently on the very day, on which he had
+bestowed on you praises, and proofs of his satisfaction, he would
+treat you with disdain and harshness, to prevent your attaching too
+much importance to the service you might have rendered him, or
+believing, that he had contracted a debt of obligation to you.
+
+The Emperor replaced about his person most of the gentlemen of the
+bedchamber, equerries, and masters of ceremonies, who were with him in
+1814. He had retained his unfortunate predilection for the great lords
+of former times, and must have them at any price: had he not been
+surrounded by ancient nobles, he would have fancied himself in a
+republic.
+
+Most of these (for there were some who were most honourably excepted,
+as the Prince de Beauveau, Messrs. de Turenne, de Montholon, de
+Lascases, Forbin de Janson, Perregaux, &c. &c.) had meanly renounced
+him in 1814, and become the common valets of the Bourbons; but he
+would not believe a word of it. He had the weakness, common to all
+princes, of considering his most cringing courtiers as his most
+devoted subjects.
+
+He would also form an establishment for the Empress, and re-appointed
+Mesdames de Bassano, de Vicenza, de Rovigo, Duchâtel, and Marmier,
+ladies of the bedchamber. The Duchess of M*** was not recalled. He
+heard from Prince Joseph, that after the events of Fontainbleau, she
+had abused the confidence of the Empress, and betrayed the secret of
+her correspondence.
+
+It was said, but falsely, that the gracefulness and beauty of the
+Duchess had formerly obtained the homage of Napoleon; and her disgrace
+did not fail to be urged as a fresh proof of the inconstancy of men;
+but I have assigned the true and only cause.
+
+The corruption of courts often sanctions a number of lying
+suppositions, against which few reputations can stand. This justice
+however must be done Napoleon; no prince was ever a man of purer
+manners, or took so much pains to avoid and even check scandal: he was
+never seen, to be followed to the army by his mistresses, like Louis
+XIV.; or disguised in the dress of a porter, or of a small-coal man,
+like Henry IV., to carry disgrace and despair into the houses of his
+most faithful servants.
+
+As a pretty remarkable contrast, Napoleon, at the moment when he
+resumed with delight his own upper servants, sent about their business
+without pity the lacqueys, who had served Louis XVIII. and the
+princes.
+
+     "De tout tems les petits ont payé pour les grands."[74]
+
+                   [Footnote 74: "In all ages the poor have suffered
+                   for the faults of the great."]
+
+These poor people were left destitute. It has been said and repeated a
+hundred times, that Napoleon ill-treated and struck all those who came
+near him, right or wrong. Nothing can be more false. He had his
+moments of impatience and warmth; and what honest citizen has not? But
+in general, the officers and even subalterns of his household were in
+easy circumstances with him, and he was more frequently in a gay than
+in a serious humour. He very easily became attached to a person; and
+when he liked any one, he could not do without him; and treated him
+with a kindness, that frequently degenerated into weakness. It is
+true, it would have been very difficult for him to find servants more
+able, or more devotedly attached to him: every one of them had made it
+his particular study, to become, not what he did wish, but what he
+might wish.
+
+Tacitus has observed, that voluntary slaves make more tyrants, than
+tyrants make slaves. When we recollect the officiousness, the
+meannesses, and the adulation, of certain nobles, who had become the
+courtiers of Napoleon, we are astonished, that it never entered his
+head to follow the example of Alexander, and cause himself to be
+adored as a god.
+
+Counts Drouot and Bertrand were retained in their posts of grand
+marshal of the palace, and major-general of the guards. It had been
+imagined, that the Emperor would have conferred on them the titles of
+Duke of Porto Ferrajo, and Duke of Porto Longone, as memorials of
+their fidelity. He did no such thing. They were fully recompensed,
+however, by the veneration, with which Frenchmen and foreigners were
+inspired for them both. Still, for what reason, I cannot conceive, a
+higher value was generally set on the devoted attachment of General
+Bertrand.
+
+When the Emperor had laid down his crown, Count Drouot did not
+hesitate an instant, to preserve that fidelity to him in adversity,
+which he had sworn in his prosperity: and this fidelity was not in
+his eyes a proof of attachment, still less a sacrifice; it appeared to
+him only the natural fulfilment of a duty imposed on him by the
+kindnesses and misfortunes of Napoleon.
+
+To follow him, he abandoned all that is most dear to a well-born mind,
+his family and his country, as well as the military career, in which
+he had acquired the most glorious renown.
+
+Transported into the midst of the seas, he frequently cast his looks
+towards the land of his birth: but no regret, no complaint, escaped
+from his heart. His conscience was satisfied, how could he be unhappy?
+As disinterested in the service of the sovereign of the island of
+Elba, as he had been in that of the Emperor of the French[75], though
+poor, he would receive no reward from Napoleon: "Give me food and
+clothing," said he, "I want nothing more." The most seducing offers
+were lavished on him, to draw him over to the Bourbons. To these he
+was insensible; and he felt no difficulty in preferring the rock of
+Napoleon to the lustre of their throne.
+
+                   [Footnote 75: He constantly refused the emoluments
+                   and allowances of considerable offices, attached to
+                   the rank of major-general of the guards. The
+                   appointments of a lieutenant-general and
+                   aide-de-camp appeared to him, to pay him more than
+                   his services deserved.]
+
+Such was General Drouot; and such also was his worthy rival, Count
+Bertrand; for there existed no difference in the generosity of their
+conduct, and none ought to exist in the admiration they deserve.
+
+The Emperor himself was not free from this injustice: he seemed to
+give the preference to Count Bertrand. This difference proceeded, I
+believe, from that degree of intimacy, which the functions of the
+grand Marshal established between the Emperor and him, and perhaps
+from the suitableness of their characters.
+
+Bertrand, amiable, witty, insinuating, united the agreeable and
+polished manners of a courtier with an air of distinction. Feeble,
+irresolute, in the ordinary conduct of life; he yielded to no one in
+courage and firmness, on occasions of difficulty and danger. A
+stranger to intrigue, inaccessible to seduction, he was in the camp,
+as in the palace, a man of honour, a man of probity.
+
+Drouot, simple in his manners, affectionate in his speech, displayed
+that rare assemblage of virtues, which compel us to love the sages of
+antiquity, and the heroes of the days of chivalry. He had the wisdom,
+the prudence of Aristides, the valour, the modesty, the loyalty of
+Bayard. The favour he enjoyed, the military power with which he was
+invested, inspired him with no pride: he was not less humble and timid
+at court, than he was terrible and daring in the field of honour.
+
+Bertrand, when he was consulted, delivered his opinion with the
+caution and skill of a courtier; Drouot, with the precision and
+frankness of a soldier: but neither was false to his conscience. Their
+language, though different in structure, was the same in substance; it
+was always that of truth and honour.
+
+The Emperor, though greatly fatigued by nocturnal marches, reviews,
+perpetual harangues, and his labours in the closet, which for the last
+thirty-six hours had occupied all his moments, would nevertheless
+review the troops, that previously composed the army of the Duke of
+Berri.
+
+He caused them to be assembled in the court of the Tuileries; and, to
+use his own words, "The whole capital was witness to the sentiments of
+enthusiasm and attachment, by which those brave troops were animated:
+they seemed to have reconquered their country, and found again in
+the national colours the remembrance of all those generous sentiments,
+which have ever distinguished the French nation."
+
+After having gone through the ranks, he made the troops form square
+battalions, and said to them:
+
+"Soldiers, I came to France with six hundred men, because I reckoned
+on the love of the people, and the remembrance of the old soldiers. I
+have not been deceived in my expectations: soldiers, I thank you. The
+glory of what we have just done belongs wholly to you and to the
+people, mine is only that of having known you, and judged you rightly.
+
+"Soldiers, the imperial throne only can guarantie the rights of the
+people, and more especially the first of our interests, that of our
+glory. Soldiers, we are going to march, to chase from our territories
+those princes, who are the auxiliaries of foreigners. The nation will
+not only second us with its good wishes, but will follow our impulse.
+The French people and myself depend upon you: we will not interfere
+with the affairs of foreign nations; and wo to the nation, that shall
+interfere with ours!"
+
+At this moment General Cambronne, and some officers of the guards of
+the battalion of the island of Elba, appeared with the ancient eagles
+of the guard: the Emperor resumed his harangue, and said[76]: "Here
+are the officers of the battalion, who accompanied me in my adversity:
+they are all my friends, they were dear to my heart! Whenever I saw
+them, they reminded me of the different regiments of the army; for
+among these six hundred brave fellows are men from every regiment.
+They recalled to my mind those great victories, the remembrance of
+which is so dear; for they are all well covered with honourable scars
+received in those memorable battles! In loving them, it was all of
+you, soldiers, of the whole French army, whom I loved. They bring back
+to you these eagles; let them serve you as a rallying point: in giving
+them to the guards, I give them to the whole army."
+
+                   [Footnote 76: I cannot avoid remarking the beauty
+                   of this passage.]
+
+"Treason and unfortunate circumstances had covered them with a
+funereal veil: but, thanks to the French people and to you, they
+appear again resplendent with all their glory. Swear, that they shall
+always be found, wherever the interests of our country call them! that
+traitors, and those who would invade our territories, shall never
+stand their appearance."
+
+"We swear it," answered all the soldiers with enthusiasm. They then
+filed off with shouts of "Long live the Emperor!" and to the sound of
+military music, playing the favourite tunes of the revolution, and the
+Marseillese march, so celebrated in the annals of our crimes and our
+victories.
+
+When the review was over, the Emperor returned to his closet, and
+applied himself immediately to business. His situation rendered it
+necessary, that he should ascertain without delay the precise state of
+the country, of the government of which he had resumed the reins. This
+was so vast an undertaking, that the faculties of any other man would
+have been overwhelmed by it. He found the writing table covered with
+mystic authors[77]; and substituted for them plans and maps. "The
+closet of a French monarch," said he, "should resemble the tent of a
+general, not an oratory." His eyes rested on the map of France. After
+having contemplated its recent limits, he exclaimed in a tone of
+profound sorrow, "_Poor France_!" He kept silence a few minutes, and
+then began to hum in a low voice one of his usual burdens of songs:
+
+          "S'il est un tems pour la folie,
+           Il en est un pour la raison[78]."
+
+                   [Footnote 77: The king departed with such
+                   suddenness, that he had not time to carry away his
+                   private papers. In his writing table was found his
+                   family port-folio. It contained a great number of
+                   letters from Madame the Duchess of Angoulême, and
+                   from some of the princes. Napoleon cast his eye
+                   over several of them, and gave me the port-folio,
+                   with orders, that it should be scrupulously
+                   preserved. Napoleon would have respect paid to
+                   royal majesty, and to every thing that pertained to
+                   the person of kings.
+
+                   The king habitually used a small table, that he had
+                   brought from Hartwell. Napoleon took pleasure in
+                   writing on it for a few hours: he afterwards
+                   ordered it to be removed, and the greatest care to
+                   be taken of it.
+
+                   The Merlin's chair used by the king, not being
+                   suited to Napoleon, whose limbs and health were in
+                   full strength and vigour, was banished to the back
+                   closet. Some person being found sitting in it, when
+                   the Emperor passed through unexpectedly, he gave
+                   him an angry look, and the chair was removed.
+
+                   One of his valets de chambre, thinking to please
+                   him, ventured to place over his mantel-piece some
+                   insulting caricatures of the Bourbons: these he
+                   disdainfully threw into the fire, and severely
+                   enjoined the valet, never in future to be guilty of
+                   such an impertinence.]
+
+                   [Footnote 78:
+
+                   "If we sometimes play the fool,
+                   Reason should resume her rule."]
+
+The Emperor entered his closet habitually before six in the morning,
+and seldom quitted it till night.
+
+Impatience and vivacity are almost always incompatible with order and
+precision. Napoleon, destined to be like no other person, added to the
+fire of genius the methodical habits of cold and little minds. For the
+most part, he took care to arrange his numerous papers himself. Each
+of them had its settled place. Here was found whatever related to the
+war department: there, the budgets, the daily statements of the
+treasury and finances: farther on, the reports of the police, his
+secret correspondence with his private agents, &c. He carefully
+returned every thing to its place, after having used it: compared with
+him the most methodical clerk would have been but a bungler.
+
+His first business was to read his correspondence, and the despatches
+that had arrived in the night. He put aside the interesting letters,
+and threw the rest on the floor: this he called his _answered_.
+
+He afterwards examined the copies of letters opened at the post
+office, and burnt them immediately. It seemed, as if he wished to
+annihilate all traces of the abuse of power, of which he had been
+guilty.
+
+He finished by casting an eye over the newspapers. Sometimes he said,
+"That's a good article; whose is it?" He must know every thing.
+
+These several readings ended, he set to work; and it may be said
+without exaggeration, that he was then as extraordinary, as
+incomparable, as at the head of his armies.
+
+As he would entrust to nobody the supreme care of the government, he
+saw every thing himself; and it is easy to conceive, on what a
+multiplicity of objects he had to fix his eyes. Independently of his
+ministers, the Duke of Bassano, the commandant of the first division
+of Paris, the prefect of the police, the inspector general of the
+gendarmerie, the major-general of guards, the grand marshal of the
+palace, the great officers of the crown, the aides-de-camp, and the
+orderly officers (_officiers d'ordonnance_) on missions, daily sent
+him circumstantial reports, which he examined, and answered
+immediately: it being a maxim with him, to put nothing off till
+to-morrow. And let it not be supposed, that he satisfied himself with
+a superficial judgment of affairs: he read every report through, and
+examined every voucher attentively. Frequently the super-human
+sagacity, with which he was gifted, enabled him to perceive errors and
+imperfections, that had escaped the scrutinizing eyes of his
+ministers; and then he corrected their labours. But still more
+frequently he fashioned them anew from beginning to end; and what was
+a fortnight's work to a whole ministry, scarcely cost the genius of
+Napoleon a few minutes.
+
+The Emperor rarely sat down, but dictated as he walked about. He did
+not like to repeat his words; and if you asked him a word not clearly
+understood, he answered impatiently, "_I said_," and went on.
+
+When he had to treat a subject worthy of himself, his style,
+habitually nervous and concise, rose to the level of his grand
+conceptions: it became majestic and sublime.
+
+If the possibility of expressing his ideas was shackled by the want of
+the proper word; or if the customary terms did not appear to him
+sufficiently strong, sufficiently animated, he brought together words,
+that were astonished to find themselves in each other's company, and
+created a language of his own, a language rich and impressive, that
+might sometimes infringe established rules, but compensated this happy
+fault, by giving more loftiness and vigour to his thoughts[79].
+
+                   [Footnote 79: I have been assured, that Napoleon in
+                   his youth composed a history of Paoli, and of the
+                   war of liberty: may he realize the design of
+                   writing the history of his own reign, for the
+                   instruction of future ages! This reign is so
+                   fertile in extraordinary events, and unforeseen
+                   catastrophes, and displays to our view such
+                   numerous examples of human vicissitudes, that its
+                   history may supply the place of all others, and
+                   become itself alone a lesson for kings and people.]
+
+Sometimes, hurried away by the impetuosity of his character, and
+eager to arrive more quickly at his object, he did not take time to
+weigh his words, his ideas, his desires. When his orders had been
+dictated to us in such a fit of hastiness, we were careful, as far as
+possible, not to present them for signing the same day. The next day,
+they were almost always modified, softened, or torn. Napoleon was
+never displeased with us, for endeavouring to guard him against the
+dangers of precipitancy. They who think, that he never corrected a
+false step, are mistaken: if under certain circumstances his
+determinations were inflexible, in a number of others he yielded to
+remonstrance, and relinquished his projects and resolves without
+difficulty.
+
+The Emperor seldom wrote with his own hand. Words of many syllables
+were tedious to him; and, not having patience to write them at length,
+he mutilated them. This habit, added to the defective formation of
+his letters, rendered his writing altogether illegible. Frequently,
+too, from carelessness, or absence of mind, he infringed the laws of
+orthography; and people have not failed thence to infer, that he was
+completely ignorant.
+
+Most assuredly the ignorance of Napoleon, were it proved, would
+detract nothing from his glory and renown. Charlemagne could scarcely
+sign his own name. Louis XIV., and I quote him by choice, though born
+on a throne, was unacquainted with _the rules of grammar_. Yet
+Charlemagne and Louis were nevertheless great kings. The imputation,
+however, is as false as it is absurd. Napoleon, educated at the school
+of Brienne, was distinguished there by that facility of comprehension,
+that disdain of pleasure, that fondness for study, that enthusiastic
+regard for models of greatness, which commonly indicate superior
+minds. Destined for the profession of arms, he would not aspire to
+become a man of letters, a man of reading, a learned man: his object,
+for he had an object in his earliest years, was to become some day a
+distinguished officer, perhaps even a great captain. It was to the
+military sciences, therefore, he bent his genius ... the universe
+knows the rest.
+
+But do I say his genius? the detractors of Napoleon also assert, that
+his mind was too subject to irregularities, for the possession of
+genius to be granted him: do they not know, or do they pretend to be
+ignorant, that such irregularities are on the contrary the proof, the
+distinguishing characteristics, of this precious gift of nature.
+
+"Genius," says one of our philosophers, "rises and stoops by turns; it
+is often imperfect, because it does not take the trouble to improve
+itself. It is great in great things, because they are adapted to
+excite its sublime instinct, and call it into action. It is negligent
+in ordinary things, because they are beneath it, and have nothing in
+them to stir it up: if, however, it do turn its attention to them, it
+fertilizes them, aggrandizes them, and gives them a new and unexpected
+appearance, that had escaped vulgar eyes."
+
+And with how vast a genius must he have been endowed! he, who,
+occupied by the torments of ambition, military calculations, political
+schemes, and the anxieties inspired by the enemies of his crown and of
+his life, still found sufficient time, sufficient calmness, sufficient
+power, to command his numerous armies; to govern twenty foreign
+nations, and forty millions of subjects; to enter solicitously into
+all the particulars of the administration of his states; to see every
+thing; to sift every thing to the bottom; to regulate every thing; in
+fine, to conceive, create, and realize those unexpected improvements,
+those bold innovations, those noble institutions, and those immortal
+codes, that raise the civil glory of France to a degree of
+superiority, which alone can match its military glory. But I know not
+why I attempt to combat such adversaries: they who are blind to the
+genius of Napoleon, have never known genius itself, and I ought to
+give them no answer, but that of Rousseau: "Silence, ye uninitiated!"
+
+The Emperor, by his decrees issued at Lyons, had in some degree
+repaired the wrongs imputed to the royal government. One grievance
+still remained for him; the slavery of the press. The decree of the
+24th of March[80], by suppressing the censors, the censorship, and
+the superintendance of the bookselling trade, completed the imperial
+restoration.
+
+                   [Footnote 80: This decree, and all those previously
+                   dated from the palace of the Tuileries, contained
+                   no title but simply that of "Emperor of the
+                   French." The "&c. &c.," noticed with anxiety in the
+                   proclamations and decrees from Lyons, were
+                   suppressed. They had been inserted without
+                   reflection, without object, and merely from custom.
+                   The Emperor, too, would not have his familiar
+                   letters continue to be concluded in the usual form:
+                   "On which I pray God, to have you in his holy
+                   keeping, &c." "All those antiquated things," said
+                   he, "must be laid aside; they are well enough for
+                   kings by the grace of God."]
+
+This last concession was unquestionably the greatest, that Napoleon
+could make to public opinion. A press in the general interest of the
+people is the surest protection of their rights. It is the most noble
+conquest liberty can gain over despotism: to honest men it gives
+dignity; it inspires them with the love of their country, and of the
+laws; in fine, according to the English definition, it is the mother
+of all liberty: but in times of trouble and of revolution, it is a
+dangerous weapon in the hands of the wicked; and the Emperor foresaw,
+that the royalists would employ it in the cause of the Bourbons; and
+the Jacobins, to calumniate his sentiments, and render his designs
+suspected. But, a declared enemy of half-measures, he resolved, since
+he had set thought at liberty, that it should circulate
+unshackled[81].
+
+                   [Footnote 81: Never, in fact, at any period of the
+                   revolution, did writers enjoy such complete liberty
+                   and impunity. The seizure of the _Censeur
+                   Européen_, which made such noise, was the work of
+                   M. Fouché. The Emperor knew nothing of this
+                   infringement of the law, till it had been carried
+                   into effect; and he immediately ordered, that the
+                   copies seized should be returned to the editors of
+                   the _Censeur_, and that they should be at liberty
+                   to circulate them freely.]
+
+This decree, and those that preceded it, were undoubtedly sufficient
+to testify to the nation the liberal disposition of Napoleon: but no
+speech from the throne had yet declared with solemnity the positive
+intentions of the Emperor.
+
+At length he fixed on Sunday, the 26th of March, as the day, on which
+he would make his new profession of faith in the face of the
+nation[82].
+
+                   [Footnote 82: The audience was to take place at
+                   noon; and at nine o'clock his Majesty had not
+                   prepared his answers. They were dictated in haste,
+                   and we had scarcely time to copy them out fairly.]
+
+The ministers, the council of state, the court of cassation, the court
+of accounts, the imperial court, the prefect, and the municipal
+council of Paris, were admitted to the foot of the throne.
+
+The prince arch-chancellor, speaking in the name of the ministers,
+said:
+
+"Sire, Providence, that watches over our destiny, has re-opened to
+your Majesty the road to that throne, to which you had been raised by
+the free choice of the people, and the national gratitude. Our country
+raises its majestic brow, and for the second time salutes with the
+name of deliverer the prince, who destroyed anarchy, and whose
+existence alone is at present capable of consolidating our liberal
+institutions.
+
+"The most just of revolutions, that which will restore to men their
+dignity, and all their political rights, has hurled from the throne
+the dynasty of the Bourbons. After five and twenty years of war and
+troubles, all the efforts of foreigners have proved unable, to awaken
+affections that are extinct, or wholly unknown to the present
+generation. The struggle of the interests and prejudices of a few
+against the enlightened state of the age, and the interests of a great
+nation, is at length terminated.
+
+"Our destinies are accomplished: the only legitimate cause, the cause
+of the people, has triumphed. Your Majesty has yielded to the wishes
+of the French; you have seized anew the reins of the state, amid the
+benedictions of the people and of the army.
+
+"France, Sire, has as a guarantee of it her will, and her dearest
+interests; she has as a guarantee of it all that your Majesty has said
+to the population of the different parts of the country, which
+assembled in crowds on your passage. Your Majesty will keep your word,
+you will remember only the services rendered your country; you will
+prove, that in your eyes, and in your heart, whatever the different
+opinions and exasperations of parties may have been, all citizens are
+equal, as they are in the eye of the law.
+
+"Your Majesty will also forget, that we have been the masters of the
+nations around us. Generous idea! that adds another glory to the glory
+already acquired.
+
+"Already has Your Majesty traced out to your ministers the path they
+have to pursue: already have you made known to all the people by your
+proclamations the maxims, by which you would have your empire governed
+for the future. No war without, unless to repel unjust aggression; no
+re-action within, no arbitrary proceedings; security of person,
+security of property, and the free circulation of opinions, are the
+principles you have sanctioned.
+
+"Happy those, Sire, who are called to cooperate in so many sublime
+acts! Such benefits will ensure to you from posterity, when the days
+of adulation are at an end, the name of Father of your country: they
+will be guarantied to our children by the august heir, whom your
+Majesty is preparing to crown in the Champ de Mai."
+
+The Emperor answered:
+
+"The sentiments you have expressed to me are mine. 'Every thing
+agreeably to the sense of the nation, and every thing for France:'
+such is my motto.
+
+"I and my family, whom this great people has raised to the French
+throne, and maintained on it in spite of vicissitudes and political
+tempests, will not, ought not, cannot, ever claim any other title to
+it."
+
+
+The Count Défermon, father of the presidents of the council of state,
+delivered to the Emperor the following declaration, tending to prove
+the nullity of the abdication of Fontainbleau:
+
+"The council of state, in resuming its functions, thinks it necessary
+to make known the principles, by which its conduct and opinions are
+guided.
+
+"The sovereignty resides in the people, who are the only legitimate
+source of power.
+
+"In 1789 the nation recovered its rights, which had long been usurped,
+or misunderstood.
+
+"The National Assembly abolished the feudal monarchy, and established
+a constitutional monarchy, and a representative government.
+
+"The resistance of the Bourbons to the wishes of the people occasioned
+their downfal, and their banishment from the French territories.
+
+"Twice the people sanctioned by its votes the new form of government
+established by its representatives.
+
+"In the year 8th, Bonaparte, already crowned by victory, found himself
+raised to the government by the assent of the nation. A constitution
+created the consular magistracy.
+
+"The senatus consultum of the 16th of Thermidor, year 10, named
+Bonaparte consul for life.
+
+"The senatus consultum of the 28th of Floréal, year 12, conferred on
+Napoleon the imperial dignity, and made it hereditary in his family.
+
+"These three solemn acts were laid for acceptance before the people,
+who sanctioned them by nearly four millions of votes.
+
+"Accordingly, the Bourbons had ceased to reign in France for two and
+twenty years; they were forgotten there by their contemporaries;
+strangers to our laws, our institutions, our manners, our glory; and
+the present generation knew nothing of them.
+
+"In 1814 France was invaded by the armies of the enemy, and the
+capital occupied. The foreigners created a pretended provisional
+government. They assembled a minority of the senators, and compelled
+them, in opposition to their delegated powers and to their will, to
+destroy the existing establishments, to overturn the imperial throne,
+and to recall the family of the Bourbons.
+
+"The senate, which had been instituted solely to maintain the
+constitution of the empire, acknowledged itself, that it had no power
+to alter it. It decreed, that the scheme of a constitution, which it
+had prepared, should be submitted to the people for their acceptance,
+and that Louis Stanislas Xavier should be proclaimed King of the
+French, as soon as he had accepted the constitution, and sworn to
+observe it, and cause it to be observed.
+
+"The abdication of the Emperor Napoleon was solely the result of the
+unfortunate situation, to which France and the Emperor had been
+reduced by the events of the war, by treason, and by the occupation of
+the capital. The only object of the abdication was, to avoid a civil
+war, and the shedding of French blood. Unsanctioned by the will of the
+people, this act could not annul the solemn contract, that was
+established between them and the Emperor. And if Napoleon possessed
+the power of abdicating the throne in his own person, he had none to
+sacrifice the rights of his son, appointed to reign after him.
+
+
+"The Emperor, therefore, by re-ascending the throne, to which the
+people had elevated him, restored the people to their most sacred
+rights: he only called into execution the decrees of the
+Representative Assemblies, sanctioned by the nation: he returns to
+reign on the only legitimate principle, that France acknowledges and
+has acknowledged for five and twenty years, and to which all the
+authorities bound themselves by oaths, that they can be released from
+by the will of the people alone.
+
+"The Emperor is called upon, to guaranty anew, by institutions, as he
+has engaged to do in his proclamations to the nation and the army, all
+the principles of liberty: personal freedom, and equality of rights;
+the freedom of the press, and abolition of the censorship; freedom of
+religious worship; the voting of laws and contributions by the
+representatives of the nation lawfully chosen; national property, from
+whatever source arising; the independence and stability of our
+tribunals; the responsibility of ministers, and of all the agents of
+authority.
+
+"The more perfectly to sanction the rights and obligations of the
+people and the monarch, the national institutions should be revised in
+a grand assembly of the representatives already announced by the
+Emperor.
+
+"Previous to the meeting of this grand representative assembly, the
+Emperor ought to exercise, and cause to be exercised, conformably to
+the existing laws and constitution, the authority they have delegated
+to him, which could not be taken from him, which he could not abdicate
+without the consent of the nation, and which the wishes and general
+interest of the French people render it his duty to resume."
+
+
+The Emperor answered:
+
+"Princes are the first citizens of the state: their authority is more
+or less extensive according to the interests of the nations they
+govern: the sovereignty itself is hereditary only because the interest
+of the people requires it. I know nothing of a legitimacy extraneous
+to these principles.
+
+"I have renounced the idea of that grand empire, of which in the
+course of fifteen years I had merely laid the foundations:
+henceforward the happiness and consolidation of the French empire will
+be the object of all my thoughts."
+
+The court of cassation expressed the same principles and the same
+sentiments as the council of state.
+
+To this the Emperor answered:
+
+"In the earliest ages of the French monarchy, rude tribes made
+themselves masters of Gaul. The sovereignty, of course, was not
+framed for the benefit of the Gauls, who were slaves, or destitute of
+political rights; but for the benefit of the conquering tribe. It can
+never have been said with truth, therefore, in any period of history,
+in any nation, even in the east, that the people exist for kings.
+Every where it has been established, that kings exist only for the
+people. A dynasty created under circumstances, that have created so
+many new interests, being itself interested in the maintenance of the
+rights and properties of all, can alone be natural and legitimate, and
+in possession of strength and confidence, the two leading characters
+in all government."
+
+The court of accounts, and the imperial court, held the same language
+as the preceding authorities.
+
+To these the Emperor answered:
+
+"What particularly distinguishes the imperial throne is, that it has
+been raised by the nation, that it is consequently natural, and that
+it guaranties the interests of all. This is the true character of
+legitimacy. It is the interest of this throne, to consolidate all that
+at present exists, and all that has been done in France during the
+twenty-five years of revolution. It comprises all interests, and
+particularly that of the national glory, which is not the least among
+them.
+
+"Whatever has returned with the foreign armies, whatever has been done
+without consulting the nation, is null. The courts of Grenoble and
+Lyons, and all the tribunals of the judicial order, which I met with
+while the success of events was yet uncertain, have shown me, that
+these principles are engraved on the heart of every Frenchman."
+
+
+The reception of these public bodies being over, there was a grand
+audience in the apartments of the palace. The answers of the Emperor,
+repeated with embellishments, had produced the most profound
+sensation. The words national glory, liberty, country, so long unknown
+and proscribed within these walls, resounded on every side. When the
+emigrants re-appeared, and the most illustrious servants of the state
+were expelled, to make room for men, who had become strangers to our
+manners, our institutions, and our triumphs; you would have said, that
+France existed no longer, that it had passed under the dominion of
+foreigners. When Napoleon returned, our country appeared to have
+returned with him: he seemed to have brought it back from exile, and
+he might then exclaim with just pride: "I am the nation."
+
+The example set by the magistrates of Paris soon found numerous
+imitators in the departments. The public functionaries, the judicial
+and administrative authorities, which but a few days before had
+offered up prayers to Heaven and to the King for the extermination of
+the Corsican, the tyrant, and the usurper, were eager to congratulate
+_the Emperor_ on his miraculous return; and to confer on him the
+titles of hero, deliverer, and more especially of legitimate
+sovereign.
+
+Napoleon's progress had been so rapid, that many addresses to the King
+did not reach Paris before the King was gone; and all these were
+delivered at the same time with the new addresses voted to his
+successor[83]! I remarked this to the Emperor; who answered me with a
+smile of pity: "_See what men are_!"
+
+                   [Footnote 83: I am speaking here only of the
+                   addresses of bodies corporate, and of certain
+                   generals and prefects.]
+
+The favourites of Apollo did not fail to offer up their obsequious
+incense to the god of the day. We received from the Countess de G***
+some very pretty verses in honour of the violet. Another woman, still
+more celebrated, the Baroness de S***, took occasion from some
+flattering words said for her to M. B. C., to write an epistle to the
+Emperor, which would make a curious figure at the head of her last
+work.
+
+The most rigid writers and lecturers on the common law, who the
+evening before, with Cujas and Bartholi in their hands, had formally
+impleaded Napoleon, were eager to testify their admiration of him, and
+proclaim him the sovereign of sovereigns.
+
+Thus Napoleon was more honoured and lauded than ever; and it must be
+confessed, that he conducted himself so as to deserve it: on one hand
+he caressed the nation, and on the other private interests, which it
+is much more difficult to conciliate than what is called the public
+interest.
+
+The decrees of Lyons had sequestrated anew the estates restored to
+emigrants since 1814. Part of these had been sold by those who had
+recovered them; and it was necessary, to quiet the apprehensions of
+the purchasers. The Emperor declared irrevocable all the sales, that
+had been completed; and confirmed those, that had taken place
+subsequently to the decree, when it could be proved, that they were
+not collusive.
+
+On the other hand, the emigrants, who had returned, had purchased
+property, the price of which might not have been entirely paid: and in
+order to do justice both to the emigrants and to the sellers, he
+ordered, that estates recently acquired should not be subject to
+sequestration, on condition of being re-sold within a certain period.
+
+Another decree from Lyons had indiscriminately abolished all
+promotions in the legion of honour, and in the army, made since the
+royal restoration. He subjected to revision the nominations, that
+appeared to him the result of favour, intrigue, and venality; and
+confirmed all, that had been the reward of real and meritorious
+services. He would not even allow men's opinions, to constitute a line
+of demarcation and directed the minister, to pay regard to ancient
+services rendered by officers since incorporated in the King's
+household.
+
+He confirmed also the decorations granted to the national guard; and
+distributed new ones among the brave pupils of the polytechnical
+school, whose noble conduct had so much excited the admiration of
+Paris, and of foreigners, at the time of the occurrences of 1814.
+
+The daughters of the members of the legion of honour had claims to
+his remembrance, and his consolation, too sacred, not to participate
+in his favours. He went to visit them. His presence excited
+inexpressible enthusiasm among these young orphans: they threw
+themselves at his feet, embraced his knees, and watered them with
+their tears. He had taken a spoon, to taste their food: after he was
+gone, as every one wished to have it, they broke it to pieces, and
+shared it amongst them. Most of them had braided rings of hair, on
+which were traced patriotic devices, or the ingenious expression of
+their sentiments for Napoleon. The Emperor having condescended to
+accept some of these, and place them on his fingers, every one of the
+orphans was desirous of obtaining the same favour: they rushed on him,
+seized his hands, and in an instant covered them with these innocent
+pledges of love and gratitude. The Emperor, moved, enchanted,
+submitted with kind complaisance to the gentle fetters of these
+amiable infants. They ingeniously intreated him, not to give away the
+rings they had presented to him; and he promised to keep them,
+assuring them, that they would be as valuable in his eyes as the
+jewels of his crown.
+
+The working class, who had surnamed Napoleon _le grand
+entrepreneur_[84], also received its share of the imperial favours.
+The works commenced in his reign, and buried in dust under that of the
+Bourbons, were resumed with activity. The capital became, as before, a
+vast workshop: and the Parisians, who had learned from strangers to
+perceive the beauty of their edifices, saw with a mingled sentiment of
+gratitude and pride, that new marvels were still more to embellish
+their majestic city.
+
+                   [Footnote 84: We have no single word in our
+                   language answering to this: it implies one who
+                   undertakes works of different kinds, including our
+                   architect and civil engineer.--Tr.]
+
+In fine, all classes received testimonies of the solicitude and
+justice of Napoleon. Must it be said? his old companions in the island
+of Elba alone were forgotten.
+
+While Napoleon had no throne but his rock, they had shown themselves
+as disinterested as faithful: when he had recovered his crown, they
+flattered themselves, that they should be recompensed with generosity.
+
+Some, whom honour alone had attached to Napoleon, enjoyed in prospect
+the praises, titles, ribands, that would be bestowed on them: others,
+inspired with less lofty sentiments, expected benefits more solid.
+The guard and its worthy chiefs were ambitious only of the favour of
+retaining the glorious title of grenadiers of the island of Elba. Vain
+illusions! the Emperor's thoughts, entirely absorbed by other cares,
+were no longer turned to those brave fellows, who had shared his exile
+and his misfortunes. The moment of forgetfulness, however, had not
+time to degenerate into ingratitude: it was repaired: promotions,
+endowments, indemnifications, were bestowed on them; and, if they did
+not feel themselves completely satisfied with the conduct of Napoleon,
+they had at least no reason to complain.
+
+The Emperor would have wished from feeling, and perhaps too from
+ostentation, to have had it in his power, to acknowledge in a manner
+more worthy of himself their services and attachment: but he was
+deterred by the fear of being charged with imitating the Bourbons, and
+of preferring those Frenchmen, who had gone into exile with him, to
+those who had retained their fidelity in their mother country.
+
+These scruples appear to me unfounded.
+
+The emigrants had sullied their native land with blood, shed either by
+their own weapons, or in the civil wars they had fomented and
+cherished; and the indignant nation had long combated them, and
+pursued them with its maledictions, as the enemies of its happiness
+and tranquillity.
+
+The Frenchmen who returned from the island of Elba with Napoleon, on
+the contrary, had spilt their blood in the defence of their country.
+They were beloved, honoured, respected and the recompenses the Emperor
+might have bestowed upon them, instead of tending to alienate France,
+would have fulfilled her wishes. She would have enjoyed it with that
+feeling of pride and pleasure, which a mother experiences, when she
+hears the triumphs of her children proclaimed in the lists opened for
+youth, and sees their heads adorned with the rewards of their success.
+
+Policy, no less than justice, required, that Napoleon should confer,
+even with prodigality, his favours and benefits on men, who had
+sacrificed themselves for him. In his situation it would have been
+better, to have been deemed prodigal than ungrateful: but fortune
+favoured him so highly, that he might be allowed, in some degree, to
+neglect the means of securing the feeble support of men.
+
+The re-establishment of the imperial government, which appeared as if
+it would experience some obstacles, took place on all sides with a
+promptitude and facility truly extraordinary. Marshal Augereau, who
+had endeavoured in his proclamation of 1814 to disgrace the Emperor,
+was eager to make his public recantation in a fresh proclamation.
+
+The Duke of Belluno, and Count Gouvion St. Cyr, after attempting in
+vain to curb their insurgent troops, were forced to shun their
+resentment by flight.
+
+The troubles excited in La Vendée and Calvados by a few royal
+volunteers had been appeased, and the perturbators disarmed.
+
+The military household of the King had submitted to their discharge,
+and readily surrendered their horses and arms.
+
+In fine, the royal family had evacuated the imperial territory.
+
+The Emperor thought proper, to acquaint his army in person with these
+happy results. "Thanks to the French people and you," said he, on
+reviewing the troops on the 27th of March, "the imperial throne is
+re-established. It is acknowledged throughout the empire, and not a
+single drop of blood has been spilt. The Count de Lille, the Count
+d'Artois, the Duke de Berri, the Duke of Orléans, have passed our
+northern frontier, and sought an asylum among foreigners. The
+tricoloured flag waves on the towers of Calais, Dunkirk, Lille,
+Valenciennes, Condé, &c. A few bands of Chouans had attempted to form
+themselves in Poitou and La Vendée: popular opinion, and the march of
+a few battalions, were sufficient to disperse them. The Duke of
+Bourbon, who came to excite disturbances in the provinces, has
+embarked at Nantes.
+
+"How senseless were they," continued the Emperor, "and how little did
+they know of the nation, who imagined, that the French would consent
+to receive a prince from those very hands, that had ravaged our
+territory, and, aided by treason, had for a moment obscured our
+laurels!"
+
+The King, who at first took refuge at Lille, had in fact just retired
+to Ghent. His Majesty had given orders to his household and the
+princes, to join him in the former city, where it had been apparently
+his intention, to take up his residence, and convene the chambers. But
+marshal the Duke of Treviso, governor of that division, declared to
+him, that he would no longer answer for his troops, if the musketeers,
+the body guards, &c., entered the place; and advised him to repair to
+Dunkirk, which, from its geographical position, and the attachment of
+its inhabitants, afforded him an opportunity of awaiting the issue of
+events without danger. M. de Blacas and the emigrants with the King
+remonstrated with him strongly, that he would not be out of danger
+there; and that he could no longer be safe from the pursuit of
+Napoleon, except in a foreign country. The Duke of Treviso still
+insisted on the contrary: and the King, in spite of the alarm and
+entreaties of the Count de Blacas and the other courtiers, had
+resolved to follow the advice of the marshal, when some despatches
+from the Count d'Artois, received in the course of the night,
+determined him to pass the frontier.
+
+The Emperor thought at first, that the design of Louis XVIII. was to
+return to England. He was glad of this: and it was not without extreme
+vexation, that he learned the intention of this Prince, to remain on
+the Belgic frontiers, observing the course of affairs. But if this
+resolution, to which perhaps the King was indebted for the recovery of
+his throne, was displeasing to Napoleon, it never inspired him with
+the criminal desire, as some wicked writers have pretended, of making
+any attempts against the lives or liberty of the Bourbons.
+
+The orders given to General Excelmans merely were, to drive the King
+and the Princes out of France step by step. He was never commanded,
+"either to secure their persons, or to kill them in case of
+resistance."
+
+The instructions given at the same time to Marshal Ney, sent on a
+mission to the frontiers of the North and East, directed him also in
+express words, "to cause the royal family to be respected, and
+facilitate its procuring the means of quitting France freely and
+quietly[85]."
+
+                   [Footnote 85: It was this mission, that became the
+                   source of the disgrace, in which the marshal lived,
+                   till the day of his being recalled to the army. The
+                   Emperor had ordered him, to set off immediately: he
+                   answered, that he could not go, till he was paid
+                   some twenty thousand francs, which were owing to
+                   him. The Emperor, swearing, ordered them to be
+                   paid.
+
+                   The next day General Le Courbe, to whom the Emperor
+                   had just entrusted an important command, wrote to
+                   him, to demand several favours, and in addition a
+                   hundred and fifty thousand francs, as arrears of
+                   pay, in order to discharge his debts.
+
+                   Two other generals, less known, were equally
+                   desirous of being paid for their services. He was
+                   disgusted at their claims. "Do these men think,"
+                   said he, "that I throw away my money? I am not
+                   inclined to suffer myself to be plundered like
+                   Henry IV; if they be not inclined to fight, let
+                   them put on petticoats, and go and take an
+                   airing."]
+
+It has been asserted, that the Duke of Bassano, who had the temporary
+charge of the port-folio of the home department, had sent orders to
+M. Siméon, then royal prefect at Lille, to arrest the King. The Duke
+of Bassano, indignant at such an odious charge, would not quit France,
+without having refuted it. He proposed, to summon M. Siméon to declare
+the truth; and his declaration would have been made public through the
+means of the newspapers and the press, if the police had not opposed
+it.
+
+The King quitted Lille on the 23d of March. The Duke of Orléans, who
+had attended his Majesty, and whom the King on his departure had
+invested with the command of that place, did not quit it till
+twenty-four hours after; when he addressed the following letter to
+Marshal Mortier.
+
+
+"I commit entirely to your hands, my dear Marshal, the command which I
+was so happy as to exercise with you in the department of the North. I
+am too good a Frenchman, to sacrifice the interests of France, because
+fresh misfortunes compel me to quit it. I go to bury myself in
+retirement and oblivion. The King being no longer in France, I cannot
+issue orders in his name: and nothing remains for me, but to absolve
+you from all obedience to the orders I have already transmitted to
+you; requesting you, to do whatever your own excellent judgment, and
+pure patriotism, shall suggest to you as most conducive to the
+interests of France, and most agreeable to the duties you have to
+fulfil."
+
+
+The Emperor, after having read this letter, turned to the Duke of
+Bassano, and said: "See what the Duke of Orléans writes to Mortier;
+this letter does him honour. _His heart was always French._"
+
+I then informed him, that I had been assured, that the Duke of
+Orléans, when he parted from his officers, said to one of them,
+Colonel Athalin: "Go, sir, resume the national cockade: I take a pride
+in having worn it, and I wish I could wear it still." The Emperor
+appeared struck with these words, and made no reply. A few minutes
+after he asked me, if I had not a letter from Madame the Duchess of
+Orléans. I delivered it to him: he read it, and said: "Let his mother
+_be treated with the regard he merits_." And he ordered, that the
+duchess, whose property had just been sequestrated, should receive
+annually from the public treasury three hundred thousand francs as an
+indemnification. At the same time another indemnification of a
+hundred and fifty thousand francs was granted to the Duchess of
+Bourbon.
+
+The Duke of Bourbon, though the Emperor had announced his embarkation,
+did not sail however till several days afterward. His presence and his
+proclamation had produced a partial rising in the circle of Beaupréau;
+but convinced by his own eyes, and by the reports of his principal
+officers, that the great body of the Vendeans would not stir, he
+yielded to the wishes of Colonel Noirot, commandant of the
+gendarmerie, expressed in the following letter:
+
+
+     "Monseigneur,
+
+"It will not be in vain, I am persuaded, that I make an appeal to your
+magnanimity. It is in your power, with a single word, to calm an
+effervescence, the first results of which may once more stain with
+blood the fields of the too unhappy Vendée: this word your Highness
+will pronounce, and every thing will be restored to order. You will be
+aware likewise, Monseigneur, that a longer stay in the circle of
+Beaupréau, while it endangers the internal security of the country,
+will also endanger the personal safety of your Highness.
+
+"Deign then, I conjure you, Monseigneur, to yield to the wishes I
+entertain for your happiness, and for that of my country. For all the
+means of safety, which your Highness may desire, to repair to the
+place of destination you may choose, I will engage."
+
+
+This letter, which I take a pleasure in quoting, to prove what was the
+language of the men of the 20th of March, was not without effect. The
+Duke of Bourbon directed his aide-de-camp to have an interview with
+Colonel Noirot and it was determined, that his Highness should quit la
+Vendée, and embark at Nantes for England.
+
+For reasons with which I am unacquainted, the prince did not fulfil
+his engagements. In fact, he quitted Beaupréau, but still roamed about
+the coast some time with a fictitious passport, and under a borrowed
+name. General--[86] recognised him, but respected his disguise. The
+Emperor approved this deference, and gave orders, that he should
+merely be obliged to depart: the father of the Duke of Enghien was
+become sacred to him, and to France.
+
+                   [Footnote 86: I regret, that I did not learn his
+                   name.]
+
+Of all the family of the Bourbons the Duke and Duchess of Angoulême
+alone persisted in struggling against their ill-fortune.
+
+She was at Bordeaux at the time of the landing. The entrance of
+Napoleon into Paris, the flight of the King, and the general defection
+of the army, did not abate her courage. She made the national guard
+take up arms: she hastened to the barracks, to harangue the soldiers,
+and remind them of what they owed to their oaths and to their King.
+Numerous battalions of volunteers were instantly formed, and directed
+by her orders, to defend the avenues to the city, intercept all
+communication, and prevent popular commotions.
+
+General Clausel, however, appointed by the Emperor head commandant of
+the 11th division, had advanced as far as St. André de Cubsac, six
+leagues from Bordeaux, at the head of about five and twenty gendarmes
+collected on the road, and of a hundred and fifty men from the
+garrison of Blayes, who, informed of his arrival by his emissaries,
+had come to meet him.
+
+On his approach, a battalion of volunteers, posted at Cubsac with two
+pieces of cannon, retreated hastily to St. Vincent, and there joined
+some other volunteers, to defend with them the passage of the
+Dordogne.
+
+The soldiers of General Clausel attempted to seize the flying bridge,
+and were saluted with several discharges of artillery and small arms,
+which they received without returning. Their chief, desirous of
+avoiding a civil war, requested, that some person might be sent, to
+hold a parley with him. The Bordelese having deputed their commandant,
+M. de Martignac, for this purpose, he charged this officer, to make
+known to them, that he had no design of making any attempts against
+their persons or property; and that he conjured them, in the name of
+their country, not to spill the blood of Frenchmen to no purpose.
+
+Nevertheless some hostile appearances were continued on both sides;
+but the royal volunteers were alarmed at the sight of three boats,
+which they supposed to be filled with troops, and took flight.
+
+General Clausel, thus become master of the Dordogne, was preparing to
+cross it, when M. de Martignac returned to inform him, that Madame the
+Duchess of Angoulême consented to retire, and that the city should be
+delivered up to him in twenty-four hours.
+
+Madame, instead of fulfilling this double promise, allowed herself to
+yield to the desire and hope of prolonging the defence. She assembled
+the national guard, and made fresh attempts to bring over the troops
+of the garrison to the royal party.
+
+General Clausel perceived her at a distance reviewing the national
+guards and volunteers: he ordered M. de Martignac to be called back,
+and complained of the promises made him not being fulfilled. He urged
+in excuse, that the national guard and the garrison were no longer
+disposed to surrender the city. The general, perceiving that the
+Bordelese flattered themselves with being seconded by the troops of
+the line, assured M. de Martignac, that, on the contrary, they only
+waited for a concerted signal, to declare themselves in favour of the
+imperial cause. M. de Martignac appearing to doubt this, the general
+ordered a flag to be waved in the air, and immediately the tricoloured
+standard was hoisted on Trompette castle[87].
+
+                   [Footnote 87: The fortress in which the garrison
+                   was quartered.]
+
+The Bordelese, astonished and affrighted, requested a capitulation.
+General Clausel was eager to grant all their proposals, and the next
+day they opened the gates of the city to him.
+
+The Emperor was well pleased with the happy issue of this affair. He
+gave orders, to publish the report of General Clausel immediately:
+but as this report was a mere military statement, he added to it
+himself the supplementary particulars below, which he directed to be
+inserted in the Moniteur under the head of Bordeaux.
+
+"The firm and courageous conduct of General Clausel has prevented
+great evils: the passage of the Dordogne made a strong impression
+here. Before he reached la Bastide, the Duchess of Angoulême, feeling
+an alarm she was unable to conceal, sent him a promise, that she would
+quit Bordeaux in the morning of the 1st of April; which induced
+General Clausel, to halt at la Bastide, in front of Bordeaux, on the
+right bank of the Garonne, where he arrived on the 31st of March in
+the evening. The Duchess of Angoulême thought proper, to avail herself
+of this delay, and break her promise: she went to the barracks, caused
+the troops to be assembled, and endeavoured to persuade them, to
+oppose the entrance of General Clausel into Bordeaux. The officers of
+all ranks told her plainly, that they would pay her all the respect
+due to her unfortunate situation, and to her sex, but that, being
+Frenchmen themselves, no motive could induce them, to take up arms
+against Frenchmen. The Duchess shed abundance of tears: she requested,
+that the troops would at least remain neutral, if the national guards
+should be willing to fight for her. The officers answered, that they
+would not fire on the national guard; but they would not suffer the
+national guard, to fire on the troops of General Clausel: they would
+not allow a single drop of French blood to be spilt. The soldiers
+joined with one voice in the sentiments of their officers: the Duchess
+retired with alarm in her heart, and threats in her mouth: she was all
+trembling. When she reached the quay, where the national guard was
+under arms, she was received in profound silence. A murmur pervaded
+the ranks of "No fighting! no civil war!" The Duchess hastened to
+retire to the imperial palace, where she gave orders for her
+departure[88]. At eight o'clock she had quitted Bordeaux. The fire she
+had kindled was not extinguished in every bosom. The national guard,
+which had just conducted itself so prudently, had in company with it
+some unruly persons. These were the dregs of the people, forming the
+bulk of the companies of royal volunteers, who had been bribed to
+enlist, and reckoned upon plunder. Their hopes were already
+disappointed by the firmness of the national guard. A small number of
+the most outrageous fired on the company of M. Troplong, who was
+reputed to be of the soundest principles. The national guard returned
+the fire. The volunteers fled, but Captain Troplong had received a
+mortal wound. He has just been interred with military honours. More
+than ten thousand persons attended the funeral of this excellent
+citizen; the regret occasioned by his death suspended for a moment the
+gaiety of the people, happy in being at length freed from the evils,
+with which they were threatened."
+
+                   [Footnote 88: She set off in the evening for
+                   Pouillac; where, having bidden adieu to the
+                   volunteer cavalry, who had escorted her, she went
+                   on board an English vessel, and sailed for England
+                   on the 2d of April.]
+
+The energy and intrepidity, which the granddaughter of Maria Theresa
+displayed on this occasion, excited the praise of the Emperor, and
+drew from him the well known phrase: "She is the only man in the
+family."
+
+He no less admired the firm and respectful demeanour maintained by the
+regiments of the garrison, amid the provocations and reproaches of the
+Duchess. "Every thing that passed at Bordeaux," said he, "is truly
+extraordinary; and I know not which most demands our astonishment, the
+noble boldness of Madame d'Angoulême, or the magnanimous patience of
+my soldiers."
+
+The effervescence of the Bordelese having subsided, Provence and
+Languedoc, where the Duke of Angoulême had excited and maintained the
+flames of insurrection, still remained to be pacified.
+
+This prince, having heard at Toulouse, that the Emperor had landed in
+the gulf of Juan, repaired immediately to the principal towns in the
+South, and made the partisans of the Bourbons and of royalty take up
+arms.
+
+Three thousand two hundred Marseillese, and three thousand five
+hundred volunteers from Nismes, Avignon, and Montpelier, ranged
+themselves under his standards.
+
+The 10th, 53d, and 83d, regiments of the line, containing about nine
+hundred men each;
+
+The depôts of the 9th and 87th of foot, about five hundred and fifty
+strong;
+
+Two hundred and fifty chasseurs à cheval of the 14th regiment, a
+hundred and fifty artillerymen, and three hundred soldiers of the
+royal regiment of foreigners, were drawn from their respective
+garrisons; and formed, with the royal volunteers, an army of twelve
+thousand men; which must necessarily be increased by the levies daily
+made in the provinces, that continued subject to the royal government,
+and by the succours, which the Prince had hastened to demand from the
+King of Sardinia, and from Switzerland, and which he hoped to obtain
+from them.
+
+The Duke of Angoulême divided his army into two corps.
+
+The first, commanded by General Ernouf, under whose orders were
+Major-Generals Gardanne and Loverdo, proceeded through Sisteron for
+Grenoble.
+
+The second, commanded by the Prince in person, and under his orders by
+Lieutenant-general Monnier, Baron Damas, and Viscount Descars, took
+the road of Valence.
+
+These two corps, after having reduced the country to submission, and
+rallied the royalists, were to join at Grenoble, and march together to
+Lyons.
+
+The advanced guard of the second corps, conducted by M. Descars, met
+no serious resistance, till it came to pass the Drôme.
+
+General De Belle, at the head of a few hussars of the 4th, a battalion
+of the 39th, and about eight hundred national guards, had suffered
+himself to be driven from Loriol, and retired as well as he could
+behind the Drôme.
+
+The volunteers of Vaucluse, covered by the royal artillery, forded the
+river, and came and took post on the left flank of the national
+guards. At the same moment the Prince directed the 10th of the line,
+to attack the bridge. This manoeuvre did not intimidate the national
+guards; they stood firm; and the 10th, notwithstanding the ardour,
+with which it was inspired by the example of the Duke of Angoulême,
+was on the point of giving way; when several of the light infantry,
+who were at their head, discovered among their antagonists some of
+their ancient comrades. They began with a mutual cessation of firing,
+and finished with embracing amid shouts of Long live the Emperor.
+
+During this conversation and embracing, the rest of the 10th regiment
+recovered ground. The imperials, supposing they were coming to join
+them, advanced without distrust: a volley undeceived them: the troops
+of General De Belle were thrown into disorder, he made no attempt to
+rally them, and the rout became complete. Part of the imperials were
+made prisoners by the royalists; others took refuge in the mountains,
+or went to carry the news of their defeat to Grenoble or Valence.
+
+The next day, the 3d of April, the Duke of Angoulême and his
+victorious army entered Valence, and proceeded without loss of time to
+Romans on the Isère.
+
+The first corps, after having occupied Sisteron, separated into two
+columns: one, with General Loverdo at its head, proceeded to Lamure;
+the other, commanded by General Gardanne, having taken Gap in its way,
+advanced as far as Travers; where the garrison of Grenoble, and the
+national guards of Vizille, Lamure, and the surrounding communes, had
+just taken up a position.
+
+Hitherto every thing had proved favourable to the wishes of the royal
+army: it marched from one success to another; and the noise of its
+victories, swelled by fear and rumour, had spread consternation and
+dismay as far as Grenoble and Lyons.
+
+The Emperor himself was uneasy. On leaving Lyons he had foreseen the
+possibility of a partial rising in the south; and, relying on the
+energy and patriotism of the Dauphinese, he had entrusted to them the
+care of defending their territory and their capital. But, if they were
+strong enough to repel the aggressions of the royalists, they were not
+in a condition to resist four thousand soldiers, who had embraced
+their cause, and fought in their ranks.
+
+General Grouchy had orders, to hasten to Lyons, and raise in mass the
+national guards of Dauphiny, the Lyonnais, and Burgundy.
+
+At the name of the Emperor and of their country all were in motion:
+the patriots of la Drôme and the Isère descended from their mountains;
+the Lyonese quitted their workshops; the Burgundians spontaneously
+began their march with half-pay officers at their head.
+
+This patriotic burst was so unanimous, that the roads were instantly
+covered with national guards; and General Corbineau, whom the Emperor
+had despatched to accelerate their march, was obliged, on the
+contrary, to retard it. But all these arrangements, sad presages of a
+civil war, were happily unnecessary.
+
+The troops of General Gardanne, during their stay at Gap, became
+acquainted with the Emperor's proclamations. These had awakened their
+remembrances, electrified their minds, and the 58th mounted the
+tricoloured cockade.
+
+The defection of this regiment was soon known to the division of
+General Loverdo; and, in spite of this general's efforts, a part of
+the 14th chasseurs, and the whole of the 83d, equally embraced the
+imperial cause. On the other soldiers, though faithful in appearance,
+the generals could no longer confide: "they could not speak to a
+single inhabitant of the country, without receiving impressions
+absolutely inimical to the party of the King[89]," and they expected
+every moment, to see them go over to the enemy.
+
+                   [Footnote 89: Report of General Ernouf.]
+
+General Loverdo, impatient to give battle, and imagining, that he
+could dispense with their assistance, attempted to force the defile of
+Saulces, in advance of Gap, supported only by his royal volunteers:
+but this attack, as rash as it was useless, did not succeed, and he
+was forced to fall back to Sisteron.
+
+The second corps, restrained by the presence of the Duke of Angoulême,
+had lost but a small number of soldiers. The order to advance had just
+been given, when the Prince received the most disheartening news from
+all parts at once.
+
+On one hand he was informed of the defection of the regular troops
+under General Ernouf, and his forced retreat to Sisteron.
+
+On another he heard, that General Grouchy was advancing to meet him
+with a formidable force.
+
+From a third source of intelligence he learned, that the royal party
+at Nismes, and at Toulouse, had dispersed without resistance: that M.
+Vitrolles, the head of the committee of insurrection, had been
+arrested; and that the patriots, and the troops of the 9th division,
+united under the orders of General Gilly, having marched to take him
+in the rear, had retaken the bridge of St. Esprit by assault, and
+passed the Rhone.
+
+In fine, despatches from Turin announced to him, that he must no
+longer reckon upon any assistance from the Swiss, or upon the promises
+of the King of Sardinia.
+
+The Prince in consequence ordered a retreat to be sounded, and retired
+to Valence.
+
+The Emperor, who, according to custom, took the trouble to compose
+himself the articles in the Moniteur relative to this little war, gave
+the following account of the evacuation of Valence.
+
+"_Valence, the 7th of April._ The Duke of Angoulême has made a sad
+figure here. The alarm bell sounded throughout Dauphiny, and numerous
+battalions of the national guards departed for Lyons. The Duke of
+Angoulême, informed of their arrival, set off helter skelter with the
+four thousand insurgents, who are under his orders. The troops of the
+line, informed by our citizens, that we were engaged in the cause of
+the nation against a few privileged families, of the people against
+the nobility, and in short of the revolution against the
+counter-revolution, suddenly changed sides. The army however reckons
+three traitors, who appear to have taken the part of the enemies of
+their country: they are Generals Ernouf, Monnier, and D'Aultannie." He
+forgot General Loverdo.
+
+The Emperor was equally careful, to make public the correspondence,
+that was intercepted: and as some announced _the intention of
+separating the chaff from the wheat, and throwing it into the fire_;
+others, _of hanging all the rebels, without exception, and without
+mercy_; and, in fine, others, _invited Spain, Switzerland, and the
+King of Piedmont, to come and reduce France to reason_; they
+contributed not less powerfully than the success of the imperial army,
+to detach from the cause of the Bourbons every Frenchman, who was an
+enemy to treachery, hanging, and foreigners.
+
+General Grouchy, informed of the retreat of the Duke of Angoulême,
+sent some light troops in pursuit of him. Most of the chasseurs of the
+14th, and of the artillerymen, joined the imperialists. The volunteers
+of the south, who had hitherto set no bounds to their presumptuous
+hopes, now found none to their fears. As cowardly in adversity, as
+they were arrogant in prosperity, they abandoned their general at the
+approach of danger; and all, with the exception of a few hundreds of
+brave fellows, sought safety in flight.
+
+The Duke of Angoulême, surrounded by the feeble remnants of their
+battalions, and by the 10th of the line, which still remained
+faithful, continued his retrograde march night and day; and traversed
+in silence the places, which his army had made ring with the shouts of
+victory but a few days before. The mountaineers, who had suffered so
+much from the exactions and ill treatment of the royal volunteers, now
+repeated in their turn "Wo to the vanquished!" and did not allow a
+moment's rest to the Duke of Angoulême and his followers. Pressed on
+one side by the columns of Grouchy, on the other by the troops of
+General Gilly; shut in, without hope of succour, between the Drôme,
+the Rhone, the Durance, and the mountains, the Duke of Angoulême had
+only two resources: one was, to abandon his army, and get over the
+mountains to Marseilles or Piedmont; the other, to submit, with his
+companions in misfortune, to the law of the conqueror.
+
+The Prince would not separate his fate from that of his army. He
+consented to surrender. Baron de Damas and General Gilly regulated
+the conditions of the capitulation. It was agreed, that the Prince
+should disband his army, and have liberty to embark at Cette. As soon
+as this intelligence was announced by a telegraphic despatch, it was
+immediately made known to the Emperor by the Duke of Bassano, who
+prevailed on him, though opposed by several distinguished persons, to
+return an answer, by the same mode of conveyance, approving of the
+capitulation. At the same instant a second despatch announced, that
+General Grouchy refused to sign the treaty, unless he had the consent
+of the Emperor, and the Duke of Angoulême was deemed a prisoner. Upon
+this the Duke of Bassano hastened to transmit the first orders of
+Napoleon, and delayed informing him of the impediment to the
+ratification, till night rendered any new orders by telegraph
+impracticable. Being made acquainted with this noble daring of his
+minister, instead of reprimanding him, the Emperor dictated to him the
+following letter:
+
+"M. le Count Grouchy, the ordinance of the king, dated on the 6th of
+March, and the declaration signed at Vienne on the 13th by his
+ministers, would authorize me to treat the Duke of Angoulême, as that
+ordinance, and that declaration, would have had me and my family
+treated: but, persevering in that disposition, which induced me to
+ordain, that the members of the Bourbon family might have free egress
+from France, my intention is, that you give orders for the Duke of
+Angoulême to be conducted to Cette, where he shall be embarked, and
+that you watch over his safety, and prevent him from receiving any ill
+treatment. You will only take care to recover the money that has been
+taken from the public offices, and to require the Duke of Angoulême to
+engage to restore the diamonds of the crown, which are the property of
+the nation[90]. You will at the same time make known to him the
+provisions of the laws of the national assemblies, which have been
+renewed, and which apply to those members of the Bourbon family, who
+shall re-enter the French territories," &c.
+
+                   [Footnote 90: The diamonds that were sought to be
+                   obtained in exchange for the Duke of Angoulême were
+                   worth fourteen millions. The Duke of Otranto
+                   proposed to the Emperor, to throw M. de Vitrolles
+                   into the bargain, if they were restored; to which
+                   the Emperor readily consented. The Duke of Otranto
+                   opened a negotiation on this point, which had no
+                   farther result, than procuring him an opportunity
+                   of corresponding more at his ease with Ghent.]
+
+While awaiting the decision of Napoleon, the Duke of Angoulême was
+strictly watched. He supported this fresh disgrace with firmness and
+tranquillity. The Marquis de Rivière, informed of his detention,
+threatened Count Grouchy, if he did not restore him to liberty, to
+surrender Marseilles to the English, and raise up all Provence. These
+empty threats had no effect. The fate of the duke did not depend on
+Count de Grouchy: it was in opposition to his own feelings, that he
+had ventured to lay a sacrilegious hand on this prince; and he prayed
+sincerely, that the decision of the Emperor would allow him to break
+his chains.
+
+As soon as the decision reached him, the general hastened to insure
+the Duke of Angoulême the means of embarking speedily; and with
+religious zeal took the necessary measures, for his being treated on
+the passage with due respect.
+
+The prince, on his arrival at Cette, embarked immediately, and sailed
+for Cadiz.
+
+His capitulation and departure soon led to the submission of
+Marseilles: and, thanks to the prudence and firmness of the Prince of
+Essling, governor of that division, the royal standard was hauled
+down, and the tricoloured flag hoisted in its stead, without any
+disturbance or effusion of blood.
+
+The Emperor named General Grouchy marshal of the empire; not because
+he entertained any great admiration of his conduct, for he was aware,
+that he had but faintly pressed the Duke of Angoulême; but in order to
+give some splendor to the disgrace of the prince, and discourage the
+royalists in other parts of France. Resolving at the same time to
+punish the treason committed by the 10th at the passage of the Drôme,
+he decreed, that this regiment should wear a piece of crape on its
+colours, till it had washed in the blood of the enemy those arms,
+which it had stained with the blood of Frenchmen[91].
+
+                   [Footnote 91: It was discovered by the Duke
+                   d'Albufera, that this supposed treason was the
+                   consequence of the mistake, which I have related
+                   above, and the decree was not carried into effect.]
+
+By the telegraph the Emperor was informed of the submission of
+Marseilles, and the entire pacification of the south, just as he was
+going to review the national guard of Paris. It was always in similar
+circumstances, that great news reached the Emperor: it seemed as if
+fortune, attentive to please him, sought to enhance her gifts by
+bestowing them _apropos_. Ever since his arrival he had been intending
+to have this review, but the successive inspections of the troops of
+the line had prevented him. Some persons did not fail to ascribe this
+delay, so easily to be accounted for, to his fear of the sentiments
+and bayonets of the legions of Paris. Meantime some grenadiers of the
+royal ex-volunteers indulged in threats and imprecations against him.
+This was enough to terrify some of the alarmists of the court; and
+they requested Napoleon to mix a few battalions of his guards in the
+review, by way of precaution. The Emperor rejected their entreaties,
+and was angry at their fears: nevertheless, they caused him to be
+attended, without his knowledge, by ten or a dozen grenadiers, who
+were directed not to lose sight of him for a moment.
+
+While the Emperor was walking his horse along the ranks, his escort
+had followed him without his paying any attention to it: but when he
+set off at a gallop, he perceived, that his grenadiers were galloping
+after him, and stopped. "What do you do there?" said he to one of
+them: "Go about your business!" The old grumbler[92], who knew that
+apprehensions were entertained for the life of his general, appeared
+disposed not to obey. The Emperor then took hold of him by his hairy
+cap, and, giving it a hearty shake, repeated with a smile his order to
+him to retire: "Go all of you away: I am surrounded by none but good
+Frenchmen; I am as safe with them as with you." The national guards,
+who heard these words, cried out spontaneously, "Yes, yes, Sire, you
+are right; we would all defend your life at the expense of our own."
+Encouraged by the familiarity which the Emperor displayed towards
+them, they quitted their ranks, and crowded round him: some pressed
+his hands, others kissed theirs to him; all expressed their
+satisfaction and attachment by continued shouts of "Long live the
+nation! Long live the Emperor!"
+
+                   [Footnote 92: A nickname given by Napoleon to his
+                   old grenadiers.]
+
+After this unexpected scene, the Emperor proceeded with his review: he
+then caused a circle of officers to be formed, alighted, and addressed
+them nearly in the following terms:
+
+"Soldiers of the national guard of Paris, I am well pleased to see
+you. Fifteen months ago I formed you for the preservation of
+tranquillity in the capital, and for its security. You have fulfilled
+my expectations. You have shed your blood in defence of Paris; and if
+hostile troops entered your walls, the blame falls not on you, but on
+treason, and above all on that fatality, which attaches itself to our
+affairs under adverse circumstances.
+
+"The royal throne was not adapted to France: it gave the people no
+security for its most valuable interests; it was imposed upon us by
+foreigners. I am arrived, equipped with all the strength of the people
+and of the army, to obliterate this stain, and restore the honour and
+glory of France to all their lustre.
+
+"Soldiers of the national guard, this very morning the telegraph of
+Lyons has informed me, that the tricoloured flag is waving at Antibes
+and at Marseilles. The discharge of a hundred cannon on our frontiers
+will proclaim to foreign nations, that our civil discords are at an
+end: _I say foreign nations, because we yet know of none that are
+enemies._ If they assemble their troops, we will assemble ours. All
+our armies are composed of brave men, who have distinguished
+themselves in various battles, and who will display to foreigners a
+barrier of iron; while numerous battalions of grenadiers and chasseurs
+of the national guards will secure our frontiers. I shall not
+interfere with the affairs of foreign nations: wo to those
+governments, that shall interfere with ours! Misfortunes have tempered
+anew the character of the French people: it has resumed that youth,
+that vigour, which astonished Europe twenty years ago.
+
+"Soldiers, you have been obliged to wear colours proscribed by the
+nation. But the national colours remained in your hearts: you now
+swear, to take them always for your rallying signal, and to defend the
+imperial throne, the only and natural guarantie of our rights; you
+swear never to suffer foreigners, in whose country we have appeared
+repeatedly as masters, to interfere with our constitution or
+government. In fine, you swear, to sacrifice every thing to the honour
+and independence of France."
+
+This oath was pronounced with enthusiasm. The national guard showed,
+that it was not afraid of being taken at its word.
+
+Apprehensions had been entertained, that the guards, who had long
+borne the Parisians a grudge for having surrendered so promptly in
+1814, would indulge in some offensive reproaches: but Napoleon had
+enjoined his grenadiers to maintain silence; and, in order to complete
+the reconciliation, he caused it to be cemented by a dinner, to which
+the imperial guards invited the national guard and the garrison of
+Paris.
+
+Fifteen thousand soldiers of every description assembled at the
+_Champ de Mars_ under the eyes of the people of Paris: the joyous
+songs of the soldiers and citizens answered each other by turns, and
+gave a truly national character to this festival.
+
+When the repast was over, a numerous crowd of soldiers, officers, and
+national guards, set off for the Tuileries, carrying the bust of
+Napoleon crowned with laurels. When they arrived before his Majesty's
+windows, they saluted him with thousands and thousands of
+acclamations; and then they repaired to la Place Vendôme, where they
+devoutly deposited at the foot of the monument raised to the glory of
+our armies the image of the hero, who had led them to victory. The
+Emperor, as soon as he was informed of it, ordered me to write to the
+minister of the police, to have the bust removed in the night. "It is
+not after bacchanalian orgies," said he, proudly, "that my image
+should be placed on the column."
+
+Every body, in fact, knows, that the statue of Napoleon, by which this
+monument was formerly surmounted, had been pulled down in the early
+days of the restoration; and it was not for individual and
+unauthorized citizens to repair this affront.
+
+A few royalists, at the head of whom figured M. de Maubreuil and M.
+Sostène de la Rochefoucault, were guilty of this profanation. M. de
+Rochefoucault, whose family had shared so largely in the gifts and
+favours of Napoleon, himself put a rope about the neck of his
+benefactor, with intention to have it dragged through the mud by some
+vagabonds, whom he had hired: but the statue mocked his endeavours;
+and the only fruit he reaped from them was the reprobation of honest
+men, and the contempt of foreigners[93].
+
+                   [Footnote 93: The Emperor Alexander, in particular,
+                   expressed the most generous indignation.]
+
+The column itself was long offensive to the jealous eyes of the
+enemies of our glory. They conspired its destruction; and would have
+accomplished it, had they dared. History, which leaves nothing
+unpunished, will brand, I trust, these unworthy Frenchmen, these new
+Vandals, with eternal disgrace. It will inscribe their names, and
+their sacrilegious wishes, on the foot of the immortal column, which
+they wanted to overturn. No doubt it will also tell, that the
+federates, the half-pay officers, and all the partisans of Napoleon,
+whom some have been pleased to represent as madmen, as robbers,
+respected during the hundred days the statue of Henry IV.; though
+this statue, placed within reach of their blows, and constructed of
+frail materials, would have fallen with the slightest shock.
+
+Napoleon had said to the national guard of Paris, "We yet know of none
+that are enemies:" and these words were true. It had been remarked,
+that the foreign troops concentrated themselves on our frontiers, but
+none of their dispositions appeared hostile, and Napoleon might still
+reasonably hope, that his care to maintain peace would not be
+fruitless.
+
+On the very day of his entry into Lyons, he had hastened to commission
+Prince Joseph, to declare to the Austrian and Russian ministers at the
+Helvetic diet, that he was ready to ratify the treaty of Paris.
+
+When he arrived in the capital, he found that the foreign ministers,
+particularly Baron de Vincent, the Austrian minister, and M.
+Boudiakeen, Russian chargé d'affaire, had not yet quitted it, for want
+of passports.
+
+He caused the departure of M. de Vincent and M. de Boudiakeen to be
+delayed; and directed the Duke of Vicenza to see them, and assure them
+anew of his pacific disposition.
+
+Baron de Vincent at first refused all kind of communication or
+conferences; but at length he consented to meet M. de Vicenza at the
+house of a third person. They had a conference together at Madame de
+Souza's. M. de Vincent did not conceal the resolution of the allies,
+to oppose Napoleon's retaining the throne: but he hinted, that in his
+opinion there might not be the same repugnance to his son. He engaged,
+however, to make known the sentiments of Napoleon to the Emperor of
+Austria; and consented to take charge of a letter for the Empress
+Marie Louise[94].
+
+                   [Footnote 94: M. de Vincent set out before this
+                   letter was written, and it was entrusted to his
+                   secretary. The Emperor of Austria ordered it to be
+                   delivered into his hands, and contented himself
+                   with informing the Empress Marie, that he had
+                   received news of her husband, and that he was
+                   well.]
+
+M. de Boudiakeen, after having equally refused the conference proposed
+by the Duke of Vicenza, finished also with accepting it. It was
+agreed, that they should meet at the house of Mademoiselle Cauchelet,
+lady of the bedchamber to the Princess Hortense.
+
+M. de Jaucourt had forgotten to take out of the port-folio of foreign
+affairs a secret treaty, by which England, Austria, and France, had
+mutually engaged to oppose, peaceably or by force, the dismemberment
+of Saxony, which Russia and Prussia openly conspired.
+
+The Emperor thought, that this treaty might perhaps alienate these two
+powers from the Bourbon interest, and generate distrust and discord
+between the allies. He directed the Duke of Vicenza, to show it to the
+Russian minister; and represent it to him as a fresh proof of the
+ingratitude, with which the court of the Tuileries repaid the numerous
+benefits of Alexander. The existence of this triple alliance was
+wholly unknown to M. de Boudiakeen, and appeared to cause him as much
+surprise as dissatisfaction. But he declared, that he was too well
+acquainted with the principles of his sovereign, to venture to flatter
+himself, that the circumstance of this treaty, or any other, could
+produce a favourable change in his disposition. He promised, however,
+to make a faithful report to him of the conference he had had with M.
+de Vicenza; and to express to him the desire, manifested by the
+Emperor Napoleon, of becoming again the ally and friend of Russia.
+
+The Emperor, in order to give more efficacy to his proposals, directed
+the Princess Hortense, to confirm them in person to the Emperor
+Alexander. He also caused letters to be written to Prince Eugene, and
+to the Grand Duchess Stéphanie of Baden, to request them, to renew
+the same assurances to that sovereign, and to neglect no means of
+detaching him from the coalition.
+
+In fine, the Emperor directed overtures to be made to the cabinet of
+London, by means of a person pointed out by the Duke of Otranto; and
+in order to gain the suffrage of the parliament, and give the English
+ministry a pledge of his good intentions beforehand, he abolished the
+slave trade by a spontaneous decree.
+
+After having taken these indirect steps, Napoleon thought his duty as
+well as his dignity required him, to give a solemn and authentic
+character to the manifestation of his pacific intentions.
+
+Accordingly he wrote to the foreign sovereigns a letter couched in the
+following terms:
+
+
+     "Sire, my brother,
+
+"You will have heard in the course of last month of my return to the
+French coast, my entering Paris, and the departure of the Bourbon
+family. The true nature of these events must now be known to your
+Majesty: they are the work of an irresistible power, the work and the
+unanimous will of a great nation, who knows its duties and its
+rights. The dynasty, which force had bestowed on the French people,
+was not formed for them: the Bourbons would not accommodate themselves
+either to their sentiments, or to their manners. France could not but
+separate itself from them. Her voice called for a deliverer: the
+expectations, that had induced me, to make the greatest of all
+sacrifices, had been frustrated. I came, and from the spot where I
+touched the shore I was conducted by the love of my people to the
+bosom of my capital. The first wish of my heart is, to repay such
+great affection by the maintenance of an honourable tranquillity. The
+re-establishment of the imperial throne being necessary to the
+happiness of the French, nothing can be more pleasing to my thoughts,
+than to render it at the same time advantageous to the consolidation
+of the tranquillity of Europe. Sufficient glory had crowned the
+standards of the different nations by turns; the vicissitudes of fate
+have occasioned a sufficient succession of great successes and great
+defeats: a nobler career now opens itself to sovereigns, and I am the
+first to enter it. After having exhibited to the world the spectacle
+of great battles, it will be more pleasing, henceforth to know no
+rivalry but that of the advantages of peace, no strife but the sacred
+striving after the happiness of nations. France takes a pleasure in
+frankly proclaiming this noble end of all her wishes. Jealous of her
+own independence, the invariable principle of her politics will be the
+most absolute respect for the independence of other nations. If such
+be the personal sentiments of your Majesty, as I am happy to persuade
+myself, the general tranquillity is ensured for a long time to come;
+and justice, sitting on the confines of states, will be sufficient
+alone to guard their frontiers.
+
+     "Paris, the 4th of April."
+
+
+The Duke of Vicenza received orders, personally to express to the
+foreign ministers the sentiments, with which the Emperor was animated:
+but the couriers, who carried his despatches, could not reach the
+places of their destination; one was arrested at Kehl, another at
+Mayence; a third, sent off for Italy, could not get beyond Turin; the
+communications were interrupted. The arrangements of the declaration
+of the congress of Vienna of the 13th of March were acted upon
+already.
+
+This declaration, transmitted directly by the emissaries of the King
+to the prefects of the frontier cities, and distributed by the
+royalists, was in circulation at Paris. The inferior papers had
+announced its appearance, and united in asserting, that such an act
+was unworthy of the allied sovereigns, and could only be the work of
+calumny and malevolence.
+
+However, when it became impossible to question its legitimacy, it was
+necessary to come to the resolution of no longer making a mystery of
+it to the French people; and accordingly the following account was
+given of it in the Moniteur on the 13th of April.
+
+
+     "Council of Ministers.
+
+     "_Sitting of the 29th of March._
+
+"The Duke of Otranto, minister of the general police, states, that he
+is about to read to the council a declaration, dated Vienna the 13th,
+which is supposed to have been issued by the congress:
+
+"That this declaration, as it contains an incentive to the
+assassination of the Emperor, appears to him apocryphal: that, if it
+should prove genuine, it would be unexampled in the history of the
+world: that the libellous style, in which it is written, gives room to
+suppose, it ought to be classed among the papers fabricated by
+party-spirit, and by those pamphleteers, who of late years have
+foisted themselves uncommissioned into all state affairs: that it
+pretends to be signed by the English ministers; but it is impossible
+to suppose, that the ministers of a free nation, and particularly Lord
+Wellington, could have taken a step inconsistent with the legislation
+of their country, and with their own characters: that it pretends to
+be signed by the ministers of Austria; but it is impossible to
+conceive, whatever political dissensions may subsist between them,
+that a father could call for the assassination of his son: that,
+contrary to every principle of religion and morality, it is derogatory
+to the honourable character of the sovereigns, whose mandates are thus
+compromised by the libellists: that this declaration has been known
+several days, but, from the considerations abovementioned, it could
+not be considered otherwise than as deserving the profoundest
+contempt: that it was not deemed fit to engage the attention of the
+ministry, till official reports from Metz and Strasburg made known,
+that it had been brought into France by couriers from the Prince of
+Benevento; a fact confirmed by the result of the investigation that
+took place, and the interrogatories put: in fine, that it is proved,
+that this paper, which could not have been signed by the ministers of
+Austria, Russia, and England, was issued by the legation of the Count
+of Lille at Vienna; which legation had added to the crime of provoking
+assassination that of falsifying the signature of the members of the
+congress.
+
+"The pretended declaration of the congress, the reports from Metz and
+Strasburg, as well as the investigation and interrogatories conducted
+by order of the minister of the general police, which ascertain, that
+the said declaration proceeded from the plenipotentiaries of the Count
+of Lille at Vienna, will be sent to the presidents of the sections of
+the council.
+
+
+     "DECLARATION.
+
+"The powers, who signed the treaty of Paris, assembled in Congress at
+Vienna, being informed of the escape of Napoleon Bonaparte, and of his
+entering France by force of arms, owe to their own dignity, and to the
+interests of society, a solemn declaration of the sentiments, with
+which this event has inspired them.
+
+"By thus infringing the convention, which settled him in the island of
+Elba, Bonaparte has destroyed the only legal title he had to his
+situation in life (_auquel son existence se trouvait attachée_.) By
+re-appearing in France, with the design of disturbing and subverting
+it, he has deprived himself of the protection of the laws, and has
+made manifest to the universe, that there can be neither peace nor
+truce with him.
+
+"The powers declare in consequence, that Napoleon Bonaparte has thrown
+himself out of all the relations of civilized society; and that, as an
+enemy and disturber of the world, he has rendered himself obnoxious to
+public vengeance.
+
+"At the same time they declare, that, firmly resolved to maintain
+unbroken the treaty of Paris of the 30th of March, 1814, and the
+arrangements sanctioned by that treaty, as well as those they have
+decreed, or may yet decree, for completing and consolidating it; they
+will employ all their means, and unite all their efforts, to prevent
+the general peace, the object of the wishes of all Europe, the
+constant aim of their labours, from being disturbed anew; and to guard
+it from every attempt, that would threaten to replunge nations into
+the disorders and calamities of revolutions.
+
+"And though intimately persuaded, that all France, rallying round its
+legitimate sovereign, will annihilate without delay this last attempt
+of a criminal and impotent delirium, all the sovereigns of Europe,
+animated with the same sentiments, and guided by the same principles,
+declare, that if, contrary to all calculation, any real danger
+whatever should arise from this event, they will be ready to furnish
+the King of France and the French nation, or any other government that
+may be attacked, with the succours necessary to restore the public
+tranquillity, as soon as they shall be demanded, and to make common
+cause against all, who may attempt to disturb it.
+
+"The present declaration, inserted in the register of the congress
+assembled at Vienna, in the sitting of the 13th of March, 1815, shall
+be made public.
+
+"Done and certified as true by the plenipotentiaries of the eight
+powers, who signed the Treaty of Paris, at Vienna, the 13th of March,
+1815.
+
+
+Here follow the signatures in the alphabetical order of the courts.
+
+     "Austria          { The Prince de METTERNICH,
+                       { The Baron de WESSEMBERG.
+
+      Spain              P. GOMEZ LABRADOR.
+      (_Espagne_)
+
+                       { The Prince de TALLEYRAND,
+      France           { The Duke D'ALBERG,
+                       { LATOUR DUPIN,
+                       { The Count ALEXIS DE NOAILLES.
+
+                       { WELLINGTON,
+                       { CLANCARTY,
+      Great Britain    { CATHCART,
+                       { STEWART.
+
+                       { The Count PALMELA,
+      Portugal         { SALDANHA,
+                       { LOBO.
+
+                       { The Prince de HARDENBERG,
+      Prussia          { The Baron de HUMBOLDT.
+
+                       { The Count de RASOUMOWSKI,
+      Russia           { The Count de STAKELBERG,
+                       { The Count de NESSELRODE.
+
+      Sweden             LOWENHIELM."
+
+This declaration, which no doubt will hereafter excite the
+astonishment of posterity, was commented upon and victoriously refuted
+by the Emperor himself. Count Boulay, to whom the following report is
+ascribed, had no farther share in it, than condensing it a little, and
+softening some of its expressions.
+
+Report of the committee of presidents of the council of state.
+
+
+"In consequence of the reference made to it, the committee, composed
+of the presidents of the sections of the council of state, has
+examined the declaration of the 13th of March, the report of the
+minister of the general police, and the papers added to them.
+
+"The declaration is in an unusual form, composed in such strange
+terms, and expresses such anti-social ideas, that the committee was
+led to consider it as one of those supposititious productions, by
+means of which despicable men endeavour to impose upon people's minds,
+and mislead the public opinion.
+
+"But the verification of the examinations taken at Metz, and of the
+interrogatories of the couriers, admit no doubt, that the declaration
+was sent by members of the French legation at Vienna; and consequently
+it must be considered as adopted and signed by them.
+
+"It is under this last point of view, that the committee imagines it
+ought first to examine this production, which has no precedent in the
+annals of diplomacy, and in which Frenchmen, men invested with the
+most respectable of public characters, begin with a sort of outlawry,
+with a provocation to assassinate the Emperor Napoleon.
+
+"We say with the minister of the police, that this declaration is the
+work of the French plenipotentiaries: because those of Austria,
+Prussia, Russia, and England, could not have been capable of signing a
+paper, which the sovereigns and people, to whom they belong, will be
+eager to disavow.
+
+"And in the first place these plenipotentiaries, most of them
+coadjutors in the treaty of Paris, know, that Napoleon was there
+acknowledged as retaining the title of Emperor, and as sovereign of
+the island of Elba: they would have mentioned him by these titles, and
+would not have deviated, either in matter or in manner, from the
+respect they impose.
+
+"They would have felt, that, agreeably to the laws of nations, a
+prince, however trifling the extent or population of his state,
+enjoys, as far as regards his political and civil character, the
+rights belonging to every sovereign prince in respect to the most
+powerful monarch; and Napoleon, acknowledged under the title of
+Emperor, and in quality of a sovereign prince, by all the powers, was
+no more amenable to the congress of Vienna than any of them.
+
+"The forgetfulness of these principles, impossible to be supposed in
+plenipotentiaries, who weigh the rights of nations maturely with
+wisdom and consideration, has nothing astonishing in it when
+manifested by French ministers, whose conscience reproaches them with
+more than one act of treason, in whom fear has engendered rage, and
+whose remorse leads their reason astray.
+
+"Such men as these may have risked the fabrication and the
+publication of a piece like the pretended declaration of the 13th of
+March, in the hope of stopping the progress of Napoleon, and
+misleading the French people with regard to the real sentiments of
+foreign powers.
+
+"But they cannot judge like these powers of the merits of a nation,
+which they have misunderstood, betrayed, and delivered up to the arms
+of foreigners.
+
+"This nation, brave and generous, revolts against every thing that
+bears the marks of cowardice and oppression: its affections are
+heightened, when the object of them is threatened or affected by a
+great injustice; and assassination, which the commencement of the
+declaration of the 13th of March is intended to excite, will find not
+a single hand to execute it, either among the twenty-five millions of
+Frenchmen, the majority of whom attended, guarded, and protected
+Napoleon from the Mediterranean to the capital; nor among the eighteen
+millions of Italians, the six millions of Belgians or inhabitants of
+the banks of the Rhine, and the numerous nations of Germany, who, on
+this solemn occasion, have not pronounced his name without respectful
+remembrance; nor a single individual of the indignant English nation,
+whose honourable sentiments disavow the language, that those men have
+dared to attribute to the sovereigns.
+
+"The people of Europe are enlightened; they judge the rights of
+Napoleon, the rights of the allied princes, and those of the Bourbons.
+
+"They know, that the convention of Fontainbleau was a treaty between
+sovereigns. Its violation, the entrance of Napoleon into the French
+territory, like any other infraction of a diplomatic act, like any
+hostile invasion, could only bring on an ordinary war; the result of
+which can only be, to the person, that of being conqueror or
+conquered, free or a prisoner of war; to possessions, that of being
+lost or preserved, diminished or increased; and that every thought,
+every threat, every attempt, against the life of a prince at war with
+another, is a thing unheard of in the history of nations, and of the
+cabinets of Europe.
+
+"In the violence, the rage, the forgetfulness of principle, that
+characterize the declaration of the 13th of March, we recognize the
+envoys of the same prince, the organs of the same councils, who, by
+the ordinance of the 6th of March, also put Napoleon out of the pale
+of the law, also invoked for him the daggers of assassins, and also
+promised a reward to whoever would bring his head.
+
+"Yet what has Napoleon done? By his confidence he has honoured the men
+of all nations, who were insulted by the infamous office to which they
+were invited: he has shown himself temperate, generous, a protector,
+even toward those who had devoted his head to destruction.
+
+"When he spoke to General Excelmans, marching toward the column that
+closely pressed Louis Stanislas Xavier; to General Count Erlon, who
+was to receive him at Lille; to General Clausel, who was going to
+Bourdeaux, where the Duchess of Angoulême was; to General Grouchy, who
+marched to put a stop to the civil disturbances excited by the Duke of
+Angoulême; every where, in short, orders were given by the Emperor,
+that their persons should be respected, and sheltered from all attack,
+from all danger, from all violence, during their progress on the
+French territories, and to the moment of their quitting them.
+
+"Contemporary nations and posterity will judge, on which side respect
+has been paid in this grand conjuncture to the rights of nations and
+of sovereigns, to the laws of war, the principles of civilization, and
+the maxims of law civil and religious: they will pronounce between
+Napoleon and the house of Bourbon.
+
+"If, after having examined the pretended declaration of the congress
+in this first point of view, we discuss it in its relations to
+diplomatic conventions, to the treaty of Fontainbleau of the 11th of
+April, ratified by the French government, we shall find, that their
+violation is imputable only to those very persons who charge it on
+Napoleon.
+
+"The treaty of Fontainbleau has been violated by the allied powers,
+and by the house of Bourbon, in what regards the Emperor Napoleon and
+his family, in what affects the rights and interests of the French
+nation:
+
+"1st. The Empress Marie Louise and her son were to obtain passports
+and an escort, to enable them to repair to the Emperor: but, far from
+performing this promise, the wife was separated by force from her
+husband, the son from his father, and this under painful
+circumstances, when the strongest mind finds it necessary to seek
+consolation and support in the bosom of its family and domestic
+affections.
+
+"2d. The safety of Napoleon, of the imperial family, and of their
+suite, was guarantied (Art. 14 of the treaty) by all the powers: yet
+bands of assassins were organized in France under the eyes of the
+French government, and even by its orders, as the solemn proceedings
+against the Sieur de Maubreuil will shortly prove, to attack both the
+Emperor, his brothers, and their wives: this first branch of the plot
+failing of the expected success, a tumult was planned at Orgon, on the
+road taken by the Emperor, in order to make an attempt against his
+life by the hands of some brigands: one of the cut-throats of Georges,
+the Sieur Brulart, raised for the purpose to the rank of
+major-general, known in Brittany, in Anjou, in Normandy, in la Vendée,
+throughout all England, by the blood he has shed, was sent to Corsica
+as governor, in order to prepare and insure the crime; and, in fact,
+several solitary assassins attempted, in the island of Elba, to gain,
+by the murder of Napoleon, the culpable and disgraceful salary which
+was promised them.
+
+"3d. The duchies of Parma and Placentia were given in full propriety
+to Marie Louise, for herself, her son, and his descendants: yet, after
+long refusal to put them into possession, the injustice was
+consummated by an absolute spoliation, under the illusory pretext of
+an exchange without valuation, without proportion, without
+sovereignty, without consent; and the documents existing in the office
+of foreign affairs, of which we have had an account presented to us,
+prove, that it was at the instance and through the intrigues of the
+Prince of Benevento, that Marie Louise and her son were despoiled.
+
+"4th. A suitable establishment, out of France, had been given to
+Prince Eugene, the adopted son of Napoleon, who has done honour to
+France, where he was born, and gained the affection of Italy, where he
+was naturalized; yet he has obtained nothing.
+
+"5th. The Emperor had stipulated (Art. 3 of the treaty) in favour of
+his brave soldiers the preservation of their salaries from the
+Napoleon fund (_sur le mont Napoléon_); he had reserved out of the
+extraordinary domain, and the funds remaining of the civil list, the
+means of recompensing his servants, and of paying the soldiers, that
+attached themselves to his fate. The whole was taken away and kept
+back by the ministers of the Bourbons. An agent of the French soldiers
+went in vain to Vienna, to claim for them the most sacred of all
+property, the price of their valour and their blood.
+
+"6th. The preservation of the property, movable and immovable, of the
+Emperor's family, is stipulated by the same treaty (Art. 6); yet it
+has been despoiled of both: in France, with force of arms, by
+commissioned brigands; in Italy, by the violence of military
+commanders; in both countries by seizures and sequestrations solemnly
+appointed.
+
+"7th. The Emperor Napoleon was to receive two millions of francs a
+year, and his family two millions and a half, agreeably to the
+distribution fixed by Art. 6 of the treaty: but the French government
+has constantly refused to fulfil these engagements, and Napoleon would
+have soon seen himself reduced to the necessity of dismissing his
+faithful guard, for want of the means of ensuring its pay, if he had
+not found in the grateful remembrances of the bankers and merchants of
+Genoa and Italy the honourable resource of a loan of twelve millions,
+which was offered him.
+
+"8th. In fine, it was not without a motive, that certain persons were
+desirous of separating from Napoleon, by any means, the companions of
+his glory, models of attachment and constancy, unshaken guaranties of
+his life and safety. The island of Elba was secured to him in full
+property (Art. 3 of the treaty): yet the resolution to deprive him of
+it, desired by the Bourbons, and solicited by their agents, had been
+taken at the Congress.
+
+"And if Providence in its justice had not interposed, Europe would
+have seen attempts made against the person, the liberty of Napoleon,
+banished for ever at the mercy of his enemies, far from his family,
+separated from his servants, either to St. Lucie, or to St. Helena,
+which was assigned him as a prison.
+
+"And when the allied powers, yielding to the imprudent wishes, or
+cruel instigations, of the agents of the house of Bourbon, have
+stooped to violate a solemn contract, on the faith of which Napoleon
+had absolved the French nation from its oaths; when himself, and all
+the members of his family, saw themselves menaced and attacked in
+their persons, in their property, in their affections, in all the
+rights stipulated in their favour as princes, and even in those
+secured by the laws to simple citizens; how ought Napoleon to act?
+
+"Ought he, after having endured so many insults, and suffered so many
+acts of injustice, to consent to the complete violation of the
+engagements entered into with him; and, resigning himself to the fate
+prepared for him, abandon also to their fearful destiny, his wife, his
+son, his relations, and his faithful servants?
+
+"Such a resolution seems to require more than human strength of mind:
+yet Napoleon was capable of taking it, if the peace and happiness of
+France could have been purchased by this new sacrifice. He would again
+have devoted himself for the French people, from whom, as he wishes
+to declare in the face of all Europe, he makes it his glory to hold
+every thing, to whom he refers every thing, and to whom alone he will
+hold himself responsible for his actions and devote his life.
+
+"It was for France alone, and to save her from the calamities of an
+intestine war, that he abdicated the crown in 1814. He restored to the
+French people the rights he held from them; he left them free to
+choose a new master, and to found their liberty and happiness on
+institutions, that would protect both.
+
+"He hoped, that the nation would preserve all it had acquired by five
+and twenty years of glorious fighting; and the exercise of its
+sovereignty in the choice of a dynasty, and in stipulating the
+conditions, on which it should be called to the throne.
+
+"He expected from the new government respect for the glory of the
+armies, and for the rights of the brave; the guaranty of all the new
+interests, interests generated and maintained during a quarter of a
+century, resulting from all the civil and political laws, observed and
+revered during that time, because they are identified with the
+manners, habits, and wants of the nation.
+
+"Far from all this, every idea of the sovereignty of the people has
+been discarded.
+
+"The principle, on which all public and civil legislation has been
+founded since the revolution, has been equally discarded.
+
+"France has been treated as a revolted country, reconquered by the
+armies of its ancient masters, and subjugated anew to a feudal
+domination.
+
+"A constitutional law has been imposed on France, as easy to be eluded
+as revoked; and in the form of royal ordinances simply, without
+consulting the nation, without even hearing those bodies, become
+illegal, the phantoms of national representation.
+
+"The violation of this charter has been checked only by the timidity
+of the government; the extent of the abuses of its authority has been
+limited only by its weakness.
+
+"The disjointing of the army, the dispersion of its officers, the
+exile of several, the debasement of the soldiers, the suppression of
+their endowments, the privation of their pay or pensions; the
+reduction of the pay of the legionaries, the despoiling them of their
+honours, the pre-eminence given to the decorations of the feudal
+monarchy, the contempt of the citizens, designated anew under the name
+of _tiers-état_ (third estate); the spoliation of the purchasers of
+national property, prepared and already begun, the actual diminution
+of value of such as was obliged to be sold; the return of the feudal
+system in its titles, privileges, and useful rights, the
+re-establishment of tramontane principles, the abolition of the
+liberties of the Gallican church, the annihilation of the Concordat,
+the re-establishment of tithes, the reviving intolerance of an
+exclusive form of worship; the domination of a handful of nobles over
+a people accustomed to equality: are what the ministers of the
+Bourbons have done, or wished to do, for the people of France.
+
+"It was under such circumstances, that the Emperor Napoleon quitted
+the island of Elba: such were the motives of the resolution he took,
+and not the consideration of his own personal interests, so trivial in
+his opinion compared with the interests of the nation, to which he has
+devoted his existence.
+
+"He has not brought war into the bosom of France: on the contrary, he
+has extinguished the war, which the possessors of national property,
+constituting four fifths of the landholders throughout France, would
+have been compelled to make upon their despoilers; the war, which the
+citizens, oppressed, degraded, humiliated by the nobles, would have
+been forced to declare against their oppressors; the war, which the
+Protestants, the Jews, and the people of different sects, would have
+been obliged to maintain against their persecutors.
+
+"He came to deliver France; and as a deliverer he has been received.
+
+"He arrived almost alone; he travelled two hundred and twenty leagues,
+without meeting any obstacle, without a battle; and has resumed
+without resistance, in the midst of the capital, and of the
+acclamations of an immense majority of the citizens, the throne
+relinquished by the Bourbons; who, from among the army, their own
+household, the national guards, or the people, could not raise a
+single person in arms, to endeavour to maintain them in it.
+
+"Yet, replaced at the head of the nation, which had already chosen him
+three times, and has just elected him a fourth time by the reception
+it gave him on his march, and his triumphant arrival; of that nation,
+by which, and for the interest of which, he wishes to reign;
+
+"What is the desire of Napoleon? What the French people desire, the
+independence of France, peace within, peace with all nations, the
+execution of the treaty of Paris, of the 30th of May, 1814.
+
+"What is there, then, changed in the future state of Europe, and in
+the hope of repose promised it? What voice is raised, to demand those
+succours, which, according to the declaration, are to be granted only
+when claimed?
+
+"There is nothing changed, if the allied powers recur, as we have a
+right to expect from them, to just and temperate sentiments; if they
+acknowledge, that the existence of France in a respectable and
+independent state, as far from conquering as from being conquered,
+from domineering as from being held in subjection, is necessary to the
+balance of great realms, as well as to the guaranty of smaller states.
+
+"There is nothing changed, if, not attempting to compel France to
+resume with a dynasty, which she can no longer desire, the feudal
+chains she has broken, and to submit to the seigneurial or
+ecclesiastical pretensions, from which it has emancipated itself,
+those powers do not attempt to impose on her laws, to interfere in her
+internal concerns, to assign her a particular form of government, to
+give her masters suited to the interests and passions of her
+neighbours.
+
+"There is nothing changed, if, while France is occupied in preparing
+the new social compact, that shall guaranty the liberty of her
+citizens, and the triumph of those generous ideas, that prevail in
+Europe, and can no longer be stifled; she be not compelled, to call
+off her attention from these pacific ideas, and from the means of
+domestic prosperity, to which the people and their chief are desirous
+of devoting themselves in happy concord, in order to prepare for
+battle.
+
+"There is nothing changed, if, while the French nation demands
+nothing, but to remain at peace with all Europe, an unjust coalition
+do not oblige her to defend, as it did in 1792, her will, and her
+rights, and her independence, and the sovereign of her choice."
+
+
+This eloquent refutation, full of irrefragable facts, and reasonings
+not to be refuted, was no longer necessary. French honour had judged
+and condemned the Congress of Vienna and its Declaration.
+
+When this declaration appeared, France grew pale: she was astonished,
+affrighted at the calamities, which the future boded; and groaned at
+the idea of being exposed to a war for the sake of one single man.
+
+This first impression over, her pride, her virtue, felt indignant,
+that the allies should dare to conceive the thought, that she would
+yield to their menaces, and cowardly consent, to give Napoleon up to
+them.
+
+Had Napoleon been no more than a simple citizen, the attempt to
+violate by authority the rights of men and nations in his person would
+have been sufficient, to induce the French, or at least all worthy of
+the name, to think themselves obliged to protect and defend him.
+
+But Napoleon was not merely a simple citizen, he was the head of the
+French nation: it was for having aggrandized it by his conquests, and
+ennobled it by his victories, that he was proscribed by foreigners;
+and the most timid as well as the most generous made it their sacred
+duty to place him under the safeguard of the nation, and of French
+honour.
+
+Thus the declaration of the Congress, instead of intimidating France,
+heightened its courage; instead of separating Napoleon from the
+French, drew still more close the bands that united them; instead of
+calling down on his head the public vengeance, rendered him more
+estimable and more dear in the eyes of the people.
+
+If Napoleon, availing himself of these generous sentiments, had said
+to the French: "You have restored to me the crown, foreigners are
+desirous of tearing it from me; I am ready, either to defend it, or to
+lay it down; say which I shall do:" the whole nation would have
+understood Napoleon, and would have risen in a body, to cause the
+sovereign of its heart and its choice to be respected.
+
+But Napoleon had other ideas: he considered the declaration of the
+Congress merely as a paper adapted to the circumstances of the day,
+the object of which was, at the time when it was subscribed by the
+allies, to support the courage of the royalists, and to restore to the
+Bourbons the confidence and moral strength they had lost.
+
+He thought, that his entrance into Paris, and the entire pacification
+of the South, would have completely changed the state of things; and
+he hoped, that foreign nations would ultimately acknowledge him, when
+they were convinced, that he had been re-established on the throne by
+the unanimous consent of the French, and that his ideas of conquest
+and dominion had given place to the real desire of respecting the
+tranquillity and independence of his neighbours, and of living in
+harmony with them.
+
+In fine, he considered, that prudence would induce the allies, as it
+was their interest, not to engage in a war, the results of which could
+not be favourable to them: "They will feel, that they will not this
+time have to do with the France of 1814; and that their successes, if
+they gain any, will be no longer decisive, but will merely serve to
+render the war more obstinate and bloody; while, if victory favour me,
+I may become as formidable as ever. I have for me Belgium and the
+Rhenish provinces, and with a tricoloured flag and a proclamation I
+could revolutionize them in four-and-twenty hours."
+
+The treaty of the 25th of March, by which the great powers, renewing
+the arrangements of the treaty of Chaumont, engaged themselves anew
+not to lay down their arms, as long as Napoleon should be on the
+throne, appeared to him merely the natural consequence of the act of
+the 13th of March, and of the erroneous opinions the allies had formed
+of France. He thought, that it would not alter the state of the
+question; and resolved, notwithstanding this treaty, and the
+affronting manner in which his first overtures were received, to
+endeavour repeatedly to make the voice of truth, of reason, and of
+peace, heard at Vienna.
+
+Baron de Stassart, late auditor to the council of state and prefect,
+had been made chamberlain of Austria, or of Bavaria, since the
+restoration. He was at Paris. The Emperor, hoping he might be able to
+reach Vienna under favour of his quality of chamberlain, charged him
+with a mission for the Empress Marie Louise, and fresh despatches for
+the Emperor of Austria. Napoleon at the same time had recourse to
+other means: he was aware of the intimacy and connexions of MM. D. de
+St. L** and de Mont** with Prince Talleyrand; and persuaded, that M.
+de Talleyrand would procure for them authority to repair to Vienna, he
+resolved, to send them thither. He did not deceive himself with the
+idea, that they would accept their mission for any other purpose than
+that of more easily serving the royal cause; but he paid little regard
+to their intrigues with the King, provided they delivered and brought
+back with exactness the despatches, that should be entrusted to
+them[95].
+
+                   [Footnote 95: It was a laughable singularity, that,
+                   of all the double-faced men employed by the
+                   Emperor, there was no one, in whom he had more
+                   confidence, than he had in M. de Mont**. He had
+                   formerly ill-treated, persecuted, and banished him:
+                   he knew, that he detested him, and was the most
+                   intimate, the most devoted friend of M. de
+                   Talleyrand: but he knew also the bent of M. de
+                   Mont**'s mind; and he thought, that he would feel
+                   an infinite pleasure, in executing his mission
+                   well, and _humming_ [_rouer_] M. de Talleyrand, who
+                   flattered himself, that he had never been hummed by
+                   any person. I know not whether M. de Mont** found
+                   it pleasant, or not, to take in M. de Talleyrand;
+                   what I know is, that he justified the expectations
+                   of Napoleon, and brought back to him intact the
+                   letters, that were delivered to him by M. de
+                   Mont**.]
+
+About the King, however, and what passed at Ghent, he took little
+concern: his anxious eyes were turned to Vienna; and convinced of the
+influence, that M. de Talleyrand might exert there, he particularly
+directed M. ****, to offer him his favour, and money also, if he would
+abandon the Bourbons, and employ his talents and experience for the
+benefit of the imperial cause.
+
+The Emperor, who did not cease to hope, that his exertions, time, and
+reflection, might effect some changes in the resolutions of the
+allies, heard with extreme displeasure, that the King of Naples had
+commenced hostilities.
+
+This prince had long been dissatisfied with the complaisance, with
+which the allied sovereigns listened to the protests of France, Savoy,
+and Spain: and, though his crown had been guarantied to him by a
+solemn compact with Austria, and by the formal declarations of Russia
+and England, he foresaw, that the doctrine of legitimacy would carry
+the point against the faith of treaties, and that Austria, though
+interested in not allowing another crown to be transferred to the
+house of Bourbon, would be obliged to submit to the unanimous will of
+the other powers.
+
+Thus the fear of being driven from the throne, and the resolution to
+maintain himself in it, possessed Joachim, when the news of the
+successful landing of Napoleon reached Naples.
+
+The horror with which the Austrian sway inspired the Italians, the
+attachment they retained to Napoleon, and the joy they displayed on
+hearing of his departure from the island of Elba, persuaded the King,
+that he should find no difficulty in raising Italy; and he flattered
+himself with bringing the allies, either by force of arms, or by way
+of negotiation, to guaranty to him irrevocably the possession of his
+kingdom.
+
+Desirous on the other hand of securing the protection of Napoleon, in
+case of failure of success, he secretly despatched an emissary to
+congratulate him; and announce, that, with a view of seconding his
+operations, he was about to attack the Austrians, and, if his wishes
+were answered by victory, he would soon join him with a formidable
+army: "in fine," he wrote, "the moment of atoning for the wrong I have
+done your Majesty, and of proving my attachment, is now arrived; I
+will not let it escape."
+
+This letter, which I deciphered, reached the Emperor at Auxerre; and
+he immediately enjoined the King, to continue his preparations, but
+wait for his giving him the signal, before he commenced hostilities.
+The natural impetuosity and impatience of this Prince did not allow
+him, to wait for the answer of Napoleon, and when his despatches
+arrived, the gauntlet had been thrown down.
+
+The better to disguise his intentions, Joachim had summoned the
+ambassadors of Austria and England, immediately on hearing of the
+landing of Napoleon, and had assured them, that he would remain
+faithful to his engagements. When he had assembled his army (put in
+motion under pretence of reinforcing his troops in the March of
+Ancona), he fell unexpectedly on the Austrians; and announced to the
+Italians, by a proclamation dated at Rimini the 31st of March, that he
+had taken up arms to liberate Italy from a foreign yoke, and restore
+its ancient freedom and independence.
+
+"Italians," said he to them, "the moment is arrived, when the great
+decrees of destiny are to be fulfilled. Providence at length calls
+you, to become an independent people: one cry resounds from the Alps
+to the straits of Scylla, the independence of Italy. By what right
+would foreigners rob you of your independence, the first right, and
+the first good, of all nations?
+
+
+"Formerly masters of the world, you have expiated this fatal glory by
+an oppression of twenty centuries. Let your glory now be, to have no
+more masters.
+
+
+"Fourscore thousand Italians hasten to you under the command of their
+king. They swear not to rest, till Italy is free. Italians of all
+countries, second their magnanimous efforts ... let those, who have
+borne arms, resume them, let the unpractised youth exercise themselves
+in the use of them, let all the friends of their country raise up one
+generous voice for liberty.
+
+
+"Can England refuse you her suffrages, she whose noblest claim to
+glory is to spend her blood and treasure for the independence and
+freedom of nations?
+
+
+"I call on all the brave, to come and fight with me; I call on all men
+of enlightened understandings, to prepare, while the passions are
+silent, the constitution and laws, that ought henceforward to govern
+happy and independent Italy."
+
+
+This proclamation, to the great astonishment of Italy and France, did
+not once mention the name of Napoleon. It kept the most profound
+silence respecting his return, his intercourse with Joachim, and the
+hopes their combined efforts must inspire.
+
+Joachim however was not ignorant of the ascendancy, which the name of
+Napoleon had on the spirit and courage of the Italians. But he knew
+also, that this name was odious to the English, and dared not invoke
+it, for fear of displeasing them. He thought he was sufficiently
+powerful of himself, to act independently of the Emperor; and that it
+would be enough, if he showed himself in arms to the Italian nation,
+and offered it independence, to raise it at his pleasure. He deceived
+himself: all his strength was borrowed from Napoleon: personally he
+enjoyed no weight, no influence, in Italy. The Italians could not
+forgive him for having betrayed his brother-in-law and benefactor in
+1814, or for having revealed to Austria the patriotic conspiracy of
+Milan in 1815[96].
+
+                   [Footnote 96: I know not whether the fact be true:
+                   but, true or false, it had the same effect on the
+                   minds of the Italians.]
+
+Thus prejudiced, they durst not confide in him; his intentions
+appeared doubtful, his promises vague, his resources uncertain; and
+they remained quiet spectators of the combat.
+
+It is not, in fact, by concealments, that people are reduced or
+hurried away: to subjugate them, it is necessary, to convince their
+hearts and their understandings; and the heart and the understanding
+comprehend no language but the straight forward voice of truth.
+Unhappily this language was no longer known to Murat. Since his
+accession to the throne, he had adopted the system of dissimulation
+and duplicity, which pretty generally characterise Italian politics.
+These narrow politics, which support themselves by cunning and
+temporizing, were incompatible with the French blood, that circulated
+in his veins; and the continual conflicts, that arose between his
+novel inclinations and his natural petulance, were incessantly
+rendering his words and actions at variance, and leading him into
+devious paths, where he could not fail, to go astray and meet his
+ruin.
+
+Nevertheless, such is the magic power of the sacred words of liberty
+and our country, that Murat did not utter them in vain. Bologna and a
+few cities declared for him; and a number of young Italians ran to
+enlist under his standards. Victory favoured their first steps; but
+Napoleon did not deceive himself: the moment had been ill-chosen, he
+foresaw the defection or ruin of Murat, and what passed beyond the
+Alps no longer inspired him with any thing but disgust. From that time
+he turned his attention with more ardor than ever to the means of
+struggling alone against his adversaries, whose proceedings began to
+assume a threatening appearance.
+
+The royal government, partly through fear, partly from economy, had
+disorganized the army, reduced the regiments one half, changed their
+denominations, and dispersed the soldiers among new battalions.
+
+Napoleon re-established the regiments on their ancient footing;
+restored to them their glorious surnames of Invincible, Incomparable,
+Terrible, One to Ten, &c. &c., which they had acquired and merited in
+the field of battle. He recalled to their standards the brave men who
+had been banished from them; and the army, which was scarcely
+fourscore thousand strong, soon reckoned on its lists near two hundred
+thousand fighting men.
+
+The marines[97] and guards of the coasts, who so brilliantly
+signalized their courage in the plains of Lutzen and Bautzen, were
+united under the command of their officers, and formed a body of
+fifteen or eighteen thousand men, who were appointed to protect our
+maritime establishments, or, in case of necessity, reinforce the
+active army.
+
+                   [Footnote 97: _Les marins._ Properly, perhaps, the
+                   seamen, whom Napoleon took from the ships of war,
+                   and converted into soldiers.--_Tr._]
+
+The cavalry of the imperial guard and the old grenadiers opened their
+ranks to ten thousand soldiers selected from the flank companies; the
+light artillery was re-organized; and the young guard received an
+addition of several regiments.
+
+But it was not sufficient to restore to the army the forces, of which
+it had been deprived; it was equally necessary, to repair its
+destitution: the foot wanted arms and clothing, the cavalry had
+neither saddles nor horses.
+
+The Emperor looked to all these things.
+
+Levies and purchases of horses were made at once in all the
+departments.
+
+The gendarmerie, by giving up the ten thousand horses belonging to it,
+which it replaced immediately, supplied the heavy cavalry with so many
+horses already trained, which in ten days rendered its numerous
+squadrons complete.
+
+Spacious manufactories of clothing, arms, and equipage, were opened at
+once in all parts.
+
+The Emperor caused an account of the number of workmen, and the
+produce of their labour, to be delivered to him every morning. He knew
+how long it took a tailor to finish a soldier's dress, a wheelwright
+to construct a carriage, or an armourer to fit up a musket. He knew
+the quantity of arms, in a good or bad state, contained in the
+arsenals. "You will find," he wrote to the minister at war, "in such
+an arsenal, so many old muskets, and so many broken up. Set a hundred
+men at work there, and arm me five hundred men a week." Such was the
+extent and variety of Napoleon's genius, that he soared without effort
+to the loftiest abstractions of the art of governing, and descended
+with the same facility to the minutest details of management.
+
+Extraordinary commissioners were employed at the same time to direct
+the repairing and fortifying of the frontier towns. They employed
+themselves day and night on this important business. But the slightest
+delay appeared to the Emperor an age of expectation, and frequently he
+put his hand to the work himself. He was perfectly acquainted with the
+nature of the fortifications of every place, the number of men it
+ought to contain, and the approaches necessary to be defended; and in
+a few hours he settled what the most experienced engineer would have
+found it difficult to conceive and determine in several days. And let
+it not be supposed, that the works he thus ordered bore any marks of
+precipitancy. At the head of his topographical cabinet he had one of
+the first engineer officers in France, General Bernard; and this
+general, too brave, too loyal, to be a flatterer, could never enough
+admire the profound knowledge the Emperor possessed of the art of
+fortification, and his happy and prompt application of it.
+
+The zeal and joint efforts of these committees, and of the Emperor,
+produced, in a short time, effects truly miraculous. All France seemed
+an intrenched camp. Napoleon, in the articles he wrote[98],
+frequently gave an account of the progress of his armament, of the
+fortified places, and of the works of defence. I will transcribe here
+one of these articles, which, exclusive of the merit of depicting the
+aspect of France at that period, in a better manner than I could,
+appears to me well adapted to convey an idea of the fervid activity of
+Napoleon, and the immensity of the objects his eye embraced.
+
+                   [Footnote 98: For the Moniteur, I presume.--_Tr._]
+
+"All the strong places on the northern frontier, from Dunkirk to
+Charlemont, are furnished with ordnance, provision, and stores: the
+sluices are put into order, and the country will be inundated at the
+first hostile movement: field-works have been laid out in the forest
+of Mormale: measures are taken for throwing up intrenchments in the
+different passes of the forest of Aregonne: all the strong places of
+Lorraine are prepared: intrenchments are formed at the five passes of
+the Vosges: the fortresses of Alsace are equipped: orders are given
+for the defence of the pass of Jura, and all the frontiers of the
+Alps. The passes of the Somme, which are in the third line, are
+putting into order. In the interior, Guise, la Ferté, Vitry,
+Soissons, Château Thierry, and Langres, are equipping and fortifying.
+Orders have been issued even for constructing works on the heights of
+Montmartre and Ménilmontant, and furnishing them with three hundred
+pieces of ordnance: they will be formed at first of earth, and the
+solidity of permanent fortifications will be given them in succession.
+
+"His Majesty has ordered, that Lyons should be put into a state of
+defence: a _tête-de-pont_ will be established at Broteaux. The
+drawbridge at La Guillotière is replacing. The space between the Saône
+and the Rhone will be fortified: some redoubts are preparing to be
+constructed in advance of this space. A redoubt will be constructed on
+the height of Pierre en Size, to support a work, that closes the city
+on the right bank. The heights, that command the quarter of St. Jean,
+on the right bank of the Saône, will be defended by several redoubts:
+a train of eighty pieces of cannon, with the necessary stores, is sent
+off for Lyons. Sisteron and the bridge of St. Esprit will be placed in
+a state of defence. Eight armies or corps of observation are formed:
+namely
+
+"The army of the North;
+
+"The army of the Moselle;
+
+"The army of the Rhine;
+
+"The corps of observation of the Jura, which is assembling at Befort;
+
+"The army of the Alps, which is assembling at Chambery;
+
+"The corps of observation of the Pyrenees, which is assembling at
+Perpignan and at Bordeaux;
+
+"And the army of reserve, which is assembling at Paris and at Laon.
+
+"The old soldiers are every where on the march, animated with the
+greatest enthusiasm, and come to complete our hundred and twenty
+regiments of infantry. The purchases made for remounting the cavalry
+have been going on rapidly for this month, and will soon render our
+seventy regiments of cavalry fully complete. Regiments of volunteer
+cavalry are forming in many parts: Alsace has already furnished two
+regiments of lancers, of a thousand men each. We have reason to think,
+that this example will be followed in Brittany, Normandy, and
+Limousin, the province in which the greatest number of horses are
+bred.
+
+"Parks of artillery, forming more than a hundred and fifty batteries,
+are already harnessed, and on the march for the different armies. The
+corps of artillery for the defence of Lyons is composed of two
+companies formed in the school of Alfort. The corps for serving the
+three hundred pieces of ordnance, that will be placed on the heights
+of Paris, will consist of twelve companies of marine artillery, two
+companies of invalids, two companies of the school of Alfort, two
+companies of the polytechnic school, two companies of the school of
+St. Cyr, and six companies of foot artillery.
+
+"Corps of partisans and free corps are forming in a great number of
+departments. An adjutant-general, stationed with each general
+commanding in chief, will conduct the correspondence with these corps;
+which, if the enemy be rash enough to penetrate into our territories,
+will fall upon his communications in the mountains and forests, and
+find support in the fortified towns.
+
+"The organization of the levy in mass of Alsace, Lorraine, the county
+of Messin, Franche Comté, Burgundy, Dauphiny, and Picardy, is
+prepared.
+
+"All the cities will arm in defence of their vicinity: they will
+follow the example of Chalons sur Saône, Tournus, and St. Jean de
+Losne. Every unfortified town even would betray the national honour,
+if it surrendered to light troops, and did not make the best defence
+its means will allow, till the arrival of infantry and artillery in
+such force, that its resistance would cease to be prescribed by the
+laws of war.
+
+"Every thing is in motion in all parts of France. If the coalition
+persist in the designs they have announced of making war on us, if
+they violate our frontiers, it is easy to foresee, what fruits they
+will reap from their attempt on the rights of the French nation: all
+the departments will emulate in zeal those of Alsace, the Vosges,
+Franche Comté, Burgundy, and the Lyonese; every where the people are
+animated with a patriotic spirit, and ready to make any sacrifice, to
+maintain the independence of the nation, and the honour of the
+throne."
+
+In fine, to complete his means of resistance and attack, the Emperor
+remodelled the national guard, and divided it into three thousand one
+hundred and thirty battalions, forming a body of two millions two
+hundred and fifty thousand men. All the national guards from twenty
+years old to forty were classed in active companies of light infantry
+and grenadiers, and fifteen hundred of these companies, or a hundred
+and eighty thousand men, were immediately placed at the disposal of
+the minister at war, to form the garrisons of the frontier places,
+and reinforce the armies of reserve.
+
+The general officers sent to the frontier departments, to accelerate
+the raising and departure of this national militia, had need only to
+show themselves, to accomplish their mission. Every citizen aspired
+beforehand to the honour of making a part of it; and in the provinces
+of the east, the north, and the centre, it was found necessary to form
+supernumerary companies[99]. The father would have renounced his son,
+the wife her husband, the girl her betrothed lover, if they had been
+deaf to the voice of honour and their country. The mothers themselves,
+who at other times had so bitterly deplored the departure of their
+children, encouraged them, like the Spartans, to march against the
+enemy, and fall, if it must be so, in the sacred cause of their
+country. This picture is not an exaggeration, it is faithful, it is
+true. Never was a more beautiful spectacle exhibited to the eyes of
+any man, to whom the glory and independence of his country were dear,
+than that of the enthusiasm and martial joy, with which the warlike
+inhabitants of Alsace, Lorraine, Burgundy, Champagne, and the Vosges,
+were animated. The roads were covered with waggons loaded with young
+warriors, who hastened, gaily singing, to the post of honour assigned
+them by Napoleon: the population of the towns and villages received
+them on their way with applauses, which inflamed their minds with
+fresh ardor, and made them enjoy by anticipation the praises and
+acclamations, that their friends, parents, and fellow-citizens would
+lavish on them at their return.
+
+                   [Footnote 99: I cannot avoid here making a
+                   comparison. On the 15th of March, the Count
+                   d'Artois wished to form a legion from the light
+                   infantry and grenadiers of the national guard of
+                   Paris. He reviewed the twelve legions, harangued
+                   them, and announced, that he would march at the
+                   head of the volunteer national guards: a hundred
+                   and fifty turned out.
+
+                   Napoleon from his closet called the national guard
+                   to the defence of the imperial cause: 150,000 men
+                   took up arms, and hastened to battle.
+
+                   What must we conclude from this coldness on the one
+                   hand, and this enthusiasm on the other? I leave the
+                   question to be answered by those, who pretend, that
+                   the revolution of the 20th of March obtained the
+                   assent only of a handful of factious persons.]
+
+France seemed to call aloud, to see her eclipsed greatness restored.
+She had recovered all her energy: an evident proof, that the strength
+of a nation is always the work of the prince, by whom it is governed.
+It is he, who enervates the public spirit, and bastardizes his
+subjects, by the effeminacy of his government: or it is he, who
+inspires them with the love of their country, with priding themselves
+in it, and leads them to undertake, whatever can augment its glory and
+its power.
+
+To draw still more closely the bonds of union between the French
+people, and impart greater intensity to their patriotism, Napoleon
+authorized the re-establishment of popular clubs, and the formation of
+civic confederations. This time his expectations were not answered by
+success. The major part of the clubs were filled with men, who
+formerly composed the revolutionary tribunals and societies; and their
+imprecations against kings, and their liberticide motions, made the
+Emperor fear, that he had revived the spirit of anarchy.
+
+The sentiments manifested by the federates equally disquieted him. He
+perceived, that he did not occupy the first place in their thoughts
+and affections; that the primary wish of their hearts was liberty;
+and, as this liberty was in his eyes synonimous with republicanism, he
+exerted all his endeavours to moderate, restrain, and repress, the
+development of these patriotic associations. Perhaps there were men
+among the federates, whose principles might be dangerous, and their
+intentions criminal: but in general they consisted of pure patriots,
+who had taken up arms to defend the imperial government, and not to
+overturn it.
+
+Napoleon had never been able to surmount the aversion, which he felt
+for the veterans of the revolution. He dreaded their constancy, and
+their daring spirit; and he would have thought himself in danger, if
+not lost, had they become consolidated, and resumed their ascendancy.
+This panic fear was the cause, that he did not reap from the
+confederations the advantages he promised himself; and which they
+would unquestionably have afforded him, if he had not clogged their
+wings. It was also the cause of his committing a perhaps still greater
+fault, that of putting a stop to the popular movements, that had shown
+themselves in most of the departments. In the critical state in which
+he found himself, and into which he had drawn France, he should not
+have disregarded any means of security; and the most efficacious, the
+most analogous to his situation, was indisputably that of engaging the
+people most intimately in his fate, and in his defence. It was
+necessary, therefore, while preventing them from spilling a single
+drop of blood, to let them compromise themselves with some of those
+incorrigible ultras, who had harassed, ill-treated, and insulted
+them, since the restoration. The people would then have been more
+sensible, that it was no longer the personal cause of Napoleon alone,
+that they had to defend; and the dread of chastisement, and of the
+yoke, would have restored to them that ancient enthusiasm, which had
+proved so fatal to the first coalition.
+
+The moderation adopted by Napoleon on this occasion was honourable,
+but not politic. He conducted himself, as he might have done at a
+time, when all parties, confounded together and reconciled,
+acknowledged him for their sole and only sovereign. But things had
+changed: he had no longer the whole of France in his favour; and hence
+it was necessary, that he should conduct himself rather as the head of
+a party, than as a sovereign; and that he should display as it were
+all the vigour and energy of the leader of a faction. Energy unites
+men, by taking from them all uncertainty, and hurrying them with
+violence toward their object. Moderation, on the contrary, divides and
+enervates them, because it leaves them to their own irresolution, and
+allows them leisure, to listen to their interests, their scruples, and
+their fears.
+
+The attention paid by the Emperor to his military preparations did not
+prevent his continuing to occupy himself on the welfare of the state,
+and endeavour more and more to conciliate the confidence and affection
+of the public.
+
+Already, in other days, he had drawn out from its ruins the ancient
+University. A new basis, more broad, more extensive, more majestic,
+had raised this noble institution to a level with the age, and with
+France. But the first stage of education did not answer the efforts
+made to improve it, and to diffuse it among the younger classes of
+society.
+
+M. Carnot, in a report that combined the most pleasing philanthropy
+with the most sage and lofty views, taught the Emperor the advantages
+of the methods of Bell and Lancaster, and the monarch and the minister
+made a present to France, to morality, to humanity, of the system of
+mutual instruction.
+
+The Emperor, on removing his eyes from this interesting youth, the
+hope of the country, turned them to those old soldiers, who had
+formerly been its pride and support.
+
+A royal ordinance had expelled from their asylum a considerable number
+of invalids, and had taken from them a portion of their endowments: a
+decree restored them to their rights; and a visit, which the Emperor
+paid these veterans in glory, added a kindness to the benefit.
+
+He also repaired to the Polytechnic school. It was the first time of
+his showing himself to its pupils. Their love of perfect liberty,
+their inclination for republican institutions, had long alienated from
+them the affections of the Emperor: but the striking bravery they had
+displayed under the walls of Paris had restored to them his esteem and
+friendship; and it was satisfactory to him (these are his own words),
+to have such a fine occasion of reconciling himself with them.
+
+The suburb of St. Antoine, that cradle of the revolution, was not
+forgotten. The Emperor traversed it from one end to the other. He had
+the doors of all the workshops opened to him, and examined them very
+minutely. The numerous workmen of the manufactory of M. Lenoir, who
+retained a grateful remembrance of what the Emperor had done for their
+master and for themselves, loaded him with expressions of their
+attachment. The commissary of police of the quarter had followed
+Napoleon into this manufactory; and, willing to set the example,
+opened his mouth to its utmost extent, to holla as loud as he could
+bawl "Long live the Emperor!" but, by a terrible slip of the tongue, a
+very distinct "Long live the King!" on the contrary issued from it.
+This caused great confusion: but the Emperor, turning to him, said in
+a rallying tone: "So, Mr. Commissary, you are determined then not to
+get rid of your bad habits." This sally was the signal for a general
+laugh: and the commissary, plucking up his spirits, convinced Napoleon
+by many a vigorous "Long live the Emperor!" that we never lose any
+thing by a little patience.
+
+The Emperor was accompanied only by three officers of his household.
+It was impossible for them to defend him from the approaches and
+caresses of the people: the women kissed his hands; the men squeezed
+them, till they made him cry out; both expressed to him in a thousand
+ways, which I cannot transcribe, the difference they made between him
+and his predecessor. At all times he had been much beloved by the
+class of workmen and artisans. He had enriched it: and interest is the
+prime mover of regard among the people, as well as among the
+great[100].
+
+                   [Footnote 100: The reverses of Napoleon's fortune
+                   had been so rapid, that the possessors of great
+                   places, and of great preferment, had not had time
+                   to retrench their way of living. When the Bourbons
+                   were recalled, they were obliged to come to a
+                   reckoning with their means, and all these
+                   extravagant expenses ceased at once.
+
+                   On the other hand, the new court, in order to
+                   distinguish itself from the imperial court,
+                   substituted the most offensive simplicity for the
+                   useful pomp of Napoleon. The richest emigrants
+                   imitated this pernicious example; and, as Napoleon
+                   remarked, the luxury of the table was almost the
+                   only kind, on which encouragement was not spared.
+                   The result of this economical system was, that the
+                   produce of our manufactories remained unemployed,
+                   and industry was suddenly paralyzed.
+
+                   Thus commerce, which had loudly called for peace,
+                   was almost totally annihilated by it: and the
+                   manufacturers, the mechanics, the merchants (those
+                   of the sea-ports excepted), greatly regretted those
+                   _happy_ times, when we were at war.
+
+                   In fact, it must be admitted, that our industry was
+                   indebted to the war, and to our conquests, for its
+                   progress, and its prodigious increase. The war, by
+                   depriving us of the products of the English
+                   manufactories, had taught us, to manufacture for
+                   ourselves. The continual prohibition of these
+                   articles protected our rising manufactures from the
+                   danger of competition; and allowed them to engage
+                   with safety in the trials and expenses necessary
+                   for equalling or surpassing in perfection foreign
+                   manufactures. In all parts of the empire were seen
+                   manufactories for spinning and weaving cotton; and
+                   this branch of trade, almost unknown before,
+                   employed three hundred thousand work people, and
+                   produced goods to the value of more than two
+                   hundred and fifty millions.
+
+                   The other products of our industry equally received
+                   improvements and extension; and France, in spite of
+                   the conscription, reckoned in its numerous
+                   workshops nearly twelve hundred thousand
+                   workpeople.
+
+                   If this flourishing state of our continental trade
+                   were the effect of the enlargement of our
+                   territory, and the scope the war had given to our
+                   industry, we must say, that it was also the result
+                   of the succour, encouragement, and honorary
+                   distinctions, which Napoleon knew how to bestow
+                   appropriately on our manufacturers; and the return
+                   for those enormous sacrifices he made, to create,
+                   repair, and keep in order, those superb roads, and
+                   those numerous canals, which rendered the
+                   communications between France, and the countries
+                   subjected to its empire, equally easy, safe, and
+                   pleasant.]
+
+The Emperor received a great number of petitions during his
+excursions. Unable to read them all, he ordered me, to examine them
+carefully, and give him an account of them. He loved to repay the
+confidence that the people reposed in him; and frequently granted to
+the request of an obscure and unknown citizen, what he would perhaps
+have refused to the entreaties of a marshal or a minister. The utility
+of these familiar communications between the nation and the sovereign
+was not confined, in his eyes, to the solitary interests of the
+petitioner. He considered them as efficacious means of coming at the
+knowledge of abuses and acts of injustice, and of keeping the
+depositaries of authority within the limits of their duty. He was
+fond of encouraging them, that the phrase, If the Emperor knew it, or
+The Emperor shall know it, might solace the heart of the oppressed,
+and make the oppressor tremble.
+
+In former days he had appointed a special commission, to receive
+petitions, and give them suitable effect. This benefit not appearing
+to him sufficiently complete, he would have them subjected to a
+preliminary examination, under his own eye. He decided himself the
+method to be followed: and directed me, to make known to him every
+day, without disguise, the complaints, wants, and wishes, of the
+French people. I made it a point of duty, of honour, to execute this
+task in a proper manner, and to become the zealous protector of those
+who had none. Every morning I laid before the Emperor an analytical
+report of the requests capable of demanding his attention: he examined
+them with care, made marginal notes on them with his own hand, and
+sent them to his ministers with a favourable decision, or an order to
+verify them, and give him an account of the result.
+
+In fine, to fulfil, as much as in him lay, the public expectation, the
+Emperor made numerous changes in the laws relating to the
+consolidated taxes (_droits réunis_), which, while they diminished the
+impost, freed it from its abuses and tyrannical forms, and rendered it
+less odious, and more supportable. These beneficial meliorations,
+though incomplete, were received with gratitude; and the Emperor was
+thanked for his endeavours to reconcile the interests of individuals
+with the wants of the public treasury.
+
+But the satisfaction Napoleon derived from the happy effects of his
+solicitude was frequently disturbed by the disquietude and perplexity,
+which the cabals and manoeuvres of the royalists occasioned him.
+"The priests and the nobles," said he one day in a fit of ill-humour,
+"are playing a deep game. If I were to let loose the people upon them,
+they would all be devoured in the twinkling of an eye[101]."
+
+                   [Footnote 101: These words, and several others that
+                   I have quoted, prove Napoleon not to have been
+                   ignorant of the use he might make of the people. If
+                   he did not have recourse to them, no doubt it was
+                   because he feared, that the remedy might prove
+                   worse than the disease.]
+
+By a decree of the 25th of March, he had already ordered the ministers
+of the King, and the civil and military officers of his household, as
+well as of those of the princes, as also the chiefs of the Chouans, of
+the Vendeans, and of the royal volunteers, to remove to a distance of
+thirty leagues from Paris. This prudent precaution was but imperfectly
+executed. M. Fouché, to secure himself a refuge in the King's party,
+had sent for the principal of the proscribed persons to his house;
+expressed to them how much he felt interested for their situation, and
+the efforts he had made, to prevent their banishment; and finally
+authorised them pretty generally, to remain at Paris.
+
+The Emperor, not aware that their audacity was owing to the protection
+of his minister, watched for an opportunity of intimidating them by an
+act of severity. While things were in this state, a M. de Lascours, a
+colonel, was arrested at Dunkirk, where he had introduced himself as
+an emissary from the King. Napoleon, deceived by the similarity of the
+name, supposed this officer to be the person, who pretended, in 1814,
+to have received orders, to blow up the powder magazine at Grenelle,
+and refused to execute them. "I should be sorry," said he, "to
+sacrifice by way of example a worthy man; but an impostor like this
+deserves no pity. Write to the minister at war, to have him taken
+before a military commission, and tried as an instigator to civil war,
+and to the overturning of the established government."
+
+The Emperor, turning towards me, added: "How is it, that the absurd
+fable of this man has not been contradicted?"--"Sire," I answered,
+"Gourgaud has often assured me, that all your officers had publicly
+avowed their sentiments on it; and that it had been the intention of
+several generals, and particularly of general Tirlet, to unmask this
+odious lie to the King; but...." "Enough," said the Emperor, "I make
+no account of intentions: send the order, and let me hear no more of
+him."
+
+I lost sight of this business: but I have since learned, that M. de
+Lascours was acquitted.
+
+If M. de Lascours had been so unfortunate, as to fall a victim to his
+zeal, the Emperor would have been accused of barbarity; yet he was
+neither cruel nor sanguinary, for cruelty must not be confounded with
+severity. I know but one single act, the result of the most fatal
+counsels, for which, alas! he may be reproached by posterity[102].
+Who besides have been the victims of his pretended ferocity? Will the
+death of Georges, and his obscure accomplices, be considered as a
+judicial murder? Are the infernal machine and its terrible ravages
+forgotten? Georges, at the head of the Chouans, was a misled
+Frenchman, to be pitied, and to be spared. Georges, at the head of a
+band of assassins, was undeserving of pity, and the cause of
+morality, as well as of humanity, demanded his punishment.
+
+                   [Footnote 102: Napoleon, during the hundred days,
+                   entertained for a moment the design of issuing a
+                   demi-official note on the arrest and death of the
+                   Duke of Enghien.
+
+                   The following memorandums are taken from papers,
+                   from which the note was to have been compiled.
+
+                   Reports from the police had informed Napoleon, that
+                   there were conspiracies of the royalists beyond the
+                   Rhine, and that they were conducted and supported,
+
+                   1st, by Messrs. Drake and Spencer Smith, the
+                   English ministers at Stutgard, and at Munich;
+
+                   2dly, by the Duke d'Enghien and General Dumourier:
+
+                   The central point of the former was at Offenbourg;
+                   where were some emigrants, some English agents, and
+                   the Baroness de Reich, so noted for her political
+                   intrigues:
+
+                   The central point of the latter was given out to be
+                   at the castle of Ettenheim, where the Duke
+                   d'Enghien, Dumourier, an English colonel, and
+                   several agents of the Bourbons, resided.
+
+                   The hundred and twenty thousand francs given by the
+                   minister Drake to the Sieur Rosey, chef de
+                   bataillon, to excite an insurrection,
+
+                   The declarations of Mehée;
+
+                   And the reports of M. Sh***, prefect of Strasbourg,
+                   and brother-in-law of the Duke de Fel....; leave no
+                   doubt of the existence of the intrigues at
+                   Offenbourg and Ettenheim, to which M. Sh***
+                   ascribes in particular the agitation, and symptoms
+                   of discontent, that prevail at Weissembourg, and in
+                   several parts of Alsace.
+
+                   On the other hand, the conspiracy of the 3d of
+                   Nivôse had just broken out. The discoveries made by
+                   the servant of Georges, and by other individuals,
+                   led to the belief, that the Duke d'Enghien had been
+                   sent by England to the borders of the Rhine, in
+                   order to place himself at the head of the
+                   insurrection, as soon as Napoleon was made away
+                   with.
+
+                   The necessity of putting an end to these plots, and
+                   strike terror into their instigators by a grand act
+                   of reprisal, squared in an incredible degree with
+                   the political considerations, that led Napoleon to
+                   attempt a bold stroke, in order to give the
+                   revolution, and the revolutionists, those
+                   guaranties, which circumstances demanded:
+
+                   Napoleon, named consul for life (I borrow here the
+                   language of the Manuscript from St. Helena), felt
+                   the weakness of his situation, the ridiculousness
+                   of his consulship. It was necessary to establish
+                   something solid, to serve as a support to the
+                   revolution. The republicans were alarmed at the
+                   height, on which circumstances had placed him: they
+                   were suspicious of the use he might make of his
+                   power: they dreaded his renewing an antiquated
+                   royalty by the help of his army. The royalists
+                   fomented this rumour, and took a delight in
+                   representing him as an ape of the ancient monarchs:
+                   other royalists, more adroit, whispered about, that
+                   he was enamoured of the part of Monk, and that he
+                   would take the pains to restore the power, only to
+                   make a present of it to the Bourbons, when it
+                   should be in a proper state to be offered them.
+
+                   Ordinary minds, unacquainted with his powers,
+                   credited these reports; they sanctioned the tales
+                   of the royalist party, and decried him to the
+                   people, and to the army; for they began to suspect
+                   him, and his attachment to their cause. He could
+                   not allow such an opinion to pass current, because
+                   it tended to unhinge every thing. It was necessary,
+                   at all events, to undeceive France, the royalists,
+                   and Europe at large, in order that they might know,
+                   what they had to reckon upon in him. A persecution
+                   of reports in detail never produces any thing but a
+                   bad effect, for it does not attack the root of the
+                   evil.
+
+                   The death of the Duke d'Enghien would decide the
+                   question, that agitated France; it would decide the
+                   character of Napoleon beyond return; in fine, it
+                   might intimidate and punish the authors of the
+                   plots incessantly contriving against his life, and
+                   against the state: accordingly he determined on it.
+
+                   He sent for Marshal Berthier, and this minister
+                   directed General Ord**, by an order which the
+                   Emperor dictated, and which I have _seen_, to set
+                   off post for Strasbourg; to cause General Lev** to
+                   place under his orders fifteen boatmen, three
+                   hundred dragoons from the garrison of Schelstadt,
+                   and thirty gendarmes; to pass the Rhine at Rheinan,
+                   to proceed to Ettenheim, to surround the town, and
+                   _to carry off the Duke d'Enghien, Dumourier, an
+                   English colonel, and all the persons in their
+                   suite_.
+
+                   The Duke d'Enghien,
+                   General Thumery,
+                   Colonel de Grunstein,
+                   Lieutenant Schmidt,
+                   Abbé Weinburn, and five other inferior persons,
+                   were arrested by a chef d'escadron of the
+                   gendarmerie, named Ch**, who was charged with this
+                   part of the expedition.
+
+                   Then, and then only, it became certain, that
+                   Dumourier was not at Ettenheim. General Thumery had
+                   been mistaken for him. This mistake, occasioned by
+                   the similarity of their rank, and some likeness of
+                   sound between their names, which the Germans
+                   pronounced nearly alike, had heightened the
+                   importance and criminality of the pretended plots
+                   at Ettenheim in the mind of Napoleon, and had the
+                   most fatal influence on his determination.
+
+                   The Duke d'Enghien was brought from Strasbourg to
+                   Paris, and carried before a military commission.
+
+                   The Empress Josephine, the Princess Hortense, fell
+                   at Napoleon's feet in tears, and conjured him to
+                   spare the life of the Duke d'Enghien. Prince
+                   Cambacérès and the Prince of Neufchâtel strongly
+                   remonstrated to him on the horrible inutility of
+                   the blow he was about to strike. He appeared to
+                   hesitate, when the information was brought him,
+                   that the prince was no more.
+
+                   Napoleon had not expected so speedy a catastrophe.
+                   He had even given orders to M. Réal, to repair to
+                   Vincennes, to interrogate the Duke d'Enghien: but
+                   his trial and execution had been hastened by Murat;
+                   who, urged by some regicides, at the head of whom
+                   was M. Fou***, thought he should render a service
+                   to Napoleon, to his family, and to France, by
+                   insuring the death of a Bourbon.
+
+                   The Prince de T***, whom the Emperor often publicly
+                   reproached with having advised the seizure and
+                   death of the Duke d'Enghien, was directed to pacify
+                   the court of Baden, and to justify the violation of
+                   its territory in the eyes of Europe. M. de
+                   Caulincourt being at Strasbourg, the Emperor
+                   thought him more proper than any other person, to
+                   follow up a negotiation, if the turn of affairs
+                   should require it; and he was directed to send to
+                   the minister of Baden the despatch of the Prince de
+                   T***. But there was no need of having recourse to
+                   negotiations: the court, far from complaining of
+                   the violation of its territory, expressed itself
+                   well contented, that the step taken had saved it
+                   the disgrace of consenting, or the embarrassment of
+                   a refusal.
+
+                   This is an exact and true recital of the
+                   circumstances, that preceded, followed, and
+                   accompanied, the carrying off and death of the last
+                   of the house of Condé.
+
+                   The seizure of the Duke d'Enghien was long imputed
+                   to M. de Caulincourt, and is still imputed to him
+                   by persons uninformed of the truth.
+
+                   Some assert, that he arrested him with his own
+                   hands:
+
+                   Others, that he gave orders for the seizure of his
+                   person: both these imputations are equally false.
+
+                   He did not arrest the Duke d'Enghien, for his
+                   seizure was executed and consummated by chef
+                   d'escadron Ch***.
+
+                   Neither directly, nor indirectly, did he give
+                   orders for seizing the prince: for the particular
+                   mission, to carry him off, was confided to General
+                   Ord**, and this general had no orders to receive
+                   from M. de Caulincourt his equal, perhaps even his
+                   inferior.
+
+                   What made it be supposed, at a time when it was not
+                   possible to explain the facts, that M. de
+                   Caulincourt had been employed to seize the Duke
+                   d'Enghien, or cause him to be seized, was, that M.
+                   de Caulincourt received, at the same moment as
+                   General Ord**, orders to repair to Strasbourg, to
+                   cause the emigrants and English agents, who had
+                   fixed the seat of their intrigues at Offenbourg, to
+                   be carried off. But this mission, for which it
+                   would be requisite to take measures in concert with
+                   General Ord**, and perhaps even to assist him in
+                   case of need; for a simultaneous proceeding was
+                   necessary, that one expedition might not cause the
+                   failure of the other; this mission, I say, though
+                   analogous to that of General Ord**, had no real
+                   connexion with it.
+
+                   Their objects were different:
+
+                   That of one was to carry off the Duke d'Enghien
+                   from Ettenheim;
+
+                   That of the other, to seize the conspirators at
+                   Offenbourg, which was eight or ten leagues distant.
+
+                   Perhaps it will be objected, that M. de Caulincourt
+                   was not ignorant of General Ord**'s being directed,
+                   to seize the Duke d'Enghien. Be it so: I cannot
+                   perceive the consequence, attempted to be drawn
+                   from this. But what I have _seen_ in the cabinet,
+                   and what I attest, is, that the order given to M.
+                   de Caulincourt said nothing of Ettenheim, and that
+                   the name of the Duke d'Enghien was not even
+                   mentioned in it: it related solely, in the first
+                   place, to the construction of a flotilla, that was
+                   preparing on the Rhine; and, secondly, to the
+                   expedition of Offenbourg; an expedition that
+                   terminated, as no doubt is still remembered, in the
+                   laughable flight of the minister Drake and his
+                   agents.
+
+                   I have thought it my duty as a Frenchman and an
+                   historian, to enter into these details, and destroy
+                   for ever an error, which malevolence and the spirit
+                   of party have laid hold of, in order to tarnish the
+                   political life of one of the men, who do the
+                   greatest honour to the imperial government and to
+                   France.
+
+                   M. de Caulincourt would not have been less
+                   irreproachable, had he committed the fatal seizure
+                   ascribed to him: he would have done his duty, as
+                   General Ord** did his. A soldier is not the judge
+                   of the orders he is to execute. The great Condé,
+                   covered with the laurels of Rocroy, Fribourg,
+                   Norlinguen, and Lenz, was arrested, in spite of the
+                   faith pledged to him, in the apartments of the
+                   King; yet neither his contemporaries, nor
+                   posterity, have charged Marshal d'Albret with this
+                   arrest as a crime.]
+
+Will it be said, that Pichegru was strangled by his orders? The
+designs of Pichegru were so clearly substantiated, and the laws so
+clear, that he could not escape the scaffold: why, then, should he
+cause him to be murdered? The greatest criminals themselves do not
+commit useless crimes. Were apprehensions entertained of the
+disclosures he might make?... What could he disclose to the French
+people? That Napoleon aspired to the throne? Of this no one was
+ignorant.
+
+A man, that Napoleon had reason to dread, was Moreau: was his life
+attempted? Yet it was less dangerous, to assassinate him, than to send
+to a tribunal, where guilt presided, a warrior at that time so dear to
+France and to the army.
+
+No, Napoleon was not cruel, he was not sanguinary. If he were
+sometimes inexorable, it was because there are circumstances, in which
+the monarch must shut his heart to compassion, and leave the law free
+to act: but, if he knew how to punish, he was also capable of
+pardoning; and, at the moment when he gave up Georges[103] to the
+sword of justice, he spared the lives of Messrs. de Polignac and the
+Marquis de Rivière, whose courage and zeal he respected.
+
+                   [Footnote 103: I have been assured, that Georges
+                   was three times offered his pardon by Napoleon, if
+                   he would promise, not to engage in any conspiracy
+                   again; and that it was not till after his third
+                   refusal, that his sentence was ordered to be
+                   carried into execution.]
+
+The Emperor did not stop at the rigorous trial, to which he had
+delivered over the person of M. de Lascours: by a decree, dated the
+18th of March, and published the 9th of April, he ordered the
+condemnation, and the sequestration of the property of
+
+     The Prince of Benevento,
+     The Duke of Ragusa,
+     The Duke of Alberg,
+     The Abbé de Montesquiou,
+     The Count de Jaucourt,
+     The Count de Bournonville, and
+     The Sieurs Lynch,
+                Vitrolles,
+                Alexis de Noailles,
+                Bourienne,
+                Bellard,
+                La Roche-Jaquelin, and
+                Sostène de la Rochefoucault[104];
+
+                   [Footnote 104: Marshal Augereau, Duke de
+                   Castiglione, was also in this list. His name was
+                   struck out at the request of the duchess, and in
+                   consideration of the proclamation, which he
+                   published on the 23d of March.]
+
+All of whom, as members of the provisional government, or agents of
+the royal party, had concurred in the subversion of the imperial
+government, previous to the abdication of Napoleon.
+
+This decree, though supposed to have originated at Lyons, first saw
+the light at Paris; and was, as I have just said, the result of the
+ill humour, into which the plots of the royalists had thrown Napoleon.
+The terms, in which it was originally couched, too clearly attested
+its source: the first article said; "are declared traitors to their
+country, and shall be punished as such, &c."
+
+It was I, who wrote this decree, from the dictation of the Emperor.
+When I had finished it, he ordered me, to go and get it signed by
+Count Bertrand, who had countersigned the decrees of Lyons. I went to
+the marshal. He read the decree, and returned it to me, saying: "I
+will never sign it: this is not what the Emperor promised us; they who
+advise him, to take such measures, are his bitterest enemies; I will
+speak to him about it." I related this firm and courageous answer to
+Napoleon word for word. He ordered me, to return to the grand Marshal,
+to endeavour to overcome his repugnance, and, if he still persisted,
+to bring him to him. Count Bertrand instantly followed me, with head
+erect, into the Emperor's closet. "I am astonished," said Napoleon to
+him in a dry tone, "that you make such difficulties about it to me.
+The severity I wish to display is necessary for the good of the
+state."--"I do not think so, Sire."--"I do, I tell you: and it is my
+business alone to judge of it. I did not ask your advice, but your
+signature, which is only a matter of form, and cannot in any way
+compromise you."--"Sire, a minister, who countersigns the act of a
+sovereign, is morally responsible for that act; and I should think
+myself wanting in my duty to your Majesty, and perhaps to myself, if I
+were weak enough to set my hand to such measures. If your Majesty
+choose to reign by the laws, you have no right, arbitrarily to
+pronounce, by a simple decree, sentence of death, and forfeiture of
+property, against your subjects. If you choose to act as a dictator,
+and to have no law but your own will, you have no need of the addition
+of my signature. Your Majesty has declared, by your proclamations,
+that you would grant a general amnesty. I countersigned them most
+cordially; and I will not countersign the decree, that revokes
+them."--"But you well know, I always told you, that I never would
+pardon Marmont, Talleyrand, and Augereau; and that I promised only to
+overlook, what had passed since my abdication. I know better than you,
+what I ought to do, to keep my promises, and ensure the tranquillity
+of the state. I begun with being indulgent, even to weakness and the
+royalists, instead of appreciating my moderation, have abused it: they
+bestir themselves, they conspire, and I ought and will bring them to
+their senses. I would rather have my blows fall on traitors, than on
+men who are misled. Besides, all those who are on the list, Augereau
+excepted, are out of France, or in concealment. I shall not seek for
+them: my intention is to terrify them more than harm them. You see,
+therefore," continued the Emperor, softening his voice, "you have not
+rightly considered the business: sign this for me, my dear Bertrand:
+you must."--"I cannot, Sire. I request your Majesty's permission, to
+submit my observations to you in writing."--"All that, my dear sir,
+will make us lose time: you are startled, I assure you, without any
+reason; sign, I tell you; I request you, you will do me
+pleasure."--"Permit me, Sire, to wait, till your Majesty has seen my
+observations." The marshal went away. This noble resistance did not
+offend the Emperor: the language of truth and honour never displeased
+him, when it issued from a pure heart.
+
+General Bertrand delivered to Napoleon a statement of his reasons. It
+did not alter his resolution; it only determined him, to give it a
+legal form.
+
+The Emperor, persuaded that General Bertrand would equally retain his
+opinion, would not have this new decree presented to him, and it
+appeared without being countersigned.
+
+The effect it produced justified the apprehensions of the grand
+Marshal. It was considered as an act of despotism and vengeance; as
+the first infraction of the promises made to the nation. The murmurs
+of the public were echoed even within the walls of the imperial
+palace. Labedoyère, at a moment when Napoleon was passing by, said
+loud enough to be heard, "If the system of proscriptions and
+sequestrations begin again, all will soon be over."
+
+The Emperor, according to his custom on such occasions, affected to be
+perfectly satisfied with himself, and appeared no way apprehensive of
+the storm. Being at table with several personages and ladies of
+distinction belonging to the court, he asked the Countess Duchâtel, if
+her husband, who was director-general of the domains, had executed the
+order for sequestrating the estates of Talleyrand and company. "There
+is no hurry for that," answered she drily. He made no reply, and
+changed the conversation.
+
+The persons about him are incessantly reproached, with having basely
+crouched to his will and opinions: this anecdote, and many others that
+I might relate, prove, that all of them at least did not deserve this
+reproach. But, supposing it to be just with regard to some, is it as
+easy, as is commonly thought, to overcome the will of a sovereign?
+
+From pride, and perhaps from a conviction of superiority, Napoleon did
+not readily endure counsel.
+
+In affairs of state, he imposed upon himself the law of consulting his
+counsellors, and his ministers. Endowed by nature with the faculty of
+knowing every thing, or of divining every thing, he almost always took
+an active part in the discussion: and I must say, to the honour of the
+Emperor, his ministers, and his counsellors, in common, an
+inexpressible degree of confidence, frankness, and independence,
+prevailed in these discussions, highly animated as for the most part
+they were. The Emperor, far from being shocked when any one
+contradicted him, endured, nay provoked contradiction and adopted
+without resistance the advice of his opponents, when he thought it
+preferable to his own opinion.
+
+When the question concerned those grand decisions, that influence the
+fate of empires, the case was different. He listened for a certain
+time to the objections of his ministers: but, when his attention had
+reached its bounds, he interrupted them, and supported his own opinion
+with so much fire, force, and perseverance, that he reduced them to
+silence.
+
+This silence was less the effect of their passive obedience to the
+intentions of the monarch, than the result of the lessons taught by
+experience. They had seen, that the most rash, the most
+incomprehensible, I had almost said the most senseless, enterprises of
+Napoleon were invariably crowned with success; and they were
+convinced, that reason could not contend against the inspirations of
+genius, and the favours of fortune.
+
+In fine, Napoleon often consulted only his own will; and his ministers
+then knew nothing of his resolves, till they received orders, to carry
+them into execution.
+
+Such was, and such always will be the situation of ministers, in a
+monarchy, where the Prince governs for himself; and more especially
+when this Prince, like Napoleon, owes his throne merely to the
+ascendancy of his genius and his sword.
+
+Besides, the time of flatterers and flattery was past with Napoleon.
+Every one was interested in telling him the truth, and no one was
+sparing of it to him.
+
+The security inspired by this rare and valuable veracity was
+strengthened by the arrival of Prince Joseph and Prince Lucien. The
+moderation of the one, and the patriotism of the other, were well
+known; and the care of maintaining the liberal and pacific intentions
+of the Emperor was laid on them both.
+
+Prince Lucien had been deeply afflicted in 1814 at the misfortunes of
+his brother, and was eager to offer him his fortune and his services.
+This, generous offer did not entirely efface from the heart of
+Napoleon the remembrance, of their ancient differences, but it
+softened the asperity of them; and it might be foreseen, that their
+enmity would not be eternal.
+
+As soon as Prince Lucien heard of the entry of Napoleon into Paris, he
+wrote him a letter of congratulation. "Your return," said he, "fills
+up the measure of your military glory. But there is another glory
+still greater, and above all more desirable, civil glory. The
+sentiments and intentions, which you have solemnly promulgated,
+promise France, that you know how to acquire it," &c.
+
+Prince Lucien, however, notwithstanding his desire of revisiting that
+country, the cause of which he pleaded, did not venture to approach
+it. But the invasion of the King of Naples having rendered his
+services necessary to the Sovereign Pontiff, the gratitude he owed to
+the Holy Father triumphed over his apprehensions. He departed under
+the title of secretary to the Pope's nuncio, and crossed the Alps
+without any obstacle. Arrived in the French territory, he wrote to
+Napoleon, to inform him of his mission, and to ask if his coming to
+Paris would be agreeable to him. Napoleon's first feeling was that of
+hesitating to receive him: his second, that of opening to him his
+arms. The intention of the Prince was to return quickly to Home,
+whither he was called by the concerns entrusted to him: but the
+interruption of the communications did not allow this. Obliged to
+return to Paris, he laid aside his incognito. His return was then
+publicly announced, and made an advantageous and agreeable impression
+on every mind.
+
+A few days before, the Emperor had made the acquisition of another
+personage; less illustrious, it is true, but equally renowned for his
+patriotism and intelligence: I mean M. Benjamin Constant.
+
+Napoleon, knowing the experience and reputation of this learned
+civilian, sent for him, to converse with him "on liberty and the
+constitution." Their conversation continued more than two hours. The
+Emperor, willing to attach M. Constant to his party, employed all his
+means of seduction; and I leave it to those Frenchmen, and those
+foreigners, who have had access to him, to say, whether it were
+possible to resist him.
+
+When he wished to fix any one in his train, he studied and penetrated
+with extreme sagacity his way of thinking, his principles, his
+character, his ruling passions; and then with that familiar grace,
+that affability, that force and vivacity of expression, which gave so
+much value and such a charm to his conversations[105], he insinuated
+himself imperceptibly into your heart, made himself master of your
+passions, gently excited them, and artfully flattered them: then,
+displaying at once the magic resources of his genius, he plunged you
+into intoxication, into admiration, and subdued you so rapidly, so
+completely, that it seemed the effect of enchantment.
+
+                   [Footnote 105: These conversations with persons,
+                   whose merit and opinion Napoleon esteemed, were
+                   always pleasing, instructive, interesting, always
+                   marked with strong thoughts, and bold, ingenious,
+                   or sublime expressions. With persons indifferent to
+                   him, or whose nullity he discerned, his phrases,
+                   scarcely begun, were never finished: his ideas
+                   turned only on insignificant, common-place matters,
+                   which, by way of amusing himself, he was apt to
+                   season with biting sarcasm, or jokes more whimsical
+                   than witty.
+
+                   This explains the contradictions between the
+                   different opinions given of Napoleon's
+                   understanding by foreigners introduced at his
+                   court.]
+
+Thus M. Benjamin Constant was subjugated: he arrived at the Tuileries
+with repugnance, he quitted the palace an enthusiast.
+
+The next day he was named counsellor of state: and this favour he owed
+to no base submissions, as his enemies have pretended, but to his
+learning, and to the desire the Emperor had of giving to public
+opinion, and to M. B. Constant himself, a pledge of his having
+forgotten the past; a pledge so much the more meritorious, as the
+Emperor, independently of the Philippic launched against him by this
+writer on the 19th of March, had besides before his eyes a letter in
+his own hand to M. de Blacas, the subject and expressions of which
+were of a nature, to inspire Napoleon with something more than
+aversion for its author.
+
+M. de Blacas had left in his boxes a great number of papers. The
+Emperor directed the Duke of Otranto to examine them. Of this he
+immediately repented, and sent for them again. Part fell to our share:
+the rest were delivered to the Duke of Vicenza. Their examination
+afforded nothing interesting. The Emperor, disappointed, accused M.
+Fouché of having removed the important papers. Those we inspected
+consisted only of private reports, and confidential and anonymous
+notes. The hatred of the revolution pervaded every line, every word.
+The writers did not dare to propose plainly the revocation of the
+Charter, and the abolition of the new institutions; but they declared
+without any circumlocution, that the dynasty of the Bourbons would
+never be secure with the existing laws; and that it was necessary, to
+distrust and get rid of the men of the revolution. More effectually to
+know and persecute these, M. de Blacas had caused to be disinterred
+from the archives of the cabinet, and of the ministers, the documents
+that might serve to make known their conduct ever since 1789, and he
+had directed biographical notices of each to be composed, which might
+easily have been taken for indictments drawn up by M. Bellart[106].
+
+                   [Footnote 106: Attorney-general to the king,
+                   employed on certain occasions, to prosecute
+                   political crimes and misdemeanors.]
+
+We found also a number of minutes of laws and ordinances, written by
+the hand of this minister, and attesting by their laborious
+corrections, how destitute he was of readiness and of imagination.
+Frequently he made three or four foul copies, before he could give any
+consistency or connection to his ideas. His familiar style was dry and
+turgid: if the style exhibit the man, how I pity M. de Blacas! He took
+extreme pains to vary, himself, the form of his appointments
+(_rendez-vous_): and the trouble he gave himself, to say the same
+thing in several different ways, wonderfully reminded us of the
+billet-doux of the Bourgeois Gentilhomme: "_Belle Marquise, vos beaux
+yeux me font mourir d'amour; d'amour mourir me font, belle Marquise,
+vos beaux yeux[107]._"
+
+                   [Footnote 107: "Beautiful Marchioness, your
+                   beautiful eyes make me die of love; of love make me
+                   die, beautiful Marchioness, your beautiful eyes."]
+
+In fine, we collected from the cabinet of this minister an ample
+collection of royal denunciations, petitions, justifications, and
+confessions, of those men, who, like Lockard, are always "the most
+humble servants of circumstances."
+
+These humble servants, when the Emperor returned from the island of
+Elba, did not fail to prostrate themselves before him anew. They
+assured him, after the example of a certain Marquis well known, that
+they had denied, insulted, calumniated him, only that they might
+remain faithful to him, without being suspected by the royal
+government: they conjured him, to grant them the happiness and glory
+of serving him; but he disdained their supplications, as he had
+disdained their insults: they gained nothing but his contempt. Always
+as devoid of shame as of faith, they were eager, immediately after the
+fall of Napoleon, to turn round anew, and carry back to the King their
+faded homage. Some, as M. the Count de M***, whose hands are still
+reeking with the blood of his assistants (_administrés_), contrived,
+with the help of their lying fidelity, to surprise his easy
+confidence. Others, as M. F***, became in their writings the virulent
+persecutors of men, whose lot they had envied, and whose support they
+had begged. All arrogated to themselves exclusively the title of pure
+royalists: the title of honest men.... I know them ... the mask, with
+which they cover themselves, the honours, the dignities, with which
+they are invested, cannot disguise them to my eyes.... Shall I name
+them? And the Emperor is accused of despising mankind! ah, where is
+the sovereign, that can esteem them?
+
+
+END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Memoirs of the Private Life, Return,
+and Reign of Napoleon in 1815, Vol. I, by Pierre Antoine Edouard Fleury de Chaboulon
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+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Memoirs of the Private Life, Return, and
+Reign of Napoleon in 1815, Vol. I, by Pierre Antoine Edouard Fleury de Chaboulon
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Memoirs of the Private Life, Return, and Reign of Napoleon in 1815, Vol. I
+
+Author: Pierre Antoine Edouard Fleury de Chaboulon
+
+Release Date: August 17, 2007 [EBook #22345]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NAPOLEON ***
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+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
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+</pre>
+
+
+
+<div class="tn">
+<p>Transcriber's note: Obvious printer's errors have been corrected, all
+other inconsistencies are as in the original. The author's spelling
+has been maintained.</p>
+<p><strong>Accessibility:</strong> Expansions of abbreviations have been provided using the &lt;abbr&gt; tag, and changes in language are marked.
+Speech rendering will be improved if voices for the following languages are available: Fr
+(a few words with De, Pt, Es, Ru, It).</p>
+</div>
+
+<h1>MEMOIRS<br>
+OF THE<br>
+PRIVATE LIFE,<br>
+RETURN, AND REIGN<br>
+OF<br>
+<span lang="fr">NAPOLEON</span><br>
+IN 1815.</h1>
+
+<p class="center"><i>Ingrata patria, ne ossa quidem habes.</i> <span class="smcap">Scipio</span>.</p>
+
+<h2>BY M. <span lang="fr">FLEURY DE CHABOULON</span>,</h2>
+
+<p class="center">Ex-Secretary of the Emperor Napoleon and of his Cabinets, Master of
+        Requests to the Council of State, Baron, Officer of the Legion of
+        Honour, and Knight of the Order of Reunion.</p>
+
+<p class="center p4"><abbr title="Volume 1">VOL. I.</abbr></p>
+
+<p class="center p4">LONDON:<br>
+JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET.<br>
+1820.</p>
+
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="pagev" name="pagev"></a>(p. v)</span> <h2>TO THE READER.</h2>
+
+
+<p>The revolution of the 20th of March will form unquestionably the most
+remarkable episode in the life of Napoleon, so fertile as it is in
+supernatural events. It has not been my intention, to write the
+history of it: this noble task is above my powers: I have only
+attempted, to place Napoleon on the stage of action, and oppose his
+words, his deeds, and the truth, to the erroneous assertions of
+certain historians, the falsehoods of the spirit of party, and the
+insults of those timeserving writers, who are accustomed to insult in
+misfortune those, to whom they have subsequently paid court.</p>
+
+<p>Hitherto people have not been able to agree on the motives and
+circumstances, that determined the Emperor, to quit the island of
+Elba. Some supposed, that he had acted of his own accord: others, that
+he had conspired with his <span class="pagenum"><a id="pagevi" name="pagevi"></a>(p. vi)</span> partisans the downfal of the
+<span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>. Both these suppositions are equally false. The world will
+learn with surprise, perhaps with admiration, that this astonishing
+revolution was the work of two individuals and a few words.</p>
+
+<p>The narrative of Colonel Z***, so valuable from the facts it reveals,
+appears to me to merit the reader's attention in other respects. On
+studying it carefully, we find in it the exhibition of those defects,
+those qualities, those passions, which, confounded together, form the
+character, so full of contrasts, of the incomprehensible Napoleon. We
+perceive him alternatively mistrustful and communicative, ardent and
+reserved, enterprising and irresolute, vindictive and generous,
+favourable to liberty and despotic. But we see predominant above all,
+that activity, that strength, that ardour of mind, those brilliant
+inspirations, and those sudden resolves, that belong only to
+extraordinary men, to men of genius.</p>
+
+<p>The conferences I had at Bâle with the mysterious agent of Prince
+<span lang="de">Metternich</span> have remained to this day buried in profound secrecy.
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="pagevii" name="pagevii"></a>(p. vii)</span> The historians, who have preceded me, relate, without any
+explanation, that the Duke of Otranto laid before the Emperor, at the
+moment of his abdication, a letter from <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de</span> <span lang="de">Metternich</span>; and that
+this letter, artfully worded, had determined Napoleon to abdicate, in
+the hope that the crown would devolve to his son. The particulars
+given in these Memoirs will entirely change the ideas formed of this
+letter, and of its influence. They confirm the opinion too, pretty
+generally prevalent, that the allied sovereigns deemed the restoration
+of the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> of little importance, and would willingly have
+consented, to place the young Prince Napoleon on the throne.</p>
+
+<p>It had been supposed, that the famous decree, by which Prince de
+<span lang="fr">Talleyrand</span> and his illustrious accomplices were sent before the courts
+of justice, was issued at Lyons in the first burst of a fit of
+vengeance. It will be seen, that it was the result of a plan simply
+political: and the noble resistance, which General <span lang="fr">Bertrand</span> (now
+labouring under a sentence of death) thought it his duty to oppose
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="pageviii" name="pageviii"></a>(p. viii)</span> to this measure, will add, if it be possible, to the high
+esteem, merited on so many accounts by this faithful friend to the
+unfortunate.</p>
+
+<p>The writings published previously to this work, equally contain
+nothing but inaccurate or fabulous reports, with regard to the
+abdication of Napoleon. Certain historians have been pleased, to
+represent Napoleon in a pitious state of despondency: others have
+depicted him as the sport of the threats of <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">Regnault <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Jean
+d'Angely</span>, and of the artifices of the Duke of Otranto. These Memoirs
+will show, that Napoleon, far from having fallen into a state of
+weakness, that would no longer permit him to wield the sceptre,
+aspired, on the contrary, to be invested with a temporary
+dictatorship, and that, when he consented to abdicate, it was because
+the energetic attitude of the representatives disconcerted him, and he
+yielded to the fear of adding the calamities of a civil war to the
+disasters of a foreign invasion.</p>
+
+<p>It was perfectly unknown too, that Napoleon was detained a prisoner at
+<span lang="fr">Malmaison</span> after his abdication. It was presumed, that he deferred
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="pageix" name="pageix"></a>(p. ix)</span> his departure, in the hope of being replaced at the head of
+the army and of the government. These Memoirs will show, that this
+hope, if it dwelt within the breast of Napoleon, was not the real
+motive of his stay in France; and that he was detained there by the
+committee of government, till the moment when, honour outweighing all
+political considerations, it obliged Napoleon to depart, to prevent
+his falling into the hands of <span lang="fr">Blucher</span>.</p>
+
+<p>The negotiations and conferences of the French plenipotentiaries with
+the enemy's generals; the proceedings of the Prince of <span lang="de">Eckmuhl</span>; the
+intrigues of the Duke of Otranto; the efforts of those members of the
+committee, who remained faithful to their trust; the debates on the
+capitulation of Paris, and all the collateral facts, connected with
+these different circumstances, had been totally misrepresented; These
+Memoirs establish or unfold the truth. They bring to light the conduct
+of those members of the committee, who were supposed to be the dupes
+or accomplices of <span lang="fr">Fouché</span>; and that of the marshals, the army, and the
+chambers. <span class="pagenum"><a id="pagex" name="pagex"></a>(p. x)</span> They contain also the correspondence of the
+plenipotentiaries, and the instructions given to them; documents
+hitherto unpublished, which will make known, what the politics and
+wishes of the government of France at that time were.</p>
+
+<p>Finally I shall observe, in order to complete the account I think it
+right to give the reader of the substance of this work, that it
+furnishes elucidations of the campaign of 1815, the want of which has
+been imperiously felt. The causes, that determined Napoleon, to
+separate from his army at <span lang="fr">Laon</span>, were not known: I point them out.
+General <span lang="fr">Gourgaud</span>, in his narrative, could give no explanation of the
+march of the corps of Count <span lang="fr">Erlon</span> at the battle of <span lang="fr">Ligny</span>, of the
+conduct of Marshal Ney on the 16th, of the inactivity of Napoleon on
+the 17th, <abbr title="etcetera">&amp;c.</abbr> All these points, I believe, I have elucidated. I show
+also, that it was not, as General <span lang="fr">Gourgaud</span> and other writers assert,
+to raise the spirits, and excite the courage of the French army, that
+its leader announced to it the arrival of Marshal <span lang="fr">Grouchy</span>. It is a
+certain fact, that Napoleon was himself deceived by a brisk firing,
+which <span class="pagenum"><a id="pagexi" name="pagexi"></a>(p. xi)</span> took place between the Prussians and Saxons; and it is
+falsely, that he has been charged with having knowingly deceived his
+soldiers, at a moment when the laws of war and of humanity presented
+to him, to think rather of a retreat, than of continuing the battle.</p>
+
+<p>I had at first rejected from these Memoirs such official papers, as
+had already been made known: but have since thought, that they ought
+to be inserted. This work, which embraces all the events of the reign
+of a Hundred Days, would be imperfect, if the reader were obliged to
+refer to the papers of the day; to read or consult the act of the
+congress of Vienna, that placed the Emperor Napoleon out of the pale
+of the law of nations; the Additional Act, which occasioned his loss
+of popularity; and the eloquent speeches and nervous declarations by
+which Napoleon, his ministers, and his counsellors, sought to explain
+and justify the 20th of March. I have thought, besides, that perhaps
+the reader would not find it uninteresting, to witness the contests
+exhibited, at that important <span class="pagenum"><a id="pagexii" name="pagexii"></a>(p. xii)</span> period, between the legitimacy
+of nations and the legitimacy of sovereigns.</p>
+
+<p>The colours under which I represent Napoleon, the justice I do him for
+the purity of his intentions, will not please all the world. Many
+persons, who would blindly have believed any ill I could say of the
+ancient sovereigns of France, will give little credit to my eulogies:
+they are wrong: if praises lavished on power be suspicious, those
+bestowed on the unfortunate will be true; to doubt them would be
+sacrilege.</p>
+
+<p>Neither can I conceal from myself, that the men, who, from principle,
+see nothing but a hateful conspiracy in the revolution of the 20th of
+March, will accuse me of having embellished facts, and designedly
+distorted the truth. No matter: I have depicted this revolution as I
+saw it, as I felt it. How many others are pleased, to tarnish the
+honour of the nation, to represent their countrymen as composed of
+rebels or cowards! For my part, I think it the duty of a good
+Frenchman, to prove to all <span class="pagenum"><a id="pagexiii" name="pagexiii"></a>(p. xiii)</span> Europe, that the king was not
+guilty of abandoning France:</p>
+
+<p>That the insurrection of the 20th of March was not the work of a few
+factious persons, who might have been repressed; but a grand national
+act, against which the efforts and volitions of individuals would have
+been vain:</p>
+
+<p>That the royalists were not cowards, and all other Frenchmen traitors:</p>
+
+<p>Lastly, that the return from the island of Elba was the terrible
+consequence of the faults of ministers and the ultras, which called to
+France the man of fate, as the conductor draws down the lightning from
+heaven.</p>
+
+<p>This sentiment naturally led me, to conclude these Memoirs by a
+philosophical examination of the Hundred Days, and a refutation of the
+reproaches daily bestowed on the men of the 20th of March: but
+considerations, easy to divine, held my pen. It was my duty, to
+content myself with placing a statement of the facts before the eyes
+of the grand jury, the public, and leave it to decide. I know, that
+the question has been determined in the fields <span class="pagenum"><a id="pagexiv" name="pagexiv"></a>(p. xiv)</span> of Waterloo;
+but a victory is not a judicial sentence.</p>
+
+<p>Whatever opinion the impartial reader may form of this work, I can
+protest beforehand, that I have not allowed myself to be influenced by
+any private consideration, by any feeling of hatred, affection, or
+gratitude. I have followed no impulse but that of my conscience, and I
+may say with <span lang="fr">Montaigne</span>: "This is an honest book."</p>
+
+<p>Too young to have participated in the errors or crimes of the
+revolution, I began and ended my political career without blot, and
+without reproach. The places, titles, and decorations, which the
+Emperor deigned to bestow on me, were the reward of several acts of
+great devotion to his service, and of twelve years of trials and
+sacrifices. Never did I receive from him any favours or gifts: I
+entered his service rich, I quitted it poor.</p>
+
+<p>When Lyons opened to him its gates, I was free: I spontaneously
+embraced his cause: it appeared to me, as to the immense number of
+Frenchmen, that of liberty, honour, and our <span class="pagenum"><a id="pagexv" name="pagexv"></a>(p. xv)</span> country. The laws
+of Solon declared infamous those, who took no part in civil troubles.
+I followed their maxims. If the misfortunes of the 20th of March must
+fall on the heads of the guilty, these guilty, I repeat, will not be
+in the eye of posterity, the Frenchmen who abandoned the royal
+standard, to return to the ancient colours of their country; but those
+imprudent and senseless men, who, by their threats, their acts of
+injustice, and their outrages, compelled us to choose between
+insurrection and slavery, between honour and infamy.</p>
+
+<p>During the Hundred Days, there was no person to whom I did an ill
+turn; frequently I had an opportunity of doing good, and seized it
+with joy.</p>
+
+<p>Since the return of the regal government, I have lived tranquil and
+solitary; and, whether from forgetfulness, or from a sense of justice,
+I escaped in 1815 the persecutions, which the partisans and servants
+of Napoleon experienced.</p>
+
+<p>This explanation, or this apology, appeared <span class="pagenum"><a id="pagexvi" name="pagexvi"></a>(p. xvi)</span> to me necessary:
+it is right the reader should know, who it is that addresses him.</p>
+
+<p>I could have wished, to abstain from speaking of the royal government
+in the first part of this work: but it was impossible. It was
+necessary for me, prominently to exhibit the errors and faults of the
+king's ministers one by one, to render evident this truth, <i>that they
+were the sole authors of the 20th of March</i>. When elsewhere, as here,
+I say the government, I mean not to designate the King, but his
+ministers. In a constitutional monarchy, in which the ministers are
+responsible, we cannot, and ought not to confound them with the King.
+"It is from the King," said the keeper of the seals, when he proposed
+to the deputies of the nation the project of a law on the
+responsibility of ministers, "that every act of equity, protection,
+and clemency, and every regular employment of power, emanates: it is
+to the ministers alone, that abuses, injustice, and misconduct, are to
+be imputed."</p>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page001" name="page001"></a>(p. 001)</span> <h2>MEMOIRS,<br>
+
+<abbr title="etcetera etcetera">&amp;c. &amp;c.</abbr></h2>
+
+<p>Until the close of the Spanish war, Napoleon, whether as the First
+Consul of the Republic, or as the Chief of the Empire, had never
+ceased to be the object of the love, the pride, and the confidence of
+the people. But the multitude neither judge, nor can judge of the
+actions of their rulers but from appearances which often mislead them
+in their judgment; and the loyalty of the nation then became
+enfeebled. The conduct of Napoleon was stigmatized as a series of
+hateful aggressions; the war, as an unjustifiable act of violence.
+Disaffection increased. Napoleon was assailed by the anger of his
+subjects, and, for the first time, they upbraided him with having
+spilt their blood, and wasted their riches, in gratifying his vain and
+culpable ambition.</p>
+
+<p>At this juncture the public mind became absorbed in the contemplation
+of the invasion of Russia, and the general discontent was withdrawn
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page002" name="page002"></a>(p. 002)</span> from the events which had taken place in the peninsula.</p>
+
+<p>Our arms were crowned with good fortune and glory at the commencement
+of the Russian war; but that conflict was ended by a catastrophe which
+has no parallel in the annals of the world.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor, who escaped almost alone from the perils of the campaign,
+returned to the capital. His countenance was that of a hero who defies
+adversity. But his firmness was deemed to be the result of heartless
+insensibility. Instead of inspiring the people with hope, it
+embittered their feelings. Louder murmurs broke forth; their
+indignation expressed itself with greater emphasis. Yet such was the
+enthusiasm which was even then inspired by the proud recollections of
+the triumphs of Napoleon, that France, blushing for her disgrace,
+implored him to win new victories. Armies formed themselves as if by
+enchantment, and Napoleon stood again in the midst of Germany, more
+terrible than ever.</p>
+
+<p>After we had conquered at <span lang="de">Lutzen</span>, at <span lang="de">Bautzen</span>, and at <span lang="de">Dresden</span>, the
+battle of Leipsic was fought<a id="footnotetag1" name="footnotetag1"></a><a href="#footnote1" title="Go to footnote 1">[1]</a>. Never before that day had we been
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page003" name="page003"></a>(p. 003)</span> doomed to witness our national armies flying before the
+enemy. The scattered wrecks of our battalions, which had been created
+by the last hope, by the last effort of our country, at length reached
+our frontiers. But our soldiers were no longer the vigorous and
+resolute warriors of France; they were bowed down by want, toil, and
+humiliation. Soon afterwards they were followed by wandering trains of
+military carriages, loaded with diseased and wounded wretches, who
+festered beneath the corpses amongst which they were heaped, and who
+at once absorbed and diffused the germs of pestilence and contagion.
+Even the firmest minds now yielded to despair; and the grief
+occasioned by the havoc now made amongst our defenders renewed the
+sorrows of the mothers and the wives of those who erewhile had
+perished in Russia and in Spain. Curses upon Napoleon, the author of
+all these evils, resounded from side to side of the empire.</p>
+
+<p>As long as good fortune waited upon Napoleon, his most ambitious
+attempts commanded the applauses of the nation. We boasted of his
+profound political wisdom, we extolled his genius, we worshipped his
+courage. When his <span class="pagenum"><a id="page004" name="page004"></a>(p. 004)</span> fortune changed, then his political wisdom
+was called treachery, his genius, ambition, and his courage,
+fool-hardiness and infatuation.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon was not to be depressed by ingratitude or misfortune. He
+re-assembled the feeble fragments of his armies, and proclaimed aloud
+that he would conquer or die at the head of his soldiery. This
+resolution only produced a momentary impression. The French, who so
+lately believed that the happiness and salvation of France depended
+only upon the life of Napoleon, now coolly considered that his death,
+the fate which he was prepared to encounter, afforded the only means
+of putting an end to the calamities of war, for peace otherwise
+appeared unattainable.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon departed. He achieved prodigies, but to no effect. National
+spirit no longer existed, and the nation had gradually sunk into that
+state of insensibility so fatal to sovereigns, when the public mind
+has no perception of their dangers, and abandons them to their
+destiny.</p>
+
+<p>France was thus affected when Napoleon consented to divest himself of
+his crown<a id="footnotetag2" name="footnotetag2"></a><a href="#footnote2" title="Go to footnote 2">[2]</a>. The <span class="pagenum"><a id="page005" name="page005"></a>(p. 005)</span> apathy of the nation drove him to this
+extremity; for it deprived him of the means <span class="pagenum"><a id="page006" name="page006"></a>(p. 006)</span> either of
+carrying on the war, or of making peace.</p>
+
+<p>Hostilities ended with the abdication of Napoleon. The people of
+Paris, who had scarcely recovered from the panic with which they were
+struck by the marauding hordes of Russia, displayed the most
+extravagant gladness when they thought that they were delivered from
+the visitation, which again threatened them in the presence of the
+allies and the imperial army.</p>
+
+<p>The neighbouring departments, which the enemy prepared to invade,
+rejoiced on being relieved from impending pillage and devastation.</p>
+
+<p>The departments which had been occupied by the enemy were intoxicated
+with joy, when they anticipated the termination of their sufferings.</p>
+
+<p>Thus almost all the people of France turned away from their discarded
+sovereign. And they abandoned themselves to joy when they thought that
+they were delivered from the scourge of war, and that they could hope
+to enjoy the blessings of peace.</p>
+
+<p>It was in the midst of this pouring out of the spirit of selfishness,
+that the senate raised the brother of Louis <abbr title="16">XVI.</abbr> to the throne. His
+election was not in conformity to the expectations of the people, and
+it disappointed the wishes <span class="pagenum"><a id="page007" name="page007"></a>(p. 007)</span> which had been uttered in favour
+of the Empress and her son; yet the choice of the senate was but
+slightly opposed, because the recall of Louis seemed to be necessarily
+the pledge of peace. And peace was more the object of the public wish
+than any other thing. Besides which, the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> followed the wise
+counsels which had been given to them. They lost no time in issuing
+their proclamations, couched in fair language, in order to calm the
+fears and diminish the antipathies excited by their recall.</p>
+
+<p>"We will guarantee," said they, "the rank, the honours, and the
+rewards of the military.</p>
+
+<p>"The magistracy and all public functionaries shall retain their
+offices and their pre-eminence.</p>
+
+<p>"To the people we promise a total oblivion of their political conduct;
+and we will maintain them in the full enjoyment of their civil rights,
+their property, and their social institutions."</p>
+
+<p>The French nation, whose confidence is so easily abused, considered
+these promises as sacred and inviolable, and they delighted in
+repeating the happy reply of the Count of <span lang="fr">Artois</span><a id="footnotetag3" name="footnotetag3"></a><a href="#footnote3" title="Go to footnote 3">[3]</a>,
+<span lang="fr">"Il n'y aura rien
+de changé en France, il n'y aura <span class="pagenum"><a id="page008" name="page008"></a>(p. 008)</span> que quelques Français de
+plus."</span> They, the men, who had banished the imperial dynasty, laboured
+to foster the growing confidence of the nation. The press was brought
+into full play, and the country teemed with publications in which they
+represented the sovereign whom they had brought in, as invested with
+those attributes which were calculated to conciliate the nation. The
+public were carefully informed, that the king "opened and read all the
+dispatches himself. It is he who dictates every answer. Where it
+becomes necessary to meet the ministers of foreign powers, he
+transacts business with them; he receives the reports of their
+missions, which he answers either by word of mouth, or in writing. In
+short, he alone directs all the concerns of the government, both at
+home and abroad. If his virtues and goodness are such as to cause the
+French to know that they will now find a kind and affectionate father
+in their King, they may also look with confidence to the future fate
+of the nation, relying on his brilliant information, his strength of
+character, and his aptitude for business<a id="footnotetag4" name="footnotetag4"></a><a href="#footnote4" title="Go to footnote 4">[4]</a>."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page009" name="page009"></a>(p. 009)</span> Thus the people congratulated themselves, when they were
+assured that their Chief Magistrate was an enlightened sovereign, a
+kind sovereign, an equitable sovereign, and one who was determined not
+to allow the guiding reins of the state to slip from his paternal
+hands into those of his ministers. Our lively imagination gave us a
+present enjoyment of the blessings, which, as we anticipated, would
+hereafter be diffused over the kingdom by his goodness, his prudence,
+and his acquirements. If this glowing vision of hope and loyalty was
+slightly dimmed by a few secret doubts, such misgivings were checked
+and repelled by the name of our native country; nay, by the name of
+the Emperor himself. For when Napoleon bade farewell to his trusty
+soldiers, it was in these words: "Be faithful to the new sovereign of
+France; do not rend asunder our beloved and long-suffering land."</p>
+
+<p>These circumstances (nor must the charm of novelty be excluded) united
+in favour of the king, and won every head and every heart. He
+appeared&mdash;he was received with acclamations of love and gladness,
+which resounded until he entered the palace of his forefathers.</p>
+
+<p>No counter revolution ever effected the change of a royal dynasty,
+under such favourable auspices.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page010" name="page010"></a>(p. 010)</span> The French nation felt jaded by civil dissensions, by
+misfortune&mdash;even their victories had weaned them. They longed for the
+happiness of repose. Memorable were the words of the king's brother;
+"let us forget the past, let us look only towards the future, let us
+all unite in the good work of labouring to heal the wounds of our
+common country;" and these honoured precepts had become implanted in
+every mind. They formed the canon of all our feelings and all our
+duties.</p>
+
+<p>As long as the machinery of the new government did not begin to work,
+this loyal harmony subsisted, and no longer. For when it became
+necessary to settle the organization of the army, the ministry, and
+the magistracy, then self-love gained an easy victory over patriotism,
+and the bad passions, pride, ambition, and party-hatred, roused
+themselves from their slumber.</p>
+
+<p>During a quarter of a century, our emigrants had sojourned in a
+strange country. Useless and troublesome guests to the strangers by
+whom they were fed, their lives had been droned away in shameless and
+cowardly idleness. They could not cheat themselves into a belief that
+they possessed the talents and experience of the sons of the
+revolution. But they imagined that nobility, as in the old time, might
+pass for worth; and that their patents and pedigrees still gave
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page011" name="page011"></a>(p. 011)</span> them a right to monopolize all power and all honour.</p>
+
+<p>The citizens, the soldiers, the nation, relied on the lawfulness of
+their rights no less than on the promises of the king. The members of
+the old privileged caste, instead of exciting suspicion, were only the
+objects of harmless mirth. The people laughed at the grotesque
+appearance of some, and at the decrepit sottishness of others. They
+never dreamed that these pretended warriors, whose bloodless swords
+had rusted in their scabbards, would attempt to snatch the staff of
+command from the veteran generals of France; and that nobles who had
+grown old in sloth and ignorance would aspire to the direction of
+public affairs.</p>
+
+<p>But though merit and valour were denied to them, they stood upon a
+vantage ground, which gave them a direful and incalculable
+preponderance in the state. They surrounded the throne. Soon did their
+insolence announce that they had craftily availed themselves of the
+advantages which they possessed; and we foresaw with affliction that
+inveterate prejudice, malignant prepossessions, and old habits of
+familiarity, would, sooner or later, crush the principles of justice
+and equity, however solemnly proclaimed.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page012" name="page012"></a>(p. 012)</span> The emigrants, rendered arrogant by the prospects which
+opened upon them, now treated their rivals with contemptuous disdain.
+They dared not insult the defenders of our country face to face,
+because the scars of the warriors scared them. But they were
+spitefully active in disparaging their birth, their services, and
+their glory, and these noble retainers of royalty took care to impress
+the soldiers of Napoleon with a due sense of the width of the gulf
+which was henceforth to separate a gentleman of good family, from an
+upstart soldier of the revolution.</p>
+
+<p>The women of the <i><span lang="fr">ancien régime</span></i> did not share in the timidity which,
+to a certain degree, still restrained their husbands. They threw off
+all decency and all reserve, and indulged in all the fury of their
+spite and pride. Without attempting to disguise their sentiments, they
+openly insulted the titled dames belonging to the new nobility, and
+such of the latter as were compelled to go to court on account of the
+situations held by their husbands, never entered the saloon without
+dread, and never quitted it without being bathed in tears.</p>
+
+<p>Uneasy, harassed, and discontented, the people implored the fulfilment
+of the king's promises: they prayed with confidence; but the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page013" name="page013"></a>(p. 013)</span>
+government heard them not, and repulsed them harshly. The Doge of
+Genoa, speaking of Louis <abbr title="14">XIV</abbr>, said, "his majesty steals our hearts by
+his amiability, but his ministers give them back again to us." The
+apophthegm of the Doge might have been pertinently applied to Louis
+<abbr title="18">XVIII.</abbr> by the people.</p>
+
+<p>Hitherto the government appeared to adhere to the resolution of
+dealing out impartial justice to both parties, and of performing the
+covenant which the new monarch had entered into with the nation. But
+now he was bound by an influence which he could not withstand.
+Ensnared by the machinations, the threats, and the fears of his
+emigrant court, and perhaps believing that the new order of things was
+incompatible with the stability of the <span lang="fr">Bourbon</span> dynasty, the maxims of
+his government underwent a total change. He was taught to consider the
+equality of civil rights as a revolutionary conquest, the liberties of
+the nation as an usurpation of the authority of the throne, the new
+constitution as insulting the independence of the sovereign. It was
+therefore determined that all "dangerous characters<a id="footnotetag5" name="footnotetag5"></a><a href="#footnote5" title="Go to footnote 5">[5]</a>" should be led
+quietly out of all <span class="pagenum"><a id="page014" name="page014"></a>(p. 014)</span> civil and military offices. The old
+trustworthy nobility of the old kingdom were again to become the sole
+depositaries of the power of the state: and by slow but sure degrees
+it was resolved to cancel the royal charter, and either by fair means
+or by foul, to place the nation again beneath the yoke of absolute
+power.</p>
+
+<p>The government often appealed to the authority of the King's
+predecessor on the throne&mdash;of Bonaparte. Bonaparte, it was said, had
+acknowledged that it was dangerous to concede a representative
+government to the people, and that it was fit and proper to rule them
+despotically. But Napoleon, he who re-established the authority of
+royalty, morality, and religion&mdash;who had re-organized society&mdash;who had
+given tranquillity to France, at the same time that he rendered her
+formidable to the world&mdash;he had earned his authority by his services
+and his victories, and, if I may venture to use the expression, he had
+acquired a legitimate right of despotism, which neither belonged, nor
+could belong, to a <span lang="fr">Bourbon</span>. Besides which, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page015" name="page015"></a>(p. 015)</span> in spite of the
+real or pretended despotism of the imperial government, it was still a
+national government; a character wholly foreign to the <span lang="fr">Bourbon</span>
+government, and which it had no tendency to acquire.</p>
+
+<p>The prognostics of the re-action which the ministers intended to bring
+about were disclosed in all parts of the body politic. Alarm seized
+even the Chamber of Deputies: it hastened to become the organ of the
+uneasiness of the people, and to remind the King of the warranty which
+he had given to the nation.</p>
+
+<p>In the address, or rather in the protest presented by the chamber on
+the 15th of June, the national representatives say, "The charter
+secures to the voice of truth every channel which leads to the throne,
+since it consecrates the liberty of the press, and the right of
+petition.</p>
+
+<p>"Amongst the guarantees which it contains, the nation will attend to
+that which insures the responsibility of any minister who may betray
+the confidence reposed in him by your Majesty, by trespassing on the
+public or private rights insured by the constitutional charter.</p>
+
+<p>"By virtue of this charter, nobility in all future times will only
+command the respect of the people as surrounded by proofs of honour
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page016" name="page016"></a>(p. 016)</span> and glory, which the recollections of feudality will not
+have the power of tarnishing.</p>
+
+<p>"The principles of civil liberty are founded upon the independence of
+judicial authority, and the retention of trial by jury, that
+invaluable guarantee of all our rights."</p>
+
+<p>If the King had known the truth, this energetic address would have
+attained its end. But the truth could not reach him. At first he
+intended to bestow his personal confidence upon the greater part of
+the leading "notables" of the revolution; but by means of
+remonstrances and recriminations, another party contrived to place his
+good sense again under the yoke of prejudice, and he surrounded
+himself with old nobility alone, with men who had refused to obey the
+constitution sanctioned by Louis <abbr title="16">XVI.</abbr>, because it destroyed their
+privileges; and who, for the same reason, had refused to acknowledge
+the new constitution, against which they had even dared to protest.
+His companions were so blinded, so besotted by their presumption, that
+they imagined that decrees and ordinances gave them the faculty of
+overturning the edifice which the nation had erected during five and
+twenty years of revolution. His confidents were those alone who,
+instead of wishing to reveal to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page017" name="page017"></a>(p. 017)</span> their sovereign the object
+of the projects of the ministry, and of the faction which had rendered
+the ministry their tools, had become the accomplices of ministerial
+guilt, joint conspirators in the plot which was to destroy the royal
+charter.</p>
+
+<p>The cabinet contained, however, some able and experienced statesmen.
+They were convinced that instead of teasing the nation by holding out
+the probability of the restoration of ancient privileges, it was the
+duty of government to tranquillize the country by guaranteeing the
+stability of the new system of polity. These ministers were aware of
+the impolicy of attempting to re-establish the monarchy on its ancient
+principles; because by such an attempt it would be deprived of the
+only advantage which it possessed over the late government&mdash;that of
+being liberal. And, lastly, they felt that if despotism and violence
+had been the distinguishing characteristics of the government of
+Napoleon, it was necessary that moderation and justice should be the
+attributes of the government of a <span lang="fr">Bourbon</span>.</p>
+
+<p>But they had not sufficient authority or personal influence to enable
+them to struggle against the emigrants, and the protectors of the
+emigrant faction. In the council chamber their opinions, often well
+concerted, and always benevolent, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page018" name="page018"></a>(p. 018)</span> were sanctioned and
+approved. Out of the council, each minister acted according to his own
+plans; and, unfortunately, those departments which ramify most deeply
+into the nation and its affairs were confided to men who seemed to
+think that they were bound to irritate and sour the public mind.</p>
+
+<p>General Dupont obtained the important office of minister of the war
+department, as a reward due to his proscription. According to the
+government party, the general had been proscribed by the Emperor. An
+odious name was thus given to the lenient punishment which had been
+inflicted upon Dupont, he who had shuffled off the allegiance which he
+owed to his Emperor, and whose cowardice had surrendered into
+captivity the legions intrusted to his command<a id="footnotetag6" name="footnotetag6"></a><a href="#footnote6" title="Go to footnote 6">[6]</a>. Weak, indolent,
+irresolute, devoid of character and resources, he never had the wish
+or the ability of becoming any thing else than the pliant functionary
+of the court and the ruling courtiers.</p>
+
+<p>Another, the <span lang="fr">Abbé de Montesquiou</span>,
+received the "<span lang="fr">porte-feuille</span>" of the
+home department. When a member of the Constituent Assembly <span class="pagenum"><a id="page019" name="page019"></a>(p. 019)</span>
+he had been honourably distinguished by his soft and persuasive
+eloquence. The temperance of his public conduct seemed to be insured
+by his personal character; he was a servant of the altar, his health
+was delicate, he had lived long in quiet retirement. But <span lang="fr">Montesquiou</span>,
+meek, mild, and timid as long as he was in the background, became
+scornful, angry, and overbearing the instant that he stepped into
+power. He detested and despised the revolution&mdash;I may almost say, he
+detested and despised the nation. This sentiment was the principle
+which guided him. <span lang="fr">Montesquiou</span> never deigned to inquire whether any
+given portion of our polity was sound or useful, whether it had been
+formed with difficulty, whether it could be modified, or ameliorated,
+or fitted into existing circumstances. He only inquired into the date
+of its institution&mdash;and the date decided the question.</p>
+
+<p>A third, <span lang="fr">Dambray</span>, the chancellor, and the chief law officer of the
+nation, had distinguished himself in his youth as a Judge of
+Parliament. His credit arose from his prudence and his principles no
+less than from his talents. He had been long since recalled to his
+country. During the reign of Napoleon he fulfilled the duties of a
+citizen and a subject with zeal and fidelity. We never doubted but
+that he would <span class="pagenum"><a id="page020" name="page020"></a>(p. 020)</span> protect those constitutional forms of
+government under which he had flourished in peace and honour.
+Scarcely, however, was the Chancellor clothed in his robe, when he
+became the oppressor of the magistracy, the antagonist of our new
+system of jurisprudence, and the dull partisan of those slavish forms
+and barbarous customs and oppressive edicts, which had been long since
+annihilated by reason, liberty, and knowledge.</p>
+
+<p>The trust reposed in this portion of the cabinet was a source of
+unhappiness to the nation, but it was not the only one. Louis,
+according to the promises held out on his restoration, was to reign in
+person; and the more the French have ever been desirous to obey their
+sovereign with cheerful alacrity, the greater is the repugnance which
+they feel to submit to the orders of his minions. Dismay, therefore,
+prevailed throughout the kingdom when we learnt that Louis, weakened
+by an obstinate and painful disease, had entirely divested himself of
+his royal authority in favour of <span lang="fr">Monsieur de Blacas</span>. And how much more
+painful did our consternation become, when we were able to understand
+the views and projects of this Mayor of the palace, and when we
+ascertained the baneful extent of his ascendancy.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page021" name="page021"></a>(p. 021)</span> It was impossible that the royal government, including such
+elements in its composition, could retain its hold on public opinion.
+It was seen too clearly that the effects of a despicable coterie would
+tend either to involve our country in a civil war, or overwhelm us
+again with the wretchedness and slavery from which we had been
+delivered by the revolution.</p>
+
+<p>The absolute necessity of rising in opposition to these nefarious
+attempts was felt by the entire country. Not a man would remain
+neuter.</p>
+
+<p>During the earliest period of the reign of Louis, the emigrant faction
+comprehended nothing but the party composed of the relics of the
+ancient privileged cast. The <i>parvenus</i> of the imperial government
+alone constituted the so called Bonapartists. Considering their
+private gratification and profit as of greater importance than the
+public cause, each party had hitherto only wrangled for place and
+power. Their war was a matter of calculation and selfishness. But soon
+their disputes involved the fate of the main interests created by the
+revolution the emigrants directed their attacks not only against
+individuals but also against principles, and the people, who had
+hitherto only looked on, now shared the quarrel, and <span class="pagenum"><a id="page022" name="page022"></a>(p. 022)</span> all
+France was divided into two great hostile parties<a id="footnotetag7" name="footnotetag7"></a><a href="#footnote7" title="Go to footnote 7">[7]</a>.</p>
+
+<p>The court, the courtiers, and the ministry appeared as the central
+phalanx of the <i>pure royalists</i>. As their auxiliaries, they had the
+old nobility,&mdash;the priesthood,&mdash;a certain number of apostates who had
+skulked away from the imperial government,&mdash;and lastly, all those who
+had been disqualified by their incapacity and disloyalty from
+obtaining employment under Napoleon. It was the undisguised wish of
+this party to wash out every stain of the revolution, and to effect a
+full and unqualified restoration of the <i><span lang="fr">ancien régime</span></i> in all its
+parts, and to all intents and purposes.</p>
+
+<p>On the other side were arrayed the party designated as that of the
+Bonapartists, led on by our most honourable and most virtuous
+citizens, and numbering within its ranks the great body of the people;
+this party strove to withstand the impending resuscitation of the
+privileges and abuses of the old government, and which was to be
+effected only by the total subversion of our existing institutions.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page023" name="page023"></a>(p. 023)</span> The pure royalists endeavoured to annihilate the charter,
+which their opponents defended, and thus a strange contradiction took
+place. The royal charter had the royalists for its enemies, whilst its
+defenders were only found amongst those who were stigmatized as the
+adherents of Bonaparte.</p>
+
+<p>Abortive attempts were made by the pure royalists to palliate the
+treachery of the government. They tried to persuade the people that
+the tranquillity and welfare of the nation depended but on the
+re-establishment of an absolute monarch, of a feudal aristocracy, and
+of all the trumpery of superstition. Such was the tendency of the
+publications which issued from the ministerial press, owing their
+birth to writers who had either sold themselves to the government, or
+who had denationalized themselves by their political intolerance. But
+it must not be supposed that liberty could remain in need of
+advocates.</p>
+
+<p>Each of the earliest stages of the growth of the young government of
+royalty had been marked by obscure yet decisive symptoms of bad faith,
+not the less mischievous because they were restricted to signs, and
+symbols, and phrases. Instead of the constitution voted by the senate,
+and which the king had engaged to accept and ratify, he graciously
+granted and conceded a charter, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page024" name="page024"></a>(p. 024)</span> by which he gave a new form
+to the government; and which, according to its tenor, emanated from
+the sovereign in the full and free exercise of his royal authority.
+The tricoloured cockade worn by Louis <abbr title="16">XVI.</abbr> and which our armies had
+rendered illustrious, was exchanged for the white, though to the
+mind's eye the latter was seen drenched in the blood of the people.
+Louis took the title of Louis <abbr title="18">XVIII.</abbr> King of France and Navarre, and
+he dated his proclamations and ordinances in the 19th year of his
+reign, and thus it was to be inferred, that the nation had been in a
+state of rebellion during five and twenty years. He had disdained to
+receive his crown from the will of the people, and rather chose to
+hold it by divine right and the good offices of the Prince Regent.
+These ungracious affronts wounded the national feelings, but no notice
+was taken of them at the time, because it was apprehended that angry
+recriminations might endanger the profit which had resulted from the
+important sacrifices to which we had consented for the public good.
+But when the government unveiled its deformity, the silence of the
+patriotic party was at end, and they attacked the government most
+unrelentingly. The editors of the <span lang="fr">Censeur</span> were most conspicuous. Every
+abuse of power, every violation of the charter, was proclaimed
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page025" name="page025"></a>(p. 025)</span> to France by these young tribunes of the people; and the
+country was loud in applauding their zeal, their talents, and their
+courage. Other writers of a more lively class stung the emigrants to
+the quick by sarcasms and satire, and brought down the chastisement of
+contempt and ridicule upon those who had been spared by the gravity of
+the <span lang="fr">Censeur</span>.</p>
+
+<p>The nation also obtained a clear development of the anti-revolutionary
+conspiracy of the administration, from the "Memoir" of <span lang="fr">Carnot</span>, and the
+pamphlets of <span lang="fr"><span lang="fr">Benjamin Constant</span></span>. The undeniable facts, and the
+unwelcome truths which were brought forward and stated by these
+writers, apprized the people that their rights and liberties were in
+fearful danger.</p>
+
+<p>A judicial blindness had fallen upon the ministers. All warnings, all
+lessons, all reproaches, were lost upon them. Far from being awed by
+public opinion, they thought they deserved high honour for defying it.
+The ministers had made up their mind. Deceived by the opinions which
+they had formed respecting the preponderance of their faction, they
+miscalculated the influence and resources of the partizans of the
+revolution. Confiding in their power, and in the fear inspired by
+their power, they thought it useless to maintain any further reserve;
+and that they could charge onwards to the end of the career <span class="pagenum"><a id="page026" name="page026"></a>(p. 026)</span>
+which they had in view. Intoxicated by their ignorant enthusiasm, they
+insulted the nation in the person of each individual, whilst they
+encroached upon the rights which he valued most, and insulted him both
+in his interests and his feelings. The imperial guard was removed from
+Paris: the emigrants grudged the renown of these troops, and feared
+their patriotism. It was given out that the discontent evinced by the
+guard when the king came in, was the cause of the punishment which
+they received<a id="footnotetag8" name="footnotetag8"></a><a href="#footnote8" title="Go to footnote 8">[8]</a>.&mdash;But had not the government called forth this
+discontent? Surely it was ungenerous to compel those heroes to walk as
+attendants in the triumph of a new master. Their grief and fidelity
+deserved not to be thus insulted. I then saw these honoured warriors.
+Haggard looks and sullen silence revealed their feelings. Absorbed by
+grief, they appeared to be insensible to the outward world. "<span lang="fr">Vive la
+Garde Impériale</span>" was the shout of the pitying Parisians, who wished
+to cheer them. These <span class="pagenum"><a id="page027" name="page027"></a>(p. 027)</span> salutations, which, perhaps, they
+despised, were unheeded. Submissive to their superiors, they obeyed
+the word of command which told them that they must march: they
+marched, and that was all.</p>
+
+<p>Troops of the line replaced the imperial guards, who were drafted out
+of the capital with great expedition. Little time elapsed before the
+dissatisfaction of the new troops became manifest. The regiments were
+wholly disorganized; officers were thrust upon the soldiers, amongst
+whom they stood as complete strangers. In consequence of these changes
+the troops were put out of temper; and they became disgusted with
+service, because they were wearied by endless parades and reviews
+which took place, not to perfect them in their discipline, but for the
+instruction of their raw commanders. The government broke their spirit
+by affronting them: they were compelled to present arms to the king's
+body guard, whom they detested. The re-establishment of the "<span lang="fr">Maison du
+Roi</span>" was opposed by the general feeling of the nation, and it
+particularly tended to rouse the jealousy and discontent of the
+garrison of Paris. The troops of the line and the national guards who
+were on duty at the <span lang="fr">Tuileries</span> could not submit to acknowledge the
+"<span lang="fr">gardes du corps</span>" as their superiors, and refused to present arms to
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page028" name="page028"></a>(p. 028)</span> them. The "<span lang="fr">gardes du corps</span>" complained, and it was ordered
+that the troops of the line should salute them with military honours,
+or be punished. After this victory, the young "<span lang="fr">gardes du corps</span>," who
+were proud of it, used to walk up and down before the sentinels, in
+order to force the latter to worship their epaulettes. It may easily
+be imagined how such childish insults, which were never checked, must
+have mortified the old soldiers of Napoleon: and we all know that the
+self-love of a Frenchman is not to be offended with impunity.</p>
+
+<p>Self-love is the medium through which the soldier ascends into glory.
+When Napoleon earned immortal fame in Italy, he nourished and
+dignified this passion by addressing his soldiers in language
+breathing the lofty spirit of the heroic age, he rekindled the courage
+of his army, and every man became a conqueror. But the royalist
+officers sought to destroy all warlike sentiment by expressing their
+contempt for our national victories, by displaying the puffed
+insolence of birth and rank; and they lost the confidence and the
+esteem of the army which they were appointed to command.</p>
+
+<p>Widely different, indeed, was the example which was set by the most
+exalted and most formidable of our enemies. It is needless to name
+him. This sovereign never tried to undervalue <span class="pagenum"><a id="page029" name="page029"></a>(p. 029)</span> our glory: he
+was only happy when he could bear testimony again and again to the
+talents and the courage of the French nation. When he received our
+officers he did not treat them with that ill-concealed disdain, so
+often lavished on the conquered, but with the honest esteem inspired
+by valour; and with that delicacy, I would almost say respect, which
+is due to honourable misfortune. The subject of his discourse
+sometimes compelled him to allude to our reverses; but he never failed
+to allay the smart by lavishing his praises on the efforts which we
+had made to deprive him of victory. He seemed to be astonished that he
+had been able to withstand us.</p>
+
+<p>How deeply were our warriors affected when they contrasted his
+chivalrous magnanimity with the endeavours of their royalist masters,
+who tried incessantly to poison the fond recollection of their former
+triumphs, and to deprive them of the only consolation which remained
+to them in the hour of affliction.</p>
+
+<p>Whatever discontent might prevail amongst the troops, yet the greater
+part of the staff and regimental officers had transferred themselves
+to the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> with cordial sincerity. Perhaps a few, who were less
+confident than the rest, still appeared distrustful and lukewarm;
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page030" name="page030"></a>(p. 030)</span> but they might have been easily won over, either by those
+sugared and alluring phrases which sound so sweetly when pronounced by
+royalty, or even by merely leaving them quiet until their resentment
+could cool of itself.</p>
+
+<p>When Henry <abbr title="4">IV.</abbr> recovered his throne, the bigoted partisans of the
+league, whom he had pardoned, continued still to threaten and revile
+him. It was suggested that he should punish them; but Henry said,
+"No,&mdash;we must wait, they are yet vexed." Those who were constantly
+invoking the memory of good king Henry, never sought to imitate his
+conduct. Instead of allowing time to our generals to get over their
+vexation, they embittered their temper by daily insults. Our officers
+were treated like ruffian bandits; they were branded as rebels, who
+were too happy if they obtained a pardon. Praise and favour fell only
+to the share of the army of <span lang="fr">Condé</span>, the Vendeans, and the <span lang="fr">Chouans</span>. The
+triumphal arches destined to eternize the exploits of our armies were
+menaced with sacrilegious ruin; and it was solemnly proposed to erect
+a monument to the memory of the Vendeans and the emigrants who fell at
+<span lang="fr">Quiberon</span>.</p>
+
+<p>Certainly our deluded brethren deserved to be regretted and mourned.
+Yet they had <span class="pagenum"><a id="page031" name="page031"></a>(p. 031)</span> turned their weapons against the sacred bosom
+of their country. They were either the auxiliaries or the hirelings of
+our implacable enemies the English, and if honours were paid to them
+as illustrious victims, it was equivalent to a declaration that their
+conquerors were their murderers.</p>
+
+<p>Our warriors had been graced with titles of nobility, bought with the
+blood which they had shed in the defence of the country. Their honours
+were treated with insolent scorn, and the ghost of Georges <span lang="fr">Cadoudal</span>, a
+murderer in effect, and a traitor in intent, was ennobled by the
+gracious patent which was bestowed upon his father.</p>
+
+<p>Georges in attempting the life of Napoleon had committed an act
+against all law, whether human or divine. If such a crime was decked
+out as a virtue, if signal rewards were allotted to the memory of the
+criminal, the government abetted assassination and regicide. The
+safety of Louis <abbr title="18">XVIII.</abbr> and of every other monarch was compromised, and
+a sanction was given to the dangerous and antisocial doctrine which
+teaches that any individual may sit in judgment on the legitimacy of
+the title of the occupier of the throne, and then determine to murder
+his sovereign if he doubts the validity of his rights.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page032" name="page032"></a>(p. 032)</span> Other affronts exactly of the same complexion were offered to
+France and to the army. Titles, military commissions, and pensions,
+were showered, in <span lang="fr">La Vendée</span>, upon the heads of such of the <span lang="fr">Chouans</span> as
+were most celebrated for their cruelty<a id="footnotetag9" name="footnotetag9"></a><a href="#footnote9" title="Go to footnote 9">[9]</a>, and these marks of favour
+were distributed amongst them in the presence of the victims of their
+rapine and ferocity.</p>
+
+<p>The members of the ruling faction thought that they had not done
+enough in endeavouring to honour the French enemies of France at the
+expense of her defenders, and therefore they compassed the degradation
+and destruction of the institutions which reminded the people of the
+praises and the glory of our national armies.</p>
+
+<p>In despite of the most solemn engagements the government robbed the
+legion of honour <span class="pagenum"><a id="page033" name="page033"></a>(p. 033)</span> of its prerogatives. Then the ministerial
+papers hinted that henceforward the order of St. Louis was to be the
+only military order; and that the legion of honour was to be the
+reward of civil merit. The blow was aimed at the heart; the army
+shuddered, our marshals burned with indignation. The government was
+compelled to disclaim and abandon its intent.</p>
+
+<p>Yet one sure method of debasing the legion of honour was completely in
+the power of government; they could make it cheap, and to this plan
+they resorted. Under Napoleon the Cross was never granted until it had
+been long and truly deserved: now it became the prey of meanness. The
+order was prostituted and cast to favourite underlings and intriguers,
+to whom it was distributed by caprice or bribery.</p>
+
+<p>Our soldiers, who had purchased this distinction with their
+blood,&mdash;the magistrates, the functionaries, the learned, the
+manufacturers, who had received it as the reward of the services which
+they had rendered to the state, to the arts, to useful industry,&mdash;all
+were filled with consternation when they found themselves elbowed by a
+mean and worthless mob. Yielding to their honest pride, the greater
+part of our old legionaries refused to wear the insignia, which,
+instead of conferring distinction, could only <span class="pagenum"><a id="page034" name="page034"></a>(p. 034)</span> confound them
+with men whom public opinion had branded and proscribed.</p>
+
+<p>Success encouraged the government, and they did not stop. Richly
+endowed asylums for the daughters of the deceased members of the
+legion had been founded by the Emperor. Under the pretext of economy,
+of saving the annual sum of forty thousand francs, the ministers took
+the King by surprise, and hurried the Sovereign into the signature of
+an order for turning the orphans out of doors. Marshal Macdonald
+declared in vain that the old leaders of the army would never abandon
+the children of their companions, and that they were ready to defray
+the expense which was falsely assigned as the motive of the expulsion
+of the girls. Equally fruitless was the generosity of Madame <span lang="fr">Delchan</span>,
+the matron of the establishment of Paris, who offered to continue its
+management without any assistance from the government, and to expend
+her entire fortune in the support of her pupils. Nor did the ministers
+pay the least attention to those who stated that the greater part of
+the children had neither friends nor relations, and that if they were
+thrown destitute upon the world, they would be inevitably consigned to
+misery or vice. No consideration could move the pity of the ministry.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page035" name="page035"></a>(p. 035)</span> But at length the indignation of the public found a voice in
+the Lower House, and the representatives of the people were about to
+remonstrate with the Sovereign. Ministers were disconcerted and
+abashed, and they abandoned their profligate enterprise.</p>
+
+<p>This check, however, did not amend them. A few days afterwards they
+dissolved the military academies of <span lang="fr"><abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Cyr</span> and <span lang="fr"><abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Germain</span>, alleging
+that they were superfluous; and at the same moment the "<span lang="fr">École Royale
+Militaire</span>" was re-established, "in order that the nobility of the
+kingdom might enjoy the advantages secured to them by the edict of
+January 1757."</p>
+
+<p>By this impudent violation of the principles of the charter our
+representatives were again roused, and the ministers were again
+obliged to recede.</p>
+
+<p>Irritated by these defeats, they sought revenge and actuated by an
+ill-judged hope of weakening the resisting obstacles, they dismissed a
+countless multitude of military officers, who were turned out of the
+army upon half pay, though their full pay had been formally
+guarantied. It must be acknowledged that the number of the officers of
+the imperial army was much greater than was required by the strength
+of the royal army; but as it was alleged that <span class="pagenum"><a id="page036" name="page036"></a>(p. 036)</span> they were
+useless and expensive, it was not right to insult them in their
+misfortunes by ministerial profusion; for, at the same time, they saw
+the government granting rank and pay to a number of emigrants who were
+good for nothing in the army. The government raised six thousand
+"<span lang="fr">gardes du corps</span>," troops of musketeers and light horse, "<span lang="fr">gendarmes de
+la garde</span>," <abbr title="etcetera">&amp;c.</abbr> who scandalized Paris, and disgusted the army by their
+new epaulettes, and their sumptuous and splendid uniforms. Lastly, the
+government, led on by its innovating madness, did not respect those
+veterans whom Death had spared on the field of battle. Without pitying
+age or infirmities, the ministers, using their accustomed pretext of
+economy, withdrew the benefactions which a grateful nation had
+bestowed upon two thousand five hundred of these objects of
+compassion.</p>
+
+<p>Since the ministers did not dread giving public offence to the army,
+and in matters where the offence would be felt most acutely,&mdash;since
+they refused to recognize both its services and its rights, it may be
+easily supposed that the military were disgusted and oppressed when
+they appeared before the ministry as individuals. It is not intended
+to detail the complaints and accusations which then justly abounded;
+but one <span class="pagenum"><a id="page037" name="page037"></a>(p. 037)</span> fact may be stated as giving a double illustration
+of the spirit which prevailed.</p>
+
+<p>General <span lang="fr">Milhaud</span> had distinguished himself in the course of our
+national wars, by success and bravery. At the time when France was
+invaded by the allies, he "covered himself with glory" at the head of
+a handful of dragoons, who cut a considerable corps of the enemy's
+troops entirely to pieces. This officer, in consequence of his rank,
+his standing, and his services, had been appointed a<span lang="fr"> chevalier de <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr>
+Louis</span> as a matter of right; but at the moment of his reception, the
+cross was taken from him with ignominy, because he had been so
+unfortunate as to vote for the death of the King twenty years before.</p>
+
+<p>Louis <abbr title="18">XVIII.</abbr>, when he returned to France, had promised that he would
+not inquire into the votes which had been given against his august
+brother. This promise, which had been demanded from him, and which he
+ratified by his charter, could not be otherwise than a painful victory
+over the feelings of his heart. He must have grieved when he found
+himself under the necessity of admitting those judges into his court,
+who had condemned Louis <abbr title="16">XVI.</abbr> to the scaffold, and to present them to
+the daughter of the murdered monarch. But still he had <span class="pagenum"><a id="page038" name="page038"></a>(p. 038)</span> sworn
+not to avenge his death, and the oaths by which a monarch binds
+himself to his people should be inviolable.</p>
+
+<p>All resentment was to be repressed. The voters had been pardoned, and
+therefore the government could not be justified in reviving the memory
+of their crime, and in bringing down vengeance and death upon their
+heads. A funeral veil ought to have been drawn over that period of our
+revolution, during which we were all equally misled or guilty.
+Besides, we must state plainly and distinctly, that the grief excited
+by the murder of Louis <abbr title="16">XVI.</abbr>, was not the true cause of the invectives
+with which the regicides were assailed by the emigrants. Unfortunately
+the effect produced at Coblentz by the trial and execution of the
+king, is too well known. If the errors of some of the men of the
+revolution were hunted out with so much malignant zeal, it was only
+for the purpose of coming to this result&mdash;that as the revolution was
+the work of crime, it was necessary to root out every thing which had
+proceeded from the revolution.</p>
+
+<p>The insult to which General <span lang="fr">Milhaud</span> was subjected, was therefore
+rather a political movement, than a punishment inflicted on an
+individual. In selecting <span lang="fr">Milhaud</span> as the object <span class="pagenum"><a id="page039" name="page039"></a>(p. 039)</span> of the first
+assault against the regicides, the government gave a proof of their
+want of tact; for if they wanted to render the regicides contemptible
+or odious, they should have avoided attacking an officer who had long
+since washed away the stains of the blood of his King, by imbruing
+himself in the blood of our enemies!</p>
+
+<p>But whilst the military, from the highest to the lowest, were exposed
+to the persecution and tyranny of the prevailing faction, the
+magistracy, and the civil functionaries of the state, suffered no less
+from ill treatment and injustice. Commissioners had been despatched
+into the departments, even at the beginning of the new reign, "in
+order to consolidate the royal government, and to examine into the
+conduct of the public functionaries under existing circumstances;"
+that is to say, at the moment of the restoration of the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the confidence which the nation placed in the promises of the
+King, that no jealousy was excited by this measure. On the contrary,
+people expected that great good would result from it, that party heat
+would be allayed, and public interest and opinion become more speedily
+united to the throne.</p>
+
+<p>This pleasing illusion was soon dispelled. A great number of
+emigrants, who had just come <span class="pagenum"><a id="page040" name="page040"></a>(p. 040)</span> in again, were appointed
+commissioners. Instead of listening to cool and experienced advisers,
+they gave themselves up to the priests and nobles who beset them, and
+who were neither moderate nor enlightened.</p>
+
+<p>The middling classes, who, from their habitual intercourse with the
+lower orders, possess so great an influence over the body of the
+people, were considered by the commissioners as a rabble multitude of
+upstart "<i><span lang="fr">roturiers</span></i>." They treated the middling class with disdain
+and contempt. Deceived by the recollection of the excesses of the
+revolution, they fancied, that whoever could win the populace, became
+the ruler of the country. When money is not to be had, the surest way
+of getting over the multitude, is by appealing to its passions. They
+therefore announced, that they were sent to do justice to the people,
+to listen to their complaints, to reform abuses, and to abolish the
+"<i><span lang="fr">droits réunis</span></i>," and the conscription.</p>
+
+<p>Meetings were announced in the villages and in the country towns. All
+persons of respectability kept away; but the populace, who are always
+delighted with uproar and novelty, crowded in. There was no end to the
+preposterous charges which were preferred against the magistrates, the
+prefects, the under-prefects, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page041" name="page041"></a>(p. 041)</span> the mayors, the administrators
+of public affairs, the officers of revenue; in short, none of the
+depositaries of public authority were spared.</p>
+
+<p>Instead of despising such accusations, or submitting them to an
+impartial inquiry, the commissioners hailed the popular clamour with
+transport. They triumphed in the tumult; they were overflowing with
+happiness at the fancied success of their efforts; they continued
+exclaiming with increasing joy, "that is right, Good People; the King
+is your father; these fellows are nothing but <i><span lang="fr">canaille</span></i>; upon our
+word of honour, we will kick them out."</p>
+
+<p>These promises were kept. The public officers and functionaries of all
+classes were gradually dismissed, and their places given to informers,
+or to the old nobility. As the common people cooled, they became
+undeceived, and it was found that they had gained neither in riches
+nor in loyalty. The commissioners, instead of adding as they expected
+to the popularity of the government, only helped to cry it down. The
+cause of royalty was compromised by the scenes of riot which they
+encouraged, and they degraded it by acts of injustice and oppression.
+The non-emigrant commissioners acted far otherwise. They knew how to
+value the lying declamations of the nobles, and of the mob <span class="pagenum"><a id="page042" name="page042"></a>(p. 042)</span>
+whom the nobles had set on. From the different conduct pursued by each
+party, effects resulted which exhibited the most striking contrast. In
+one department the public functionaries retained their situations, in
+another they were disgraced and vituperated.</p>
+
+<p>These scandalous proceedings excited the general indignation of the
+country. The government was universally blamed. The important task of
+instituting inquiries, which were to affect the honour and the civil
+existence of the most respectable characters, had been entrusted to
+emigrants who had lived amongst strangers during the best part of
+their lives. And these men, who knew nothing of the forms, the
+principles, or even the faults of the imperial government, were
+consequently wholly unable to appreciate the conduct, whether
+praiseworthy or blameable, of the depositaries of public authority.</p>
+
+<p>The people discovered that they had been cheated, and that this
+measure, disguised by specious representations, was in truth adopted
+only for the purpose of more effectually displacing the old
+functionaries of the nation. And, lastly, it was evident that this
+general dismission would carry off those authorities who were the
+natural guardians of every individual <span class="pagenum"><a id="page043" name="page043"></a>(p. 043)</span> who had taken a part
+in the revolution. And that all who were thus affected would be placed
+beneath the sway of their sworn enemies, the nobles, the priests, and
+their adherents.</p>
+
+<p>Indications were given by the government that a "purification" of the
+courts of justice was in contemplation; and the public apprehension
+increased. The independence and immovability of the judges had been
+guaranteed to the nation, and this guarantee was certainly the most
+valuable of the rights which we had gained. But on account of its
+importance, the government were the more desirous of violating it.</p>
+
+<p>When the proposed "purification" became known, our national
+magistrates trembled in their chairs, and they foresaw that they would
+be plucked out for the purpose of making way for the antiquated
+survivors of the courts of parliament.</p>
+
+<p>The nation was alarmed, and protested against the measure. But the
+"purification" was not to be stopped in its swoop. The process began
+in the supreme tribunal of the kingdom, the Court of Cassation. And,
+to remove all doubts respecting the ulterior object of the government,
+it was officially announced that the <i>elimination</i>, disguised under
+the name of the "<span lang="fr">installation royale</span>," had been deferred only
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page044" name="page044"></a>(p. 044)</span> for the purpose of "obtaining the information which was
+necessary to direct or decide the choice of the judges, and that it
+would take place successively in all the courts and tribunals of the
+kingdom."</p>
+
+<p>The "installation" was felt to be not only a breach of faith, but an
+open conspiracy against the security of the person and property of the
+subject. We knew that the tribunals would now be filled with
+magistrates whose prejudices, principles, and interest, must be in
+perpetual hostility against our national laws, and that the new men
+would seek to elude or crush our juridical system. The royal
+magistrates, as it was but too evident, would be the relations, the
+friends, or the creatures of the nobility, the emigrants, and of all
+who claimed to be restored to their rights and privileges. Nor could
+we hope that judges so constituted would deal out impartial justice
+between the <span lang="fr">ci-devant</span> privileged tribes, whom they would naturally
+consider as the victims of revolutionary principles, and the children
+of the revolution, who, according to the same mode of reasoning, they
+could not fail to consider as the oppressors and robbers of the
+privileged tribes.</p>
+
+<p>The owners of national property were most alarmed by the approaching
+expulsion of the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page045" name="page045"></a>(p. 045)</span> revolutionary judges. By the charter, the
+inviolability of their property had been guaranteed to them. But they
+had not forgotten that a violent debate arose on the "redaction" of
+this article; and that the ministers had been already accused on
+account of the obscurity of the clause, which they refused to correct
+into such words as might prevent all future quibbling and special
+pleading.</p>
+
+<p>If the emigrants, the priesthood, and the nobility, did not scruple to
+express their hopes aloud that the sales of the national domains might
+be declared null and void, it was equally well known to the public
+that certain Great Personages entertained the same hopes in secret.
+Doubts respecting the legality, and, consequently, of the validity of
+the sales, were expressed in the ministerial journals; and various
+publications were industriously disseminated, in which the purchases
+were directly impugned. The authors of these works were favoured and
+protected<a id="footnotetag10" name="footnotetag10"></a><a href="#footnote10" title="Go to footnote 10">[10]</a>; <span class="pagenum"><a id="page046" name="page046"></a>(p. 046)</span> and it was whispered that the Great
+Personages, to whom we have already alluded, had deliberated on the
+means of realizing their hopes. All these tokens of the times united
+in giving too reasonable a ground for the apprehensions entertained by
+the proprietors of the confiscated lands; and the disorganization of
+the tribunals was considered as a national calamity.</p>
+
+<p>It is calculated that the individuals who are interested directly or
+indirectly either in the purchases of the national domains, or in the
+rights and liabilities arising out of them, amount in number to
+somewhat between nine and ten millions.</p>
+
+<p>An opportunity offered itself when all the uneasiness felt by this
+integral portion of the population of France might have been removed.
+It was when the law; by which the emigrants recovered possession of
+such part of their property as had not been alienated, came under
+consideration. It was natural to suppose that the administration would
+take advantage of the capability of the proceeding, in order to revive
+the confidence of the public, and to renew the guarantee of the
+charter. Such was not their conduct. On the contrary, <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">Ferrand</span>, the
+government orator, one of the men who did most mischief to the King
+and the kingdom, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page047" name="page047"></a>(p. 047)</span> abandoned himself&mdash;we borrow the expression
+of the reporter of the committee&mdash;to all the acrimony of his passions,
+and all the profligacy of his principles. His fury could only be
+equalled by his folly. He did not scruple to maintain, in the midst of
+the representatives of the nation, that the emigrants had the greatest
+right to claim the justice and favour of the royal government, because
+they alone had not wandered from the righteous path. And starting with
+this position, he represented the forfeiture and sale of their
+property, not as the justifiable acts of a legislative body, but as
+revolutionary outrages and robberies which the nation ought to hasten
+to make good.</p>
+
+<p>The Chamber of Deputies passed their censure upon the inflammatory
+doctrines and language of the royalist orator, and expunged the word
+"restitution" from the law. It had not been inserted without design,
+for "restitution" supposes a previous robbery, and the emigrants had
+not been robbed of the property: it had been confiscated by virtue of
+a law sanctioned by the King; and which law was only a new application
+of the system of confiscation created and followed up by the King's
+predecessors.</p>
+
+<p>Without travelling into more remote periods, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page048" name="page048"></a>(p. 048)</span> we may ask if
+it was not with the spoils of the victims who had been sacrificed to
+the murderous policy of <span lang="fr">Richelieu</span>, and the religious intolerance of
+Louis <abbr title="14">XIV.</abbr>, that the first families had been enriched? And who can
+tell whether the lands which the emigrants reclaimed with so much
+pride and bitterness, were not the same which their ancestors had
+received without a blush from the bloody hands of <span lang="fr">Richelieu</span> and Louis?</p>
+
+<p>It must be confessed that the unalterable fidelity of a certain number
+amongst the emigrants bound the royal government to reward their
+fidelity and to alleviate their misfortunes. But all had not an equal
+right to the affection and gratitude of the King. If some had
+generously sacrificed their fortunes and their country in the cause of
+royalty, yet others only fled from France because they wished to
+escape their creditors<a id="footnotetag11" name="footnotetag11"></a><a href="#footnote11" title="Go to footnote 11">[11]</a>, and thought that in strange countries they
+might find dupes to feed upon, and thus exist upon swindling resources
+to which they could no longer resort with impunity at home.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page049" name="page049"></a>(p. 049)</span> It was therefore necessary to separate the first class of
+emigrants from the last; and after establishing this distinction, the
+government should have made a fair appeal to the justice and
+generosity of the nation. Frenchmen, who yield so readily to every
+dignified sentiment, would not have allowed the faithful and virtuous
+servants of their King to languish in poverty. We may appeal to the
+universal assent which was given to the proposal<a id="footnotetag12" name="footnotetag12"></a><a href="#footnote12" title="Go to footnote 12">[12]</a> made by the
+marshal duke of Tarentum, that ten millions of francs should be
+annually appropriated for the indemnification of the emigrants who had
+been deprived of their property, and of the soldiers who had lost
+their "<i>dotations</i>."</p>
+
+<p>But the government party should not have attempted to assist the
+emigrants by resorting to means offensive to the nation, and
+derogatory to the charter. And, above all, they should not have puffed
+up the emigrants with proud and silly hopes. If they had been left to
+themselves, they would have fallen in with the purchasers of their
+property, they would have treated for an amicable settlement of their
+claims, and they would have regained possession of their hereditary
+estates without jarring and without scandal.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page050" name="page050"></a>(p. 050)</span> The partiality which was shown towards the emigrants on all
+occasions produced another evil of still greater extent. It
+contributed, even more than the efforts of disaffection, in persuading
+the peasantry that the government wished to chain them again to the
+soil, and to render them once more the tributaries both of the
+nobility and of the priesthood.</p>
+
+<p>The revolution has taught the countryman to know that he is somebody
+in the state. After the revolution the peasants became rich, and they
+were delivered from the double vassalage of former days, when they
+crouched before the priest and the lord: therefore they could not
+think of any alteration without horror. Day after day they heard or
+they read (in France every body reads now,) that the government
+intended to restore the "<i><span lang="fr">ancien régime</span></i>." And the restoration of the
+"<i><span lang="fr">ancien régime</span></i>" was interpreted by them, as well as by many others,
+to mean the restoration of tithes, vassalage, and feudal rights. They
+were confirmed in their dangerous and disquieting opinion by the
+outrageous claims of the emigrants, and the declamations of the
+priests. It was to no purpose that the government tried to re-assure
+them. They had been already deceived and it seldom happens that you
+can catch a French peasant twice in the same snare. The abolition of
+the conscription had been promised, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page051" name="page051"></a>(p. 051)</span> and the old code was
+continued in force with all its harshness, and still the refractory
+conscripts were sent away in chains, whilst fines were imposed upon
+their families. The abolition of the "<i><span lang="fr">droits réunis</span></i>" had also been
+promised, and they were not only levied with greater rigour and
+harshness than before, but even some of these imposts had been greatly
+increased.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the fatality which influenced all the actions of the
+government, that all proceedings which in themselves were simple and
+reasonable, became venomous and corrupted when conducted by the
+ministry, and only added to the general disorder and discontent,
+instead of producing the good effects which they might have been
+justly expected to produce.</p>
+
+<p>The discontent of the people, the inevitable result of the injuries
+inflicted on the feelings and interests of individuals<a id="footnotetag13" name="footnotetag13"></a><a href="#footnote13" title="Go to footnote 13">[13]</a>, was
+increased by <span class="pagenum"><a id="page052" name="page052"></a>(p. 052)</span> the open infringement of the rights of the
+people, although these rights were secured to the country by a compact
+which seemed to be inviolable.</p>
+
+<p>Liberty of conscience had been promised by the charter, and this
+liberty was immediately annihilated. An ordonnance was issued by the
+police<a id="footnotetag14" name="footnotetag14"></a><a href="#footnote14" title="Go to footnote 14">[14]</a>, which revived regulations enacted in <i>an age of
+intolerance</i>, for enforcing the strict and universal observance of the
+Lord's day, and the festivals of the church. Napoleon, anxious to
+preserve a strict neutrality between the catholics and the
+protestants, prohibited the religious processions of the former in all
+towns containing places of worship belonging to the latter communion.
+His prohibition was removed, and the catholic priesthood exulted in
+their processions, in which they marched in triumph. They ought to
+have tranquillized the apprehensions of their opponents, and to have
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page053" name="page053"></a>(p. 053)</span> edified the faithful by humility, or at least by feigning
+humility; but they disdained to conciliate the public, whom they
+scandalized by their pride and irritated by their violence<a id="footnotetag15" name="footnotetag15"></a><a href="#footnote15" title="Go to footnote 15">[15]</a>.</p>
+
+<p>The imagination of the priests became fired by the victory which they
+supposed they had gained. They dreamt that they were in full
+possession of their ancient power; and they wished immediately to
+revive it according to their ancient fashion. An actress belonging to
+the <span lang="fr">Theatre Français</span> died without being absolved, and without
+suspecting that it was necessary to be absolved, from the
+excommunication which had been formerly fulminated against stage
+players; and which, as every body knows, deprived <span lang="fr">Moliere</span> of Christian
+burial.</p>
+
+<p>Following the same precedents, the clergy would not allow the rites of
+sepulture to the actress in question. The populace, who followed the
+funeral out of curiosity, learnt the affront which was thus offered to
+her remains. Transported by sudden indignation, they rushed to the
+hearse, and dragged it onwards. The doors of the interdicted church
+were burst open in a moment. They called for a priest; no priest
+appeared. The tumult augmented. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page054" name="page054"></a>(p. 054)</span> The church and the
+neighbouring streets resounded with the groans and threats of ten
+thousand persons. Their agitation became more violent, and there was
+no possibility of foreseeing where the effervescence of popular
+feeling would stop, when a messenger arrived from the court, who
+ordered, in the name of the King, that the funeral should proceed.</p>
+
+<p>The accounts of this event, and the comments to which it gave rise,
+excited the most lively interest in Paris and throughout France: nor
+did it fail to give the greatest pleasure to the enemies of religion.
+The friends of public decency and good order accused the government of
+encouraging the alarming progress of sacerdotal despotism. It was
+particularly in the smaller towns, and in the country, that the
+priests behaved with the most blamable audacity, abusing the privilege
+of speech which had been restored to them<a id="footnotetag16" name="footnotetag16"></a><a href="#footnote16" title="Go to footnote 16">[16]</a>. The pulpit became a
+tribunal from whence they pronounced sentence of present infamy, with
+the reversion of eternal damnation, upon all who refused to
+participate in their opinions and bigotry. Making common cause with
+the emigrants, they employed hints, inuendoes, insinuations,
+arguments, promises, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page055" name="page055"></a>(p. 055)</span> and threats of every species, for the
+purpose of compelling the owners of the national property to yield up
+their lands, and of leading the wretched peasantry again beneath the
+tyrant yokes of feudality and superstition.</p>
+
+<p>During the revolution, the priesthood had betrayed its real character.
+Contempt had fallen on the clergy, and it was out of the power of the
+government to invest them suddenly with the salutary influence which
+they had lost. This influence ought to be gained by wise and prudent
+conduct, by active and impartial benevolence, by the practice of
+sacerdotal virtues. It cannot be gained by ordonnances of police, by
+abuse, by violence, by mumming processions, which, in our times, are
+out of character and ridiculous.</p>
+
+<p>By the charter the liberty of the press had been guarantied as well as
+the liberty of public worship; yet every day innumerable publications
+were seized or suppressed contrary to the laws. <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="de">Durbach</span>, a deputy
+who never equivocated with his conscience or yielded to danger,
+complained on this subject in the chamber: the opinion of the house
+went along with him; and the government, pretending to yield to the
+feeling of the deputies, presented a bill to the chambers through the
+medium of <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Montesquiou</span>, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page056" name="page056"></a>(p. 056)</span> which, instead of delivering
+the press from its slavery, gave full establishment to the censorship,
+and legalized the tyranny which had been exercised over the press by
+mere force under the former government.</p>
+
+<p><span lang="fr">Benjamin Constant</span> attacked the bill with vigour: the same side was
+taken by the public journals, and by all public writers; but there was
+no possibility of putting <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Montesquiou</span> out of countenance. It was
+demonstrated to him that his law would wholly destroy the liberty of
+the press. By holding the charter before his eyes, the advocates of
+public rights proved that the charter only declared that the licence
+of the press was to be restrained, and that his bill was therefore
+radically unconstitutional, because the preliminary censorship was not
+intended to restrain abuses, but to prevent their taking place.
+<span lang="fr">Montesquiou</span> answered gravely, that the persons with whom such
+objections originated did not understand French; that the words
+"<i><span lang="fr">prévenir</span></i>" and "<i><span lang="fr">réprimer</span></i>" were perfectly synonymous: and that the
+bill, instead of being offensive or unconstitutional, contained a most
+complete and a most liberal development of the clause in the charter.</p>
+
+<p>This unparalleled endeavour of <span lang="fr">Montesquiou</span>, who persuaded himself that
+he could convince <span class="pagenum"><a id="page057" name="page057"></a>(p. 057)</span> an assembly of Frenchmen that they did not
+understand their own language, was justly considered by the chamber as
+a matchless specimen of impudence and folly. Lexicographical
+subtleties were employed with bitter mockery for the purpose of
+destroying a public right, consecrated by the constitutional compact.
+Never had insolence and bad faith been displayed so prominently:
+<span lang="fr">Raynouard</span>, the reporter of the committee, exclaimed in the language of
+grief and indignation, "Minister of our King, confess, at least, that
+your law is contrary to the constitution, since you cannot refute the
+evidence adduced against it: your obstinacy in contesting such an
+indisputable truth would not then inspire us with such just alarms."</p>
+
+<p>The law was ultimately adopted by both chambers; ministerial influence
+triumphed over reason, and rased the most important bulwark of the
+rights guarantied to the nation. The result of the conflict produced
+the most lively sensation. No man who was capable of forethought and
+reasoning could remain undisturbed. Notwithstanding the patriotism of
+<span lang="fr">Dupont</span> (of the department of the Eure), of <span lang="fr">Raynouard</span>, of <span lang="de">Durbach</span>, of
+<span lang="fr">Bedoch</span>, of <span lang="fr">Flaugergues</span>, it was seen too clearly that the chamber of
+deputies <span class="pagenum"><a id="page058" name="page058"></a>(p. 058)</span> could not oppose any effectual obstacle to the
+despotic and anti-constitutional plans of the government; and that the
+ministers would have full power, whenever they thought proper, to
+interpret the clauses of the charter according to their own way, and
+to rob the French nation of the few rights which it yet might promise
+to them. "By means of such interpretations," the people said, "the
+senate sacrificed the independence of the nation to Napoleon. But at
+least the imperial despotism assumed a character by which it was
+justified and ennobled. It tended to render our nation the greatest
+nation in the world; but the despotism which awaits us has no other
+accompaniment but bad faith, and no other end except the degradation
+and slavery of France."</p>
+
+<p>By such reflections, the suspicion and disgust and aversion inspired
+by the government, were excited to the utmost pitch. The public
+feeling did not stop there: the French people are naturally inconstant
+in their opinions and sentiments; and their former prejudices against
+Napoleon were changed into transports of admiration. France, under the
+royal government, was humiliated, disorganized, and degenerate; and
+they contrasted the present state of the country with the influence,
+the strength, the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page059" name="page059"></a>(p. 059)</span> compactness, which it enjoyed under the
+reign of Napoleon; and He, who had lately been cursed as the root of
+all evil, now appeared to be the greatest of men, and the greatest of
+heroes, though in misfortune.</p>
+
+<p>The government knew that Napoleon was again admired by the people, and
+that they regretted his loss. To counteract these sentiments, coarse
+and vulgar caricatures were exposed to the eyes of the populace; and
+his person and his character became the theme of false and scandalous
+libels published under the direction of the ministry. No effect was
+produced. The mob looked at the caricatures with a smile of contempt;
+and the actions of Napoleon, which, under his reign, excited the
+greatest censure and disapprobation, now found the most zealous
+apologists and defenders.</p>
+
+<p>If Napoleon was accused of having overthrown the republican
+government, and enslaved the country by the revolution of the 18th
+<span lang="fr">Brumaire</span>, they answered<a id="footnotetag17" name="footnotetag17"></a><a href="#footnote17" title="Go to footnote 17">[17]</a>:&mdash;"At that era, anarchy, emboldened by the
+misfortunes of the country, could only be repressed by victory. Civil
+war had been organized in twenty departments; <span class="pagenum"><a id="page060" name="page060"></a>(p. 060)</span> insurrections
+had taken place in many, rapine infected them all; robbery and murder
+took place with impunity on many of the principal high roads. Two
+dreadful laws, the law of the hostages, and that of the forced loans,
+occasioned greater evils than they could cure. No nation had ever
+existed in which the finances of the state were in equal confusion;
+and a succession of partial bankruptcies prolonged the opprobrium of
+the general bankruptcy of the country. The money of the public was
+robbed whilst in transit on the high roads. Robbers even carried it
+off from the houses of the receivers, and the deficiency could not be
+made good by the most violent exactions. The jacobins were on the
+point of recommencing their reign of terror. The royalists had
+recourse without scruple to all the measures which might enable them
+to satiate their revenge; and the peaceable friends of the law were
+placed between the conflicting parties in a state of disgraceful
+weakness and neutrality. Such was the desperate situation of France
+when Napoleon seized the helm of the state. Instead of imputing the
+slavery of the country to him, he ought to have been blessed; for he
+delivered us from the spoliations, the murders, and the tyranny which
+were consequent upon the reign of anarchy and terror."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page061" name="page061"></a>(p. 061)</span> Was it maintained that Napoleon had reigned despotically?
+They held that this accusation was unjust; and they had recourse to
+the following reasoning. "Anarchy was silenced by Napoleon." It became
+necessary, that order should take the place of disorder; that the
+authority of one should be substituted for the authority of all.
+Parties were to be restrained within the bound of moderation; traitors
+were to be annihilated. It was necessary to curb the prejudices of the
+nobility, and the revolutionary habits and manners of the jacobins.
+This great work could not be accomplished, without engaging in a
+conflict against individual interests and opinions. Napoleon was
+considered as a despot; this was inevitable. Whenever the existing
+polity of a state has been totally subverted, he who first raises the
+edifice of society from its ruins, is necessarily accused of
+despotism, because apparently he has no other rule except his own
+will. Nor must we forget that Napoleon had been accustomed to command
+implicit obedience in the camp. He retained his military attitude on
+the throne. He usually addressed his courtiers, his connexions, and
+his ministers, in the tone which he had formerly adopted when speaking
+to his soldiers or <span class="pagenum"><a id="page062" name="page062"></a>(p. 062)</span> their generals<a id="footnotetag18" name="footnotetag18"></a><a href="#footnote18" title="Go to footnote 18">[18]</a>. An appearance of
+despotism was certainly given to his way of reigning and commanding,
+by such language which is seldom <span class="pagenum"><a id="page063" name="page063"></a>(p. 063)</span> heard in civil society. And
+in almost all cases, appearance is taken for reality.</p>
+
+<p>At first the imperious tone adopted by Napoleon was blamed, next it
+was admired. He soon employed it in his intercourse with foreign
+ambassadors, with foreign sovereigns. The wily forms of ancient
+diplomacy were discarded. Napoleon did not negociate; he issued his
+orders. With one hand he brandished his victorious sword; in the other
+he held crowns and sceptres. He bade the sovereigns of Europe make
+their choice; he offered his friendship or his hatred, kingdoms or
+blows. The monarchs who stood before his throne were taught wisdom by
+experience. They knew that Napoleon could reward and punish; they
+crowded into the ranks of his allies; and they consoled themselves for
+their weakness, by crying out upon his tyranny<a id="footnotetag19" name="footnotetag19"></a><a href="#footnote19" title="Go to footnote 19">[19]</a>.</p>
+
+<p>When these causes were united, they aided <span class="pagenum"><a id="page064" name="page064"></a>(p. 064)</span> in persuading the
+world that Napoleon was really a despot. For, as <span lang="fr">Montesquieu</span> observes,
+there are some things which we believe at last, merely because we hear
+them continually repeated. But if the government of Napoleon is
+considered impartially, we shall feel convinced, that the despotism
+attributed to him existed rather in words and forms, than in deeds.
+Let the acts of his reign be scrutinized, and none will be found
+impressed with the character of real despotism; that is to say, of
+despotism founded on the mere arbitrary will and pleasure of the
+prince. On the contrary, they all prove that the interest and
+aggrandizement of France entered alone into the views of Napoleon, and
+that instead of being under a tyrannical government, the people never
+enjoyed the benefits of distributive justice with greater equality,
+and were never protected more completely against the oppressions of
+public functionaries, and of the higher ranks. He may, perhaps, be
+censured for having violated certain laws, for violations in which the
+senate and the representatives of the people were his accomplices. But
+laws are only binding upon sovereigns in the ordinary course of
+things, and the most rigid writers on the law of nations acknowledge
+this principle. When extraordinary and unforeseen circumstances
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page065" name="page065"></a>(p. 065)</span> take place, it is the duty of the sovereign to be above the
+law. In order to judge fairly of the actions of a monarch, we must not
+consider them separately. Many an action which, if taken singly,
+appears unjustifiable or hateful, loses that character when viewed as
+one of the series of events from which it arose, as a connecting link
+in the political chain of which it forms a part. Neither should the
+conduct of a sovereign be judged according to the principles of
+natural equity. In the estimation of those, upon whom the task of
+ruling nations has devolved, necessity and the public safety ought to
+know no law. Every apprehension of injuring private interest vanishes,
+and must ever vanish, before state considerations.</p>
+
+<p>"After all," continued they, "the real point at issue is, not whether
+the government of Napoleon was more or less despotic; but whether it
+was such as was required by the character of his people and of his
+times,&mdash;such as it needed to be, in order that France might become
+tranquil, happy, and powerful." Now it is impossible to deny but that,
+during the reign of Napoleon, the interior of France enjoyed an
+unruffled calm, and that the ascendancy of his genius bestowed upon
+the country a degree of power and prosperity, which it never attained
+before, and which probably it will never possess again.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page066" name="page066"></a>(p. 066)</span> Was the emperor taxed with boundless ambition? Were the
+calamities of Spain and Russia laid to his charge?&mdash;his indefatigable
+apologists found a ready answer.&mdash;The Spanish war, instead of being an
+unjust aggression, was an enterprise guided by the soundest political
+talent. It had been provoked by the wavering treachery of that allied
+government, which, in spite of its engagements, was secretly
+negociating with the English; and which, yielding to their
+instigations, had endeavoured to take advantage of our difficulties
+and of the absence of our armies, in order to invade our territory,
+and to become a sharer in the plots of our enemies.</p>
+
+<p>The detention of Ferdinand ceased to be an odious breach of faith. It
+resulted necessarily from his duplicity, his parricidal projects, and
+his English connexions. The nomination of Joseph as King of Spain and
+the Indies, had been universally attributed to the excessive vanity of
+Napoleon, who, as it was supposed, was determined to drop a crown upon
+the head of every member of the imperial family. But now opinion
+changed. King Joseph's promotion was felt to have been caused by the
+necessity of placing Spain for ever out of the reach of English
+influence. Had not Napoleon allowed the Cortes of Spain to elect their
+monarch of their own uncontrolled authority? Had he not <span class="pagenum"><a id="page067" name="page067"></a>(p. 067)</span> said
+to them in public, "Dispose of the throne. Little do I care whether
+the king of Spain is called Ferdinand, or whether he is called Joseph;
+let him only be the ally of France, and the enemy of England<a id="footnotetag20" name="footnotetag20"></a><a href="#footnote20" title="Go to footnote 20">[20]</a>?"</p>
+
+<p>It was still more easy to justify the Russian war. A Quixotic love of
+the marvellous was no longer supposed to be the passion which excited
+it. In making war against Russia, he was actuated by the desire of
+avenging the injuries which that power had occasioned to France, at
+the moment when the Russian government again opened its ports to the
+English, thus snatching from the nation the reward of the sacrifices
+which we had made for the establishment and consolidation of the
+continental blockade,&mdash;of that universal barrier which made England
+and her thousand vessels tremble!</p>
+
+<p>The invasion of Germany was no longer the effect of Napoleon's
+insatiate thirst of power and glory<a id="footnotetag21" name="footnotetag21"></a><a href="#footnote21" title="Go to footnote 21">[21]</a>. It was seen, that there was
+no other <span class="pagenum"><a id="page068" name="page068"></a>(p. 068)</span> sure method, by which the English, the
+irreconcilable enemies of France, could be deprived of their fatal
+continental influence, by which they could be compelled to abandon the
+empire of the seas. In short, Napoleon was only inflicting a salutary
+and equitable punishment, deserved by those sovereigns of all sizes.
+After having implored or obtained the alliance of Napoleon, and after
+having ratified the bond by engagements and promises upon which he
+generously relied, they compelled him to take up arms, in order to
+prevent them from receiving <span class="pagenum"><a id="page069" name="page069"></a>(p. 069)</span> the agents of England into their
+cabinets, and her merchandizes into their ports.</p>
+
+<p>Thus the partisans of Napoleon invented arguments by which they
+palliated his faults and justified his errors. No objection, no
+reproach was left without its answer. After defending him against his
+accusers they became his advocates; and, turning to the fairer pages
+of his history, their praises knew no bounds; these eulogiums were
+certainly more just, and, perhaps, more sincere.</p>
+
+<p>"Napoleon," said they, "had all the great qualities of the greatest
+monarchs, whilst he was exempted from their vices. Napoleon was not
+stained by the lechery of Cæsar, nor by the drunkenness of Alexander,
+nor by the cruelty of Charlemagne."</p>
+
+<p>At an age when others scarcely start in life, his years were
+outnumbered by his victories; and the kings of Europe, conquered by
+his sword or subjugated by his genius, cowered before the imperial
+eagle.</p>
+
+<p>In France, when aggrandized by the conquests of Napoleon, the empire
+of ancient Rome was re-produced before the astonished world. The
+French name, tarnished by the crimes of the revolution, regained its
+ancient honour and its mastery. The nation was feared, admired, and
+respected by the entire universe.</p>
+
+<p>Philosophy graced Napoleon no less than warlike <span class="pagenum"><a id="page070" name="page070"></a>(p. 070)</span> prowess.
+After he had covered the nation with glory by his victories, he was
+willing to insure our welfare by his laws. He bestowed upon us that
+immortal code of jurisprudence which invested him with the title of
+the legislator of France, a title to which our former kings had
+aspired in vain. He organised that admirable system of finance and
+administration, which their subjects, groaning under misrule, implored
+but without effect.</p>
+
+<p>Still he had not accomplished enough to satisfy his noble and
+beneficent ardour. Arts, sciences, and industry were to flourish in
+our country. The munificent aids<a id="footnotetag22" name="footnotetag22"></a><a href="#footnote22" title="Go to footnote 22">[22]</a> which were granted by Napoleon,
+created the thousands and thousands of manufactories from whence
+proceeded those finished works of skill and labour which became the
+pride of the French, and the despair and ruin of foreign nations. The
+sons of Apollo<a id="footnotetag23" name="footnotetag23"></a><a href="#footnote23" title="Go to footnote 23">[23]</a>, on whom he lavished his gifts and favours, seized
+the crayon, the compass, and the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page071" name="page071"></a>(p. 071)</span> chisel. Paris became a
+second Athens, when adorned by the wonders of art to which his
+munificence gave birth. We then saw the venerable Louvre rise, as by
+enchantment, from its deserted ruins; the palaces of our Kings became
+more gorgeous; the temples of the arts were enriched by productions
+which rivalled the relics of antiquity; our native land brought forth
+those establishments so proudly useful to the public, and those
+monuments destined to transmit the recollections of our fame and glory
+to the most distant posterity.</p>
+
+<p>At the same moment his sovereign will guided the hands which curbed
+the waves of the ocean, and caused them to roll over a new abyss. He
+directed those labours which substituted wide harbours, superb
+dock-yards, and fertilizing canals, in the place of desert shores and
+pestilential marshes, restoring commerce and existence to the
+innumerable inhabitants of the sea coast, and of the banks of the
+<span lang="de">Scheld</span> and the <span lang="fr">Somme</span>. At the same moment his voice created those Roman
+highways, branching through all parts of France, and Germany, and
+Italy, equally useful and majestic, and which afforded to the
+inhabitants of those countries means equally speedy and secure of
+communicating with each other, and of exchanging the products of their
+industry: and <span class="pagenum"><a id="page072" name="page072"></a>(p. 072)</span> never will the friend or even the enemy of
+Napoleon cross the summits of the Alps, or ascend their craggy sides,
+without venerating the magnanimous sovereign, who, anxious to guide
+the steps and protect the life of the traveller, has enclosed the
+precipice, chained the torrent, and linked the great mountains of the
+earth, which during so many ages have braved the might of man and
+time. When future ages shall gather up in memory the glorious and
+transcendent deeds of Napoleon; when they shall number the blessings
+which he dispensed, and the victories which he gained, never will they
+believe that one man can have worked such miracles in so short a
+period. They will rather fancy that the historian was playing with the
+credulity of posterity, that he culled out all the great deeds
+performed by successive generations of the greatest men during an
+infinite series of ages, and that he has attributed them all to his
+ideal hero.</p>
+
+<p>The soldiers who had bled beneath the banners of Napoleon would not
+listen in silence to the praises which others bestowed upon his name.
+His foreign conquests, which even they had lately considered as the
+causes of our misfortunes, became again the sources of inexhaustible
+admiration.</p>
+
+<p>They recollected that Napoleon had ruled as the master of Madrid, of
+Lisbon, of Munich, of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page073" name="page073"></a>(p. 073)</span> Warsaw, of Hamburgh, of Berlin, of
+Vienna, of Milan, of Amsterdam, of Rome, of Moscow, of Cairo.</p>
+
+<p>Some recalled the memory of the day of Lodi. They saw him standing on
+the bridge re-animating his dispirited followers, defying danger and
+death whilst he waved the national flag, and drove the enemy from
+their entrenchments, and blasted their glory. Others pointed him out
+whilst crossing the perpetual snows and yawning chasms of Mount <span lang="fr"><abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr>
+Bernard</span>, and then victorious on the plains of Marengo, where he won
+that battle which insured the peace and glory of the country.</p>
+
+<p>Austerlitz had its chroniclers, who described Napoleon as he fell with
+the rapidity and violence of the thunderbolt on the battalions of the
+Austrian and the Russian, and when he afforded to those trembling
+monarchs an example of magnanimity which they knew not how to imitate
+when generosity became their duty. Nor did his enthusiastic advocates
+omit the field of Jena, where his victorious ensigns chased the flying
+troops of Frederic, who, deceived by their recollections, yet held
+themselves to be the paragons of military worth. They retraced his
+paths amidst the burning sands of Egypt, amidst the icy wastes of
+Muscovy; and in either region Napoleon supported fire <span class="pagenum"><a id="page074" name="page074"></a>(p. 074)</span> and
+frost without ostentation, and taught resignation and endurance to his
+soldiers by his unshaken constancy.</p>
+
+<p>More recent and more painful victories contributed equally to endear
+him. They saw Napoleon in <span lang="fr">Champagne</span>, when his veteran army scarcely
+equalled one of the numerous divisions of the enemy. At the head of
+his scanty troops he watched, and avoided, and surprised the
+Austrians, the Russians, and the Prussians: wounding them on all sides
+by his victorious weapons, and with such promptitude, that he seemed
+to have bestowed wings upon iron and death. They placed him at <span lang="fr">Arcis
+sur Aube</span>, advancing before his squadrons, and rushing forward to meet
+the balls and bullets of the enemy; for he sought to sacrifice on the
+field of battle that life, which he foresaw he could no longer
+dedicate on the throne, to the glory and prosperity of the nation.</p>
+
+<p>In short, generals, officers, and soldiers, all vied with each other
+in calling to mind the marches, the sieges, the conflicts, the
+attacks, the days, which had immortalized their general<a id="footnotetag24" name="footnotetag24"></a><a href="#footnote24" title="Go to footnote 24">[24]</a>; and is
+there a heart amongst us which does not beat higher at these
+recollections?</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page075" name="page075"></a>(p. 075)</span> The sentiments thus awakening in favour of Napoleon were
+cherished by his friends, and by all those who, wearied of the
+<span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> or discontented with their government, now wished for his
+return. His name, which lately we had scarcely dared to utter, was now
+in every mouth, his image in every mind. The nation began to regret
+the Emperor, then they longed for him; and every one was impressed by
+a secret presentiment that these expectations would soon be realized.</p>
+
+<p>Whilst this formidable revulsion of opinion was increasing and
+appearing throughout the kingdom, it was scarcely heeded by the
+ministry, the court, and the emigrants, who reposed with complacent
+security on the volcano which they had kindled, and without
+entertaining the slightest apprehension of the approaching explosion.</p>
+
+<p>"If they wish to go out of the kingdom," said <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Chateaubriand</span>,
+when alluding to the partisans of the Emperor, "if they wish to return
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page076" name="page076"></a>(p. 076)</span> again, to receive or despatch letters, to send expresses, to
+make proposals, to circulate false intelligence, and even to
+distribute bribes, to assemble in secret or in public, to menace, to
+disseminate libels, in short, to conspire against the
+government,&mdash;they are at liberty to do their worst. The royal
+government, which began but eight months ago, now rests upon so sure a
+basis, that, were it now to be obstinate in repeating folly after
+folly, it would hold good in spite of all its errors."</p>
+
+<p>This infatuation, however, soon diminished. Without understanding the
+full extent of the evil, the government ascertained that the army and
+the nation were agitated and discontented, and they deliberated on the
+methods which it would be proper to employ, not for the purpose of
+conciliation, but for enforcing silence.</p>
+
+<p>Acquainted with the uneasiness of the government, certain frantic
+<span lang="fr">Chouans</span> gave out that it was full time to despatch the Bonapartists.
+One chieftain, celebrated in the annals of <span lang="fr">La Vendée</span>, was even so
+audacious as to declare to general Ex..... that he only waited for the
+arrival of his faithful Vendeans, and then he would fall upon the
+Jacobins.</p>
+
+<p>The news of this massacre soon reached the ears of the intended
+victims. Some quitted Paris, others armed themselves, and prepared
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page077" name="page077"></a>(p. 077)</span> to sell their lives as dearly as they could. It is said that
+the government became acquainted with the bloody conspiracy of the
+<span lang="fr">Chouans</span>, and that they relieved France and the world from the
+spectacle of another <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Bartholomew's day.</p>
+
+<p>This intended massacre (I have never been able to believe in it,)
+persuaded the revolutionists that they could expect neither respite
+nor mercy from the royalists, and that one of the two parties would be
+compelled to destroy the other. The soldiers of Napoleon began to
+unite, and to make themselves ready. The ministers were anxious to
+disperse these assemblages, which gave them uneasiness; orders were
+issued, by which all officers, whether of the staff or regimental,
+were prohibited from residing at Paris without permission; and all who
+were not Parisians by birth were ordered to return to their native
+provinces. This measure increased the exasperation of the military,
+and it did not diminish the danger. The reduced officers, instead of
+conforming to the order, encouraged each other in disobedience.
+According to the regulations of the war department, their contumacious
+residence at Paris would subject them to the loss of their half-pay;
+and many of them, though in poverty, preferred independence to
+submission. The ministers <span class="pagenum"><a id="page078" name="page078"></a>(p. 078)</span> were irritated by this resistance,
+and they determined to make an example. It happened that a letter of
+congratulation which General Excelmans addressed to his former
+sovereign, the king of Naples, was intercepted. This opportunity was
+gladly seized by the new Minister at war<a id="footnotetag25" name="footnotetag25"></a><a href="#footnote25" title="Go to footnote 25">[25]</a>. He put the General on
+the half-pay list, and ordered him to retire immediately, and until
+further orders, to the distance of sixty leagues from Paris. Excelmans
+maintained that the Minister at war had no right to remove an officer,
+not being in active service, from his domicile; and he would not go:
+upon this he was immediately taken into custody. It was pretended that
+he had been guilty of a traitorous intercourse with the enemies of the
+King, and that he was also guilty of disobedience to his Majesty's
+orders. The government expected that this blow would produce the best
+possible effect; but it recoiled against them: Excelmans was known to
+all France; he was valued as one of her bravest and most estimable
+children. The spite and hatred of the ministers had loaded him with
+accusations; but his alleged treasons, far from depriving him of
+public esteem and <span class="pagenum"><a id="page079" name="page079"></a>(p. 079)</span> public affection, only endeared him to his
+companions in arms, and to the nation at large.</p>
+
+<p>Excelmans was brought to trial, and the court acquitted him<a id="footnotetag26" name="footnotetag26"></a><a href="#footnote26" title="Go to footnote 26">[26]</a>. The
+council of war, by sanctioning the disobedience of the General,
+declared that the government did not possess that authority over
+reduced officers which they had assumed; and from this moment the
+government was ruined. The decision by which the half-pay military
+were enfranchised, and which left them at liberty to brave the
+commands of the government, was a shock which beat the royal authority
+to the ground.</p>
+
+<p>Here I shall stop. It would be of no further use to lengthen the
+history and the investigation of the absurd tyranny of the government.
+If we trace the progress of the principles successively enounced by
+the ministry, and the actions of which they were the authors, we shall
+see that they had formed and executed the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page080" name="page080"></a>(p. 080)</span> project of
+re-establishing the old monarchy, and of overturning the
+constitutional government either by artifice or by main force. The
+royal charter was spurned by them, and they trampled without scruple
+on the civil and political rights which it consecrated. Every
+guarantee given to the army, the magistracy, the public functionaries,
+or the nation, was forgotten, attacked, or violated. Our national
+glory was insulted; public feeling was wounded. The manners and
+customs and opinions of the new era were all treated with harshness:
+all ranks and classes of citizens experienced those vexations which
+filled them with discontent. By injustice and bad faith the government
+deprived the King of our confidence and love, and caused the
+restoration of the Emperor to become the hope of the nation. In spite
+of the obstacles experienced by the ministry, in spite of the affronts
+to which they had been subjected, in spite of the retrograde steps
+which they had been compelled to take, they still clung to the baneful
+system which they had fostered; and, bigoted to these plans, they
+continued to persevere in those errors which recalled Napoleon from
+his exile, just as Napoleon persevered in the errors which recalled
+the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> back from theirs.</p>
+
+<p>But whilst the storm was gathering in France, how was Napoleon
+employed? Ambition had <span class="pagenum"><a id="page081" name="page081"></a>(p. 081)</span> taken flight, and he was seen to
+prefer a life of unostentatious retirement to all his former
+grandeurs. Repose had greater charms for him than the noble turmoil of
+war; and his genius, no longer teeming with meditation, yielded to the
+pleasures of retirement. The study of botany, the cares of his
+household, the plantations which he had made, and those which he was
+still planning, beguiled his hours<a id="footnotetag27" name="footnotetag27"></a><a href="#footnote27" title="Go to footnote 27">[27]</a>; and, like the Roman
+Diocletian, he might have said to those who suspected that he longed
+in secret after the throne, "Come and see me in my retirement: I will
+show you the gardens which I have planted, and you will talk no more
+to me about the empire."</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon, during the early part of his retirement in Elba, felt only a
+vague desire of reigning. Grieved by the miseries of France, the
+country which he loved so truly, wearied by the vicissitudes of
+fortune, disgusted with mankind, he feared that, if he attempted to
+seize the sceptre again, he should involve France and himself in new
+troubles; and, without abandoning <span class="pagenum"><a id="page082" name="page082"></a>(p. 082)</span> his expectation of
+re-ascending the throne, he resolved to allow his resolutions to be
+guided by futurity.</p>
+
+<p>The turn taken by public affairs soon roused the Emperor from this
+state of indifference and hesitation. At first he hoped, and I have
+heard him say so, that the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>, instructed by adversity, would
+confer liberty and happiness upon the nation. But when he witnessed
+the power which was bestowed upon the priesthood, the emigrants, and
+the courtiers, he foresaw that the very same causes which had produced
+the first revolution, would soon occasion a second. From that period
+he watched the continent; nor did he lose sight, even for a moment, of
+the congress, or of France, or of the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>. He could tell the
+talents<a id="footnotetag28" name="footnotetag28"></a><a href="#footnote28" title="Go to footnote 28">[28]</a>, the principles, the vices, and the virtues of all those
+who had acquired the confidence of Louis <abbr title="18">XVIII</abbr>, either by intrusion or
+by favour. He could measure the degrees of influence which each was
+capable of acquiring and exercising, and he calculated beforehand on
+the errors <span class="pagenum"><a id="page083" name="page083"></a>(p. 083)</span> which they would inevitably induce his docile
+successor to commit.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon now employed himself again in reading the public journals of
+France and of foreign countries; he read assiduously all periodical
+works of a political tendency; he studied these productions; he
+investigated them with acuteness, and he could well divine the meaning
+of a writer who was compelled to be silent, and conjecture the nature
+of intelligence which an editor was forced to suppress.</p>
+
+<p>Strangers of distinction, and particularly the English, were received
+by Napoleon with affability and kindness, and he used to talk freely
+with his visitors on public affairs. He knew how to draw them out, and
+to lead them to expatiate on points which he wished to penetrate; and
+he seldom failed to obtain much useful information from those
+interviews. By these simple methods Napoleon obtained a correct idea
+of the events which were taking place on the continent; he was too
+well acquainted with revolutions not to be sensible that the sway of
+events would open the gates of France, and admit him; and he was too
+wary to enter into a private correspondence with his partisans, when
+any accident might have revealed his secret wishes, and have afforded
+a pretext to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page084" name="page084"></a>(p. 084)</span> his enemies for attacking his independence and
+his liberty.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon thus waited in silence till the fated time of his
+re-appearance in France should arrive, when a French Officer<a id="footnotetag29" name="footnotetag29"></a><a href="#footnote29" title="Go to footnote 29">[29]</a>,
+disguised as a sailor, disembarked at <span lang="it">Porto Ferrajo</span>.</p>
+
+<p>Some few days before this Officer set out to join the army in the year
+1815, he gave over to me the manuscript narrative of his voyage to the
+Isle of Elba. "To you," added he, "I deliver my history, which is also
+that of the revolution of the 20th of March. As the Emperor, when
+regaining his throne, did not think fit to speak of me, I was
+therefore bound to be silent; but I am as eager to live in the memory
+of after-ages as he can possibly be<a id="footnotetag30" name="footnotetag30"></a><a href="#footnote30" title="Go to footnote 30">[30]</a>. It is my wish that posterity
+may learn, that I too shared <span class="pagenum"><a id="page085" name="page085"></a>(p. 085)</span> in the glorious enterprise of
+subverting the <span lang="fr">Bourbon</span> government, and of bringing back the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page086" name="page086"></a>(p. 086)</span>
+Emperor. My mind misgives me. I have a presentiment that I shall die
+in this campaign. Keep my manuscript, and promise to publish it when
+the time shall arrive." I gave my word accordingly; and the
+forebodings of my friend were realised, for he was killed at Waterloo.</p>
+
+<p>I now fulfil my promise. I have not dared to make any alterations in
+the narrative: if I had, I should have felt that I was betraying the
+wishes of my friend. But I have suppressed the names of the parties
+concerned, and I have expunged some passages, in which the <span lang="fr">Bourbon</span>
+family were treated with disrespect.</p>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page087" name="page087"></a>(p. 087)</span> <h2>HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION OF THE 20th OF MARCH.</h2>
+
+<p>When Napoleon resigned his crown, I broke my sword. I swore that I
+never more would use it in the service of France, or of the new
+Sovereign of the nation. But the generous farewell of the Emperor
+could not fail to affect me; and, conquered by the irresistible
+influence which the love of glory and of our native land exercises
+upon a French soldier, I soon awoke to more praiseworthy and more
+tempered feelings. My recollections faded, my regrets were softened,
+and I aspired most sincerely to the honour of being again useful to my
+country, and to my country's King.</p>
+
+<p>At first the character which I had earned, procured for me the most
+gratifying reception. Dazzling prospects were held out to me. I
+believed that I was treated with sincerity. This error was of short
+duration. Deceived and baffled, I now understood that they were
+cheating the army and myself. They affected to honour us in the
+aggregate, because they were afraid of us; and they insulted us
+individually, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page088" name="page088"></a>(p. 088)</span> in conformity to their systematic hated. My
+character was too proud to allow me to bear with the insults and the
+contempt which they wished to pour out upon me. I resigned my
+commission. France and her government sickened me; but my military
+enthusiasm had not abated. I thought that I should be recollected by
+the Emperor, who had distinguished me in the field of battle; and that
+he would deign to grant that boon which was dearest to my heart; that
+he would allow me to live and die in his service. I therefore made up
+my mind to visit the isle of Elba.</p>
+
+<p>Just, however, as I was on the point of departing, I was stopped by a
+sudden thought. Abandoned, betrayed, and denied, by men whom he has
+heaped with rewards and honours, will the Emperor really believe that
+I am really attached to him? Perhaps he will even suspect that I am a
+spy, and that the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> have sent me to watch his words and
+actions. I was still in relation with those persons who had formerly
+enjoyed the confidence of the Emperor. Since the restoration, their
+conduct had been marked by frankness and honesty. Their feelings led
+them to be faithful to the person of Napoleon; their patriotism and
+their principles led them to be devoted to his cause; and they had not
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page089" name="page089"></a>(p. 089)</span> sought to conceal either their fidelity or their devotion.
+Many efforts had been made to gain them over to the royal party, but
+they had continued immoveable. I therefore thought, that whatever
+recommendation I could obtain from any one of the persons in question,
+would protect me from the suspicions of the Emperor; and to them I
+therefore confided my plans and the causes of my uneasiness, without
+hesitation or reserve.</p>
+
+<p>The first, and the second, to whom I thus applied, severally assured
+me that they took the most lively interest in the undertaking, and
+they betrayed the most tender anxiety for its result. They desired me
+to express to the Emperor the grief which his loss had occasioned to
+them, and their hopes of seeing him once more; but both were afraid to
+compromise themselves by writing to him, and I quitted them without
+having obtained my wishes. Then I proceeded to the third, whom I shall
+call <span lang="fr">Monsieur</span> X. We had known each other in those eventful periods
+when men are put to the test, and he had kindly formed and retained a
+favourable opinion of my character and courage. I unveiled my projects
+and my fears. "Your fears," answered he, "are well founded. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page090" name="page090"></a>(p. 090)</span>
+The Emperor will distrust you, and probably he will not allow you to
+continue with him. My recommendation would, without doubt, be of great
+utility to you, but I cannot give it without danger. Not that I should
+be in danger, for my affection towards the Emperor is well known to
+all the world, but we might put the Emperor himself in jeopardy; for,
+if they were to take my letter from you, they might give it over to a
+spy, nay, even to an assassin."</p>
+
+<p>This argument appeared conclusive to me, but I answered, "A lucky
+thought flashes across my mind. You have acted so long and so often in
+connexion with the Emperor, that surely you must be able to recollect
+some circumstances, some disclosures known only to yourselves, which,
+if I relate them to his Majesty, will prove to him that you trust me,
+and that I am worthy of his trust."&mdash;"Your idea is excellent; yet,"
+added he, "I must either give you insignificant details, and then the
+Emperor will have forgotten them, or I must reveal important secrets
+to you, and I am forbidden by my duty to do so; yet I will turn the
+matter over in my mind. Call here again to-morrow morning."</p>
+
+<p>I called again. "I have ransacked my memory," <span class="pagenum"><a id="page091" name="page091"></a>(p. 091)</span> said <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> X***
+as he accosted me, "and here is the very thing which you want." He
+then delivered a note to me. "I had only considered your expedition to
+Elba," continued <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> X***, "in relation to your own concerns; but it is
+of much greater importance than you imagine, or than I myself thought
+it would be. It may produce tremendous consequences. It is impossible
+that the Emperor can be indifferent to what is going on in France. If
+he was to put any questions to you on that head, how would you answer
+him? You must be fully aware how very dangerous it might be if you
+were to give him an erroneous idea of our political
+situation."&mdash;"Though I am a soldier by profession, yet I am not an
+utter novice in politics. I have often reflected on the present
+position of France. I really think that I understand enough of the
+matter to be able to satisfy the curiosity of Napoleon."&mdash;"I don't
+doubt it: but, come, what is your opinion of affairs?"</p>
+
+<p>In answer to this interrogatory, I entered into an illustrative
+analysis of the faults of government, and of the consequences ensuing
+therefrom. Our conversation became warmer, and when, after having
+discussed the time present, we began to contemplate futurity, our
+thoughts <span class="pagenum"><a id="page092" name="page092"></a>(p. 092)</span> were evolved with so much rapidity; we were carried
+so much further than we intended, that we ourselves were astonished,
+and we then both continued during a short interval in a kind of
+reverie. I was the first who broke silence. "Well," said I, "suppose
+the Emperor, after having questioned me, were to ask, Do you think the
+time of my re-appearance in France is arrived, what must I
+answer?"&mdash;"You will tell his Majesty that I could not dare to decide
+so important a question; but that he may consider it as a positive and
+incontestible fact that our present government (as you have well
+observed) has wholly lost the confidence of the people and of the
+army; that discontent has increased to the highest pitch; and that it
+is impossible to believe that the government can stand much longer
+against the universal dislike. You will add, that the Emperor is the
+only object of the regret and hope of the nation. He, in his wisdom,
+will decide what he ought to do."&mdash;"If he asks me whether this opinion
+is only yours, or whether <abbr title="Messieurs">Messrs.</abbr> ******* all share in it, what shall
+I answer?"&mdash;"Tell him that since his abdication those persons have
+ceased to be in communication with each other, but that my opinion is
+conformable to the general opinion."&mdash;"I <span class="pagenum"><a id="page093" name="page093"></a>(p. 093)</span> am now able to
+answer all the questions which the Emperor may ask. <span lang="fr">Adieu</span>."</p>
+
+<p>We embraced each other repeatedly, and we parted.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as I had quitted <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> X*** all that had passed between us filled
+my mind again. I now contemplated at leisure the mission which I was
+called upon to fulfil. I measured its extent, and weighed its
+consequences, and I could not help feeling astonished, and in some
+measure alarmed, by the result of this self-examination. So long as I
+merely intended to go to Elba for the sole purpose of offering my
+services to the Emperor, my journey appeared to be nothing out of the
+common course of things, and I thought that I should not have
+hesitated to declare to the government that I was going to rejoin my
+former benefactor, the Sovereign of my choice; but since the object of
+my journey had become so much more important; since, to use the words
+of <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> X***, it might produce tremendous consequences, it seemed that
+the government would not fail to watch me; that it would dog me in my
+path, and endeavour to spy out all my words and actions.</p>
+
+<p>Hence I became suspicious and uneasy. The <span class="pagenum"><a id="page094" name="page094"></a>(p. 094)</span> note of <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> X***
+appeared an immense burthen. I got it by heart, and then I threw it in
+the fire. Instead of asking at once for a passport to Genoa or
+Leghorn, as I had at first intended, I asked for a passport to Milan.
+There was a General officer then residing in that city whom I knew;
+and I thought that if the Police were to question me, I might then
+declare that I was going to Milan in order to settle my accounts with
+my friend the General, he being in my debt for money which I had
+advanced to him.</p>
+
+<p>Having thus settled my plan, I went on to the "prefecture de police."
+Whilst I was stepping across the threshold of the door, my heart began
+to beat so violently that I could hardly move or breathe. If at that
+instant any body had cried out to me, "Rascal, what are you about?" I
+think I should have dropped, and that I should have let out the whole
+secret. It must not be thought that my confusion arose from cowardly
+fear; no, it was the impression which every honest man ought to feel,
+when, for the first time in his life, he commits an action which he is
+under the necessity of concealing.</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes I came to myself again. In I went, and presented
+myself boldly to <span lang="fr">Monsieur <span class="pagenum"><a id="page095" name="page095"></a>(p. 095)</span> Rivière</span>, the Prefect of Police. He
+cross-questioned me at full length, but my answers were clear and
+firm. My countenance was unabashed, and appeared to preclude all
+suspicion, and he granted my passport. Yet, at all events, I thought
+it prudent to ascertain whether I was watched, and to my great
+surprise I found that during two days I was closely followed. I did
+not give any token by which my spy could ascertain that I was aware of
+his company, and, in order to mislead him, I went to the
+<i><span lang="fr">messageries</span></i>, where I took and paid for a place in the Lyons
+diligence. But when night came I hired post-horses under a feigned
+name, and set off as fast as possible, and in a few days I was at
+Milan.</p>
+
+<p>My friend the General was absent: I wrote to him, and he hastened to
+meet me. I confessed that I intended to try to obtain employment under
+Napoleon.&mdash;"You won't get it," said he; "Napoleon has not ready money
+enough to pay his body guard. A good many of my old officers have
+joined him, and for themselves and their families they only receive
+fifty, or perhaps sixty francs a month. They are in a state of
+starvation and despair."&mdash;"No matter; I love the Emperor, and come
+what may, I will <span class="pagenum"><a id="page096" name="page096"></a>(p. 096)</span> join him. Do tell me how I can soonest put
+to sea."&mdash;"The thing is not easy; there is no place from whence you
+can sail, except only from Leghorn or from Genoa; and those two points
+are under such close inspection, that you will be sure to be taken up,
+if you are known to be a Bonapartist. You might slip through with
+greater ease if you could pass for a tradesman of this town. I will
+try to get you a passport, but I am afraid it will be a difficult
+job."&mdash;"Besides, there is another difficulty, which is still greater;
+<i><span lang="fr">ma foi</span></i>! I can't speak a dozen words of Italian."&mdash;"Is it
+possible?"&mdash;"Yes, I am in earnest."&mdash;"And you would venture on such a
+scheme! are you crazy?"&mdash;"Crazy or not, I will venture; but can I
+really embark no where but at Leghorn or Genoa?"&mdash;"There are very many
+small ports on the coast of Tuscany, but if you go to any of them you
+must stop till there is an opportunity of getting out; and in the mean
+time you would be under the <i><span lang="fr">surveillance</span></i> of the authorities, who
+are, one and all, exceedingly ill-disposed towards the Emperor and his
+people. Perhaps you might be able to embark immediately in the gulf of
+<span lang="it">Spezzia</span> at <span lang="it">Lerici</span>; but, in order to get there, you must go through
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page097" name="page097"></a>(p. 097)</span> Genoa, and along the shore; and then there is great reason
+to fear that you may be snapped either by the Piedmontese carabineers,
+or by the new consul at Genoa, who, according to what I hear, is quite
+outrageous. There is another road through the mountains of <span lang="it">Spezzia</span>,
+but it has not been used for a long time, and you would run the risk
+either of breaking your neck, or of being knocked on the head."&mdash;"No
+matter, if there is no danger in the victory there is no glory in the
+triumph. That road suits me; and to-morrow I will set out on my
+expedition."&mdash;"Is your passport all right?"&mdash;"I will go and get it
+marked for Lerici."&mdash;"Another piece of stupidity; don't you know that
+here you have to deal with our implacable enemies, the Austrians, who
+will raise all kinds of difficulties; but I know a Tedesco Colonel (in
+Italy an Austrian is called a Tedesco), who will probably be able to
+do the needful for us: we will ask him to come and dine with us.
+Business or quarrels can all be settled with these gentry when they
+are feeding."</p>
+
+<p>Our Tedesco Colonel really got my passport through the office. I left
+my "<span lang="fr">calèche</span>" and my baggage at Milan, and the next day I started in a
+"<span lang="it">seggiola</span>," a kind of a little cabriolet, in which you drive along at
+an infernal <span class="pagenum"><a id="page098" name="page098"></a>(p. 098)</span> rate. I travelled through cross roads till I
+came to the foot of the mountains. As it was impossible to ascend them
+in a wheeled carriage, I was compelled, though reluctantly, to
+separate myself from my "<span lang="fr">conducteur</span>." I bought two horses, one for
+myself, and the other for my new guide; this new guide could not speak
+a word of French. I had taken care to provide myself with a pocket
+dictionary, French and Italian; but I was completely ignorant, or at
+least very nearly so, of the way either of pronouncing Italian words,
+or of arranging them; and thus our conversation was reduced on both
+sides to a few detached phrases, which were often mutually
+unintelligible.</p>
+
+<p>We set out at break of day. About noon the snow began to fall, and we
+had the greatest difficulty imaginable in reaching a hamlet, the name
+whereof I have forgotten. The next day the weather became still more
+wretched; my guide's horse foundered in the snow, and we lost two
+hours in hauling him out again. My guide was an Italian, and, like all
+Italians, he was full of superstition, and easily discouraged. He
+considered this accident as a bad omen, and he wanted to turn back; I
+could only conquer his repugnance by means of a double Napoleon <span lang="fr">d'or</span>.
+Scarcely had I given it to him when I <span class="pagenum"><a id="page099" name="page099"></a>(p. 099)</span> felt the extent of my
+imprudence; I was exciting his avarice, and perhaps exposing myself to
+become his victim. As we advanced, the road became worse and worse; at
+every step we encountered pits and holes, or the road was stopped by
+rocks which had fallen in, and which forced us to scramble through new
+paths. So much snow had fallen in the north of Italy, and particularly
+in the district which we were then crossing, that even the muleteers
+had deserted the mountains: and my guide, unable to discern the beaten
+road, was compelled to make a survey at every step, lest we should
+either lose ourselves, or else tumble down the precipices which
+bordered our road of danger. The next day we arrived at <span lang="it">Borcetto</span>; the
+perils which I had escaped taught me caution: I hired two more horses,
+and another guide; and for this addition to my train, I paid out of
+all reason. I then met with a custom-house officer, who either out of
+kindness, or for the purpose of alarming me, I know not which, warned
+me to be particularly on my guard in crossing "<span lang="fr">la Size</span>," a very lofty
+and dangerous mountain, for he told me that it swarmed with robbers. I
+put fresh priming in my pistols; I turned up my eyes toward Heaven to
+implore its protection, and I set out. When we had proceeded <span class="pagenum"><a id="page100" name="page100"></a>(p. 100)</span>
+half way up the mountain, I was accosted by a soldier, who compelled
+me to enter the guard-house, and to produce my passport. This post,
+which had been lately established for the security of travellers, was
+occupied by a subaltern and by six soldiers, who had all served in the
+imperial army. They guessed by my looks that I had seen some service,
+and, after a short conversation, they asked me to come in and warm
+myself by drinking the health of the Emperor Napoleon. I refused at
+first, lest I should be entrapped, but they insisted so frankly that I
+was compelled to yield. On taking leave I gave them a twenty-franc
+piece, in order to drink the health of Napoleon, and mine too; and I
+begged them to recommend my guides to take care of me. The commandant
+called the guides, and at the same time that he fired a volley of
+oaths and curses, he declared that if any accident happened to me, he
+would shoot them both on their return. My worthy military friends also
+escorted me during a considerable distance, and we separated with
+feelings which no one but a soldier can appreciate or understand.</p>
+
+<p>We were to sleep at <span lang="it">Pontremoli</span>. Our halt retarded us, and night
+overtook us. In order to shorten the distance, my guides led me by a
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page101" name="page101"></a>(p. 101)</span> broad path which wound round the side of the mountain. The
+descent was so steep that our horses came down every moment, and we
+ourselves were obliged to slide along. I found myself at the foot of
+the mountain in a spot which was so dark and dreary, that I fancied my
+guides had conducted me thither in order to dispatch me. After having
+groped along for some time, my guides stopped. The darkness and the
+snow concealed the face of the country to such a degree, that they did
+not know where they were, nor which way they ought to turn: their fear
+became excessive; they prayed to all the Saints in heaven in their
+turn: they shook each other by the hand, and embraced each other like
+sailors on the point of being shipwrecked. My <i><span lang="fr">sang froid</span></i> did not
+desert me; I took one of the horses which looked like an old roadster;
+I dropped the bridle on his neck, and gave him a sound cut with my
+whip; he started, I followed, and a few minutes afterwards, to the
+inexpressible surprise, and also to the inexpressible satisfaction of
+my guides, we found ourselves in the right road, and within half an
+hour's ride of <span lang="it">Pontremoli</span>, where we arrived towards midnight.</p>
+
+<p>From <span lang="it">Pontremoli</span> to <span lang="it">Spezzia</span> there was yet a journey of four-and-twenty
+hours; and four-and-twenty hours on such roads as I had gone <span class="pagenum"><a id="page102" name="page102"></a>(p. 102)</span>
+over are equal to four-and-twenty centuries. But how great was my
+delight on quitting <span lang="it">Pontremoli</span>, when, instead of the frozen rocks and
+deserts, which I had crossed the eve before, I saw nothing as I looked
+around, but valleys clothed with verdure, and enamelled with flowers;
+and hills surrounded and crowned by evergreens and olive-trees. On the
+day before, winter reigned with all his severity; the day after
+exhibited spring with all her charms. This pleasing transition
+beguiled my impatience; and the agitations which had become habitual
+to my soul were succeeded by that happy tranquillity, which is
+inspired by the contemplation of the beauties and the gifts of nature.</p>
+
+<p>A few leagues beyond <span lang="it">Pontremoli</span> the road is interrupted by a deep and
+rapid stream. There is a ford across this torrent. It had scarcely
+been indicated to me by my guides, beyond whom I had advanced, when I
+dashed into the water; but instead of guiding my horse to the right
+(as I ought to have done), I took the opposite direction. My guides,
+who saw my mistake, screamed out in Italian, "fermate, fermate!" which
+means, "stop, stop!" I thought it meant "firm, firm!" so I whipped and
+spurred my horse with all my might; he lost his footing, and I
+narrowly escaped drowning. When <span class="pagenum"><a id="page103" name="page103"></a>(p. 103)</span> I reached the opposite shore
+my guides treated me with a sermon, which I dare say was very
+energetic, and in which the "Devil and the Frenchman" appeared to be
+the leading actors.</p>
+
+<p>I arrived on the **** at Lerici. I rejoiced when I saw the sea before
+me, when I saw the last obstacle which was interposed between the
+fulfilment of my hopes and the termination of my labours. But
+unhappily my joy was of short duration; in the course of the night I
+was attacked by an oppression on my chest, accompanied by a burning
+fever: this was the result of the cold bath which I had taken in the
+river. My mental sufferings were severe: I thought to myself, if I
+should be so unlucky as to get an inflammation on my lungs, what will
+become of me here without help, without friends, and in a strange
+land? Ah, my beloved country! ah, my dear mother! have I left you
+both, in order to perish in the arms of hirelings and of strangers!
+Have I only reached the long wished-for shores of <span lang="it">Spezzia</span> but to
+experience the grief of not being able to sail from them! Ah, if I
+could but have reached the Emperor, if I could but have spoken to him,
+if I could but have expired at his feet, then I should not have
+regretted life! My devoted attachment would have been known; my memory
+honoured; my <span class="pagenum"><a id="page104" name="page104"></a>(p. 104)</span> name, linked to the destiny of the Emperor,
+would, perhaps, have descended with his unto posterity.... I sent for
+a doctor: by singular good fortune, the medical man who came to attend
+me was a retired army surgeon, a worthy man, and a great admirer of
+the French. When I was quite out of danger, he expressed a wish to
+know the motives which had induced me to cross the mountains to
+Lerici: and he gave me to understand that he guessed my views. A man
+who speaks is always liable to less suspicion than a man who says
+nothing; I therefore thought it right to allay the doctor's curiosity.
+After exhorting him to secrecy, and making a great mystery of the
+matter, I confessed that I was a Colonel in the French army, and that
+an officer who held a high rank in the service of Napoleon had married
+my sister. My sister, I proceeded to state, was so afflicted and
+broken down by the expatriation of her husband, that her medical
+attendants had declared her life to be in the greatest danger. My
+sister's illness, and the care of her four small children, prevented
+her from rejoining her husband; and therefore, in order to restore
+health and happiness to my poor dear sister, I had determined to go to
+Elba, for the purpose of reminding my brother-in-law of the duty which
+he owed to his wife and <span class="pagenum"><a id="page105" name="page105"></a>(p. 105)</span> children, and that I hoped to be
+able to induce him to return to France, at least for a short time.</p>
+
+<p>I took care to diversify my romance with sighs and sentimental
+reflections, and it appeared to affect him exceedingly. He condoled
+with me, he tried to console me; he gave me the most flattering hopes,
+and he promised to serve me to the utmost of his power, and with all
+his heart and soul.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as I was in a state of convalescence, I became more ardent
+than before, in search of an immediate opportunity of embarking. My
+complaisant doctor introduced me to the captain of a running felucca,
+and I hired his vessel for a fortnight.</p>
+
+<p>The captain asked me for my passport, in order that he might receive
+his "<i><span lang="fr">feuille de bord</span></i>" and his "<i><span lang="it">boletta</span></i>" from the port officer.
+This was in consequence of regulations of which I was wholly ignorant.
+The fact is, that no vessel can clear out of one port, or enter
+another, without a "<i><span lang="fr">feuille de bord</span></i>," stating the complement of the
+crew, and the number of passengers; and a "<i><span lang="it">boletta</span></i>," or certificate,
+delivered by the health officers to each of the passengers and crew
+individually, stating that the bearer has not been attacked by any
+infectious <span class="pagenum"><a id="page106" name="page106"></a>(p. 106)</span> disorder. These papers are only delivered on the
+production of the passports, to which they must correspond exactly. I
+did not expect this proceeding; my plans were all disorganized: my
+passport did not authorize me to embark; and I was afraid if I
+produced it, (for in such situations we are afraid of every thing),
+that difficulties might arise, and that they would refer to the Consul
+or his agents.</p>
+
+<p>The Captain guessed the cause of my uneasiness, and he offered to
+procure a passport and a <i><span lang="it">boletta</span></i> under a feigned name. I refused: I
+thought it more advisable to run the risk of being punished as a
+Bonapartist than as an impostor. "Since you will not do so," said the
+captain, "there is but one course which you can pursue: you must get
+on board a boat, and pass for a common sailor. I will manage the
+business for you."&mdash;Some hours afterwards the captain came to me with
+a Gallo-Genoese sailor, who offered to take me, without any papers,
+wherever I wished to go. He added, that he had a relation who was a
+gunner on board the <span lang="fr">Inconstant</span>, a brig belonging to Napoleon, and that
+he should be very glad to see him again. I judged that my design of
+going to Elba had got wind: I therefore determined, if possible, to
+depart that very night. It was <span class="pagenum"><a id="page107" name="page107"></a>(p. 107)</span> therefore agreed that
+Salviti, so the sailor was called, should fetch me, and that we should
+put out to sea, however bad the weather might prove.</p>
+
+<p>Whilst these arrangements were going on my doctor paid me a visit. The
+doctor told me that the commandant of the town, whom he attended, was
+going to send a file of his carabineers to bring me before him in
+order to ascertain the reason of my arrival, and of my residence on
+the shores of the gulf. "I told him," continued the doctor, "that you
+are unwell, and that you are going to your family in Corsica, and that
+you intend to begin your voyage as soon as you are able to support the
+fatigue. I think I have made him easier, yet don't trust him: be off
+as quick as you can."&mdash;"I shall be off to-night; but as your
+commandant or his <span lang="fr">gensdarmes</span> might take a fancy to lay hold of me
+between this and then, I therefore think it will be more prudent for
+me to go to him of my own accord, and to confirm the story which you
+have had the goodness to tell him." Accordingly I went immediately to
+the Commandant; and as the doctor had let me into the character of the
+man, I easily succeeded in pleasing and tranquillizing him. However,
+he made me promise that I would bring my <span class="pagenum"><a id="page108" name="page108"></a>(p. 108)</span> passport to him
+to-morrow. I gave as many promises as he could wish. At midnight we
+set sail; and by break of day we had already lost sight of the gulf of
+<span lang="it">Spezzia</span>, and of the majestic scenery which surrounds it. The bark
+which carried me and all my fortunes was only a common boat with four
+oars and a lateen sail. The crew consisted of six men; Salviti could
+speak French, and he was a good-looking fellow: the countenances of
+the others displayed want and utter profligacy. They examined me with
+great curiosity, and they were constantly talking about me. Salviti
+interpreted their discourse. I gave them civil language. We even seek
+to please sailors when we are in need of their help<a id="footnotetag31" name="footnotetag31"></a><a href="#footnote31" title="Go to footnote 31">[31]</a>. I was
+sea-sick without intermission; and to complete my misfortunes I had
+omitted to furnish myself with provisions. I was therefore obliged to
+mess with my companions; and their food consisted of stinking salt
+fish, and chiefly of <i><span lang="it">bacalao</span></i>, or salt cod, which is eaten quite raw.</p>
+
+<p>The wind was against us, therefore we did not come in sight of the
+lighthouse of Leghorn until the morning of the second day. How can I
+express <span class="pagenum"><a id="page109" name="page109"></a>(p. 109)</span> my surprise and anger when I saw that our vessel was
+making the mouth of the harbour! "Salviti, where are you taking
+me?"&mdash;"To Leghorn."&mdash;"I won't go to Leghorn," I exclaimed with a great
+oath. "It is not to Leghorn that you promised to take me."&mdash;Salviti
+answered, with confusion, that he was not the owner of the vessel, but
+that he hired it in partnership with the rest of the crew, that they
+were all smugglers, and that they were going to Leghorn for the
+purpose of arranging an expedition of consequence with other smugglers
+there. Their business would be soon settled, and then they would take
+me to <span lang="it">Porto Ferrajo</span>; and he declared that he gave his word of honour
+that he would do so, and that I might trust him.&mdash;"I will not agree to
+all this," I exclaimed, presenting my pistols to his breast: "Let us
+go straight on to Elba, or I will shoot you."&mdash;"Shoot away, if you
+like, but you will not do yourself much good: my companions will heave
+you into the sea, or else you will be guillotined at Leghorn." The
+coolness of the fellow completely disarmed me. "Well, then," said I,
+"swear that you will take me to-morrow to the isle of Elba."&mdash;"I have
+told you already that I am a scoundrel if I break my word." The
+sailors did not understand <span class="pagenum"><a id="page110" name="page110"></a>(p. 110)</span> a word of our dialogue, nor could
+they make out what was the cause of my fury. One of them, who had
+deserted from the English navy, seized a big knife in the shape of a
+stiletto. The others seemed to wait the result, in order to throw
+themselves upon me. When this scene had finished, I endeavoured to
+bribe Salviti to turn back, but no; he had given his word of honour to
+go to Leghorn, and his word of honour was inviolable. Thus I was
+conducted against my will into the trap which I wished to avoid. I was
+worked up to the highest pitch of fury and vexation; I foamed with
+rage and despair. Thus, thought I, wringing my hands, these ruffians
+will deprive me of the reward which I was to obtain for my sufferings.
+Alas! the Emperor, the Emperor! so near him&mdash;under his eyes&mdash;at the
+moment that&mdash;"Rascal!" I cried out to Salviti, "I will follow you like
+your shadow, and sooner than allow myself to be arrested, I will blow
+out your brains!"&mdash;Salviti shrugged up his shoulders, and answered,
+"Well and good; but, in the mean time, strip, and dress yourself like
+a sailor."&mdash;"Why?"&mdash;"Why! why, because you have no passport, and they
+will lock you up."&mdash;I submitted to this new tribulation. One of the
+wretches pulled off a heavy jacket with a hood attached <span class="pagenum"><a id="page111" name="page111"></a>(p. 111)</span> to
+it, in which I arrayed myself. A coloured handkerchief, all drenched
+with sweat and filthiness, was taken from the neck of another of them,
+and tied round mine. A third gave me his woollen cap; and in spite of
+my unavoidable disgust, I was compelled to draw it on my head down to
+my eyes. My beard, by good luck, did not disgrace my unshaved
+messmates, and in order that the colour of my hands might not betray
+me, I washed them in the bilge-water which stagnated beneath the
+flooring of our boat. More remained to be done: our "<i><span lang="fr">feuille de
+bord</span></i>" stated that our crew consisted of six men: we were seven. It
+therefore, became necessary to hide one<a id="footnotetag32" name="footnotetag32"></a><a href="#footnote32" title="Go to footnote 32">[32]</a>. We chose him who was the
+shortest, and the most slender. He nestled at the end of the boat, and
+we covered him with some old mats and sailors' jackets. These
+preparations being terminated, I was told to seat myself in the place
+of a rower, and to take an oar in my hand; and at night-fall we came
+into the road of Leghorn.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page112" name="page112"></a>(p. 112)</span> Salviti presented his papers. The date was too old<a id="footnotetag33" name="footnotetag33"></a><a href="#footnote33" title="Go to footnote 33">[33]</a>. The
+officers raised objections: he lost his temper; and by way, both of
+punishment and precaution, we were ordered to submit to the lesser
+quarantine, that is to say, to remain prisoners in the roads during
+three days.</p>
+
+<p>Salviti came with a sorrowful visage and announced this fresh
+misfortune; our vessel tacked about, and we reached our station of
+exile.</p>
+
+<p>On the morning of the third day Salviti informed me that, according to
+custom, they intended to put an "inspector of health" on board of our
+vessel, who would pass the night with us, in order to ascertain
+whether we were all well. From the person who had brought, or who,
+rather, had thrown us our provisions (for all contact is prohibited
+under pain of death), he had ascertained the name of our intended
+inspector. He was a gamester and a drunkard. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page113" name="page113"></a>(p. 113)</span> Salviti
+procured cards and wine; and he assured me that he would manage the
+inspector in such a manner as to prevent his taking any notice of me.</p>
+
+<p>As for me, I was not as easy as Salviti. I was afraid lest the
+inspector might discover the sailor whom we had hidden, or that he
+might guess by my manner, my looks, and my awkwardness, that I was not
+really the character which I seemed to be. Besides, a single question
+would have ended the matter. I did not understand a single word of
+Italian, and I should have betrayed myself either by answering him, or
+by remaining silent. It came into my head to counterfeit deafness:
+this would excuse me from taking a part in the conversation: and to
+make believe that I had a wound in my hand: this would account for my
+inactivity, and prevent his observing how little I knew of my
+pretended occupation. I drew a few drops of blood, which I smeared
+upon some dirty rags, in which I wrapped my hand. Salviti explained my
+stratagem to my companions, and their loud peals of laughter explained
+to me that they approved of it. The inspector arrived. I kept myself
+to myself. Salviti acted his part admirably. So did I: and to my great
+delight the evening closed, and nothing disagreeable had <span class="pagenum"><a id="page114" name="page114"></a>(p. 114)</span>
+happened. Until this night I had always slept separately from the rest
+on a tolerable mattress. But the inspector was now accommodated with
+my birth and my bed; and I was compelled to lie on the floor with the
+sailors; my head being placed even with the feet of my two next
+neighbours. The stench and closeness of the atmosphere of my den drove
+the blood into my head, and I thought I should have been suffocated.
+Early in the morning my companions began to eat and drink: I kept at a
+distance. "Come here, and eat," said Salviti.&mdash;"I can't."&mdash;"The
+inspector will fancy that you are ill, and that will be enough to give
+us another quarantine."&mdash;I ate. At ten o'clock the health-officers
+came near us; and as our inspector made a favourable report, we were
+allowed to enter the harbour. I remained on board with one of the
+crew, whom I kept as a hostage. The smugglers broke up their cabinet
+council about two o'clock; and at three o'clock we quitted our
+anchorage. A fair wind filled the sail, and I forgot all my sufferings
+and my dangers when I perceived the rock where I was to meet with
+Napoleon the Great.</p>
+
+<p>We entered the road of <span lang="it">Porto Ferrajo</span><a id="footnotetag34" name="footnotetag34"></a><a href="#footnote34" title="Go to footnote 34">[34]</a>, without <span class="pagenum"><a id="page115" name="page115"></a>(p. 115)</span> any
+difficulty, at the moment when the cannon fired, announcing that the
+harbour was about to close. I heard the French drums sounding the
+roll: my heart beat high: I passed the night on the deck of the boat.
+Notwithstanding the joy which I felt at my arrival, I could not help
+indulging in a certain degree of melancholy, inspired, perhaps, by the
+silence of the night, and the aspect of the arid and gloomy mountains
+which surrounded me. Ah, how vain is human grandeur! thought I. The
+air of that sterile islet is breathed by that incomprehensible man who
+lately felt that he had not breathing room in Europe. It is in that
+humble hovel that he now dwells with his scanty train of faithful
+followers; He whom I have seen in the palace of the Cæsars, receiving
+the homage and the worship of the most brilliant court in the world;
+He whom I have seen sitting covered, whilst eight Kings stood before
+him with their hats in their hands. It is over <span class="pagenum"><a id="page116" name="page116"></a>(p. 116)</span> this little
+tribe alone, not exceeding the population of a village, that Napoleon
+the Great is now doomed to reign! Napoleon the Great! He who endowed
+the thrones of his allies with the leavings of his conquests&mdash;He who
+so long was the master and the terror of the universe!</p>
+
+<p>The sun rose, and put an end to my musings. My joy was inexpressible
+when I recognized on the ramparts those old grenadiers whom I had so
+often admired and honoured on the field of battle.</p>
+
+<p>I jumped on shore, and I rushed into the nearest inn for the purpose
+of putting off my sailor's dress, and then flying to the palace of
+Napoleon. But I had been watched and followed: and the functionaries
+despatched by general Cambronne, the Commandant of the town,
+immediately appeared to secure me. I tranquillized them, and they
+accompanied me to the town-house, where General <span lang="fr">Bertrand</span> then lodged.
+I sent in my name, and the General came out. "Sir, do you come from
+France?"&mdash;"Yes, <span lang="fr">Monsieur le Maréchal</span>."&mdash;"What do you want here?"&mdash;"I
+wish to see the Emperor, and to solicit employment."&mdash;"Does the
+Emperor know you?"&mdash;"Yes, Sir, and <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> X*** has also given me <span class="pagenum"><a id="page117" name="page117"></a>(p. 117)</span>
+the means of proving to the Emperor that I am not unworthy of his
+goodness."&mdash;"Do you bring us any news from France?"&mdash;"I do, <span lang="fr">Monsieur
+le Maréchal</span>; and I think that the intelligence which I bring is
+good."&mdash;"Well, Heaven hears you; as for us, we are so wretched&mdash;I am
+dying with impatience to have a talk with you about France; but I must
+inform the Emperor of your arrival. Perhaps he may not be able to see
+you immediately. To-day the English corvette<a id="footnotetag35" name="footnotetag35"></a><a href="#footnote35" title="Go to footnote 35">[35]</a> is here, and those
+people are suspicious of every thing: is it publicly known who you
+are?"&mdash;"It is known that I am a French officer."&mdash;"So much the worse;
+hide your decorations, hold your tongue, and remain within doors and
+rest yourself at your inn. I will send for you."&mdash;Half an hour
+afterwards the Marshal desired me to proceed as quickly as possible to
+the Emperor's garden-gate: the Emperor, would come there, and speak to
+me without appearing to know me. I went accordingly: the Emperor,
+according to his custom, was walking with his hands behind his back.
+He passed several times before me without lifting up his eyes; at last
+he looked at me: he stopped, and asked me in Italian <span class="pagenum"><a id="page118" name="page118"></a>(p. 118)</span> what
+countryman I was. I answered in French that I was a Parisian; that
+business had called me to Italy; and that I could not resist the
+desire of seeing my old sovereign.&mdash;"Well, Sir, talk to me about Paris
+and France;"&mdash;and as he finished these words he began to walk again. I
+accompanied him; and after he had put several indifferent questions to
+me aloud, he desired me to enter his apartments: he then ordered
+<span lang="fr">Bertrand</span> and <span lang="fr">Drouot</span> to retire, and forced me to sit down by his side.
+Napoleon began in a reserved and absent manner: "The grand Marshal
+tells me that you have just arrived from France."&mdash;"Yes, Sire."&mdash;"What
+do you want here?"&mdash;"Sire, I wish to offer my services to you; my
+conduct in 1814&mdash;" Napoleon interrupting me,&mdash;"Sir, I do not question
+but that you are a very good officer, however I have so many officers
+with me already, that it will be very difficult for me to assist you;
+yet we will see: it appears that you know <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> X***."&mdash;"Yes,
+Sire."&mdash;"Has he sent a letter for me by you?"&mdash;"No, Sire."&mdash;Napoleon,
+interrupting me, "I see he forgets me just like the rest; since I have
+been here, I have not heard a word of him or of any body."&mdash;I
+interrupted the Emperor in my turn, "Sire, he has never ceased to
+entertain those sentiments <span class="pagenum"><a id="page119" name="page119"></a>(p. 119)</span> of devotion and attachment
+towards your Majesty which are still cherished by all true Frenchmen;
+and&mdash;" Napoleon, with disdain; "What, do they still think of me in
+France?"&mdash;"Never will they forget you."&mdash;"Never! that is a strong
+expression; the French have another Sovereign, and they are commanded
+both by their duty and their tranquillity to think on him alone." This
+answer did not please me: the Emperor, thought I to myself, is out of
+humour because I have not brought him any letters; he mistrusts me: it
+was not worth while to come so far for the sake of such an ungracious
+reception.&mdash;Napoleon, continuing, "What do they think about me in
+France?"&mdash;"There, your Majesty is universally deplored and
+regretted."&mdash;"Yes, and there, also, they manufacture all sorts of lies
+concerning me. Sometimes they say that I am mad, sometimes that I am
+ill, and you may see (here the Emperor looked at his <i><span lang="fr">embonpoint</span></i>), if
+I look like an ailing man. It is also given out that they intend to
+transport me either to <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Helena or to Malta. I would not advise them
+to try. I have provisions for six months, and brave followers to
+defend me: but I cannot think that Europe will be so dishonourable as
+to rise in arms against a single man, who has neither the power nor
+the inclination <span class="pagenum"><a id="page120" name="page120"></a>(p. 120)</span> of hurting others. The emperor Alexander has
+too much love for posterity to lend himself to such a crime. They have
+guaranteed the sovereignty of the isle of Elba to me by a solemn
+treaty. Here I am in my own home; and as long as I do not go out to
+pick a quarrel with my neighbours, they have no right to come and
+disturb me ... have you served in the grand army?"&mdash;"Yes, Sire, I had
+the felicity of distinguishing myself under your Majesty's eyes in the
+plains of <span lang="fr">Champagne</span>; your Majesty appeared to take such particular
+notice of me, that I had dared to hope that your Majesty would
+recollect me."&mdash;"Why, yes; I thought, somehow, that I knew your face
+when I saw you, but I have only a confused recollection of you."&mdash;Poor
+mortals! thought I to myself, go and expose your lives for the sake of
+Kings, go and sacrifice your youth, your repose, your happiness for
+their sake!&mdash;"In what affairs have you distinguished
+yourself?"&mdash;"Sire, at *****, and at ***** Marshal Ney there presented
+me to your majesty, saying, 'Sire, here is the intrepid S.... P.....
+of whom I have spoken to your Majesty.'"&mdash;"Ah! ah! I really do
+recollect&mdash;yes, I was very well pleased indeed, with your behaviour at
+**** and at ****; you showed much resolution, much strength of
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page121" name="page121"></a>(p. 121)</span> character. Did I not 'decorate' you on the field of
+battle?"&mdash;"Yes, Sire."&mdash;Napoleon, with greater warmth and confidence,
+"<i><span lang="fr">Eh bien!</span></i> how are they all treated in France by the
+<span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>?"&mdash;"Sire, the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> have not realized the expectations of
+the French, and the number of malcontents increases every
+day."&mdash;Napoleon, sharply; "So much the worse, so much the worse: but
+how, has not X. sent me any letters?"&mdash;"No, Sire; he was afraid lest
+they might be taken from me; and as he thought that your Majesty,
+being now compelled to be vigilant, and to distrust all the world,
+might distrust me also, he has revealed several circumstances to me,
+which are only known to your Majesty and to himself; thus enabling me
+to give a proof that I am worthy of your Majesty's confidence."&mdash;"Let
+us hear them." I began my detail, but he exclaimed, without allowing
+me to finish, "that's enough; why did you not begin by telling me all
+that? there is half an hour that we have lost." This storm<a id="footnotetag36" name="footnotetag36"></a><a href="#footnote36" title="Go to footnote 36">[36]</a>
+disconcerted <span class="pagenum"><a id="page122" name="page122"></a>(p. 122)</span> me. He perceived my confusion, and resumed his
+discourse with mildness.&mdash;"Come, make yourself easy, and repeat to me,
+with the greatest minuteness, all that has passed between you and
+X****." I then related the circumstances which had induced me to have
+an interview with <span lang="fr">Monsieur</span> X****. I repeated our conversation word for
+word. I gave him a complete account of all the faults and excesses of
+the royal government; and I was going to draw the inferences which had
+occurred to <span lang="fr">Monsieur</span> X**** and me. But the Emperor, who, when he was
+affected, was incapable of listening to any recital without
+interrupting it, and making his comments at every moment, stopped my
+mouth. "I thought so, too," said he, "when I abdicated, that the
+<span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>, instructed and disciplined by adversity, would not fall
+again into the errors which ruined them in 1789. I thought that
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page123" name="page123"></a>(p. 123)</span> the King would govern you '<i><span lang="fr">en bon homme</span></i>.' This was the
+only way by which he could obtain a pardon from you, for having been
+put upon you by foreigners. But since they have stepped into France,
+they have done nothing but acts of madness. Their treaty of the
+twenty-third of April," (raising his voice,) "has made me deeply
+indignant: with one stroke of the pen they have robbed France of
+Belgium, and of all the territory acquired since the revolution. They
+have deprived the nation of its docks, its arsenals, its fleets, its
+artillery, and the immense <i>materiel</i> which I had collected in the
+fortresses and the ports which they have ceded. <span lang="fr">Talleyrand</span> has led
+them into this infamous business: he must have been bribed. Peace is
+easy upon such terms. If, like them, I had consented to the ruin of
+France, they would not now be on my throne:" (with energy,) "I would
+sooner have cut off my right hand. I preferred renouncing my throne
+rather than to retain it by staining my glory, and the honour of the
+French nation.... A degraded crown is an intolerable burthen. My
+enemies have published everywhere, that I obstinately refused to make
+peace. They have represented me as a wretched madman, eager only for
+blood and carnage: this language answered their turn. When you wish
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page124" name="page124"></a>(p. 124)</span> to hang your dog, you give out that he is mad: <span lang="fr"><i>Quand on
+veut tuer son chien, il faut bien faire accroire qu'il est enragé.</i></span>
+But Europe shall know the truth: I will let the world know all that
+was said and done at <span lang="fr">Chatillon</span>. I will unmask the Austrians, the
+Russians, and the English with a powerful hand. Europe shall judge:
+Europe shall say who was the rogue, and who was wishing to shed human
+blood. If I had been mad for war, I might have retired with my army
+beyond the <span lang="fr">Loire</span>, and I might have enjoyed mountain warfare to my
+heart's content. I would not; I was tired of carnage ... my name, and
+the brave fellows who remained faithful to me, yet made the allies
+tremble, even in my capital. They offered Italy to me as the price of
+my abdication: I refused it. After once reigning over France, one
+ought not to reign anywhere else. I chose the isle of Elba. They were
+too happy to give Elba to me. This position suited me. I can watch
+France and the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>. All that I have done has been only for
+France. It is for her sake and not for mine that I wished to render
+her the first nation in the universe. My glory is made for myself<a id="footnotetag37" name="footnotetag37"></a><a href="#footnote37" title="Go to footnote 37">[37]</a>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page125" name="page125"></a>(p. 125)</span> *******. If I had only thought of myself, I would have
+returned to a private station, but it was my duty to retain the
+imperial title for my family and my son.... Next to France, my son is
+the dearest object in the world to me."</p>
+
+<p>During the whole of this discourse, the Emperor continued striding up
+and down, and appeared violently agitated. He paused a little while,
+and then he began again. "They (i.e. the emigrants) know too well that
+I am here, and they would like to assassinate me. I discover new
+plots, new snares every day. They have sent to Corsica one of the
+assassins of Georges, a wretch whom the English journals themselves
+have pointed out to Europe as a blood-thirsty assassin; but let us be
+on the alert. If he misses me, I won't miss him. I shall send my
+grenadiers after him, and he shall be shot as an example to others."</p>
+
+<p>After a few moments of silence, he said, "Do my generals go to court?
+they must cut a sad figure there." I waited for the end of this
+digression, in order to resume the thread of my discourse. As I was
+convinced that I could not possibly lead the conversation, I resolved
+to let the Emperor have it according to his own way, and I answered,
+"Yes, Sire, and they <span class="pagenum"><a id="page126" name="page126"></a>(p. 126)</span> are furious to see themselves
+superseded in favour by emigrants who have never heard the sound of a
+cannon."&mdash;"The emigrants will never alter. As long as they were only
+required to dance attendance in my anti-chamber, I had more than
+enough of them. When it was necessary to show any heart, they slunk
+away like.... I committed a great error, when I recalled that
+anti-national race into France. If it had not been for me, they would
+have died of starvation abroad; but then I had great motives. I wanted
+to reconcile Europe to us, and to close the revolution.... What do my
+soldiers say about me?"&mdash;"The soldiers, Sire, talk constantly about
+your immortal victories. They never pronounce your name but with
+respect, admiration, and grief. When the Princes give money to the
+soldiers, they drink it out to your health, and when they are forced
+to cry <i><span lang="fr">Vive le Roi</span>!</i> they add in a whisper, <i>de Rome</i>."&mdash;"And so they
+still love me?" (smiling.)&mdash;"Yes, Sire, and I may even venture to say,
+more than ever."&mdash;"What do they say about our misfortunes?"&mdash;"They
+consider them as the effect of treachery; and they constantly repeat,
+that they never would have been conquered, if they had not been sold
+to their enemies. They are particularly <span class="pagenum"><a id="page127" name="page127"></a>(p. 127)</span> indignant with
+respect to the capitulation of Paris."&mdash;"They are right: had it not
+been for the infamous defection of the Duke of Ragusa, the allies
+would have been lost. I was master of their rear, and of all their
+resources; not a man would have escaped. They too would have had their
+twenty-ninth bulletin. <span lang="fr">Marmont</span> is a wretch; he has ruined his country,
+and delivered up his sovereign. His convention with <span lang="de">Schwartzenburg</span>
+would alone suffice to dishonour him. If he had not known when he
+surrendered, that he compromised my person and my army, he would not
+have found it necessary to make stipulations in favour of my liberty
+and life. This piece of treachery is not the only one. He has
+intrigued with <span lang="fr">Talleyrand</span> to take the regency from the Empress, and
+the crown from my son. <span lang="fr">Caulincourt</span>, Macdonald, and the rest of the
+marshals, have been cheated and gulled by him in the most shameful
+manner. All his blood would not be sufficient to expiate the harm
+which he has done to France.... I will devote his name to the
+execration of posterity. I am glad to learn that my soldiers retain
+the feeling of their superiority, and that they attribute our great
+misfortunes to the right authors. I collect with great pleasure, from
+the intelligence which you <span class="pagenum"><a id="page128" name="page128"></a>(p. 128)</span> have brought, that the opinion
+which I had formed respecting the situation of France, is correct. The
+family of the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> is not fit to reign. Their government may be
+good for priests, nobles, and old fashioned countesses: it is good for
+nothing for the present generation. The revolution has taught the
+people to know their rank in the state. They will never consent to
+fall back into their former nullity, and to be tied up by the nobility
+and the clergy. The army can never belong to the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>. Our
+victories and our misfortunes have established an indissoluble tie
+between the army and myself. It is only through me that the soldiers
+can earn vengeance, power, and glory. From the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> they can get
+nothing but insults and blows. Kings can only retain their power by
+the love of their subjects or by fear. The <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> are neither loved
+nor feared. At last they will throw themselves off their throne; but
+they may yet retain their position for a long time. Frenchmen do not
+know how to conspire."</p>
+
+<p>In pronouncing these words, the Emperor continued walking hastily, and
+using many gestures. He rather appeared to be soliloquizing than
+addressing any one else; he then continued, looking at me aside, "Does
+<abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> X*** <span class="pagenum"><a id="page129" name="page129"></a>(p. 129)</span> think that those people can stand much
+longer?"&mdash;"His opinion on this point is exactly conformable to the
+general opinion; that is to say, it is now the general impression and
+conviction, that the government is hastening to its fall. The priests
+and the emigrants are its only partisans; every man of patriotism or
+soul is its enemy."&mdash;Napoleon (with energy), "Yes, all men in whose
+veins any national blood is flowing must be its enemies; but how will
+all this end? Is it thought that there will be a new
+revolution?"&mdash;"Sire, discontent and irritation prevail to such an
+extent, that the slightest partial effervescence would inevitably
+cause a general insurrection, and nobody would be surprised if it were
+to take place to-morrow."&mdash;"But what would you do were you to expel
+the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>: would you re-establish the republic?"&mdash;"The republic,
+Sire! nobody thinks about it; perhaps they would create a
+regency."&mdash;Napoleon (with vehemence and surprise), "A regency! And
+wherefore? am I dead?"&mdash;"But your absence...."&mdash;"My absence makes no
+difference. In a couple of days I would be back again in France, if
+the nation were to recal me. Do you think it would be well, if I were
+to return?" The Emperor turned away his eyes, and I could <span class="pagenum"><a id="page130" name="page130"></a>(p. 130)</span>
+easily remark, that to this question he attached more importance than
+he cared to manifest, and that he expected my answer with anxiety.
+"Sire, I dare not personally attempt to answer such a question,
+but...."&mdash;Napoleon (abruptly), "That's not what I am asking you;
+answer yes or no."&mdash;"Why then, Sire,&mdash;yes."&mdash;Napoleon (with
+tenderness), "You really think so?"&mdash;"Yes, Sire, I am convinced, and
+so is <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> X****, that the people and the army would receive you as
+their deliverer, and that your cause would be embraced with
+enthusiasm."&mdash;Napoleon (appearing agitated and impatient), "Then X***
+advises me to return?"&mdash;"We had foreseen that your Majesty would make
+inquiries on this point, and the following is literally his answer.
+You will tell his Majesty that I would not dare to decide so important
+a question, but that he may consider it as a positive and
+incontrovertible fact, that our present government has wholly lost the
+confidence of the people and of the army; that discontent has
+increased to the highest pitch, and that it is impossible to believe
+that the government can stand much longer against the universal
+dislike. You will add, that the Emperor is the only object of the
+regret and hope of the nation. He, in his wisdom, will decide what he
+ought to do."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page131" name="page131"></a>(p. 131)</span> The Emperor became silent and pensive; and, after a long
+meditation, he said, "I will reflect upon it; I will keep you with me.
+Come here to-morrow at eleven o'clock."</p>
+
+<p>On leaving the Emperor, I met the Grand Marshal, who said, "the
+Emperor has detained you a long time. I am in terror lest this
+interview should have been noticed. We are surrounded by English
+spies. The slightest indiscretion might cost us dear. I do not ask you
+to relate to me any thing which was reserved for the Emperor; but if,
+without violating your duty, you could give me any details relating to
+France, you would be doing me a great favour. We hear nothing of what
+is going forward, except from the journals and a few commercial
+travellers; and the intelligence which we thus obtain is so trifling
+and so contradictory, that we do not know what to make of it."&mdash;"I can
+satisfy you, <span lang="fr">Monsieur le Maréchal</span>, and without acting indiscreetly:
+what I have told to the Emperor is known to all France. Discontent is
+at its greatest height, and the royal government is on its last
+legs."&mdash;"I cannot tell what futurity promises to us; but whatever our
+fate may be, we cannot be worse off than we are at present. Our
+resources are dwindling away daily; we are becoming home-sick. If we
+were not a <span class="pagenum"><a id="page132" name="page132"></a>(p. 132)</span> little upheld by hope, I really do not know what
+would become of us. Has the Emperor allowed you to remain with
+us?"&mdash;"Yes, <span lang="fr">Monsieur le Maréchal</span>."&mdash;"I give you joy, but I pity you.
+There is no happiness out of one's own country. I do not regret having
+followed the Emperor&mdash;this step was dictated to me by my duty and my
+gratitude; but I regret France, like an infant who has lost its
+mother; like a lover who has lost his mistress." The Grand Marshal's
+eyes were filled with tears; he pressed my hand affectionately, and
+then said, "Come and breakfast with us to-morrow morning. I will
+introduce you to my wife; it will be as good as a <span lang="fr">fête</span> to her when she
+has an opportunity of receiving a Frenchman, and above all, a true
+Frenchman."</p>
+
+<p>It was soon known all over the town, that a Frenchman had arrived from
+the continent. My inn was besieged by a crowd of officers and
+grenadiers, who overwhelmed me with inquiries after their friends and
+relations. They seemed to think that I must be acquainted with every
+living creature in France. Many inquired respecting the state of
+public affairs. I evaded their interrogatories, by declaring that I
+had quitted France five months since.</p>
+
+<p>I waited on the Grand Marshal according to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page133" name="page133"></a>(p. 133)</span> his invitation.
+He resided in one wing of the building occupied by the municipality.
+In his apartment, there was hardly any thing to be seen except the
+four walls. He took notice that I was surveying its appearance.&mdash;"You
+are contemplating our misery," said he: "Perhaps it contrasts itself
+with the opinion which you may have formed respecting our situation.
+It is supposed throughout Europe, that the Emperor carried off immense
+treasures; but his camp-plate, his camp bed, and a few broken down
+horses, are the only objects which he has preserved, or which he
+wished to preserve. Like Saladin, he could cause an outcry to be made
+at his door, whilst he exposes our tatters,&mdash;behold all that Napoleon
+the Great, the conqueror of the universe, has retained from his
+conquests!"</p>
+
+<p>The General was as good as his word: he introduced me to <span lang="fr">Madame la
+Maréchale</span>. I was enchanted by her manners and her amiability. Our
+conversation turned upon France and the Isle of Elba, the present and
+the future; and on quitting Madame <span lang="fr">Bertrand</span>, I did not know what I
+ought most to admire&mdash;the lively graces of her mind, or the dignity
+and energy of her character.</p>
+
+<p>At eleven o'clock I attended, to present myself <span class="pagenum"><a id="page134" name="page134"></a>(p. 134)</span> to the
+Emperor. They made me wait in his saloon on the ground floor. The
+striped silk hangings were half worn out and faded; the carpet was
+threadbare, and patched in several places; a few shabby arm chairs
+completed the furniture of the apartment. I thought upon the splendour
+of the imperial palaces, and I drew a deep and melancholy sigh. The
+Emperor arrived: he had assumed a degree of calmness in his manner,
+which was belied by his eyes. It was easy to see that he had been
+violently agitated. "Sir," said he, "I declared to you yesterday, that
+I retained you in my service. I repeat the same to you to-day. From
+this instant you belong to me, and I hope you will fulfil your duties
+towards me like a good and faithful subject: you swear that you
+will&mdash;is it not so?"&mdash;"Yes, Sire, I swear."&mdash;"That's right." After a
+pause, "I had foreseen the crisis to which France would come, but I
+did not think that things were so ripe. It was my intention not to
+interfere any longer in political affairs. The intelligence which you
+have brought to me has changed my resolutions. I have caused the
+misfortunes of France; therefore I must remove them: but before I
+commit myself, I wish to have a thorough knowledge <span class="pagenum"><a id="page135" name="page135"></a>(p. 135)</span> of the
+state of our affairs. Sit down: repeat to me all that you told me
+yesterday; I like to hear you."</p>
+
+<p>Re-assured by these words, and by a look full of kindness and
+benignity, I abandoned myself without reserve to all the inspirations
+of my heart and soul. The picture which I drew of the sufferings and
+hopes of the nation, which I presented to the Emperor, was so touching
+and so animated, that he was astonished. "You are a noble young
+fellow," said he, "you have truly the soul of a Frenchman; but are you
+not carried away by your imagination?"&mdash;"No, Sire; the recital which I
+have made to your Majesty is quite faithful. I may have expressed
+myself with warmth, because I cannot express my feelings otherwise;
+but all that I have told you is exact and true. Under such important
+circumstances, I should have thought it a crime to substitute the
+inspirations of my imagination in the place of truth."&mdash;"You therefore
+think that France awaits her redemption from me; that I shall be
+received as a deliverer."&mdash;"Yes, Sire; I will even say more: the royal
+government is so exceedingly hateful and disgusting to the French, the
+government weighs so very heavily on the nation and the army, that not
+only your Majesty, but <span class="pagenum"><a id="page136" name="page136"></a>(p. 136)</span> any body else who would endeavour to
+liberate the French would find them disposed to second him."&mdash;Napoleon
+(with dignity): "Repeat that to me again."&mdash;"Yes, Sire, I do repeat
+it. The French are so wearied, and degraded, and incensed, by the
+anti-national yoke of the emigrants and the priests, that they are
+ready to join any one who will promise to deliver them."&mdash;"But if I
+were to disembark in France, is there not reason to fear that the
+patriots may be massacred by the emigrants and the <span lang="fr">chouans</span>?"&mdash;"No,
+Sire, I do not think so; we are the most numerous and the bravest
+party."&mdash;"Yes, but they may heap you in the prisons, and cut your
+throats."&mdash;"Sire, the people will not let them do that."&mdash;"I hope you
+may not be deceived; to be sure, I shall get to Paris so speedily,
+that they won't have time to consider where they are to hide their
+heads. I shall be there as soon as the news of my disembarkation....
+Yes," the Emperor continued, after taking a few steps, "I have
+resolved.... It was I who gave the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> to France, and it is I who
+must rid France of them.... I will set off.... The enterprise is vast,
+it is difficult, it is dangerous, but it is not beyond me. On great
+occasions fortune has never abandoned me.... I shall <span class="pagenum"><a id="page137" name="page137"></a>(p. 137)</span> set
+off, but not alone; I won't run the risk of allowing myself to be
+collared by the <span lang="fr">gensdarmes</span>. I will depart with my sword, my Polanders,
+my grenadiers ... all France is on my side. I belong to France; and
+for her I will sacrifice my repose, my blood, my life, with the
+greatest joy." After this speech, the Emperor stopped; his eyes
+sparkled with hope and genius: his attitude announced energy,
+confidence, victory; he was grand, he was beautiful, he was
+adorable!&mdash;he resumed his discourse, and said, "Do you think that they
+will dare to wait for me?"&mdash;"No, Sire."&mdash;"I don't think so, either:
+they will quake when they hear the thunder of my name; and they will
+know that they can only escape me by a speedy flight. But what will be
+the conduct of the national guards? Do you think they will fight for
+them?"&mdash;"I think, Sire, that the national guards will remain
+neutral."&mdash;"Even that's a great deal; as to their '<span lang="fr">gardes du corps</span>,'
+and their red regiments, I am not afraid of them: they are either old
+men or boys: they will be frightened by the mustachios of my
+grenadiers. I will make my grenadiers hoist the national flag;"
+lifting up his voice and his hand: "I will appeal to my old soldiers;
+I will speak to them. None of them will refuse to hear the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page138" name="page138"></a>(p. 138)</span>
+voice of their old general.... It is certain that the soldiers cannot
+hesitate to choose between the white flag and the tricoloured flag;
+between me, by whom they have been covered with rewards and glory, and
+the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>, who wish to dishonour them.... And the Marshals, what
+will they do?"&mdash;"The Marshals, who are full of money and titles, have
+nothing to wish for but repose. They would fear to compromise their
+existence by embracing a doubtful party; and perhaps they will
+continue merely spectators of the crisis. Perhaps even the fear lest
+your Majesty may possibly punish them for their defection or treason
+in 1814 may induce them to adhere to the king."&mdash;"I will punish no
+one. Do you take me rightly? Tell <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> **** clearly, that I will forget
+every thing. We have all reason to reproach each other."&mdash;"Sire, I
+will tell him so with the greatest joy. This assurance will completely
+gain all opinions over to your side; because even amongst your
+partisans there are men who dread your return; lest you should revenge
+yourself."&mdash;"Yes, I know that it is thought that I am revengeful, and
+even sanguinary; that I am considered as a kind of ogre, as a
+man-eater. They are mistaken: I will make every one do his duty, and
+I will be obeyed; and that's all. A weak sovereign <span class="pagenum"><a id="page139" name="page139"></a>(p. 139)</span> is a
+calamity to his subjects. If he allows criminals and traitors to fancy
+that he does not know how to punish, there is no longer any security
+either for the state or for individuals. More crimes are prevented
+than repressed by severity. A sovereign must govern by his head, and
+not by his heart. Yet, tell X*** that I except <span lang="fr">Talleyrand, Augereau</span>,
+and the Duke of Ragusa, out of the general pardon. They caused all our
+misfortunes. The country must be revenged."&mdash;"But why exclude them,
+Sire? Is there not reason to fear that this exclusion may deprive you
+of the fruits of your clemency, and may even raise doubts as to your
+sincerity in future?"&mdash;"It would be much more exposed to doubt were I
+to pardon them."&mdash;"But, Sire...."&mdash;"Don't you trouble your head about
+it ... what is the strength of the army?"&mdash;"Sire, I do not know; I
+only know that it has been much weakened by desertion and by
+discharges, and that few of the regiments consist of more than three
+hundred men."&mdash;"So much the better; those who are good for nothing
+have probably left the army; the good soldiers will have remained. Do
+you know the names of the officers who command the maritime districts,
+and the eighth division?"&mdash;"No, Sire."&mdash;Napoleon (out of temper),
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page140" name="page140"></a>(p. 140)</span> "Why did not X*** give you that information?"&mdash;"Sire, both <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr>
+X*** and myself were far from supposing that your Majesty would
+immediately embrace the glorious resolution of re-appearing in France;
+besides which, he might believe, according to the common report, that
+your agents did not allow you to remain in ignorance of any
+circumstance which might interest you."&mdash;"I do know that the
+newspapers gave out that I had agents.... It is an idle story. It is
+true that I sent some of my people to France, in order to learn what
+was going on; but they stole my money, and only treated me with the
+gabble of the canaille. C**** has been to see me, but he knew nothing.
+You are the first person from whom I have ascertained the situation of
+France and the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> under all its extensive bearings. Had it not
+been for you, I should never have known that the hour of my return had
+struck. Had it not been for you, they would have left me here to dig
+in my garden. I have received&mdash;I do not exactly know from what
+quarter&mdash;the description of certain assassins, hired against me; and
+one or two anonymous letters besides&mdash;all from the same hand, in which
+I was told to remain quiet, that the embroideries were coming into
+fashion, and other <span class="pagenum"><a id="page141" name="page141"></a>(p. 141)</span> nonsense in the same style; but that's
+all. It is not upon such data that one is induced to attempt a crash.
+But how do you think foreigners will like my return: there is the
+great question?"&mdash;"Foreign nations, Sire, have been compelled to
+confederate against us in order to protect themselves; allow me to say
+it...."&mdash;"Speak out, speak out."&mdash;"In order to protect themselves
+against the effects of your ambition, and the abuse of your strength.
+Now that Europe has recovered her independence, and that France has
+ceased to be dangerous, foreign powers will probably be unwilling to
+run the risk of a new war, which may end by restoring to us that
+ascendancy which we have lost."&mdash;"If the allied sovereigns were at
+home in their capitals they would certainly consider the matter twice
+before they would take the field again; but they are yet face to face;
+and it is to be feared that war may become an affair of vanity. Do you
+think it is true that they are on ill terms with each other?"&mdash;"Yes,
+Sire, it appears that discord reigns in the congress; that each of the
+great powers wishes to seize the largest share of the booty."&mdash;"It
+appears, also, that their subjects are discontented: is it not
+so?"&mdash;"Yes, Sire; kings and people, every thing seems to unite in our
+favour. The Saxons, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page142" name="page142"></a>(p. 142)</span> the Genoese, the Belgians, the
+inhabitants of the banks of the Rhine, the Polanders, all refuse the
+new sovereigns to whom they are to be given. Italy, tired of the
+avarice and the grossness of the Austrians, pants for the moment of
+withdrawing from their sovereignty. Experience has taught the King of
+Naples that you are his surest protector, and he will assist the
+rising of the Italians whenever you wish it. The princes of the
+confederation of the Rhine, warned by the example of Saxony, will
+become the allies of your majesty after the first victory. Prussia and
+Russia will sit quiet, if you will only allow them to retain their new
+acquisitions. The Emperor of Austria, who has every thing to fear from
+Russia and Prussia, and nothing to hope for from the King of France,
+will easily consent, if you only guarantee Italy to him, to allow you
+to do what you think best with the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>. In short, all the powers
+of Europe, England only excepted, are more or less interested in not
+declaring themselves against you; and before England can have
+corrupted, or raised the continent, your Majesty will be so firmly
+fixed on the throne, that your Majesty's enemies may try in vain to
+make you totter."</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon (shaking his head), "All this is very fine; ... however, I
+consider it as <span class="pagenum"><a id="page143" name="page143"></a>(p. 143)</span> certain, that the Kings who have fought
+against me are no longer guided by the same unity, the same views, the
+same interests. The Emperor Alexander must esteem me: he must be able
+to estimate the difference which exists between Louis <abbr title="18">XVIII.</abbr> and
+myself. If he were to understand his policy rightly, he would rather
+see the French sceptre in the hands of a powerful sovereign, the
+relentless enemy of England, than in the hands of a weak sovereign,
+the friend and vassal of the Prince Regent. I would give him Poland,
+and a great deal more, if he wished it: he knows that I have been
+always more inclined to tolerate his ambition than to restrain it. If
+he had continued my friend and my ally, I would have made him greater
+than he ever will be now. Prussia, and the petty Kings of the Rhenish
+confederation, will follow the lot cast by Russia. If I had Russia on
+my side, she would secure me all the second-rate powers. As to the
+Austrians, I do not know what they would do: they have never treated
+me candidly. I suppose I could keep Austria in order by threatening to
+deprive her of Italy. Italy is yet very grateful to me, and much
+attached to me: if I were to ask that country for an hundred thousand
+men, and an hundred millions, I should have the men and <span class="pagenum"><a id="page144" name="page144"></a>(p. 144)</span> the
+money. If they were to force me to make war, I could easily
+revolutionize the Italians; I would grant them whatever they might
+wish, independence or Eugene. <span lang="fr">Mejean</span> and some others have done him
+harm, but, in spite of that, he is warmly loved, and highly esteemed:
+he deserves to be so; he has shown that he possesses a noble mind.
+<span lang="fr">Murat</span> is ours. I have had great reason to complain of him. Since I
+have been here, he has wept for his errors, and has done his utmost to
+repair the injuries which he has inflicted upon me. He has regained my
+friendship and my confidence: his assistance, if I were engaged in
+war, would be very useful to me. He has little brains; he has nothing
+but hand and heart; but his wife would direct him. The Neapolitans
+like him tolerably well; and I have yet some good officers amongst
+them who would keep them in the right way. As to England, we should
+have shaken hands from Dover to <span lang="fr">Calais</span>, if Mr. Fox had lived; but as
+long as that country continues to be governed by the principles and
+passions of Mr. Pitt, we must always be as hostile as fire and
+water.... From England I expect no quarter, no truce.... England knows
+that the instant I place my foot in France, her influence will be
+driven back across the seas ... as long as I live I will wage a war
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page145" name="page145"></a>(p. 145)</span> of extermination against her maritime despotism. If the
+continental powers had seconded me; if they had not been afraid of me;
+if they had understood my ambition, their flags would have floated
+from the mast-head throughout the universe, and the world would have
+enjoyed peace. All things considered, foreign powers have great
+reasons to declare war against me; whilst there are also great reasons
+to induce them to remain at peace with me. It is to be feared, as I
+have already said to you, that they may turn the war into an affair of
+vanity, or that they make it a point of honour. On the other hand, it
+is possible that they may renounce their coalition, which has now no
+longer any object, in order to watch their subjects; preserving at the
+same time an armed neutrality, until I shall have given them
+sufficient guarantees.</p>
+
+<p>"Their determinations, whatever they may be, will not influence mine.
+France speaks, and that is sufficient for me. In 1814 I had to deal
+with all the powers in Europe, but they should not have laid down the
+law to me if France had not left me to wrestle alone, against the
+entire world. Now the French know my value; and, as they have regained
+their courage and their patriotism, they will triumph over the enemies
+who may attack them, just as they triumphed <span class="pagenum"><a id="page146" name="page146"></a>(p. 146)</span> in the good days
+of the revolution. Experience has shown that armies cannot always save
+a nation; but a nation defended by the people is always invincible.</p>
+
+<p>"I have not settled the day of my departure: by deferring it I should
+have the advantage of allowing the Congress to run out; but then, on
+the other hand, I should run the risk of being kept here as a close
+prisoner by the vessels of the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> and of the English, if, as
+every thing appears to indicate, there should be a rupture amongst
+foreign powers. <span lang="fr">Murat</span> would lend me his navy if I wanted it; but if we
+do not succeed he would be compromised. We must not be anxious about
+all these matters: we must allow some room for destiny to come into
+play.</p>
+
+<p>"I think we have considered all the points upon which it was important
+that I should be settled, and that we should understand each other.
+France is tired of the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>; she demands her former sovereign. The
+people and the army are for us: foreign powers will be silent. If they
+speak, we shall be able to reply: this, in short, is the state of the
+present time and of the future.</p>
+
+<p>"Depart. Tell X*** that you have seen me, and that I have determined
+to expose myself to every danger for the purpose of yielding to the
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page147" name="page147"></a>(p. 147)</span> prayers of France, and of ridding the nation of the
+<span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>.... Say also that I shall leave this place with my guard, on
+the first of April&mdash;perhaps sooner. I pardon every thing. I will give
+to France and to Europe all the guarantees which can be expected or
+demanded of me. I have renounced all my plans of aggrandizement, and I
+wish to repair the evils which war has caused to us, by a permanent
+peace.</p>
+
+<p>"You will also tell X*** and the rest of my friends to nourish and
+strengthen the good disposition of the people and the army by all
+possible means. Explain to X*** that if the excesses of the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>
+should hasten their fall, if the French should drive them out before
+my disembarkation, then I will not allow of a regency, or any thing in
+the shape of it; but let them establish a provisional government,
+composed of ... of ... of ... of ... and of.... Go, Sir, I hope that
+we shall soon meet again."&mdash;"Sire, where shall I land?"&mdash;"You must
+proceed to Naples; here is a passport of the island, and a letter for
+****. Pretend to place great trust in him, but do not trust him with
+any thing. You will give him a loose account of the French news; and
+you may tell him that I <span class="pagenum"><a id="page148" name="page148"></a>(p. 148)</span> send you there to explore the
+soundings, and settle some concerns of moment. I have directed **** to
+furnish you with a passport, in order that you may be able to return
+to Paris without meeting with any obstacle or danger."&mdash;"Your Majesty
+has then determined to send me back to France?"&mdash;"It must absolutely
+be so."&mdash;"Your Majesty knows my attachment, and that I am ready to
+prove it in any way which may be required. But, Sire, deign to
+consider, both for your interest and for that of France, that my
+departure has been remarked, and that my return will excite still more
+notice, and that it may give rise to suspicion, and perhaps induce the
+<span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> to put themselves on their guard, and cause them to watch the
+coasts and the island of Elba."&mdash;"Bah! do you suppose that fellows of
+the police know every thing, and can foresee every thing? More is
+invented than is discovered by the police. The agents of our police
+were decidedly as good as those of the present people, and yet they
+frequently knew nothing of what was going on but at the end of a week
+or a fortnight; and then they found it out only by chance, or
+incaution, or treason. I don't fear that any disclosures will be
+obtained <span class="pagenum"><a id="page149" name="page149"></a>(p. 149)</span> from you by any of these means. You are clever and
+decided, and, if they were to work upon you, you would easily get
+clear. Besides, when you once arrive at Paris, don't show yourself;
+creep into a corner, and nobody will think of ferreting you out. I
+could certainly confide this mission to some of the people who are
+about me; but I do not wish to make any additional confidant: you are
+trusted by X***: I trust you; and, in one word, you are exactly the
+man whom I want. Your return is certainly exposed to objections, but
+they are as nothing when compared to its advantages. All that we have
+said about the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>, and about France, and about myself, is mere
+talk, and talk won't overturn a throne. In order that my enterprise
+may not be rendered abortive, it must be seconded, and the patriots
+must prepare to attack the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> on one side, whilst I shall occupy
+them on the other. And, above all, it is necessary that they should
+know that they may depend upon me; that they may know my sentiments,
+my views, and the resolution which I have made of submitting to every
+sacrifice, and exposing myself to every danger, for the purpose of
+saving the country."&mdash;The Emperor stopped to look at me. He certainly
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page150" name="page150"></a>(p. 150)</span> thought that I was one of those men who only appear
+reluctant to obey, in order to enhance the price of their services; so
+he said, "Money is always wanted in travelling; I will order them to
+pay you a thousand Louis, and then you may set off."&mdash;"A thousand
+Louis!" I exclaimed with indignation, "Sire, I must answer your
+Majesty in the words with which the soldier answered his general,
+'These actions are not performed for pay.'"&mdash;"That's very right; I
+like to see pride."&mdash;"Sire, I am not proud, but I have a soul; and if
+I thought that your Majesty could believe that I embraced your
+Majesty's cause for the sake of filthy lucre, I should request your
+Majesty to cease to rely on my services."&mdash;"If I had believed that to
+be the case, I should not have trusted you. No person ever received a
+more honourable and splendid proof of my confidence, than that which I
+am now bestowing upon you, in deciding, merely on the strength of your
+word, to quit the isle of Elba, and in directing you, as my precursor,
+to announce my speedy arrival in France. But do not let us talk any
+more on that head; and tell me if you recollect fully all that I have
+told you."&mdash;"I have not lost one of your Majesty's expressions. They
+are all engraven <span class="pagenum"><a id="page151" name="page151"></a>(p. 151)</span> on my memory."&mdash;"Then I have only to wish
+you a pleasant journey. I have directed that everything should be got
+ready for your departure.</p>
+
+<p>"This evening, at nine o'clock, you will find a guide and horses at
+the gate of the town: you will be taken to <span lang="it">Porto Longone</span>. The
+commandant has been authorised to furnish you with the necessary
+quarantine documents. He knows nothing; say nothing to him. At
+midnight a felucca will leave the port, by which you will reach
+Naples. I am sorry to have hurt your feelings by offering money to
+you, but I thought you might be in want of it. <span lang="fr">Adieu, Monsieur</span>; be
+cautious. I hope we shall soon meet again, and I shall acknowledge, in
+a manner worthy of your merits, your exertions in favour of the
+country and of myself."</p>
+
+<p>Hardly had I gone down to the town, when he sent for me again. "I have
+considered," said he, "that it is desirable that I should know what
+regiments are stationed in the eighth and tenth military divisions,
+and the names of the commanding officers. You will take care to
+procure this information during your journey, and transmit it to me
+without the slightest delay. Write triplicates of your letters. Send
+one by way of Genoa, the second by Leghorn, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page152" name="page152"></a>(p. 152)</span> and the third by
+Civita Vecchia. You will take care to write this name legibly, (here
+he gave me a memorandum containing the name of an inhabitant of the
+island). Fold your letters in a business-like way. In order that the
+secret of your correspondence may not be discovered, should any
+accident happen, you will put your intelligence in the shape of
+commercial transactions, and you will imitate the usual style of
+bankers. I will suppose, for example, that between <span lang="fr">Chambery</span> and <span lang="fr">Lyon</span>,
+going by the way of <span lang="fr">Grenoble</span>, there are five regiments. You will write
+to me ... in my way I have seen the five merchants whom you mentioned;
+their views continue the same: your credit is increasing daily. The
+concern will turn out well ... do you understand me?"&mdash;"Yes, Sire; but
+how am I to send the names of the colonels and the generals in
+command?"&mdash;"Transpose the letters of their names, and nothing will be
+more easy. There is not a single colonel or general whom I do not
+know, and I shall soon be able to recompose their names."&mdash;"But, Sire,
+the anagrams which I shall make will perhaps be so uncouth, that it
+will be seen at the post-office, that the names are disguised on
+purpose."&mdash;"Do you think then, that they amuse themselves at the
+post-office <span class="pagenum"><a id="page153" name="page153"></a>(p. 153)</span> by opening and reading all the letters of
+business which pass through? They could not get through them. I have
+attempted to unravel the correspondence carried on under the disguise
+of banking transactions, but I could never succeed. The post-office is
+like the police, only fools are caught; yet think of any other method:
+I shall have no objection."</p>
+
+<p>After I had considered a little while, I said to the Emperor, "Sire,
+there is a method which perhaps will do. Your majesty has the imperial
+calendar."&mdash;"Yes, sure."&mdash;"Well, Sire, the calendar contains the lists
+of the general officers and colonels of the army. Now, I will suppose,
+for example, that the regiment quartered at <span lang="fr">Chambery</span> is commanded by
+Colonel Paul. I look into the calendar, and I find that Paul stands
+forty-seven in the list of colonels. I will also suppose that, between
+ourselves, 'bill of exchange' means 'colonel' or 'general.' Then I
+shall write to your Majesty, I have seen your correspondent at
+<span lang="fr">Chambery</span>; he has paid me the amount of your bill of exchange, <abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> 47.
+Your Majesty will turn to your Majesty's calendar, and then your
+Majesty will see, that the 47th colonel who commands the regiment of
+<span lang="fr">Chambery</span>, is called 'Paul.' And, lastly, in order that your Majesty
+may be able to tell <span class="pagenum"><a id="page154" name="page154"></a>(p. 154)</span> when I speak of a colonel, a general, or
+a marshal, I shall take care to indicate the rank of the officer by
+one, two, or three dots, placed after the '<abbr title="Number">No.</abbr>' The colonel will have
+one dot, <abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> .; the general two, <abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> .., <abbr title="etcetera">&amp;c.</abbr>"&mdash;"Very good, very good.
+Here is a calendar for you. <span lang="fr">Bertrand</span> has one which I will take."</p>
+
+<p>The calendar given to me by the Emperor was richly bound, and stamped
+with the imperial arms. I tore off the binding. The Emperor kept
+walking up and down, and saying, as he laughed, "It is really
+excellent; they will never be able to see through it." When I had
+finished, he said, "One thought brings on another. I have asked myself
+how you would manage to write to me, if you should have any thing of
+unexpected importance to communicate. For instance, suppose any
+extraordinary event should make you think that my disembarkation ought
+to be accelerated or retarded; if the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> were to be on their
+guard; in short, I know not what." He remained silent, and then began
+again. "I only know one way to provide for it: the confidence which I
+place in you ought to be unbounded. I will give you the key to a
+cipher which was composed for my use, in order that I might employ it
+in corresponding with my family under the most <span class="pagenum"><a id="page155" name="page155"></a>(p. 155)</span> important
+circumstances. I need not tell you that you must keep it with care:
+always carry it about you, lest it should be lost: and if the smallest
+danger arises, burn it or tear it at the slightest suspicion. With
+this cipher you may write any thing to me which you like. I would
+rather that you should use it, than be under the necessity of coming
+back, or of sending any messenger to me. If they intercept a letter
+written in my cipher, it will take them three months to read it;
+whilst the capture of an agent might ruin all in an instant." He then
+went and looked out his cipher; he made me employ it under his eyes,
+and delivered it to me, exhorting me not to use it unless all other
+modes of communication should become insufficient.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor continued, "I do not suppose that you will have occasion
+to return here before my departure, unless the sudden overthrow of our
+projects should force you to seek an asylum here. In such a case,
+apprise me of your intended return, and I will send for you to any
+place which you may name. But we must hope that victory will declare
+for us. She loves France.... You have not spoken to me about the
+affair of Excelmans: if such a thing had happened in my time, I should
+have thought <span class="pagenum"><a id="page156" name="page156"></a>(p. 156)</span> myself lost: when the authority of the master
+is not recognised, all is over. The more I think upon the matter (here
+he displayed a sudden emotion), the more I am convinced that France is
+mine, and that the patriots and the army will receive me with open
+arms."&mdash;"Yes, Sire, I swear to you, upon my soul, the people and the
+army will declare for you as soon as they hear your name, as soon as
+they see the caps of your grenadiers."&mdash;"Provided the people do seek
+to do themselves justice before my arrival, a popular revolution would
+alarm foreign powers: they would dread the contagion of example. They
+know that royalty only hangs by a thread, that it does not agree with
+the ideas of the age; they would rather see me seize the throne, than
+allow the people to give it to me. They have re-established the
+<span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> in order to convince the people that the rights of sovereigns
+are sacred and inviolable. They have blundered. They would have done
+more for the cause of legitimacy by leaving my son there, than by
+re-establishing Louis <abbr title="18">XVIII.</abbr> My dynasty had been recognised by France
+and by Europe; it had been consecrated by the Pope. They ought to have
+respected it. By abusing the rights of victory, it was in their power
+to deprive me of the throne: but it was unjust, odious, impolitic,
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page157" name="page157"></a>(p. 157)</span> to punish the son on account of the wrongs of his father,
+and to deprive him of his inheritance. I was not an usurper: they may
+say so as long as they like; nobody will believe them. The English,
+the Italians, the Germans, are now too enlightened to allow themselves
+to be crammed with old ideas, with antiquated notions. In the eyes of
+nations, the Sovereign who is chosen by the entirety of the nation,
+will always be the legitimate Sovereign.... The sovereigns who sent
+their ambassadors to me with servile solemnity; who placed in my bed a
+girl of their breed; who called me their brother, and who, after doing
+all this, have stigmatized me as an usurper, they have spit in their
+own faces by trying to spit at me. They have degraded the majesty of
+kings. They have covered majesty with mud. What is the name of an
+emperor? A word like any other. If I had no better title than that,
+when I shall present myself to future ages they would scorn me. My
+institutions, my benefactions, my victories&mdash;these are the true titles
+of my glory. Let them call me a Corsican, a corporal, an usurper.... I
+don't care.... I shall not be less the object of wonder, perhaps of
+veneration, in all future time. My name, new as it is, will live from
+age to age, whilst the names of all these kings, and their royal
+progeny, will <span class="pagenum"><a id="page158" name="page158"></a>(p. 158)</span> be forgotten before the worms will have had
+time to consume their carcases." The Emperor stopped, and then
+continued; "I forget that time is precious; I will not detain you any
+longer. <span lang="fr">Adieu, Monsieur</span>; embrace me, and depart; my thoughts and good
+wishes follow you."&mdash;Two hours afterwards I was at sea. My attention,
+my faculties were wholly absorbed by the Emperor, his words, his
+disclosures, his plans. I had neither leisure nor opportunity to think
+of myself. As soon as I was quite out at sea, my ideas were filled by
+the extraordinary part which chance had assigned to me. I contemplated
+it with pride, and I returned my thanks to destiny for having selected
+me as the instrument by which its impenetrable decrees were to be
+accomplished. Perhaps no man was ever placed in so "imposing" a
+situation. I was the arbiter of the fate of the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>, and of the
+Emperor, of France and Europe. With one word I could destroy Napoleon;
+with one word I could save Louis. But Louis was nothing to me: in him
+I only saw a sovereign who had been forced upon the throne by foreign
+hands still imbrued with French blood. In Napoleon I saw the sovereign
+to whom France had freely offered the crown as the reward of twenty
+years of danger and of glory. The perspective of the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page159" name="page159"></a>(p. 159)</span> evils
+which the attempt of Napoleon might bring upon France did not arise
+before my imagination. I was persuaded that all foreign powers
+(England excepted), would remain neutral; and that the French would
+receive Napoleon as a deliverer, and as a father. Still less did I
+consider myself as engaged in treason or conspiracy against the
+<span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>. Since I had taken the oath of allegiance to Napoleon, I
+considered him as my legitimate sovereign; and I rejoiced to think
+that the confidence which Napoleon reposed in me had induced him to
+call upon me to concur in restoring to France the liberty, the power,
+and the glory of which the country had been unjustly deprived. I
+enjoyed, by anticipation, the public eulogiums, which, after his
+success, he would bestow upon my courage, my self-devotion, my
+patriotism. In short, I abandoned myself with rapture and with pride
+to all the thoughts, and all the generous resolutions which can be
+inspired by the love of fame and the love of our country.</p>
+
+<p>The dialogues which had taken place between me and the Emperor
+continued impressed on my memory; yet, lest I might vary them, or omit
+any part, I employed my time during the voyage in recalling his own
+expressions, and in classing his questions and my answers. I
+afterwards <span class="pagenum"><a id="page160" name="page160"></a>(p. 160)</span> got the whole by heart, just as a scholar learns
+his lesson, in order that I might be able to affirm to <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> X*** that I
+was making a faithful and literal report to him of all that the
+Emperor had said, and of all that he had ordered me to tell him.</p>
+
+<p>The weather being tolerably favourable, we soon reached Naples. I went
+immediately to <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> ****: he put a great number of indiscreet questions
+to me; and I replied by an equal number of unmeaning answers. He
+probably thought that I knew no better, and therefore my caution did
+not offend him. When our preliminary conversation was exhausted, I
+desired him to give me my passport; he did so immediately: it was a
+Neapolitan passport. "This won't do for me," said I; "I must have a
+French passport."&mdash;"I have not got one."&mdash;"The Emperor told me that
+you could get one."&mdash;"That is just like the Emperor; he thinks every
+thing is possible: where does he suppose that I can procure it? I am
+doing a great deal in giving you a passport as a subject of his
+Majesty. It is already known that we are in relation with the isle of
+Elba. If they were to find out that you are attached to Napoleon, and
+that you are going back to France by his directions, and with the
+assistance of the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page161" name="page161"></a>(p. 161)</span> King, all Europe would hear of it, and the
+King would be committed. Why does not the Emperor keep himself quiet?
+he will ruin himself, and ruin us all along with him."&mdash;"It is not fit
+that I should examine the conduct of his Majesty, much less that I
+should censure it. I am in his service; and my duty commands me to
+obey him. I want a French passport: can you, or can you not get me
+one?"&mdash;"I tell you again that it is impossible: it is doing too much
+if I give you one as a Neapolitan subject."&mdash;"Then I must return to
+<span lang="it">Porto Ferrajo</span>: but I cannot conceal from you that the Emperor is very
+desirous that I should return to France; and he will certainly be very
+much displeased, both with you and with the King."&mdash;"Then he will act
+unfairly: the King has done, and will do, every thing in his power for
+him: but the Emperor should know what the King may do under his
+present critical situation, and what he may not. But why won't you
+take the passport which I offer you?"&mdash;"Because I do not understand
+Italian, and consequently your passport would expose me to greater
+suspicion than my own."&mdash;"Then why don't you try to push on as far as
+Rome? there you will find the family of the Emperor. Louis <span class="pagenum"><a id="page162" name="page162"></a>(p. 162)</span>
+<abbr title="18">XVIII.</abbr> has a legation there; and perhaps money may get you a
+passport."&mdash;"Your idea is excellent: I will go. Inform the Emperor of
+the delay which I have experienced, in order that he may send another
+agent, if he thinks it advisable so to do."</p>
+
+<p>When the mind is in perpetual activity, and constantly assailed by new
+feelings, there is no time for reflection. I thus went to Rome, full
+of the idea that I should visit the family of the Emperor, and request
+their help to aid me out of my difficulties. But when the time came,
+and I was to present myself, it then struck me that the Emperor,
+though aware that I was to pass through Rome, had not directed me to
+see them; and I concluded that he had his reasons. I therefore
+determined to continue my route. From Naples I have proceeded to Rome
+without any obstacle; and I shall proceed, thought I to myself, from
+Rome to Milan without any greater obstacle: there I shall meet my
+friend and his Tedesco; I will get them to legalize my French passport
+for the second time, and destiny will accomplish the rest.</p>
+
+<p>I therefore presented myself boldly to the police at Rome, in order to
+have my Elba passport indorsed for Milan. I was introduced to
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page163" name="page163"></a>(p. 163)</span> his Eminence the Director-general, who, as I believe, had
+been shut up at <span lang="fr">Vincennes</span> under the imperial government. He received
+me with great rudeness; and he wished to compel me to present myself
+to the French embassy. I would not consent. I answered, firmly, "The
+King of France is no longer my sovereign; I am the subject of the
+Emperor Napoleon: the allied sovereigns have proclaimed and recognized
+him as the sovereign of the isle of Elba: he therefore reigns at <span lang="it">Porto
+Ferrajo</span> like the Pope at Rome, George at London, and Louis <abbr title="18">XVIII.</abbr> at
+Paris. The Emperor and his Holiness are on good terms with each other.
+The subjects and the vessels of the Roman states are well received in
+the isle of Elba<a id="footnotetag38" name="footnotetag38"></a><a href="#footnote38" title="Go to footnote 38">[38]</a>, and therefore you are bound to afford aid and
+protection to the Elbese, so long as the holy father shall not become
+the enemy of Napoleon."</p>
+
+<p>This reasoning produced its effect; and his Eminence ordered, though
+he continued grumbling, that my demand was to be granted. "What are
+you going to do at Milan?" said he, and I think he muttered an oath
+between his teeth: "I am going," I answered, "relative to the
+dotations which were assigned to us <span class="pagenum"><a id="page164" name="page164"></a>(p. 164)</span> upon the '<span lang="fr">Mont
+Napoléon</span>.'" He was satisfied with my answer, and so was I. I wrote to
+<abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> ****, the Neapolitan consul, transmitting my letter; and I
+requested him to send to the island an account of my new route.</p>
+
+<p>I continued my journey. My passport was headed by the imperial arms.
+The name of Napoleon, and his title of Emperor, were inscribed in
+large letters. I was the first Frenchman from the island who had been
+able or who had dared to traverse Italy. How many things there were
+which roused curiosity and commanded attention! I was overwhelmed with
+questions relative to <span lang="it">Porto Ferrajo</span> and its illustrious sovereign. I
+answered as fully as they wished. Whilst they were busying themselves
+about the Emperor, they did not think of me, and that was what I
+wanted. In order to avoid troublesome examinations, I took care to
+pass through the towns at night, and never to stop in them. At length,
+thanks to my address and good fortune, I arrived safe and sound at
+Milan; there I found my friend and his colonel, and every thing was
+settled admirably.</p>
+
+<p>I set off again for Turin with all possible speed. When I arrived on
+the Place of ... I perceived several numerous groups of persons, who
+appeared exceedingly animated. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page165" name="page165"></a>(p. 165)</span> How great was my surprise when
+I found that they were talking of Napoleon, and his escape from the
+isle of Elba. This piece of intelligence, which had been just
+received, put me in a violent passion: I accused the Emperor of
+perfidiousness. I reproached him with having misled, deceived, and
+sacrificed me.</p>
+
+<p>When my first fit of ill humour was calmed, I considered the conduct
+of the Emperor under another aspect. I thought that unexpected
+considerations might have induced him to embark precipitately. I was
+ashamed of my suspicions and of my violence, and I only wished to fly
+to his footsteps; but already orders had been given to prevent
+communication. I passed eight days, which appeared so many ages, in
+soliciting permission to return to France; and at last I obtained it.
+I arrived at Paris on the 25th of March: on the 26th <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> X*** presented
+me to the Emperor: he embraced me, and said, "I have weighty reasons
+for wishing that you and X*** may both forget whatever passed at the
+isle of Elba. I alone will not forget it. Rely on my esteem and
+protection on all occasions<a id="footnotetag39" name="footnotetag39"></a><a href="#footnote39" title="Go to footnote 39">[39]</a>."</p>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page166" name="page166"></a>(p. 166)</span> <p>Here ends the memoir of <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> Z****.</p>
+
+<p>This officer had scarcely quitted the island of Elba, when the Emperor
+(and I had the particulars from his Majesty himself) acknowledged
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page167" name="page167"></a>(p. 167)</span> and deplored the imprudence of which he had been guilty, in
+sending Z*** to the continent. The character and firmness of this
+faithful servant were sufficiently known to him, to prevent his
+feeling any anxiety on his account. He was certain (I use his own
+words), that he would suffer himself to be cut to pieces, before he
+would open his mouth: but he was afraid, that the inquiries he had
+directed him to make on the road, the letters he might address to him,
+or the conferences he might have at Paris with <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> X*** and his
+friends, would excite the suspicions of the police; and that the
+<span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> would station cruizers, so as to render an escape from the
+island of Elba, and a landing on the coast of France, altogether
+impossible.</p>
+
+<p>Thus the Emperor felt that there was but one way of preventing the
+danger, that of departing immediately.</p>
+
+<p>On this point he did not hesitate. From that moment every thing
+assumed a different aspect in the island of Elba.</p>
+
+<p>This island, but the moment before the abode of philosophy and peace,
+became in an instant the imperial head-quarters. Couriers, orders, and
+counter-orders, were incessantly going and returning from <span lang="it">Porto
+Ferrajo</span> to <span lang="it">Longone</span>, and from <span lang="it">Longone</span> to <span lang="it">Porto Ferrajo</span>. Napoleon,
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page168" name="page168"></a>(p. 168)</span> whose fiery activity had been so long enchained, gave
+himself up, with infinite delight, to all the cares, that his
+audacious enterprise demanded. But in whatever mystery he fancied he
+had shrouded himself, the unusual accounts he had caused to be
+delivered in, the particular attention he had paid to his old
+grenadiers, had excited their suspicion; and they scarcely doubted,
+that he had it in contemplation to quit the island. Every one
+supposed, that he would land at Naples, or in some other port of
+Italy: no one ventured even to imagine, that his plan was to go and
+expel Louis <abbr title="18">XVIII.</abbr> from the throne.</p>
+
+<p>On the 26th of February, at one o'clock, the guard and the officers of
+his household received orders to hold themselves in readiness to
+depart. Every thing was in motion: the grenadiers with joy resumed
+their arms, that so long had lain idle, and spontaneously swore, never
+to quit them but with life. The whole population of the country,
+crowds of old men, women, and children, eagerly rushed to the shore;
+the most affecting scenes were exhibited on all sides. They thronged
+round the faithful companions of Napoleon in his exile, and contended
+with each other for the pleasure, the honour, of touching them, seeing
+them, embracing them for the last time. The younger members of the
+families <span class="pagenum"><a id="page169" name="page169"></a>(p. 169)</span> of the first distinction in the island solicited as
+a favour, the danger of sharing in the perils of the Emperor. Joy,
+glory, hope, sparkled in every eye. They knew not whither they were
+going, but Napoleon was present, and with him could they doubt of
+victory?</p>
+
+<p>At eight in the evening a gun gave the signal for departure. A
+thousand times embraces were immediately lavished and returned. The
+French rushed into their boats; martial music struck up; and Napoleon
+and his followers sailed majestically from the shore, amid the shouts
+of "Long live the Emperor!" a thousand times repeated<a id="footnotetag40" name="footnotetag40"></a><a href="#footnote40" title="Go to footnote 40">[40]</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon, when he set foot on board his vessel, exclaimed with Cæsar,
+"The die is cast!" His countenance was calm, his brow serene: he
+appeared to think less of the success of his enterprise, than of the
+means of promptly attaining his object. The eyes of Count <span lang="fr">Bertrand</span>
+sparkled with hope and joy: General <span class="pagenum"><a id="page170" name="page170"></a>(p. 170)</span> <span lang="fr">Drouot</span> was pensive and
+serious: <span lang="fr">Cambronne</span> appeared to care little about the future, and to
+think only of doing his duty well. The old grenadiers had resumed
+their martial and menacing aspect. The Emperor chatted and joked with
+them incessantly: he pulled their ears and their mustachios, reminded
+them of their dangers and their glory, and inspired their minds with
+that confidence, with which his own was animated.</p>
+
+<p>All were burning to know their destination: respect did not allow any
+one to ask the question: at length Napoleon broke silence.
+"Grenadiers," said he, "we are going to France, we are going to
+Paris." At these words every countenance expanded, their joy ceased to
+be mingled with anxiety, and stifled cries of "France for ever!"
+attested to the Emperor, that in the heart of a Frenchman the love of
+his country is never extinct.</p>
+
+<p>An English sloop of war, commanded by Captain Campbell, appeared to
+have the charge of watching the island of Elba<a id="footnotetag41" name="footnotetag41"></a><a href="#footnote41" title="Go to footnote 41">[41]</a>: she was
+continually <span class="pagenum"><a id="page171" name="page171"></a>(p. 171)</span> sailing from <span lang="it">Porto Ferrajo</span> to Leghorn, and from
+Leghorn to <span lang="it">Porto Ferrajo</span>. At the moment of embarkation she was at
+Leghorn, and could occasion no alarm; but several vessels were
+descried in the channel, and their presence gave room for just
+apprehensions. It was hoped, however, that the night breeze would
+favour the progress of the flotilla, and that before daybreak it would
+be out of sight. This hope was frustrated. ""Scarcely had it doubled
+Cape <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Andrew, in the island of Elba, when the wind fell and the sea
+became calm. At daybreak it had advanced only six leagues, and was
+still between the islands of Elba and Capræa.</p>
+
+<p>""The danger appeared imminent: several of the seamen were for
+returning to <span lang="it">Porto Ferrajo</span>. The Emperor ordered them to hold on their
+course, as, at the worst, he had the chance either of capturing the
+French cruiser, or of taking refuge in the island of Corsica, where he
+was assured of being well received. To facilitate their man&oelig;uvres,
+he ordered all the luggage embarked to be thrown overboard, which was
+cheerfully executed at the instant.""</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page172" name="page172"></a>(p. 172)</span> About noon the wind freshened a little. At four o'clock they
+were off Leghorn. One frigate was in sight five leagues to leeward,
+another on the coast of Corsica, and a man-of-war brig, which was
+perceived to be <span lang="fr">Le Zéphir</span>, commanded by Captain <span lang="fr">Andrieux</span>, was coming
+down upon the imperial flotilla right before the wind. It was first
+proposed to speak to him, and make him hoist the three-coloured flag.
+"The Emperor, however, gave orders to the soldiers of the guard to
+take off their caps and conceal themselves below, choosing rather to
+pass by the brig without being known, and reserving himself in case of
+necessity, for the alternative of making him change his colours. At
+six o'clock the two brigs passed alongside of each other, and their
+commanders, who were acquainted, spoke together. The captain of <span lang="fr">Le
+Zéphir</span> inquired after the Emperor, and was answered through a speaking
+trumpet by the Emperor himself, that he was extremely well.</p>
+
+<p>""The two brigs, steering opposite courses, were soon out of sight of
+each other, without Captain <span lang="fr">Andrieux</span> having any suspicion of the
+valuable prize, that he had allowed to escape.</p>
+
+<p>""In the night of the 27th the wind continued to freshen. At day-break
+a seventy-four was descried, which appeared steering for <span lang="it">San <span class="pagenum"><a id="page173" name="page173"></a>(p. 173)</span>
+Fiorenzo</span> or Sardinia, and it was soon perceived, that she took no
+notice of the brig<a id="footnotetag42" name="footnotetag42"></a><a href="#footnote42" title="Go to footnote 42">[42]</a>.""</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor, before he quitted the island of Elba, had prepared with
+his own hand two proclamations, one addressed to the French people,
+the other to the army; and he was desirous of having them copied out
+fairly. His secretary and General <span lang="fr">Bertrand</span>, being neither of them able
+to decipher them, carried them to Napoleon, who, despairing of doing
+it himself, threw them into the sea from vexation. Then, after
+meditating for a few moments, he dictated to his secretary the two
+following proclamations on the spot.</p>
+
+<p class="p2 center"><i>Proclamation.</i></p>
+<p class="left60">Gulf of Juan, March the 1st, 1815.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon, by the grace of God and constitution of the
+empire, Emperor of the French, <abbr title="etcetera etcetera etcetera">&amp;c. &amp;c. &amp;c.</abbr></p>
+
+<p class="p2 center"><i>To the Army.</i></p>
+
+<p class="left10">Soldiers!</p>
+
+<p>We have not been vanquished: two men, who issued from our ranks,
+betrayed our <span class="pagenum"><a id="page174" name="page174"></a>(p. 174)</span> laurels, their country, their prince, their
+benefactor.</p>
+
+<p>Shall they, whom we have seen for five and twenty years traversing all
+Europe, to stir up enemies against us&mdash;who have spent their lives
+in fighting against us in the ranks of foreign armies, and cursing our
+lovely France&mdash;now pretend to command us, and to enchain our
+eagles, the looks of which they could never withstand? Shall we suffer
+them to inherit the fruits of our glorious toils? to seize upon our
+honours, and our property, and calumniate our fame? Should their reign
+continue, all would be lost, even the remembrance of our memorable
+victories.</p>
+
+<p>With what virulence do they distort them! They endeavour to poison
+what is the admiration of the world; and if any defenders of our glory
+still remain, it is among those very enemies whom we combated in the
+field.</p>
+
+<p>Soldiers! in my exile I heard your voice: I am arrived through every
+obstacle, through every danger.</p>
+
+<p>Your general, called to the throne by the voice of the people, and
+raised on your shields, is restored to you. Come and join him.</p>
+
+<p>Tear down those colours, which the nation has proscribed, and which
+for five and twenty years served as a signal to rally all the enemies
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page175" name="page175"></a>(p. 175)</span> of France. Mount that tricoloured cockade, which you wore in
+our great victories. We must forget, that we have been the masters of
+other nations; but we must not suffer any to interfere in our affairs.
+Who shall pretend to be our master? Who is able to be so? Resume the
+eagles you bore at Ulm, at Austerlitz, at Jena, at Eylau, at Wagram,
+at <span lang="de">Friedland</span>, at Tudela, at <span lang="fr">Eckmuhl</span>, at <span lang="de">Essling</span>, at Smolensko, at
+Moscow, at Lutzen, at <span lang="de">Wurtchen</span>, at <span lang="fr">Montmirail</span>. Think you that handful
+of Frenchmen, now so arrogant, can support their sight? They will
+return whence they came; and there, if they please, they may reign, as
+they pretend to have reigned for nineteen years.</p>
+
+<p>Your property, your rank, your glory&mdash;the property, the rank, the
+glory of your children&mdash;have no greater enemies than those
+princes, who have been imposed on us by foreigners. They are the
+enemies of our glory; since the recital of so many glorious actions,
+which have rendered illustrious the French people, fighting against
+them to emancipate themselves from their yoke, is their condemnation.</p>
+
+<p>The veterans of the armies of the <span lang="fr">Sambre</span> and <span lang="fr">Meuse</span>, of the Rhine, of
+Italy, of Egypt, of the west, of the grand army, are humiliated; their
+honourable scars are disgraced; their successes <span class="pagenum"><a id="page176" name="page176"></a>(p. 176)</span> would be
+crimes, the valiant would be rebels, if, as the enemies of the people
+assert, legitimate sovereigns were among the foreign armies. Their
+honours, rewards, affections, are for those who have served them,
+against us and against our country.</p>
+
+<p>Soldiers, come and arrange yourselves under the standards of your
+chief: his existence consists only of yours; his rights are only those
+of the people and of you; his interest, his honour, his glory, are no
+other than your glory. Victory will march forward with the charge
+step: the eagle, with the national colours, will fly from steeple to
+steeple till it reaches the towers of <span lang="fr">Notre Dame</span>. You may then display
+your scars with honour, you may then boast of what you have done: you
+will be the deliverers of your country.</p>
+
+<p>In your old age, surrounded and respected by your fellow citizens,
+they will listen with veneration to the recital of your noble deeds:
+you may proudly say, I too was in that grand army which twice entered
+the walls of Vienna, and those of Rome, of Berlin, of Madrid, and of
+Moscow, and which cleansed Paris from the stain inflicted on it by
+treason and the presence of the enemy. Honour to those brave soldiers,
+the glory of their country! and eternal shame to those guilty
+Frenchmen, in whatever <span class="pagenum"><a id="page177" name="page177"></a>(p. 177)</span> rank it was their fortune to be born,
+who fought for five and twenty years in company with foreigners, to
+wound the bosom of their country.</p>
+
+<p class="left60">Signed, <span class="smcap">Napoleon</span>.</p>
+<p class="left10">By the Emperor.</p>
+<p>The grand marshal, executing the functions of major-general
+     of the grand army.</p>
+<p class="left60">Signed, <span class="smcap"><span lang="fr">Bertrand</span></span>.</p>
+
+
+<p class="p2 center"><i>Proclamation.</i></p>
+<p class="left60">Gulf of Juan, March 1, 1815.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon, by the grace of God and the constitution of the
+     empire, Emperor of the French, <abbr title="etcetera etcetera etcetera">&amp;c. &amp;c. &amp;c.</abbr></p>
+
+<p class="p2 center"><i>To the French People.</i></p>
+
+<p class="left10">Frenchmen!</p>
+
+<p>The defection of the Duke of <span lang="it">Castiglione</span> gave up Lyons without defence
+to our enemies. The army, the command of which I had entrusted to him,
+was capable, from the bravery and patriotism of the troops of which it
+was formed, of beating the Austrian army opposed to it, and taking in
+the rear the left flank of the enemy's army, that threatened Paris.</p>
+
+<p>The victories of <span lang="fr">Champ Aubert</span>, of <span lang="fr">Montmirail</span>, of <span lang="fr">Château Thierry</span>, of
+<span lang="fr">Vauchamp</span>, of <span lang="fr">Mormane</span>, of <span lang="fr">Montereau</span>, of <span lang="fr">Craone</span>, of Rheims, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page178" name="page178"></a>(p. 178)</span> of
+<span lang="fr">Arcy-sur-Aube</span>, and of <span lang="fr"><abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Dizier</span>; the insurrection of the brave
+peasantry of <span lang="fr">Lorraine</span>, of <span lang="fr">Champagne</span>, of <span lang="fr">Alsace</span>, of <span lang="fr">Franche Comté</span>, and
+of Burgundy; and the position I had taken in the rear of the enemy's
+army, cutting it off from its magazines, its parks of reserve, and
+convoys, and all its waggons, had placed it in a desperate situation.
+The French were on the point of being more powerful than ever, and the
+flower of the enemy's army was lost without resource; it would have
+found its grave in those vast countries, which it had so pitilessly
+ravaged, when the treachery of the Duke of Ragusa delivered up the
+capital, and disorganized the army. The unsuspected conduct of these
+two generals, who betrayed at once their country, their prince, and
+their benefactor, changed the fate of the war: the situation of the
+enemy was such, that, after the affair that took place before Paris,
+he was without ammunition, in consequence of being separated from his
+parks of reserve<a id="footnotetag43" name="footnotetag43"></a><a href="#footnote43" title="Go to footnote 43">[43]</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Under these new and important circumstances, my heart was torn, but my
+mind remained unshaken: I consulted only the interests of our country,
+and banished myself to a rock surrounded by the seas: my life was
+useful to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page179" name="page179"></a>(p. 179)</span> you, and was destined still to be so. I would not
+permit the great number of citizens, who were desirous of accompanying
+me, to share my fate: I deemed their presence advantageous to France,
+and I took with me only the handful of brave fellows necessary for my
+guard.</p>
+
+<p>Raised to the throne by your choice, every thing that has been done
+without you is illegal. Within these five and twenty years France has
+acquired new interests, new institutions, new glory, to be guarantied
+only by a national government, and a dynasty born under these new
+circumstances. A prince who should reign over you, who should be
+seated on my throne by the power of the same armies, that have ravaged
+our territories, would seek in vain to support himself by the
+principles of feudal right; he could secure the honour and the rights
+only of a small number of individuals, enemies to the people, who have
+condemned them in all our national assemblies for five and twenty
+years. Your tranquillity at home, and estimation abroad, would be lost
+for ever.</p>
+
+<p>Frenchmen! in my exile I heard your complaints and wishes: you called
+for that government of your own choice, which alone is legitimate; you
+blamed my long slumber; you reproached me with sacrificing the great
+interests of the country to my own repose.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page180" name="page180"></a>(p. 180)</span> I have crossed the seas amid perils of every kind: I arrive
+among you to resume my rights, which are also yours. Every thing that
+individuals have done, written, or said, since the taking of Paris, I
+shall consign to everlasting oblivion; it shall have no influence on
+the remembrance I retain of the important services they have rendered,
+for there are events of such a nature, that they are above the frame
+of man.</p>
+
+<p>Frenchmen! there is no nation, however small, that has not possessed
+the right of withdrawing, and that has not withdrawn itself, from the
+disgrace of obeying a prince imposed upon it by an enemy temporarily
+victorious. When Charles <abbr title="7">VII.</abbr> re-entered Paris, and overturned the
+ephemeral throne of Henry <abbr title="6">VI.</abbr>, he acknowledged, that he held his crown
+from the valour of his brave people, and not from the Prince Regent of
+England.</p>
+
+<p>It is to you only, and to the brave men of the army, that I make, and
+shall always make it my glory, to owe every thing.</p>
+
+<p class="left60">Signed, <span class="smcap">Napoleon</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="left10">By the Emperor.</p>
+
+<p>The grand marshal, executing the functions of major-general
+     of the grand army.</p>
+
+<p class="left60">Signed, <span class="smcap"><span lang="fr">Bertrand</span></span>.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page181" name="page181"></a>(p. 181)</span> The Emperor, while he dictated these proclamations, appeared
+to be animated with the most profound indignation. He seemed to have
+before his eyes, both the generals, whom he accused of having given up
+France, and the enemies, who had subjugated it. He incessantly
+repeated the names of <span lang="fr">Marmont</span> and <span lang="fr">Augereau</span>, and they were always
+accompanied with threats and with epithets, suited to the idea he had
+conceived of their treachery.</p>
+
+<p>When the proclamations were transcribed, the Emperor directed them to
+be read aloud, and invited all those who could write a good hand to
+copy them. In an instant, benches and drums were converted into
+tables; and soldiers, sailors, and officers, set themselves gayly to
+work.</p>
+
+<p>After a certain time, his Majesty said to the officers around him,
+"Now, gentlemen, it is your turn, to speak to the army: you must tell
+it what France expects of it under the important circumstances in
+which we shall soon find ourselves. Come, <span lang="fr">Bertrand</span>, take your pen."
+The grand marshal excused himself. The Emperor then resumed his
+discourse, and dictated, without stopping, an address to the generals,
+officers, and soldiers of the army, in which the imperial guard
+conjured them, in the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page182" name="page182"></a>(p. 182)</span> name of honour and their country, to
+shake off the yoke of the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>.</p>
+
+<p>"Soldiers," said they to them, "the drum beats the general, and we
+march: run to arms, come and join us, join your Emperor, and our
+eagles.</p>
+
+<p>"And if these men, now so arrogant, who have always fled at the sight
+of our weapons, dare wait for us, where can we find a fairer occasion
+of shedding our blood, and chanting the hymn of victory?</p>
+
+<p>"Soldiers of the seventh, eighth, and nineteenth military divisions,
+garrisons of <span lang="fr">Antibes</span>, <span lang="fr">Toulon</span>, and <span lang="fr">Marseilles</span>, retired officers,
+veterans of our army, you are called to the honour of setting the
+first example: come with us to conquer that throne, which is the
+palladium of your rights; and let posterity some day tell,
+'Foreigners, seconded by traitors, had imposed a disgraceful yoke on
+France; the brave arose, and the enemies of the people, of the army,
+disappeared, and returned to their original nothingness.'"</p>
+
+<p>This address was scarcely finished, when the coast of <span lang="fr">Antibes</span> was
+descried at a distance. Immediately on this, the Emperor and his brave
+fellows saluted the land of their country with shouts of "France for
+ever! Success to the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page183" name="page183"></a>(p. 183)</span> French!" and at the same instant
+resumed the tricoloured cockade<a id="footnotetag44" name="footnotetag44"></a><a href="#footnote44" title="Go to footnote 44">[44]</a>.</p>
+
+<p>On the 1st of March, at three o'clock, they entered the Gulf of Juan.
+General <span lang="fr">Drouot</span>, and a certain number of officers and soldiers, who
+were on board the felucca Caroline, landed before the Emperor, who was
+still at a considerable distance from the shore. At this moment they
+perceived to the right a large vessel, which appeared to them (though
+they were mistaken in this) to be steering with all sails towards the
+brig. Suddenly they were seized with the greatest disquiet; they
+walked backward and forward, testifying by their gestures and their
+hurried steps, the emotion and fear with which they were agitated.
+General <span lang="fr">Drouot</span> ordered the Caroline to be unloaded, and to hasten to
+meet the brig. In an instant cannons, carriages, chests, baggage,
+every thing was thrown out upon the sand, and already the grenadiers
+and brave sea officers of the guard were rowing away with all their
+strength, when acclamations from the brig saluted their ears and their
+affrighted eyes. It was the Emperor: whether from prudential motives
+or impatience, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page184" name="page184"></a>(p. 184)</span> he had got into a simple boat. Their alarms
+ceased; and the grenadiers, stretching out their arms to him, received
+him with the most affecting demonstrations of devotedness and joy. At
+five o'clock he landed. I have heard him say, that he never felt an
+emotion so profound.</p>
+
+<p>""His quarters for the night were taken up in a field surrounded by
+olive-trees. This, he exclaimed, is a happy omen: may it be
+realized!""</p>
+
+<p>A few peasants were seen: the Emperor ordered them to be called, and
+interrogated them. One of them had formerly served under him: he knew
+his old general, and would not quit him. Napoleon, turning to the
+grand marshal, said to him, with a smile, "Well, <span lang="fr">Bertrand</span>, you see we
+have a reinforcement already." He spent the evening chatting and
+laughing familiarly with his generals and the officers of his
+household. "I see from this spot," said he, "the fright I shall give
+the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>, and the embarrassment of all those who have turned their
+backs upon me." Then, continuing to joke on the same subject, he
+defined, with his wonted sagacity, the characters of the marshals and
+great personages, who had formerly served him; and was much amused
+with the endeavours they would make ""to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page185" name="page185"></a>(p. 185)</span> save appearances,
+and prudently await the moment for declaring themselves for the
+strongest party.""</p>
+
+<p>The success of his enterprise appeared less to employ his thoughts,
+than the dangers to which his friends and partisans, whom he no longer
+called by any other name than that of patriots, were going to be
+exposed. "What will become of the patriots before my arrival at
+Paris?" he frequently exclaimed: "I tremble lest the Vendeans and
+emigrants should massacre them. Wo betide those who touch them! I will
+have no mercy on them."</p>
+
+<p>Immediately after he landed, the Emperor had despatched a captain of
+the guard with five and twenty men to <span lang="fr">Antibes</span>: their instructions
+were, to present themselves as deserters from the island of Elba; to
+sound the disposition of the garrison; and, if this appeared
+favourable, to seduce it: but, led away by their imprudent ardour,
+they entered the city, shouting, "Long live the Emperor!" and the
+commandant caused the drawbridge instantly to be raised, and detained
+them as prisoners. Napoleon, finding they did not return, sent for a
+civil officer of the guard, and said to him, ""You will immediately
+repair to the walls of <span lang="fr">Antibes</span>: you will deliver this despatch, or
+cause it to be delivered <span class="pagenum"><a id="page186" name="page186"></a>(p. 186)</span> to General Corsin: you will not
+enter the place, as you might be detained: you will draw together the
+soldiers, you will read to them my proclamations, and you will
+harangue them. Do you not know, you will say to them, that your
+Emperor is here? that the garrisons of <span lang="fr">Grenoble</span> and Lyons have marched
+to join him with the charge step? What do you wait for? Will you leave
+to others the honour of joining him before you? the honour of marching
+at the head of his advanced guard? Come, and salute our eagles and our
+tricoloured flags. The Emperor and your country command it; then
+come.""</p>
+
+<p>This officer, on his return, said, that the gates of the town and
+harbour were closed, and that it was not possible for him to see
+General Corsin, or to speak to the soldiers. Napoleon appeared
+disappointed, though but little disturbed by the disappointment. At
+eleven in the evening he began his march, with four small pieces of
+artillery in his train. The Poles, though unable to embark their
+horses, had brought with them their accoutrements, and gayly marched
+in the advanced guard, bending beneath the weight of their enormous
+luggage. Napoleon purchased for them every horse he met with, and thus
+remounted his handful of cavalry one by one.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page187" name="page187"></a>(p. 187)</span> He proceeded to <span lang="fr">Cannes</span>, thence to <span lang="fr">Grasses</span>, and, in the
+evening of the 2d, arrived at the village of <span lang="fr">Cerenon</span>, having marched
+twenty leagues this first day. Every where he was received with
+sentiments, that presaged the success of the enterprise.</p>
+
+<p>On the 3d the Emperor slept at <span lang="fr">Bareme</span>, and on the 4th at <span lang="fr">Digne</span>. The
+report of his landing, which preceded him from place to place, excited
+every where a mingled feeling of joy, surprise, and anxiety. The
+peasants blessed his return, and expressed their good wishes to him in
+their simple language; but when they saw his little troop, they looked
+on him with tender pity, and had no hope of his being triumphant with
+such feeble means.</p>
+
+<p>On the 5th Napoleon slept at <span lang="fr">Gap</span>, and retained with him only six
+horsemen, and forty grenadiers.</p>
+
+<p>In this city he printed, for the first time, his proclamations: they
+were diffused with the rapidity of lightning, and inflamed every head
+and every heart with such violent and prompt devotedness, that the
+whole population of the country was desirous of rising in a body, and
+marching as his advanced guard.</p>
+
+<p>In these proclamations he did not borrow, as has been asserted, the
+title of general in chief, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page188" name="page188"></a>(p. 188)</span> or of lieutenant general of his
+son. Before he quitted the island of Elba, he had determined to resume
+the style of Emperor of the French as soon as he landed.</p>
+
+<p>He was aware, that any other title would diminish his strength, and
+his ascendancy over the people and the army; would render his
+intentions doubtful; would give rise to scruples and hesitation; and
+besides, would place him in a state of hostility against France. In
+short, he was aware, that it would always be in his power to give
+legitimacy to his title of Emperor of the French, should the suffrages
+of the nation prove necessary, to restore to him in the eyes of
+Europe, and even of France, those rights, which might have been
+temporarily lost by his abdication.</p>
+
+<p>The superior authorities of <span lang="fr">Gap</span> had retired at his approach: he had to
+receive the congratulations only of the mayor, the municipal council,
+and the half-pay officers. He discoursed with them on the benefits of
+the revolution, the sovereignty of the people, liberty, equality, and
+particularly of the emigrants and the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>. Before he left them,
+he addressed his public thanks to the inhabitants of the Upper and
+Lower Alps, in the following words:</p>
+
+<p class="p2 left10"><span class="pagenum"><a id="page189" name="page189"></a>(p. 189)</span> Citizens,</p>
+
+<p>I have been strongly touched by all the sentiments that you have
+testified towards me: your prayers will be heard; the cause of the
+nation will still triumph. You have reason to call me your father; I
+live only for the honour and happiness of France. My return dissipates
+your disquietudes; it guarantees the preservation of every one's
+property, the equality of all classes; and those rights, which you
+have enjoyed for twenty-five years, and for which our forefathers so
+frequently sighed, now form a part of your existence.</p>
+
+<p>In whatever circumstances I may be placed, I shall always remember,
+with a lively interest, what I have seen in traversing your country.</p>
+
+<p class="p2"><a id="footnotetag45" name="footnotetag45"></a><a href="#footnote45" title="Go to footnote 45">[45]</a>""On the 6th, at two o'clock in the afternoon, the Emperor left
+<span lang="fr">Gap</span>, and the whole city went out to see him set off.</p>
+
+<p>""At <span lang="fr"><abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Bonnel</span> the inhabitants, seeing the small number of his
+soldiers, were full of fears, and proposed to him to sound the
+alarm-bell, in order to collect the neighbouring villagers, and
+accompany him in a body. 'No,' said the Emperor, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page190" name="page190"></a>(p. 190)</span> 'your
+sentiments convince me, that I have not deceived myself; they are a
+sure guarantee of the sentiments of my soldiers; those whom I meet
+will range themselves on my side; and the more they are, the more
+certain will be my success. Remain, therefore, tranquil at home.'""</p>
+
+<p>The same day the Emperor came to sleep at <span lang="fr">Gorp</span>; General <span lang="fr">Cambronne</span> and
+forty men, forming the advanced guard, pushed on as far as <span lang="fr">Mure</span>.</p>
+
+<p><span lang="fr">Cambronne</span> most commonly proceeded alone before his grenadiers to
+explore the road, and cause quarters and subsistence to be provided
+for them. Scarcely had he pronounced the name of the Emperor, when
+every one was eager to testify to him the most lively and tender
+solicitude. One mayor alone, the <span lang="fr">Marquis de</span> ***, mayor of <span lang="fr">Sisteron</span>,
+tried to raise the inhabitants of that <i><span lang="fr">commune</span></i>, describing to them
+the soldiers of Napoleon as robbers and incendiaries. Confounded by
+the sudden appearance of General <span lang="fr">Cambronne</span> alone, and with no other
+weapon than his sword, he changed his language, and pretended to have
+had no fear but that of being paid<a id="footnotetag46" name="footnotetag46"></a><a href="#footnote46" title="Go to footnote 46">[46]</a>. <span lang="fr">Cambronne</span> coolly threw him his
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page191" name="page191"></a>(p. 191)</span> purse, and said, "Pay yourself!" The indignant people were
+eager to furnish more provision than was demanded; and when the
+battalion of Elba appeared, they offered it a tricoloured flag, as a
+sign of their esteem and devotedness.</p>
+
+<p>On quitting the mayor, General <span lang="fr">Cambronne</span> and his forty grenadiers met
+a battalion sent from <span lang="fr">Grenoble</span> to block up their passage. <span lang="fr">Cambronne</span>
+wished to parley with them, but they would not listen to him. The
+Emperor, informed of this resistance, immediately went forward: his
+guard, exhausted by a long march through the snow and rough roads, had
+not all been able to follow him; but when it heard of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page192" name="page192"></a>(p. 192)</span> the
+affront offered to <span lang="fr">Cambronne</span>, and the dangers the Emperor might run,
+it forgot its fatigues, and hastened after him. Those soldiers, who
+could no longer support themselves on their galled or wounded feet,
+were assisted by their comrades, or carried by them on litters formed
+with their musquets: all swore, like the soldiers of Fabius, not to
+conquer or die, but to be victors. When the Emperor perceived them, he
+held out his hand to them, and said, "With you, my brave soldiers, I
+should not be afraid of ten thousand men."</p>
+
+<p>Meantime the troops come from <span lang="fr">Grenoble</span> had retreated, and taken a
+position three leagues from <span lang="fr">Gorp</span>, between the lakes, and near a
+village. The Emperor went to reconnoitre them. He found in the line
+opposed to him a battalion of the fifth regiment, a company of
+sappers, and a company of miners; in all seven or eight hundred men.
+He sent to them <i><span lang="fr">chef d'escadron</span></i> Roul: they refused to listen to him.
+On this, Napoleon, turning to Marshal <span lang="fr">Bertrand</span>, said, "<i>Z. has
+deceived me; no matter, forwards</i>!" Immediately, alighting from his
+horse, he marched straight to the detachment, followed by his guard,
+with arms secured (<i><span lang="fr">l'arme baissée</span></i>): "What, my friends!" said he to
+them, "do you not know me? I am your Emperor: if there be <span class="pagenum"><a id="page193" name="page193"></a>(p. 193)</span> a
+soldier among you, who is willing to kill his general, his Emperor, he
+may do it: here I am!" and he placed his hand upon his breast....</p>
+
+<p>The unanimous shout of "Long live the Emperor!" was the answer.</p>
+
+<p>""Immediately they requested permission, to be the first to march
+against the division, that covered <span lang="fr">Grenoble</span>. The march commenced amid
+a crowd of the inhabitants, which increased every instant. Vizille
+distinguished itself by its enthusiasm: "It is here the revolution is
+born," said these brave fellows: "we are the first who have dared to
+claim the privileges of men: it is here, too, that French liberty
+revives, and that France recovers its honour and independence."</p>
+
+<p>""Between <span lang="fr">Vizille</span> and <span lang="fr">Grenoble</span>, an adjutant-major of the seventh of
+the line came to announce, that <span lang="fr">Colonel Labedoyère</span>, deeply wounded by
+the dishonour that affected all France, and governed by the noblest
+sentiments, had separated from the division of <span lang="fr">Grenoble</span>, and with his
+regiment was hastening with all speed to meet the Emperor.""</p>
+
+<p>Soon after, numerous acclamations were heard at a distance: they were
+from <span lang="fr">Labedoyère</span>, and the seventh. The two troops, impatient to join,
+broke their ranks: embraces, and shouts a thousand <span class="pagenum"><a id="page194" name="page194"></a>(p. 194)</span> times
+repeated, of "The guard for ever! the seventh for ever! long live the
+Emperor!" became the pledge of their union, and of their sentiments.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon, who saw his forces and the public enthusiasm increase at
+every step, resolved to enter <span lang="fr">Grenoble</span> that very evening.</p>
+
+<p>Before he reached the city he was stopped by a young merchant, an
+officer of the national guard. "Sire," said he, "I come to offer your
+Majesty a hundred thousand francs, and my sword."&mdash;"I accept both:
+remain with us." Farther on he was joined by a party of officers, who
+confirmed to him what he had learned from <span lang="fr">Labedoyère</span>, that General
+<span lang="fr">Marchand</span> and the prefect had declared against him, and that neither
+the garrison, nor the national guard, had yet displayed any favourable
+disposition.</p>
+
+<p>""In fact, General <span lang="fr">Marchand</span> had caused the troops to re-enter
+<span lang="fr">Grenoble</span>, and closed the gates: the ramparts were covered by the third
+regiment of engineers, composed of two thousand sappers, all veterans,
+covered with honourable scars; by the fourth of artillery of the line,
+the very regiment in which the Emperor had been made a captain five
+and twenty years <span class="pagenum"><a id="page195" name="page195"></a>(p. 195)</span> before; then the two battalions of the
+fifth of the line, and the faithful hussars of the fourth.""</p>
+
+<p>Never did a besieged town exhibit a similar spectacle; the besiegers,
+with arms reversed, and marching in joyful irregularity, approached
+the walls singing. No noise of arms, no warlike shouts from the
+soldiers, rose to affright the air: nothing was heard but repeated
+acclamations of "<span lang="fr">Grenoble</span> for ever! France for ever! Napoleon for
+ever!" no cries but those of the most unrestrained gaiety, and the
+purest enthusiasm. The garrison, the national guard, the
+town's-people, spread over the ramparts, beheld at first with
+surprise, with emotion, these transports of joy and attachment. It was
+not long before they shared them; and the besiegers and besieged,
+united by the same thoughts, the same sentiments, uttered at once the
+rallying words, "Long live the Emperor!" The people and the soldiers
+repaired to the gates, which were in an instant beaten down, and
+Napoleon, surrounded, thronged by an idolizing crowd, made his
+triumphant entry into <span lang="fr">Grenoble</span>. A few moments after, the people came
+and brought him the fragments of the gates with trumpets sounding, and
+said, "For want of the keys of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page196" name="page196"></a>(p. 196)</span> the good town of <span lang="fr">Grenoble</span>,
+here are the gates for you."</p>
+
+<p>The possession of this place was of the highest importance to
+Napoleon: it afforded him a point of support, ammunition, arms, and
+artillery. He could not conceal his extreme satisfaction, and said
+repeatedly to his officers, "All is now decided; we are sure of
+getting to Paris." He questioned <span lang="fr">Labedoyère</span> at large on the state of
+Paris, and the situation of France in general. This young colonel,
+full of the noblest sentiments, expressed himself with a frankness
+that sometimes staggered Napoleon. "Sire," he said, "the French will
+do every thing for your Majesty; but then your Majesty must do every
+thing for them: <i>no more ambition, no more despotism: we are
+determined to be free and happy</i>. It is necessary, Sire, to renounce
+that system of conquest and power which occasioned the misfortunes of
+France, and of yourself."&mdash;"If I succeed," answered Napoleon, "I will
+do every thing requisite to fulfil the expectations of the nation: its
+happiness is dearer to me than my own: it is to render it free and
+happy, that I have embarked in an undertaking, which might not
+succeed, and might cost me my life; but we shall have the consolation
+of dying in our <span class="pagenum"><a id="page197" name="page197"></a>(p. 197)</span> native land."&mdash;"And of dying," added
+<span lang="fr">Labedoyère</span>, "for its honour and its liberty."</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor gave orders to have his proclamations printed in the
+course of the night, and despatched emissaries in every direction to
+announce his having entered <span lang="fr">Grenoble</span>; that Austria was for him; that
+the king of Naples was following him with eighty thousand men; ...
+and, in short, to discourage, intimidate, and curb, by false alarms
+and false confidences, the partisans and agents of the regal
+government.</p>
+
+<p>The proclamations, posted up in abundance, produced the most lively
+sensation, as at <span lang="fr">Gap</span>. In fact, never had the national pride,
+patriotism, and the noblest passions of the mind, been addressed with
+more fascination, strength, and eloquence. The soldiers and citizens
+were never tired of reading and admiring them. Every person was
+desirous of having them. Travellers, and the inhabitants of the
+neighbouring country, received an immense quantity, which they took
+upon themselves to spread abroad on their road, and to send to all
+parts.</p>
+
+<p>The next day, the 8th, the clergy, the staff-officers, the imperial
+court, the tribunals, and the civil and military authorities, came to
+acknowledge Napoleon, and to offer him their <span class="pagenum"><a id="page198" name="page198"></a>(p. 198)</span>
+congratulations. He conversed familiarly with the judges on the
+administration of justice; with the clergy on what was necessary to
+public worship; with the soldiery on the armies; with the municipal
+officers on the sufferings of the people, the towns, and the country
+places; and delighted them all by the variety of his knowledge, and
+the benevolence of his intentions. He then said to them: "I knew that
+France was unhappy; I heard its groans and its reproaches; I am come
+with the faithful companions of my exile, to deliver her from the yoke
+of the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> ... their throne is illegitimate ... my rights were
+conferred on me by the nation, by the unanimous will of the French
+people: they are no other rights than theirs.... I am come to resume
+them; not to reign, the throne is nothing to me: not to revenge
+myself, for I shall forget every thing that has been said, done, or
+written, since the capitulation of Paris; but to restore to you the
+rights, which the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> have taken from you, and to emancipate you
+from the subscription to the glebe, the vassalage, and the feudal
+system, with which you are threatened by them.... I have been too fond
+of war; I will make war no more: I will leave my neighbours at rest:
+we must forget, that we have been masters of the world.... I wish to
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page199" name="page199"></a>(p. 199)</span> reign, in order to render our lovely France free, happy, and
+independent; and to place its happiness on foundations not to be
+shaken; <i>I wish to be less its sovereign than the first and best of
+its citizens.</i> I might have come to attack the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> with ships and
+numerous fleets; but I would have no assistance from <span lang="fr">Murat</span> or from
+Austria. I know my fellow citizens, and the defenders of my country,
+and I reckon on their patriotism."</p>
+
+<p>The audience ended, the Emperor reviewed the garrison, consisting of
+five or six thousand men. As soon as he appeared, the sky was darkened
+by the multitude of sabres, bayonets, grenadier-caps, <i><span lang="fr">chacos</span></i>, <abbr title="etcetera">&amp;c.</abbr>,
+which the people and the soldiers raised in the air, amid the most
+lively demonstrations of attachment and love.</p>
+
+<p>He said a few words to the people, which could not be heard, and
+repaired to the front of the fourth of artillery. "It was among you,"
+said he, "that I began my career in arms. I love you all as old
+comrades; I have observed you in the field of battle, and I have
+always been satisfied with your conduct. But I hope, that we shall
+have no occasion for your guns: France has need of moderation and
+repose. The army will enjoy, in the bosom of peace, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page200" name="page200"></a>(p. 200)</span> the
+benefits I have already conferred on it, and those I shall yet bestow.
+In me the soldiers have found again their father: they may reckon upon
+the rewards they have deserved."</p>
+
+<p>After this review, the garrison set out on its march to Lyons.</p>
+
+<p>In the evening Napoleon wrote to the Empress and Prince Joseph. He
+directed him to make known at Rome, at Naples, and at <span lang="it">Porto Ferrajo</span>,
+that his enterprise had every appearance of being crowned with the
+most speedy and brilliant success. The couriers departed with great
+noise; and care was taken to make known, that they were carrying to
+the Empress the news of the Emperor's return, with orders to come
+immediately, with her son, and join him.</p>
+
+<p>On the 9th the Emperor declared the establishment of the imperial
+power by three decrees.</p>
+
+<p>The first directed all public acts, and the administration of justice,
+to be executed in his name from the 15th of March.</p>
+
+<p>The two others organized the national guards of the five departments
+of the Upper and Lower Alps, <span lang="fr">la Drôme, Mont Blanc</span>, and the <span lang="fr">Izère</span>, and
+entrusted to the honour and patriotism of the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page201" name="page201"></a>(p. 201)</span> inhabitants of
+the seventh division the fortified towns of <span lang="fr">Briançon, Grenoble, Fort
+Barreaux, Colmar</span>, <abbr title="etcetera">&amp;c.</abbr></p>
+
+<p>The moment he set off, he addressed to the inhabitants of the
+department of the <span lang="fr">Izère</span> the following proclamation:</p>
+
+<p class="p2 left10">Citizens,</p>
+
+<p>When in my exile I learned all the misfortunes, that oppressed the
+nation; that all the rights of the people were disregarded, and that I
+was reproached with the state of repose in which I lived: I lost not a
+moment: I embarked on board a slight vessel, crossed the sea in the
+midst of ships of war belonging to various nations, landed alone on
+the shores of our country, and thought of nothing but of arriving with
+the rapidity of an eagle in this good city of <span lang="fr">Grenoble</span>, of the
+patriotism of which, and its personal attachment to me, I was well
+aware. Men of Dauphiny, you have answered my expectation.</p>
+
+<p>I have endured, not without a wounded heart, but without being
+dejected, the misfortunes to which for a twelvemonth I have been a
+prey. The spectacle displayed to my eyes by the people on my journey
+has inspired me with the most lively emotions. Though a few clouds
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page202" name="page202"></a>(p. 202)</span> have altered the high opinion I entertained of the French
+people, what I have seen has convinced me, that they are still worthy
+of the name of the Great People, which I gave them twenty years ago.</p>
+
+<p>Men of Dauphiny, about to quit your country, to repair to my good city
+of Lyons, I could not refrain from expressing to you all the esteem,
+with which your lofty sentiments have inspired me. My heart is filled
+with the emotions, that you have excited in it, and I shall never
+forget them.</p>
+
+<p class="p2">The news of the Emperor's landing did not reach Paris till the 5th of
+March, at night. It transpired on the 6th; and on the 7th a royal
+proclamation appeared in the <span lang="fr">Moniteur</span>, convoking the chambers
+immediately; and a decree, that placed Napoleon, and all who should
+join or assist him, out of the protection of the law<a id="footnotetag47" name="footnotetag47"></a><a href="#footnote47" title="Go to footnote 47">[47]</a>; without any
+farther particulars.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page203" name="page203"></a>(p. 203)</span> On the 8th the <span lang="fr">Moniteur</span> and other newspapers announced, that
+Bonaparte had landed with eleven hundred men, most of whom had already
+deserted him; that he was wandering in the mountains, accompanied only
+by a few individuals; that he had been refused provision, was in want
+of every thing, and, pursued and on the point of being surrounded by
+the troops sent against him from <span lang="fr">Toulon, Marseilles, Valence</span>, and
+<span lang="fr">Grenoble</span>, he must speedily expiate his rash and criminal enterprise.</p>
+
+<p>This news struck all parties with astonishment, and made different
+impressions on them, according to their different sentiments and
+opinions.</p>
+
+<p>The discontented had no doubt of the success of the Emperor, and the
+ruin of the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page204" name="page204"></a>(p. 204)</span> The courtiers regretted that there was not sufficient danger
+in this mad and audacious enterprise, to give at least some value to
+their attachment.</p>
+
+<p>The emigrants looked at it with pity, turned it into ridicule; and, if
+they had wanted nothing more than jests, abuse, and swaggering, to
+beat Napoleon, there could have been no doubt of their victory.</p>
+
+<p>The government itself participated in their boasting and security.</p>
+
+<p>Fresh despatches soon made known the progress of Napoleon.</p>
+
+<p>The Count <span lang="fr">d'Artois</span>, the Duke of <span lang="fr">Orléans</span>, and Marshal Macdonald, set
+off hastily for Lyons.</p>
+
+<p>The royalists were uneasy, the government removed their fears.</p>
+
+<p>The Count <span lang="fr">d'Artois</span>, they said, at the head of fifteen thousand
+national guards, and ten thousand of the troops of the line, must stop
+him before Lyons.</p>
+
+<p>General <span lang="fr">Marchand</span>, General <span lang="fr">Duverney</span>, the Prince of <span lang="de">Essling</span>, and the
+Duke <span lang="fr">d'Angoulême</span>, were getting into his rear, and would cut off his
+retreat.</p>
+
+<p>General <span lang="fr">Le Courbe</span> was man&oelig;uvring on his flanks.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page205" name="page205"></a>(p. 205)</span> Marshal <span lang="fr">Oudinot</span> was arriving with his faithful royal
+grenadiers.</p>
+
+<p>The national guards of <span lang="fr">Marseilles</span>, and the whole population of the
+south, were marching from all quarters in pursuit of him; and it was
+impossible for him to escape.</p>
+
+<p>This was the 10th of March.</p>
+
+<p>The next day an officer of the King's household appeared in the
+balcony of the <span lang="fr">Tuileries</span>, and, waving his hat, announced, that the
+King had just received an official account of the Duke of <span lang="fr">Orléans</span>, at
+the head of twenty thousand men of the national guard of Lyons, having
+attacked Bonaparte on the side towards <span lang="fr">Bourgoing</span>, and completely
+beaten him.</p>
+
+<p>The same day information was given, that Generals <span lang="fr">d'Erlon, Lefevre
+Desnouettes</span>, and <span lang="fr">Lallemand</span>, who had attempted to seduce the troops
+under their orders, had completely failed, and taken flight<a id="footnotetag48" name="footnotetag48"></a><a href="#footnote48" title="Go to footnote 48">[48]</a>.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page206" name="page206"></a>(p. 206)</span> The malecontents were in doubt: the royalists were
+intoxicated.</p>
+
+<p>On the 12th, the victory of the Duke of <span lang="fr">Orléans</span> was contradicted. The
+official paper announced, that Bonaparte must have slept at <span lang="fr">Bourgoing</span>;
+that he was expected to enter Lyons on the evening of the 10th of
+March; <span class="pagenum"><a id="page207" name="page207"></a>(p. 207)</span> and that it appeared certain, that <span lang="fr">Grenoble</span> had not
+yet opened its gates to him.</p>
+
+<p>The Count <span lang="fr">d'Artois</span> soon arrived, and confirmed by his return the
+taking of Lyons, and the inutility of his efforts.</p>
+
+<p>The alarm was renewed.</p>
+
+<p>The King, whose countenance was at the same time dignified and
+affecting, invoked by eloquent proclamations the attachment of the
+French, and the courage and fidelity of the army.</p>
+
+<p>The army maintained silence. The judicial bodies, the civil
+authorities, the order of advocates, and a number of individual
+citizens, answered the King's appeal by addresses testifying their
+love and fidelity.</p>
+
+<p>The two chambers equally laid at the foot of the throne the expression
+of their sentiments: but their language differed.</p>
+
+<p>"Sire," said the Chamber of Peers, "hitherto paternal goodness has
+marked all the acts of your government<a id="footnotetag49" name="footnotetag49"></a><a href="#footnote49" title="Go to footnote 49">[49]</a>. If it be necessary that
+the laws should be rendered more severe, you would no doubt lament it;
+but the two chambers, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page208" name="page208"></a>(p. 208)</span> animated with the same spirit, would
+be eager to concur in every measure that the importance of
+circumstances, and the safety of the people, may require."</p>
+
+<p>"Whatever faults may have been committed," said the Chamber of
+Deputies, "the present is not the moment for inquiring into them. It
+is the duty of all of us, to unite against the common enemy, and
+afterwards endeavour, to render this crisis beneficial to the security
+of the throne and its public liberty."</p>
+
+<p>The King did not stop at empty proclamations. He decreed,</p>
+
+<p>That a new army should be assembled in front of Paris, under the
+orders of the Duke of <span lang="fr">Berri</span> and the command of Marshal Macdonald:</p>
+
+<p>That all the soldiers on furlough, or conditionally discharged, should
+rejoin their corps:</p>
+
+<p>That all the half-pay officers should be called out:</p>
+
+<p>That the three millions of national guards of the kingdom should take
+up arms, in order to check the factious and disperse their meetings,
+<i>while the army took the field</i>:</p>
+
+<p>That the young national guards, who were desirous of forming a part of
+the acting army, should be armed and accoutred, and sent to the parts
+that were threatened.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page209" name="page209"></a>(p. 209)</span> That to render useful the services of those brave Frenchmen,
+who on all sides were demanding to be led against the enemy,
+battalions of royal volunteers should be formed, and make a part of
+the army of the Duke of <span lang="fr">Berri</span>.</p>
+
+<p>Marshal Ney, whose popularity and influence were well known, was
+appointed to take the command of the troops of the east.</p>
+
+<p>The Duke <span lang="fr">de Feltre</span> took the place of Marshal <span lang="fr">Soult</span>.</p>
+
+<p>In short, the King omitted nothing, that could concur in protecting
+his throne from the dangers, with which it was threatened.</p>
+
+<p>Such measures, sufficient to stop an army of three hundred thousand
+men, could only attest the success of Napoleon; and yet the ministry
+daily caused the most encouraging reports to be spread among the
+people, and confirmed by the newspapers.</p>
+
+<p><abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Montesquiou</span>, faithful to the system of deception he had adopted,
+continued to mislead the deputies, cheating them by false
+intelligence, and lulling them with hopes, which he himself no longer
+entertained. He knew the intoxication, which was excited in every
+place by the approach and passage of Napoleon. He knew, that he was
+master of <span lang="fr">Grenoble</span> and Lyons; that the troops attempted to be opposed
+to him <span class="pagenum"><a id="page210" name="page210"></a>(p. 210)</span> had joined his with enthusiasm: and nevertheless he
+announced to the chamber, "that the population of all the departments
+invaded by the adventurer of the island of Elba loudly manifested
+their indignation against this audacious robber; that they may have
+been surprised, but not subjugated; that all his summonses of places,
+and the orders he had attempted to issue to the local authorities, had
+been rejected with firmness; that the Lyonese had displayed the
+attachment, that was to be expected from their noble character; that
+the departments of Burgundy, <span lang="fr">Franche Comté, Lorraine, Champagne</span>,
+Picardy, <abbr title="etcetera etcetera">&amp;c. &amp;c.</abbr> rivalled each other in their attachment and energy;
+that the good disposition of the troops was answerable to that of the
+citizens; and that all together, generals, officers, soldiers, and
+citizens, concurred in the defence of their country and of their
+King."</p>
+
+<p>These political juggleries were not without effect. They satisfied
+some credulous men, and inflamed the courage and imaginations of a few
+youths. The enrolments of volunteers were more numerous: a certain
+number of pupils of the schools of law and physic offered their
+services, and traversed the streets of Paris, shouting "Long live the
+King! Down with the Corsican! Down with the tyrant! <abbr title="etcetera">&amp;c.</abbr>"</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page211" name="page211"></a>(p. 211)</span> This effervescent movement could not be durable; and whatever
+pains were taken to deceive the metropolis, the truths announced by
+travellers and private letters opposed these ministerial falsehoods.</p>
+
+<p>The defection of Marshal Ney soon came to tear off the veil, and
+spread affright and consternation among the ministers and their
+partisans.</p>
+
+<p>The King repaired to the Chamber of Deputies, in the hope of
+confirming their attachment, and of dissipating by a solemn oath those
+doubts of his adherence to the charter, and of his intention to
+maintain it, which his ministers occasioned. Never was a more imposing
+and pathetic spectacle exhibited. What heart could steel itself
+against the sorrows of that august and aged man, against the sound of
+his mournful voice? Those prophetic words, "I fear nothing for myself,
+but I fear for France: at sixty years of age can I better close my
+career, than by dying in defence of the state?" These words of the
+King excited the most lively emotion, and tears in abundance fell from
+every eye.</p>
+
+<p>The oath pronounced by the King, to maintain the charter, was
+immediately repeated by the Count <span lang="fr">d'Artois</span>, who had hitherto refrained
+from it. "We swear," said he, "on our <span class="pagenum"><a id="page212" name="page212"></a>(p. 212)</span> honour, I and my
+family, to live and die faithful to our King, and to the
+constitutional charter, which assures the happiness of France." But
+these tardy protestations could not repair the mischief, that the
+disloyal conduct of the government had done to the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> and their
+cause.</p>
+
+<p>In vain did the words country, liberty, and constitution, recur in
+every discourse, and in every proclamation.</p>
+
+<p>In vain was it solemnly promised, that France, as soon as it was
+delivered, should receive all the securities claimed by the public
+voice, and that the press should recover perfect freedom.</p>
+
+<p>In vain was the lustre and the prerogative, of which the legion of
+honour had been despoiled, offered to be restored to it.</p>
+
+<p>In vain were pompous eulogies and brilliant promises lavished on the
+army.</p>
+
+<p>The time was past.</p>
+
+<p>The minister had robbed the King of confidence, which is the prime
+agent of the ascendancy of princes over the people; and of strength,
+which can alone supply the place of confidence, and command fear and
+obedience.</p>
+
+<p>The approach of Napoleon;</p>
+
+<p>The desertion of Marshal Ney;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page213" name="page213"></a>(p. 213)</span> The declaration made by those generals, who still retained
+their fidelity, that the troops would not fight against the Emperor,
+left the government no doubt of the fate that awaited it.</p>
+
+<p>From that moment there was no longer harmony in their designs, or
+concert in the means of executing them.</p>
+
+<p>Orders and counter-orders were given on the one hand, and revoked on
+the other. Schemes of every kind, all equally inconsiderate and
+impracticable, were approved and rejected, resumed and abandoned.</p>
+
+<p>The chambers and the government had ceased to act in unison. The
+ministers complained of the deputies; the deputies publicly demanded
+of the King the dismissal of his ministers, and that he would place
+around himself men, "who have been the constant defenders of justice
+and liberty, and whose names shall be a guarantee for the interest of
+all<a id="footnotetag50" name="footnotetag50"></a><a href="#footnote50" title="Go to footnote 50">[50]</a>."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page214" name="page214"></a>(p. 214)</span> The same disorder, the same disunion, manifested themselves
+every where at the same time: there was only one point in which people
+agreed; that all was lost.</p>
+
+<p>In fact so it was.</p>
+
+<p>The people, whom the nobles had humbled, vexed, or terrified by
+haughty and tyrannical pretensions;</p>
+
+<p>They who had acquired national domains, whom they had wished to
+dispossess;</p>
+
+<p>The protestants, who had been sacrificed;</p>
+
+<p>The magistrates, who had been turned out;</p>
+
+<p>The persons in office, who had been reduced to want;</p>
+
+<p>The soldiers, officers, and generals, who had been despised and
+ill-treated;</p>
+
+<p>The revolutionists, who had been incessantly insulted and menaced;</p>
+
+<p>The friends of justice, and of liberty, who had been abused;</p>
+
+<p>All the French, whom the government had reduced, as it were, in spite
+of themselves, to wish for another order of things; eagerly embraced
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page215" name="page215"></a>(p. 215)</span> the cause of Napoleon, which had become the national cause
+through the faults of the government.</p>
+
+<p>Royalty had no defenders left but women <i>and their handkerchiefs</i>;
+priests without influence; nobles without courage; body guards without
+youth, or without experience.</p>
+
+<p>The legions of the national guard, on which such great reliance had
+been placed, were reviewed by their colonel-general: he harangued them
+on the charter, and the tyranny of Bonaparte; he told them, that he
+would march at their head, and said: "Let those, who love their King,
+come out from their ranks, and follow me." Scarcely two hundred obeyed
+the order.</p>
+
+<p>The royal volunteers, who had made so much noise, when they expected
+to be victors without incurring any peril, had gradually dispersed;
+and those, whom the approach of danger had neither intimidated nor
+cooled, were too few to have any weight in the balance.</p>
+
+<p>The government had one sole and last hope remaining: it was, dare I
+say it? that Napoleon would be assassinated.</p>
+
+<p>The same men who had preached up a civil war, <i>and declared, that it
+would be shameful not <span class="pagenum"><a id="page216" name="page216"></a>(p. 216)</span> to have one</i>; soiled the walls of
+Paris with provocations to murder, and fanatic praises bestowed
+beforehand on murderers. Emissaries, mixing in the various groups of
+the people, endeavoured to put the poniard into the hands of the new
+<span lang="fr">Jacques Clements</span>. A public act had proscribed Napoleon; a reward was
+publicly offered for his head. This call for a crime, which indignant
+France first heard from the assassins of <span lang="fr">Coligny</span>, was repeated by men,
+who, like them, had the sacred words of morality, humanity, and
+religion, continually in their mouths, and who, like them, thirsted
+only after vengeance and blood.</p>
+
+<p>But while they were conspiring at Paris to assassinate Napoleon, he
+peaceably pursued his triumphant march.</p>
+
+<p>Quitting <span lang="fr">Grenoble</span> on the 9th, he came that night and slept at
+<span lang="fr">Burgoing</span>. <a id="footnotetag51" name="footnotetag51"></a><a href="#footnote51" title="Go to footnote 51">[51]</a>""The crowd and the enthusiasm continued to increase:
+"We have long expected you," said all these brave fellows to the
+Emperor; "at length you are come, to deliver France from the insolence
+of the nobility, the pretensions of the priests, and the disgrace of a
+foreign yoke."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page217" name="page217"></a>(p. 217)</span> ""The Emperor, being fatigued<a id="footnotetag52" name="footnotetag52"></a><a href="#footnote52" title="Go to footnote 52">[52]</a>, was in his calash, the
+horse walking, surrounded by a crowd of peasants, singing songs, that
+expressed the noble sentiments of these brave Dauphinese. "Ah!" said
+the Emperor, "I here find again the sentiments, which twenty years ago
+led me to hail France by the name of the great nation! Yes, you are
+still the great nation, and you shall ever be so."""</p>
+
+<p>They approached Lyons: the Emperor had sent his emissaries before him,
+who informed him, that the Count <span lang="fr">d'Artois</span>, the Duke of <span lang="fr">Orléans</span>, and
+Marshal Macdonald, had determined to defend the city, and that they
+were going to break down the bridges <span lang="fr">de la Guillotière</span> and <span lang="fr">Moraud</span>.
+""The Emperor laughed at these ridiculous preparations: he could not
+doubt the disposition of the Lyonese, still less those of the
+soldiers; yet he gave orders to General <span lang="fr">Bertrand</span>, to collect boats at
+the <span lang="fr">Mirbel</span>, intending to cross the river in the night, and cut off the
+roads to <span lang="fr">Moulins</span> and <span lang="fr">Macon</span> for the Prince, who wanted to prevent his
+passing the Rhone. At four o'clock a reconnoitring party of the
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page218" name="page218"></a>(p. 218)</span> fourth hussars arrived at <span lang="fr">la Guillotière</span>, and were received
+with shouts of "Long live the Emperor!" by the immense population of
+the suburb, that has always been distinguished for its attachment to
+its country.""</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor immediately countermanded the passage at <span lang="fr">Mirbel</span>, and
+desirous of availing himself of this first enthusiastic movement, as
+at <span lang="fr">Grenoble</span>, galloped forward to the suburb of <span lang="fr">Guillotière</span>.</p>
+
+<p>The Count <span lang="fr">d'Artois</span>, less fortunate, could not even succeed in opposing
+to his adversary a shadow of defence.</p>
+
+<p>He was desirous of destroying the bridges, but the city opposed it.</p>
+
+<p>The troops, whose attachment he fancied he could purchase by the
+distribution of money, or the bait of rewards, had remained deaf to
+his words, his entreaties, his promises. Passing before the thirteenth
+regiment of dragoons, he said to a brave fellow, decorated with three
+chevrons and with scars: "Come, comrade, shout Long live the
+King!"&mdash;"No, Sir," answered the brave dragoon, "No soldier will fight
+against his father; I can only answer you by saying Long live the
+Emperor!" Confused and in despair, he exclaimed in a sorrowful tone,
+"All is lost!" and these words, instantly spreading <span class="pagenum"><a id="page219" name="page219"></a>(p. 219)</span> from one
+to another, only strengthened the prevailing ill will or
+discouragement<a id="footnotetag53" name="footnotetag53"></a><a href="#footnote53" title="Go to footnote 53">[53]</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Marshal Macdonald, however, who was well known to the troops, had
+succeeded in barricading the bridge of <span lang="fr">la Guillotière</span>, and led two
+battalions of infantry thither in person; when the hussars of Napoleon
+came out from the suburb, and presented themselves before the bridge,
+preceded, surrounded, and followed, by all the youth of the place.</p>
+
+<p>The marshal restrained the soldiers a few minutes: but moved, seduced,
+borne away, by the incitements of the people and the hussars, they
+rushed to the barricadoes, burst them, and were quickly in the arms
+and in the ranks of the soldiers of Napoleon.</p>
+
+<p>The Count <span lang="fr">d'Artois</span>, foreseeing this defection, had quitted Lyons,
+unaccompanied by a single <span lang="fr">gendarme</span>, but escorted by a detachment of
+the thirteenth dragoons, commanded by lieutenant <span lang="fr">Marchebout</span>. It is due
+to the troops to say, that they did not cease to respect him, and that
+he ran no risk<a id="footnotetag54" name="footnotetag54"></a><a href="#footnote54" title="Go to footnote 54">[54]</a>.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page220" name="page220"></a>(p. 220)</span> At five in the evening the whole garrison rushed out to meet
+Napoleon.</p>
+
+<p>An hour after, the imperial army took possession of the city.</p>
+
+<p>At seven Napoleon made his solemn entry, proceeding alone before his
+troops, but preceded and followed by an immense crowd, expressing, by
+incessant acclamations, the intoxication, happiness, and pride, they
+felt at seeing him again. He alighted at the archbishop's palace, and
+quietly took his rest in the very places, which the Count <span lang="fr">d'Artois</span>,
+yielding to despair, had just watered with his tears.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon immediately entrusted the guarding of his person, and the
+interior charge of the palace, to the national guard. He would not
+accept the services of the horse-guards. "Our institutions," said he
+to them, "know nothing of national guards on horseback; besides, you
+behaved so ill with the Count <span lang="fr">d'Artois</span>, that I will have nothing to
+say to you."</p>
+
+<p>In fact the Emperor, who had always respected misfortune, had made
+inquiries concerning the Count <span lang="fr">d'Artois</span> on his arrival; and had
+learned, that the nobles, of whom the horse-guards <span class="pagenum"><a id="page221" name="page221"></a>(p. 221)</span> were
+chiefly composed, after having sworn to the prince to die for him, had
+deserted him; one excepted, who remained faithfully attached to his
+escort, till the moment he thought his life and liberty out of all
+danger.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor did not confine himself to commendation of the conduct of
+this generous Lyonese. "I never left a noble action," said he,
+"without reward:" and he appointed him a member of the Legion of
+Honour.</p>
+
+<p>I was at Lyons the moment when Napoleon arrived. He knew it, and sent
+for me that very evening. "Well!" said he to me with a smile, "you did
+not expect to see me again so soon<a id="footnotetag55" name="footnotetag55"></a><a href="#footnote55" title="Go to footnote 55">[55]</a>."&mdash;"No, Sire; your Majesty
+alone is capable of occasioning such surprises."&mdash;"What do they say of
+all this at Paris?"&mdash;"Why, Sire, there, as here, they are rejoiced, no
+doubt, at your Majesty's happy return."&mdash;"And public opinion, how is
+that?"&mdash;"Sire, it is greatly changed: formerly we thought of nothing
+but <span class="pagenum"><a id="page222" name="page222"></a>(p. 222)</span> glory, now we think only of liberty. The struggle that
+has arisen between the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> and the nation has revealed to us our
+rights; it has engendered in men's minds a number of liberal ideas,
+that did not exist in your Majesty's time; people feel, people
+experience, the necessity of being free; and the most certain means of
+pleasing the French would be to promise, and to give them, laws truly
+popular."&mdash;"I know that the discussions they<a id="footnotetag56" name="footnotetag56"></a><a href="#footnote56" title="Go to footnote 56">[56]</a> have suffered to take
+place, have diminished the respect for power, and enfeebled it.
+Liberal ideas have resumed all the ground I had gained for it. I shall
+not attempt to reconquer it: no one should attempt to contend with a
+nation; it is the earthen pot against the iron pot. The French shall
+have reason to be satisfied with me. I know, that there is both
+pleasure and glory in rendering a great people free and happy. I will
+give pledges to France: I did not stint it in glory, I will not stint
+it in liberty. I will retain no farther power than is necessary to
+enable me to govern. Power is not incompatible with liberty: on the
+contrary, liberty is never more entire, than when power is well
+established. When it is weak, it is captious: <span class="pagenum"><a id="page223" name="page223"></a>(p. 223)</span> when it is
+strong, it sleeps in tranquillity, and leaves the reins loose on the
+neck of liberty. I know what is requisite for the French; we shall
+settle that point: but no licentiousness, no anarchy; for anarchy
+would lead us to the despotism of the republicans, the most fertile of
+all despotisms in tyrannic acts, because every body takes a share in
+it.... Do they suppose we shall come to a battle?"&mdash;"They do not think
+it: the government have never had confidence in the soldiery; it has
+made itself detested by the officers; and all the troops that may be
+opposed to your Majesty's, will be so many reinforcements sent
+you."&mdash;"I think so too: and the marshals?"&mdash;"Sire, they cannot but be
+apprehensive, that your Majesty will remember Fontainbleau; and
+perhaps it will be well to remove their fears, and to make known to
+them personally your Majesty's intention of consigning every thing to
+oblivion."&mdash;"No, I will not write to them; they would consider me as
+under obligations to them; and I will be obliged to no person. The
+troops are well disposed, the officers are good, and if the marshals
+wished to restrain them, they would be hurried along by them ... where
+is my guard?"&mdash;"I believe at <span lang="fr">Metz</span> and at <span lang="fr">Nancy</span>."&mdash;"Of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page224" name="page224"></a>(p. 224)</span> that I
+am sure, do what they will, they will never corrupt it. What are
+<span lang="fr">Augereau</span> and <span lang="fr">Marmont</span> about?"&mdash;"I do not know."&mdash;"What is Ney doing? On
+what terms is he with the king?"&mdash;"Sometimes good, sometimes bad: I
+believe he has had reason to complain of the court on account of his
+wife."&mdash;"His wife is an affected creature; no doubt she has attempted
+to play the part of a great lady, and the old dowagers have ridiculed
+her. Has Ney any command?"&mdash;"I do not think he has, Sire."&mdash;"Is he one
+of us?"&mdash;"The part he took in your abdication"--"Ay, I read that at
+<span lang="it">Porto Ferrajo</span>: he boasted of having ill-treated me, of having laid his
+pistols on my table: it was all false. Had he dared to fail of respect
+to me, I would have ordered him to be shot. A heap of tales has been
+spread respecting my abdication. I abdicated, not in consequence of
+their advice, but because my army was out of its senses: besides, I
+would not have a civil war. It was never to my taste. It was said,
+that <span lang="fr">Augereau</span>, when I met him, loaded me with reproaches ... it was a
+lie: no one of my generals would have dared, in my presence, to forget
+what was due to me. Had I known of the proclamation of <span lang="fr">Augereau</span>, I
+would have <span class="pagenum"><a id="page225" name="page225"></a>(p. 225)</span> forbidden him my presence<a id="footnotetag57" name="footnotetag57"></a><a href="#footnote57" title="Go to footnote 57">[57]</a>: cowards only
+insult misfortune. His proclamation, which I was reported to have had
+in my pocket, was unknown to me till after our interview. It was
+General Koller who showed it me; but let us quit these popular
+rumours. What has been done at the <span lang="fr">Tuileries</span>?"&mdash;"Nothing has been
+altered, Sire; even the eagles have not yet been removed."&mdash;(Smiling)
+"They must have thought my arrangement of them admirable."&mdash;"So I
+presume, Sire: it has been said, that the Count <span lang="fr">d'Artois</span> went through
+all the apartments immediately after his arrival, and could not cease
+to admire them."&mdash;"I can readily believe it. What have they done with
+my pictures?"&mdash;"Some have been taken away, but that of the battle of
+Austerlitz is still in the council-chamber."&mdash;"And the theatre?"&mdash;"It
+has not been touched: it is no longer used."&mdash;"What is Talma
+doing?"&mdash;"Why, Sire, he continues to deserve and obtain public
+applause."&mdash;"I shall see him <span class="pagenum"><a id="page226" name="page226"></a>(p. 226)</span> again with pleasure. Have you
+been at court?"&mdash;"Yes, Sire, I have been presented."&mdash;"I am told, they
+all have the air of upstarts of yesterday; that they know not how to
+utter a word, or take a single step, with propriety: have you seen
+them on grand public days?"&mdash;"No, Sire, but I can assure your Majesty,
+that people pay as little regard to ceremony at the <span lang="fr">Tuileries</span>, as at
+their own homes: they go thither in dirty boots, common frock-coats,
+and round hats."&mdash;"That must have a very majestic appearance. But how
+do all those old <i>thicksculls</i> spend their money? for every thing has
+been restored to them."&mdash;"But, probably, Sire, they wish to wear out
+their old clothes."&mdash;"Poor France! into what hands hast thou thrust
+thyself! And the king, what sort of a countenance has he?"&mdash;"He has a
+tolerably fine head."&mdash;"Is his coin handsome?"&mdash;"Of this your Majesty
+may judge: here is a twenty-franc piece."&mdash;"What! they have not
+re-coined louis: I am surprised at this. (Turning the piece over) He
+does not look as if he would starve himself: but observe, they have
+taken away <i><span lang="fr">Dieu protège la France</span></i> (God protect France), to restore
+their <i><span lang="it">Domine, salvum fac regem</span></i> (Lord, preserve the King). This is as
+they always were: every thing for themselves, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page227" name="page227"></a>(p. 227)</span> nothing for
+France. Where is <span lang="fr">Maret</span>? where is <span lang="fr">Caulincourt</span>? where is <span lang="fr">Lavalette</span>?
+where is <span lang="fr">Fouché</span>?"&mdash;"They are all at Paris."&mdash;"And <span lang="fr">Môlé</span>?"&mdash;"He, too, is
+at Paris; I observed him a short time ago at the Queen's."&mdash;"Have we
+any persons hereabout, who were nearly attached to me?"&mdash;"I do not
+know, Sire."&mdash;"You must inquire, and bring them to me. I should be
+glad to be thoroughly acquainted with the spirit of the times, and
+know something of the present state of affairs. What does Hortense
+do?"&mdash;"Sire, her house is still the resort of men, who know how to
+appreciate wit and elegance: and the Queen, though without a throne,
+is not less an object of the respect and homage of all Paris."&mdash;"She
+did a very foolish thing, in exhibiting herself as a spectacle before
+the tribunals. They who advised her to it were blockheads. Why, too,
+did she go and demand the title of duchess?"&mdash;"She, Sire, did not
+demand it, it was the Emperor Alexander...."&mdash;"No matter, she ought
+not to have accepted, any more than demanded it: she should have
+called herself Madame Bonaparte: this name is full as good as any
+other. Besides, what right had she to have her son made a duke of <span lang="fr"><abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr>
+Leu</span>, and a peer of the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>? Louis was <span class="pagenum"><a id="page228" name="page228"></a>(p. 228)</span> in the right to
+oppose it: he was sensible, that the name of her son was sufficiently
+honourable, not to suffer himself to change it. If Josephine had been
+alive, she would have prevented her from engaging in such a foolish
+piece of business. Was she much regretted?"&mdash;"Yes, Sire, your Majesty
+knows how much she was beloved and honoured by the French."&mdash;"She
+deserved it. She was an excellent woman: she had a great deal of
+sense. I greatly regretted her too, and the day when I heard of her
+death was one of the most unhappy of my life. Was there a public
+mourning for her?"&mdash;"No, Sire. Indeed I think she would have been
+refused the honours due to her rank, had not the Emperor Alexander
+insisted on their being paid her."&mdash;"So I heard at the time, but I did
+not believe it. He was no way interested in it."&mdash;"The generosity of
+Alexander was not confined within any limits: he showed himself the
+protector of the Empress, the Queen, Prince Eugene, the Duke of
+Vicenza, and a number of other persons of distinction, who, but for
+him, would have been persecuted or ill treated."&mdash;"You love him, it
+seems."&mdash;"Sire...."&mdash;"Is the national guard of Paris well
+disposed?"&mdash;"I cannot positively affirm it; but of this at least I am
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page229" name="page229"></a>(p. 229)</span> certain, that if it do not declare for your Majesty, at
+least it will not act against us."&mdash;"I imagine so too. What is it
+supposed, that the foreigners will think of my return?"&mdash;"It is
+thought, that Austria will connect itself with your Majesty, and that
+Russia will behold the disgrace of the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> without regret."&mdash;"Why
+so?"&mdash;"It is said, Sire, that Alexander was not pleased with the
+princes while at Paris. That the predilection of the king for England,
+and his attributing his crown to the Prince Regent, offended
+him."&mdash;"It is well to know that. Has he seen my son?"&mdash;"Yes, Sire: I
+have been assured, that he embraced him with a tenderness truly
+paternal, and exclaimed: He is a charming fellow: how have I been
+deceived!"&mdash;"What did he mean by that?"&mdash;"They say he had been
+informed, that the young prince was rickety and imbecile."&mdash;"Wretches!
+he is an admirable child: he gives every indication of becoming a
+distinguished character. He will be an honour to his age. Is it true,
+that so much was made of Alexander at Paris?"&mdash;"Yes, Sire, nobody else
+was attended to but he: the other sovereigns appeared as if they were
+his <span lang="fr">aides-de-camp</span>."&mdash;"In fact, he did a great deal for Paris: but for
+him the English would have <span class="pagenum"><a id="page230" name="page230"></a>(p. 230)</span> ruined it, and the Prussians
+would have set it on fire.&mdash;He acted his part well ... (with a smile)
+if I were not Napoleon, perhaps I would be Alexander."</p>
+
+<p>The next day he reviewed the division of Lyons in <span lang="fr">Bellecour</span> Square. "I
+shall see that square again with pleasure," said he, to the chiefs of
+the national guard, who stood round him: "I remember, that I raised it
+from its ruins, and laid the first stone of it fifteen years ago." He
+went out merely preceded by a few hussars. A crowd of men, old men,
+women and children, thronged the bridges, the quays, and the streets.
+They rushed under the horses' feet to hear him, to see him, to have a
+closer view of him, to touch his garments ... it was an actual
+delirium. Scarcely had he proceeded a few steps, when the crowd, that
+had already seen him, ran to another spot, to see him again. The air
+rung with uninterrupted acclamations. It was a rolling volley of "The
+nation for ever! The Emperor for ever! Down with the priests! Down
+with the royalists!" <abbr title="etcetera">&amp;c.</abbr></p>
+
+<p>The division of <span lang="fr">Brayer</span>, as soon as reviewed, set out on its march to
+Paris.</p>
+
+<p>When the Emperor returned to the archiepiscopal palace, the great
+gallery was crowded with generals, colonels, magistrates, and public
+officers <span class="pagenum"><a id="page231" name="page231"></a>(p. 231)</span> of all ranks and kinds. You might have thought
+yourselves in the <span lang="fr">Tuileries</span>.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor stopped a few minutes: he embraced Generals <span lang="fr">Mouton
+Duvernay, Girard</span>, and other officers, whom Paris supposed to be in
+pursuit of him; and after having distributed on the right and left a
+few smiles and many compliments, he proceeded to his saloon, and
+admitted to be presented to him the imperial court, the municipal
+body, and the chiefs of the military corps and the national guard.</p>
+
+<p>He conversed a long time with them on the faults of the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>, and
+the deplorable situation in which he found France. He confessed to
+them with noble frankness, that he was not altogether inculpable for
+its misfortunes. "I was hurried on," said he, "by the course of
+events, into a wrong path. But, taught by experience, I have abjured
+that love of glory, so natural to the French, which has had such fatal
+consequences to them and to me.... I was mistaken in supposing, that
+the time was arrived for rendering France the metropolis of a great
+empire: I have renounced for ever that grand enterprise; we have
+enough of glory, we want repose.</p>
+
+<p>"It is not ambition, that has brought me back to France: it is the
+love of the country. I <span class="pagenum"><a id="page232" name="page232"></a>(p. 232)</span> could have preferred the tranquillity
+of the island of Elba to the cares of a throne, had I not known, that
+France was unhappy, and had need of me.</p>
+
+<p>"On setting foot on our dear France," continued he, after a few
+unimportant answers from his auditors, "I made a vow to render it free
+and happy: I bring nothing to it but benefits. I am returned to
+protect and defend those interests, to which our revolution has given
+birth: I return to concur with the representatives of the nation in a
+family compact, that shall preserve for ever the liberty and the
+rights of every Frenchman: henceforward it will be my ambition, and my
+glory, to effect the happiness of the great people from whom I hold
+every thing. I will not, like Louis <abbr title="18">XVIII.</abbr>, grant you a revocable
+charter; I will give you an inviolable constitution, and it shall be
+the work of the people, as well as of myself."</p>
+
+<p>Such were his words. He pronounced them with an air of such
+satisfaction, he appeared so confident of himself and of the future,
+that a man would have thought himself criminal to suspect the purity
+of his intentions, or to doubt the happiness he was about to secure to
+France.</p>
+
+<p>The language he held at Lyons we perceive was not the same, as that he
+had uttered at <span class="pagenum"><a id="page233" name="page233"></a>(p. 233)</span> <span lang="fr">Gap</span> and at <span lang="fr">Grenoble</span>. In the last-mentioned
+towns he sought principally to excite in men's minds hatred of the
+<span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>, and the love of liberty: he had spoken as a citizen, rather
+than a monarch. No formal declaration, not a single word, revealed his
+intentions. It might as well have been supposed, that he thought of
+restoring the republic, or the consulship, as the empire. At Lyons,
+there was no longer any thing vague, any thing uncertain: he spoke as
+a sovereign, and promised to give a national constitution. The idea of
+the <span lang="fr">Champ de Mai</span> had recurred to him.</p>
+
+<p>Not one of us suspected the sincerity of the promises and resolves of
+Napoleon.</p>
+
+<p>Time, reflection, misfortune, the grand teacher of mankind, had
+effected the most favourable changes in the principles of Napoleon.</p>
+
+<p>Formerly, when unforeseen obstacles arose, suddenly to thwart his
+projects, his passions, accustomed to no restraint, to respect no
+bridle, burst forth with the fury of a raging sea: he spoke, he
+ordered, he decided, as if he had been master of the earth and of the
+elements; nothing appeared to him impossible.</p>
+
+<p>After his reverse of fortune, he had learned in the calm of solitude
+and meditation, to control the violence of his will, and to subject it
+to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page234" name="page234"></a>(p. 234)</span> the yoke of reason and prudence. He had read attentively
+the writings, pamphlets, and even libels, published against him: and
+amid the revilings, calumnies, and absurdities, which they frequently
+contained, he had found useful truths, judicious observations, and
+profound views, of which he knew how to benefit himself.</p>
+
+<p>"Princes," observes the learned author of the Spirit of Laws, "have in
+their lives periods of ambition to which other passions, and even
+indolence, succeed." Napoleon's hour of indolence was not yet come:
+but to the ambition of increasing his power without limit, had
+succeeded the desire of rendering France happy, and of repairing by a
+durable peace, and a paternal government, all the evils that had been
+brought upon it by war.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor spent the evening of the 11th in his closet: his first
+thought was for the Empress. He wrote her a very tender letter, which
+began with these remarkable words. "Madam and dear wife, I have
+re-ascended my throne."</p>
+
+<p>He informed Prince Joseph<a id="footnotetag58" name="footnotetag58"></a><a href="#footnote58" title="Go to footnote 58">[58]</a> also, that he had resumed his crown; and
+directed him to make known to foreign powers, through their ministers
+to the Helvetic Confederation, that <span class="pagenum"><a id="page235" name="page235"></a>(p. 235)</span> he intended never more
+to disturb the tranquillity of Europe, and faithfully to maintain the
+treaty of Paris. He particularly recommended to him, strongly to
+impress upon Austria and Russia, how desirous he was of
+re-establishing his former connexions with them in the most intimate
+manner.</p>
+
+<p>He appeared to set a particular value on the alliance of Russia. His
+predilection was founded, no doubt, on political motives not difficult
+to guess; yet I believe he was equally induced to it by Alexander's
+generous conduct towards the French. The popularity and renown, which
+this prince had acquired in France, excited, and could not but excite,
+the jealousy of Napoleon: but this jealousy, the attribute of great
+minds, did not render him unjust; he knew how to estimate Alexander.</p>
+
+<p>Hitherto Napoleon has been engaged only in depriving the King of his
+army; he now thought the time was come, to take from him also the
+sceptre of civil government. "On this I have resolved," said he to me:
+"I will now annihilate the royal authority, and dismiss the chambers.
+Since I have resumed the government, no authority but mine ought to
+exist. The public must be taught from this moment, that <span class="pagenum"><a id="page236" name="page236"></a>(p. 236)</span> they
+are to obey me alone." He then dictated to me in succession the
+following decrees, known by the name of the decrees of Lyons.</p>
+
+<p class="p2 left60">Lyons, 13th of March, 1815.</p>
+<p><span class="smcap">Napoleon</span>, Emperor of the
+French, <abbr title="etcetera etcetera">&amp;c. &amp;c.</abbr></p>
+
+<p>Considering, that the Chamber of Peers is partly composed of persons
+who have borne arms against France, and who are interested in the
+re-establishment of feudal rights, in the destruction of the equality
+of the different classes, in the nullification of the sale of the
+national domains, and finally in depriving the people of the rights
+they have acquired by fighting for five and twenty years against the
+enemies of the national glory:</p>
+
+<p>Considering, that the powers of the deputies of the legislative body
+have expired, and that from that moment the Chamber of Commons has no
+longer a national character; that a part of this chamber has rendered
+itself unworthy the confidence of the nation, by assenting to the
+re-establishment of the feudal nobility, abolished by the constitution
+accepted by the people; by making France pay debts contracted with
+foreign powers for negotiating coalitions, and paying armies, against
+the French people; <span class="pagenum"><a id="page237" name="page237"></a>(p. 237)</span> by giving to the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> the title of
+legitimate King, which was declaring the French people and the armies
+rebels, proclaiming those emigrants, who for five and twenty years
+have been wounding the vitals of their country, the only good
+Frenchmen, and violating all the rights of the people, by sanctioning
+the principle, that the nation is made for the throne, not the throne
+for the nation:</p>
+
+<p>We have decreed, and do decree, as follows:</p>
+
+<p class="center">Article <abbr title="1">I.</abbr></p>
+
+<p>The Chamber of Peers is dissolved.</p>
+
+<p class="center">Article <abbr title="2">II.</abbr></p>
+
+<p>The Chamber of Commons is dissolved: it is ordered, that every one of
+the members convened and arrived at Paris since the 7th of March last
+shall repair to his home without delay.</p>
+
+<p class="center">Article <abbr title="3">III.</abbr></p>
+
+<p>The electoral colleges of the departments of the empire shall assemble
+at Paris in the course of the month of May next, in order to take
+proper measures for correcting and modifying our constitutions
+agreeably to the interests and will of the nation; and at the same
+time to assist at the coronation of the Empress, our <span class="pagenum"><a id="page238" name="page238"></a>(p. 238)</span> dear
+and well-beloved wife, and that of our dear and well-beloved son.</p>
+
+<p class="center">Article <abbr title="4">IV.</abbr></p>
+
+<p>Our Grand Marshal, executing the functions of Major-general of the
+grand army, is appointed to take necessary measures for making public
+the present decree.</p>
+
+<p class="p2 center">SECOND DECREE.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Napoleon</span>, <abbr title="etcetera">&amp;c.</abbr></p>
+
+<p class="center">Article <abbr title="1">I.</abbr></p>
+
+<p>All the emigrants, whose names have not been erased, amnestied, or
+eliminated, by us, or by the governments that have preceded us; and
+who have returned to France since the 1st of January, 1814, shall
+immediately quit the territory of the empire.</p>
+
+<p class="center">Article <abbr title="2">II.</abbr></p>
+
+<p>Those emigrants, who shall be found in the territory of the empire
+fifteen days after the promulgation of the present decree, shall be
+arrested and tried conformably to the laws decreed by our national
+assemblies: unless however <span class="pagenum"><a id="page239" name="page239"></a>(p. 239)</span> it be proved, that they had no
+knowledge of the present decree; in which case, they shall merely be
+arrested, and conducted out of the territory by the <span lang="fr">gendarmerie</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="center">Article <abbr title="3">III.</abbr></p>
+
+<p>All their property, moveable and immoveable, <abbr title="etcetera etcetera">&amp;c. &amp;c.</abbr> shall be
+placed in sequestration.</p>
+
+<p class="p2 center">THIRD DECREE.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Napoleon</span>, <abbr title="etcetera">&amp;c.</abbr></p>
+
+<p class="center">Article <abbr title="1">I.</abbr></p>
+
+<p>The nobility is abolished, and the laws of the Constituent Assembly
+shall be put in force.</p>
+
+<p class="center">Article <abbr title="2">II.</abbr></p>
+
+<p>Feudal titles are suppressed.</p>
+
+<p class="center">Article <abbr title="3">III.</abbr></p>
+
+<p>Those individuals, who have obtained from us national titles, as
+national rewards, and whose letters patent have been verified before
+the council by the seal of state, shall continue to bear them.</p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="pagenum"><a id="page240" name="page240"></a>(p. 240)</span> Article <abbr title="4">IV.</abbr></p>
+
+<p>We reserve to ourselves the power of giving titles to the descendants
+of those men, who have rendered the French name illustrious in various
+ages, whether in the command of armies by land and sea, in the
+councils of sovereigns, in the administration of justice or of civil
+authority, or finally in the arts and sciences, commerce, <abbr title="etcetera">&amp;c.</abbr></p>
+
+<p class="p2 center">FOURTH DECREE.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Napoleon</span>, <abbr title="etcetera">&amp;c.</abbr></p>
+
+<p class="center">Article <abbr title="1">I.</abbr></p>
+
+<p>All those generals and officers by land and sea, of whatever rank, who
+have been introduced into our armies since the 1st of April, 1814, who
+had emigrated; or who, not having emigrated, had quitted the service
+at the period of the first coalition, when the country had the
+greatest need of their services; shall immediately cease their
+functions, relinquish the marks of their rank, and repair to their
+homes, <abbr title="etcetera etcetera">&amp;c. &amp;c.</abbr></p>
+
+<p class="p2 center"><span class="pagenum"><a id="page241" name="page241"></a>(p. 241)</span> FIFTH DECREE.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Napoleon</span>, <abbr title="etcetera">&amp;c.</abbr></p>
+
+<p>Considering, that by our constitutions the members of the judicial
+order are not removable, we decree:</p>
+
+<p class="center">Article <abbr title="1">I.</abbr></p>
+
+<p>All the arbitrary changes made in our inferior tribunals and courts
+are null, and to be considered as having never taken place.</p>
+
+<p class="center">Article <abbr title="2">II.</abbr></p>
+
+<p>The presidents of the court of cassation, our <span lang="fr">procureur-général</span>
+(attorney-general), and the members who have been unjustly, and from a
+spirit of reaction, dismissed from the said court, are restored to
+their functions, <abbr title="etcetera etcetera">&amp;c. &amp;c.</abbr></p>
+
+<p class="p2">By four other decrees the Emperor ordered, that the property of the
+<span lang="fr">Bourbon</span> family should be placed in sequestration.</p>
+
+<p>That all the property of emigrants, which belonged to the Legion of
+Honour, hospitals, communes, the sinking fund, or the national
+domains, should be restored to these different establishments.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page242" name="page242"></a>(p. 242)</span> That the King's household and the Swiss should be dismissed,
+and that no foreign corps should be admitted as a guard to the
+sovereign.</p>
+
+<p>And that the decoration of the lily, and the orders of <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Louis, the
+Holy Ghost, and <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Michael, should be abolished.</p>
+
+<p>These decrees, which embraced at once every part of the political,
+civil, and military administration of the state, succeeded each other
+so rapidly, that Napoleon had scarcely time to interpose a few words
+between them.</p>
+
+<p>By restoring to their seats those magistrates, who had been expelled
+from them, he gained with a stroke of the pen all the members of the
+judicial order; but I know not why he did not extend this beneficial
+measure to the functionaries of the administrative order, particularly
+to the prefects and sub-prefects, whom <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Montesquiou</span> had so
+cruelly persecuted. Among these functionaries there were
+unquestionably some, who, from the weakness or incapacity they had
+shown during the last moments of the imperial government, merited no
+confidence: but the greater part of them had remained worthy of it;
+and Napoleon, by placing them at the head of their former offices,
+would have added to the advantage of publicly repairing an act of
+royal injustice, that of entrusting the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page243" name="page243"></a>(p. 243)</span> administration to
+experienced men, and who, already knowing the partisans of the
+revolution and those of the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>, had only to show themselves, to
+intimidate the latter, and render effective the patriotism of the
+former.</p>
+
+<p>With this exception, every thing he did at Lyons appeared to me a
+master-piece of wisdom and address.</p>
+
+<p>It was necessary, to overturn the Chamber of Peers: he did it at one
+stroke. "It is composed," said he, "only of men who have borne arms
+against their country, and who are interested in restoring feudal
+rights, and annulling the national sales."</p>
+
+<p>The Chamber of Deputies had shown some resistance to the ministers,
+and attachment to liberal doctrines; it was difficult, therefore, to
+render it unpopular, yet the Emperor did it by a word: "It has shown
+itself unworthy of the confidence of the nation, by making the people
+pay debts contracted with foreigners for the shedding of French
+blood."</p>
+
+<p>It was necessary, to remove the apprehensions of France respecting the
+future: he called the electors to the <span lang="fr">Champ de Mai</span>. It was necessary,
+to excite the belief, that he had a good understanding with Austria,
+and that Maria Louisa would be restored to him: he announced <span class="pagenum"><a id="page244" name="page244"></a>(p. 244)</span>
+the approaching coronation of the Empress and her son.</p>
+
+<p>It was necessary, to seduce the patriots, the republicans: he
+abolished the feudal nobility; and declared, that the throne was made
+for the nation, not the nation for the throne. It was necessary, to
+tranquillize those, who had acquired national domains; he expelled the
+emigrants not erased from the lists, and resumed their property: to
+please the peasantry and the poor, he restored to the hospitals the
+property of which they had been despoiled: to flatter the guard and
+the army, he expelled from their ranks foreigners and emigrants,
+dismissed the King's household, and restored to the Legion of Honour
+its endowments and prerogatives.</p>
+
+<p>Men may censure his conduct at Lyons; may represent it as that of a
+madman, resolved to alter, to destroy, to overturn every thing: no
+matter ... they who judge with impartiality, I believe, will find,
+that he conducted himself with all the skill of a consummate
+politician. He knew how to inspire confidence, dissipate
+apprehensions, confirm attachments, and fill the people and the army
+with enthusiasm: what could he do more?</p>
+
+<p>The steps taken at Paris against him were known to him on the 12th. He
+appeared delighted, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page245" name="page245"></a>(p. 245)</span> that a command was given to Marshal Ney;
+not that he held any intelligence with him; but because he knew the
+weakness and fickleness of his character. He directed the Grand
+Marshal to write to him. "You will inform him," said he, "of the
+delirium excited by my return, and of all the forces sent against me
+having joined my army in succession. You will tell him, that the
+troops under his command will infallibly follow the example of their
+brave comrades, sooner or later: and that the efforts he might make
+would have no farther effect, than at most to retard the fall of the
+<span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> a few days. Give him to understand, that he will be
+responsible to France, and to me, for the civil war and bloodshed, of
+which he would be the cause. <i>Flatter him</i>," added the Emperor, "but
+do not <i>caress</i> him too much; he would think me afraid of him, and
+require to be entreated."</p>
+
+<p>Letters were written also to all the commanders of corps, that were
+known to be quartered in the neighbouring departments. None of them
+were in a supplicatory style: the Emperor already spoke as a master;
+he did not entreat, he commanded.</p>
+
+<p>Every thing being finished, on the 13th Napoleon departed; and
+profoundly moved with <span class="pagenum"><a id="page246" name="page246"></a>(p. 246)</span> the affection the Lyonese had shown
+him, he bade them adieu in the following words:</p>
+
+<p class="p2 left10">"Lyonese,</p>
+
+<p>"At the moment of quitting your city to repair to my capital, I feel
+it necessary, to make known to you the sentiments with which you have
+inspired me: you have always ranked with the foremost in my
+affections. On the throne or in exile, you have always displayed the
+same feelings towards me: the lofty character that distinguishes you,
+has merited my entire esteem: in a period of greater tranquillity, I
+shall return, to consider the welfare of your manufactures, and of
+your city.</p>
+
+<p>"Lyonese, I love you."</p>
+
+<p class="p2">These last words were the ingenuous expression of his feelings: in
+dictating, he pronounced them with that indefinable charm, that was
+impressed on his words when they came from the heart.</p>
+
+<p>So much has been said of the hardness of Napoleon's heart, and the
+harshness of his language, that whatever is at variance with the
+received opinion must appear fabulous. Yet it is a truth, and they who
+have been about the Emperor's person will vouch for it, that he was
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page247" name="page247"></a>(p. 247)</span> far from being so unfeeling, as he was commonly thought. His
+military education, and the necessity of commanding fear and respect,
+had rendered him grave, severe, and inflexible; and had accustomed
+him, to check and despise the suggestions of his sensibility. But when
+nature resumed her rights, he felt a delight in yielding to the
+movements of his soul, and he then expressed the emotions or
+sentiments, that had overpowered him, in an ardent and impassioned
+tone, and with a sweetness and grace, as seducing as it was
+inimitable.</p>
+
+<p>Indeed the Lyonese merited the esteem and love, that Napoleon avowed
+for them. Though yet young, I have more than once seen popular
+displays of enthusiasm and infatuation; yet never did I see any thing
+comparable to the transports of joy and tenderness, that burst from
+the Lyonese. Not only the quays, and the places near the palace of the
+Emperor, but even the most distant streets rung with perpetual
+acclamations<a id="footnotetag59" name="footnotetag59"></a><a href="#footnote59" title="Go to footnote 59">[59]</a>. Workmen and their <span class="pagenum"><a id="page248" name="page248"></a>(p. 248)</span> masters, the common
+people and the citizens, rambled about the city arm in arm, singing,
+dancing, and giving themselves up to the impulse of the most ardent
+gaiety. Strangers stopped one another, shook hands, embraced, and
+congratulated each other on the return of the Emperor, as if he had
+conferred on them fortune, life, and honour.</p>
+
+<p>The national guard, affected by the confidence he had shown it, by
+entrusting to it the care of his person, participated with equal
+ardour the general intoxication; and the day of Napoleon's departure
+was a day of sorrow and regret to the city of Lyons, as that of his
+arrival had been a day of real festivity.</p>
+
+<p>We slept at <span lang="fr">Macon</span>. The Emperor would not alight at the prefect's, but
+went to lodge at the sign of the Savage. He found it was no longer
+necessary, to wait at the gates of the towns, as at <span lang="fr">Grenoble</span> and
+Lyons: the people <span class="pagenum"><a id="page249" name="page249"></a>(p. 249)</span> and the magistrates ran out to meet him,
+and disputed the honour of being foremost, to do him homage, and
+express their good wishes.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning he received the felicitations of the national guard,
+the municipal body, <abbr title="etcetera">&amp;c.</abbr> One of the colleagues of the mayor gave us a
+long, ridiculous harangue, which amused us much. When he had finished,
+the Emperor said to him: "You were much astonished, then, at hearing
+of our having landed?"&mdash;"Yes, faith:" answered the orator: "when I
+knew you had landed, I said to every body, the man must be mad, he
+will never be able to escape."&mdash;Napoleon could not help laughing at
+this simplicity. "I know," said he, with a sarcastic smile, "that you
+are all a little inclined to be frightened; you gave me a proof of
+this last campaign; you should have behaved as the men of <span lang="fr">Chalons</span> did;
+you did not maintain the honour of the Burgundians."&mdash;"It was not our
+fault, Sire," said one of the party: "we were badly commanded; you had
+not given us a good mayor."&mdash;"That is very possible; we have all been
+guilty of foolish actions, and they must be forgotten: the safety and
+happiness of France are henceforward the only objects, to which we
+ought to attend." He dismissed them in a friendly manner.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page250" name="page250"></a>(p. 250)</span> The prefect had taken flight. The Emperor asked me his name.
+It was one Germain, whom he had made a count, and a gentleman of the
+bedchamber, without well knowing why. "What!" said he to me, "does
+that little Germain fancy it necessary to shun me? he must be brought
+back:" and he thought no more of him.</p>
+
+<p>He directed me, to cause an account of the events at <span lang="fr">Grenoble</span> and
+Lyons to be inserted in the newspaper of the department. The editor, a
+furious royalist, had hidden himself. I entrusted to the new
+subprefect the business of fulfilling the Emperor's orders; but,
+whether it were carelessness or incapacity on his part, he had
+recourse to the printer of the paper, who supplied him with an article
+far from answering our views.</p>
+
+<p>It began with a very just, but ill-timed eulogy of the goodness of
+Louis <abbr title="18">XVIII.</abbr>; and ended with declaring in substance, that so good a
+king was not fitted to reign over the French, and that they required a
+sovereign such as Napoleon, <abbr title="etcetera">&amp;c.</abbr></p>
+
+<p>The Emperor, who would read every thing, asked me for the paper. I
+pretended I could not lay my hand upon it: but, after a thousand
+attempts to put him off from seeing it, I was at <span class="pagenum"><a id="page251" name="page251"></a>(p. 251)</span> length
+obliged to bring it him. I thought he would have given me a severe
+reprimand, but he contented himself with saying: "Change that man, he
+is a fool; and desire him for the future, never to attempt a eulogy of
+me." I sent for him, scolded him, and, like me, he was let off for the
+fright.</p>
+
+<p>It was at <span lang="fr">Macon</span>, that we first received official news of what was
+going on at Paris. It was brought us by <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> ***. The unskilful manner
+in which the royalist party superintended the police of the roads, was
+truly astonishing. Not one of its emissaries escaped us, while ours
+went and came without any obstruction. Rage or fear must have turned
+the brains of all the royalists. <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> *** assured the Emperor, that the
+national guard appeared determined to defend the king, and that the
+king had declared, he would not quit the <span lang="fr">Tuileries</span>. "If he choose to
+wait for me there," said Napoleon, "I have no objection: but I doubt
+it much. He suffers himself to be lulled by the boastings of the
+emigrants; and when I get within twenty leagues of Paris, they will
+abandon him, as the nobles of Lyons abandoned the Count <span lang="fr">d'Artois</span>. What
+indeed could he do with the old puppets that are about him? One of our
+grenadiers would knock down a hundred of them with the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page252" name="page252"></a>(p. 252)</span>
+butt-end of his musket.... The national guard shouts at a distance;
+when I am at the barriers it will be silent. Its business is not to
+raise a civil war, but to maintain peace and order in the country. The
+majority is sound; there is nothing rotten in it but a few officers;
+and them I will expel. Return to Paris; tell my friends not to
+implicate themselves, and within ten days my grenadiers will mount
+guard at the <span lang="fr">Tuileries</span>: go."</p>
+
+<p>We arrived at <span lang="fr">Chalons</span> on the 14th, at an early hour. It was terrible
+weather, yet the whole population had come out of the city, to see the
+Emperor a few minutes the sooner. On approaching the walls, he
+perceived artillery and ammunition waggons, and was surprised at it.
+"They were intended," said the people, "to act against you; but we
+have stopped them on their way, and present them to you."&mdash;"That's
+right, my lads; you have always been good citizens."</p>
+
+<p>He was well pleased, to find himself among the Chalonese, and received
+them with much affection and regard. "I have not forgotten," said he,
+"that you resisted the enemy for forty days, and valiantly defended
+the passage of the <span lang="fr">Saône</span>. Had all the French possessed your courage
+and patriotism, not a single foreigner <span class="pagenum"><a id="page253" name="page253"></a>(p. 253)</span> would have escaped
+out of France." He expressed to them his desire of knowing the brave
+men, who had most distinguished themselves; and on their unanimous
+testimony, he granted on the spot the decoration of the Legion of
+Honour to the mayor of <span lang="fr"><abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Jean Delonne</span>. "It was for the brave men
+like him and you," said he to them, "that I instituted the Legion of
+Honour, and not for emigrants pensioned by our enemies." When the
+audience was ended, he said to me: "The mayor of <span lang="fr">Chalons</span> is not come;
+yet it was I who appointed him: but he is related to an ancient
+family, and probably has his scruples. The inhabitants complain of
+him, and will make him suffer for it. You must go and see him. If he
+object to you his oath, tell him, that I absolve him from it; and make
+him sensible, that, if he wait till he is freed from it by Louis
+<abbr title="18">XVIII.</abbr>, he will wait a long time. Say to him, in short, what you
+please; I care little about his visit; it is for his own sake I wish
+him to come. If he do not come, the people will stone him to death
+after I am gone. Germain was lucky to escape<a id="footnotetag60" name="footnotetag60"></a><a href="#footnote60" title="Go to footnote 60">[60]</a>; let his example be a
+lesson to him."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page254" name="page254"></a>(p. 254)</span> I repaired immediately to the municipality, where I found the
+mayor, and a few municipal counsellors. He appeared to me a man of
+merit. I informed him, that it was my usual office, to introduce to
+his Majesty the municipal authorities; that I had observed with
+surprise, he had not been as eager as the mayors of other cities, to
+pay his duty to the Emperor; and that I was come to remove his fears,
+<abbr title="etcetera">&amp;c.</abbr> He answered me frankly, that he had great respect and admiration
+for Napoleon; but, having sworn fealty to Louis <abbr title="18">XVIII.</abbr>, he thought it
+his duty to keep his oath, till he was absolved from it. I had my
+answer ready. "I, like you," said I, "consider perjury as the most
+degrading act, of which man can be guilty. But it is necessary, to
+make a distinction between a voluntary oath, and the stipulated oath,
+which people take to their government. In the eye of reason, this oath
+is merely an act of local submission; a pure and simple formality,
+which the monarch, whoever he may be, has a right to require of his
+subjects; but which cannot, as it ought not, enchain their persons and
+faith to perpetuity. France, since 1789, has sworn by turns to be
+faithful to royalty, to the convention, to the republic, to the
+directory, to the consulship, to the empire, to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page255" name="page255"></a>(p. 255)</span> the charter:
+if those Frenchmen, who had taken an oath to royalty, had sought to
+oppose the establishment of a republic, by way of acquitting
+themselves of their oaths; if those, who had taken an oath to the
+republic, had opposed the establishment of the empire, <abbr title="etcetera">&amp;c.</abbr>; into what
+a state of anarchy and disorder, into what a deluge of blood and
+evils, would they not have plunged our unhappy country? On similar
+occasions, the national will ought to be the sole guide of our
+conscience and our actions: the moment it is manifested, it is the
+duty of good citizens, to yield and obey."</p>
+
+<p>"These principles," replied he, "may be very good as a general rule;
+but our present case is an exception, never before known. When the
+governments, that have existed since the revolution, were overturned,
+the new government seized the authority, and it ought to be presumed,
+that the assent of the nation was on its side: but here it is a
+different affair; the royal government subsists; the Emperor abdicated
+voluntarily; and till the king has renounced the crown, I shall
+consider him as the sovereign of France."</p>
+
+<p>"If you wait for the king's renunciation," rejoined I, "before you
+acknowledge the Emperor, you will wait a long time. Has not the
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page256" name="page256"></a>(p. 256)</span> king pretended, that he has not ceased to reign over France
+these five-and-twenty years? And if he thought himself sovereign of
+France at a time, when the imperial government was rendered legitimate
+by the unanimous suffrages of France, and acknowledged by all Europe,
+do you think he will renounce the crown at present?</p>
+
+<p>"The time when kings reigned in virtue of right divine is far removed
+from us: their rights are no longer founded on any thing but the
+formal or tacit consent of nations: the moment nations reject them,
+the contract is broken; the conditional oaths taken to them are
+annulled in law and in fact, without their intervention or consent
+being necessary; for, as the proclamations of Napoleon say, kings are
+made for the people, not the people for kings.</p>
+
+<p>"As to the abdication of Napoleon, whether voluntary or compulsive,
+and the rights newly acquired by Louis <abbr title="18">XVIII.</abbr>, it would be requisite,
+in order to answer this part of your objections, to inquire, whether
+the chief of a nation have a right to relinquish the authority
+entrusted to him, without the consent of that nation; and whether a
+government imposed by foreigners, either through influence or force of
+arms, unite those characters of legitimacy, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page257" name="page257"></a>(p. 257)</span> which you
+ascribe to it. I have read in our publicists, that we owe obedience to
+a government <i>de facto</i>: and since the Emperor has in fact resumed the
+sceptre, I think we cannot do better, than submit to his laws; with
+the proviso," added I jocularly, "of leaving to posterity the task of
+deciding the question of right between Napoleon and Louis <abbr title="18">XVIII.</abbr></p>
+
+<p>"However," continued I, "I leave you perfectly at liberty to embrace
+which side you judge best: it is not my intention to take you by
+surprise, or to put any violence on your conscience; and I beg you to
+consider the attempts I have made to convince you, only as a proof of
+my desire to bring you over to my opinion by the force of reason."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, sir," said he, "I yield to your observations: be so good as to
+announce me to his Majesty."</p>
+
+<p>The next day he was displaced!</p>
+
+<p>On the 16th we slept at <span lang="fr">Avalon</span>. Napoleon was received there as he had
+been every where; that is to say, with demonstrations of joy, that
+were actually bordering on madness. People crowded, thronged, to see,
+to hear, to speak to him; his quarters were instantly surrounded,
+besieged, by such a numerous and obstinate multitude, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page258" name="page258"></a>(p. 258)</span> that
+it was impossible for us to enter or go out, without walking on the
+heads of all the population of the country. Those men who made part of
+the national guard would remain on duty from morning to night. Women
+of the greatest distinction in the place spent the day and night on
+the stairs and in the passages, to watch for his going by. Three of
+them, tired with standing the whole day for want of seats, requested
+permission to sit down by us: it was in the hall (adjoining the
+Emperor's chamber), in which some mattresses had been laid on the
+floor, in order that we might gain a few minutes' rest. It was
+pleasant enough, to see these three young and elegant Bonapartists
+timidly huddling together on a little couch in the midst of our dirty
+guardroom. We endeavoured to keep them company but our eyes closed in
+spite of us. "Go to sleep," said they to us, "we will watch over the
+Emperor." In fact, fatigue got the better of gallantry; and, to our
+shame be it spoken, we were soon asleep at their feet. When we awoke,
+we found one of these ladies keeping guard at Napoleon's door. We
+heard of it, and thanked her for her attachment, in very polite and
+pleasing terms.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page259" name="page259"></a>(p. 259)</span> I think it was at <span lang="fr">Avalon</span><a id="footnotetag61" name="footnotetag61"></a><a href="#footnote61" title="Go to footnote 61">[61]</a>, that an officer of the staff
+came and brought us Marshal Ney's submission, and his orders of the
+day<a id="footnotetag62" name="footnotetag62"></a><a href="#footnote62" title="Go to footnote 62">[62]</a>. These <span class="pagenum"><a id="page260" name="page260"></a>(p. 260)</span> orders of the day were printed that night;
+but the Emperor, after having read them over, directed them to be
+changed and reprinted. I know not whether his Majesty judged it proper
+to alter them, or whether the printer had made any mistake.</p>
+
+<p>On the 17th the Emperor arrived at <span lang="fr">Auxerre</span>, where he was received for
+the first time by a prefect. He alighted at the prefect's house. On
+the mantel-piece of the first saloon were the busts of the Empress,
+and of her son; and in the next was a whole-length portrait of
+Napoleon, in his imperial robes: it might have been supposed, that the
+reign of the Emperor had never been interrupted.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon immediately received the congratulations of all the
+authorities, and of the tribunals. These congratulations began to be
+no longer a mark of attachment in our eyes, but the fulfilment of a
+duty. After having discoursed with them on the grand interests of the
+state, the Emperor, whose good humour was <span class="pagenum"><a id="page261" name="page261"></a>(p. 261)</span> inexhaustible,
+began to joke about the court of Louis <abbr title="18">XVIII.</abbr> "His court," said he,
+"has the air of that of King Dagobert: we see nothing in it but
+antiques; the women are old and frightfully ugly; there were no pretty
+women in it but mine, and those were so ill-treated, that they were
+obliged to desert it. All those people are made up of nothing but
+haughtiness and pride: I have been reproached with being proud; I was
+so to strangers; but never did any one see me suffer my chancellor to
+set one knee to the ground to receive my orders, or oblige my prefects
+and mayors to wait at table on my courtiers and dowagers<a id="footnotetag63" name="footnotetag63"></a><a href="#footnote63" title="Go to footnote 63">[63]</a>. They
+say, that the men about the court are little better than the women;
+and that, to distinguish them from my generals, whom I had covered
+with gold lace, they are dressed like beggars. My court, it is true,
+was superb: I was fond of magnificence; not for myself, a plain
+soldier's coat was sufficient for me; I was fond of it, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page262" name="page262"></a>(p. 262)</span>
+because it encourages our manufactures: without magnificence there is
+no industry. I abolished at Lyons all that parchment nobility; it was
+never sensible of what it owed me: it was I that exalted it, by making
+counts and barons of my best generals. Nobility is a chimera; men are
+too enlightened to believe, that some among them are noble, others
+not: they all spring from the same stock; the only distinction is that
+of talents, and of services rendered the state: our laws know no
+others."</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor imagined, that he should find Ney at <span lang="fr">Auxerre</span> on his
+arrival: "I cannot conceive," said he to General <span lang="fr">Bertrand</span>, "why Ney is
+not here: I am surprised at it, and uneasy: has he changed his
+opinions? I cannot think so; he would never have suffered <span lang="fr">Gamot</span><a id="footnotetag64" name="footnotetag64"></a><a href="#footnote64" title="Go to footnote 64">[64]</a> to
+implicate himself. Yet we must know on what we are to depend; see to
+it." A few hours after, the marshal arrived. It was about eight
+o'clock, and Count <span lang="fr">Bertrand</span> came to inform the Emperor of it. "The
+marshal, before he comes into your Majesty's presence," said he, "is
+desirous of collecting his ideas, and justifying in writing his
+conduct both previous and <span class="pagenum"><a id="page263" name="page263"></a>(p. 263)</span> subsequent to the events of
+Fontainbleau."&mdash;"What need is there of any justification to me?"
+answered Napoleon: "tell him, that I love him still, and that I will
+embrace him to-morrow." He would not receive him the same day, as a
+punishment for having had to wait for him.</p>
+
+<p>The next day the Emperor, as soon as he perceived him, said: "Embrace
+me, my dear marshal; I am glad to see you. I want no explanation or
+justification: I have honoured and esteemed you as the bravest of the
+brave."&mdash;"Sire, the newspapers have told a heap of lies, which I wish
+to confute: my conduct has ever been that of a good soldier, and a
+good Frenchman."&mdash;"I know it, and accordingly never doubted your
+attachment."&mdash;"You were right, Sire. Your Majesty may always depend
+upon me, when my country is concerned.... <i>It is for my country I have
+shed my blood, and for it I would still spill it to the last drop. I
+love you, Sire, but my country above all! above all.</i>"&mdash;(The Emperor
+interrupting him) "It is patriotism too, that brings me to France. I
+learned, that our country was unhappy, and I am come to deliver it
+from the emigrants and the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>. I will confer upon it all that it
+expects from me."&mdash;"Your Majesty may be <span class="pagenum"><a id="page264" name="page264"></a>(p. 264)</span> assured, that we
+will support you: he who acts with justice, may do what he pleases
+with the French. The <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> have ruined themselves, by having wished
+to act as they thought proper, and thrown aside the army."&mdash;"Princes
+who never saw a naked sword could not honour the army: its glory
+humbled them, and they were jealous of it."&mdash;"Yes, Sire, they
+incessantly sought to humiliate us. I am still enraged, when I think,
+that a marshal of France, an old warrior like me, was obliged to kneel
+down before that ... of a Duke of B..... to receive the cross of <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr>
+Louis. It could not last; and, if you had not come to expel them, we
+should have driven them out ourselves<a id="footnotetag65" name="footnotetag65"></a><a href="#footnote65" title="Go to footnote 65">[65]</a>."&mdash;"How <span class="pagenum"><a id="page265" name="page265"></a>(p. 265)</span> are your
+troops disposed?"&mdash;"Very well, Sire; I thought they would have stifled
+me, when I announced to them, that they were about to march to meet
+your eagles."&mdash;"What generals are with you?"&mdash;"<span lang="fr">Le Courbe</span> and
+<span lang="fr">Bourmont</span>."&mdash;"Are you sure of them?"&mdash;"I will answer for <span lang="fr">Le Courbe</span>, but
+I am not so sure of <span lang="fr">Bourmont</span>."&mdash;"Why are they not come hither?"&mdash;"They
+showed some hesitation, and I left them."&mdash;"Are you not afraid of
+<span lang="fr">Bourmont</span>'s bestirring himself, and embarrassing you?"&mdash;"No, Sire, he
+will keep himself quiet: besides, he would find nobody to second him.
+I have expelled from the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page266" name="page266"></a>(p. 266)</span> ranks all the light infantry of
+Louis <abbr title="14">XIV.</abbr><a id="footnotetag66" name="footnotetag66"></a><a href="#footnote66" title="Go to footnote 66">[66]</a>, who had been given to us, and all the country is fired
+with enthusiasm."&mdash;"No matter, I shall not leave him any possibility
+of disturbing us: you will direct him and the royalist officers to be
+secured till we enter Paris. I shall be there without doubt by the
+20th or 25th, and sooner. If we arrive, as I hope, without any
+obstacle, do you think they will defend themselves"&mdash;"I do not think
+they will, Sire: you know what the Parisians are, more noise than
+work."&mdash;"I have received despatches from Paris this morning: the
+patriots expect me with impatience, and are on the point of rising. I
+am afraid of some quarrel taking place between them and the royalists.
+I would not for the world, that my return should be stained with a
+single drop of blood. It is easy for you, to hold communication with
+Paris: write to your friends, write to <span lang="fr">Maret</span>, that our affairs go on
+well, that I shall arrive without firing a single musket; and let them
+all unite, to prevent the spilling of blood. Our triumph should be as
+pure, as the cause we serve." Generals <span lang="fr">Bertrand</span> and <span lang="fr">Labedoyère</span>, who
+were <span class="pagenum"><a id="page267" name="page267"></a>(p. 267)</span> present, then mixed in the conversation; and after a
+few minutes the Emperor left them, and retired into his closet.</p>
+
+<p>He wrote to the Empress for the third time. This letter finished,
+Napoleon turned his thoughts to the means of embarking a part of his
+army, harassed by forced marches. He sent for the chief of the boat
+department, required an account of the number of boats, the means of
+preventing accidents, <abbr title="etcetera">&amp;c.</abbr> He entered so minutely into particulars with
+him, that the man could scarcely recover from his surprise, or
+comprehend how an Emperor should know so much as a boatman. Napoleon
+persisted in the speedy departure of his troops. Several times he
+ordered me to go and hasten the embarkation: he was in the habit of
+employing those about him for every thing that came into his head. His
+genius knowing no bounds, he imagined, that we poor mortals ought
+equally to know every thing, and do every thing.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor had given orders to his scouts, to bring him all the
+mails; and he had appointed me, to examine their contents. I waged
+implacable war with the correspondence of ministers; and if I
+frequently found in it threats and abuse, of which I came in for my
+share, it <span class="pagenum"><a id="page268" name="page268"></a>(p. 268)</span> presented me at least with matters as important as
+curious. I particularly remarked two secret instructions, the
+publication of which, even now, would cover their authors with eternal
+disgrace. The letters <i><span lang="fr">comme il faut</span></i> were equally revolting. Most of
+them, dictated by frantic hatred, might have sanctioned the rigours of
+the law: but I considered them as the offspring of brains to be pitied
+for their diseased state, and contented myself with writing on them in
+large letters, before I returned to the post-boy, a <i>Seen</i>; which,
+like the head of Medusa, no doubt petrified more than one noble
+reader.</p>
+
+<p>The darksome conspiracies of the enemies of Napoleon were not the only
+objects, that met my indiscreet eyes. Sometimes I found myself
+unintentionally initiated into gentler mysteries and my pen, by
+mistake, traced the fatal <i>Seen</i> at the bottom of epistles, which
+should have charmed the sight only of the happy mortals, for whom love
+had destined them.</p>
+
+<p>It was from the newspapers, and the private correspondence, we
+learned, that some Vendeans were set off from Paris, according to
+their own account, with the design of assassinating the Emperor. A
+paper, which it is unnecessary to name, even said, that these
+gentlemen <span class="pagenum"><a id="page269" name="page269"></a>(p. 269)</span> were disguised as soldiers, and as women, and that
+most assuredly the Corsican could not escape them.</p>
+
+<p>Though Napoleon did not appear to be uneasy about these criminal
+plots, we were under apprehensions for him. Previously, when
+travellers were desirous of telling him news, I stepped aside to enjoy
+a few minutes' liberty: but from that time I never quitted him, and,
+with my hand on my sword, I never for a moment lost sight of the eyes,
+attitude, and gesture of the persons I admitted to his presence.</p>
+
+<p>Count <span lang="fr">Bertrand</span>, General <span lang="fr">Drouot</span>, and the officers of his household,
+equally redoubled their care and attention. But it seemed as if the
+Emperor made a point of setting his murderers at defiance. That very
+day he reviewed the 14th of the line in the public square, and
+afterwards mixed with the people and the soldiers. In vain did we
+endeavour to surround him; we were jostled with so much perseverance
+and impetuosity, that it was impossible for us to remain close to him
+for two minutes together. The way in which we were elbowed amused him
+extremely: he laughed at our efforts, and, in order to brave us,
+plunged himself still deeper amid the crowd that besieged us.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page270" name="page270"></a>(p. 270)</span> Our mistrust was nearly fatal to two of the enemy's
+emissaries.</p>
+
+<p>One of them, a staff officer, came to offer us his services. Being
+questioned, he scarcely knew what answers to make. His embarrassment
+had already excited violent suspicions, when it was unfortunately
+perceived, that he had on green pantaloons. This was sufficient to
+convince every body, that he was one of the Artois guards in disguise.
+Interrogated anew, he answered still more awkwardly; and, attainted
+and convicted of being a highly suspicious person, and of wearing
+green pantaloons to boot, he was on the point of being thrown out of
+the window, when fortunately Count <span lang="fr">Bertrand</span> happened to pass by, and
+ordered him merely to be turned out at the door.</p>
+
+<p>This officer of the new batch had not come to kill Napoleon; he had
+only been sent to spy what passed at his head-quarters.</p>
+
+<p>The same day witnessed another scene. A <span lang="fr">chef d'escadron</span> of hussars,
+adorned with a sabre-cut in the face, came also to join us. He met an
+extraordinarily good reception, and was even invited to breakfast at
+the table of the great officers of the household. In wine there is
+truth; and the new comer, forgetting his part, explained himself so
+clearly, that it was <span class="pagenum"><a id="page271" name="page271"></a>(p. 271)</span> easy to distinguish in him a false
+brother. He told us, that the national guard of Paris, and all the
+imperial guard, were for the King: that every soldier, who retained
+his fidelity, had a gift of a hundred francs, every officer a
+thousand, and was promoted a step, <abbr title="etcetera etcetera">&amp;c. &amp;c</abbr>; that Napoleon had been
+outlawed, and that if he were taken.... At these words Colonel ***,
+who sat next him, seized him by the collar; every body was for
+knocking him on the head at once; I alone was against it. "Gentlemen,"
+said I, "the Emperor will not hear of any blood being shed; you have
+sworn to give no quarter to assassins, but this man is not one; he is
+no doubt a spy. We are not afraid of them; let them go, and report
+what they have seen to those who have sent them: let us all drink the
+health of our Emperor, Long live the Emperor!" He was spitten upon,
+turned out, and we saw him no more.</p>
+
+<p>Another deserter from the royal army presented himself, to reveal an
+important secret, as he said, to the Emperor. The Emperor, who knew no
+secret but strength, would not waste time in listening to him, and
+sent him to me. He was an officer of hussars, the friend and
+accomplice of <span lang="fr">Maubreuil</span>. He did not think me worthy of his secrets,
+and I introduced him <span class="pagenum"><a id="page272" name="page272"></a>(p. 272)</span> to the grand Marshal. The substance of
+what he said was, that he, as well as <span lang="fr">Maubreuil</span>, had been commissioned
+by the provisional government, and by very great persons, to
+assassinate the Emperor, at the time of his departure for the island
+of Elba: that he held in execration such an execrable crime, and would
+not commit it; and that, after having once saved the life of Napoleon,
+he came to place himself near his person, to make a rampart for him
+with his body in case of necessity. He delivered to the grand Marshal
+a memorial of <span lang="fr">Maubreuil</span>'s, and divers papers, of which the Emperor
+directed me to give him an account. I examined them all with the
+greatest care. They proved incontestably, that mysterious rendezvous
+had been given to <span lang="fr">Maubreuil</span> in the name of the provisional government;
+but they contained no clue, that could enable any one to penetrate the
+object and end of these secret conferences: the names of those
+illustrious personages, whom some persons have since been desirous of
+implicating in this odious plot, were not even mentioned in them. This
+officer reaped no benefit from his disclosures, real or pretended, and
+disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>From hearing so much of plots against his life, however, a painful
+impression was at length <span class="pagenum"><a id="page273" name="page273"></a>(p. 273)</span> made on the Emperor. "I cannot
+conceive," said he to me, "how men liable to fall into my hands can be
+incessantly urging my assassination, and setting a price upon my head.
+Had I wished to get rid of them by similar means, they would long ago
+have been mingled with the dust. Like them, I could have found
+<span lang="fr">Georges</span>, <span lang="fr">Brularts</span>, and <span lang="fr">Maubreuils</span>. Twenty times, if I had wished it,
+persons would have brought them to me bound hands and feet, dead or
+alive. I had always the foolish generosity, to despise their rage: I
+despise it still; but wo betide them, wo to all their infernal gang,
+if they dare touch one of my people! My blood boils, when I think,
+that they have dared, in the face of nations, to proscribe without
+trial the thousands of Frenchmen, who are marching with us: is this
+known to the army?"&mdash;"Yes, sire, some persons have had the imprudence,
+to spread the report, that we are all proclaimed out of the protection
+of the laws, and that some of the body guards and <span lang="fr">Chouans</span> have set out
+to assassinate you: accordingly, the troops have sworn, to give them
+no quarter, and already two spies have with difficulty escaped being
+knocked on the head before my eyes."&mdash;"So much the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page274" name="page274"></a>(p. 274)</span> worse, so
+much the worse; such are not my intentions. I wish not a single drop
+of French blood to be shed, not a single gun to be fired. <span lang="fr">Girard</span><a id="footnotetag67" name="footnotetag67"></a><a href="#footnote67" title="Go to footnote 67">[67]</a>
+must be desired to restrain his soldiers; write: "General <span lang="fr">Girard</span>, I am
+informed, that your troops, being acquainted with the decrees of
+Paris, have resolved, by way of reprisals, to kill all the Royalists
+they meet: you will meet none but Frenchmen; I forbid you to fire a
+single musket: calm your soldiers; contradict the reports by which
+they are exasperated; tell them, that I will not enter Paris at their
+head, if their weapons be stained with French blood<a id="footnotetag68" name="footnotetag68"></a><a href="#footnote68" title="Go to footnote 68">[68]</a>.""</p>
+
+<p>Ministers of the King, guilty authors of the parricidal ordinance of
+the 6th of March, read this and blush!</p>
+
+<p>The moment he was quitting <span lang="fr">Auxerre</span>, the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page275" name="page275"></a>(p. 275)</span> Emperor heard, that
+the Marseillese appeared to have an intention of annoying his rear. He
+gave orders to the general posted in <span lang="fr">échelon</span> on the road, and set out
+without fear.</p>
+
+<p>In advance of Fossard, he perceived, drawn up in order of battle, the
+dragoons of the King's regiment, who had deserted their officers, to
+come and join him. He alighted, saluted them with that military
+gravity, which so well became him, and bestowed on them compliments
+and promotions. No regiment could escape us. When the officers
+demurred, the soldiers came without them. I am wrong, however: there
+was one regiment, the third of hussars, that the Emperor could not
+bring over to him. The brave <span lang="fr">Moncey</span>, who commanded it, was a man of
+sound understanding, and his attachment to Napoleon, his ancient
+benefactor, could not be doubted: but all men do not see with the same
+eyes; some made their duty consist in running to meet Napoleon, <span lang="fr">Moncey</span>
+thought himself obliged to avoid him.</p>
+
+<p>He had conjured his regiment, not to subject him to the disgrace of
+being deserted. His officers and his hussars, by whom he was adored,
+followed him, while they made the air ring with shouts of Long live
+the Emperor! thinking thus to reconcile their respect for their
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page276" name="page276"></a>(p. 276)</span> colonel with their devotion to the cause and person of
+Napoleon.</p>
+
+<p>We were informed on the road, that two thousand of the body guards
+were posted in the forest of Fontainbleau. Though this account was
+improbable, it was thought necessary, not to cross the forest without
+precaution. At our urgent solicitation, the Emperor took about two
+hundred horse to accompany him. Hitherto his only escort had been the
+carriage of General <span lang="fr">Drouot</span>, which preceded his, and mine, which closed
+the march. Colonels <span lang="ru">Germanouski</span> and <span lang="fr">Du Champ</span>, Captain <span lang="fr">Raoul</span>, and three
+or four Polanders, galloped by the side of them. Our horses, our
+postillions, our couriers, with tricoloured ribands, gave our
+peaceable party an air of festivity and happiness, that formed a
+singular contrast to the proscription suspended over our heads, and to
+the mourning and despair of the men who had proscribed us.</p>
+
+<p>We marched almost all night, as the Emperor was desirous of reaching
+Fontainbleau at break of day. I observed, that I thought it would be
+imprudent in him, to alight at the castle. "You are a child," answered
+he; "if any thing be to happen to me, all these precautions would be
+of no avail. Our fate is <span class="pagenum"><a id="page277" name="page277"></a>(p. 277)</span> written above:" and he pointed with
+his finger to the sky<a id="footnotetag69" name="footnotetag69"></a><a href="#footnote69" title="Go to footnote 69">[69]</a>.</p>
+
+<p>I had imagined, that the sight of the palace of Fontainbleau, the
+place where he had so lately descended from the throne, and where he
+now re-appeared as conqueror and sovereign, would make some impression
+on him, and impel him to think of the fragility of human grandeur. I
+watched him attentively; but he did not appear to me, to experience
+any emotion. Immediately on his arrival, he rambled over the gardens
+and the palace with as much pleasure and curiosity, as if he came to
+take possession of them for the first time. Napoleon occupied the
+little apartments, and complaisantly made me notice their extreme
+elegance. He then led me to his library, and in going up, said with an
+air of satisfaction, "We shall be very well here."&mdash;"Yes, sire,"
+answered I, "people are always well at home." He smiled, and I believe
+was pleased with my well-timed compliment.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page278" name="page278"></a>(p. 278)</span> At eleven o'clock he dictated to me the orders of the day;
+and these orders announced, that we should sleep at <span lang="fr">Essonne</span>. It was
+not till noon, that the news of the King's departure was brought at
+once by a courier from <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Lavalette</span>, by a letter from Madame
+<span lang="fr">Hamalin</span>, and by <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> de Ség.... He sent for me immediately. "You will
+set out first," he said, "to get every thing ready."&mdash;"It is to
+<span lang="fr">Essonne</span>, I presume, your Majesty orders me to repair?"&mdash;"No, to Paris.
+The King and the Princes have fled. I shall be at the <span lang="fr">Tuileries</span> this
+evening." He gave me some secret directions, and I quitted
+Fontainbleau with a heart full of happiness and joy. I had never
+doubted Napoleon's triumph; but from hope to reality how great the
+distance!</p>
+
+<p>In fact the King had quitted Paris.</p>
+
+<p>The aspect of affairs had never changed since the royal session of the
+17th of March. The minister, persevering in his system of falsehood
+and dissimulation, still distorted the truth with the same impudence,
+and did not cease to predict the approaching destruction of Napoleon
+and his adherents. At length, after a thousand subterfuges, it became
+necessary to confess, that Napoleon was within a few leagues of Paris.
+The King, whom the minister had not <span class="pagenum"><a id="page279" name="page279"></a>(p. 279)</span> been afraid to deceive,
+had scarcely time to think of retreating. In this painful situation,
+he displayed a strength of mind above all praise. His courage was not
+that of a warlike prince, who defends his capital inch by inch, and
+trembles with rage and despair when forced to quit it; but that of a
+good father, who separates himself with regret from his children, and
+from the roof under which they were born. The Bonapartists themselves,
+who made a great distinction between the king and his family, were not
+insensible to the tears of that august and unfortunate monarch, and
+sincerely prayed, that his flight might be exempted from danger and
+trouble.</p>
+
+<p>It was supposed, that Napoleon would make a triumphal entry into his
+capital. His old grenadiers, who had marched in seventeen days a
+distance that would commonly require five-and-forty, seemed, as they
+approached their object, to acquire fresh strength at every step. On
+the road you might see them in agitation, pressing upon and
+encouraging one another. They would have marched twenty leagues in an
+hour, if necessary, not to be deprived of the honour of entering Paris
+by the side of Napoleon. Their hopes were disappointed: the Emperor,
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page280" name="page280"></a>(p. 280)</span> who had witnessed their fatigues, ordered them to take a
+day's rest at Fontainbleau.</p>
+
+<p>At two o'clock on the 20th of March, Napoleon set out for Paris.
+Retarded by the crowd, that accumulated on his way, and by the
+felicitations of the troops and the generals, who had run to meet him,
+he could not reach it till nine in the evening. As soon as he
+alighted, the people rushed on him; a thousand arms lifted him up, and
+carried him along in triumph. Nothing could be more affecting than the
+confused assembly of the crowd of officers and generals, who had
+pressed into the apartments of the <span lang="fr">Tuileries</span> at the heels of Napoleon.
+Happy to see themselves once more triumphant, after so many
+vicissitudes, humiliations, and disgusts, they forgot the majesty of
+the place, to give themselves up without constraint to the desire of
+expressing their happiness and joy. They ran to one another, and
+hugged each other again and again. The halls of the palace seemed
+metamorphosed into a field of battle, where friends, brothers,
+unexpectedly escaped from death, found and embraced one another after
+victory.</p>
+
+<p>We had been so spoiled on the road, however, that the Emperor's
+reception by the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page281" name="page281"></a>(p. 281)</span> Parisians did not answer our expectations.
+Multiplied shouts of "Long live the Emperor!" saluted him on his way;
+but they wanted those characters of unanimity and frenzy, which were
+displayed by the acclamations, that had accompanied him from the gulf
+of Juan to the gates of Paris. It would be a mistake, however, to
+infer, that the Parisians did not behold the return of Napoleon with
+pleasure. We must only conclude, therefore, that the Emperor missed
+the proper time for his entrance.</p>
+
+<p>The people of great cities are eager for sights: to move their hearts,
+you must astonish their eyes. If Napoleon, instead of traversing Paris
+in the evening, and without being announced or expected, had put it
+off till the next day, and allowed the disquietudes inseparable from
+such a crisis time to be allayed; if he had given his entrance the
+pomp and splendour it ought to have had; if he had caused the troops
+and half-pay officers, who had hastened to his call, to march before
+him; if he had presented himself at the head of his grenadiers of the
+island of Elba, with all their decorations; if he had been surrounded
+by Generals <span lang="fr">Bertrand, Drouot, Cambronne</span>, and the faithful companions
+of his exile; <span class="pagenum"><a id="page282" name="page282"></a>(p. 282)</span> this grand and affecting train would have
+produced the most lively sensation, and the whole population of Paris
+would have applauded the return and the triumph of Napoleon. Instead
+of those unanimous transports, he received only the applauses of the
+populous part of the capital, that he had occasion to traverse; and
+his detractors did not fail, to compare this reception with that of
+Louis <abbr title="18">XVIII.</abbr>, and to publish, that he was obliged to enter Paris by
+night, in order to escape the maledictions and vengeance of the
+public. Napoleon, who had just travelled two hundred and fifty leagues
+amid the acclamations of two millions of Frenchmen, could not be
+agitated by any such fears; but it is well known with what confidence,
+what intoxication, he was inspired by the anniversary of a victory or
+happy event; and as the 20th of March was the birthday of his son, he
+determined at all events to enter the capital under such fortunate
+auspices.</p>
+
+<p>The very evening of his arrival, Napoleon had a long conversation with
+the Duke of Otranto, and the other dignitaries of the state, on the
+situation of France. They all appeared intoxicated with happiness and
+hope. The Emperor himself could not disguise his rapture: <span class="pagenum"><a id="page283" name="page283"></a>(p. 283)</span>
+never did I see him so madly gay, or so prodigal of boxes on the
+ear.<a id="footnotetag70" name="footnotetag70"></a><a href="#footnote70" title="Go to footnote 70">[70]</a> His conversation savoured of the agitation of his heart: the
+same words incessantly recurred to his tongue; and, it must be
+confessed, they were not very flattering to the crowd of courtiers and
+great personages, who already besieged him: he was continually saying:
+"It was the disinterested persons, who brought me back to Paris; the
+sub-lieutenants and soldiers did every thing; I owe all to the people
+and the army."</p>
+
+<p>That night and the following morning the Emperor was busied in the
+choice and nomination of his ministers.</p>
+
+<p>At their head Prince <span lang="fr">Cambacérès</span> found himself placed. The system of
+defamation directed against him had not altered the high
+consideration, which he had acquired by his great wisdom, and constant
+moderation. The Emperor offered him the port-folio of the minister of
+justice, and was obliged to command him to accept it. His sagacity and
+foresight, no doubt, presaged the fatal issue of the new reign of
+Napoleon.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page284" name="page284"></a>(p. 284)</span> The Prince of <span lang="fr">Eckmuhl</span> was named minister of war. By the
+harshness of his manners, by acts of severity almost barbarous, he had
+formerly drawn upon himself universal animadversions; his fidelity to
+the Emperor, and his defence of Hamburgh, had subsequently conciliated
+public opinion. The feebleness and versatility of his character indeed
+excited some apprehensions; but it was hoped, that the Emperor would
+know how to master him, and that the army would derive happy
+advantages from his indefatigable zeal, and his strict probity.</p>
+
+<p>The Duke of Vicenza<a id="footnotetag71" name="footnotetag71"></a><a href="#footnote71" title="Go to footnote 71">[71]</a> was placed at the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page285" name="page285"></a>(p. 285)</span> helm of foreign
+affairs. The rectitude of his principles, the firmness, nobleness, and
+independence of his character, had justly acquired him the esteem of
+France and of Europe; and his appointment was considered as a pledge
+of the loyal and pacific intentions of Napoleon.</p>
+
+<p>The Duke of Gaëta and Count <span lang="fr">Mollie</span>n became again ministers of the
+finances and the treasury. They had obtained the confidence of the
+public by the ability, prudence, and integrity of their preceding
+administration; and the choice of them met with general applause.</p>
+
+<p>The Duke of Otranto had the charge of the police. He had been at the
+helm of the state in circumstances of difficulty and peril; he had
+learned to form a sound judgment of the public mind, and to foresee,
+prepare, and guide events. Having belonged to all parties in
+succession, he knew their tactics, their resources, their pretensions;
+and the whole nation, convinced of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page286" name="page286"></a>(p. 286)</span> his experience, talents,
+and patriotism, hoped, that he would successfully concur in the safety
+of the Emperor and the empire.</p>
+
+<p>The recall of the Duke of Bassano to the ministry, as secretary of
+state, displeased the court, and also those credulous people, who,
+having no opinions but what are suggested to them, adopt praise and
+blame without discernment.</p>
+
+<p>Few men have been so ill treated, as this minister.</p>
+
+<p>Every one has taken pleasure in disfiguring his character and even his
+features.</p>
+
+<p>The Duke of Bassano had an open countenance, an agreeable manner of
+conversation, a politeness always uniform, a dignity sometimes
+affected, but never offensive, with a natural propensity to esteem
+men, courtesy in obliging them, and perseverance in serving them. The
+favour he enjoyed was at first the reward of unexampled readiness in
+business; of indefatigable activity; of pure intentions, lofty views,
+probity, proof against all temptation, and I will even add an iron
+constitution; for physical strength also was a quality in the eyes of
+Napoleon. Subsequently it became the just return for an attachment not
+to be shaken; an attachment, which, by its force, vivacity, and
+constancy, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page287" name="page287"></a>(p. 287)</span> seemed to be a compound of love and friendship.</p>
+
+<p>I must own, I believe, that <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> de Bassano most frequently shared and
+approved without exception the opinions of the Emperor; but it was not
+from interested or base motives: the Emperor was the idol of his
+heart, the object of his admiration: with such sentiments, how was it
+possible for him, to perceive the errors and faults of Napoleon?
+Besides, having continually to express the ideas of the Emperor, and
+to imbue himself as it were with the emanations of his spirit, he had
+identified himself with his way of thinking and of viewing things, and
+saw and thought as he did with the most perfect sincerity. Not but
+that he sometimes differed from him in opinion; yet whatever efforts
+he made, he always yielded ultimately to the irresistible ascendancy,
+that the genius of Napoleon exercised over him, as it did over every
+other person.</p>
+
+<p>The Duke of <span lang="fr">Decrès</span> was called anew to the post of minister of the
+navy, and this unexpected choice was completely disapproved. This
+minister was not deficient in understanding, talents, or bravery; but
+from the little importance he appeared to set on acting with justice
+or injustice, his cynicism, and his brutal <span class="pagenum"><a id="page288" name="page288"></a>(p. 288)</span> contempt for
+those under him, he had acquired the aversion of all who came near
+him; and, as evil spreads readily, this aversion, though unjust, had
+become general.</p>
+
+<p>The discontent this appointment excited was repaired by the good
+effect, which was produced by that of <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">Carnot</span> to the ministry of the
+home department. The soldiery did not forget, that he had paved the
+way to victory for many years; and the citizens remembered with what
+zeal, this courageous patriot had shown himself the defender of public
+liberty under Napoleon, both when consul and when Emperor, and under
+Louis <abbr title="18">XVIII.</abbr> To be a real patriot, says one of our celebrated writers,
+it is requisite, to possess greatness of soul; to have knowledge, to
+have probity, to have virtue. In <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">Carnot</span> all these rare and valuable
+qualities were combined: and, far from acquiring any personal lustre
+from this great name of patriot, he seemed on the contrary to
+embellish the name by wearing it; so well had he preserved it in its
+primitive purity, amid the debasement into which it had been plunged
+by the excesses of the revolution, and the abuses of despotism.</p>
+
+<p>The choice of such a minister was considered as a pledge to the
+nation. The sovereign, who was not afraid to introduce this
+illustrious <span class="pagenum"><a id="page289" name="page289"></a>(p. 289)</span> citizen into the government of the state, could
+not but entertain the generous design of securing the happiness of his
+subjects, and respecting their rights.</p>
+
+<p>The same day the Emperor gave the chief command of the <span lang="fr">gendarmerie</span> to
+the Duke of Rovigo.</p>
+
+<p>The Duke of Rovigo, an old <span lang="fr">aide-de-camp</span> of Napoleon, had sworn him an
+eternal attachment, both from feeling and gratitude. This attachment,
+born in a camp, had retained the character of military obedience: a
+word, a gesture, was sufficient to call it into action. But however
+great its strength, or, if you will, its fanaticism, it never affected
+the rectitude and frankness, which were the base and ornament of the
+duke's character.</p>
+
+<p>From no other person, except the Duke of Vicenza, did the Emperor hear
+more bold and useful truths. Twenty times did he venture to say to
+him, as his ministerial correspondence testifies, that France and
+Europe were tired of shedding blood; and that, if he did not renounce
+his system of war, he would be abandoned by the French, and
+precipitated from the throne by foreigners.</p>
+
+<p>The command of the <span lang="fr">gendarmerie</span> was taken from Marshal <span lang="fr">Moncey</span>, not from
+disgust or dissatisfaction, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page290" name="page290"></a>(p. 290)</span> but because the marshal showed
+little eagerness to retain it. On this occasion he wrote to the
+Emperor a letter full of fine sentiments, in which he requested him,
+to continue to his son the kindness he had formerly conferred on
+himself: it was difficult to reconcile the gratitude he owed Napoleon
+with the fidelity he had promised the King: in this he was so happy as
+to succeed.</p>
+
+<p>All the marshals were not so fortunate.</p>
+
+<p><abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Montalivet</span>, formerly minister of the home department, became
+intendant of the civil list, an office that suited him better. In
+administration, as in many other things, endeavours to do better
+prevent people from doing so well; and <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Montalivet</span>, from a desire
+to neglect no minute particular, and seeking to carry every thing to
+perfection, lost in empty trifles that time, which he might have
+employed in promoting the general good on a large scale.</p>
+
+<p>The strangest metamorphosis was that of the Duke <span lang="fr">de Cadore</span>: he was
+made a surveyor of buildings.</p>
+
+<p class="left10"><span lang="fr">"Soyez plutôt maçon, si c'est votre métier."</span><a id="footnotetag72" name="footnotetag72"></a><a href="#footnote72" title="Go to footnote 72">[72]</a></p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page291" name="page291"></a>(p. 291)</span> This place, hitherto the modest portion of auditors or
+masters of request, who had interest at court, was astonished at the
+honour of belonging to a duke and peer, ex-ambassador, ex-minister,
+ex-grand chancellor, <abbr title="etcetera etcetera etcetera">&amp;c. &amp;c. &amp;c.</abbr> But so much was his excellency then
+devoted to the sovereign of the day, that he would readily have
+accepted the post of a gentleman usher, had there been no other to
+offer him.</p>
+
+<p>The council of state was re-established on the ancient footing, and
+composed of nearly the same members.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor was neither politic nor prudent in ostensibly bestowing
+his confidence on some of them, who were obnoxious to the public. The
+usurpations of the imperial power were ascribed to their servile
+counsels, and their presence near the throne could not but revive
+recollections and anxieties, which it was of importance to destroy for
+ever. If their merit and experience rendered them necessary, they
+should have been consulted in private, but not held up to public view.
+A government firmly established may sometimes brave opinion, but a
+rising government ought to respect and submit to it.</p>
+
+<p>All the <span lang="fr">aides-de-camp</span> of the Emperor, with the exception, I believe,
+of General <span lang="fr">Lauriston</span>, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page292" name="page292"></a>(p. 292)</span> whom he would not employ again, were
+recalled. He could not place around him officers more worthy of his
+confidence for their noble-mindedness and superior talents. Generals
+<span lang="fr">Le Tort</span> and <span lang="fr">Labedoyère</span> were added to their number. The Emperor,
+deceived by false appearances<a id="footnotetag73" name="footnotetag73"></a><a href="#footnote73" title="Go to footnote 73">[73]</a>, had taken from the former the
+command of the dragoons of the guard, and to compensate for this
+involuntary injustice, he made him his <span lang="fr">aide-de-camp</span>. The same favour
+was conferred on <span lang="fr">Labedoyère</span>, as a recompense for his conduct at
+<span lang="fr">Grenoble</span>; but he answered the kindness of Napoleon by a formal
+refusal. "I will not allow it to be thought," said he proudly, "that I
+joined the Emperor for the sake of reward. I espoused his cause,
+simply because it was that of liberty, and of my country; the honour
+of having served it is enough for me: I desire nothing more; the
+Emperor personally owes me nothing."</p>
+
+<p>This noble refusal will not surprise those, who had an opportunity of
+knowing and esteeming the patriotism and disinterestedness of that
+brave and unfortunate young man.</p>
+
+<p>Introduced to society at an early age, he conducted himself at first
+as those generally do, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page293" name="page293"></a>(p. 293)</span> who have a handsome face, elegance of
+manners, wit, a name, wealth, and no experience. Soon brought to
+himself, he felt, that he was not born to lead a life of dissipation;
+and his conduct became as honourable, as it had been irregular. His
+mind, turned to serious occupation, engaged in political speculations:
+his soul, naturally proud and independent, matured and enlarged
+itself, and expanded to those liberal ideas and noble sentiments, that
+the love of glory and of our country inspires. Nature, in giving him a
+lofty, firm, and daring character, unquestionably destined him to act
+an important part in the world; and if death, and what a death! had
+not struck him in the flower of his years, he would assuredly have
+fulfilled his shining destiny, and done honour to France.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor set several persons to speak to him, and after three days
+negotiations <span lang="fr">Labedoyère</span> yielded. Napoleon persisted in recompensing
+him. In ordinary cases, the Emperor looked with indifference on the
+endeavours made to please him; never was he known to say, I am
+pleased; and a person conjectured he had given him satisfaction, when
+he did not show any marks of discontent. If, on the other hand, the
+services rendered him made a noise, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page294" name="page294"></a>(p. 294)</span> like those of
+<span lang="fr">Labedoyère</span>, he was lavish of his praises and rewards: and in this he
+had two objects; the one, that of appearing not only just, but
+generous; the other, that of inspiring emulation. But frequently on
+the very day, on which he had bestowed on you praises, and proofs of
+his satisfaction, he would treat you with disdain and harshness, to
+prevent your attaching too much importance to the service you might
+have rendered him, or believing, that he had contracted a debt of
+obligation to you.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor replaced about his person most of the gentlemen of the
+bedchamber, equerries, and masters of ceremonies, who were with him in
+1814. He had retained his unfortunate predilection for the great lords
+of former times, and must have them at any price: had he not been
+surrounded by ancient nobles, he would have fancied himself in a
+republic.</p>
+
+<p>Most of these (for there were some who were most honourably excepted,
+as the Prince <span lang="fr">de Beauveau, <abbr title="Messieurs">Messrs.</abbr> de Turenne, de Montholon, de
+Lascases, Forbin de Janson, Perregaux</span>, <abbr title="etcetera etcetera">&amp;c. &amp;c.</abbr>) had meanly renounced
+him in 1814, and become the common valets of the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>; but he
+would not believe a word of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page295" name="page295"></a>(p. 295)</span> it. He had the weakness, common
+to all princes, of considering his most cringing courtiers as his most
+devoted subjects.</p>
+
+<p>He would also form an establishment for the Empress, and re-appointed
+<span lang="fr">Mesdames de Bassano, de Vicenza, de Rovigo, Duchâtel</span>, and <span lang="fr">Marmier</span>,
+ladies of the bedchamber. The Duchess of M*** was not recalled. He
+heard from Prince Joseph, that after the events of Fontainbleau, she
+had abused the confidence of the Empress, and betrayed the secret of
+her correspondence.</p>
+
+<p>It was said, but falsely, that the gracefulness and beauty of the
+Duchess had formerly obtained the homage of Napoleon; and her disgrace
+did not fail to be urged as a fresh proof of the inconstancy of men;
+but I have assigned the true and only cause.</p>
+
+<p>The corruption of courts often sanctions a number of lying
+suppositions, against which few reputations can stand. This justice
+however must be done Napoleon; no prince was ever a man of purer
+manners, or took so much pains to avoid and even check scandal: he was
+never seen, to be followed to the army by his mistresses, like Louis
+<abbr title="14">XIV.</abbr>; or disguised in the dress of a porter, or of a small-coal man,
+like <span class="pagenum"><a id="page296" name="page296"></a>(p. 296)</span> Henry <abbr title="4">IV.</abbr>, to carry disgrace and despair into the
+houses of his most faithful servants.</p>
+
+<p>As a pretty remarkable contrast, Napoleon, at the moment when he
+resumed with delight his own upper servants, sent about their business
+without pity the lacqueys, who had served Louis <abbr title="18">XVIII.</abbr> and the
+princes.</p>
+
+<p class="left10">"<span lang="fr">De tout tems les petits ont payé pour les grands</span>."<a id="footnotetag74" name="footnotetag74"></a><a href="#footnote74" title="Go to footnote 74">[74]</a></p>
+
+<p>These poor people were left destitute. It has been said and repeated a
+hundred times, that Napoleon ill-treated and struck all those who came
+near him, right or wrong. Nothing can be more false. He had his
+moments of impatience and warmth; and what honest citizen has not? But
+in general, the officers and even subalterns of his household were in
+easy circumstances with him, and he was more frequently in a gay than
+in a serious humour. He very easily became attached to a person; and
+when he liked any one, he could not do without him; and treated him
+with a kindness, that frequently degenerated into weakness. It is
+true, it would have been very difficult for him <span class="pagenum"><a id="page297" name="page297"></a>(p. 297)</span> to find
+servants more able, or more devotedly attached to him: every one of
+them had made it his particular study, to become, not what he did
+wish, but what he might wish.</p>
+
+<p>Tacitus has observed, that voluntary slaves make more tyrants, than
+tyrants make slaves. When we recollect the officiousness, the
+meannesses, and the adulation, of certain nobles, who had become the
+courtiers of Napoleon, we are astonished, that it never entered his
+head to follow the example of Alexander, and cause himself to be
+adored as a god.</p>
+
+<p>Counts <span lang="fr">Drouot</span> and <span lang="fr">Bertrand</span> were retained in their posts of grand
+marshal of the palace, and major-general of the guards. It had been
+imagined, that the Emperor would have conferred on them the titles of
+Duke of <span lang="it">Porto Ferrajo</span>, and Duke of <span lang="it">Porto Longone</span>, as memorials of
+their fidelity. He did no such thing. They were fully recompensed,
+however, by the veneration, with which Frenchmen and foreigners were
+inspired for them both. Still, for what reason, I cannot conceive, a
+higher value was generally set on the devoted attachment of General
+<span lang="fr">Bertrand</span>.</p>
+
+<p>When the Emperor had laid down his crown, Count <span lang="fr">Drouot</span> did not
+hesitate an instant, to preserve that fidelity to him in adversity,
+which <span class="pagenum"><a id="page298" name="page298"></a>(p. 298)</span> he had sworn in his prosperity: and this fidelity was
+not in his eyes a proof of attachment, still less a sacrifice; it
+appeared to him only the natural fulfilment of a duty imposed on him
+by the kindnesses and misfortunes of Napoleon.</p>
+
+<p>To follow him, he abandoned all that is most dear to a well-born mind,
+his family and his country, as well as the military career, in which
+he had acquired the most glorious renown.</p>
+
+<p>Transported into the midst of the seas, he frequently cast his looks
+towards the land of his birth: but no regret, no complaint, escaped
+from his heart. His conscience was satisfied, how could he be unhappy?
+As disinterested in the service of the sovereign of the island of
+Elba, as he had been in that of the Emperor of the French<a id="footnotetag75" name="footnotetag75"></a><a href="#footnote75" title="Go to footnote 75">[75]</a>, though
+poor, he would receive no reward from Napoleon: "Give me food and
+clothing," said he, "I want nothing more." The most seducing offers
+were lavished on him, to draw him over to the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>. To these he
+was insensible; and he felt no difficulty in <span class="pagenum"><a id="page299" name="page299"></a>(p. 299)</span> preferring the
+rock of Napoleon to the lustre of their throne.</p>
+
+<p>Such was General <span lang="fr">Drouot</span>; and such also was his worthy rival, Count
+<span lang="fr">Bertrand</span>; for there existed no difference in the generosity of their
+conduct, and none ought to exist in the admiration they deserve.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor himself was not free from this injustice: he seemed to
+give the preference to Count <span lang="fr">Bertrand</span>. This difference proceeded, I
+believe, from that degree of intimacy, which the functions of the
+grand Marshal established between the Emperor and him, and perhaps
+from the suitableness of their characters.</p>
+
+<p><span lang="fr">Bertrand</span>, amiable, witty, insinuating, united the agreeable and
+polished manners of a courtier with an air of distinction. Feeble,
+irresolute, in the ordinary conduct of life; he yielded to no one in
+courage and firmness, on occasions of difficulty and danger. A
+stranger to intrigue, inaccessible to seduction, he was in the camp,
+as in the palace, a man of honour, a man of probity.</p>
+
+<p><span lang="fr">Drouot</span>, simple in his manners, affectionate in his speech, displayed
+that rare assemblage of virtues, which compel us to love the sages of
+antiquity, and the heroes of the days of chivalry. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page300" name="page300"></a>(p. 300)</span> He had
+the wisdom, the prudence of Aristides, the valour, the modesty, the
+loyalty of <span lang="fr">Bayard</span>. The favour he enjoyed, the military power with
+which he was invested, inspired him with no pride: he was not less
+humble and timid at court, than he was terrible and daring in the
+field of honour.</p>
+
+<p><span lang="fr">Bertrand</span>, when he was consulted, delivered his opinion with the
+caution and skill of a courtier; <span lang="fr">Drouot</span>, with the precision and
+frankness of a soldier: but neither was false to his conscience. Their
+language, though different in structure, was the same in substance; it
+was always that of truth and honour.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor, though greatly fatigued by nocturnal marches, reviews,
+perpetual harangues, and his labours in the closet, which for the last
+thirty-six hours had occupied all his moments, would nevertheless
+review the troops, that previously composed the army of the Duke of
+<span lang="fr">Berri</span>.</p>
+
+<p>He caused them to be assembled in the court of the <span lang="fr">Tuileries</span>; and, to
+use his own words, "The whole capital was witness to the sentiments of
+enthusiasm and attachment, by which those brave troops were animated:
+they seemed to have reconquered their country, and found <span class="pagenum"><a id="page301" name="page301"></a>(p. 301)</span>
+again in the national colours the remembrance of all those generous
+sentiments, which have ever distinguished the French nation."</p>
+
+<p>After having gone through the ranks, he made the troops form square
+battalions, and said to them:</p>
+
+<p>"Soldiers, I came to France with six hundred men, because I reckoned
+on the love of the people, and the remembrance of the old soldiers. I
+have not been deceived in my expectations: soldiers, I thank you. The
+glory of what we have just done belongs wholly to you and to the
+people, mine is only that of having known you, and judged you rightly.</p>
+
+<p>"Soldiers, the imperial throne only can guarantie the rights of the
+people, and more especially the first of our interests, that of our
+glory. Soldiers, we are going to march, to chase from our territories
+those princes, who are the auxiliaries of foreigners. The nation will
+not only second us with its good wishes, but will follow our impulse.
+The French people and myself depend upon you: we will not interfere
+with the affairs of foreign nations; and wo to the nation, that shall
+interfere with ours!"</p>
+
+<p>At this moment General <span lang="fr">Cambronne</span>, and some officers of the guards of
+the battalion of the island of Elba, appeared with the ancient
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page302" name="page302"></a>(p. 302)</span> eagles of the guard: the Emperor resumed his harangue, and
+said<a id="footnotetag76" name="footnotetag76"></a><a href="#footnote76" title="Go to footnote 76">[76]</a>: "Here are the officers of the battalion, who accompanied me
+in my adversity: they are all my friends, they were dear to my heart!
+Whenever I saw them, they reminded me of the different regiments of
+the army; for among these six hundred brave fellows are men from every
+regiment. They recalled to my mind those great victories, the
+remembrance of which is so dear; for they are all well covered with
+honourable scars received in those memorable battles! In loving them,
+it was all of you, soldiers, of the whole French army, whom I loved.
+They bring back to you these eagles; let them serve you as a rallying
+point: in giving them to the guards, I give them to the whole army."</p>
+
+<p>"Treason and unfortunate circumstances had covered them with a
+funereal veil: but, thanks to the French people and to you, they
+appear again resplendent with all their glory. Swear, that they shall
+always be found, wherever the interests of our country call them! that
+traitors, and those who would invade our territories, shall never
+stand their appearance."</p>
+
+<p>"We swear it," answered all the soldiers with <span class="pagenum"><a id="page303" name="page303"></a>(p. 303)</span> enthusiasm.
+They then filed off with shouts of "Long live the Emperor!" and to the
+sound of military music, playing the favourite tunes of the
+revolution, and the Marseillese march, so celebrated in the annals of
+our crimes and our victories.</p>
+
+<p>When the review was over, the Emperor returned to his closet, and
+applied himself immediately to business. His situation rendered it
+necessary, that he should ascertain without delay the precise state of
+the country, of the government of which he had resumed the reins. This
+was so vast an undertaking, that the faculties of any other man would
+have been overwhelmed by it. He found the writing table covered with
+mystic authors<a id="footnotetag77" name="footnotetag77"></a><a href="#footnote77" title="Go to footnote 77">[77]</a>; and substituted <span class="pagenum"><a id="page304" name="page304"></a>(p. 304)</span> for them plans and maps.
+"The closet of a French monarch," said he, "should resemble the tent
+of a general, not an oratory." His eyes rested on the map of France.
+After having contemplated its recent limits, he exclaimed in a tone of
+profound sorrow, "<i>Poor France</i>!" He kept silence a few minutes, and
+then began to hum in a low voice one of his usual burdens of songs:</p>
+
+<p class="left10 ft"><span lang="fr">"S'il est un tems pour la folie,<br>
+        Il en est un pour la raison<a id="footnotetag78" name="footnotetag78"></a><a href="#footnote78" title="Go to footnote 78">[78]</a>."</span></p>
+
+<p>The Emperor entered his closet habitually <span class="pagenum"><a id="page305" name="page305"></a>(p. 305)</span> before six in the
+morning, and seldom quitted it till night.</p>
+
+<p>Impatience and vivacity are almost always incompatible with order and
+precision. Napoleon, destined to be like no other person, added to the
+fire of genius the methodical habits of cold and little minds. For the
+most part, he took care to arrange his numerous papers himself. Each
+of them had its settled place. Here was found whatever related to the
+war department: there, the budgets, the daily statements of the
+treasury and finances: farther on, the reports of the police, his
+secret correspondence with his private agents, <abbr title="etcetera">&amp;c.</abbr> He carefully
+returned every thing to its place, after having used it: compared with
+him the most methodical clerk would have been but a bungler.</p>
+
+<p>His first business was to read his correspondence, and the despatches
+that had arrived in the night. He put aside the interesting letters,
+and threw the rest on the floor: this he called his <i>answered</i>.</p>
+
+<p>He afterwards examined the copies of letters opened at the post
+office, and burnt them immediately. It seemed, as if he wished to
+annihilate all traces of the abuse of power, of which he had been
+guilty.</p>
+
+<p>He finished by casting an eye over the newspapers. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page306" name="page306"></a>(p. 306)</span> Sometimes
+he said, "That's a good article; whose is it?" He must know every
+thing.</p>
+
+<p>These several readings ended, he set to work; and it may be said
+without exaggeration, that he was then as extraordinary, as
+incomparable, as at the head of his armies.</p>
+
+<p>As he would entrust to nobody the supreme care of the government, he
+saw every thing himself; and it is easy to conceive, on what a
+multiplicity of objects he had to fix his eyes. Independently of his
+ministers, the Duke of Bassano, the commandant of the first division
+of Paris, the prefect of the police, the inspector general of the
+<span lang="fr">gendarmerie</span>, the major-general of guards, the grand marshal of the
+palace, the great officers of the crown, the <span lang="fr">aides-de-camp</span>, and the
+orderly officers (<i><span lang="fr">officiers d'ordonnance</span></i>) on missions, daily sent
+him circumstantial reports, which he examined, and answered
+immediately: it being a maxim with him, to put nothing off till
+to-morrow. And let it not be supposed, that he satisfied himself with
+a superficial judgment of affairs: he read every report through, and
+examined every voucher attentively. Frequently the super-human
+sagacity, with which he was gifted, enabled him to perceive errors and
+imperfections, that had escaped <span class="pagenum"><a id="page307" name="page307"></a>(p. 307)</span> the scrutinizing eyes of his
+ministers; and then he corrected their labours. But still more
+frequently he fashioned them anew from beginning to end; and what was
+a fortnight's work to a whole ministry, scarcely cost the genius of
+Napoleon a few minutes.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor rarely sat down, but dictated as he walked about. He did
+not like to repeat his words; and if you asked him a word not clearly
+understood, he answered impatiently, "<i>I said</i>," and went on.</p>
+
+<p>When he had to treat a subject worthy of himself, his style,
+habitually nervous and concise, rose to the level of his grand
+conceptions: it became majestic and sublime.</p>
+
+<p>If the possibility of expressing his ideas was shackled by the want of
+the proper word; or if the customary terms did not appear to him
+sufficiently strong, sufficiently animated, he brought together words,
+that were astonished to find themselves in each other's company, and
+created a language of his own, a language rich and impressive, that
+might sometimes infringe established rules, but compensated this happy
+fault, by giving more loftiness and vigour to his thoughts<a id="footnotetag79" name="footnotetag79"></a><a href="#footnote79" title="Go to footnote 79">[79]</a>.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page308" name="page308"></a>(p. 308)</span> Sometimes, hurried away by the impetuosity of his character,
+and eager to arrive more quickly at his object, he did not take time
+to weigh his words, his ideas, his desires. When his orders had been
+dictated to us in such a fit of hastiness, we were careful, as far as
+possible, not to present them for signing the same day. The next day,
+they were almost always modified, softened, or torn. Napoleon was
+never displeased with us, for endeavouring to guard him against the
+dangers of precipitancy. They who think, that he never corrected a
+false step, are mistaken: if under certain circumstances his
+determinations were inflexible, in a number of others he yielded to
+remonstrance, and relinquished his projects and resolves without
+difficulty.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor seldom wrote with his own hand. Words of many syllables
+were tedious to him; and, not having patience to write them at length,
+he mutilated them. This habit, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page309" name="page309"></a>(p. 309)</span> added to the defective
+formation of his letters, rendered his writing altogether illegible.
+Frequently, too, from carelessness, or absence of mind, he infringed
+the laws of orthography; and people have not failed thence to infer,
+that he was completely ignorant.</p>
+
+<p>Most assuredly the ignorance of Napoleon, were it proved, would
+detract nothing from his glory and renown. Charlemagne could scarcely
+sign his own name. Louis <abbr title="14">XIV.</abbr>, and I quote him by choice, though born
+on a throne, was unacquainted with <i>the rules of grammar</i>. Yet
+Charlemagne and Louis were nevertheless great kings. The imputation,
+however, is as false as it is absurd. Napoleon, educated at the school
+of <span lang="fr">Brienne</span>, was distinguished there by that facility of comprehension,
+that disdain of pleasure, that fondness for study, that enthusiastic
+regard for models of greatness, which commonly indicate superior
+minds. Destined for the profession of arms, he would not aspire to
+become a man of letters, a man of reading, a learned man: his object,
+for he had an object in his earliest years, was to become some day a
+distinguished officer, perhaps even a great captain. It was to the
+military sciences, therefore, he bent his genius ... the universe
+knows the rest.</p>
+
+<p>But do I say his genius? the detractors of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page310" name="page310"></a>(p. 310)</span> Napoleon also
+assert, that his mind was too subject to irregularities, for the
+possession of genius to be granted him: do they not know, or do they
+pretend to be ignorant, that such irregularities are on the contrary
+the proof, the distinguishing characteristics, of this precious gift
+of nature.</p>
+
+<p>"Genius," says one of our philosophers, "rises and stoops by turns; it
+is often imperfect, because it does not take the trouble to improve
+itself. It is great in great things, because they are adapted to
+excite its sublime instinct, and call it into action. It is negligent
+in ordinary things, because they are beneath it, and have nothing in
+them to stir it up: if, however, it do turn its attention to them, it
+fertilizes them, aggrandizes them, and gives them a new and unexpected
+appearance, that had escaped vulgar eyes."</p>
+
+<p>And with how vast a genius must he have been endowed! he, who,
+occupied by the torments of ambition, military calculations, political
+schemes, and the anxieties inspired by the enemies of his crown and of
+his life, still found sufficient time, sufficient calmness, sufficient
+power, to command his numerous armies; to govern twenty foreign
+nations, and forty millions of subjects; to enter solicitously into
+all the particulars of the administration of his <span class="pagenum"><a id="page311" name="page311"></a>(p. 311)</span> states; to
+see every thing; to sift every thing to the bottom; to regulate every
+thing; in fine, to conceive, create, and realize those unexpected
+improvements, those bold innovations, those noble institutions, and
+those immortal codes, that raise the civil glory of France to a degree
+of superiority, which alone can match its military glory. But I know
+not why I attempt to combat such adversaries: they who are blind to
+the genius of Napoleon, have never known genius itself, and I ought to
+give them no answer, but that of <span lang="fr">Rousseau</span>: "Silence, ye uninitiated!"</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor, by his decrees issued at Lyons, had in some degree
+repaired the wrongs imputed to the royal government. One grievance
+still remained for him; the slavery of the press. The decree of the
+24th of March<a id="footnotetag80" name="footnotetag80"></a><a href="#footnote80" title="Go to footnote 80">[80]</a>, by suppressing <span class="pagenum"><a id="page312" name="page312"></a>(p. 312)</span> the censors, the
+censorship, and the superintendance of the bookselling trade,
+completed the imperial restoration.</p>
+
+<p>This last concession was unquestionably the greatest, that Napoleon
+could make to public opinion. A press in the general interest of the
+people is the surest protection of their rights. It is the most noble
+conquest liberty can gain over despotism: to honest men it gives
+dignity; it inspires them with the love of their country, and of the
+laws; in fine, according to the English definition, it is the mother
+of all liberty: but in times of trouble and of revolution, it is a
+dangerous weapon in the hands of the wicked; and the Emperor foresaw,
+that the royalists would employ it in the cause of the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>; and
+the Jacobins, to calumniate his sentiments, and render his designs
+suspected. But, a declared enemy of half-measures, he resolved, since
+he had set thought at liberty, that it should circulate
+unshackled<a id="footnotetag81" name="footnotetag81"></a><a href="#footnote81" title="Go to footnote 81">[81]</a>.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page313" name="page313"></a>(p. 313)</span> This decree, and those that preceded it, were undoubtedly
+sufficient to testify to the nation the liberal disposition of
+Napoleon: but no speech from the throne had yet declared with
+solemnity the positive intentions of the Emperor.</p>
+
+<p>At length he fixed on Sunday, the 26th of March, as the day, on which
+he would make his new profession of faith in the face of the
+nation<a id="footnotetag82" name="footnotetag82"></a><a href="#footnote82" title="Go to footnote 82">[82]</a>.</p>
+
+<p>The ministers, the council of state, the court of cassation, the court
+of accounts, the imperial court, the prefect, and the municipal
+council of Paris, were admitted to the foot of the throne.</p>
+
+<p>The prince arch-chancellor, speaking in the name of the ministers,
+said:</p>
+
+<p>"Sire, Providence, that watches over our destiny, has re-opened to
+your Majesty the road to that throne, to which you had been raised by
+the free choice of the people, and the national gratitude. Our country
+raises its majestic <span class="pagenum"><a id="page314" name="page314"></a>(p. 314)</span> brow, and for the second time salutes
+with the name of deliverer the prince, who destroyed anarchy, and
+whose existence alone is at present capable of consolidating our
+liberal institutions.</p>
+
+<p>"The most just of revolutions, that which will restore to men their
+dignity, and all their political rights, has hurled from the throne
+the dynasty of the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>. After five and twenty years of war and
+troubles, all the efforts of foreigners have proved unable, to awaken
+affections that are extinct, or wholly unknown to the present
+generation. The struggle of the interests and prejudices of a few
+against the enlightened state of the age, and the interests of a great
+nation, is at length terminated.</p>
+
+<p>"Our destinies are accomplished: the only legitimate cause, the cause
+of the people, has triumphed. Your Majesty has yielded to the wishes
+of the French; you have seized anew the reins of the state, amid the
+benedictions of the people and of the army.</p>
+
+<p>"France, Sire, has as a guarantee of it her will, and her dearest
+interests; she has as a guarantee of it all that your Majesty has said
+to the population of the different parts of the country, which
+assembled in crowds on your passage. Your Majesty will keep your word,
+you will remember only the services rendered your country; <span class="pagenum"><a id="page315" name="page315"></a>(p. 315)</span>
+you will prove, that in your eyes, and in your heart, whatever the
+different opinions and exasperations of parties may have been, all
+citizens are equal, as they are in the eye of the law.</p>
+
+<p>"Your Majesty will also forget, that we have been the masters of the
+nations around us. Generous idea! that adds another glory to the glory
+already acquired.</p>
+
+<p>"Already has Your Majesty traced out to your ministers the path they
+have to pursue: already have you made known to all the people by your
+proclamations the maxims, by which you would have your empire governed
+for the future. No war without, unless to repel unjust aggression; no
+re-action within, no arbitrary proceedings; security of person,
+security of property, and the free circulation of opinions, are the
+principles you have sanctioned.</p>
+
+<p>"Happy those, Sire, who are called to cooperate in so many sublime
+acts! Such benefits will ensure to you from posterity, when the days
+of adulation are at an end, the name of Father of your country: they
+will be guarantied to our children by the august heir, whom your
+Majesty is preparing to crown in the <span lang="fr">Champ de Mai</span>."</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor answered:</p>
+
+<p>"The sentiments you have expressed to me <span class="pagenum"><a id="page316" name="page316"></a>(p. 316)</span> are mine. 'Every
+thing agreeably to the sense of the nation, and every thing for
+France:' such is my motto.</p>
+
+<p>"I and my family, whom this great people has raised to the French
+throne, and maintained on it in spite of vicissitudes and political
+tempests, will not, ought not, cannot, ever claim any other title to
+it."</p>
+
+<p class="p2">The Count <span lang="fr">Défermon</span>, father of the presidents of the council of state,
+delivered to the Emperor the following declaration, tending to prove
+the nullity of the abdication of Fontainbleau:</p>
+
+<p>"The council of state, in resuming its functions, thinks it necessary
+to make known the principles, by which its conduct and opinions are
+guided.</p>
+
+<p>"The sovereignty resides in the people, who are the only legitimate
+source of power.</p>
+
+<p>"In 1789 the nation recovered its rights, which had long been usurped,
+or misunderstood.</p>
+
+<p>"The National Assembly abolished the feudal monarchy, and established
+a constitutional monarchy, and a representative government.</p>
+
+<p>"The resistance of the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> to the wishes of the people occasioned
+their downfal, and their banishment from the French territories.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page317" name="page317"></a>(p. 317)</span> "Twice the people sanctioned by its votes the new form of
+government established by its representatives.</p>
+
+<p>"In the year 8th, Bonaparte, already crowned by victory, found himself
+raised to the government by the assent of the nation. A constitution
+created the consular magistracy.</p>
+
+<p>"The senatus consultum of the 16th of <span lang="fr">Thermidor</span>, year 10, named
+Bonaparte consul for life.</p>
+
+<p>"The senatus consultum of the 28th of <span lang="fr">Floréal</span>, year 12, conferred on
+Napoleon the imperial dignity, and made it hereditary in his family.</p>
+
+<p>"These three solemn acts were laid for acceptance before the people,
+who sanctioned them by nearly four millions of votes.</p>
+
+<p>"Accordingly, the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> had ceased to reign in France for two and
+twenty years; they were forgotten there by their contemporaries;
+strangers to our laws, our institutions, our manners, our glory; and
+the present generation knew nothing of them.</p>
+
+<p>"In 1814 France was invaded by the armies of the enemy, and the
+capital occupied. The foreigners created a pretended provisional
+government. They assembled a minority of the senators, and compelled
+them, in opposition to their delegated powers and to their will, to
+destroy the existing establishments, to overturn <span class="pagenum"><a id="page318" name="page318"></a>(p. 318)</span> the
+imperial throne, and to recall the family of the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>.</p>
+
+<p>"The senate, which had been instituted solely to maintain the
+constitution of the empire, acknowledged itself, that it had no power
+to alter it. It decreed, that the scheme of a constitution, which it
+had prepared, should be submitted to the people for their acceptance,
+and that Louis Stanislas Xavier should be proclaimed King of the
+French, as soon as he had accepted the constitution, and sworn to
+observe it, and cause it to be observed.</p>
+
+<p>"The abdication of the Emperor Napoleon was solely the result of the
+unfortunate situation, to which France and the Emperor had been
+reduced by the events of the war, by treason, and by the occupation of
+the capital. The only object of the abdication was, to avoid a civil
+war, and the shedding of French blood. Unsanctioned by the will of the
+people, this act could not annul the solemn contract, that was
+established between them and the Emperor. And if Napoleon possessed
+the power of abdicating the throne in his own person, he had none to
+sacrifice the rights of his son, appointed to reign after him.</p>
+
+<p class="dashed">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>"The Emperor, therefore, by re-ascending <span class="pagenum"><a id="page319" name="page319"></a>(p. 319)</span> the throne, to
+which the people had elevated him, restored the people to their most
+sacred rights: he only called into execution the decrees of the
+Representative Assemblies, sanctioned by the nation: he returns to
+reign on the only legitimate principle, that France acknowledges and
+has acknowledged for five and twenty years, and to which all the
+authorities bound themselves by oaths, that they can be released from
+by the will of the people alone.</p>
+
+<p>"The Emperor is called upon, to guaranty anew, by institutions, as he
+has engaged to do in his proclamations to the nation and the army, all
+the principles of liberty: personal freedom, and equality of rights;
+the freedom of the press, and abolition of the censorship; freedom of
+religious worship; the voting of laws and contributions by the
+representatives of the nation lawfully chosen; national property, from
+whatever source arising; the independence and stability of our
+tribunals; the responsibility of ministers, and of all the agents of
+authority.</p>
+
+<p>"The more perfectly to sanction the rights and obligations of the
+people and the monarch, the national institutions should be revised in
+a grand assembly of the representatives already announced by the
+Emperor.</p>
+
+<p>"Previous to the meeting of this grand representative <span class="pagenum"><a id="page320" name="page320"></a>(p. 320)</span>
+assembly, the Emperor ought to exercise, and cause to be exercised,
+conformably to the existing laws and constitution, the authority they
+have delegated to him, which could not be taken from him, which he
+could not abdicate without the consent of the nation, and which the
+wishes and general interest of the French people render it his duty to
+resume."</p>
+
+<p class="p2">The Emperor answered:</p>
+
+<p>"Princes are the first citizens of the state: their authority is more
+or less extensive according to the interests of the nations they
+govern: the sovereignty itself is hereditary only because the interest
+of the people requires it. I know nothing of a legitimacy extraneous
+to these principles.</p>
+
+<p>"I have renounced the idea of that grand empire, of which in the
+course of fifteen years I had merely laid the foundations:
+henceforward the happiness and consolidation of the French empire will
+be the object of all my thoughts."</p>
+
+<p>The court of cassation expressed the same principles and the same
+sentiments as the council of state.</p>
+
+<p>To this the Emperor answered:</p>
+
+<p>"In the earliest ages of the French monarchy, rude tribes made
+themselves masters of Gaul. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page321" name="page321"></a>(p. 321)</span> The sovereignty, of course, was
+not framed for the benefit of the Gauls, who were slaves, or destitute
+of political rights; but for the benefit of the conquering tribe. It
+can never have been said with truth, therefore, in any period of
+history, in any nation, even in the east, that the people exist for
+kings. Every where it has been established, that kings exist only for
+the people. A dynasty created under circumstances, that have created
+so many new interests, being itself interested in the maintenance of
+the rights and properties of all, can alone be natural and legitimate,
+and in possession of strength and confidence, the two leading
+characters in all government."</p>
+
+<p>The court of accounts, and the imperial court, held the same language
+as the preceding authorities.</p>
+
+<p>To these the Emperor answered:</p>
+
+<p>"What particularly distinguishes the imperial throne is, that it has
+been raised by the nation, that it is consequently natural, and that
+it guaranties the interests of all. This is the true character of
+legitimacy. It is the interest of this throne, to consolidate all that
+at present exists, and all that has been done in France during the
+twenty-five years of revolution. It comprises <span class="pagenum"><a id="page322" name="page322"></a>(p. 322)</span> all interests,
+and particularly that of the national glory, which is not the least
+among them.</p>
+
+<p>"Whatever has returned with the foreign armies, whatever has been done
+without consulting the nation, is null. The courts of <span lang="fr">Grenoble</span> and
+Lyons, and all the tribunals of the judicial order, which I met with
+while the success of events was yet uncertain, have shown me, that
+these principles are engraved on the heart of every Frenchman."</p>
+
+<p class="p2">The reception of these public bodies being over, there was a grand
+audience in the apartments of the palace. The answers of the Emperor,
+repeated with embellishments, had produced the most profound
+sensation. The words national glory, liberty, country, so long unknown
+and proscribed within these walls, resounded on every side. When the
+emigrants re-appeared, and the most illustrious servants of the state
+were expelled, to make room for men, who had become strangers to our
+manners, our institutions, and our triumphs; you would have said, that
+France existed no longer, that it had passed under the dominion of
+foreigners. When Napoleon returned, our country appeared to have
+returned with him: he seemed to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page323" name="page323"></a>(p. 323)</span> have brought it back from
+exile, and he might then exclaim with just pride: "I am the nation."</p>
+
+<p>The example set by the magistrates of Paris soon found numerous
+imitators in the departments. The public functionaries, the judicial
+and administrative authorities, which but a few days before had
+offered up prayers to Heaven and to the King for the extermination of
+the Corsican, the tyrant, and the usurper, were eager to congratulate
+<i>the Emperor</i> on his miraculous return; and to confer on him the
+titles of hero, deliverer, and more especially of legitimate
+sovereign.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon's progress had been so rapid, that many addresses to the King
+did not reach Paris before the King was gone; and all these were
+delivered at the same time with the new addresses voted to his
+successor<a id="footnotetag83" name="footnotetag83"></a><a href="#footnote83" title="Go to footnote 83">[83]</a>! I remarked this to the Emperor; who answered me with a
+smile of pity: "<i>See what men are</i>!"</p>
+
+<p>The favourites of Apollo did not fail to offer up their obsequious
+incense to the god of the day. We received from the Countess de G***
+some very pretty verses in honour of the violet. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page324" name="page324"></a>(p. 324)</span> Another
+woman, still more celebrated, the Baroness de S***, took occasion from
+some flattering words said for her to M. B. C., to write an epistle to
+the Emperor, which would make a curious figure at the head of her last
+work.</p>
+
+<p>The most rigid writers and lecturers on the common law, who the
+evening before, with Cujas and Bartholi in their hands, had formally
+impleaded Napoleon, were eager to testify their admiration of him, and
+proclaim him the sovereign of sovereigns.</p>
+
+<p>Thus Napoleon was more honoured and lauded than ever; and it must be
+confessed, that he conducted himself so as to deserve it: on one hand
+he caressed the nation, and on the other private interests, which it
+is much more difficult to conciliate than what is called the public
+interest.</p>
+
+<p>The decrees of Lyons had sequestrated anew the estates restored to
+emigrants since 1814. Part of these had been sold by those who had
+recovered them; and it was necessary, to quiet the apprehensions of
+the purchasers. The Emperor declared irrevocable all the sales, that
+had been completed; and confirmed those, that had taken place
+subsequently to the decree, when it could be proved, that they were
+not collusive.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page325" name="page325"></a>(p. 325)</span> On the other hand, the emigrants, who had returned, had
+purchased property, the price of which might not have been entirely
+paid: and in order to do justice both to the emigrants and to the
+sellers, he ordered, that estates recently acquired should not be
+subject to sequestration, on condition of being re-sold within a
+certain period.</p>
+
+<p>Another decree from Lyons had indiscriminately abolished all
+promotions in the legion of honour, and in the army, made since the
+royal restoration. He subjected to revision the nominations, that
+appeared to him the result of favour, intrigue, and venality; and
+confirmed all, that had been the reward of real and meritorious
+services. He would not even allow men's opinions, to constitute a line
+of demarcation and directed the minister, to pay regard to ancient
+services rendered by officers since incorporated in the King's
+household.</p>
+
+<p>He confirmed also the decorations granted to the national guard; and
+distributed new ones among the brave pupils of the polytechnical
+school, whose noble conduct had so much excited the admiration of
+Paris, and of foreigners, at the time of the occurrences of 1814.</p>
+
+<p>The daughters of the members of the legion <span class="pagenum"><a id="page326" name="page326"></a>(p. 326)</span> of honour had
+claims to his remembrance, and his consolation, too sacred, not to
+participate in his favours. He went to visit them. His presence
+excited inexpressible enthusiasm among these young orphans: they threw
+themselves at his feet, embraced his knees, and watered them with
+their tears. He had taken a spoon, to taste their food: after he was
+gone, as every one wished to have it, they broke it to pieces, and
+shared it amongst them. Most of them had braided rings of hair, on
+which were traced patriotic devices, or the ingenious expression of
+their sentiments for Napoleon. The Emperor having condescended to
+accept some of these, and place them on his fingers, every one of the
+orphans was desirous of obtaining the same favour: they rushed on him,
+seized his hands, and in an instant covered them with these innocent
+pledges of love and gratitude. The Emperor, moved, enchanted,
+submitted with kind complaisance to the gentle fetters of these
+amiable infants. They ingeniously intreated him, not to give away the
+rings they had presented to him; and he promised to keep them,
+assuring them, that they would be as valuable in his eyes as the
+jewels of his crown.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page327" name="page327"></a>(p. 327)</span> The working class, who had surnamed Napoleon <i><span lang="fr">le grand
+entrepreneur</span></i><a id="footnotetag84" name="footnotetag84"></a><a href="#footnote84" title="Go to footnote 84">[84]</a>, also received its share of the imperial favours.
+The works commenced in his reign, and buried in dust under that of the
+<span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>, were resumed with activity. The capital became, as before, a
+vast workshop: and the Parisians, who had learned from strangers to
+perceive the beauty of their edifices, saw with a mingled sentiment of
+gratitude and pride, that new marvels were still more to embellish
+their majestic city.</p>
+
+<p>In fine, all classes received testimonies of the solicitude and
+justice of Napoleon. Must it be said? his old companions in the island
+of Elba alone were forgotten.</p>
+
+<p>While Napoleon had no throne but his rock, they had shown themselves
+as disinterested as faithful: when he had recovered his crown, they
+flattered themselves, that they should be recompensed with generosity.</p>
+
+<p>Some, whom honour alone had attached to Napoleon, enjoyed in prospect
+the praises, titles, ribands, that would be bestowed on them: others,
+inspired with less lofty sentiments, expected <span class="pagenum"><a id="page328" name="page328"></a>(p. 328)</span> benefits more
+solid. The guard and its worthy chiefs were ambitious only of the
+favour of retaining the glorious title of grenadiers of the island of
+Elba. Vain illusions! the Emperor's thoughts, entirely absorbed by
+other cares, were no longer turned to those brave fellows, who had
+shared his exile and his misfortunes. The moment of forgetfulness,
+however, had not time to degenerate into ingratitude: it was repaired:
+promotions, endowments, indemnifications, were bestowed on them; and,
+if they did not feel themselves completely satisfied with the conduct
+of Napoleon, they had at least no reason to complain.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor would have wished from feeling, and perhaps too from
+ostentation, to have had it in his power, to acknowledge in a manner
+more worthy of himself their services and attachment: but he was
+deterred by the fear of being charged with imitating the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>, and
+of preferring those Frenchmen, who had gone into exile with him, to
+those who had retained their fidelity in their mother country.</p>
+
+<p>These scruples appear to me unfounded.</p>
+
+<p>The emigrants had sullied their native land with blood, shed either by
+their own weapons, or in the civil wars they had fomented and
+cherished; and the indignant nation had long <span class="pagenum"><a id="page329" name="page329"></a>(p. 329)</span> combated them,
+and pursued them with its maledictions, as the enemies of its
+happiness and tranquillity.</p>
+
+<p>The Frenchmen who returned from the island of Elba with Napoleon, on
+the contrary, had spilt their blood in the defence of their country.
+They were beloved, honoured, respected and the recompenses the Emperor
+might have bestowed upon them, instead of tending to alienate France,
+would have fulfilled her wishes. She would have enjoyed it with that
+feeling of pride and pleasure, which a mother experiences, when she
+hears the triumphs of her children proclaimed in the lists opened for
+youth, and sees their heads adorned with the rewards of their success.</p>
+
+<p>Policy, no less than justice, required, that Napoleon should confer,
+even with prodigality, his favours and benefits on men, who had
+sacrificed themselves for him. In his situation it would have been
+better, to have been deemed prodigal than ungrateful: but fortune
+favoured him so highly, that he might be allowed, in some degree, to
+neglect the means of securing the feeble support of men.</p>
+
+<p>The re-establishment of the imperial government, which appeared as if
+it would experience some obstacles, took place on all sides with a
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page330" name="page330"></a>(p. 330)</span> promptitude and facility truly extraordinary. Marshal
+<span lang="fr">Augereau</span>, who had endeavoured in his proclamation of 1814 to disgrace
+the Emperor, was eager to make his public recantation in a fresh
+proclamation.</p>
+
+<p>The Duke of Belluno, and Count <span lang="fr">Gouvion <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Cyr</span>, after attempting in
+vain to curb their insurgent troops, were forced to shun their
+resentment by flight.</p>
+
+<p>The troubles excited in <span lang="fr">La Vendée</span> and <span lang="fr">Calvados</span> by a few royal
+volunteers had been appeased, and the perturbators disarmed.</p>
+
+<p>The military household of the King had submitted to their discharge,
+and readily surrendered their horses and arms.</p>
+
+<p>In fine, the royal family had evacuated the imperial territory.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor thought proper, to acquaint his army in person with these
+happy results. "Thanks to the French people and you," said he, on
+reviewing the troops on the 27th of March, "the imperial throne is
+re-established. It is acknowledged throughout the empire, and not a
+single drop of blood has been spilt. The Count <span lang="fr">de Lille</span>, the Count
+<span lang="fr">d'Artois</span>, the Duke <span lang="fr">de Berri</span>, the Duke of <span lang="fr">Orléans</span>, have passed our
+northern frontier, and sought an asylum among foreigners. The
+tricoloured flag waves on the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page331" name="page331"></a>(p. 331)</span> towers of <span lang="fr">Calais</span>, Dunkirk,
+<span lang="fr">Lille, Valenciennes, Condé</span>, <abbr title="etcetera">&amp;c.</abbr> A few bands of <span lang="fr">Chouans</span> had attempted
+to form themselves in <span lang="fr">Poitou</span> and <span lang="fr">La Vendée</span>: popular opinion, and the
+march of a few battalions, were sufficient to disperse them. The Duke
+of <span lang="fr">Bourbon</span>, who came to excite disturbances in the provinces, has
+embarked at <span lang="fr">Nantes</span>.</p>
+
+<p>"How senseless were they," continued the Emperor, "and how little did
+they know of the nation, who imagined, that the French would consent
+to receive a prince from those very hands, that had ravaged our
+territory, and, aided by treason, had for a moment obscured our
+laurels!"</p>
+
+<p>The King, who at first took refuge at <span lang="fr">Lille</span>, had in fact just retired
+to Ghent. His Majesty had given orders to his household and the
+princes, to join him in the former city, where it had been apparently
+his intention, to take up his residence, and convene the chambers. But
+marshal the Duke of Treviso, governor of that division, declared to
+him, that he would no longer answer for his troops, if the musketeers,
+the body guards, <abbr title="etcetera">&amp;c.</abbr>, entered the place; and advised him to repair to
+Dunkirk, which, from its geographical position, and the attachment of
+its inhabitants, afforded him an opportunity <span class="pagenum"><a id="page332" name="page332"></a>(p. 332)</span> of awaiting the
+issue of events without danger. <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Blacas</span> and the emigrants with
+the King remonstrated with him strongly, that he would not be out of
+danger there; and that he could no longer be safe from the pursuit of
+Napoleon, except in a foreign country. The Duke of Treviso still
+insisted on the contrary: and the King, in spite of the alarm and
+entreaties of the Count <span lang="fr">de Blacas</span> and the other courtiers, had
+resolved to follow the advice of the marshal, when some despatches
+from the Count <span lang="fr">d'Artois</span>, received in the course of the night,
+determined him to pass the frontier.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor thought at first, that the design of Louis <abbr title="18">XVIII.</abbr> was to
+return to England. He was glad of this: and it was not without extreme
+vexation, that he learned the intention of this Prince, to remain on
+the Belgic frontiers, observing the course of affairs. But if this
+resolution, to which perhaps the King was indebted for the recovery of
+his throne, was displeasing to Napoleon, it never inspired him with
+the criminal desire, as some wicked writers have pretended, of making
+any attempts against the lives or liberty of the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>.</p>
+
+<p>The orders given to General Excelmans merely were, to drive the King
+and the Princes <span class="pagenum"><a id="page333" name="page333"></a>(p. 333)</span> out of France step by step. He was never
+commanded, "either to secure their persons, or to kill them in case of
+resistance."</p>
+
+<p>The instructions given at the same time to Marshal Ney, sent on a
+mission to the frontiers of the North and East, directed him also in
+express words, "to cause the royal family to be respected, and
+facilitate its procuring the means of quitting France freely and
+quietly<a id="footnotetag85" name="footnotetag85"></a><a href="#footnote85" title="Go to footnote 85">[85]</a>."</p>
+
+<p>It has been asserted, that the Duke of Bassano, who had the temporary
+charge of the port-folio <span class="pagenum"><a id="page334" name="page334"></a>(p. 334)</span> of the home department, had sent
+orders to <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">Siméon</span>, then royal prefect at <span lang="fr">Lille</span>, to arrest the King.
+The Duke of Bassano, indignant at such an odious charge, would not
+quit France, without having refuted it. He proposed, to summon <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr>
+<span lang="fr">Siméon</span> to declare the truth; and his declaration would have been made
+public through the means of the newspapers and the press, if the
+police had not opposed it.</p>
+
+<p>The King quitted <span lang="fr">Lille</span> on the 23d of March. The Duke of <span lang="fr">Orléans</span>, who
+had attended his Majesty, and whom the King on his departure had
+invested with the command of that place, did not quit it till
+twenty-four hours after; when he addressed the following letter to
+Marshal <span lang="fr">Mortier</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="p2">"I commit entirely to your hands, my dear Marshal, the command which I
+was so happy as to exercise with you in the department of the North. I
+am too good a Frenchman, to sacrifice the interests of France, because
+fresh misfortunes compel me to quit it. I go to bury myself in
+retirement and oblivion. The King being no longer in France, I cannot
+issue orders in his name: and nothing remains for me, but to absolve
+you from all obedience to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page335" name="page335"></a>(p. 335)</span> the orders I have already
+transmitted to you; requesting you, to do whatever your own excellent
+judgment, and pure patriotism, shall suggest to you as most conducive
+to the interests of France, and most agreeable to the duties you have
+to fulfil."</p>
+
+<p class="p2">The Emperor, after having read this letter, turned to the Duke of
+Bassano, and said: "See what the Duke of <span lang="fr">Orléans</span> writes to <span lang="fr">Mortier</span>;
+this letter does him honour. <i>His heart was always French.</i>"</p>
+
+<p>I then informed him, that I had been assured, that the Duke of
+<span lang="fr">Orléans</span>, when he parted from his officers, said to one of them,
+Colonel <span lang="fr">Athalin</span>: "Go, sir, resume the national cockade: I take a pride
+in having worn it, and I wish I could wear it still." The Emperor
+appeared struck with these words, and made no reply. A few minutes
+after he asked me, if I had not a letter from Madame the Duchess of
+<span lang="fr">Orléans</span>. I delivered it to him: he read it, and said: "Let his mother
+<i>be treated with the regard he merits</i>." And he ordered, that the
+duchess, whose property had just been sequestrated, should receive
+annually from the public treasury three hundred thousand francs as an
+indemnification. At the same time another indemnification <span class="pagenum"><a id="page336" name="page336"></a>(p. 336)</span> of
+a hundred and fifty thousand francs was granted to the Duchess of
+<span lang="fr">Bourbon</span>.</p>
+
+<p>The Duke of <span lang="fr">Bourbon</span>, though the Emperor had announced his embarkation,
+did not sail however till several days afterward. His presence and his
+proclamation had produced a partial rising in the circle of <span lang="fr">Beaupréau</span>;
+but convinced by his own eyes, and by the reports of his principal
+officers, that the great body of the Vendeans would not stir, he
+yielded to the wishes of Colonel <span lang="fr">Noirot</span>, commandant of the
+<span lang="fr">gendarmerie</span>, expressed in the following letter:</p>
+
+<p class="p2 left10">"<span lang="fr">Monseigneur</span>,</p>
+
+<p>"It will not be in vain, I am persuaded, that I make an appeal to your
+magnanimity. It is in your power, with a single word, to calm an
+effervescence, the first results of which may once more stain with
+blood the fields of the too unhappy <span lang="fr">Vendée</span>: this word your Highness
+will pronounce, and every thing will be restored to order. You will be
+aware likewise, <span lang="fr">Monseigneur</span>, that a longer stay in the circle of <span
+lang="fr">Beaupréau</span>, while it endangers the internal security of the
+country, will also endanger the personal safety of your Highness.</p>
+
+<p>"Deign then, I conjure you, <span lang="fr">Monseigneur</span>, to yield to the wishes I
+entertain for your happiness, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page337" name="page337"></a>(p. 337)</span> and for that of my country.
+For all the means of safety, which your Highness may desire, to repair
+to the place of destination you may choose, I will engage."</p>
+
+<p class="p2">This letter, which I take a pleasure in quoting, to prove what was the
+language of the men of the 20th of March, was not without effect. The
+Duke of <span lang="fr">Bourbon</span> directed his <span lang="fr">aide-de-camp</span> to have an interview with
+Colonel <span lang="fr">Noirot</span> and it was determined, that his Highness should quit <span lang="fr">la
+Vendée</span>, and embark at <span lang="fr">Nantes</span> for England.</p>
+
+<p>For reasons with which I am unacquainted, the prince did not fulfil
+his engagements. In fact, he quitted <span lang="fr">Beaupréau</span>, but still roamed about
+the coast some time with a fictitious passport, and under a borrowed
+name. General&mdash;<a id="footnotetag86" name="footnotetag86"></a><a href="#footnote86" title="Go to footnote 86">[86]</a> recognised him, but respected his disguise. The
+Emperor approved this deference, and gave orders, that he should
+merely be obliged to depart: the father of the Duke of <span lang="fr">Enghien</span> was
+become sacred to him, and to France.</p>
+
+<p>Of all the family of the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> the Duke <span class="pagenum"><a id="page338" name="page338"></a>(p. 338)</span> and Duchess of
+<span lang="fr">Angoulême</span> alone persisted in struggling against their ill-fortune.</p>
+
+<p>She was at <span lang="fr">Bordeaux</span> at the time of the landing. The entrance of
+Napoleon into Paris, the flight of the King, and the general defection
+of the army, did not abate her courage. She made the national guard
+take up arms: she hastened to the barracks, to harangue the soldiers,
+and remind them of what they owed to their oaths and to their King.
+Numerous battalions of volunteers were instantly formed, and directed
+by her orders, to defend the avenues to the city, intercept all
+communication, and prevent popular commotions.</p>
+
+<p>General <span lang="fr">Clausel</span>, however, appointed by the Emperor head commandant of
+the 11th division, had advanced as far as <span lang="fr"><abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> André de Cubsac</span>, six
+leagues from <span lang="fr">Bordeaux</span>, at the head of about five and twenty <span lang="fr">gendarmes</span>
+collected on the road, and of a hundred and fifty men from the
+garrison of <span lang="fr">Blayes</span>, who, informed of his arrival by his emissaries,
+had come to meet him.</p>
+
+<p>On his approach, a battalion of volunteers, posted at <span lang="fr">Cubsac</span> with two
+pieces of cannon, retreated hastily to <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Vincent, and there joined
+some other volunteers, to defend with them the passage of the
+<span lang="fr">Dordogne</span>.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page339" name="page339"></a>(p. 339)</span> The soldiers of General <span lang="fr">Clausel</span> attempted to seize the flying
+bridge, and were saluted with several discharges of artillery and
+small arms, which they received without returning. Their chief,
+desirous of avoiding a civil war, requested, that some person might be
+sent, to hold a parley with him. The Bordelese having deputed their
+commandant, <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Martignac</span>, for this purpose, he charged this
+officer, to make known to them, that he had no design of making any
+attempts against their persons or property; and that he conjured them,
+in the name of their country, not to spill the blood of Frenchmen to
+no purpose.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless some hostile appearances were continued on both sides;
+but the royal volunteers were alarmed at the sight of three boats,
+which they supposed to be filled with troops, and took flight.</p>
+
+<p>General <span lang="fr">Clausel</span>, thus become master of the <span lang="fr">Dordogne</span>, was preparing to
+cross it, when <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Martignac</span> returned to inform him, that Madame the
+Duchess of <span lang="fr">Angoulême</span> consented to retire, and that the city should be
+delivered up to him in twenty-four hours.</p>
+
+<p>Madame, instead of fulfilling this double promise, allowed herself to
+yield to the desire and hope of prolonging the defence. She assembled
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page340" name="page340"></a>(p. 340)</span> the national guard, and made fresh attempts to bring over
+the troops of the garrison to the royal party.</p>
+
+<p>General <span lang="fr">Clausel</span> perceived her at a distance reviewing the national
+guards and volunteers: he ordered <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Martignac</span> to be called back,
+and complained of the promises made him not being fulfilled. He urged
+in excuse, that the national guard and the garrison were no longer
+disposed to surrender the city. The general, perceiving that the
+Bordelese flattered themselves with being seconded by the troops of
+the line, assured <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Martignac</span>, that, on the contrary, they only
+waited for a concerted signal, to declare themselves in favour of the
+imperial cause. <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Martignac</span> appearing to doubt this, the general
+ordered a flag to be waved in the air, and immediately the tricoloured
+standard was hoisted on Trompette castle<a id="footnotetag87" name="footnotetag87"></a><a href="#footnote87" title="Go to footnote 87">[87]</a>.</p>
+
+<p>The Bordelese, astonished and affrighted, requested a capitulation.
+General <span lang="fr">Clausel</span> was eager to grant all their proposals, and the next
+day they opened the gates of the city to him.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor was well pleased with the happy issue of this affair. He
+gave orders, to publish <span class="pagenum"><a id="page341" name="page341"></a>(p. 341)</span> the report of General <span lang="fr">Clausel</span>
+immediately: but as this report was a mere military statement, he
+added to it himself the supplementary particulars below, which he
+directed to be inserted in the <span lang="fr">Moniteur</span> under the head of <span lang="fr">Bordeaux</span>.</p>
+
+<p>"The firm and courageous conduct of General <span lang="fr">Clausel</span> has prevented
+great evils: the passage of the <span lang="fr">Dordogne</span> made a strong impression
+here. Before he reached <span lang="fr">la Bastide</span>, the Duchess of <span lang="fr">Angoulême</span>, feeling
+an alarm she was unable to conceal, sent him a promise, that she would
+quit <span lang="fr">Bordeaux</span> in the morning of the 1st of April; which induced
+General <span lang="fr">Clausel</span>, to halt at <span lang="fr">la Bastide</span>, in front of <span lang="fr">Bordeaux</span>, on the
+right bank of the <span lang="fr">Garonne</span>, where he arrived on the 31st of March in
+the evening. The Duchess of <span lang="fr">Angoulême</span> thought proper, to avail herself
+of this delay, and break her promise: she went to the barracks, caused
+the troops to be assembled, and endeavoured to persuade them, to
+oppose the entrance of General <span lang="fr">Clausel</span> into <span lang="fr">Bordeaux</span>. The officers of
+all ranks told her plainly, that they would pay her all the respect
+due to her unfortunate situation, and to her sex, but that, being
+Frenchmen themselves, no motive could induce them, to take up arms
+against Frenchmen. The Duchess shed abundance of tears: she requested,
+that the troops <span class="pagenum"><a id="page342" name="page342"></a>(p. 342)</span> would at least remain neutral, if the
+national guards should be willing to fight for her. The officers
+answered, that they would not fire on the national guard; but they
+would not suffer the national guard, to fire on the troops of General
+<span lang="fr">Clausel</span>: they would not allow a single drop of French blood to be
+spilt. The soldiers joined with one voice in the sentiments of their
+officers: the Duchess retired with alarm in her heart, and threats in
+her mouth: she was all trembling. When she reached the quay, where the
+national guard was under arms, she was received in profound silence. A
+murmur pervaded the ranks of "No fighting! no civil war!" The Duchess
+hastened to retire to the imperial palace, where she gave orders for
+her departure<a id="footnotetag88" name="footnotetag88"></a><a href="#footnote88" title="Go to footnote 88">[88]</a>. At eight o'clock she had quitted <span lang="fr">Bordeaux</span>. The fire
+she had kindled was not extinguished in every bosom. The national
+guard, which had just conducted itself so prudently, had in company
+with it some unruly persons. These were the dregs of the people,
+forming the bulk of the companies of royal <span class="pagenum"><a id="page343" name="page343"></a>(p. 343)</span> volunteers, who
+had been bribed to enlist, and reckoned upon plunder. Their hopes were
+already disappointed by the firmness of the national guard. A small
+number of the most outrageous fired on the company of <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">Troplong</span>, who
+was reputed to be of the soundest principles. The national guard
+returned the fire. The volunteers fled, but Captain <span lang="fr">Troplong</span> had
+received a mortal wound. He has just been interred with military
+honours. More than ten thousand persons attended the funeral of this
+excellent citizen; the regret occasioned by his death suspended for a
+moment the gaiety of the people, happy in being at length freed from
+the evils, with which they were threatened."</p>
+
+<p>The energy and intrepidity, which the granddaughter of Maria Theresa
+displayed on this occasion, excited the praise of the Emperor, and
+drew from him the well known phrase: "She is the only man in the
+family."</p>
+
+<p>He no less admired the firm and respectful demeanour maintained by the
+regiments of the garrison, amid the provocations and reproaches of the
+Duchess. "Every thing that passed at <span lang="fr">Bordeaux</span>," said he, "is truly
+extraordinary; and I know not which most demands our astonishment, the
+noble boldness of Madame <span lang="fr">d'Angoulême</span>, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page344" name="page344"></a>(p. 344)</span> or the magnanimous
+patience of my soldiers."</p>
+
+<p>The effervescence of the Bordelese having subsided, <span lang="fr">Provence</span> and
+<span lang="fr">Languedoc</span>, where the Duke of <span lang="fr">Angoulême</span> had excited and maintained the
+flames of insurrection, still remained to be pacified.</p>
+
+<p>This prince, having heard at <span lang="fr">Toulouse</span>, that the Emperor had landed in
+the gulf of Juan, repaired immediately to the principal towns in the
+South, and made the partisans of the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> and of royalty take up
+arms.</p>
+
+<p>Three thousand two hundred Marseillese, and three thousand five
+hundred volunteers from <span lang="fr">Nismes, Avignon</span>, and <span lang="fr">Montpelier</span>, ranged
+themselves under his standards.</p>
+
+<p>The 10th, 53d, and 83d, regiments of the line, containing about nine
+hundred men each;</p>
+
+<p>The depôts of the 9th and 87th of foot, about five hundred and fifty
+strong;</p>
+
+<p>Two hundred and fifty <span lang="fr">chasseurs à cheval</span> of the 14th regiment, a
+hundred and fifty artillerymen, and three hundred soldiers of the
+royal regiment of foreigners, were drawn from their respective
+garrisons; and formed, with the royal volunteers, an army of twelve
+thousand men; which must necessarily be increased by <span class="pagenum"><a id="page345" name="page345"></a>(p. 345)</span> the
+levies daily made in the provinces, that continued subject to the
+royal government, and by the succours, which the Prince had hastened
+to demand from the King of Sardinia, and from Switzerland, and which
+he hoped to obtain from them.</p>
+
+<p>The Duke of <span lang="fr">Angoulême</span> divided his army into two corps.</p>
+
+<p>The first, commanded by General <span lang="fr">Ernouf</span>, under whose orders were
+Major-Generals <span lang="fr">Gardanne</span> and Loverdo, proceeded through <span lang="fr">Sisteron</span> for
+<span lang="fr">Grenoble</span>.</p>
+
+<p>The second, commanded by the Prince in person, and under his orders by
+Lieutenant-general <span lang="fr">Monnier</span>, Baron <span lang="fr">Damas</span>, and Viscount <span lang="fr">Descars</span>, took
+the road of <span lang="fr">Valence</span>.</p>
+
+<p>These two corps, after having reduced the country to submission, and
+rallied the royalists, were to join at <span lang="fr">Grenoble</span>, and march together to
+Lyons.</p>
+
+<p>The advanced guard of the second corps, conducted by <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">Descars</span>, met
+no serious resistance, till it came to pass the <span lang="fr">Drôme</span>.</p>
+
+<p>General <span lang="fr">De Belle</span>, at the head of a few hussars of the 4th, a battalion
+of the 39th, and about eight hundred national guards, had suffered
+himself to be driven from <span lang="fr">Loriol</span>, and retired as well as he could
+behind the <span lang="fr">Drôme</span>.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page346" name="page346"></a>(p. 346)</span> The volunteers of <span lang="fr">Vaucluse</span>, covered by the royal artillery,
+forded the river, and came and took post on the left flank of the
+national guards. At the same moment the Prince directed the 10th of
+the line, to attack the bridge. This man&oelig;uvre did not intimidate
+the national guards; they stood firm; and the 10th, notwithstanding
+the ardour, with which it was inspired by the example of the Duke of
+<span lang="fr">Angoulême</span>, was on the point of giving way; when several of the light
+infantry, who were at their head, discovered among their antagonists
+some of their ancient comrades. They began with a mutual cessation of
+firing, and finished with embracing amid shouts of Long live the
+Emperor.</p>
+
+<p>During this conversation and embracing, the rest of the 10th regiment
+recovered ground. The imperials, supposing they were coming to join
+them, advanced without distrust: a volley undeceived them: the troops
+of General <span lang="fr">De Belle</span> were thrown into disorder, he made no attempt to
+rally them, and the rout became complete. Part of the imperials were
+made prisoners by the royalists; others took refuge in the mountains,
+or went to carry the news of their defeat to <span lang="fr">Grenoble</span> or <span lang="fr">Valence</span>.</p>
+
+<p>The next day, the 3d of April, the Duke of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page347" name="page347"></a>(p. 347)</span> <span lang="fr">Angoulême</span> and his
+victorious army entered <span lang="fr">Valence</span>, and proceeded without loss of time to
+Romans on the <span lang="fr">Isère</span>.</p>
+
+<p>The first corps, after having occupied <span lang="fr">Sisteron</span>, separated into two
+columns: one, with General Loverdo at its head, proceeded to <span lang="fr">Lamure</span>;
+the other, commanded by General <span lang="fr">Gardanne</span>, having taken <span lang="fr">Gap</span> in its way,
+advanced as far as Travers; where the garrison of <span lang="fr">Grenoble</span>, and the
+national guards of <span lang="fr">Vizille, Lamure</span>, and the surrounding communes, had
+just taken up a position.</p>
+
+<p>Hitherto every thing had proved favourable to the wishes of the royal
+army: it marched from one success to another; and the noise of its
+victories, swelled by fear and rumour, had spread consternation and
+dismay as far as <span lang="fr">Grenoble</span> and Lyons.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor himself was uneasy. On leaving Lyons he had foreseen the
+possibility of a partial rising in the south; and, relying on the
+energy and patriotism of the Dauphinese, he had entrusted to them the
+care of defending their territory and their capital. But, if they were
+strong enough to repel the aggressions of the royalists, they were not
+in a condition to resist four thousand soldiers, who had embraced
+their cause, and fought in their ranks.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page348" name="page348"></a>(p. 348)</span> General <span lang="fr">Grouchy</span> had orders, to hasten to Lyons, and raise in
+mass the national guards of Dauphiny, the <span lang="fr">Lyonnais</span>, and Burgundy.</p>
+
+<p>At the name of the Emperor and of their country all were in motion:
+the patriots of <span lang="fr">la Drôme</span> and the <span lang="fr">Isère</span> descended from their mountains;
+the Lyonese quitted their workshops; the Burgundians spontaneously
+began their march with half-pay officers at their head.</p>
+
+<p>This patriotic burst was so unanimous, that the roads were instantly
+covered with national guards; and General <span lang="fr">Corbineau</span>, whom the Emperor
+had despatched to accelerate their march, was obliged, on the
+contrary, to retard it. But all these arrangements, sad presages of a
+civil war, were happily unnecessary.</p>
+
+<p>The troops of General <span lang="fr">Gardanne</span>, during their stay at <span lang="fr">Gap</span>, became
+acquainted with the Emperor's proclamations. These had awakened their
+remembrances, electrified their minds, and the 58th mounted the
+tricoloured cockade.</p>
+
+<p>The defection of this regiment was soon known to the division of
+General Loverdo; and, in spite of this general's efforts, a part of
+the 14th <span lang="fr">chasseurs</span>, and the whole of the 83d, equally embraced the
+imperial cause. On the other soldiers, though faithful in appearance,
+the generals could no longer confide: "they <span class="pagenum"><a id="page349" name="page349"></a>(p. 349)</span> could not speak
+to a single inhabitant of the country, without receiving impressions
+absolutely inimical to the party of the King<a id="footnotetag89" name="footnotetag89"></a><a href="#footnote89" title="Go to footnote 89">[89]</a>," and they expected
+every moment, to see them go over to the enemy.</p>
+
+<p>General Loverdo, impatient to give battle, and imagining, that he
+could dispense with their assistance, attempted to force the defile of
+<span lang="fr">Saulces</span>, in advance of <span lang="fr">Gap</span>, supported only by his royal volunteers:
+but this attack, as rash as it was useless, did not succeed, and he
+was forced to fall back to <span lang="fr">Sisteron</span>.</p>
+
+<p>The second corps, restrained by the presence of the Duke of <span lang="fr">Angoulême</span>,
+had lost but a small number of soldiers. The order to advance had just
+been given, when the Prince received the most disheartening news from
+all parts at once.</p>
+
+<p>On one hand he was informed of the defection of the regular troops
+under General <span lang="fr">Ernouf</span>, and his forced retreat to <span lang="fr">Sisteron</span>.</p>
+
+<p>On another he heard, that General <span lang="fr">Grouchy</span> was advancing to meet him
+with a formidable force.</p>
+
+<p>From a third source of intelligence he learned, that the royal party
+at <span lang="fr">Nismes</span>, and at <span lang="fr">Toulouse</span>, had dispersed without resistance: that <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr>
+<span lang="fr">Vitrolles</span>, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page350" name="page350"></a>(p. 350)</span> the head of the committee of insurrection, had
+been arrested; and that the patriots, and the troops of the 9th
+division, united under the orders of General <span lang="fr">Gilly</span>, having marched to
+take him in the rear, had retaken the bridge of <span lang="fr"><abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Esprit</span> by assault,
+and passed the Rhone.</p>
+
+<p>In fine, despatches from Turin announced to him, that he must no
+longer reckon upon any assistance from the Swiss, or upon the promises
+of the King of Sardinia.</p>
+
+<p>The Prince in consequence ordered a retreat to be sounded, and retired
+to <span lang="fr">Valence</span>.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor, who, according to custom, took the trouble to compose
+himself the articles in the <span lang="fr">Moniteur</span> relative to this little war, gave
+the following account of the evacuation of <span lang="fr">Valence</span>.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Valence, the 7th of April.</i> The Duke of <span lang="fr">Angoulême</span> has made a sad
+figure here. The alarm bell sounded throughout Dauphiny, and numerous
+battalions of the national guards departed for Lyons. The Duke of
+<span lang="fr">Angoulême</span>, informed of their arrival, set off helter skelter with the
+four thousand insurgents, who are under his orders. The troops of the
+line, informed by our citizens, that we were engaged in the cause of
+the nation against a few privileged families, of the people against
+the nobility, and in short <span class="pagenum"><a id="page351" name="page351"></a>(p. 351)</span> of the revolution against the
+counter-revolution, suddenly changed sides. The army however reckons
+three traitors, who appear to have taken the part of the enemies of
+their country: they are Generals <span lang="fr">Ernouf, Monnier</span>, and <span lang="fr">D'Aultannie</span>." He
+forgot General Loverdo.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor was equally careful, to make public the correspondence,
+that was intercepted: and as some announced <i>the intention of
+separating the chaff from the wheat, and throwing it into the fire</i>;
+others, <i>of hanging all the rebels, without exception, and without
+mercy</i>; and, in fine, others, <i>invited Spain, Switzerland, and the
+King of <span lang="fr">Piedmont</span>, to come and reduce France to reason</i>; they
+contributed not less powerfully than the success of the imperial army,
+to detach from the cause of the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> every Frenchman, who was an
+enemy to treachery, hanging, and foreigners.</p>
+
+<p>General <span lang="fr">Grouchy</span>, informed of the retreat of the Duke of <span lang="fr">Angoulême</span>,
+sent some light troops in pursuit of him. Most of the <span lang="fr">chasseurs</span> of the
+14th, and of the artillerymen, joined the imperialists. The volunteers
+of the south, who had hitherto set no bounds to their presumptuous
+hopes, now found none to their fears. As cowardly in adversity, as
+they were arrogant in prosperity, they abandoned their general at the
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page352" name="page352"></a>(p. 352)</span> approach of danger; and all, with the exception of a few
+hundreds of brave fellows, sought safety in flight.</p>
+
+<p>The Duke of <span lang="fr">Angoulême</span>, surrounded by the feeble remnants of their
+battalions, and by the 10th of the line, which still remained
+faithful, continued his retrograde march night and day; and traversed
+in silence the places, which his army had made ring with the shouts of
+victory but a few days before. The mountaineers, who had suffered so
+much from the exactions and ill treatment of the royal volunteers, now
+repeated in their turn "Wo to the vanquished!" and did not allow a
+moment's rest to the Duke of <span lang="fr">Angoulême</span> and his followers. Pressed on
+one side by the columns of <span lang="fr">Grouchy</span>, on the other by the troops of
+General <span lang="fr">Gilly</span>; shut in, without hope of succour, between the <span lang="fr">Drôme</span>,
+the <span lang="fr">Rhone</span>, the <span lang="fr">Durance</span>, and the mountains, the Duke of <span lang="fr">Angoulême</span> had
+only two resources: one was, to abandon his army, and get over the
+mountains to <span lang="fr">Marseilles</span> or <span lang="fr">Piedmont</span>; the other, to submit, with his
+companions in misfortune, to the law of the conqueror.</p>
+
+<p>The Prince would not separate his fate from that of his army. He
+consented to surrender. Baron <span lang="fr">de Damas</span> and General <span lang="fr">Gilly</span> regulated
+the conditions of the capitulation. It was <span class="pagenum"><a id="page353" name="page353"></a>(p. 353)</span> agreed, that the
+Prince should disband his army, and have liberty to embark at <span lang="fr">Cette</span>.
+As soon as this intelligence was announced by a telegraphic despatch,
+it was immediately made known to the Emperor by the Duke of Bassano,
+who prevailed on him, though opposed by several distinguished persons,
+to return an answer, by the same mode of conveyance, approving of the
+capitulation. At the same instant a second despatch announced, that
+General <span lang="fr">Grouchy</span> refused to sign the treaty, unless he had the consent
+of the Emperor, and the Duke of <span lang="fr">Angoulême</span> was deemed a prisoner. Upon
+this the Duke of Bassano hastened to transmit the first orders of
+Napoleon, and delayed informing him of the impediment to the
+ratification, till night rendered any new orders by telegraph
+impracticable. Being made acquainted with this noble daring of his
+minister, instead of reprimanding him, the Emperor dictated to him the
+following letter:</p>
+
+<p>"<abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">le</span> Count <span lang="fr">Grouchy</span>, the ordinance of the king, dated on the 6th of
+March, and the declaration signed at <span lang="fr">Vienne</span> on the 13th by his
+ministers, would authorize me to treat the Duke of <span lang="fr">Angoulême</span>, as that
+ordinance, and that declaration, would have had me and my family
+treated: but, persevering in that disposition, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page354" name="page354"></a>(p. 354)</span> which induced
+me to ordain, that the members of the <span lang="fr">Bourbon</span> family might have free
+egress from France, my intention is, that you give orders for the Duke
+of <span lang="fr">Angoulême</span> to be conducted to <span lang="fr">Cette</span>, where he shall be embarked, and
+that you watch over his safety, and prevent him from receiving any ill
+treatment. You will only take care to recover the money that has been
+taken from the public offices, and to require the Duke of <span lang="fr">Angoulême</span> to
+engage to restore the diamonds of the crown, which are the property of
+the nation<a id="footnotetag90" name="footnotetag90"></a><a href="#footnote90" title="Go to footnote 90">[90]</a>. You will at the same time make known to him the
+provisions of the laws of the national assemblies, which have been
+renewed, and which apply to those members of the <span lang="fr">Bourbon</span> family, who
+shall re-enter the French territories," <abbr title="etcetera">&amp;c.</abbr></p>
+
+<p>While awaiting the decision of Napoleon, the Duke of <span lang="fr">Angoulême</span> was
+strictly watched. He <span class="pagenum"><a id="page355" name="page355"></a>(p. 355)</span> supported this fresh disgrace with
+firmness and tranquillity. The <span lang="fr">Marquis de Rivière</span>, informed of his
+detention, threatened Count <span lang="fr">Grouchy</span>, if he did not restore him to
+liberty, to surrender <span lang="fr">Marseilles</span> to the English, and raise up all
+<span lang="fr">Provence</span>. These empty threats had no effect. The fate of the duke did
+not depend on Count <span lang="fr">de Grouchy</span>: it was in opposition to his own
+feelings, that he had ventured to lay a sacrilegious hand on this
+prince; and he prayed sincerely, that the decision of the Emperor
+would allow him to break his chains.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as the decision reached him, the general hastened to insure
+the Duke of <span lang="fr">Angoulême</span> the means of embarking speedily; and with
+religious zeal took the necessary measures, for his being treated on
+the passage with due respect.</p>
+
+<p>The prince, on his arrival at <span lang="fr">Cette</span>, embarked immediately, and sailed
+for Cadiz.</p>
+
+<p>His capitulation and departure soon led to the submission of
+<span lang="fr">Marseilles</span>: and, thanks to the prudence and firmness of the Prince of
+<span lang="de">Essling</span>, governor of that division, the royal standard was hauled
+down, and the tricoloured flag hoisted in its stead, without any
+disturbance or effusion of blood.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor named General <span lang="fr">Grouchy</span> marshal <span class="pagenum"><a id="page356" name="page356"></a>(p. 356)</span> of the empire; not
+because he entertained any great admiration of his conduct, for he was
+aware, that he had but faintly pressed the Duke of <span lang="fr">Angoulême</span>; but in
+order to give some splendor to the disgrace of the prince, and
+discourage the royalists in other parts of France. Resolving at the
+same time to punish the treason committed by the 10th at the passage
+of the <span lang="fr">Drôme</span>, he decreed, that this regiment should wear a piece of
+crape on its colours, till it had washed in the blood of the enemy
+those arms, which it had stained with the blood of Frenchmen<a id="footnotetag91" name="footnotetag91"></a><a href="#footnote91" title="Go to footnote 91">[91]</a>.</p>
+
+<p>By the telegraph the Emperor was informed of the submission of
+<span lang="fr">Marseilles</span>, and the entire pacification of the south, just as he was
+going to review the national guard of Paris. It was always in similar
+circumstances, that great news reached the Emperor: it seemed as if
+fortune, attentive to please him, sought to enhance her gifts by
+bestowing them <i>apropos</i>. Ever since his arrival he had been intending
+to have this review, but the successive inspections of the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page357" name="page357"></a>(p. 357)</span>
+troops of the line had prevented him. Some persons did not fail to
+ascribe this delay, so easily to be accounted for, to his fear of the
+sentiments and bayonets of the legions of Paris. Meantime some
+grenadiers of the royal ex-volunteers indulged in threats and
+imprecations against him. This was enough to terrify some of the
+alarmists of the court; and they requested Napoleon to mix a few
+battalions of his guards in the review, by way of precaution. The
+Emperor rejected their entreaties, and was angry at their fears:
+nevertheless, they caused him to be attended, without his knowledge,
+by ten or a dozen grenadiers, who were directed not to lose sight of
+him for a moment.</p>
+
+<p>While the Emperor was walking his horse along the ranks, his escort
+had followed him without his paying any attention to it: but when he
+set off at a gallop, he perceived, that his grenadiers were galloping
+after him, and stopped. "What do you do there?" said he to one of
+them: "Go about your business!" The old grumbler<a id="footnotetag92" name="footnotetag92"></a><a href="#footnote92" title="Go to footnote 92">[92]</a>, who knew that
+apprehensions were entertained for the life of his general, appeared
+disposed not to obey. The Emperor <span class="pagenum"><a id="page358" name="page358"></a>(p. 358)</span> then took hold of him by
+his hairy cap, and, giving it a hearty shake, repeated with a smile
+his order to him to retire: "Go all of you away: I am surrounded by
+none but good Frenchmen; I am as safe with them as with you." The
+national guards, who heard these words, cried out spontaneously, "Yes,
+yes, Sire, you are right; we would all defend your life at the expense
+of our own." Encouraged by the familiarity which the Emperor displayed
+towards them, they quitted their ranks, and crowded round him: some
+pressed his hands, others kissed theirs to him; all expressed their
+satisfaction and attachment by continued shouts of "Long live the
+nation! Long live the Emperor!"</p>
+
+<p>After this unexpected scene, the Emperor proceeded with his review: he
+then caused a circle of officers to be formed, alighted, and addressed
+them nearly in the following terms:</p>
+
+<p>"Soldiers of the national guard of Paris, I am well pleased to see
+you. Fifteen months ago I formed you for the preservation of
+tranquillity in the capital, and for its security. You have fulfilled
+my expectations. You have shed your blood in defence of Paris; and if
+hostile troops entered your walls, the blame falls not on you, but on
+treason, and above all on that <span class="pagenum"><a id="page359" name="page359"></a>(p. 359)</span> fatality, which attaches
+itself to our affairs under adverse circumstances.</p>
+
+<p>"The royal throne was not adapted to France: it gave the people no
+security for its most valuable interests; it was imposed upon us by
+foreigners. I am arrived, equipped with all the strength of the people
+and of the army, to obliterate this stain, and restore the honour and
+glory of France to all their lustre.</p>
+
+<p>"Soldiers of the national guard, this very morning the telegraph of
+Lyons has informed me, that the tricoloured flag is waving at <span lang="fr">Antibes</span>
+and at <span lang="fr">Marseilles</span>. The discharge of a hundred cannon on our frontiers
+will proclaim to foreign nations, that our civil discords are at an
+end: <i>I say foreign nations, because we yet know of none that are
+enemies.</i> If they assemble their troops, we will assemble ours. All
+our armies are composed of brave men, who have distinguished
+themselves in various battles, and who will display to foreigners a
+barrier of iron; while numerous battalions of grenadiers and <span lang="fr">chasseurs</span>
+of the national guards will secure our frontiers. I shall not
+interfere with the affairs of foreign nations: wo to those
+governments, that shall interfere with ours! Misfortunes have tempered
+anew the character of the French people: it has resumed that youth,
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page360" name="page360"></a>(p. 360)</span> that vigour, which astonished Europe twenty years ago.</p>
+
+<p>"Soldiers, you have been obliged to wear colours proscribed by the
+nation. But the national colours remained in your hearts: you now
+swear, to take them always for your rallying signal, and to defend the
+imperial throne, the only and natural guarantie of our rights; you
+swear never to suffer foreigners, in whose country we have appeared
+repeatedly as masters, to interfere with our constitution or
+government. In fine, you swear, to sacrifice every thing to the honour
+and independence of France."</p>
+
+<p>This oath was pronounced with enthusiasm. The national guard showed,
+that it was not afraid of being taken at its word.</p>
+
+<p>Apprehensions had been entertained, that the guards, who had long
+borne the Parisians a grudge for having surrendered so promptly in
+1814, would indulge in some offensive reproaches: but Napoleon had
+enjoined his grenadiers to maintain silence; and, in order to complete
+the reconciliation, he caused it to be cemented by a dinner, to which
+the imperial guards invited the national guard and the garrison of
+Paris.</p>
+
+<p>Fifteen thousand soldiers of every description <span class="pagenum"><a id="page361" name="page361"></a>(p. 361)</span> assembled at
+the <i><span lang="fr">Champ de Mars</span></i> under the eyes of the people of Paris: the joyous
+songs of the soldiers and citizens answered each other by turns, and
+gave a truly national character to this festival.</p>
+
+<p>When the repast was over, a numerous crowd of soldiers, officers, and
+national guards, set off for the <span lang="fr">Tuileries</span>, carrying the bust of
+Napoleon crowned with laurels. When they arrived before his Majesty's
+windows, they saluted him with thousands and thousands of
+acclamations; and then they repaired to <span lang="fr">la Place Vendôme</span>, where they
+devoutly deposited at the foot of the monument raised to the glory of
+our armies the image of the hero, who had led them to victory. The
+Emperor, as soon as he was informed of it, ordered me to write to the
+minister of the police, to have the bust removed in the night. "It is
+not after bacchanalian orgies," said he, proudly, "that my image
+should be placed on the column."</p>
+
+<p>Every body, in fact, knows, that the statue of Napoleon, by which this
+monument was formerly surmounted, had been pulled down in the early
+days of the restoration; and it was not for individual and
+unauthorized citizens to repair this affront.</p>
+
+<p>A few royalists, at the head of whom figured <span class="pagenum"><a id="page362" name="page362"></a>(p. 362)</span> <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Maubreuil</span>
+and <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">Sostène de la Rochefoucault</span>, were guilty of this profanation.
+<abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Rochefoucault</span>, whose family had shared so largely in the gifts
+and favours of Napoleon, himself put a rope about the neck of his
+benefactor, with intention to have it dragged through the mud by some
+vagabonds, whom he had hired: but the statue mocked his endeavours;
+and the only fruit he reaped from them was the reprobation of honest
+men, and the contempt of foreigners<a id="footnotetag93" name="footnotetag93"></a><a href="#footnote93" title="Go to footnote 93">[93]</a>.</p>
+
+<p>The column itself was long offensive to the jealous eyes of the
+enemies of our glory. They conspired its destruction; and would have
+accomplished it, had they dared. History, which leaves nothing
+unpunished, will brand, I trust, these unworthy Frenchmen, these new
+Vandals, with eternal disgrace. It will inscribe their names, and
+their sacrilegious wishes, on the foot of the immortal column, which
+they wanted to overturn. No doubt it will also tell, that the
+federates, the half-pay officers, and all the partisans of Napoleon,
+whom some have been pleased to represent as madmen, as robbers,
+respected during the hundred days the statue <span class="pagenum"><a id="page363" name="page363"></a>(p. 363)</span> of Henry <abbr title="4">IV.</abbr>;
+though this statue, placed within reach of their blows, and
+constructed of frail materials, would have fallen with the slightest
+shock.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon had said to the national guard of Paris, "We yet know of none
+that are enemies:" and these words were true. It had been remarked,
+that the foreign troops concentrated themselves on our frontiers, but
+none of their dispositions appeared hostile, and Napoleon might still
+reasonably hope, that his care to maintain peace would not be
+fruitless.</p>
+
+<p>On the very day of his entry into Lyons, he had hastened to commission
+Prince Joseph, to declare to the Austrian and Russian ministers at the
+Helvetic diet, that he was ready to ratify the treaty of Paris.</p>
+
+<p>When he arrived in the capital, he found that the foreign ministers,
+particularly Baron <span lang="fr">de Vincent</span>, the Austrian minister, and <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr>
+<span lang="fr">Boudiakeen</span>, Russian <span lang="fr">chargé d'affaire</span>, had not yet quitted it, for want
+of passports.</p>
+
+<p>He caused the departure of <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Vincent</span> and <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Boudiakeen</span> to be
+delayed; and directed the Duke of Vicenza to see them, and assure them
+anew of his pacific disposition.</p>
+
+<p>Baron de Vincent at first refused all kind of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page364" name="page364"></a>(p. 364)</span> communication
+or conferences; but at length he consented to meet <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> de Vicenza at
+the house of a third person. They had a conference together at Madame
+de Souza's. <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Vincent</span> did not conceal the resolution of the
+allies, to oppose Napoleon's retaining the throne: but he hinted, that
+in his opinion there might not be the same repugnance to his son. He
+engaged, however, to make known the sentiments of Napoleon to the
+Emperor of Austria; and consented to take charge of a letter for the
+Empress Marie Louise<a id="footnotetag94" name="footnotetag94"></a><a href="#footnote94" title="Go to footnote 94">[94]</a>.</p>
+
+<p><abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Boudiakeen</span>, after having equally refused the conference proposed
+by the Duke of Vicenza, finished also with accepting it. It was
+agreed, that they should meet at the house of <span lang="fr">Mademoiselle Cauchelet</span>,
+lady of the bedchamber to the Princess Hortense.</p>
+
+<p><abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Jaucourt</span> had forgotten to take out of the port-folio of foreign
+affairs a secret treaty, by which England, Austria, and France, had
+mutually engaged to oppose, peaceably or by <span class="pagenum"><a id="page365" name="page365"></a>(p. 365)</span> force, the
+dismemberment of Saxony, which Russia and Prussia openly conspired.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor thought, that this treaty might perhaps alienate these two
+powers from the <span lang="fr">Bourbon</span> interest, and generate distrust and discord
+between the allies. He directed the Duke of Vicenza, to show it to the
+Russian minister; and represent it to him as a fresh proof of the
+ingratitude, with which the court of the <span lang="fr">Tuileries</span> repaid the numerous
+benefits of Alexander. The existence of this triple alliance was
+wholly unknown to <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Boudiakeen</span>, and appeared to cause him as much
+surprise as dissatisfaction. But he declared, that he was too well
+acquainted with the principles of his sovereign, to venture to flatter
+himself, that the circumstance of this treaty, or any other, could
+produce a favourable change in his disposition. He promised, however,
+to make a faithful report to him of the conference he had had with <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr>
+de Vicenza; and to express to him the desire, manifested by the
+Emperor Napoleon, of becoming again the ally and friend of Russia.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor, in order to give more efficacy to his proposals, directed
+the Princess Hortense, to confirm them in person to the Emperor
+Alexander. He also caused letters to be written to Prince Eugene, and
+to the Grand <span class="pagenum"><a id="page366" name="page366"></a>(p. 366)</span> Duchess Stéphanie of Baden, to request them, to
+renew the same assurances to that sovereign, and to neglect no means
+of detaching him from the coalition.</p>
+
+<p>In fine, the Emperor directed overtures to be made to the cabinet of
+London, by means of a person pointed out by the Duke of Otranto; and
+in order to gain the suffrage of the parliament, and give the English
+ministry a pledge of his good intentions beforehand, he abolished the
+slave trade by a spontaneous decree.</p>
+
+<p>After having taken these indirect steps, Napoleon thought his duty as
+well as his dignity required him, to give a solemn and authentic
+character to the manifestation of his pacific intentions.</p>
+
+<p>Accordingly he wrote to the foreign sovereigns a letter couched in the
+following terms:</p>
+
+<p class="p2 left10">"Sire, my brother,</p>
+
+<p>"You will have heard in the course of last month of my return to the
+French coast, my entering Paris, and the departure of the <span lang="fr">Bourbon</span>
+family. The true nature of these events must now be known to your
+Majesty: they are the work of an irresistible power, the work and the
+unanimous will of a great nation, who knows its duties and its
+rights. The dynasty, which force <span class="pagenum"><a id="page367" name="page367"></a>(p. 367)</span> had bestowed on the French
+people, was not formed for them: the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> would not accommodate
+themselves either to their sentiments, or to their manners. France
+could not but separate itself from them. Her voice called for a
+deliverer: the expectations, that had induced me, to make the greatest
+of all sacrifices, had been frustrated. I came, and from the spot
+where I touched the shore I was conducted by the love of my people to
+the bosom of my capital. The first wish of my heart is, to repay such
+great affection by the maintenance of an honourable tranquillity. The
+re-establishment of the imperial throne being necessary to the
+happiness of the French, nothing can be more pleasing to my thoughts,
+than to render it at the same time advantageous to the consolidation
+of the tranquillity of Europe. Sufficient glory had crowned the
+standards of the different nations by turns; the vicissitudes of fate
+have occasioned a sufficient succession of great successes and great
+defeats: a nobler career now opens itself to sovereigns, and I am the
+first to enter it. After having exhibited to the world the spectacle
+of great battles, it will be more pleasing, henceforth to know no
+rivalry but that of the advantages of peace, no strife but the sacred
+striving after the happiness of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page368" name="page368"></a>(p. 368)</span> nations. France takes a
+pleasure in frankly proclaiming this noble end of all her wishes.
+Jealous of her own independence, the invariable principle of her
+politics will be the most absolute respect for the independence of
+other nations. If such be the personal sentiments of your Majesty, as
+I am happy to persuade myself, the general tranquillity is ensured for
+a long time to come; and justice, sitting on the confines of states,
+will be sufficient alone to guard their frontiers.</p>
+
+<p class="left10 smaller">"Paris, the 4th of April."</p>
+
+<p class="p2">The Duke of Vicenza received orders, personally to express to the
+foreign ministers the sentiments, with which the Emperor was animated:
+but the couriers, who carried his despatches, could not reach the
+places of their destination; one was arrested at Kehl, another at
+Mayence; a third, sent off for Italy, could not get beyond Turin; the
+communications were interrupted. The arrangements of the declaration
+of the congress of Vienna of the 13th of March were acted upon
+already.</p>
+
+<p>This declaration, transmitted directly by the emissaries of the King
+to the prefects of the frontier cities, and distributed by the
+royalists, was in circulation at Paris. The inferior papers <span class="pagenum"><a id="page369" name="page369"></a>(p. 369)</span>
+had announced its appearance, and united in asserting, that such an
+act was unworthy of the allied sovereigns, and could only be the work
+of calumny and malevolence.</p>
+
+<p>However, when it became impossible to question its legitimacy, it was
+necessary to come to the resolution of no longer making a mystery of
+it to the French people; and accordingly the following account was
+given of it in the <span lang="fr">Moniteur</span> on the 13th of April.</p>
+
+
+<p class="p2 center"><span class="smcap">"Council of Ministers.</span></p>
+
+<p class="left10">"<i>Sitting of the 29th of March.</i></p>
+
+<p>"The Duke of Otranto, minister of the general police, states, that he
+is about to read to the council a declaration, dated Vienna the 13th,
+which is supposed to have been issued by the congress:</p>
+
+<p>"That this declaration, as it contains an incentive to the
+assassination of the Emperor, appears to him apocryphal: that, if it
+should prove genuine, it would be unexampled in the history of the
+world: that the libellous style, in which it is written, gives room to
+suppose, it ought to be classed among the papers fabricated by
+party-spirit, and by those pamphleteers, who of late years have
+foisted themselves uncommissioned <span class="pagenum"><a id="page370" name="page370"></a>(p. 370)</span> into all state affairs:
+that it pretends to be signed by the English ministers; but it is
+impossible to suppose, that the ministers of a free nation, and
+particularly Lord Wellington, could have taken a step inconsistent
+with the legislation of their country, and with their own characters:
+that it pretends to be signed by the ministers of Austria; but it is
+impossible to conceive, whatever political dissensions may subsist
+between them, that a father could call for the assassination of his
+son: that, contrary to every principle of religion and morality, it is
+derogatory to the honourable character of the sovereigns, whose
+mandates are thus compromised by the libellists: that this declaration
+has been known several days, but, from the considerations
+abovementioned, it could not be considered otherwise than as deserving
+the profoundest contempt: that it was not deemed fit to engage the
+attention of the ministry, till official reports from <span lang="fr">Metz</span> and <span
+lang="de">Strasburg</span> made known, that it had been brought into France
+by couriers from the Prince of <span lang="it">Benevento</span>; a fact confirmed by the
+result of the investigation that took place, and the interrogatories
+put: in fine, that it is proved, that this paper, which could not have
+been signed by the ministers of Austria, Russia, and England, was
+issued by the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page371" name="page371"></a>(p. 371)</span> legation of the Count of <span lang="fr">Lille</span> at Vienna;
+which legation had added to the crime of provoking assassination that
+of falsifying the signature of the members of the congress.</p>
+
+<p>"The pretended declaration of the congress, the reports from <span lang="fr">Metz</span> and
+<span lang="de">Strasburg</span>, as well as the investigation and interrogatories conducted
+by order of the minister of the general police, which ascertain, that
+the said declaration proceeded from the plenipotentiaries of the Count
+of <span lang="fr">Lille</span> at Vienna, will be sent to the presidents of the sections of
+the council.</p>
+
+<p class="p2 center"><span class="smcap">"Declaration.</span></p>
+
+<p>"The powers, who signed the treaty of Paris, assembled in Congress at
+Vienna, being informed of the escape of Napoleon Bonaparte, and of his
+entering France by force of arms, owe to their own dignity, and to the
+interests of society, a solemn declaration of the sentiments, with
+which this event has inspired them.</p>
+
+<p>"By thus infringing the convention, which settled him in the island of
+Elba, Bonaparte has destroyed the only legal title he had to his
+situation in life (<i><span lang="fr">auquel son existence se trouvait attachée</span></i>.) By
+re-appearing in France, with the design of disturbing and subverting
+it, he has <span class="pagenum"><a id="page372" name="page372"></a>(p. 372)</span> deprived himself of the protection of the laws,
+and has made manifest to the universe, that there can be neither peace
+nor truce with him.</p>
+
+<p>"The powers declare in consequence, that Napoleon Bonaparte has thrown
+himself out of all the relations of civilized society; and that, as an
+enemy and disturber of the world, he has rendered himself obnoxious to
+public vengeance.</p>
+
+<p>"At the same time they declare, that, firmly resolved to maintain
+unbroken the treaty of Paris of the 30th of March, 1814, and the
+arrangements sanctioned by that treaty, as well as those they have
+decreed, or may yet decree, for completing and consolidating it; they
+will employ all their means, and unite all their efforts, to prevent
+the general peace, the object of the wishes of all Europe, the
+constant aim of their labours, from being disturbed anew; and to guard
+it from every attempt, that would threaten to replunge nations into
+the disorders and calamities of revolutions.</p>
+
+<p>"And though intimately persuaded, that all France, rallying round its
+legitimate sovereign, will annihilate without delay this last attempt
+of a criminal and impotent delirium, all the sovereigns of Europe,
+animated with the same sentiments, and guided by the same principles,
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page373" name="page373"></a>(p. 373)</span> declare, that if, contrary to all calculation, any real
+danger whatever should arise from this event, they will be ready to
+furnish the King of France and the French nation, or any other
+government that may be attacked, with the succours necessary to
+restore the public tranquillity, as soon as they shall be demanded,
+and to make common cause against all, who may attempt to disturb it.</p>
+
+<p>"The present declaration, inserted in the register of the congress
+assembled at Vienna, in the sitting of the 13th of March, 1815, shall
+be made public.</p>
+
+<p>"Done and certified as true by the plenipotentiaries of the eight
+powers, who signed the Treaty of Paris, at Vienna, the 13th of March,
+1815.</p>
+
+
+<p class="p2">Here follow the signatures in the alphabetical order of the courts.</p>
+<div class="left10">
+<table  border="0" cellpadding="0" summary="Signatures.">
+<colgroup>
+    <col width="35%">
+    <col width="5%">
+    <col width="60%">
+</colgroup>
+<tr>
+<td rowspan="2" class="td-center">"Austria</td>
+<td>&nbsp;</td>
+<td>The Prince <span lang="fr">de</span> <span class="smcap"><span lang="de">Metternich</span></span>,</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>&nbsp;</td>
+<td>The Baron <span lang="fr">de</span> <span class="smcap"><span lang="de">Wessemberg</span></span>.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="3">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="td-center">"Spain<br>(<i><span lang="fr">Espagne</span></i>)</td>
+<td>&nbsp;</td>
+<td><span class="smcap"><span lang="es">P. Gomez Labrador.</span></span></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="3">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td rowspan="4" class="td-center">France</td>
+<td>&nbsp;</td>
+<td>The Prince <span lang="fr">de <span class="smcap">Talleyrand</span></span>,</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>&nbsp;</td>
+<td>The Duke <span class="smcap"><span lang="fr">D'Alberg</span></span>,</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>&nbsp;</td>
+<td><span class="smcap"><span lang="fr">Latour Dupin</span></span>,</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>&nbsp;</td>
+<td>The Count <span class="smcap"><span lang="fr">Alexis de Noailles</span></span>.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="3">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td rowspan="4" class="td-center"><span class="pagenum"><a id="page374" name="page374"></a>(p. 374)</span>Great Britain</td>
+<td>&nbsp;</td>
+<td><span class="smcap">Wellington</span>,</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>&nbsp;</td>
+<td><span class="smcap">Clancarty</span>,</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>&nbsp;</td>
+<td><span class="smcap">Cathcart</span>,</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>&nbsp;</td>
+<td><span class="smcap">Stewart</span>.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="3">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td rowspan="3" class="td-center">Portugal</td>
+<td>&nbsp;</td>
+<td>The Count <span class="smcap"><span lang="pt">Palmela</span></span>,</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>&nbsp;</td>
+<td><span class="smcap"><span lang="pt">Saldanha</span></span>,</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>&nbsp;</td>
+<td><span class="smcap"><span lang="pt">Lobo</span></span>.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="3">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td rowspan="2" class="td-center">Prussia</td>
+<td>&nbsp;</td>
+<td>The Prince <span lang="fr">de</span> <span class="smcap"><span lang="de">Hardenberg</span></span>,</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>&nbsp;</td>
+<td>The Baron <span lang="fr">de</span> <span class="smcap"><span lang="de">Humboldt</span></span>.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="3">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td rowspan="3" class="td-center">Russia</td>
+<td>&nbsp;</td>
+<td>The Count <span lang="fr">de</span> <span class="smcap"><span lang="ru">Rasoumowski</span></span>,</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>&nbsp;</td>
+<td>The Count <span lang="fr">de</span> <span class="smcap"><span lang="de">Stakelberg</span></span>,</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td>&nbsp;</td>
+<td>The Count <span lang="fr">de</span> <span class="smcap"><span lang="de">Nesselrode</span></span>.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="3">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="td-center">Sweden</td>
+<td>&nbsp;</td>
+<td><span class="smcap"><span lang="fr">Lowenhielm</span></span>."</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p>This declaration, which no doubt will hereafter excite the
+astonishment of posterity, was commented upon and victoriously refuted
+by the Emperor himself. Count <span lang="fr">Boulay</span>, to whom the following report is
+ascribed, had no farther share in it, than condensing it a little, and
+softening some of its expressions.</p>
+
+<p>Report of the committee of presidents of the council of state.</p>
+
+<p class="p2">"In consequence of the reference made to it, the committee, composed
+of the presidents of the sections of the council of state, has
+examined the declaration of the 13th of March, the report of the
+minister of the general police, and the papers added to them.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page375" name="page375"></a>(p. 375)</span> "The declaration is in an unusual form, composed in such
+strange terms, and expresses such anti-social ideas, that the
+committee was led to consider it as one of those supposititious
+productions, by means of which despicable men endeavour to impose upon
+people's minds, and mislead the public opinion.</p>
+
+<p>"But the verification of the examinations taken at <span lang="fr">Metz</span>, and of the
+interrogatories of the couriers, admit no doubt, that the declaration
+was sent by members of the French legation at Vienna; and consequently
+it must be considered as adopted and signed by them.</p>
+
+<p>"It is under this last point of view, that the committee imagines it
+ought first to examine this production, which has no precedent in the
+annals of diplomacy, and in which Frenchmen, men invested with the
+most respectable of public characters, begin with a sort of outlawry,
+with a provocation to assassinate the Emperor Napoleon.</p>
+
+<p>"We say with the minister of the police, that this declaration is the
+work of the French plenipotentiaries: because those of Austria,
+Prussia, Russia, and England, could not have been capable of signing a
+paper, which the sovereigns and people, to whom they belong, will be
+eager to disavow.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page376" name="page376"></a>(p. 376)</span> "And in the first place these plenipotentiaries, most of them
+coadjutors in the treaty of Paris, know, that Napoleon was there
+acknowledged as retaining the title of Emperor, and as sovereign of
+the island of Elba: they would have mentioned him by these titles, and
+would not have deviated, either in matter or in manner, from the
+respect they impose.</p>
+
+<p>"They would have felt, that, agreeably to the laws of nations, a
+prince, however trifling the extent or population of his state,
+enjoys, as far as regards his political and civil character, the
+rights belonging to every sovereign prince in respect to the most
+powerful monarch; and Napoleon, acknowledged under the title of
+Emperor, and in quality of a sovereign prince, by all the powers, was
+no more amenable to the congress of Vienna than any of them.</p>
+
+<p>"The forgetfulness of these principles, impossible to be supposed in
+plenipotentiaries, who weigh the rights of nations maturely with
+wisdom and consideration, has nothing astonishing in it when
+manifested by French ministers, whose conscience reproaches them with
+more than one act of treason, in whom fear has engendered rage, and
+whose remorse leads their reason astray.</p>
+
+<p>"Such men as these may have risked the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page377" name="page377"></a>(p. 377)</span> fabrication and the
+publication of a piece like the pretended declaration of the 13th of
+March, in the hope of stopping the progress of Napoleon, and
+misleading the French people with regard to the real sentiments of
+foreign powers.</p>
+
+<p>"But they cannot judge like these powers of the merits of a nation,
+which they have misunderstood, betrayed, and delivered up to the arms
+of foreigners.</p>
+
+<p>"This nation, brave and generous, revolts against every thing that
+bears the marks of cowardice and oppression: its affections are
+heightened, when the object of them is threatened or affected by a
+great injustice; and assassination, which the commencement of the
+declaration of the 13th of March is intended to excite, will find not
+a single hand to execute it, either among the twenty-five millions of
+Frenchmen, the majority of whom attended, guarded, and protected
+Napoleon from the Mediterranean to the capital; nor among
+the eighteen millions of Italians, the six millions of Belgians or
+inhabitants of the banks of the Rhine, and the numerous nations of
+Germany, who, on this solemn occasion, have not pronounced his name
+without respectful remembrance; nor a single individual of the
+indignant English nation, whose honourable sentiments disavow the
+language, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page378" name="page378"></a>(p. 378)</span> that those men have dared to attribute to the
+sovereigns.</p>
+
+<p>"The people of Europe are enlightened; they judge the rights of
+Napoleon, the rights of the allied princes, and those of the
+<span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>.</p>
+
+<p>"They know, that the convention of Fontainbleau was a treaty between
+sovereigns. Its violation, the entrance of Napoleon into the French
+territory, like any other infraction of a diplomatic act, like any
+hostile invasion, could only bring on an ordinary war; the result of
+which can only be, to the person, that of being conqueror or
+conquered, free or a prisoner of war; to possessions, that of being
+lost or preserved, diminished or increased; and that every thought,
+every threat, every attempt, against the life of a prince at war with
+another, is a thing unheard of in the history of nations, and of the
+cabinets of Europe.</p>
+
+<p>"In the violence, the rage, the forgetfulness of principle, that
+characterize the declaration of the 13th of March, we recognize the
+envoys of the same prince, the organs of the same councils, who, by
+the ordinance of the 6th of March, also put Napoleon out of the pale
+of the law, also invoked for him the daggers of assassins, and also
+promised a reward to whoever would bring his head.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page379" name="page379"></a>(p. 379)</span> "Yet what has Napoleon done? By his confidence he has
+honoured the men of all nations, who were insulted by the infamous
+office to which they were invited: he has shown himself temperate,
+generous, a protector, even toward those who had devoted his head to
+destruction.</p>
+
+<p>"When he spoke to General Excelmans, marching toward the column that
+closely pressed <span lang="fr">Louis Stanislas Xavier</span>; to General Count <span lang="fr">Erlon</span>, who
+was to receive him at <span lang="fr">Lille</span>; to General <span lang="fr">Clausel</span>, who was going to
+<span lang="fr">Bourdeaux</span>, where the Duchess of <span lang="fr">Angoulême</span> was; to General <span lang="fr">Grouchy</span>, who
+marched to put a stop to the civil disturbances excited by the Duke of
+<span lang="fr">Angoulême</span>; every where, in short, orders were given by the Emperor,
+that their persons should be respected, and sheltered from all attack,
+from all danger, from all violence, during their progress on the
+French territories, and to the moment of their quitting them.</p>
+
+<p>"Contemporary nations and posterity will judge, on which side respect
+has been paid in this grand conjuncture to the rights of nations and
+of sovereigns, to the laws of war, the principles of civilization, and
+the maxims of law civil and religious: they will pronounce between
+Napoleon and the house of <span lang="fr">Bourbon</span>.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page380" name="page380"></a>(p. 380)</span> "If, after having examined the pretended declaration of the
+congress in this first point of view, we discuss it in its relations
+to diplomatic conventions, to the treaty of Fontainbleau of the 11th
+of April, ratified by the French government, we shall find, that their
+violation is imputable only to those very persons who charge it on
+Napoleon.</p>
+
+<p>"The treaty of Fontainbleau has been violated by the allied powers,
+and by the house of <span lang="fr">Bourbon</span>, in what regards the Emperor Napoleon and
+his family, in what affects the rights and interests of the French
+nation:</p>
+
+<p>"1st. The Empress Marie Louise and her son were to obtain passports
+and an escort, to enable them to repair to the Emperor: but, far from
+performing this promise, the wife was separated by force from her
+husband, the son from his father, and this under painful
+circumstances, when the strongest mind finds it necessary to seek
+consolation and support in the bosom of its family and domestic
+affections.</p>
+
+<p>"2d. The safety of Napoleon, of the imperial family, and of their
+suite, was guarantied (<abbr title="Article">Art.</abbr> 14 of the treaty) by all the powers: yet
+bands of assassins were organized in France under the eyes of the
+French government, and even by its orders, as the solemn proceedings
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page381" name="page381"></a>(p. 381)</span> against the <span lang="fr">Sieur de Maubreuil</span> will shortly prove, to attack
+both the Emperor, his brothers, and their wives: this first branch of
+the plot failing of the expected success, a tumult was planned at
+Orgon, on the road taken by the Emperor, in order to make an attempt
+against his life by the hands of some brigands: one of the cut-throats
+of Georges, the Sieur <span lang="fr">Brulart</span>, raised for the purpose to the rank of
+major-general, known in Brittany, in <span lang="fr">Anjou</span>, in Normandy, in <span lang="fr">la Vendée</span>,
+throughout all England, by the blood he has shed, was sent to Corsica
+as governor, in order to prepare and insure the crime; and, in fact,
+several solitary assassins attempted, in the island of Elba, to gain,
+by the murder of Napoleon, the culpable and disgraceful salary which
+was promised them.</p>
+
+<p>"3d. The duchies of Parma and Placentia were given in full propriety
+to Marie Louise, for herself, her son, and his descendants: yet, after
+long refusal to put them into possession, the injustice was
+consummated by an absolute spoliation, under the illusory pretext of
+an exchange without valuation, without proportion, without
+sovereignty, without consent; and the documents existing in the office
+of foreign affairs, of which we have had an account presented to us,
+prove, that it was at the instance <span class="pagenum"><a id="page382" name="page382"></a>(p. 382)</span> and through the intrigues
+of the Prince of <span lang="it">Benevento</span>, that Marie Louise and her son were
+despoiled.</p>
+
+<p>"4th. A suitable establishment, out of France, had been given to
+Prince Eugene, the adopted son of Napoleon, who has done honour to
+France, where he was born, and gained the affection of Italy, where he
+was naturalized; yet he has obtained nothing.</p>
+
+<p>"5th. The Emperor had stipulated (<abbr title="Article">Art.</abbr> 3 of the treaty) in favour of
+his brave soldiers the preservation of their salaries from the
+Napoleon fund (<i><span lang="fr">sur le mont Napoléon</span></i>); he had reserved out
+of the extraordinary domain, and the funds remaining of the civil
+list, the means of recompensing his servants, and of paying the
+soldiers, that attached themselves to his fate. The whole was taken
+away and kept back by the ministers of the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>. An agent of the
+French soldiers went in vain to Vienna, to claim for them the most
+sacred of all property, the price of their valour and their blood.</p>
+
+<p>"6th. The preservation of the property, movable and immovable, of the
+Emperor's family, is stipulated by the same treaty (<abbr title="Article">Art.</abbr> 6); yet it
+has been despoiled of both: in France, with force of arms, by
+commissioned brigands; in Italy, by the violence of military
+commanders; <span class="pagenum"><a id="page383" name="page383"></a>(p. 383)</span> in both countries by seizures and sequestrations
+solemnly appointed.</p>
+
+<p>"7th. The Emperor Napoleon was to receive two millions of francs a
+year, and his family two millions and a half, agreeably to the
+distribution fixed by <abbr title="Article">Art.</abbr> 6 of the treaty: but the French government
+has constantly refused to fulfil these engagements, and Napoleon would
+have soon seen himself reduced to the necessity of dismissing his
+faithful guard, for want of the means of ensuring its pay, if he had
+not found in the grateful remembrances of the bankers and merchants of
+Genoa and Italy the honourable resource of a loan of twelve millions,
+which was offered him.</p>
+
+<p>"8th. In fine, it was not without a motive, that certain persons were
+desirous of separating from Napoleon, by any means, the companions of
+his glory, models of attachment and constancy, unshaken guaranties of
+his life and safety. The island of Elba was secured to him in full
+property (<abbr title="Article">Art.</abbr> 3 of the treaty): yet the resolution to deprive him of
+it, desired by the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>, and solicited by their agents, had been
+taken at the Congress.</p>
+
+<p>"And if Providence in its justice had not interposed, Europe would
+have seen attempts made against the person, the liberty of Napoleon,
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page384" name="page384"></a>(p. 384)</span> banished for ever at the mercy of his enemies, far from his
+family, separated from his servants, either to <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Lucie, or to <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr>
+Helena, which was assigned him as a prison.</p>
+
+<p>"And when the allied powers, yielding to the imprudent wishes, or
+cruel instigations, of the agents of the house of <span lang="fr">Bourbon</span>, have
+stooped to violate a solemn contract, on the faith of which Napoleon
+had absolved the French nation from its oaths; when himself, and all
+the members of his family, saw themselves menaced and attacked in
+their persons, in their property, in their affections, in all the
+rights stipulated in their favour as princes, and even in those
+secured by the laws to simple citizens; how ought Napoleon to act?</p>
+
+<p>"Ought he, after having endured so many insults, and suffered so many
+acts of injustice, to consent to the complete violation of the
+engagements entered into with him; and, resigning himself to the fate
+prepared for him, abandon also to their fearful destiny, his wife, his
+son, his relations, and his faithful servants?</p>
+
+<p>"Such a resolution seems to require more than human strength of mind:
+yet Napoleon was capable of taking it, if the peace and happiness of
+France could have been purchased by this new sacrifice. He would again
+have <span class="pagenum"><a id="page385" name="page385"></a>(p. 385)</span> devoted himself for the French people, from whom, as he
+wishes to declare in the face of all Europe, he makes it his glory to
+hold every thing, to whom he refers every thing, and to whom alone he
+will hold himself responsible for his actions and devote his life.</p>
+
+<p>"It was for France alone, and to save her from the calamities of an
+intestine war, that he abdicated the crown in 1814. He restored to the
+French people the rights he held from them; he left them free to
+choose a new master, and to found their liberty and happiness on
+institutions, that would protect both.</p>
+
+<p>"He hoped, that the nation would preserve all it had acquired by five
+and twenty years of glorious fighting; and the exercise of its
+sovereignty in the choice of a dynasty, and in stipulating the
+conditions, on which it should be called to the throne.</p>
+
+<p>"He expected from the new government respect for the glory of the
+armies, and for the rights of the brave; the guaranty of all the new
+interests, interests generated and maintained during a quarter of a
+century, resulting from all the civil and political laws, observed and
+revered during that time, because they are identified with the
+manners, habits, and wants of the nation.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page386" name="page386"></a>(p. 386)</span> "Far from all this, every idea of the sovereignty of the
+people has been discarded.</p>
+
+<p>"The principle, on which all public and civil legislation has been
+founded since the revolution, has been equally discarded.</p>
+
+<p>"France has been treated as a revolted country, reconquered by the
+armies of its ancient masters, and subjugated anew to a feudal
+domination.</p>
+
+<p>"A constitutional law has been imposed on France, as easy to be eluded
+as revoked; and in the form of royal ordinances simply, without
+consulting the nation, without even hearing those bodies, become
+illegal, the phantoms of national representation.</p>
+
+<p>"The violation of this charter has been checked only by the timidity
+of the government; the extent of the abuses of its authority has been
+limited only by its weakness.</p>
+
+<p>"The disjointing of the army, the dispersion of its officers, the
+exile of several, the debasement of the soldiers, the suppression of
+their endowments, the privation of their pay or pensions; the
+reduction of the pay of the legionaries, the despoiling them of their
+honours, the pre-eminence given to the decorations of the feudal
+monarchy, the contempt of the citizens, designated anew under the name
+of <i><span lang="fr">tiers-état</span></i> <span class="pagenum"><a id="page387" name="page387"></a>(p. 387)</span> (third estate); the spoliation of the
+purchasers of national property, prepared and already begun, the
+actual diminution of value of such as was obliged to be sold; the
+return of the feudal system in its titles, privileges, and useful
+rights, the re-establishment of tramontane principles, the abolition
+of the liberties of the Gallican church, the annihilation of the <span
+lang="fr">Concordat</span>, the re-establishment of tithes, the reviving
+intolerance of an exclusive form of worship; the domination of a
+handful of nobles over a people accustomed to equality: are what the
+ministers of the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> have done, or wished to do, for the people
+of France.</p>
+
+<p>"It was under such circumstances, that the Emperor Napoleon quitted
+the island of Elba: such were the motives of the resolution he took,
+and not the consideration of his own personal interests, so trivial in
+his opinion compared with the interests of the nation, to which he has
+devoted his existence.</p>
+
+<p>"He has not brought war into the bosom of France: on the contrary, he
+has extinguished the war, which the possessors of national property,
+constituting four fifths of the landholders throughout France, would
+have been compelled to make upon their despoilers; the war, which the
+citizens, oppressed, degraded, humiliated <span class="pagenum"><a id="page388" name="page388"></a>(p. 388)</span> by the nobles,
+would have been forced to declare against their oppressors; the war,
+which the Protestants, the Jews, and the people of different sects,
+would have been obliged to maintain against their persecutors.</p>
+
+<p>"He came to deliver France; and as a deliverer he has been received.</p>
+
+<p>"He arrived almost alone; he travelled two hundred and twenty leagues,
+without meeting any obstacle, without a battle; and has resumed
+without resistance, in the midst of the capital, and of the
+acclamations of an immense majority of the citizens, the throne
+relinquished by the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>; who, from among the army, their own
+household, the national guards, or the people, could not raise a
+single person in arms, to endeavour to maintain them in it.</p>
+
+<p>"Yet, replaced at the head of the nation, which had already chosen him
+three times, and has just elected him a fourth time by the reception
+it gave him on his march, and his triumphant arrival; of that nation,
+by which, and for the interest of which, he wishes to reign;</p>
+
+<p>"What is the desire of Napoleon? What the French people desire, the
+independence of France, peace within, peace with all nations, the
+execution of the treaty of Paris, of the 30th of May, 1814.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page389" name="page389"></a>(p. 389)</span> "What is there, then, changed in the future state of Europe,
+and in the hope of repose promised it? What voice is raised, to demand
+those succours, which, according to the declaration, are to be granted
+only when claimed?</p>
+
+<p>"There is nothing changed, if the allied powers recur, as we have a
+right to expect from them, to just and temperate sentiments; if they
+acknowledge, that the existence of France in a respectable and
+independent state, as far from conquering as from being conquered,
+from domineering as from being held in subjection, is necessary to the
+balance of great realms, as well as to the guaranty of smaller states.</p>
+
+<p>"There is nothing changed, if, not attempting to compel France to
+resume with a dynasty, which she can no longer desire, the feudal
+chains she has broken, and to submit to the seigneurial or
+ecclesiastical pretensions, from which it has emancipated itself,
+those powers do not attempt to impose on her laws, to interfere in her
+internal concerns, to assign her a particular form of government, to
+give her masters suited to the interests and passions of her
+neighbours.</p>
+
+<p>"There is nothing changed, if, while France is occupied in preparing
+the new social compact, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page390" name="page390"></a>(p. 390)</span> that shall guaranty the liberty of
+her citizens, and the triumph of those generous ideas, that prevail in
+Europe, and can no longer be stifled; she be not compelled, to call
+off her attention from these pacific ideas, and from the means of
+domestic prosperity, to which the people and their chief are desirous
+of devoting themselves in happy concord, in order to prepare for
+battle.</p>
+
+<p>"There is nothing changed, if, while the French nation demands
+nothing, but to remain at peace with all Europe, an unjust coalition
+do not oblige her to defend, as it did in 1792, her will, and her
+rights, and her independence, and the sovereign of her choice."</p>
+
+<p class="p2">This eloquent refutation, full of irrefragable facts, and reasonings
+not to be refuted, was no longer necessary. French honour had judged
+and condemned the Congress of Vienna and its Declaration.</p>
+
+<p>When this declaration appeared, France grew pale: she was astonished,
+affrighted at the calamities, which the future boded; and groaned at
+the idea of being exposed to a war for the sake of one single man.</p>
+
+<p>This first impression over, her pride, her virtue, felt indignant,
+that the allies should dare <span class="pagenum"><a id="page391" name="page391"></a>(p. 391)</span> to conceive the thought, that
+she would yield to their menaces, and cowardly consent, to give
+Napoleon up to them.</p>
+
+<p>Had Napoleon been no more than a simple citizen, the attempt to
+violate by authority the rights of men and nations in his person would
+have been sufficient, to induce the French, or at least all worthy of
+the name, to think themselves obliged to protect and defend him.</p>
+
+<p>But Napoleon was not merely a simple citizen, he was the head of the
+French nation: it was for having aggrandized it by his conquests, and
+ennobled it by his victories, that he was proscribed by foreigners;
+and the most timid as well as the most generous made it their sacred
+duty to place him under the safeguard of the nation, and of French
+honour.</p>
+
+<p>Thus the declaration of the Congress, instead of intimidating France,
+heightened its courage; instead of separating Napoleon from the
+French, drew still more close the bands that united them; instead of
+calling down on his head the public vengeance, rendered him more
+estimable and more dear in the eyes of the people.</p>
+
+<p>If Napoleon, availing himself of these generous sentiments, had said
+to the French: "You have restored to me the crown, foreigners
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page392" name="page392"></a>(p. 392)</span> are desirous of tearing it from me; I am ready, either to
+defend it, or to lay it down; say which I shall do:" the whole nation
+would have understood Napoleon, and would have risen in a body, to
+cause the sovereign of its heart and its choice to be respected.</p>
+
+<p>But Napoleon had other ideas: he considered the declaration of the
+Congress merely as a paper adapted to the circumstances of the day,
+the object of which was, at the time when it was subscribed by the
+allies, to support the courage of the royalists, and to restore to the
+<span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> the confidence and moral strength they had lost.</p>
+
+<p>He thought, that his entrance into Paris, and the entire pacification
+of the South, would have completely changed the state of things; and
+he hoped, that foreign nations would ultimately acknowledge him, when
+they were convinced, that he had been re-established on the throne by
+the unanimous consent of the French, and that his ideas of conquest
+and dominion had given place to the real desire of respecting the
+tranquillity and independence of his neighbours, and of living in
+harmony with them.</p>
+
+<p>In fine, he considered, that prudence would induce the allies, as it
+was their interest, not to engage in a war, the results of which could
+not <span class="pagenum"><a id="page393" name="page393"></a>(p. 393)</span> be favourable to them: "They will feel, that they will
+not this time have to do with the France of 1814; and that their
+successes, if they gain any, will be no longer decisive, but will
+merely serve to render the war more obstinate and bloody; while, if
+victory favour me, I may become as formidable as ever. I have for me
+Belgium and the Rhenish provinces, and with a tricoloured flag and a
+proclamation I could revolutionize them in four-and-twenty hours."</p>
+
+<p>The treaty of the 25th of March, by which the great powers, renewing
+the arrangements of the treaty of <span lang="fr">Chaumont</span>, engaged themselves anew
+not to lay down their arms, as long as Napoleon should be on the
+throne, appeared to him merely the natural consequence of the act of
+the 13th of March, and of the erroneous opinions the allies had formed
+of France. He thought, that it would not alter the state of the
+question; and resolved, notwithstanding this treaty, and the
+affronting manner in which his first overtures were received, to
+endeavour repeatedly to make the voice of truth, of reason, and of
+peace, heard at Vienna.</p>
+
+<p>Baron <span lang="fr">de Stassart</span>, late auditor to the council of state and prefect,
+had been made chamberlain of Austria, or of Bavaria, since the
+restoration. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page394" name="page394"></a>(p. 394)</span> He was at Paris. The Emperor, hoping he might
+be able to reach Vienna under favour of his quality of chamberlain,
+charged him with a mission for the Empress Marie Louise, and fresh
+despatches for the Emperor of Austria. Napoleon at the same time had
+recourse to other means: he was aware of the intimacy and connexions
+of <abbr title="Messieurs">MM.</abbr> D. de <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> L** and <span lang="fr">de Mont</span>** with Prince <span lang="fr">Talleyrand</span>; and
+persuaded, that <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Talleyrand</span> would procure for them authority to
+repair to Vienna, he resolved, to send them thither. He did not
+deceive himself with the idea, that they would accept their mission
+for any other purpose than that of more easily serving the royal
+cause; but he paid little regard to their intrigues with the King,
+provided they delivered and brought back with exactness the
+despatches, that should be entrusted to them<a id="footnotetag95" name="footnotetag95"></a><a href="#footnote95" title="Go to footnote 95">[95]</a>.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page395" name="page395"></a>(p. 395)</span> About the King, however, and what passed at Ghent, he took
+little concern: his anxious eyes were turned to Vienna; and convinced
+of the influence, that <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Talleyrand</span> might exert there, he
+particularly directed <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> ****, to offer him his favour, and money
+also, if he would abandon the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>, and employ his talents and
+experience for the benefit of the imperial cause.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor, who did not cease to hope, that his exertions, time, and
+reflection, might effect some changes in the resolutions of the
+allies, heard with extreme displeasure, that the King of Naples had
+commenced hostilities.</p>
+
+<p>This prince had long been dissatisfied with the complaisance, with
+which the allied sovereigns listened to the protests of France, Savoy,
+and Spain: and, though his crown had been guarantied to him by a
+solemn compact with Austria, and by the formal declarations of Russia
+and England, he foresaw, that the doctrine <span class="pagenum"><a id="page396" name="page396"></a>(p. 396)</span> of legitimacy
+would carry the point against the faith of treaties, and that Austria,
+though interested in not allowing another crown to be transferred to
+the house of <span lang="fr">Bourbon</span>, would be obliged to submit to the unanimous will
+of the other powers.</p>
+
+<p>Thus the fear of being driven from the throne, and the resolution to
+maintain himself in it, possessed Joachim, when the news of the
+successful landing of Napoleon reached Naples.</p>
+
+<p>The horror with which the Austrian sway inspired the Italians, the
+attachment they retained to Napoleon, and the joy they displayed on
+hearing of his departure from the island of Elba, persuaded the King,
+that he should find no difficulty in raising Italy; and he flattered
+himself with bringing the allies, either by force of arms, or by way
+of negotiation, to guaranty to him irrevocably the possession of his
+kingdom.</p>
+
+<p>Desirous on the other hand of securing the protection of Napoleon, in
+case of failure of success, he secretly despatched an emissary to
+congratulate him; and announce, that, with a view of seconding his
+operations, he was about to attack the Austrians, and, if his wishes
+were answered by victory, he would soon join him <span class="pagenum"><a id="page397" name="page397"></a>(p. 397)</span> with a
+formidable army: "in fine," he wrote, "the moment of atoning for the
+wrong I have done your Majesty, and of proving my attachment, is now
+arrived; I will not let it escape."</p>
+
+<p>This letter, which I deciphered, reached the Emperor at <span lang="fr">Auxerre</span>; and
+he immediately enjoined the King, to continue his preparations, but
+wait for his giving him the signal, before he commenced hostilities.
+The natural impetuosity and impatience of this Prince did not allow
+him, to wait for the answer of Napoleon, and when his despatches
+arrived, the gauntlet had been thrown down.</p>
+
+<p>The better to disguise his intentions, Joachim had summoned the
+ambassadors of Austria and England, immediately on hearing of the
+landing of Napoleon, and had assured them, that he would remain
+faithful to his engagements. When he had assembled his army (put in
+motion under pretence of reinforcing his troops in the March of
+<span lang="it">Ancona</span>), he fell unexpectedly on the Austrians; and announced to the
+Italians, by a proclamation dated at Rimini the 31st of March, that he
+had taken up arms to liberate Italy from a foreign yoke, and restore
+its ancient freedom and independence.</p>
+
+<p>"Italians," said he to them, "the moment is arrived, when the great
+decrees of destiny are <span class="pagenum"><a id="page398" name="page398"></a>(p. 398)</span> to be fulfilled. Providence at length
+calls you, to become an independent people: one cry resounds from the
+Alps to the straits of Scylla, the independence of Italy. By what
+right would foreigners rob you of your independence, the first right,
+and the first good, of all nations?</p>
+
+<p class="dashed">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>"Formerly masters of the world, you have expiated this fatal glory by
+an oppression of twenty centuries. Let your glory now be, to have no
+more masters.</p>
+
+<p class="dashed">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>"Fourscore thousand Italians hasten to you under the command of their
+king. They swear not to rest, till Italy is free. Italians of all
+countries, second their magnanimous efforts ... let those, who have
+borne arms, resume them, let the unpractised youth exercise themselves
+in the use of them, let all the friends of their country raise up one
+generous voice for liberty.</p>
+
+<p class="dashed">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>"Can England refuse you her suffrages, she whose noblest claim to
+glory is to spend her blood and treasure for the independence and
+freedom of nations?</p>
+
+<p class="dashed">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page399" name="page399"></a>(p. 399)</span> "I call on all the brave, to come and fight with me; I call
+on all men of enlightened understandings, to prepare, while the
+passions are silent, the constitution and laws, that ought
+henceforward to govern happy and independent Italy."</p>
+
+<p class="dashed">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>This proclamation, to the great astonishment of Italy and France, did
+not once mention the name of Napoleon. It kept the most profound
+silence respecting his return, his intercourse with Joachim, and the
+hopes their combined efforts must inspire.</p>
+
+<p>Joachim however was not ignorant of the ascendancy, which the name of
+Napoleon had on the spirit and courage of the Italians. But he knew
+also, that this name was odious to the English, and dared not invoke
+it, for fear of displeasing them. He thought he was sufficiently
+powerful of himself, to act independently of the Emperor; and that it
+would be enough, if he showed himself in arms to the Italian nation,
+and offered it independence, to raise it at his pleasure. He deceived
+himself: all his strength was borrowed from Napoleon: personally he
+enjoyed no weight, no influence, in Italy. The Italians could not
+forgive him for having betrayed his brother-in-law and <span class="pagenum"><a id="page400" name="page400"></a>(p. 400)</span>
+benefactor in 1814, or for having revealed to Austria the patriotic
+conspiracy of Milan in 1815<a id="footnotetag96" name="footnotetag96"></a><a href="#footnote96" title="Go to footnote 96">[96]</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Thus prejudiced, they durst not confide in him; his intentions
+appeared doubtful, his promises vague, his resources uncertain; and
+they remained quiet spectators of the combat.</p>
+
+<p>It is not, in fact, by concealments, that people are reduced or
+hurried away: to subjugate them, it is necessary, to convince their
+hearts and their understandings; and the heart and the understanding
+comprehend no language but the straight forward voice of truth.
+Unhappily this language was no longer known to <span lang="fr">Murat</span>. Since his
+accession to the throne, he had adopted the system of dissimulation
+and duplicity, which pretty generally characterise Italian politics.
+These narrow politics, which support themselves by cunning and
+temporizing, were incompatible with the French blood, that circulated
+in his veins; and the continual conflicts, that arose between his
+novel inclinations and his natural petulance, were incessantly
+rendering his words and actions at variance, and leading him into
+devious paths, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page401" name="page401"></a>(p. 401)</span> where he could not fail, to go astray and
+meet his ruin.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, such is the magic power of the sacred words of liberty
+and our country, that <span lang="fr">Murat</span> did not utter them in vain. Bologna and a
+few cities declared for him; and a number of young Italians ran to
+enlist under his standards. Victory favoured their first steps; but
+Napoleon did not deceive himself: the moment had been ill-chosen, he
+foresaw the defection or ruin of <span lang="fr">Murat</span>, and what passed beyond the
+Alps no longer inspired him with any thing but disgust. From that time
+he turned his attention with more ardor than ever to the means of
+struggling alone against his adversaries, whose proceedings began to
+assume a threatening appearance.</p>
+
+<p>The royal government, partly through fear, partly from economy, had
+disorganized the army, reduced the regiments one half, changed their
+denominations, and dispersed the soldiers among new battalions.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon re-established the regiments on their ancient footing;
+restored to them their glorious surnames of <span lang="fr">Invincible</span>, <span lang="fr">Incomparable</span>,
+<span lang="fr">Terrible</span>, One to Ten, <abbr title="etcetera etcetera">&amp;c. &amp;c.</abbr>, which they had acquired and merited in
+the field of battle. He recalled to their standards the brave men who
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page402" name="page402"></a>(p. 402)</span> had been banished from them; and the army, which was
+scarcely fourscore thousand strong, soon reckoned on its lists near
+two hundred thousand fighting men.</p>
+
+<p>The marines<a id="footnotetag97" name="footnotetag97"></a><a href="#footnote97" title="Go to footnote 97">[97]</a> and guards of the coasts, who so brilliantly
+signalized their courage in the plains of <span lang="de">Lutzen</span> and <span lang="de">Bautzen</span>, were
+united under the command of their officers, and formed a body of
+fifteen or eighteen thousand men, who were appointed to protect our
+maritime establishments, or, in case of necessity, reinforce the
+active army.</p>
+
+<p>The cavalry of the imperial guard and the old grenadiers opened their
+ranks to ten thousand soldiers selected from the flank companies; the
+light artillery was re-organized; and the young guard received an
+addition of several regiments.</p>
+
+<p>But it was not sufficient to restore to the army the forces, of which
+it had been deprived; it was equally necessary, to repair its
+destitution: the foot wanted arms and clothing, the cavalry had
+neither saddles nor horses.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page403" name="page403"></a>(p. 403)</span> The Emperor looked to all these things.</p>
+
+<p>Levies and purchases of horses were made at once in all the
+departments.</p>
+
+<p>The <span lang="fr">gendarmerie</span>, by giving up the ten thousand horses belonging to it,
+which it replaced immediately, supplied the heavy cavalry with so many
+horses already trained, which in ten days rendered its numerous
+squadrons complete.</p>
+
+<p>Spacious manufactories of clothing, arms, and equipage, were opened at
+once in all parts.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor caused an account of the number of workmen, and the
+produce of their labour, to be delivered to him every morning. He knew
+how long it took a tailor to finish a soldier's dress, a wheelwright
+to construct a carriage, or an armourer to fit up a musket. He knew
+the quantity of arms, in a good or bad state, contained in the
+arsenals. "You will find," he wrote to the minister at war, "in such
+an arsenal, so many old muskets, and so many broken up. Set a hundred
+men at work there, and arm me five hundred men a week." Such was the
+extent and variety of Napoleon's genius, that he soared without effort
+to the loftiest abstractions of the art of governing, and descended
+with the same facility to the minutest details of management.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page404" name="page404"></a>(p. 404)</span> Extraordinary commissioners were employed at the same time to
+direct the repairing and fortifying of the frontier towns. They
+employed themselves day and night on this important business. But the
+slightest delay appeared to the Emperor an age of expectation, and
+frequently he put his hand to the work himself. He was perfectly
+acquainted with the nature of the fortifications of every place, the
+number of men it ought to contain, and the approaches necessary to be
+defended; and in a few hours he settled what the most experienced
+engineer would have found it difficult to conceive and determine in
+several days. And let it not be supposed, that the works he thus
+ordered bore any marks of precipitancy. At the head of his
+topographical cabinet he had one of the first engineer officers in
+France, General <span lang="fr">Bernard</span>; and this general, too brave, too loyal, to be
+a flatterer, could never enough admire the profound knowledge the
+Emperor possessed of the art of fortification, and his happy and
+prompt application of it.</p>
+
+<p>The zeal and joint efforts of these committees, and of the Emperor,
+produced, in a short time, effects truly miraculous. All France seemed
+an intrenched camp. Napoleon, in the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page405" name="page405"></a>(p. 405)</span> articles he wrote<a id="footnotetag98" name="footnotetag98"></a><a href="#footnote98" title="Go to footnote 98">[98]</a>,
+frequently gave an account of the progress of his armament, of the
+fortified places, and of the works of defence. I will transcribe here
+one of these articles, which, exclusive of the merit of depicting the
+aspect of France at that period, in a better manner than I could,
+appears to me well adapted to convey an idea of the fervid activity of
+Napoleon, and the immensity of the objects his eye embraced.</p>
+
+<p>"All the strong places on the northern frontier, from Dunkirk to
+<span lang="fr">Charlemont</span>, are furnished with ordnance, provision, and stores: the
+sluices are put into order, and the country will be inundated at the
+first hostile movement: field-works have been laid out in the forest
+of <span lang="fr">Mormale</span>: measures are taken for throwing up intrenchments in the
+different passes of the forest of <span lang="fr">Aregonne</span>: all the strong places of
+<span lang="fr">Lorraine</span> are prepared: intrenchments are formed at the five passes of
+the <span lang="fr">Vosges</span>: the fortresses of <span lang="fr">Alsace</span> are equipped: orders are given
+for the defence of the pass of <span lang="fr">Jura</span>, and all the frontiers of the
+Alps. The passes of the <span lang="fr">Somme</span>, which are in the third line, are
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page406" name="page406"></a>(p. 406)</span> putting into order. In the interior, <span lang="fr">Guise, la Ferté, Vitry,
+Soissons, Château Thierry</span>, and <span lang="fr">Langres</span>, are equipping and fortifying.
+Orders have been issued even for constructing works on the heights of
+<span lang="fr">Montmartre</span> and <span lang="fr">Ménilmontant</span>, and furnishing them with three hundred
+pieces of ordnance: they will be formed at first of earth, and the
+solidity of permanent fortifications will be given them in succession.</p>
+
+<p>"His Majesty has ordered, that Lyons should be put into a state of
+defence: a <i>tête-de-pont</i> will be established at <span lang="fr">Broteaux</span>. The
+drawbridge at <span lang="fr">La Guillotière</span> is replacing. The space between the <span lang="fr">Saône</span>
+and the Rhone will be fortified: some redoubts are preparing to be
+constructed in advance of this space. A redoubt will be constructed on
+the height of <span lang="fr">Pierre en Size</span>, to support a work, that closes the city
+on the right bank. The heights, that command the quarter of <span lang="fr"><abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Jean</span>,
+on the right bank of the <span lang="fr">Saône</span>, will be defended by several redoubts:
+a train of eighty pieces of cannon, with the necessary stores, is sent
+off for Lyons. <span lang="fr">Sisteron</span> and the bridge of <span lang="fr"><abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Esprit</span> will be placed in
+a state of defence. Eight armies or corps of observation are formed:
+namely</p>
+
+<p>"The army of the North;</p>
+
+<p>"The army of the <span lang="fr">Moselle</span>;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page407" name="page407"></a>(p. 407)</span> "The army of the Rhine;</p>
+
+<p>"The corps of observation of the <span lang="fr">Jura</span>, which is assembling at <span lang="fr">Befort</span>;</p>
+
+<p>"The army of the Alps, which is assembling at <span lang="fr">Chambery</span>;</p>
+
+<p>"The corps of observation of the <span lang="fr">Pyrenees</span>, which is assembling at
+<span lang="fr">Perpignan</span> and at <span lang="fr">Bordeaux</span>;</p>
+
+<p>"And the army of reserve, which is assembling at Paris and at <span lang="fr">Laon</span>.</p>
+
+<p>"The old soldiers are every where on the march, animated with the
+greatest enthusiasm, and come to complete our hundred and twenty
+regiments of infantry. The purchases made for remounting the cavalry
+have been going on rapidly for this month, and will soon render our
+seventy regiments of cavalry fully complete. Regiments of volunteer
+cavalry are forming in many parts: <span lang="fr">Alsace</span> has already furnished two
+regiments of lancers, of a thousand men each. We have reason to think,
+that this example will be followed in Brittany, Normandy, and
+<span lang="fr">Limousin</span>, the province in which the greatest number of horses are
+bred.</p>
+
+<p>"Parks of artillery, forming more than a hundred and fifty batteries,
+are already harnessed, and on the march for the different armies. The
+corps of artillery for the defence <span class="pagenum"><a id="page408" name="page408"></a>(p. 408)</span> of Lyons is composed of
+two companies formed in the school of <span lang="fr">Alfort</span>. The corps for serving
+the three hundred pieces of ordnance, that will be placed on the
+heights of Paris, will consist of twelve companies of marine
+artillery, two companies of invalids, two companies of the school of
+<span lang="fr">Alfort</span>, two companies of the polytechnic school, two companies of the
+school of <span lang="fr"><abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Cyr</span>, and six companies of foot artillery.</p>
+
+<p>"Corps of partisans and free corps are forming in a great number of
+departments. An adjutant-general, stationed with each general
+commanding in chief, will conduct the correspondence with these corps;
+which, if the enemy be rash enough to penetrate into our territories,
+will fall upon his communications in the mountains and forests, and
+find support in the fortified towns.</p>
+
+<p>"The organization of the levy in mass of <span lang="fr">Alsace</span>, <span lang="fr">Lorraine</span>, the county
+of <span lang="fr">Messin</span>, <span lang="fr">Franche Comté</span>, Burgundy, Dauphiny, and Picardy, is
+prepared.</p>
+
+<p>"All the cities will arm in defence of their vicinity: they will
+follow the example of <span lang="fr">Chalons sur Saône, Tournus</span>, and <span lang="fr"><abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Jean de
+Losne</span>. Every unfortified town even would betray the national honour,
+if it surrendered to light troops, and did not make the best defence
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page409" name="page409"></a>(p. 409)</span> its means will allow, till the arrival of infantry and
+artillery in such force, that its resistance would cease to be
+prescribed by the laws of war.</p>
+
+<p>"Every thing is in motion in all parts of France. If the coalition
+persist in the designs they have announced of making war on us, if
+they violate our frontiers, it is easy to foresee, what fruits they
+will reap from their attempt on the rights of the French nation: all
+the departments will emulate in zeal those of <span lang="fr">Alsace</span>, the <span lang="fr">Vosges</span>,
+<span lang="fr">Franche Comté</span>, Burgundy, and the Lyonese; every where the people are
+animated with a patriotic spirit, and ready to make any sacrifice, to
+maintain the independence of the nation, and the honour of the
+throne."</p>
+
+<p>In fine, to complete his means of resistance and attack, the Emperor
+remodelled the national guard, and divided it into three thousand one
+hundred and thirty battalions, forming a body of two millions two
+hundred and fifty thousand men. All the national guards from twenty
+years old to forty were classed in active companies of light infantry
+and grenadiers, and fifteen hundred of these companies, or a hundred
+and eighty thousand men, were immediately placed at the disposal of
+the minister at <span class="pagenum"><a id="page410" name="page410"></a>(p. 410)</span> war, to form the garrisons of the frontier
+places, and reinforce the armies of reserve.</p>
+
+<p>The general officers sent to the frontier departments, to accelerate
+the raising and departure of this national militia, had need only to
+show themselves, to accomplish their mission. Every citizen aspired
+beforehand to the honour of making a part of it; and in the provinces
+of the east, the north, and the centre, it was found necessary to form
+supernumerary companies<a id="footnotetag99" name="footnotetag99"></a><a href="#footnote99" title="Go to footnote 99">[99]</a>. The father would have renounced his son,
+the wife her husband, the girl her betrothed lover, if they had been
+deaf to the voice of honour and their country. The mothers themselves,
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page411" name="page411"></a>(p. 411)</span> who at other times had so bitterly deplored the departure of
+their children, encouraged them, like the Spartans, to march against
+the enemy, and fall, if it must be so, in the sacred cause of their
+country. This picture is not an exaggeration, it is faithful, it is
+true. Never was a more beautiful spectacle exhibited to the eyes of
+any man, to whom the glory and independence of his country were dear,
+than that of the enthusiasm and martial joy, with which the warlike
+inhabitants of <span lang="fr">Alsace</span>, <span lang="fr">Lorraine</span>, Burgundy, <span lang="fr">Champagne</span>, and the <span lang="fr">Vosges</span>,
+were animated. The roads were covered with waggons loaded with young
+warriors, who hastened, gaily singing, to the post of honour assigned
+them by Napoleon: the population of the towns and villages received
+them on their way with applauses, which inflamed their minds with
+fresh ardor, and made them enjoy by anticipation the praises and
+acclamations, that their friends, parents, and fellow-citizens would
+lavish on them at their return.</p>
+
+<p>France seemed to call aloud, to see her eclipsed greatness restored.
+She had recovered all her energy: an evident proof, that the strength
+of a nation is always the work of the prince, by whom it is governed.
+It is he, who enervates the public spirit, and bastardizes his
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page412" name="page412"></a>(p. 412)</span> subjects, by the effeminacy of his government: or it is he,
+who inspires them with the love of their country, with priding
+themselves in it, and leads them to undertake, whatever can augment
+its glory and its power.</p>
+
+<p>To draw still more closely the bonds of union between the French
+people, and impart greater intensity to their patriotism, Napoleon
+authorized the re-establishment of popular clubs, and the formation of
+civic confederations. This time his expectations were not answered by
+success. The major part of the clubs were filled with men, who
+formerly composed the revolutionary tribunals and societies; and their
+imprecations against kings, and their liberticide motions, made the
+Emperor fear, that he had revived the spirit of anarchy.</p>
+
+<p>The sentiments manifested by the federates equally disquieted him. He
+perceived, that he did not occupy the first place in their thoughts
+and affections; that the primary wish of their hearts was liberty;
+and, as this liberty was in his eyes synonimous with republicanism, he
+exerted all his endeavours to moderate, restrain, and repress, the
+development of these patriotic associations. Perhaps there were men
+among the federates, whose principles might be dangerous, and their
+intentions criminal: but in <span class="pagenum"><a id="page413" name="page413"></a>(p. 413)</span> general they consisted of pure
+patriots, who had taken up arms to defend the imperial government, and
+not to overturn it.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon had never been able to surmount the aversion, which he felt
+for the veterans of the revolution. He dreaded their constancy, and
+their daring spirit; and he would have thought himself in danger, if
+not lost, had they become consolidated, and resumed their ascendancy.
+This panic fear was the cause, that he did not reap from the
+confederations the advantages he promised himself; and which they
+would unquestionably have afforded him, if he had not clogged their
+wings. It was also the cause of his committing a perhaps still greater
+fault, that of putting a stop to the popular movements, that had shown
+themselves in most of the departments. In the critical state in which
+he found himself, and into which he had drawn France, he should not
+have disregarded any means of security; and the most efficacious, the
+most analogous to his situation, was indisputably that of engaging the
+people most intimately in his fate, and in his defence. It was
+necessary, therefore, while preventing them from spilling a single
+drop of blood, to let them compromise themselves with some of those
+incorrigible ultras, who had harassed, ill-treated, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page414" name="page414"></a>(p. 414)</span> and
+insulted them, since the restoration. The people would then have been
+more sensible, that it was no longer the personal cause of Napoleon
+alone, that they had to defend; and the dread of chastisement, and of
+the yoke, would have restored to them that ancient enthusiasm, which
+had proved so fatal to the first coalition.</p>
+
+<p>The moderation adopted by Napoleon on this occasion was honourable,
+but not politic. He conducted himself, as he might have done at a
+time, when all parties, confounded together and reconciled,
+acknowledged him for their sole and only sovereign. But things had
+changed: he had no longer the whole of France in his favour; and hence
+it was necessary, that he should conduct himself rather as the head of
+a party, than as a sovereign; and that he should display as it were
+all the vigour and energy of the leader of a faction. Energy unites
+men, by taking from them all uncertainty, and hurrying them with
+violence toward their object. Moderation, on the contrary, divides and
+enervates them, because it leaves them to their own irresolution, and
+allows them leisure, to listen to their interests, their scruples, and
+their fears.</p>
+
+<p>The attention paid by the Emperor to his military preparations did not
+prevent his continuing <span class="pagenum"><a id="page415" name="page415"></a>(p. 415)</span> to occupy himself on the welfare of
+the state, and endeavour more and more to conciliate the confidence
+and affection of the public.</p>
+
+<p>Already, in other days, he had drawn out from its ruins the ancient
+University. A new basis, more broad, more extensive, more majestic,
+had raised this noble institution to a level with the age, and with
+France. But the first stage of education did not answer the efforts
+made to improve it, and to diffuse it among the younger classes of
+society.</p>
+
+<p><abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">Carnot</span>, in a report that combined the most pleasing philanthropy
+with the most sage and lofty views, taught the Emperor the advantages
+of the methods of Bell and Lancaster, and the monarch and the minister
+made a present to France, to morality, to humanity, of the system of
+mutual instruction.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor, on removing his eyes from this interesting youth, the
+hope of the country, turned them to those old soldiers, who had
+formerly been its pride and support.</p>
+
+<p>A royal ordinance had expelled from their asylum a considerable number
+of invalids, and had taken from them a portion of their endowments: a
+decree restored them to their rights; and a visit, which the Emperor
+paid these <span class="pagenum"><a id="page416" name="page416"></a>(p. 416)</span> veterans in glory, added a kindness to the
+benefit.</p>
+
+<p>He also repaired to the Polytechnic school. It was the first time of
+his showing himself to its pupils. Their love of perfect liberty,
+their inclination for republican institutions, had long alienated from
+them the affections of the Emperor: but the striking bravery they had
+displayed under the walls of Paris had restored to them his esteem and
+friendship; and it was satisfactory to him (these are his own words),
+to have such a fine occasion of reconciling himself with them.</p>
+
+<p>The suburb of <span lang="fr"><abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Antoine</span>, that cradle of the revolution, was not
+forgotten. The Emperor traversed it from one end to the other. He had
+the doors of all the workshops opened to him, and examined them very
+minutely. The numerous workmen of the manufactory of <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">Lenoir</span>, who
+retained a grateful remembrance of what the Emperor had done for their
+master and for themselves, loaded him with expressions of their
+attachment. The commissary of police of the quarter had followed
+Napoleon into this manufactory; and, willing to set the example,
+opened his mouth to its utmost extent, to holla as loud as he could
+bawl "Long live the Emperor!" but, by a terrible slip of the tongue, a
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page417" name="page417"></a>(p. 417)</span> very distinct "Long live the King!" on the contrary issued
+from it. This caused great confusion: but the Emperor, turning to him,
+said in a rallying tone: "So, Mr. Commissary, you are determined then
+not to get rid of your bad habits." This sally was the signal for a
+general laugh: and the commissary, plucking up his spirits, convinced
+Napoleon by many a vigorous "Long live the Emperor!" that we never
+lose any thing by a little patience.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor was accompanied only by three officers of his household.
+It was impossible for them to defend him from the approaches and
+caresses of the people: the women kissed his hands; the men squeezed
+them, till they made him cry out; both expressed to him in a thousand
+ways, which I cannot transcribe, the difference they made between him
+and his predecessor. At all times he had been much beloved by the
+class of workmen and artisans. He had enriched it: and interest is the
+prime mover of regard among the people, as well as among the
+great<a id="footnotetag100" name="footnotetag100"></a><a href="#footnote100" title="Go to footnote 100">[100]</a>.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page418" name="page418"></a>(p. 418)</span> The Emperor received a great number of petitions during his
+excursions. Unable to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page419" name="page419"></a>(p. 419)</span> read them all, he ordered me, to
+examine them carefully, and give him an account of them. He loved to
+repay the confidence that the people reposed in him; and frequently
+granted to the request of an obscure and unknown citizen, what he
+would perhaps have refused to the entreaties of a marshal or a
+minister. The utility of these familiar communications between the
+nation and the sovereign was not confined, in his eyes, to the
+solitary interests of the petitioner. He considered them as
+efficacious means of coming at the knowledge of abuses and acts of
+injustice, and of keeping the depositaries of authority within the
+limits of their <span class="pagenum"><a id="page420" name="page420"></a>(p. 420)</span> duty. He was fond of encouraging them, that
+the phrase, If the Emperor knew it, or The Emperor shall know it,
+might solace the heart of the oppressed, and make the oppressor
+tremble.</p>
+
+<p>In former days he had appointed a special commission, to receive
+petitions, and give them suitable effect. This benefit not appearing
+to him sufficiently complete, he would have them subjected to a
+preliminary examination, under his own eye. He decided himself the
+method to be followed: and directed me, to make known to him every
+day, without disguise, the complaints, wants, and wishes, of the
+French people. I made it a point of duty, of honour, to execute this
+task in a proper manner, and to become the zealous protector of those
+who had none. Every morning I laid before the Emperor an analytical
+report of the requests capable of demanding his attention: he examined
+them with care, made marginal notes on them with his own hand, and
+sent them to his ministers with a favourable decision, or an order to
+verify them, and give him an account of the result.</p>
+
+<p>In fine, to fulfil, as much as in him lay, the public expectation, the
+Emperor made numerous changes in the laws relating to the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page421" name="page421"></a>(p. 421)</span>
+consolidated taxes (<i><span lang="fr">droits réunis</span></i>), which, while they diminished the
+impost, freed it from its abuses and tyrannical forms, and rendered it
+less odious, and more supportable. These beneficial meliorations,
+though incomplete, were received with gratitude; and the Emperor was
+thanked for his endeavours to reconcile the interests of individuals
+with the wants of the public treasury.</p>
+
+<p>But the satisfaction Napoleon derived from the happy effects of his
+solicitude was frequently disturbed by the disquietude and perplexity,
+which the cabals and man&oelig;uvres of the royalists occasioned him.
+"The priests and the nobles," said he one day in a fit of ill-humour,
+"are playing a deep game. If I were to let loose the people upon them,
+they would all be devoured in the twinkling of an eye<a id="footnotetag101" name="footnotetag101"></a><a href="#footnote101" title="Go to footnote 101">[101]</a>."</p>
+
+<p>By a decree of the 25th of March, he had already ordered the ministers
+of the King, and the civil and military officers of his household,
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page422" name="page422"></a>(p. 422)</span> as well as of those of the princes, as also the chiefs of
+the <span lang="fr">Chouans</span>, of the Vendeans, and of the royal volunteers, to remove
+to a distance of thirty leagues from Paris. This prudent precaution
+was but imperfectly executed. <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">Fouché</span>, to secure himself a refuge in
+the King's party, had sent for the principal of the proscribed persons
+to his house; expressed to them how much he felt interested for their
+situation, and the efforts he had made, to prevent their banishment;
+and finally authorised them pretty generally, to remain at Paris.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor, not aware that their audacity was owing to the protection
+of his minister, watched for an opportunity of intimidating them by an
+act of severity. While things were in this state, a <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Lascours</span>, a
+colonel, was arrested at Dunkirk, where he had introduced himself as
+an emissary from the King. Napoleon, deceived by the similarity of the
+name, supposed this officer to be the person, who pretended, in 1814,
+to have received orders, to blow up the powder magazine at <span lang="fr">Grenelle</span>,
+and refused to execute them. "I should be sorry," said he, "to
+sacrifice by way of example a worthy man; but an impostor like this
+deserves no pity. Write to the minister at war, to have <span class="pagenum"><a id="page423" name="page423"></a>(p. 423)</span> him
+taken before a military commission, and tried as an instigator to
+civil war, and to the overturning of the established government."</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor, turning towards me, added: "How is it, that the absurd
+fable of this man has not been contradicted?"&mdash;"Sire," I answered,
+"<span lang="fr">Gourgaud</span> has often assured me, that all your officers had publicly
+avowed their sentiments on it; and that it had been the intention of
+several generals, and particularly of general <span lang="fr">Tirlet</span>, to unmask this
+odious lie to the King; but...." "Enough," said the Emperor, "I make
+no account of intentions: send the order, and let me hear no more of
+him."</p>
+
+<p>I lost sight of this business: but I have since learned, that <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de
+Lascours</span> was acquitted.</p>
+
+<p>If <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Lascours</span> had been so unfortunate, as to fall a victim to his
+zeal, the Emperor would have been accused of barbarity; yet he was
+neither cruel nor sanguinary, for cruelty must not be confounded with
+severity. I know but one single act, the result of the most fatal
+counsels, for which, alas! he may be reproached by posterity<a id="footnotetag102" name="footnotetag102"></a><a href="#footnote102" title="Go to footnote 102">[102]</a>.
+Who besides have been the victims <span class="pagenum"><a id="page424" name="page424"></a>(p. 424)</span> of his pretended ferocity?
+Will the death of Georges, and his obscure accomplices, be <span class="pagenum"><a id="page425" name="page425"></a>(p. 425)</span>
+considered as a judicial murder? Are the infernal machine and its
+terrible ravages forgotten? <span class="pagenum"><a id="page426" name="page426"></a>(p. 426)</span> Georges, at the head of the
+<span lang="fr">Chouans</span>, was a misled Frenchman, to be pitied, and to be <span class="pagenum"><a id="page427" name="page427"></a>(p. 427)</span>
+spared. Georges, at the head of a band of assassins, was undeserving
+of pity, and the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page428" name="page428"></a>(p. 428)</span> cause of morality, as well as of humanity,
+demanded his punishment.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page429" name="page429"></a>(p. 429)</span> Will it be said, that <span lang="fr">Pichegru</span> was strangled by his orders?
+The designs of <span lang="fr">Pichegru</span> were so clearly substantiated, and the laws so
+clear, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page430" name="page430"></a>(p. 430)</span> that he could not escape the scaffold: why, then,
+should he cause him to be murdered? The greatest criminals themselves
+do not commit useless crimes. Were apprehensions entertained of the
+disclosures he might make?... What could he disclose to the French
+people? That Napoleon aspired to the throne? Of this no one was
+ignorant.</p>
+
+<p>A man, that Napoleon had reason to dread, was <span lang="fr">Moreau</span>: was his life
+attempted? Yet it was less dangerous, to assassinate him, than to send
+to a tribunal, where guilt presided, a warrior at that time so dear to
+France and to the army.</p>
+
+<p>No, Napoleon was not cruel, he was not sanguinary. If he were
+sometimes inexorable, it was because there are circumstances, in which
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page431" name="page431"></a>(p. 431)</span> the monarch must shut his heart to compassion, and leave the
+law free to act: but, if he knew how to punish, he was also capable of
+pardoning; and, at the moment when he gave up Georges<a id="footnotetag103" name="footnotetag103"></a><a href="#footnote103" title="Go to footnote 103">[103]</a> to the
+sword of justice, he spared the lives of Messrs. <span lang="fr">de Polignac</span> and the
+<span lang="fr">Marquis de Rivière</span>, whose courage and zeal he respected.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor did not stop at the rigorous trial, to which he had
+delivered over the person of <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Lascours</span>: by a decree, dated the
+18th of March, and published the 9th of April, he ordered the
+condemnation, and the sequestration of the property of</p>
+
+<ul>
+<li>The Prince of <span lang="it">Benevento</span>,</li>
+<li>The Duke of <span lang="it">Ragusa</span>,</li>
+<li>The Duke of <span lang="de">Alberg</span>,</li>
+<li>The <span lang="fr">Abbé de Montesquiou</span>,</li>
+<li>The Count <span lang="fr">de Jaucourt</span>,</li>
+<li>The Count <span lang="fr">de Bournonville</span>, and</li>
+<li>The Sieurs <span lang="fr">Lynch</span>,</li>
+<li><span lang="fr" class="add4em">Vitrolles</span>,</li>
+
+<li><span class="pagenum"><a id="page432" name="page432"></a>(p. 432)</span> <span lang="fr" class="add4em">Alexis de Noailles</span>,</li>
+<li><span lang="fr" class="add4em">Bourienne</span>,</li>
+<li><span lang="fr" class="add4em">Bellard</span>,</li>
+<li><span lang="fr" class="add4em">La Roche-Jaquelin</span>, and</li>
+<li><span lang="fr" class="add4em">Sostène de la Rochefoucault</span><a id="footnotetag104" name="footnotetag104"></a><a href="#footnote104" title="Go to footnote 104">[104]</a>;</li>
+</ul>
+
+<p>All of whom, as members of the provisional government, or agents of
+the royal party, had concurred in the subversion of the imperial
+government, previous to the abdication of Napoleon.</p>
+
+<p>This decree, though supposed to have originated at Lyons, first saw
+the light at Paris; and was, as I have just said, the result of the
+ill humour, into which the plots of the royalists had thrown Napoleon.
+The terms, in which it was originally couched, too clearly attested
+its source: the first article said; "are declared traitors to their
+country, and shall be punished as such, <abbr title="etcetera">&amp;c.</abbr>"</p>
+
+<p>It was I, who wrote this decree, from the dictation of the Emperor.
+When I had finished it, he ordered me, to go and get it signed by
+Count <span lang="fr">Bertrand</span>, who had countersigned the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page433" name="page433"></a>(p. 433)</span> decrees of Lyons.
+I went to the marshal. He read the decree, and returned it to me,
+saying: "I will never sign it: this is not what the Emperor promised
+us; they who advise him, to take such measures, are his bitterest
+enemies; I will speak to him about it." I related this firm and
+courageous answer to Napoleon word for word. He ordered me, to return
+to the grand Marshal, to endeavour to overcome his repugnance, and, if
+he still persisted, to bring him to him. Count <span lang="fr">Bertrand</span> instantly
+followed me, with head erect, into the Emperor's closet. "I am
+astonished," said Napoleon to him in a dry tone, "that you make such
+difficulties about it to me. The severity I wish to display is
+necessary for the good of the state."&mdash;"I do not think so, Sire."&mdash;"I
+do, I tell you: and it is my business alone to judge of it. I did not
+ask your advice, but your signature, which is only a matter of form,
+and cannot in any way compromise you."&mdash;"Sire, a minister, who
+countersigns the act of a sovereign, is morally responsible for that
+act; and I should think myself wanting in my duty to your Majesty, and
+perhaps to myself, if I were weak enough to set my hand to such
+measures. If your Majesty choose to reign by the laws, you have no
+right, arbitrarily to pronounce, by a <span class="pagenum"><a id="page434" name="page434"></a>(p. 434)</span> simple decree,
+sentence of death, and forfeiture of property, against your subjects.
+If you choose to act as a dictator, and to have no law but your own
+will, you have no need of the addition of my signature. Your Majesty
+has declared, by your proclamations, that you would grant a general
+amnesty. I countersigned them most cordially; and I will not
+countersign the decree, that revokes them."&mdash;"But you well know, I
+always told you, that I never would pardon <span lang="fr">Marmont, Talleyrand</span>, and
+<span lang="fr">Augereau</span>; and that I promised only to overlook, what had passed since
+my abdication. I know better than you, what I ought to do, to keep my
+promises, and ensure the tranquillity of the state. I begun with being
+indulgent, even to weakness and the royalists, instead of appreciating
+my moderation, have abused it: they bestir themselves, they conspire,
+and I ought and will bring them to their senses. I would rather have
+my blows fall on traitors, than on men who are misled. Besides, all
+those who are on the list, <span lang="fr">Augereau</span> excepted, are out of France, or in
+concealment. I shall not seek for them: my intention is to terrify
+them more than harm them. You see, therefore," continued the Emperor,
+softening his voice, "you have not rightly considered the business:
+sign this for <span class="pagenum"><a id="page435" name="page435"></a>(p. 435)</span> me, my dear <span lang="fr">Bertrand</span>: you must."&mdash;"I cannot,
+Sire. I request your Majesty's permission, to submit my observations
+to you in writing."&mdash;"All that, my dear sir, will make us lose time:
+you are startled, I assure you, without any reason; sign, I tell you;
+I request you, you will do me pleasure."&mdash;"Permit me, Sire, to wait,
+till your Majesty has seen my observations." The marshal went away.
+This noble resistance did not offend the Emperor: the language of
+truth and honour never displeased him, when it issued from a pure
+heart.</p>
+
+<p>General <span lang="fr">Bertrand</span> delivered to Napoleon a statement of his reasons. It
+did not alter his resolution; it only determined him, to give it a
+legal form.</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor, persuaded that General <span lang="fr">Bertrand</span> would equally retain his
+opinion, would not have this new decree presented to him, and it
+appeared without being countersigned.</p>
+
+<p>The effect it produced justified the apprehensions of the grand
+Marshal. It was considered as an act of despotism and vengeance; as
+the first infraction of the promises made to the nation. The murmurs
+of the public were echoed even within the walls of the imperial
+palace. Labedoyère, at a moment when Napoleon was passing by, said
+loud enough to be heard, "If <span class="pagenum"><a id="page436" name="page436"></a>(p. 436)</span> the system of proscriptions and
+sequestrations begin again, all will soon be over."</p>
+
+<p>The Emperor, according to his custom on such occasions, affected to be
+perfectly satisfied with himself, and appeared no way apprehensive of
+the storm. Being at table with several personages and ladies of
+distinction belonging to the court, he asked the Countess <span lang="fr">Duchâtel</span>, if
+her husband, who was director-general of the domains, had executed the
+order for sequestrating the estates of <span lang="fr">Talleyrand</span> and company. "There
+is no hurry for that," answered she drily. He made no reply, and
+changed the conversation.</p>
+
+<p>The persons about him are incessantly reproached, with having basely
+crouched to his will and opinions: this anecdote, and many others that
+I might relate, prove, that all of them at least did not deserve this
+reproach. But, supposing it to be just with regard to some, is it as
+easy, as is commonly thought, to overcome the will of a sovereign?</p>
+
+<p>From pride, and perhaps from a conviction of superiority, Napoleon did
+not readily endure counsel.</p>
+
+<p>In affairs of state, he imposed upon himself the law of consulting his
+counsellors, and his ministers. Endowed by nature with the faculty
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page437" name="page437"></a>(p. 437)</span> of knowing every thing, or of divining every thing, he almost
+always took an active part in the discussion: and I must say, to the
+honour of the Emperor, his ministers, and his counsellors, in common,
+an inexpressible degree of confidence, frankness, and independence,
+prevailed in these discussions, highly animated as for the most part
+they were. The Emperor, far from being shocked when any one
+contradicted him, endured, nay provoked contradiction and adopted
+without resistance the advice of his opponents, when he thought it
+preferable to his own opinion.</p>
+
+<p>When the question concerned those grand decisions, that influence the
+fate of empires, the case was different. He listened for a certain
+time to the objections of his ministers: but, when his attention had
+reached its bounds, he interrupted them, and supported his own opinion
+with so much fire, force, and perseverance, that he reduced them to
+silence.</p>
+
+<p>This silence was less the effect of their passive obedience to the
+intentions of the monarch, than the result of the lessons taught by
+experience. They had seen, that the most rash, the most
+incomprehensible, I had almost said the most senseless, enterprises of
+Napoleon were invariably crowned with success; and they <span class="pagenum"><a id="page438" name="page438"></a>(p. 438)</span> were
+convinced, that reason could not contend against the inspirations of
+genius, and the favours of fortune.</p>
+
+<p>In fine, Napoleon often consulted only his own will; and his ministers
+then knew nothing of his resolves, till they received orders, to carry
+them into execution.</p>
+
+<p>Such was, and such always will be the situation of ministers, in a
+monarchy, where the Prince governs for himself; and more especially
+when this Prince, like Napoleon, owes his throne merely to the
+ascendancy of his genius and his sword.</p>
+
+<p>Besides, the time of flatterers and flattery was past with Napoleon.
+Every one was interested in telling him the truth, and no one was
+sparing of it to him.</p>
+
+<p>The security inspired by this rare and valuable veracity was
+strengthened by the arrival of Prince Joseph and Prince Lucien. The
+moderation of the one, and the patriotism of the other, were well
+known; and the care of maintaining the liberal and pacific intentions
+of the Emperor was laid on them both.</p>
+
+<p>Prince Lucien had been deeply afflicted in 1814 at the misfortunes of
+his brother, and was eager to offer him his fortune and his services.
+This, generous offer did not entirely efface from <span class="pagenum"><a id="page439" name="page439"></a>(p. 439)</span> the heart
+of Napoleon the remembrance, of their ancient differences, but it
+softened the asperity of them; and it might be foreseen, that their
+enmity would not be eternal.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as Prince Lucien heard of the entry of Napoleon into Paris, he
+wrote him a letter of congratulation. "Your return," said he, "fills
+up the measure of your military glory. But there is another glory
+still greater, and above all more desirable, civil glory. The
+sentiments and intentions, which you have solemnly promulgated,
+promise France, that you know how to acquire it," <abbr title="etcetera">&amp;c.</abbr></p>
+
+<p>Prince Lucien, however, notwithstanding his desire of revisiting that
+country, the cause of which he pleaded, did not venture to approach
+it. But the invasion of the King of Naples having rendered his
+services necessary to the Sovereign Pontiff, the gratitude he owed to
+the Holy Father triumphed over his apprehensions. He departed under
+the title of secretary to the Pope's nuncio, and crossed the Alps
+without any obstacle. Arrived in the French territory, he wrote to
+Napoleon, to inform him of his mission, and to ask if his coming to
+Paris would be agreeable to him. Napoleon's first feeling was that of
+hesitating to receive him: his second, that of opening to him his
+arms. The <span class="pagenum"><a id="page440" name="page440"></a>(p. 440)</span> intention of the Prince was to return quickly to
+Home, whither he was called by the concerns entrusted to him: but the
+interruption of the communications did not allow this. Obliged to
+return to Paris, he laid aside his incognito. His return was then
+publicly announced, and made an advantageous and agreeable impression
+on every mind.</p>
+
+<p>A few days before, the Emperor had made the acquisition of another
+personage; less illustrious, it is true, but equally renowned for his
+patriotism and intelligence: I mean <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">Benjamin Constant</span>.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon, knowing the experience and reputation of this learned
+civilian, sent for him, to converse with him "on liberty and the
+constitution." Their conversation continued more than two hours. The
+Emperor, willing to attach <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">Constant</span> to his party, employed all his
+means of seduction; and I leave it to those Frenchmen, and those
+foreigners, who have had access to him, to say, whether it were
+possible to resist him.</p>
+
+<p>When he wished to fix any one in his train, he studied and penetrated
+with extreme sagacity his way of thinking, his principles, his
+character, his ruling passions; and then with that familiar grace,
+that affability, that force <span class="pagenum"><a id="page441" name="page441"></a>(p. 441)</span> and vivacity of expression,
+which gave so much value and such a charm to his conversations<a id="footnotetag105" name="footnotetag105"></a><a href="#footnote105" title="Go to footnote 105">[105]</a>,
+he insinuated himself imperceptibly into your heart, made himself
+master of your passions, gently excited them, and artfully flattered
+them: then, displaying at once the magic resources of his genius, he
+plunged you into intoxication, into admiration, and subdued you so
+rapidly, so completely, that it seemed the effect of enchantment.</p>
+
+<p>Thus <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">Benjamin Constant</span> was subjugated: he arrived at the <span lang="fr">Tuileries</span>
+with repugnance, he quitted the palace an enthusiast.</p>
+
+<p>The next day he was named counsellor of state: and this favour he owed
+to no base submissions, as his enemies have pretended, but to
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page442" name="page442"></a>(p. 442)</span> his learning, and to the desire the Emperor had of giving to
+public opinion, and to <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> B. <span lang="fr">Constant</span> himself, a pledge of his having
+forgotten the past; a pledge so much the more meritorious, as the
+Emperor, independently of the Philippic launched against him by this
+writer on the 19th of March, had besides before his eyes a letter in
+his own hand to <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Blacas</span>, the subject and expressions of which
+were of a nature, to inspire Napoleon with something more than
+aversion for its author.</p>
+
+<p><abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Blacas</span> had left in his boxes a great number of papers. The
+Emperor directed the Duke of Otranto to examine them. Of this he
+immediately repented, and sent for them again. Part fell to our share:
+the rest were delivered to the Duke of Vicenza. Their examination
+afforded nothing interesting. The Emperor, disappointed, accused <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr>
+<span lang="fr">Fouché</span> of having removed the important papers. Those we inspected
+consisted only of private reports, and confidential and anonymous
+notes. The hatred of the revolution pervaded every line, every word.
+The writers did not dare to propose plainly the revocation of the
+Charter, and the abolition of the new institutions; but they declared
+without any circumlocution, that the dynasty of the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> would
+never be secure <span class="pagenum"><a id="page443" name="page443"></a>(p. 443)</span> with the existing laws; and that it was
+necessary, to distrust and get rid of the men of the revolution. More
+effectually to know and persecute these, <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Blacas</span> had caused to be
+disinterred from the archives of the cabinet, and of the ministers,
+the documents that might serve to make known their conduct ever since
+1789, and he had directed biographical notices of each to be composed,
+which might easily have been taken for indictments drawn up by <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr>
+<span lang="fr">Bellart</span><a id="footnotetag106" name="footnotetag106"></a><a href="#footnote106" title="Go to footnote 106">[106]</a>.</p>
+
+<p>We found also a number of minutes of laws and ordinances, written by
+the hand of this minister, and attesting by their laborious
+corrections, how destitute he was of readiness and of imagination.
+Frequently he made three or four foul copies, before he could give any
+consistency or connection to his ideas. His familiar style was dry and
+turgid: if the style exhibit the man, how I pity <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Blacas</span>! He took
+extreme pains to vary, himself, the form of his appointments
+(<i><span lang="fr">rendez-vous</span></i>): and the trouble he gave himself, to say the same
+thing in several different ways, wonderfully reminded us of the
+<span lang="fr">billet-doux</span> of the <span lang="fr">Bourgeois Gentilhomme</span>: <span class="pagenum"><a id="page444" name="page444"></a>(p. 444)</span> "<i><span lang="fr">Belle Marquise,
+vos beaux yeux me font mourir d'amour; d'amour mourir me font, belle
+Marquise, vos beaux yeux</span></i><a id="footnotetag107" name="footnotetag107"></a><a href="#footnote107" title="Go to footnote 107">[107]</a>."</p>
+
+<p>In fine, we collected from the cabinet of this minister an ample
+collection of royal denunciations, petitions, justifications, and
+confessions, of those men, who, like Lockard, are always "the most
+humble servants of circumstances."</p>
+
+<p>These humble servants, when the Emperor returned from the island of
+Elba, did not fail to prostrate themselves before him anew. They
+assured him, after the example of a certain Marquis well known, that
+they had denied, insulted, calumniated him, only that they might
+remain faithful to him, without being suspected by the royal
+government: they conjured him, to grant them the happiness and glory
+of serving him; but he disdained their supplications, as he had
+disdained their insults: they gained nothing but his contempt. Always
+as devoid of shame as of faith, they were eager, immediately after the
+fall of Napoleon, to turn round anew, and carry back to the King their
+faded homage. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page445" name="page445"></a>(p. 445)</span> Some, as <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> the Count de M***, whose hands are
+still reeking with the blood of his assistants (<span lang="fr"><i>administrés</i></span>),
+contrived, with the help of their lying fidelity, to surprise his easy
+confidence. Others, as <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> F***, became in their writings the virulent
+persecutors of men, whose lot they had envied, and whose support they
+had begged. All arrogated to themselves exclusively the title of pure
+royalists: the title of honest men.... I know them ... the mask, with
+which they cover themselves, the honours, the dignities, with which
+they are invested, cannot disguise them to my eyes.... Shall I name
+them? And the Emperor is accused of despising mankind! ah, where is
+the sovereign, that can esteem them?</p>
+
+
+<h2>END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.</h2>
+
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote1" name="footnote1"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 1:</strong> The misfortunes of that eventful day, and of the
+remainder of the campaign, were caused by the treachery of the Saxons
+and the defection of the Princes of the Confederation of the
+Rhine.<a href="#footnotetag1">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<div><p class="ft"><a id="footnote2" name="footnote2"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 2:</strong> Napoleon, according to the common report, was frequently
+heard to repeat, after his abdication, "I have been ruined by liberal
+ideas." I do not think that he ever expressed himself in this manner.
+I do not intend to doubt the irresistible force which liberal ideas
+have now acquired; but I do not think, that they contributed to effect
+the first downfal of the imperial throne. Nobody thought about liberal
+ideas at that period. France had been trained to the government of
+Napoleon, and his despotism gave rise to no complaints. She was not
+free in the manner according to which the nation now wishes to enjoy
+liberty. But the liberty which France then possessed was enough for
+the French. Napoleon would often exercise unlimited authority, but the
+country had only one master, and <i>he</i> was the master of all. If it is
+true that the French abandoned Napoleon in 1814, it was not because we
+were tired of Napoleon or discontented with his government, but
+because the nation was exhausted, discouraged, and demoralized by an
+uninterrupted succession of calamitous wars. The people would still
+have been delighted to obey him, but they had neither strength nor
+soul.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">The real causes of the downfal of Napoleon are to be found in his
+hatred towards England, and in the continental system, which resulted
+from that hatred. This gigantic system, which oppressed all Europe,
+could not fail to raise the entire continent against Napoleon and
+France, and thus to bring on the ruin of both. "Rome," as it is said
+by <span lang="fr">Montesquieu</span>, "extended her empire because her wars only followed in
+succession. Each nation, such was her inconceivable good fortune,
+waited till another had been conquered, before beginning the attack."
+Rome fell as soon as all the nations assailed and penetrated on every
+side.<a href="#footnotetag2">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote3" name="footnote3"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 3:</strong> He arrived at Paris before his august brother, and by
+these pleasing expressions he replied to the addresses of
+congratulation presented to him by the municipality of
+Paris.<a href="#footnotetag3">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote4" name="footnote4"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 4:</strong> Extracted from the <span lang="fr">Journal des Débats</span>. The principal
+proprietor and editor of this paper was <span lang="fr">Monsieur Laborie</span>, one of
+<span lang="fr">Talleyrand</span>'s creatures, and private secretary to the provisional
+government.<a href="#footnotetag4">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote5" name="footnote5"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 5:</strong> This expression was one of those of which the ministers
+made the worst use. If they were told that any magistrate, any
+officer, any functionary, whom they had turned out, had fulfilled his
+duties with honour and distinction, that he was loved and regretted by
+the people, they answered, "he is a dangerous character," and there
+was an end of the business.<a href="#footnotetag5">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote6" name="footnote6"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 6:</strong> When Dupont capitulated to the Spaniards, the insurgents
+refused to acknowledge the Emperor. Dupont therefore only took the
+title of general in the French service.<a href="#footnotetag6">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote7" name="footnote7"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 7:</strong> I speak only of acting and thinking beings. In all
+countries there is to be found a class of cyphers, who are so
+careless, stupid, or selfish, that they belong to no party, and indeed
+to no nation.<a href="#footnotetag7">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote8" name="footnote8"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 8:</strong> The accusation that a spirit of mutiny prevailed amongst
+them cannot be refuted more effectually than by quoting the
+expressions used by <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Montesquiou</span> on the 14th of March. "In the
+last two months," said he, "not <i>one</i> of the soldiers or officers
+belonging to the corps of the old guard composing the garrison of
+<span lang="fr">Metz</span>, has been <i>once</i>
+reprimanded."<a href="#footnotetag8">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote9" name="footnote9"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 9:</strong> The <span lang="fr">Chouans</span> never allowed the opportunity of committing
+murder to escape them. They carried their muskets as they walked by
+the side of the plough, and the furrows which they trod were
+frequently sprinkled with blood. The priests who had taken the oaths,
+and the purchasers of national domains, were particularly the objects
+of the refinements of their cruelty. They seldom entered a town
+without plundering the inhabitants, and without slaughtering those who
+had been pointed out to their vengeance.&mdash;<i><span lang="fr">Lacretelle, Précis de la
+Revolution</span>.</i><a href="#footnotetag9">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote10" name="footnote10"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 10:</strong> <abbr title="Messieurs">M.M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">David</span> and <span lang="fr">Falconnet</span>. In order to appease the public
+indignation, a summons was issued against these writers, it being
+stated in the process that they had endeavoured to excite civil war.
+There was no difficulty in guessing that this proceeding was a farce,
+and that by overcharging the crime it was the intention of the
+government to favour the acquittal of the accused; and accordingly
+they were acquitted.<a href="#footnotetag10">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote11" name="footnote11"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 11:</strong> Before the revolution it was customary for "<i><span lang="fr">les grands
+seigneurs</span></i>" to obtain what were called "<i><span lang="fr">lettres de surséance</span></i>," by
+means of which they avoided the payment of their debts, and defeated
+their creditors.<a href="#footnotetag11">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote12" name="footnote12"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 12:</strong> This proposal was not carried into
+execution.<a href="#footnotetag12">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote13" name="footnote13"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 13:</strong> There are times when a government may attack general
+principles without danger. But men and their personal interests can
+never be assailed with impunity. Personal interest is the prime mover
+of public opinion and feeling; and however degrading the truth may
+appear, it is not to be disputed. After a great national catastrophe
+this baleful egotism is particularly evident. Dignified passions
+become extinct for want of fuel; and the human mind, destitute of
+external occupation, works inward upon itself, and begets selfishness,
+the true pestilence of the soul. When this disease affects a nation,
+the government is lost if it attacks the interests of
+individuals.<a href="#footnotetag13">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote14" name="footnote14"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 14:</strong> By means of ordonnances the ministers legislated
+according to their pleasure in matters which ought only to have been
+regulated by the law, so that the greater part of the bills presented
+to the chambers "had been already enacted and executed in the shape of
+ordonnances; and the legislature had no other function except that of
+giving a legal sanction to the arbitrary decrees of the
+ministers."&mdash;<i><span lang="fr">Censeur</span>.</i><a href="#footnotetag14">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote15" name="footnote15"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 15:</strong> Even in Paris several persons were ill treated and
+bayoneted, because they refused to pull off their hats and kneel,
+whilst the processions were passing
+by.<a href="#footnotetag15">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote16" name="footnote16"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 16:</strong> Under the reign of Napoleon, if a priest had ventured to
+utter any opinion contrary to the system of government, he would have
+been immediately removed.<a href="#footnotetag16">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote17" name="footnote17"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 17:</strong> I cannot express their thoughts more forcibly than by
+copying the passage, which I have quoted in my text, from the View of
+the Revolution by <span lang="fr">Lacretelle</span>.<a href="#footnotetag17">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote18" name="footnote18"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 18:</strong> From his early youth, it may be even said from his days
+of boyhood, Napoleon felt an inward presentiment that he was not
+destined to live in mediocrity. This persuasion soon taught him to
+treat others with disdain, and to entertain the highest opinion of
+himself. Scarcely had he obtained a subaltern command in the
+artillery, when he considered himself as the superior of his equals,
+and the equal of his superiors. In his 20th year he was placed at the
+head of the army of Italy. Without appearing to be in the slightest
+degree surprised by his elevation, he passed from a secondary station
+to the chief command. He immediately treated the old generals of the
+army&mdash;they who were so proud of the laurels&mdash;with an air of dignity
+and authority, which placed them in a situation which was probably new
+to them. But they did not feel humiliated, and their inferiority
+seemed to result as a matter of course, for the ascendancy exercised
+by Napoleon was irresistible; and he was thoroughly endued; with that
+instinct of authority, that talent of ensuring obedience, with those
+faculties which are usually confined to those who are kings by birth.
+Napoleon could probably have attained to supreme authority in any
+country in the world. Nature had formed him for command, and she never
+creates such men for the purpose of leaving them in obscurity. It
+seems, according to the remark of a writer whose name I have
+forgotten, that she is proud of her own work, and that she wishes to
+offer it to admiration, by placing it at the head of human
+society.<a href="#footnotetag18">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote19" name="footnote19"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 19:</strong> The continental system induced Napoleon to exercise a
+real tyranny over Europe. We do not pretend to deny the fact; but we
+only wish to add, that this exterior despotism always induced a belief
+amongst foreigners, that Napoleon, who tyrannized so violently over
+nations which did not belong to him, must necessarily be the tyrant of
+his own subjects.<a href="#footnotetag19">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote20" name="footnote20"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 20:</strong> The Emperor thus addressed the Spanish Cortes; when
+assembled at <span lang="fr">Bayonne</span>.<a href="#footnotetag20">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote21" name="footnote21"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 21:</strong> Napoleon was accused of having aspired to universal
+monarchy. In all ages, this desire has been imputed to powerful and
+ambitious sovereigns. Let us confess that no monarch was ever better
+justified in yielding to the seductions of this brilliant phantom than
+Napoleon. From the summit of his throne he held the reins which guided
+the greater part of Europe, whose docile monarchs instantly obeyed any
+direction which he chose to give them. At the first word, at the
+slightest signal, their subjects were arrayed beneath the imperial
+eagle. Their continual intercourse with us, the obligation of obeying
+Napoleon, an obligation imposed upon them by their own princes, had
+accustomed them to consider the Emperor as their chieftain. But
+whatever ambition may have been attributed to Napoleon, his good sense
+restrained him from aspiring to universal monarchy. He had another
+plan; he intended to re-establish the eastern and western empires. It
+would now be useless to reveal the lofty and powerful considerations
+by which this grand and noble idea was suggested to Napoleon. Then,
+France might have been allowed to grasp again the sceptre of
+Charlemagne: but now, we must forget that we have been the masters of
+the world.<a href="#footnotetag21">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote22" name="footnote22"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 22:</strong> Neither the nature nor the extent of these aids has been
+well understood out of France. Napoleon revived our industry by the
+loans, which he never hesitated to grant to any enterprising
+manufacturer who needed capital; and this assistance was always
+liberal and well-timed.<a href="#footnotetag22">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote23" name="footnote23"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 23:</strong> Louis <abbr title="14">XIV.</abbr>, who has been so much praised for his
+liberality, only distributed 52,300 francs per annum to the literati
+and artists of France, and 14,000 francs to
+foreigners.<a href="#footnotetag23">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote24" name="footnote24"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 24:</strong> The soldiers identified the name of Napoleon with their
+country and their honour. When the accession of Louis <abbr title="18">XVIII.</abbr> put an
+end to the sufferings and captivity of those who were imprisoned in
+England, they returned to France, cursing the cause of their liberty,
+and exclaiming, "<span lang="fr">Vive l'Empereur</span>!" Even in the deserts of Russia,
+neither threats of ill treatment, nor promises of assistance offered
+to the French prisoners at the moment when they were starving, could
+extort a single complaint against
+Napoleon.<a href="#footnotetag24">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote25" name="footnote25"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 25:</strong> Marshal <span lang="fr">Soult</span> had just
+succeeded General <span lang="fr">Dupont</span>.<a href="#footnotetag25">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote26" name="footnote26"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 26:</strong> <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">Comte</span>, one of the acute and courageous editors of the
+Censor, was chosen by the general as his "counsel." General <span lang="fr">Fressinet</span>
+was his advocate. (According to the forms of the French courts of
+judicature, the counsel assists by his advice, the advocate pleads.)
+This officer, equally distinguished by his firmness, his talents, and
+his bravery, was afterwards punished and exiled on account of the
+generous assistance which he gave on this important occasion to
+General Excelmans, his fellow soldier and friend.<a href="#footnotetag26">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote27" name="footnote27"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 27:</strong> It has been alleged, but without foundation, that he
+retained his taste for military exercises. Not one review took place
+during his residence at <span lang="it">Porto Ferrajo</span>; arms seemed to have no
+attractions for him.<a href="#footnotetag27">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote28" name="footnote28"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 28:</strong> It is well known that there was not a single individual
+of note in the service, either of his allies or of his enemies, whose
+strong and weak points were not perfectly understood by
+Napoleon.<a href="#footnotetag28">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote29" name="footnote29"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 29:</strong> This officer is the person who is named in the
+declaration made on the 15th of March to the prince of <span lang="de">Essling</span>, then
+governor of the 8th military division, by <span lang="fr">Monsieur</span> P*****, who landed
+with Napoleon from the Isle of Elba, and was arrested at <span lang="fr">Toulon</span> by
+order of the prefect of the department of the
+<span lang="fr">Var</span>.<a href="#footnotetag29">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote30" name="footnote30"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 30:</strong> At <span lang="fr">Malmaison</span> the Emperor asked me what had become of <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr>
+Z***. I answered that he had been killed on Mount <span lang="fr"><abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Jean</span>: "Well,"
+answered the Emperor, "he is happy. But pray did he tell you that he
+had been at Elba?"&mdash;"Yes, Sire; he even entrusted me with the
+narrative of his voyage, and of the conversations which he had with
+your Majesty."&mdash;"You must give me this narrative: I will take it with
+me: it will help me in the composition of my memoirs."&mdash;"Sire, it is
+no longer in my possession."&mdash;"What have you done with it? you must
+get it back, and let me have it to-morrow."&mdash;"I have deposited it with
+a friend, who happens to be absent from Paris."&mdash;"So the narrative
+will be handed about at the mercy of the world."&mdash;"No, Sire. It is
+inclosed in an envelope, and deposited in a box of which I keep the
+key; but if I should not be able to deliver it to your Majesty, before
+your Majesty's departure, it will yet come to your knowledge, for I
+intend to publish it according to the last wishes of <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> Z***, unless
+your Majesty forbids me."&mdash;"No; I allow you to print it, only leave
+out whatever may tend to compromise those who have displayed their
+attachment towards me. If Z*** has made a faithful report of all that
+passed, the people will know that I sacrificed myself for their good;
+and that it was not the love of power which brought me again into
+France, but that I yielded to the desire of restoring to the French
+those gifts which are dearest to great nations&mdash;independence and
+glory. Take care lest they should get hold of your manuscript&mdash;they
+will falsify it. Send it to England to *****; he will print it; he is
+devoted to me, and he may be very useful to you. <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> *** will give you
+a letter for him: do you understand me?"&mdash;"Yes, Sire."&mdash;"But do your
+utmost to recover your manuscript before my departure. I see that you
+are anxious to keep it, and I will leave it with you. I only wish to
+read it." The Emperor read the manuscript, and he returned it to me,
+saying, "Z*** has told the truth, and nothing but the truth; keep his
+manuscript for future generations."<a href="#footnotetag30">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote31" name="footnote31"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 31:</strong> <span lang="fr">On cherche à plaire même à des matelots quand on a
+besoin d'eux.</span><a href="#footnotetag31">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote32" name="footnote32"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 32:</strong> As only six were noted in the "<i><span lang="fr">feuille de bord</span></i>" they
+took an extra sailor, in order that there might be six on board after
+my landing, otherwise, on landing, they would have been obliged to
+account for the sailor whom I represented.<a href="#footnotetag32">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote33" name="footnote33"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 33:</strong> The time required for sailing from one port to another
+is pretty well ascertained; if this period is exceeded, and no
+sufficient reason can be assigned for the delay, it is assumed that
+the vessel may have touched at some infected port; and, by excess of
+caution, they compel you to undergo the lesser quarantine. The lesser
+quarantine is also ordered as a punishment when the master of a vessel
+does not behave with due respect and submission to the health
+officers.<a href="#footnotetag33">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote34" name="footnote34"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 34:</strong> I had believed, according to the statements in the
+ministerial journals, that the sea was covered by French and English
+ships, by which all vessels and passengers, proceeding to the island,
+were intercepted. I did not meet with a single ship of this
+description. The ports were placed under a "<span lang="fr">surveillance</span>," equally
+brutal and tyrannical, but the sea was free. All vessels went in and
+out of <span lang="it">Porto Ferrajo</span> without experiencing the slightest
+obstacle.<a href="#footnotetag34">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote35" name="footnote35"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 35:</strong> The corvette commanded by Captain
+Campbell.<a href="#footnotetag35">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote36" name="footnote36"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 36:</strong> Napoleon usually liked to intimidate and disconcert
+those who approached him. Sometimes he feigned that he could not hear
+you, and then he would make you repeat in a very loud tone what he had
+heard perfectly well before. However, he was really deaf in a slight
+degree. At other times he would overwhelm you with such rapid and
+abrupt interrogatories, that you had not time to understand him, and
+were compelled to give your answers in confusion. He used then to
+laugh at your embarrassment; and when he had driven you out of your
+presence of mind and confidence, he amused himself at your
+expense.&mdash;<i>Note of the author of the
+work.</i><a href="#footnotetag36">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote37" name="footnote37"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 37:</strong> <span lang="fr">"Ma gloire est faite à moi. <i>Mon nom vivra autant que
+celui de Dieu!!!</i>"</span><a href="#footnotetag37">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote38" name="footnote38"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 38:</strong> I obtained this information in the course of my
+voyage.<a href="#footnotetag38">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<div><p class="ft"><a id="footnote39" name="footnote39"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 39:</strong> This narrative evidently shows, that the revolution of
+the 20th of March was not the effect of a conspiracy, but, strange to
+say, the work of two men, and a few words.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">The share that <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> Z*** had in the return of Napoleon will, perhaps,
+call down upon his head the censures of those who judge events only
+from their results. Will this opinion be well founded? Are men
+responsible for the caprice of fate? Is it not to fortune, rather than
+to <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> Z***, that we must impute the disastrous end of this revolution,
+begun under such happy auspices?</p>
+
+<p class="ft">More fortunate than Napoleon, <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> Z*** was killed on Mount <span lang="fr"><abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Jean</span>,
+the moment when our troops penetrated thither amidst the plaudits of
+the army. He was permitted to draw his last breath on the standards,
+which the conquerors of <span lang="fr">Ligny</span> had just snatched from the English; and,
+far from foreseeing that his visit to the island of Elba would at some
+future day be a reproach to his memory, he died with the persuasion,
+that victory had irrevocably fixed his destiny, and that his name,
+cherished by the French, cherished by the hero whom he had restored to
+them, would be for ever hallowed by the gratitude of France, become
+once more the great nation.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">I shall not prematurely rob his manes of this consoling illusion; I
+shall not inform them, that ... no! it will be time enough hereafter
+to disturb their repose, and I shall await the attack before I begin
+the defence.<a href="#footnotetag39">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote40" name="footnote40"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 40:</strong> The flotilla of Napoleon consisted of the brig
+<span lang="fr">Inconstant</span>, carrying twenty-six guns and four hundred grenadiers, and
+six other light vessels, on board which were two hundred foot, two
+hundred Corsican <span lang="fr">chasseurs</span>, and about a hundred Polish light horse.
+The feluccas and the brigs had been so fitted up, as to show no signs
+of the troops, and to have the appearance of mere
+merchantmen.<a href="#footnotetag40">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote41" name="footnote41"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 41:</strong> People are pretty generally of opinion, that the escape
+of the Emperor from the Island of Elba was favoured by Captain
+Campbell. I do not think so: but every thing leads to the belief, that
+this officer had received orders from his government, not to prevent
+such a step.&mdash;(<i>Note by the author of the
+Memoirs.</i>)<a href="#footnotetag41">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote42" name="footnote42"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 42:</strong> The passages between two sets of inverted commas are
+copied from the official account published on the 22d of March. This
+account was drawn up by Napoleon, and I thought I could not do better
+than borrow his words.<a href="#footnotetag42">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote43" name="footnote43"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 43:</strong> They had fled precipitately as far as
+Basil.<a href="#footnotetag43">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote44" name="footnote44"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 44:</strong> The cockade adopted by Napoleon, as sovereign of the
+island of Elba, was white and amaranth powdered with
+bees.<a href="#footnotetag44">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote45" name="footnote45"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 45:</strong> The passages marked with two sets of inverted commas
+continue to be extracts from the official
+account.<a href="#footnotetag45">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote46" name="footnote46"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 46:</strong> The public papers, since the second restoration, have
+not failed to assert, that the troops of the Emperor disgracefully
+pillaged the <i><span lang="fr">communes</span></i> through which they passed. This imputation,
+like many others, is a cowardly slander. The Emperor had recommended
+to his grenadiers, and it is well known that they never disobeyed him,
+to exact nothing from the inhabitants; and in order to prevent the
+least irregularity, he took care himself to arrange the means of
+ascertaining every thing that was furnished, and paying for it. He had
+given this in charge to an inspector in chief of reviews, <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">Boinot</span>,
+and a commissary at war, <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> Ch. <span lang="fr">Vauthier</span>, for whose zeal and integrity
+he had the highest esteem. Whatever was furnished was paid for on
+delivery by the treasurer, <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">Peyruse</span>, on an account authenticated by
+<abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">Vauthier</span>, and at the prices fixed by the
+mayors themselves.<a href="#footnotetag46">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<div><p class="ft"><a id="footnote47" name="footnote47"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 47:</strong> This mode of proceeding, worthy of the barbarous ages,
+was a new infraction of the law of nations, and of the constitutional
+laws of France, on the part of the ministry. No article of the charter
+conferred on the monarch the right of life and death over his
+subjects; and consequently he had no authority to proscribe those who
+accompanied and assisted Napoleon. If they were considered as robbers,
+it was the office of the tribunals to judge and to punish them.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">Neither was he authorized, to order Napoleon to be murdered. He had
+preserved the title of Emperor, legally enjoyed the prerogative of
+sovereignty, and might make war or peace as he pleased.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">The title of Emperor of the French, which he arrogated to himself,
+could not be a title to proscription. George <abbr title="3">III.</abbr>, previous to the
+treaty of <span lang="fr">Amiens</span>, styled himself King of France and Navarre. Had he
+made a descent in arms on our territory, would any one have had a
+right, to proclaim him out of the pale of the law, and order the
+French people to murder him?<a href="#footnotetag47">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+</div>
+
+<div><p class="ft"><a id="footnote48" name="footnote48"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 48:</strong> These four generals had agreed, to repair together to
+Paris. The troops of Count <span lang="fr">d'Erlon</span>, quartered at <span lang="fr">Lisle</span>, deceived by
+supposititious orders, were on their march, when they were met by the
+Duke <span lang="fr">de Trévise</span>, who was going to take the command of his government.
+He interrogated them, perceived the plot, and ordered them back.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">Count <span lang="fr">Lefevre Desnouettes</span>, ignorant of this unlucky circumstance, put
+in motion his regiment, which was in garrison at <span lang="fr">Cambrai</span>. When he
+reached <span lang="fr">Compiègne</span>, he did not find the troops he expected, and showed
+some hesitation. The officers of his corps, and particularly Major
+<span lang="fr">Lyon</span>, questioned him, and finally abandoned him.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">On the other hand, the brothers <span lang="fr">Lallemand</span>, one of whom was general of
+artillery, had marched to <span lang="fr">Fère</span> with a few squadrons, intending to
+seize the park of artillery. The resistance they met from General
+<span lang="fr">d'Aboville</span> disconcerted them, and, after they had attempted in vain to
+seduce the garrison, they fled, but were shortly after arrested.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">It was supposed, that this rising in arms had been concerted with
+Napoleon; but I know from good authority, that it was solely the
+result of an evening spent at General ***'s. A few bowls of punch had
+heated their brains; they complained of their situation; they were
+indignant, that a handful of cowardly emigrants should prescribe laws
+to them; they were persuaded it would be easy to displace them; and,
+proceeding from one step to another, they concluded by agreeing to
+march to Paris, and compel the King to change his ministry, and banish
+from France all those whom the public voice denounced as enemies to
+the charter, and disturbers of the public tranquillity and happiness.
+Such was their true and only object.<a href="#footnotetag48">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote49" name="footnote49"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 49:</strong> The chancellor, no doubt, had forgotten the
+proscription, that delivered over to death all those Frenchmen who
+joined or assisted Bonaparte.<a href="#footnotetag49">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<div><p class="ft"><a id="footnote50" name="footnote50"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 50:</strong> It is asserted, that on this occasion a conference took
+place, at which <span lang="fr"><abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> Lainé, <abbr title="Messieurs">MM.</abbr> de Broglie, la Fayette, d'Argenson,
+Flaugergue, Benjamin Constant</span>, <abbr title="etcetera">&amp;c.</abbr> were present, where it was decided,
+that the King should be required in the name of the public safety:</p>
+
+<p class="ft">1. To dismiss <abbr title="Messieurs">MM.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Blacas, Montesquiou,
+Dambray</span>, and <span lang="fr">Ferrand</span>:</p>
+
+<p class="ft">2. To call to the Chamber of Peers forty new members, chosen
+exclusively from men of the revolution:</p>
+
+<p class="ft">3. To confer on <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de la Fayette</span>, the command of the national guard:
+and</p>
+
+<p class="ft">4. To despatch patriotic commissioners, to stimulate the attachment,
+the zeal, and the fidelity of the troops.<a href="#footnotetag50">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote51" name="footnote51"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 51:</strong> The double sets of inverted commas are still used to
+distinguish passages extracted from the official
+account.<a href="#footnotetag51">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote52" name="footnote52"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 52:</strong> He had travelled from <span lang="fr">Cannes</span> to <span lang="fr">Grenoble</span> partly on
+horseback, but chiefly on foot.<a href="#footnotetag52">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote53" name="footnote53"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 53:</strong> It was a great oversight, to send the Count <span lang="fr">d'Artois</span> to
+face Napoleon. It was easy to foresee, that, if this prince should
+fail in a city of a hundred thousand inhabitants against eight hundred
+men, the business would be decided.<a href="#footnotetag53">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote54" name="footnote54"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 54:</strong> Marshal Macdonald was not so happy. Two hussars, one of
+whom was drunk, pursued him, and would have arrested him, if he had
+not been extricated by his
+<span lang="fr">aide-de-camp</span>.<a href="#footnotetag54">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote55" name="footnote55"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 55:</strong> Those who have been about Napoleon's person know, that
+he recommended to his secretaries, and the officers of his household,
+to take notes of what he said and did on his journeys. A number of
+notes of this nature must have been found at the <span lang="fr">Tuileries</span>, most of
+which contained particulars that were highly interesting. I preserved
+mine, and from them I have composed, in great measure, the present
+work.<a href="#footnotetag55">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote56" name="footnote56"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 56:</strong> The
+<span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>.<a href="#footnotetag56">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote57" name="footnote57"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 57:</strong> The newspapers of the day asserted, that Napoleon,
+though he had in his pocket the proclamation of <span lang="fr">Augereau</span>, filled with
+reproaches and invectives, had thrown himself into his arms, and heard
+the cutting reprehensions of the marshal, without saying a
+word.<a href="#footnotetag57">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote58" name="footnote58"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 58:</strong> He had retired to Switzerland.<a href="#footnotetag58">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote59" name="footnote59"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 59:</strong> The author of a libel entitled <i><span lang="fr">Les Quinze Semaines</span></i>,
+"The Fifteen Weeks," asserts, that shouts were heard of "Death for
+ever! Guilt for ever! Down with virtue! Down with God!" Such a charge
+requires no refutation: I mention it here only to show, to what a
+point the spirit of party, and the rancorous passions, have misled
+writers, who call themselves royalists. It has been equally asserted,
+that the people plundered and destroyed a number of shops and
+warehouses. This, too, is false: no disorder occurred, except in
+<span lang="fr">Bellecour</span> Square, where the people broke the windows and tables of the
+<span lang="fr">Bourbon</span> coffee-house, known to be the place where the ultra-royalists
+assembled; and this disorder was quieted and suppressed
+immediately.<a href="#footnotetag59">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote60" name="footnote60"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 60:</strong> He attempted to harangue the Chalonese, but they allowed
+him only time to take to his heels.<a href="#footnotetag60">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote61" name="footnote61"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 61:</strong> I dare not positively affirm it, for in my memorandums I
+have confounded together <span lang="fr">Chalons, Avalon</span>,
+<abbr title="etcetera">&amp;c.</abbr><a href="#footnotetag61">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<div><p class="ft"><a id="footnote62" name="footnote62"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 62:</strong></p>
+
+<p class="ft center">ORDERS OF THE DAY.</p>
+
+<p class="ft center"><i>The Marshal Prince of the Moskowa, to the troops of his
+        Government.</i></p>
+
+<p class="ft">Officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers!</p>
+
+<p class="ft">The cause of the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> is lost for ever. The legitimate dynasty,
+which the French nation has adopted, is about to re-ascend the throne:
+it belongs to the Emperor Napoleon alone, our sovereign, to reign over
+our fine country. Whether the nobility of the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> take the step
+of expatriating itself again, or consent to live among us, is no
+concern of ours. The sacred cause of liberty, and of our independence,
+will no longer suffer from their fatal influence. They have
+endeavoured to debase our military glory; but they have found
+themselves mistaken. This glory is the fruit of labours too noble for
+us to lose the remembrance of it. Soldiers! those days are no more,
+when nations were governed by stifling their rights. Liberty is at
+length triumphant and Napoleon, our august Emperor, is about to
+confirm it for ever. Henceforth let this lovely cause be ours, and
+that of all Frenchmen: let all the brave fellows, whom I have the
+honour to command, be thoroughly imbued with this grand truth.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">Soldiers! I have often led you to victory; I am now going to conduct
+you to that immortal phalanx, which the Emperor Napoleon is conducting
+to Paris, and which will be there in a few days, and our hopes and our
+happiness will be for ever realized. Long live the Emperor!</p>
+
+<p class="ft left10"><span lang="fr">Lons le Saulnier</span>, the 13th of March, 1815.<br>
+<span class="left10">The marshal of the empire,</span><br>
+<span class="left20 smcap">Prince of the Moskowa</span>.<a href="#footnotetag62">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+</div>
+
+<div><p class="ft"><a id="footnote63" name="footnote63"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 63:</strong> He alluded to the installation of the council of state,
+where the chancellor actually dropped on one knee, to ask and receive
+the King's orders.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">And to the city entertainment, where the prefect, his wife, and the
+municipal body, waited at table on the King and his suite, consisting
+of forty ladies of the old court, and only four ladies of the new
+nobility, two of whom were the wives of the marshals on
+duty.<a href="#footnotetag63">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote64" name="footnote64"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 64:</strong> <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">Gamot</span>, prefect of <span lang="fr">Auxerre</span>, had married the sister of
+Madame Ney.<a href="#footnotetag64">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<div><p class="ft"><a id="footnote65" name="footnote65"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 65:</strong> It is indisputable, in fact, that a general
+insurrection, provoked by the oppressive and senseless conduct of the
+government, was ready to burst out, at the moment when Napoleon
+re-appeared.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">It is known, that France, wearied, disgusted, and discontented with
+the new order of things, wished heartily for a new revolution; and
+people had united and concerted measures for preparing the crisis, and
+causing it to turn to the advantage of the country.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">Some of the malecontents maintained, that the first step should be, to
+shake off the insupportable yoke, under which they were groaning, and
+then see what was to be done: the majority formally declared for the
+immediate recall of the Emperor, and were desirous, that emissaries
+should be deputed to him, or that vessels should be sent, to take him
+off from the island of Elba.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">The necessity of a change was unanimously agreed upon, and they were
+endeavouring to settle the rest, when the sudden arrival of Napoleon
+put an end to the discussion.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">After the 20th of March, the Emperor was made acquainted with these
+projects of insurrection; and knew that certain chiefs hesitated about
+having any thing to do with him. "The leaders," said he, "wished to
+take the business into their own hands, and labour for themselves; now
+they pretend, that they opened the way for me to Paris: I know better;
+it was the nation, the people, the soldiers, and the sub-lieutenants,
+who did all. It is to these, and to these only, that I owe every
+thing."<a href="#footnotetag65">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote66" name="footnote66"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 66:</strong> A nickname given to the emigrant
+officers.<a href="#footnotetag66">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote67" name="footnote67"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 67:</strong> He had just been appointed to the command of the
+advanced guard.<a href="#footnotetag67">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote68" name="footnote68"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 68:</strong> Napoleon had already given similar orders to General
+<span lang="fr">Cambronne</span>. The following is his letter, which I reproach myself with
+not having quoted. "General <span lang="fr">Cambronne</span>, to you I entrust my noblest
+campaign: all the French expect me with impatience: every where you
+will find none but friends: do not fire a single musket; I will not
+have my crown cost the French a drop of
+blood."<a href="#footnotetag68">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote69" name="footnote69"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 69:</strong> Napoleon was a fatalist, and superstitious; and made no
+secret of it. He believed in lucky and unlucky days. We might be
+astonished at this weakness, if we did not know, that it was common to
+the greatest men both of ancient and modern
+times.<a href="#footnotetag69">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote70" name="footnote70"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 70:</strong> This was Napoleon's favourite compliment. The fonder he
+was of a person, the more he gave him, and the harder he
+struck.<a href="#footnotetag70">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<div><p class="ft"><a id="footnote71" name="footnote71"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 71:</strong> The Duke of Vicenza, convinced of the inutility of the
+efforts Napoleon might make, to establish any diplomatic connexion
+with foreign powers, refused to accept the post. The Emperor offered
+it to <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">Môlé</span>. <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">Môlé</span> objected, that he was an entire stranger to
+diplomacy, and requested Napoleon, to make another choice. Napoleon
+and his other ministers were then so pressing with the Duke of
+Vicenza, that he considered it his duty to yield. He would have
+preferred the Emperor's giving him a command in the army, where he
+would at least have found an opportunity of usefully serving his
+country and the Emperor.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">The ministry of the interior, intended at first for <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> Costaz, was
+also offered to <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">Môlé</span>, and ultimately given to <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">Carnot</span>, at the
+recommendation of the Duke of Bassano.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">The Emperor was not pleased with the obstinate refusals of <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">Môlé</span>: he
+was fond of his name, and valued his talents. He had intended to
+appoint him governor of the Imperial Prince; and it was to this
+intention that <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">Môlé</span> was chiefly indebted for the high rank, to
+which he had been so rapidly raised.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">Nevertheless <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">Môlé</span> solicited and obtained the general
+superintendance of highways and bridges, a post which he occupied in
+1813, before he was appointed minister of justice.<a href="#footnotetag71">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+</div>
+
+<div><p class="ft"><a id="footnote72" name="footnote72"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 72:</strong></p>
+
+<p class="ft left10">"Make him, nor think his genius check'd,<br>
+        A herald, or an architect."&mdash;<span class="smcap">Gay.</span><a href="#footnotetag72">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote73" name="footnote73"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 73:</strong> General <span lang="fr">Le Tort</span>'s address to the
+King.<a href="#footnotetag73">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote74" name="footnote74"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 74:</strong> "In all ages the poor have suffered for the faults of
+the great."<a href="#footnotetag74">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote75" name="footnote75"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 75:</strong> He constantly refused the emoluments and allowances of
+considerable offices, attached to the rank of major-general of the
+guards. The appointments of a lieutenant-general and <span lang="fr">aide-de-camp</span>
+appeared to him, to pay him more than his services
+deserved.<a href="#footnotetag75">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote76" name="footnote76"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 76:</strong> I cannot avoid remarking the beauty of this
+passage.<a href="#footnotetag76">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<div><p class="ft"><a id="footnote77" name="footnote77"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 77:</strong> The king departed with such suddenness, that he had not
+time to carry away his private papers. In his writing table was found
+his family port-folio. It contained a great number of letters from
+Madame the Duchess of <span lang="fr">Angoulême</span>, and from some of the princes.
+Napoleon cast his eye over several of them, and gave me the
+port-folio, with orders, that it should be scrupulously preserved.
+Napoleon would have respect paid to royal majesty, and to every thing
+that pertained to the person of kings.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">The king habitually used a small table, that he had brought from
+Hartwell. Napoleon took pleasure in writing on it for a few hours: he
+afterwards ordered it to be removed, and the greatest care to be taken
+of it.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">The Merlin's chair used by the king, not being suited to Napoleon,
+whose limbs and health were in full strength and vigour, was banished
+to the back closet. Some person being found sitting in it, when the
+Emperor passed through unexpectedly, he gave him an angry look, and
+the chair was removed.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">One of his valets <span lang="fr">de chambre</span>, thinking to please him, ventured to
+place over his mantel-piece some insulting caricatures of the
+<span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>: these he disdainfully threw into the fire, and severely
+enjoined the valet, never in future to be guilty of such an
+impertinence.<a href="#footnotetag77">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+</div>
+
+<div><p class="ft"><a id="footnote78" name="footnote78"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 78:</strong></p>
+
+<p class="ft left10">"If we sometimes play the fool,<br>
+        Reason should resume her rule."<a href="#footnotetag78">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote79" name="footnote79"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 79:</strong> I have been assured, that Napoleon in his youth composed
+a history of Paoli, and of the war of liberty: may he realize the
+design of writing the history of his own reign, for the instruction of
+future ages! This reign is so fertile in extraordinary events, and
+unforeseen catastrophes, and displays to our view such numerous
+examples of human vicissitudes, that its history may supply the place
+of all others, and become itself alone a lesson for kings and
+people.<a href="#footnotetag79">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote80" name="footnote80"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 80:</strong> This decree, and all those previously dated from the
+palace of the <span lang="fr">Tuileries</span>, contained no title but simply that of
+"Emperor of the French." The "<abbr title="etcetera etcetera">&amp;c. &amp;c.</abbr>," noticed with anxiety in the
+proclamations and decrees from Lyons, were suppressed. They had been
+inserted without reflection, without object, and merely from custom.
+The Emperor, too, would not have his familiar letters continue to be
+concluded in the usual form: "On which I pray God, to have you in his
+holy keeping, <abbr title="etcetera">&amp;c.</abbr>" "All those antiquated things," said he, "must be
+laid aside; they are well enough for kings by the grace of
+God."<a href="#footnotetag80">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote81" name="footnote81"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 81:</strong> Never, in fact, at any period of the revolution, did
+writers enjoy such complete liberty and impunity. The seizure of the
+<i><span lang="fr">Censeur Européen</span></i>, which made such noise, was the work of <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">Fouché</span>.
+The Emperor knew nothing of this infringement of the law, till it had
+been carried into effect; and he immediately ordered, that the copies
+seized should be returned to the editors of the <i><span lang="fr">Censeur</span></i>, and that
+they should be at liberty to circulate them
+freely.<a href="#footnotetag81">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote82" name="footnote82"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 82:</strong> The audience was to take place at noon; and at nine
+o'clock his Majesty had not prepared his answers. They were dictated
+in haste, and we had scarcely time to copy them out
+fairly.<a href="#footnotetag82">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote83" name="footnote83"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 83:</strong> I am speaking here only of the addresses of bodies
+corporate, and of certain generals and
+prefects.<a href="#footnotetag83">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote84" name="footnote84"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 84:</strong> We have no single word in our language answering to
+this: it implies one who undertakes works of different kinds,
+including our architect and civil
+engineer.&mdash;<span class="smcap"><abbr title="Translator">Tr.</abbr></span><a href="#footnotetag84">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<div><p class="ft"><a id="footnote85" name="footnote85"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 85:</strong> It was this mission, that became the source of the
+disgrace, in which the marshal lived, till the day of his being
+recalled to the army. The Emperor had ordered him, to set off
+immediately: he answered, that he could not go, till he was paid some
+twenty thousand francs, which were owing to him. The Emperor,
+swearing, ordered them to be paid.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">The next day General <span lang="fr">Le Courbe</span>, to whom the Emperor had just entrusted
+an important command, wrote to him, to demand several favours, and in
+addition a hundred and fifty thousand francs, as arrears of pay, in
+order to discharge his debts.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">Two other generals, less known, were equally desirous of being paid
+for their services. He was disgusted at their claims. "Do these men
+think," said he, "that I throw away my money? I am not inclined to
+suffer myself to be plundered like Henry <abbr title="4">IV</abbr>; if they be not inclined
+to fight, let them put on petticoats, and go and take an
+airing."<a href="#footnotetag85">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote86" name="footnote86"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 86:</strong> I regret, that I did not learn his
+name.<a href="#footnotetag86">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote87" name="footnote87"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 87:</strong> The fortress in which the garrison was
+quartered.<a href="#footnotetag87">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote88" name="footnote88"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 88:</strong> She set off in the evening for <span lang="fr">Pouillac</span>; where, having
+bidden adieu to the volunteer cavalry, who had escorted her, she went
+on board an English vessel, and sailed for England on the 2d of
+April.<a href="#footnotetag88">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote89" name="footnote89"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 89:</strong> Report of General
+<span lang="fr">Ernouf</span>.<a href="#footnotetag89">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote90" name="footnote90"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 90:</strong> The diamonds that were sought to be obtained in exchange
+for the Duke of <span lang="fr">Angoulême</span> were worth fourteen millions. The Duke of
+Otranto proposed to the Emperor, to throw <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Vitrolles</span> into the
+bargain, if they were restored; to which the Emperor readily
+consented. The Duke of Otranto opened a negotiation on this point,
+which had no farther result, than procuring him an opportunity of
+corresponding more at his ease with Ghent.<a href="#footnotetag90">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote91" name="footnote91"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 91:</strong> It was discovered by the Duke <span lang="fr">d'Albufera</span>, that this
+supposed treason was the consequence of the mistake, which I have
+related above, and the decree was not carried into
+effect.<a href="#footnotetag91">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote92" name="footnote92"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 92:</strong> A nickname given by Napoleon to his old
+grenadiers.<a href="#footnotetag92">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote93" name="footnote93"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 93:</strong> The Emperor Alexander, in particular, expressed the most
+generous indignation.<a href="#footnotetag93">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote94" name="footnote94"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 94:</strong> <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Vincent</span> set out before this letter was written,
+and it was entrusted to his secretary. The Emperor of Austria ordered
+it to be delivered into his hands, and contented himself with
+informing the Empress Marie, that he had received news of her husband,
+and that he was well.<a href="#footnotetag94">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote95" name="footnote95"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 95:</strong> It was a laughable singularity, that, of all the
+double-faced men employed by the Emperor, there was no one, in whom he
+had more confidence, than he had in <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Mont</span>**. He had formerly
+ill-treated, persecuted, and banished him: he knew, that he detested
+him, and was the most intimate, the most devoted friend of <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de
+Talleyrand</span>: but he knew also the bent of <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Mont</span>**'s mind; and he
+thought, that he would feel an infinite pleasure, in executing his
+mission well, and <i>humming</i> [<i><span lang="fr">rouer</span></i>] <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Talleyrand</span>, who flattered
+himself, that he had never been hummed by any person. I know not
+whether <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Mont</span>** found it pleasant, or not, to take in <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> de
+<span lang="fr">Talleyrand</span>; what I know is, that he justified the expectations of
+Napoleon, and brought back to him intact the letters, that were
+delivered to him by <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr>
+<span lang="fr">de Mont</span>**.<a href="#footnotetag95">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote96" name="footnote96"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 96:</strong> I know not whether the fact be true: but, true or false,
+it had the same effect on the minds of the
+Italians.<a href="#footnotetag96">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote97" name="footnote97"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 97:</strong> <i><span lang="fr">Les marins</span>.</i> Properly, perhaps, the seamen, whom
+Napoleon took from the ships of war, and converted into
+soldiers.&mdash;<i><abbr title="Translator">Tr.</abbr></i><a href="#footnotetag97">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote98" name="footnote98"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 98:</strong> For the <span lang="fr">Moniteur</span>, I
+presume.&mdash;<i><abbr title="Translator">Tr.</abbr></i><a href="#footnotetag98">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<div><p class="ft"><a id="footnote99" name="footnote99"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 99:</strong> I cannot avoid here making a comparison. On the 15th of
+March, the Count <span lang="fr">d'Artois</span> wished to form a legion from the light
+infantry and grenadiers of the national guard of Paris. He reviewed
+the twelve legions, harangued them, and announced, that he would march
+at the head of the volunteer national guards: a hundred and fifty
+turned out.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">Napoleon from his closet called the national guard to the defence of
+the imperial cause: 150,000 men took up arms, and hastened to battle.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">What must we conclude from this coldness on the one hand, and this
+enthusiasm on the other? I leave the question to be answered by those,
+who pretend, that the revolution of the 20th of March obtained the
+assent only of a handful of factious persons.<a href="#footnotetag99">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+</div>
+
+<div><p class="ft"><a id="footnote100" name="footnote100"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 100:</strong> The reverses of Napoleon's fortune had been so rapid,
+that the possessors of great places, and of great preferment, had not
+had time to retrench their way of living. When the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span> were
+recalled, they were obliged to come to a reckoning with their means,
+and all these extravagant expenses ceased at once.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">On the other hand, the new court, in order to distinguish itself from
+the imperial court, substituted the most offensive simplicity for the
+useful pomp of Napoleon. The richest emigrants imitated this
+pernicious example; and, as Napoleon remarked, the luxury of the table
+was almost the only kind, on which encouragement was not spared. The
+result of this economical system was, that the produce of our
+manufactories remained unemployed, and industry was suddenly
+paralyzed.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">Thus commerce, which had loudly called for peace, was almost totally
+annihilated by it: and the manufacturers, the mechanics, the merchants
+(those of the sea-ports excepted), greatly regretted those <i>happy</i>
+times, when we were at war.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">In fact, it must be admitted, that our industry was indebted to the
+war, and to our conquests, for its progress, and its prodigious
+increase. The war, by depriving us of the products of the English
+manufactories, had taught us, to manufacture for ourselves. The
+continual prohibition of these articles protected our rising
+manufactures from the danger of competition; and allowed them to
+engage with safety in the trials and expenses necessary for equalling
+or surpassing in perfection foreign manufactures. In all parts of the
+empire were seen manufactories for spinning and weaving cotton; and
+this branch of trade, almost unknown before, employed three hundred
+thousand work people, and produced goods to the value of more than two
+hundred and fifty millions.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">The other products of our industry equally received improvements and
+extension; and France, in spite of the conscription, reckoned in its
+numerous workshops nearly twelve hundred thousand workpeople.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">If this flourishing state of our continental trade were the effect of
+the enlargement of our territory, and the scope the war had given to
+our industry, we must say, that it was also the result of the succour,
+encouragement, and honorary distinctions, which Napoleon knew how to
+bestow appropriately on our manufacturers; and the return for those
+enormous sacrifices he made, to create, repair, and keep in order,
+those superb roads, and those numerous canals, which rendered the
+communications between France, and the countries subjected to its
+empire, equally easy, safe, and pleasant.<a href="#footnotetag100">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote101" name="footnote101"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 101:</strong> These words, and several others that I have quoted,
+prove Napoleon not to have been ignorant of the use he might make of
+the people. If he did not have recourse to them, no doubt it was
+because he feared, that the remedy might prove worse than the
+disease.<a href="#footnotetag101">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<div><p class="ft"><a id="footnote102" name="footnote102"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 102:</strong> Napoleon, during the hundred days, entertained for a
+moment the design of issuing a demi-official note on the arrest and
+death of the Duke of <span lang="fr">Enghien</span>.
+
+<p class="ft">The following memorandums are taken from papers, from which the note
+was to have been compiled.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">Reports from the police had informed Napoleon, that there were
+conspiracies of the royalists beyond the Rhine, and that they were
+conducted and supported,</p>
+
+<p class="ft">1st, by Messrs. Drake and Spencer Smith, the English ministers at
+<span lang="de">Stutgard</span>, and at <span lang="de">Munich</span>;</p>
+
+<p class="ft">2dly, by the Duke <span lang="fr">d'Enghien</span> and General <span lang="fr">Dumourier</span>:</p>
+
+<p class="ft">The central point of the former was at <span lang="fr">Offenbourg</span>; where were some
+emigrants, some English agents, and the Baroness de Reich, so noted
+for her political intrigues:</p>
+
+<p class="ft">The central point of the latter was given out to be at the castle of
+<span lang="de">Ettenheim</span>, where the Duke <span lang="fr">d'Enghien</span>, <span lang="fr">Dumourier</span>, an English colonel,
+and several agents of the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>, resided.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">The hundred and twenty thousand francs given by the minister Drake to
+the Sieur Rosey, <span lang="fr">chef de bataillon</span>, to excite an insurrection,</p>
+
+<p class="ft">The declarations of <span lang="fr">Mehée</span>;</p>
+
+<p class="ft">And the reports of <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> Sh***, prefect of <span lang="fr">Strasbourg</span>, and brother-in-law
+of the Duke de Fel....; leave no doubt of the existence of the
+intrigues at <span lang="fr">Offenbourg</span> and <span lang="de">Ettenheim</span>, to which <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> Sh*** ascribes in
+particular the agitation, and symptoms of discontent, that prevail at
+<span lang="fr">Weissembourg</span>, and in several parts of <span lang="fr">Alsace</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">On the other hand, the conspiracy of the 3d of <span lang="fr">Nivôse</span> had just broken
+out. The discoveries made by the servant of Georges, and by other
+individuals, led to the belief, that the Duke <span lang="fr">d'Enghien</span> had been sent
+by England to the borders of the Rhine, in order to place himself at
+the head of the insurrection, as soon as Napoleon was made away with.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">The necessity of putting an end to these plots, and strike terror into
+their instigators by a grand act of reprisal, squared in an incredible
+degree with the political considerations, that led Napoleon to attempt
+a bold stroke, in order to give the revolution, and the
+revolutionists, those guaranties, which circumstances demanded:</p>
+
+<p class="ft">Napoleon, named consul for life (I borrow here the language of the
+Manuscript from <abbr title="Saint">St.</abbr> Helena), felt the weakness of his situation, the
+ridiculousness of his consulship. It was necessary to establish
+something solid, to serve as a support to the revolution. The
+republicans were alarmed at the height, on which circumstances had
+placed him: they were suspicious of the use he might make of his
+power: they dreaded his renewing an antiquated royalty by the help of
+his army. The royalists fomented this rumour, and took a delight in
+representing him as an ape of the ancient monarchs: other royalists,
+more adroit, whispered about, that he was enamoured of the part of
+Monk, and that he would take the pains to restore the power, only to
+make a present of it to the <span lang="fr">Bourbons</span>, when it should be in a proper
+state to be offered them.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">Ordinary minds, unacquainted with his powers, credited these reports;
+they sanctioned the tales of the royalist party, and decried him to
+the people, and to the army; for they began to suspect him, and his
+attachment to their cause. He could not allow such an opinion to pass
+current, because it tended to unhinge every thing. It was necessary,
+at all events, to undeceive France, the royalists, and Europe at
+large, in order that they might know, what they had to reckon upon in
+him. A persecution of reports in detail never produces any thing but a
+bad effect, for it does not attack the root of the evil.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">The death of the Duke <span lang="fr">d'Enghien</span> would decide the question, that
+agitated France; it would decide the character of Napoleon beyond
+return; in fine, it might intimidate and punish the authors of the
+plots incessantly contriving against his life, and against the state:
+accordingly he determined on it.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">He sent for Marshal <span lang="fr">Berthier</span>, and this minister directed General
+Ord**, by an order which the Emperor dictated, and which I have
+<i>seen</i>, to set off post for <span lang="fr">Strasbourg</span>; to cause General Lev** to
+place under his orders fifteen boatmen, three hundred dragoons from
+the garrison of <span lang="de">Schelstadt</span>, and thirty <span lang="fr">gendarmes</span>; to pass the Rhine at
+Rheinan, to proceed to <span lang="de">Ettenheim</span>, to surround the town, and <i>to carry
+off the Duke <span lang="fr">d'Enghien, Dumourier</span>, an English colonel, and all the
+persons in their suite</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">
+The Duke <span lang="fr">d'Enghien</span>,<br>
+General <span lang="fr">Thumery</span>,<br>
+Colonel <span lang="fr">de</span> <span lang="de">Grunstein</span>,<br>
+Lieutenant <span lang="de">Schmidt</span>,<br>
+<span lang="fr">Abbé</span> <span lang="de">Weinburn</span>, and five other inferior persons, were arrested by a
+<span lang="fr">chef d'escadron</span> of the <span lang="fr">gendarmerie</span>, named Ch**, who was charged with
+this part of the expedition.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">Then, and then only, it became certain, that <span lang="fr">Dumourier</span> was not at
+<span lang="de">Ettenheim</span>. General Thumery had been mistaken for him. This mistake,
+occasioned by the similarity of their rank, and some likeness of sound
+between their names, which the Germans pronounced nearly alike, had
+heightened the importance and criminality of the pretended plots at
+<span lang="de">Ettenheim</span> in the mind of Napoleon, and had the most fatal influence on
+his determination.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">The Duke <span lang="fr">d'Enghien</span> was brought from <span lang="fr">Strasbourg</span> to Paris, and carried
+before a military commission.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">The Empress Josephine, the Princess Hortense, fell at Napoleon's feet
+in tears, and conjured him to spare the life of the Duke <span lang="fr">d'Enghien</span>.
+Prince <span lang="fr">Cambacérè</span>s and the Prince of <span lang="fr">Neufchâtel</span> strongly remonstrated
+to him on the horrible inutility of the blow he was about to strike.
+He appeared to hesitate, when the information was brought him, that
+the prince was no more.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">Napoleon had not expected so speedy a catastrophe. He had even given
+orders to <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">Réal</span>, to repair to <span lang="fr">Vincennes</span>, to interrogate the Duke
+<span lang="fr">d'Enghien</span>: but his trial and execution had been hastened by <span lang="fr">Murat</span>;
+who, urged by some regicides, at the head of whom was <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> Fou***,
+thought he should render a service to Napoleon, to his family, and to
+France, by insuring the death of a <span lang="fr">Bourbon</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">The Prince de T***, whom the Emperor often publicly reproached with
+having advised the seizure and death of the Duke <span lang="fr">d'Enghien</span>, was
+directed to pacify the court of Baden, and to justify the violation of
+its territory in the eyes of Europe. <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> de <span lang="fr">Caulincourt</span> being at
+<span lang="fr">Strasbourg</span>, the Emperor thought him more proper than any other person,
+to follow up a negotiation, if the turn of affairs should require it;
+and he was directed to send to the minister of Baden the despatch of
+the Prince de T***. But there was no need of having recourse to
+negotiations: the court, far from complaining of the violation of its
+territory, expressed itself well contented, that the step taken had
+saved it the disgrace of consenting, or the embarrassment of a
+refusal.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">This is an exact and true recital of the circumstances, that preceded,
+followed, and accompanied, the carrying off and death of the last of
+the house of <span lang="fr">Condé</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">The seizure of the Duke <span lang="fr">d'Enghien</span> was long imputed to <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de
+Caulincourt</span>, and is still imputed to him by persons uninformed of the
+truth.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">Some assert, that he arrested him with his own hands:</p>
+
+<p class="ft">Others, that he gave orders for the seizure of his person: both these
+imputations are equally false.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">He did not arrest the Duke <span lang="fr">d'Enghien</span>, for his seizure was executed and
+consummated by <span lang="fr">chef d'escadron</span> Ch***.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">Neither directly, nor indirectly, did he give orders for seizing the
+prince: for the particular mission, to carry him off, was confided to
+General Ord**, and this general had no orders to receive from <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de
+Caulincourt</span> his equal, perhaps even his inferior.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">What made it be supposed, at a time when it was not possible to
+explain the facts, that <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Caulincourt</span> had been employed to seize
+the Duke <span lang="fr">d'Enghien</span>, or cause him to be seized, was, that <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de
+Caulincourt</span> received, at the same moment as General Ord**, orders to
+repair to <span lang="fr">Strasbourg</span>, to cause the emigrants and English agents, who
+had fixed the seat of their intrigues at <span lang="fr">Offenbourg</span>, to be carried
+off. But this mission, for which it would be requisite to take
+measures in concert with General Ord**, and perhaps even to assist him
+in case of need; for a simultaneous proceeding was necessary, that one
+expedition might not cause the failure of the other; this mission, I
+say, though analogous to that of General Ord**, had no real connexion
+with it.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">Their objects were different:</p>
+
+<p class="ft">That of one was to carry off the Duke <span lang="fr">d'Enghien</span> from Ettenheim;</p>
+
+<p class="ft">That of the other, to seize the conspirators at <span lang="fr">Offenbourg</span>, which was
+eight or ten leagues distant.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">Perhaps it will be objected, that <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Caulincourt</span> was not ignorant
+of General Ord**'s being directed, to seize the Duke <span lang="fr">d'Enghien</span>. Be it
+so: I cannot perceive the consequence, attempted to be drawn from
+this. But what I have <i>seen</i> in the cabinet, and what I attest, is,
+that the order given to <abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Caulincourt</span> said nothing of <span lang="de">Ettenheim</span>,
+and that the name of the Duke <span lang="fr">d'Enghien</span> was not even mentioned in it:
+it related solely, in the first place, to the construction of a
+flotilla, that was preparing on the Rhine; and, secondly, to the
+expedition of <span lang="fr">Offenbourg</span>; an expedition that terminated, as no doubt
+is still remembered, in the laughable flight of the minister Drake and
+his agents.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">I have thought it my duty as a Frenchman and an historian, to enter
+into these details, and destroy for ever an error, which malevolence
+and the spirit of party have laid hold of, in order to tarnish the
+political life of one of the men, who do the greatest honour to the
+imperial government and to France.</p>
+
+<p class="ft"><abbr title="Monsieur">M.</abbr> <span lang="fr">de Caulincourt</span> would not have been less irreproachable, had he
+committed the fatal seizure ascribed to him: he would have done his
+duty, as General Ord** did his. A soldier is not the judge of the
+orders he is to execute. The great <span lang="fr">Condé</span>, covered with the laurels of
+<span lang="fr">Rocroy</span>, <span lang="de">Fribourg, Norlinguen</span>, and <span lang="de">Lenz</span>, was arrested, in spite of the
+faith pledged to him, in the apartments of the King; yet neither his
+contemporaries, nor posterity, have charged Marshal <span lang="fr">d'Albret</span> with this
+arrest as a crime.<a href="#footnotetag102">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote103" name="footnote103"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 103:</strong> I have been assured, that Georges was three times
+offered his pardon by Napoleon, if he would promise, not to engage in
+any conspiracy again; and that it was not till after his third
+refusal, that his sentence was ordered to be carried into
+execution.<a href="#footnotetag103">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote104" name="footnote104"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 104:</strong> Marshal <span lang="fr">Augereau</span>, Duke <span lang="fr">de</span> <span lang="it">Castiglione</span>, was also in this
+list. His name was struck out at the request of the duchess, and in
+consideration of the proclamation, which he published on the 23d of
+March.<a href="#footnotetag104">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<div><p class="ft"><a id="footnote105" name="footnote105"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 105:</strong> These conversations with persons, whose merit and
+opinion Napoleon esteemed, were always pleasing, instructive,
+interesting, always marked with strong thoughts, and bold, ingenious,
+or sublime expressions. With persons indifferent to him, or whose
+nullity he discerned, his phrases, scarcely begun, were never
+finished: his ideas turned only on insignificant, common-place
+matters, which, by way of amusing himself, he was apt to season with
+biting sarcasm, or jokes more whimsical than witty.</p>
+
+<p class="ft">This explains the contradictions between the different opinions given
+of Napoleon's understanding by foreigners introduced at his
+court.<a href="#footnotetag105">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote106" name="footnote106"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 106:</strong> Attorney-general to the king, employed on certain
+occasions, to prosecute political crimes and
+misdemeanors.<a href="#footnotetag106">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+<p class="ft"><a id="footnote107" name="footnote107"></a>
+<strong>Footnote 107:</strong> "Beautiful Marchioness, your beautiful eyes make me die
+of love; of love make me die, beautiful Marchioness, your beautiful
+eyes."<a href="#footnotetag107">(Back to main text)</a></p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Memoirs of the Private Life, Return,
+and Reign of Napoleon in 1815, Vol. I, by Pierre Antoine Edouard Fleury de Chaboulon
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NAPOLEON ***
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@@ -0,0 +1,10794 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Memoirs of the Private Life, Return, and
+Reign of Napoleon in 1815, Vol. I, by Pierre Antoine Edouard Fleury de Chaboulon
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Memoirs of the Private Life, Return, and Reign of Napoleon in 1815, Vol. I
+
+Author: Pierre Antoine Edouard Fleury de Chaboulon
+
+Release Date: August 17, 2007 [EBook #22345]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NAPOLEON ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by StevenGibbs, Christine P. Travers and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+[Transcriber's note: Obvious printer's errors have been corrected,
+all other inconsistencies are as in the original. The author's
+spelling has been maintained.]
+
+
+                        MEMOIRS
+
+                         OF THE
+
+                      PRIVATE LIFE,
+
+                    RETURN, AND REIGN
+
+                           OF
+
+                        NAPOLEON
+
+                        IN 1815.
+
+
+        _Ingrata patria, ne ossa quidem habes._ SCIPIO.
+
+
+                BY M. FLEURY DE CHABOULON,
+
+     Ex-Secretary of the Emperor Napoleon and of his Cabinets,
+     Master of Requests to the Council of State, Baron, Officer
+     of the Legion of Honour, and Knight of the Order of Reunion.
+
+
+                         VOL. I.
+
+
+                         LONDON:
+              JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET.
+                          1820.
+
+
+
+
+TO THE READER.
+
+
+The revolution of the 20th of March will form unquestionably the most
+remarkable episode in the life of Napoleon, so fertile as it is in
+supernatural events. It has not been my intention, to write the
+history of it: this noble task is above my powers: I have only
+attempted, to place Napoleon on the stage of action, and oppose his
+words, his deeds, and the truth, to the erroneous assertions of
+certain historians, the falsehoods of the spirit of party, and the
+insults of those timeserving writers, who are accustomed to insult in
+misfortune those, to whom they have subsequently paid court.
+
+Hitherto people have not been able to agree on the motives and
+circumstances, that determined the Emperor, to quit the island of
+Elba. Some supposed, that he had acted of his own accord: others, that
+he had conspired with his partisans the downfal of the Bourbons. Both
+these suppositions are equally false. The world will learn with
+surprise, perhaps with admiration, that this astonishing revolution
+was the work of two individuals and a few words.
+
+The narrative of Colonel Z***, so valuable from the facts it reveals,
+appears to me to merit the reader's attention in other respects. On
+studying it carefully, we find in it the exhibition of those defects,
+those qualities, those passions, which, confounded together, form the
+character, so full of contrasts, of the incomprehensible Napoleon. We
+perceive him alternatively mistrustful and communicative, ardent and
+reserved, enterprising and irresolute, vindictive and generous,
+favourable to liberty and despotic. But we see predominant above all,
+that activity, that strength, that ardour of mind, those brilliant
+inspirations, and those sudden resolves, that belong only to
+extraordinary men, to men of genius.
+
+The conferences I had at Bale with the mysterious agent of Prince
+Metternich have remained to this day buried in profound secrecy. The
+historians, who have preceded me, relate, without any explanation,
+that the Duke of Otranto laid before the Emperor, at the moment of his
+abdication, a letter from M. de Metternich; and that this letter,
+artfully worded, had determined Napoleon to abdicate, in the hope that
+the crown would devolve to his son. The particulars given in these
+Memoirs will entirely change the ideas formed of this letter, and of
+its influence. They confirm the opinion too, pretty generally
+prevalent, that the allied sovereigns deemed the restoration of the
+Bourbons of little importance, and would willingly have consented, to
+place the young Prince Napoleon on the throne.
+
+It had been supposed, that the famous decree, by which Prince de
+Talleyrand and his illustrious accomplices were sent before the courts
+of justice, was issued at Lyons in the first burst of a fit of
+vengeance. It will be seen, that it was the result of a plan simply
+political: and the noble resistance, which General Bertrand (now
+labouring under a sentence of death) thought it his duty to oppose to
+this measure, will add, if it be possible, to the high esteem, merited
+on so many accounts by this faithful friend to the unfortunate.
+
+The writings published previously to this work, equally contain
+nothing but inaccurate or fabulous reports, with regard to the
+abdication of Napoleon. Certain historians have been pleased, to
+represent Napoleon in a pitious state of despondency: others have
+depicted him as the sport of the threats of M. Regnault St. Jean
+d'Angely, and of the artifices of the Duke of Otranto. These Memoirs
+will show, that Napoleon, far from having fallen into a state of
+weakness, that would no longer permit him to wield the sceptre,
+aspired, on the contrary, to be invested with a temporary
+dictatorship, and that, when he consented to abdicate, it was because
+the energetic attitude of the representatives disconcerted him, and he
+yielded to the fear of adding the calamities of a civil war to the
+disasters of a foreign invasion.
+
+It was perfectly unknown too, that Napoleon was detained a prisoner at
+Malmaison after his abdication. It was presumed, that he deferred his
+departure, in the hope of being replaced at the head of the army and
+of the government. These Memoirs will show, that this hope, if it
+dwelt within the breast of Napoleon, was not the real motive of his
+stay in France; and that he was detained there by the committee of
+government, till the moment when, honour outweighing all political
+considerations, it obliged Napoleon to depart, to prevent his falling
+into the hands of Blucher.
+
+The negotiations and conferences of the French plenipotentiaries with
+the enemy's generals; the proceedings of the Prince of Eckmuhl; the
+intrigues of the Duke of Otranto; the efforts of those members of the
+committee, who remained faithful to their trust; the debates on the
+capitulation of Paris, and all the collateral facts, connected with
+these different circumstances, had been totally misrepresented; These
+Memoirs establish or unfold the truth. They bring to light the conduct
+of those members of the committee, who were supposed to be the dupes
+or accomplices of Fouche; and that of the marshals, the army, and the
+chambers. They contain also the correspondence of the plenipotentiaries,
+and the instructions given to them; documents hitherto unpublished,
+which will make known, what the politics and wishes of the government
+of France at that time were.
+
+Finally I shall observe, in order to complete the account I think it
+right to give the reader of the substance of this work, that it
+furnishes elucidations of the campaign of 1815, the want of which has
+been imperiously felt. The causes, that determined Napoleon, to
+separate from his army at Laon, were not known: I point them out.
+General Gourgaud, in his narrative, could give no explanation of the
+march of the corps of Count Erlon at the battle of Ligny, of the
+conduct of Marshal Ney on the 16th, of the inactivity of Napoleon on
+the 17th, &c. All these points, I believe, I have elucidated. I show
+also, that it was not, as General Gourgaud and other writers assert,
+to raise the spirits, and excite the courage of the French army, that
+its leader announced to it the arrival of Marshal Grouchy. It is a
+certain fact, that Napoleon was himself deceived by a brisk firing,
+which took place between the Prussians and Saxons; and it is falsely,
+that he has been charged with having knowingly deceived his soldiers,
+at a moment when the laws of war and of humanity presented to him, to
+think rather of a retreat, than of continuing the battle.
+
+I had at first rejected from these Memoirs such official papers, as
+had already been made known: but have since thought, that they ought
+to be inserted. This work, which embraces all the events of the reign
+of a Hundred Days, would be imperfect, if the reader were obliged to
+refer to the papers of the day; to read or consult the act of the
+congress of Vienna, that placed the Emperor Napoleon out of the pale
+of the law of nations; the Additional Act, which occasioned his loss
+of popularity; and the eloquent speeches and nervous declarations by
+which Napoleon, his ministers, and his counsellors, sought to explain
+and justify the 20th of March. I have thought, besides, that perhaps
+the reader would not find it uninteresting, to witness the contests
+exhibited, at that important period, between the legitimacy of
+nations and the legitimacy of sovereigns.
+
+The colours under which I represent Napoleon, the justice I do him for
+the purity of his intentions, will not please all the world. Many
+persons, who would blindly have believed any ill I could say of the
+ancient sovereigns of France, will give little credit to my eulogies:
+they are wrong: if praises lavished on power be suspicious, those
+bestowed on the unfortunate will be true; to doubt them would be
+sacrilege.
+
+Neither can I conceal from myself, that the men, who, from principle,
+see nothing but a hateful conspiracy in the revolution of the 20th of
+March, will accuse me of having embellished facts, and designedly
+distorted the truth. No matter: I have depicted this revolution as I
+saw it, as I felt it. How many others are pleased, to tarnish the
+honour of the nation, to represent their countrymen as composed of
+rebels or cowards! For my part, I think it the duty of a good
+Frenchman, to prove to all Europe, that the king was not guilty of
+abandoning France:
+
+That the insurrection of the 20th of March was not the work of a few
+factious persons, who might have been repressed; but a grand national
+act, against which the efforts and volitions of individuals would have
+been vain:
+
+That the royalists were not cowards, and all other Frenchmen traitors:
+
+Lastly, that the return from the island of Elba was the terrible
+consequence of the faults of ministers and the ultras, which called to
+France the man of fate, as the conductor draws down the lightning from
+heaven.
+
+This sentiment naturally led me, to conclude these Memoirs by a
+philosophical examination of the Hundred Days, and a refutation of the
+reproaches daily bestowed on the men of the 20th of March: but
+considerations, easy to divine, held my pen. It was my duty, to
+content myself with placing a statement of the facts before the eyes
+of the grand jury, the public, and leave it to decide. I know, that
+the question has been determined in the fields of Waterloo; but a
+victory is not a judicial sentence.
+
+Whatever opinion the impartial reader may form of this work, I can
+protest beforehand, that I have not allowed myself to be influenced by
+any private consideration, by any feeling of hatred, affection, or
+gratitude. I have followed no impulse but that of my conscience, and I
+may say with Montaigne: "This is an honest book."
+
+Too young to have participated in the errors or crimes of the
+revolution, I began and ended my political career without blot, and
+without reproach. The places, titles, and decorations, which the
+Emperor deigned to bestow on me, were the reward of several acts of
+great devotion to his service, and of twelve years of trials and
+sacrifices. Never did I receive from him any favours or gifts: I
+entered his service rich, I quitted it poor.
+
+When Lyons opened to him its gates, I was free: I spontaneously
+embraced his cause: it appeared to me, as to the immense number of
+Frenchmen, that of liberty, honour, and our country. The laws of
+Solon declared infamous those, who took no part in civil troubles. I
+followed their maxims. If the misfortunes of the 20th of March must
+fall on the heads of the guilty, these guilty, I repeat, will not be
+in the eye of posterity, the Frenchmen who abandoned the royal
+standard, to return to the ancient colours of their country; but those
+imprudent and senseless men, who, by their threats, their acts of
+injustice, and their outrages, compelled us to choose between
+insurrection and slavery, between honour and infamy.
+
+During the Hundred Days, there was no person to whom I did an ill
+turn; frequently I had an opportunity of doing good, and seized it
+with joy.
+
+Since the return of the regal government, I have lived tranquil and
+solitary; and, whether from forgetfulness, or from a sense of justice,
+I escaped in 1815 the persecutions, which the partisans and servants
+of Napoleon experienced.
+
+This explanation, or this apology, appeared to me necessary: it is
+right the reader should know, who it is that addresses him.
+
+I could have wished, to abstain from speaking of the royal government
+in the first part of this work: but it was impossible. It was
+necessary for me, prominently to exhibit the errors and faults of the
+king's ministers one by one, to render evident this truth, _that they
+were the sole authors of the 20th of March_. When elsewhere, as here,
+I say the government, I mean not to designate the King, but his
+ministers. In a constitutional monarchy, in which the ministers are
+responsible, we cannot, and ought not to confound them with the King.
+"It is from the King," said the keeper of the seals, when he proposed
+to the deputies of the nation the project of a law on the
+responsibility of ministers, "that every act of equity, protection,
+and clemency, and every regular employment of power, emanates: it is
+to the ministers alone, that abuses, injustice, and misconduct, are to
+be imputed."
+
+
+
+
+MEMOIRS,
+
+&c. &c.
+
+
+
+
+Until the close of the Spanish war, Napoleon, whether as the First
+Consul of the Republic, or as the Chief of the Empire, had never
+ceased to be the object of the love, the pride, and the confidence of
+the people. But the multitude neither judge, nor can judge of the
+actions of their rulers but from appearances which often mislead them
+in their judgment; and the loyalty of the nation then became
+enfeebled. The conduct of Napoleon was stigmatized as a series of
+hateful aggressions; the war, as an unjustifiable act of violence.
+Disaffection increased. Napoleon was assailed by the anger of his
+subjects, and, for the first time, they upbraided him with having
+spilt their blood, and wasted their riches, in gratifying his vain and
+culpable ambition.
+
+At this juncture the public mind became absorbed in the contemplation
+of the invasion of Russia, and the general discontent was withdrawn
+from the events which had taken place in the peninsula.
+
+Our arms were crowned with good fortune and glory at the commencement
+of the Russian war; but that conflict was ended by a catastrophe which
+has no parallel in the annals of the world.
+
+The Emperor, who escaped almost alone from the perils of the campaign,
+returned to the capital. His countenance was that of a hero who defies
+adversity. But his firmness was deemed to be the result of heartless
+insensibility. Instead of inspiring the people with hope, it
+embittered their feelings. Louder murmurs broke forth; their
+indignation expressed itself with greater emphasis. Yet such was the
+enthusiasm which was even then inspired by the proud recollections of
+the triumphs of Napoleon, that France, blushing for her disgrace,
+implored him to win new victories. Armies formed themselves as if by
+enchantment, and Napoleon stood again in the midst of Germany, more
+terrible than ever.
+
+After we had conquered at Lutzen, at Bautzen, and at Dresden, the
+battle of Leipsic was fought[1]. Never before that day had we been
+doomed to witness our national armies flying before the enemy. The
+scattered wrecks of our battalions, which had been created by the last
+hope, by the last effort of our country, at length reached our
+frontiers. But our soldiers were no longer the vigorous and resolute
+warriors of France; they were bowed down by want, toil, and
+humiliation. Soon afterwards they were followed by wandering trains of
+military carriages, loaded with diseased and wounded wretches, who
+festered beneath the corpses amongst which they were heaped, and who
+at once absorbed and diffused the germs of pestilence and contagion.
+Even the firmest minds now yielded to despair; and the grief
+occasioned by the havoc now made amongst our defenders renewed the
+sorrows of the mothers and the wives of those who erewhile had
+perished in Russia and in Spain. Curses upon Napoleon, the author of
+all these evils, resounded from side to side of the empire.
+
+                   [Footnote 1: The misfortunes of that eventful day,
+                   and of the remainder of the campaign, were caused
+                   by the treachery of the Saxons and the defection of
+                   the Princes of the Confederation of the Rhine.]
+
+As long as good fortune waited upon Napoleon, his most ambitious
+attempts commanded the applauses of the nation. We boasted of his
+profound political wisdom, we extolled his genius, we worshipped his
+courage. When his fortune changed, then his political wisdom was
+called treachery, his genius, ambition, and his courage,
+fool-hardiness and infatuation.
+
+Napoleon was not to be depressed by ingratitude or misfortune. He
+re-assembled the feeble fragments of his armies, and proclaimed aloud
+that he would conquer or die at the head of his soldiery. This
+resolution only produced a momentary impression. The French, who so
+lately believed that the happiness and salvation of France depended
+only upon the life of Napoleon, now coolly considered that his death,
+the fate which he was prepared to encounter, afforded the only means
+of putting an end to the calamities of war, for peace otherwise
+appeared unattainable.
+
+Napoleon departed. He achieved prodigies, but to no effect. National
+spirit no longer existed, and the nation had gradually sunk into that
+state of insensibility so fatal to sovereigns, when the public mind
+has no perception of their dangers, and abandons them to their
+destiny.
+
+France was thus affected when Napoleon consented to divest himself of
+his crown[2]. The apathy of the nation drove him to this extremity;
+for it deprived him of the means either of carrying on the war, or of
+making peace.
+
+                   [Footnote 2: Napoleon, according to the common
+                   report, was frequently heard to repeat, after his
+                   abdication, "I have been ruined by liberal ideas."
+                   I do not think that he ever expressed himself in
+                   this manner. I do not intend to doubt the
+                   irresistible force which liberal ideas have now
+                   acquired; but I do not think, that they contributed
+                   to effect the first downfal of the imperial throne.
+                   Nobody thought about liberal ideas at that period.
+                   France had been trained to the government of
+                   Napoleon, and his despotism gave rise to no
+                   complaints. She was not free in the manner
+                   according to which the nation now wishes to enjoy
+                   liberty. But the liberty which France then
+                   possessed was enough for the French. Napoleon would
+                   often exercise unlimited authority, but the country
+                   had only one master, and _he_ was the master of
+                   all. If it is true that the French abandoned
+                   Napoleon in 1814, it was not because we were tired
+                   of Napoleon or discontented with his government,
+                   but because the nation was exhausted, discouraged,
+                   and demoralized by an uninterrupted succession of
+                   calamitous wars. The people would still have been
+                   delighted to obey him, but they had neither
+                   strength nor soul.
+
+                   The real causes of the downfal of Napoleon are to
+                   be found in his hatred towards England, and in the
+                   continental system, which resulted from that
+                   hatred. This gigantic system, which oppressed all
+                   Europe, could not fail to raise the entire
+                   continent against Napoleon and France, and thus to
+                   bring on the ruin of both. "Rome," as it is said by
+                   Montesquieu, "extended her empire because her wars
+                   only followed in succession. Each nation, such was
+                   her inconceivable good fortune, waited till another
+                   had been conquered, before beginning the attack."
+                   Rome fell as soon as all the nations assailed and
+                   penetrated on every side.]
+
+Hostilities ended with the abdication of Napoleon. The people of
+Paris, who had scarcely recovered from the panic with which they were
+struck by the marauding hordes of Russia, displayed the most
+extravagant gladness when they thought that they were delivered from
+the visitation, which again threatened them in the presence of the
+allies and the imperial army.
+
+The neighbouring departments, which the enemy prepared to invade,
+rejoiced on being relieved from impending pillage and devastation.
+
+The departments which had been occupied by the enemy were intoxicated
+with joy, when they anticipated the termination of their sufferings.
+
+Thus almost all the people of France turned away from their discarded
+sovereign. And they abandoned themselves to joy when they thought that
+they were delivered from the scourge of war, and that they could hope
+to enjoy the blessings of peace.
+
+It was in the midst of this pouring out of the spirit of selfishness,
+that the senate raised the brother of Louis XVI. to the throne. His
+election was not in conformity to the expectations of the people, and
+it disappointed the wishes which had been uttered in favour of the
+Empress and her son; yet the choice of the senate was but slightly
+opposed, because the recall of Louis seemed to be necessarily the
+pledge of peace. And peace was more the object of the public wish than
+any other thing. Besides which, the Bourbons followed the wise
+counsels which had been given to them. They lost no time in issuing
+their proclamations, couched in fair language, in order to calm the
+fears and diminish the antipathies excited by their recall.
+
+"We will guarantee," said they, "the rank, the honours, and the
+rewards of the military.
+
+"The magistracy and all public functionaries shall retain their
+offices and their pre-eminence.
+
+"To the people we promise a total oblivion of their political conduct;
+and we will maintain them in the full enjoyment of their civil rights,
+their property, and their social institutions."
+
+The French nation, whose confidence is so easily abused, considered
+these promises as sacred and inviolable, and they delighted in
+repeating the happy reply of the Count of Artois[3], "Il n'y aura rien
+de change en France, il n'y aura que quelques Francais de plus."
+They, the men, who had banished the imperial dynasty, laboured to
+foster the growing confidence of the nation. The press was brought
+into full play, and the country teemed with publications in which they
+represented the sovereign whom they had brought in, as invested with
+those attributes which were calculated to conciliate the nation. The
+public were carefully informed, that the king "opened and read all the
+dispatches himself. It is he who dictates every answer. Where it
+becomes necessary to meet the ministers of foreign powers, he
+transacts business with them; he receives the reports of their
+missions, which he answers either by word of mouth, or in writing. In
+short, he alone directs all the concerns of the government, both at
+home and abroad. If his virtues and goodness are such as to cause the
+French to know that they will now find a kind and affectionate father
+in their King, they may also look with confidence to the future fate
+of the nation, relying on his brilliant information, his strength of
+character, and his aptitude for business[4]."
+
+                   [Footnote 3: He arrived at Paris before his august
+                   brother, and by these pleasing expressions he
+                   replied to the addresses of congratulation
+                   presented to him by the municipality of Paris.]
+
+                   [Footnote 4: Extracted from the Journal des Debats.
+                   The principal proprietor and editor of this paper
+                   was Monsieur Laborie, one of Talleyrand's
+                   creatures, and private secretary to the provisional
+                   government.]
+
+Thus the people congratulated themselves, when they were assured that
+their Chief Magistrate was an enlightened sovereign, a kind sovereign,
+an equitable sovereign, and one who was determined not to allow the
+guiding reins of the state to slip from his paternal hands into those
+of his ministers. Our lively imagination gave us a present enjoyment
+of the blessings, which, as we anticipated, would hereafter be
+diffused over the kingdom by his goodness, his prudence, and his
+acquirements. If this glowing vision of hope and loyalty was slightly
+dimmed by a few secret doubts, such misgivings were checked and
+repelled by the name of our native country; nay, by the name of the
+Emperor himself. For when Napoleon bade farewell to his trusty
+soldiers, it was in these words: "Be faithful to the new sovereign of
+France; do not rend asunder our beloved and long-suffering land."
+
+These circumstances (nor must the charm of novelty be excluded) united
+in favour of the king, and won every head and every heart. He
+appeared--he was received with acclamations of love and gladness,
+which resounded until he entered the palace of his forefathers.
+
+No counter revolution ever effected the change of a royal dynasty,
+under such favourable auspices.
+
+The French nation felt jaded by civil dissensions, by misfortune--even
+their victories had weaned them. They longed for the happiness of
+repose. Memorable were the words of the king's brother; "let us forget
+the past, let us look only towards the future, let us all unite in the
+good work of labouring to heal the wounds of our common country;" and
+these honoured precepts had become implanted in every mind. They
+formed the canon of all our feelings and all our duties.
+
+As long as the machinery of the new government did not begin to work,
+this loyal harmony subsisted, and no longer. For when it became
+necessary to settle the organization of the army, the ministry, and
+the magistracy, then self-love gained an easy victory over patriotism,
+and the bad passions, pride, ambition, and party-hatred, roused
+themselves from their slumber.
+
+During a quarter of a century, our emigrants had sojourned in a
+strange country. Useless and troublesome guests to the strangers by
+whom they were fed, their lives had been droned away in shameless and
+cowardly idleness. They could not cheat themselves into a belief that
+they possessed the talents and experience of the sons of the
+revolution. But they imagined that nobility, as in the old time, might
+pass for worth; and that their patents and pedigrees still gave them
+a right to monopolize all power and all honour.
+
+The citizens, the soldiers, the nation, relied on the lawfulness of
+their rights no less than on the promises of the king. The members of
+the old privileged caste, instead of exciting suspicion, were only the
+objects of harmless mirth. The people laughed at the grotesque
+appearance of some, and at the decrepit sottishness of others. They
+never dreamed that these pretended warriors, whose bloodless swords
+had rusted in their scabbards, would attempt to snatch the staff of
+command from the veteran generals of France; and that nobles who had
+grown old in sloth and ignorance would aspire to the direction of
+public affairs.
+
+But though merit and valour were denied to them, they stood upon a
+vantage ground, which gave them a direful and incalculable
+preponderance in the state. They surrounded the throne. Soon did their
+insolence announce that they had craftily availed themselves of the
+advantages which they possessed; and we foresaw with affliction that
+inveterate prejudice, malignant prepossessions, and old habits of
+familiarity, would, sooner or later, crush the principles of justice
+and equity, however solemnly proclaimed.
+
+The emigrants, rendered arrogant by the prospects which opened upon
+them, now treated their rivals with contemptuous disdain. They dared
+not insult the defenders of our country face to face, because the
+scars of the warriors scared them. But they were spitefully active in
+disparaging their birth, their services, and their glory, and these
+noble retainers of royalty took care to impress the soldiers of
+Napoleon with a due sense of the width of the gulf which was
+henceforth to separate a gentleman of good family, from an upstart
+soldier of the revolution.
+
+The women of the _ancien regime_ did not share in the timidity which,
+to a certain degree, still restrained their husbands. They threw off
+all decency and all reserve, and indulged in all the fury of their
+spite and pride. Without attempting to disguise their sentiments, they
+openly insulted the titled dames belonging to the new nobility, and
+such of the latter as were compelled to go to court on account of the
+situations held by their husbands, never entered the saloon without
+dread, and never quitted it without being bathed in tears.
+
+Uneasy, harassed, and discontented, the people implored the fulfilment
+of the king's promises: they prayed with confidence; but the
+government heard them not, and repulsed them harshly. The Doge of
+Genoa, speaking of Louis XIV, said, "his majesty steals our hearts by
+his amiability, but his ministers give them back again to us." The
+apophthegm of the Doge might have been pertinently applied to Louis
+XVIII. by the people.
+
+Hitherto the government appeared to adhere to the resolution of
+dealing out impartial justice to both parties, and of performing the
+covenant which the new monarch had entered into with the nation. But
+now he was bound by an influence which he could not withstand.
+Ensnared by the machinations, the threats, and the fears of his
+emigrant court, and perhaps believing that the new order of things was
+incompatible with the stability of the Bourbon dynasty, the maxims of
+his government underwent a total change. He was taught to consider the
+equality of civil rights as a revolutionary conquest, the liberties of
+the nation as an usurpation of the authority of the throne, the new
+constitution as insulting the independence of the sovereign. It was
+therefore determined that all "dangerous characters[5]" should be led
+quietly out of all civil and military offices. The old trustworthy
+nobility of the old kingdom were again to become the sole depositaries
+of the power of the state: and by slow but sure degrees it was
+resolved to cancel the royal charter, and either by fair means or by
+foul, to place the nation again beneath the yoke of absolute power.
+
+                   [Footnote 5: This expression was one of those of
+                   which the ministers made the worst use. If they
+                   were told that any magistrate, any officer, any
+                   functionary, whom they had turned out, had
+                   fulfilled his duties with honour and distinction,
+                   that he was loved and regretted by the people, they
+                   answered, "he is a dangerous character," and there
+                   was an end of the business.]
+
+The government often appealed to the authority of the King's
+predecessor on the throne--of Bonaparte. Bonaparte, it was said, had
+acknowledged that it was dangerous to concede a representative
+government to the people, and that it was fit and proper to rule them
+despotically. But Napoleon, he who re-established the authority of
+royalty, morality, and religion--who had re-organized society--who had
+given tranquillity to France, at the same time that he rendered her
+formidable to the world--he had earned his authority by his services
+and his victories, and, if I may venture to use the expression, he had
+acquired a legitimate right of despotism, which neither belonged, nor
+could belong, to a Bourbon. Besides which, in spite of the real or
+pretended despotism of the imperial government, it was still a
+national government; a character wholly foreign to the Bourbon
+government, and which it had no tendency to acquire.
+
+The prognostics of the re-action which the ministers intended to bring
+about were disclosed in all parts of the body politic. Alarm seized
+even the Chamber of Deputies: it hastened to become the organ of the
+uneasiness of the people, and to remind the King of the warranty which
+he had given to the nation.
+
+In the address, or rather in the protest presented by the chamber on
+the 15th of June, the national representatives say, "The charter
+secures to the voice of truth every channel which leads to the throne,
+since it consecrates the liberty of the press, and the right of
+petition.
+
+"Amongst the guarantees which it contains, the nation will attend to
+that which insures the responsibility of any minister who may betray
+the confidence reposed in him by your Majesty, by trespassing on the
+public or private rights insured by the constitutional charter.
+
+"By virtue of this charter, nobility in all future times will only
+command the respect of the people as surrounded by proofs of honour
+and glory, which the recollections of feudality will not have the
+power of tarnishing.
+
+"The principles of civil liberty are founded upon the independence of
+judicial authority, and the retention of trial by jury, that
+invaluable guarantee of all our rights."
+
+If the King had known the truth, this energetic address would have
+attained its end. But the truth could not reach him. At first he
+intended to bestow his personal confidence upon the greater part of
+the leading "notables" of the revolution; but by means of
+remonstrances and recriminations, another party contrived to place his
+good sense again under the yoke of prejudice, and he surrounded
+himself with old nobility alone, with men who had refused to obey the
+constitution sanctioned by Louis XVI., because it destroyed their
+privileges; and who, for the same reason, had refused to acknowledge
+the new constitution, against which they had even dared to protest.
+His companions were so blinded, so besotted by their presumption, that
+they imagined that decrees and ordinances gave them the faculty of
+overturning the edifice which the nation had erected during five and
+twenty years of revolution. His confidents were those alone who,
+instead of wishing to reveal to their sovereign the object of the
+projects of the ministry, and of the faction which had rendered the
+ministry their tools, had become the accomplices of ministerial guilt,
+joint conspirators in the plot which was to destroy the royal charter.
+
+The cabinet contained, however, some able and experienced statesmen.
+They were convinced that instead of teasing the nation by holding out
+the probability of the restoration of ancient privileges, it was the
+duty of government to tranquillize the country by guaranteeing the
+stability of the new system of polity. These ministers were aware of
+the impolicy of attempting to re-establish the monarchy on its ancient
+principles; because by such an attempt it would be deprived of the
+only advantage which it possessed over the late government--that of
+being liberal. And, lastly, they felt that if despotism and violence
+had been the distinguishing characteristics of the government of
+Napoleon, it was necessary that moderation and justice should be the
+attributes of the government of a Bourbon.
+
+But they had not sufficient authority or personal influence to enable
+them to struggle against the emigrants, and the protectors of the
+emigrant faction. In the council chamber their opinions, often well
+concerted, and always benevolent, were sanctioned and approved. Out
+of the council, each minister acted according to his own plans; and,
+unfortunately, those departments which ramify most deeply into the
+nation and its affairs were confided to men who seemed to think that
+they were bound to irritate and sour the public mind.
+
+General Dupont obtained the important office of minister of the war
+department, as a reward due to his proscription. According to the
+government party, the general had been proscribed by the Emperor. An
+odious name was thus given to the lenient punishment which had been
+inflicted upon Dupont, he who had shuffled off the allegiance which he
+owed to his Emperor, and whose cowardice had surrendered into
+captivity the legions intrusted to his command[6]. Weak, indolent,
+irresolute, devoid of character and resources, he never had the wish
+or the ability of becoming any thing else than the pliant functionary
+of the court and the ruling courtiers.
+
+                   [Footnote 6: When Dupont capitulated to the
+                   Spaniards, the insurgents refused to acknowledge
+                   the Emperor. Dupont therefore only took the title
+                   of general in the French service.]
+
+Another, the Abbe de Montesquiou, received the "porte-feuille" of the
+home department. When a member of the Constituent Assembly he had
+been honourably distinguished by his soft and persuasive eloquence.
+The temperance of his public conduct seemed to be insured by his
+personal character; he was a servant of the altar, his health was
+delicate, he had lived long in quiet retirement. But Montesquiou,
+meek, mild, and timid as long as he was in the background, became
+scornful, angry, and overbearing the instant that he stepped into
+power. He detested and despised the revolution--I may almost say, he
+detested and despised the nation. This sentiment was the principle
+which guided him. Montesquiou never deigned to inquire whether any
+given portion of our polity was sound or useful, whether it had been
+formed with difficulty, whether it could be modified, or ameliorated,
+or fitted into existing circumstances. He only inquired into the date
+of its institution--and the date decided the question.
+
+A third, Dambray, the chancellor, and the chief law officer of the
+nation, had distinguished himself in his youth as a Judge of
+Parliament. His credit arose from his prudence and his principles no
+less than from his talents. He had been long since recalled to his
+country. During the reign of Napoleon he fulfilled the duties of a
+citizen and a subject with zeal and fidelity. We never doubted but
+that he would protect those constitutional forms of government under
+which he had flourished in peace and honour. Scarcely, however, was
+the Chancellor clothed in his robe, when he became the oppressor of
+the magistracy, the antagonist of our new system of jurisprudence, and
+the dull partisan of those slavish forms and barbarous customs and
+oppressive edicts, which had been long since annihilated by reason,
+liberty, and knowledge.
+
+The trust reposed in this portion of the cabinet was a source of
+unhappiness to the nation, but it was not the only one. Louis,
+according to the promises held out on his restoration, was to reign in
+person; and the more the French have ever been desirous to obey their
+sovereign with cheerful alacrity, the greater is the repugnance which
+they feel to submit to the orders of his minions. Dismay, therefore,
+prevailed throughout the kingdom when we learnt that Louis, weakened
+by an obstinate and painful disease, had entirely divested himself of
+his royal authority in favour of Monsieur de Blacas. And how much more
+painful did our consternation become, when we were able to understand
+the views and projects of this Mayor of the palace, and when we
+ascertained the baneful extent of his ascendancy.
+
+It was impossible that the royal government, including such elements
+in its composition, could retain its hold on public opinion. It was
+seen too clearly that the effects of a despicable coterie would tend
+either to involve our country in a civil war, or overwhelm us again
+with the wretchedness and slavery from which we had been delivered by
+the revolution.
+
+The absolute necessity of rising in opposition to these nefarious
+attempts was felt by the entire country. Not a man would remain
+neuter.
+
+During the earliest period of the reign of Louis, the emigrant faction
+comprehended nothing but the party composed of the relics of the
+ancient privileged cast. The _parvenus_ of the imperial government
+alone constituted the so called Bonapartists. Considering their
+private gratification and profit as of greater importance than the
+public cause, each party had hitherto only wrangled for place and
+power. Their war was a matter of calculation and selfishness. But soon
+their disputes involved the fate of the main interests created by the
+revolution the emigrants directed their attacks not only against
+individuals but also against principles, and the people, who had
+hitherto only looked on, now shared the quarrel, and all France was
+divided into two great hostile parties[7].
+
+                   [Footnote 7: I speak only of acting and thinking
+                   beings. In all countries there is to be found a
+                   class of cyphers, who are so careless, stupid, or
+                   selfish, that they belong to no party, and indeed
+                   to no nation.]
+
+The court, the courtiers, and the ministry appeared as the central
+phalanx of the _pure royalists_. As their auxiliaries, they had the
+old nobility,--the priesthood,--a certain number of apostates who had
+skulked away from the imperial government,--and lastly, all those who
+had been disqualified by their incapacity and disloyalty from
+obtaining employment under Napoleon. It was the undisguised wish of
+this party to wash out every stain of the revolution, and to effect a
+full and unqualified restoration of the _ancien regime_ in all its
+parts, and to all intents and purposes.
+
+On the other side were arrayed the party designated as that of the
+Bonapartists, led on by our most honourable and most virtuous
+citizens, and numbering within its ranks the great body of the people;
+this party strove to withstand the impending resuscitation of the
+privileges and abuses of the old government, and which was to be
+effected only by the total subversion of our existing institutions.
+
+The pure royalists endeavoured to annihilate the charter, which their
+opponents defended, and thus a strange contradiction took place. The
+royal charter had the royalists for its enemies, whilst its defenders
+were only found amongst those who were stigmatized as the adherents of
+Bonaparte.
+
+Abortive attempts were made by the pure royalists to palliate the
+treachery of the government. They tried to persuade the people that
+the tranquillity and welfare of the nation depended but on the
+re-establishment of an absolute monarch, of a feudal aristocracy, and
+of all the trumpery of superstition. Such was the tendency of the
+publications which issued from the ministerial press, owing their
+birth to writers who had either sold themselves to the government, or
+who had denationalized themselves by their political intolerance. But
+it must not be supposed that liberty could remain in need of
+advocates.
+
+Each of the earliest stages of the growth of the young government of
+royalty had been marked by obscure yet decisive symptoms of bad faith,
+not the less mischievous because they were restricted to signs, and
+symbols, and phrases. Instead of the constitution voted by the senate,
+and which the king had engaged to accept and ratify, he graciously
+granted and conceded a charter, by which he gave a new form to the
+government; and which, according to its tenor, emanated from the
+sovereign in the full and free exercise of his royal authority. The
+tricoloured cockade worn by Louis XVI. and which our armies had
+rendered illustrious, was exchanged for the white, though to the
+mind's eye the latter was seen drenched in the blood of the people.
+Louis took the title of Louis XVIII. King of France and Navarre, and
+he dated his proclamations and ordinances in the 19th year of his
+reign, and thus it was to be inferred, that the nation had been in a
+state of rebellion during five and twenty years. He had disdained to
+receive his crown from the will of the people, and rather chose to
+hold it by divine right and the good offices of the Prince Regent.
+These ungracious affronts wounded the national feelings, but no notice
+was taken of them at the time, because it was apprehended that angry
+recriminations might endanger the profit which had resulted from the
+important sacrifices to which we had consented for the public good.
+But when the government unveiled its deformity, the silence of the
+patriotic party was at end, and they attacked the government most
+unrelentingly. The editors of the Censeur were most conspicuous. Every
+abuse of power, every violation of the charter, was proclaimed to
+France by these young tribunes of the people; and the country was loud
+in applauding their zeal, their talents, and their courage. Other
+writers of a more lively class stung the emigrants to the quick by
+sarcasms and satire, and brought down the chastisement of contempt and
+ridicule upon those who had been spared by the gravity of the Censeur.
+
+The nation also obtained a clear development of the anti-revolutionary
+conspiracy of the administration, from the "Memoir" of Carnot, and the
+pamphlets of Benjamin Constant. The undeniable facts, and the
+unwelcome truths which were brought forward and stated by these
+writers, apprized the people that their rights and liberties were in
+fearful danger.
+
+A judicial blindness had fallen upon the ministers. All warnings, all
+lessons, all reproaches, were lost upon them. Far from being awed by
+public opinion, they thought they deserved high honour for defying it.
+The ministers had made up their mind. Deceived by the opinions which
+they had formed respecting the preponderance of their faction, they
+miscalculated the influence and resources of the partizans of the
+revolution. Confiding in their power, and in the fear inspired by
+their power, they thought it useless to maintain any further reserve;
+and that they could charge onwards to the end of the career which
+they had in view. Intoxicated by their ignorant enthusiasm, they
+insulted the nation in the person of each individual, whilst they
+encroached upon the rights which he valued most, and insulted him both
+in his interests and his feelings. The imperial guard was removed from
+Paris: the emigrants grudged the renown of these troops, and feared
+their patriotism. It was given out that the discontent evinced by the
+guard when the king came in, was the cause of the punishment which
+they received[8].--But had not the government called forth this
+discontent? Surely it was ungenerous to compel those heroes to walk as
+attendants in the triumph of a new master. Their grief and fidelity
+deserved not to be thus insulted. I then saw these honoured warriors.
+Haggard looks and sullen silence revealed their feelings. Absorbed by
+grief, they appeared to be insensible to the outward world. "Vive la
+Garde Imperiale" was the shout of the pitying Parisians, who wished
+to cheer them. These salutations, which, perhaps, they despised, were
+unheeded. Submissive to their superiors, they obeyed the word of
+command which told them that they must march: they marched, and that
+was all.
+
+                   [Footnote 8: The accusation that a spirit of mutiny
+                   prevailed amongst them cannot be refuted more
+                   effectually than by quoting the expressions used by
+                   M. de Montesquiou on the 14th of March. "In the
+                   last two months," said he, "not _one_ of the
+                   soldiers or officers belonging to the corps of the
+                   old guard composing the garrison of Metz, has been
+                   _once_ reprimanded."]
+
+Troops of the line replaced the imperial guards, who were drafted out
+of the capital with great expedition. Little time elapsed before the
+dissatisfaction of the new troops became manifest. The regiments were
+wholly disorganized; officers were thrust upon the soldiers, amongst
+whom they stood as complete strangers. In consequence of these changes
+the troops were put out of temper; and they became disgusted with
+service, because they were wearied by endless parades and reviews
+which took place, not to perfect them in their discipline, but for the
+instruction of their raw commanders. The government broke their spirit
+by affronting them: they were compelled to present arms to the king's
+body guard, whom they detested. The re-establishment of the "Maison du
+Roi" was opposed by the general feeling of the nation, and it
+particularly tended to rouse the jealousy and discontent of the
+garrison of Paris. The troops of the line and the national guards who
+were on duty at the Tuileries could not submit to acknowledge the
+"gardes du corps" as their superiors, and refused to present arms to
+them. The "gardes du corps" complained, and it was ordered that the
+troops of the line should salute them with military honours, or be
+punished. After this victory, the young "gardes du corps," who were
+proud of it, used to walk up and down before the sentinels, in order
+to force the latter to worship their epaulettes. It may easily be
+imagined how such childish insults, which were never checked, must
+have mortified the old soldiers of Napoleon: and we all know that the
+self-love of a Frenchman is not to be offended with impunity.
+
+Self-love is the medium through which the soldier ascends into glory.
+When Napoleon earned immortal fame in Italy, he nourished and
+dignified this passion by addressing his soldiers in language
+breathing the lofty spirit of the heroic age, he rekindled the courage
+of his army, and every man became a conqueror. But the royalist
+officers sought to destroy all warlike sentiment by expressing their
+contempt for our national victories, by displaying the puffed
+insolence of birth and rank; and they lost the confidence and the
+esteem of the army which they were appointed to command.
+
+Widely different, indeed, was the example which was set by the most
+exalted and most formidable of our enemies. It is needless to name
+him. This sovereign never tried to undervalue our glory: he was only
+happy when he could bear testimony again and again to the talents and
+the courage of the French nation. When he received our officers he did
+not treat them with that ill-concealed disdain, so often lavished on
+the conquered, but with the honest esteem inspired by valour; and with
+that delicacy, I would almost say respect, which is due to honourable
+misfortune. The subject of his discourse sometimes compelled him to
+allude to our reverses; but he never failed to allay the smart by
+lavishing his praises on the efforts which we had made to deprive him
+of victory. He seemed to be astonished that he had been able to
+withstand us.
+
+How deeply were our warriors affected when they contrasted his
+chivalrous magnanimity with the endeavours of their royalist masters,
+who tried incessantly to poison the fond recollection of their former
+triumphs, and to deprive them of the only consolation which remained
+to them in the hour of affliction.
+
+Whatever discontent might prevail amongst the troops, yet the greater
+part of the staff and regimental officers had transferred themselves
+to the Bourbons with cordial sincerity. Perhaps a few, who were less
+confident than the rest, still appeared distrustful and lukewarm; but
+they might have been easily won over, either by those sugared and
+alluring phrases which sound so sweetly when pronounced by royalty, or
+even by merely leaving them quiet until their resentment could cool of
+itself.
+
+When Henry IV. recovered his throne, the bigoted partisans of the
+league, whom he had pardoned, continued still to threaten and revile
+him. It was suggested that he should punish them; but Henry said,
+"No,--we must wait, they are yet vexed." Those who were constantly
+invoking the memory of good king Henry, never sought to imitate his
+conduct. Instead of allowing time to our generals to get over their
+vexation, they embittered their temper by daily insults. Our officers
+were treated like ruffian bandits; they were branded as rebels, who
+were too happy if they obtained a pardon. Praise and favour fell only
+to the share of the army of Conde, the Vendeans, and the Chouans. The
+triumphal arches destined to eternize the exploits of our armies were
+menaced with sacrilegious ruin; and it was solemnly proposed to erect
+a monument to the memory of the Vendeans and the emigrants who fell at
+Quiberon.
+
+Certainly our deluded brethren deserved to be regretted and mourned.
+Yet they had turned their weapons against the sacred bosom of their
+country. They were either the auxiliaries or the hirelings of our
+implacable enemies the English, and if honours were paid to them as
+illustrious victims, it was equivalent to a declaration that their
+conquerors were their murderers.
+
+Our warriors had been graced with titles of nobility, bought with the
+blood which they had shed in the defence of the country. Their honours
+were treated with insolent scorn, and the ghost of Georges Cadoudal, a
+murderer in effect, and a traitor in intent, was ennobled by the
+gracious patent which was bestowed upon his father.
+
+Georges in attempting the life of Napoleon had committed an act
+against all law, whether human or divine. If such a crime was decked
+out as a virtue, if signal rewards were allotted to the memory of the
+criminal, the government abetted assassination and regicide. The
+safety of Louis XVIII. and of every other monarch was compromised, and
+a sanction was given to the dangerous and antisocial doctrine which
+teaches that any individual may sit in judgment on the legitimacy of
+the title of the occupier of the throne, and then determine to murder
+his sovereign if he doubts the validity of his rights.
+
+Other affronts exactly of the same complexion were offered to France
+and to the army. Titles, military commissions, and pensions, were
+showered, in La Vendee, upon the heads of such of the Chouans as were
+most celebrated for their cruelty[9], and these marks of favour were
+distributed amongst them in the presence of the victims of their
+rapine and ferocity.
+
+                   [Footnote 9: The Chouans never allowed the
+                   opportunity of committing murder to escape them.
+                   They carried their muskets as they walked by the
+                   side of the plough, and the furrows which they trod
+                   were frequently sprinkled with blood. The priests
+                   who had taken the oaths, and the purchasers of
+                   national domains, were particularly the objects of
+                   the refinements of their cruelty. They seldom
+                   entered a town without plundering the inhabitants,
+                   and without slaughtering those who had been pointed
+                   out to their vengeance.--_Lacretelle, Precis de la
+                   Revolution._]
+
+The members of the ruling faction thought that they had not done
+enough in endeavouring to honour the French enemies of France at the
+expense of her defenders, and therefore they compassed the degradation
+and destruction of the institutions which reminded the people of the
+praises and the glory of our national armies.
+
+In despite of the most solemn engagements the government robbed the
+legion of honour of its prerogatives. Then the ministerial papers
+hinted that henceforward the order of St. Louis was to be the only
+military order; and that the legion of honour was to be the reward of
+civil merit. The blow was aimed at the heart; the army shuddered, our
+marshals burned with indignation. The government was compelled to
+disclaim and abandon its intent.
+
+Yet one sure method of debasing the legion of honour was completely in
+the power of government; they could make it cheap, and to this plan
+they resorted. Under Napoleon the Cross was never granted until it had
+been long and truly deserved: now it became the prey of meanness. The
+order was prostituted and cast to favourite underlings and intriguers,
+to whom it was distributed by caprice or bribery.
+
+Our soldiers, who had purchased this distinction with their
+blood,--the magistrates, the functionaries, the learned, the
+manufacturers, who had received it as the reward of the services which
+they had rendered to the state, to the arts, to useful industry,--all
+were filled with consternation when they found themselves elbowed by a
+mean and worthless mob. Yielding to their honest pride, the greater
+part of our old legionaries refused to wear the insignia, which,
+instead of conferring distinction, could only confound them with men
+whom public opinion had branded and proscribed.
+
+Success encouraged the government, and they did not stop. Richly
+endowed asylums for the daughters of the deceased members of the
+legion had been founded by the Emperor. Under the pretext of economy,
+of saving the annual sum of forty thousand francs, the ministers took
+the King by surprise, and hurried the Sovereign into the signature of
+an order for turning the orphans out of doors. Marshal Macdonald
+declared in vain that the old leaders of the army would never abandon
+the children of their companions, and that they were ready to defray
+the expense which was falsely assigned as the motive of the expulsion
+of the girls. Equally fruitless was the generosity of Madame Delchan,
+the matron of the establishment of Paris, who offered to continue its
+management without any assistance from the government, and to expend
+her entire fortune in the support of her pupils. Nor did the ministers
+pay the least attention to those who stated that the greater part of
+the children had neither friends nor relations, and that if they were
+thrown destitute upon the world, they would be inevitably consigned to
+misery or vice. No consideration could move the pity of the ministry.
+
+But at length the indignation of the public found a voice in the Lower
+House, and the representatives of the people were about to remonstrate
+with the Sovereign. Ministers were disconcerted and abashed, and they
+abandoned their profligate enterprise.
+
+This check, however, did not amend them. A few days afterwards they
+dissolved the military academies of St. Cyr and St. Germain, alleging
+that they were superfluous; and at the same moment the "Ecole Royale
+Militaire" was re-established, "in order that the nobility of the
+kingdom might enjoy the advantages secured to them by the edict of
+January 1757."
+
+By this impudent violation of the principles of the charter our
+representatives were again roused, and the ministers were again
+obliged to recede.
+
+Irritated by these defeats, they sought revenge and actuated by an
+ill-judged hope of weakening the resisting obstacles, they dismissed a
+countless multitude of military officers, who were turned out of the
+army upon half pay, though their full pay had been formally
+guarantied. It must be acknowledged that the number of the officers of
+the imperial army was much greater than was required by the strength
+of the royal army; but as it was alleged that they were useless and
+expensive, it was not right to insult them in their misfortunes by
+ministerial profusion; for, at the same time, they saw the government
+granting rank and pay to a number of emigrants who were good for
+nothing in the army. The government raised six thousand "gardes du
+corps," troops of musketeers and light horse, "gendarmes de la garde,"
+&c. who scandalized Paris, and disgusted the army by their new
+epaulettes, and their sumptuous and splendid uniforms. Lastly, the
+government, led on by its innovating madness, did not respect those
+veterans whom Death had spared on the field of battle. Without pitying
+age or infirmities, the ministers, using their accustomed pretext of
+economy, withdrew the benefactions which a grateful nation had
+bestowed upon two thousand five hundred of these objects of
+compassion.
+
+Since the ministers did not dread giving public offence to the army,
+and in matters where the offence would be felt most acutely,--since
+they refused to recognize both its services and its rights, it may be
+easily supposed that the military were disgusted and oppressed when
+they appeared before the ministry as individuals. It is not intended
+to detail the complaints and accusations which then justly abounded;
+but one fact may be stated as giving a double illustration of the
+spirit which prevailed.
+
+General Milhaud had distinguished himself in the course of our
+national wars, by success and bravery. At the time when France was
+invaded by the allies, he "covered himself with glory" at the head of
+a handful of dragoons, who cut a considerable corps of the enemy's
+troops entirely to pieces. This officer, in consequence of his rank,
+his standing, and his services, had been appointed a chevalier de St.
+Louis as a matter of right; but at the moment of his reception, the
+cross was taken from him with ignominy, because he had been so
+unfortunate as to vote for the death of the King twenty years before.
+
+Louis XVIII., when he returned to France, had promised that he would
+not inquire into the votes which had been given against his august
+brother. This promise, which had been demanded from him, and which he
+ratified by his charter, could not be otherwise than a painful victory
+over the feelings of his heart. He must have grieved when he found
+himself under the necessity of admitting those judges into his court,
+who had condemned Louis XVI. to the scaffold, and to present them to
+the daughter of the murdered monarch. But still he had sworn not to
+avenge his death, and the oaths by which a monarch binds himself to
+his people should be inviolable.
+
+All resentment was to be repressed. The voters had been pardoned, and
+therefore the government could not be justified in reviving the memory
+of their crime, and in bringing down vengeance and death upon their
+heads. A funeral veil ought to have been drawn over that period of our
+revolution, during which we were all equally misled or guilty.
+Besides, we must state plainly and distinctly, that the grief excited
+by the murder of Louis XVI., was not the true cause of the invectives
+with which the regicides were assailed by the emigrants. Unfortunately
+the effect produced at Coblentz by the trial and execution of the
+king, is too well known. If the errors of some of the men of the
+revolution were hunted out with so much malignant zeal, it was only
+for the purpose of coming to this result--that as the revolution was
+the work of crime, it was necessary to root out every thing which had
+proceeded from the revolution.
+
+The insult to which General Milhaud was subjected, was therefore
+rather a political movement, than a punishment inflicted on an
+individual. In selecting Milhaud as the object of the first assault
+against the regicides, the government gave a proof of their want of
+tact; for if they wanted to render the regicides contemptible or
+odious, they should have avoided attacking an officer who had long
+since washed away the stains of the blood of his King, by imbruing
+himself in the blood of our enemies!
+
+But whilst the military, from the highest to the lowest, were exposed
+to the persecution and tyranny of the prevailing faction, the
+magistracy, and the civil functionaries of the state, suffered no less
+from ill treatment and injustice. Commissioners had been despatched
+into the departments, even at the beginning of the new reign, "in
+order to consolidate the royal government, and to examine into the
+conduct of the public functionaries under existing circumstances;"
+that is to say, at the moment of the restoration of the Bourbons.
+
+Such was the confidence which the nation placed in the promises of the
+King, that no jealousy was excited by this measure. On the contrary,
+people expected that great good would result from it, that party heat
+would be allayed, and public interest and opinion become more speedily
+united to the throne.
+
+This pleasing illusion was soon dispelled. A great number of
+emigrants, who had just come in again, were appointed commissioners.
+Instead of listening to cool and experienced advisers, they gave
+themselves up to the priests and nobles who beset them, and who were
+neither moderate nor enlightened.
+
+The middling classes, who, from their habitual intercourse with the
+lower orders, possess so great an influence over the body of the
+people, were considered by the commissioners as a rabble multitude of
+upstart "_roturiers_." They treated the middling class with disdain
+and contempt. Deceived by the recollection of the excesses of the
+revolution, they fancied, that whoever could win the populace, became
+the ruler of the country. When money is not to be had, the surest way
+of getting over the multitude, is by appealing to its passions. They
+therefore announced, that they were sent to do justice to the people,
+to listen to their complaints, to reform abuses, and to abolish the
+"_droits reunis_," and the conscription.
+
+Meetings were announced in the villages and in the country towns. All
+persons of respectability kept away; but the populace, who are always
+delighted with uproar and novelty, crowded in. There was no end to the
+preposterous charges which were preferred against the magistrates, the
+prefects, the under-prefects, the mayors, the administrators of
+public affairs, the officers of revenue; in short, none of the
+depositaries of public authority were spared.
+
+Instead of despising such accusations, or submitting them to an
+impartial inquiry, the commissioners hailed the popular clamour with
+transport. They triumphed in the tumult; they were overflowing with
+happiness at the fancied success of their efforts; they continued
+exclaiming with increasing joy, "that is right, Good People; the King
+is your father; these fellows are nothing but _canaille_; upon our
+word of honour, we will kick them out."
+
+These promises were kept. The public officers and functionaries of all
+classes were gradually dismissed, and their places given to informers,
+or to the old nobility. As the common people cooled, they became
+undeceived, and it was found that they had gained neither in riches
+nor in loyalty. The commissioners, instead of adding as they expected
+to the popularity of the government, only helped to cry it down. The
+cause of royalty was compromised by the scenes of riot which they
+encouraged, and they degraded it by acts of injustice and oppression.
+The non-emigrant commissioners acted far otherwise. They knew how to
+value the lying declamations of the nobles, and of the mob whom the
+nobles had set on. From the different conduct pursued by each party,
+effects resulted which exhibited the most striking contrast. In one
+department the public functionaries retained their situations, in
+another they were disgraced and vituperated.
+
+These scandalous proceedings excited the general indignation of the
+country. The government was universally blamed. The important task of
+instituting inquiries, which were to affect the honour and the civil
+existence of the most respectable characters, had been entrusted to
+emigrants who had lived amongst strangers during the best part of
+their lives. And these men, who knew nothing of the forms, the
+principles, or even the faults of the imperial government, were
+consequently wholly unable to appreciate the conduct, whether
+praiseworthy or blameable, of the depositaries of public authority.
+
+The people discovered that they had been cheated, and that this
+measure, disguised by specious representations, was in truth adopted
+only for the purpose of more effectually displacing the old
+functionaries of the nation. And, lastly, it was evident that this
+general dismission would carry off those authorities who were the
+natural guardians of every individual who had taken a part in the
+revolution. And that all who were thus affected would be placed
+beneath the sway of their sworn enemies, the nobles, the priests, and
+their adherents.
+
+Indications were given by the government that a "purification" of the
+courts of justice was in contemplation; and the public apprehension
+increased. The independence and immovability of the judges had been
+guaranteed to the nation, and this guarantee was certainly the most
+valuable of the rights which we had gained. But on account of its
+importance, the government were the more desirous of violating it.
+
+When the proposed "purification" became known, our national
+magistrates trembled in their chairs, and they foresaw that they would
+be plucked out for the purpose of making way for the antiquated
+survivors of the courts of parliament.
+
+The nation was alarmed, and protested against the measure. But the
+"purification" was not to be stopped in its swoop. The process began
+in the supreme tribunal of the kingdom, the Court of Cassation. And,
+to remove all doubts respecting the ulterior object of the government,
+it was officially announced that the _elimination_, disguised under
+the name of the "installation royale," had been deferred only for the
+purpose of "obtaining the information which was necessary to direct or
+decide the choice of the judges, and that it would take place
+successively in all the courts and tribunals of the kingdom."
+
+The "installation" was felt to be not only a breach of faith, but an
+open conspiracy against the security of the person and property of the
+subject. We knew that the tribunals would now be filled with
+magistrates whose prejudices, principles, and interest, must be in
+perpetual hostility against our national laws, and that the new men
+would seek to elude or crush our juridical system. The royal
+magistrates, as it was but too evident, would be the relations, the
+friends, or the creatures of the nobility, the emigrants, and of all
+who claimed to be restored to their rights and privileges. Nor could
+we hope that judges so constituted would deal out impartial justice
+between the ci-devant privileged tribes, whom they would naturally
+consider as the victims of revolutionary principles, and the children
+of the revolution, who, according to the same mode of reasoning, they
+could not fail to consider as the oppressors and robbers of the
+privileged tribes.
+
+The owners of national property were most alarmed by the approaching
+expulsion of the revolutionary judges. By the charter, the
+inviolability of their property had been guaranteed to them. But they
+had not forgotten that a violent debate arose on the "redaction" of
+this article; and that the ministers had been already accused on
+account of the obscurity of the clause, which they refused to correct
+into such words as might prevent all future quibbling and special
+pleading.
+
+If the emigrants, the priesthood, and the nobility, did not scruple to
+express their hopes aloud that the sales of the national domains might
+be declared null and void, it was equally well known to the public
+that certain Great Personages entertained the same hopes in secret.
+Doubts respecting the legality, and, consequently, of the validity of
+the sales, were expressed in the ministerial journals; and various
+publications were industriously disseminated, in which the purchases
+were directly impugned. The authors of these works were favoured and
+protected[10]; and it was whispered that the Great Personages, to
+whom we have already alluded, had deliberated on the means of
+realizing their hopes. All these tokens of the times united in giving
+too reasonable a ground for the apprehensions entertained by the
+proprietors of the confiscated lands; and the disorganization of the
+tribunals was considered as a national calamity.
+
+                   [Footnote 10: M.M. David and Falconnet. In order to
+                   appease the public indignation, a summons was
+                   issued against these writers, it being stated in
+                   the process that they had endeavoured to excite
+                   civil war. There was no difficulty in guessing that
+                   this proceeding was a farce, and that by
+                   overcharging the crime it was the intention of the
+                   government to favour the acquittal of the accused;
+                   and accordingly they were acquitted.]
+
+It is calculated that the individuals who are interested directly or
+indirectly either in the purchases of the national domains, or in the
+rights and liabilities arising out of them, amount in number to
+somewhat between nine and ten millions.
+
+An opportunity offered itself when all the uneasiness felt by this
+integral portion of the population of France might have been removed.
+It was when the law; by which the emigrants recovered possession of
+such part of their property as had not been alienated, came under
+consideration. It was natural to suppose that the administration would
+take advantage of the capability of the proceeding, in order to revive
+the confidence of the public, and to renew the guarantee of the
+charter. Such was not their conduct. On the contrary, M. Ferrand, the
+government orator, one of the men who did most mischief to the King
+and the kingdom, abandoned himself--we borrow the expression of the
+reporter of the committee--to all the acrimony of his passions, and
+all the profligacy of his principles. His fury could only be equalled
+by his folly. He did not scruple to maintain, in the midst of the
+representatives of the nation, that the emigrants had the greatest
+right to claim the justice and favour of the royal government, because
+they alone had not wandered from the righteous path. And starting with
+this position, he represented the forfeiture and sale of their
+property, not as the justifiable acts of a legislative body, but as
+revolutionary outrages and robberies which the nation ought to hasten
+to make good.
+
+The Chamber of Deputies passed their censure upon the inflammatory
+doctrines and language of the royalist orator, and expunged the word
+"restitution" from the law. It had not been inserted without design,
+for "restitution" supposes a previous robbery, and the emigrants had
+not been robbed of the property: it had been confiscated by virtue of
+a law sanctioned by the King; and which law was only a new application
+of the system of confiscation created and followed up by the King's
+predecessors.
+
+Without travelling into more remote periods, we may ask if it was not
+with the spoils of the victims who had been sacrificed to the
+murderous policy of Richelieu, and the religious intolerance of Louis
+XIV., that the first families had been enriched? And who can tell
+whether the lands which the emigrants reclaimed with so much pride and
+bitterness, were not the same which their ancestors had received
+without a blush from the bloody hands of Richelieu and Louis?
+
+It must be confessed that the unalterable fidelity of a certain number
+amongst the emigrants bound the royal government to reward their
+fidelity and to alleviate their misfortunes. But all had not an equal
+right to the affection and gratitude of the King. If some had
+generously sacrificed their fortunes and their country in the cause of
+royalty, yet others only fled from France because they wished to
+escape their creditors[11], and thought that in strange countries they
+might find dupes to feed upon, and thus exist upon swindling resources
+to which they could no longer resort with impunity at home.
+
+                   [Footnote 11: Before the revolution it was
+                   customary for "_les grands seigneurs_" to obtain
+                   what were called "_lettres de surseance_," by means
+                   of which they avoided the payment of their debts,
+                   and defeated their creditors.]
+
+It was therefore necessary to separate the first class of emigrants
+from the last; and after establishing this distinction, the government
+should have made a fair appeal to the justice and generosity of the
+nation. Frenchmen, who yield so readily to every dignified sentiment,
+would not have allowed the faithful and virtuous servants of their
+King to languish in poverty. We may appeal to the universal assent
+which was given to the proposal[12] made by the marshal duke of
+Tarentum, that ten millions of francs should be annually appropriated
+for the indemnification of the emigrants who had been deprived of
+their property, and of the soldiers who had lost their "_dotations_."
+
+                   [Footnote 12: This proposal was not carried into
+                   execution.]
+
+But the government party should not have attempted to assist the
+emigrants by resorting to means offensive to the nation, and
+derogatory to the charter. And, above all, they should not have puffed
+up the emigrants with proud and silly hopes. If they had been left to
+themselves, they would have fallen in with the purchasers of their
+property, they would have treated for an amicable settlement of their
+claims, and they would have regained possession of their hereditary
+estates without jarring and without scandal.
+
+The partiality which was shown towards the emigrants on all occasions
+produced another evil of still greater extent. It contributed, even
+more than the efforts of disaffection, in persuading the peasantry
+that the government wished to chain them again to the soil, and to
+render them once more the tributaries both of the nobility and of the
+priesthood.
+
+The revolution has taught the countryman to know that he is somebody
+in the state. After the revolution the peasants became rich, and they
+were delivered from the double vassalage of former days, when they
+crouched before the priest and the lord: therefore they could not
+think of any alteration without horror. Day after day they heard or
+they read (in France every body reads now,) that the government
+intended to restore the "_ancien regime_." And the restoration of the
+"_ancien regime_" was interpreted by them, as well as by many others,
+to mean the restoration of tithes, vassalage, and feudal rights. They
+were confirmed in their dangerous and disquieting opinion by the
+outrageous claims of the emigrants, and the declamations of the
+priests. It was to no purpose that the government tried to re-assure
+them. They had been already deceived and it seldom happens that you
+can catch a French peasant twice in the same snare. The abolition of
+the conscription had been promised, and the old code was continued in
+force with all its harshness, and still the refractory conscripts were
+sent away in chains, whilst fines were imposed upon their families.
+The abolition of the "_droits reunis_" had also been promised, and
+they were not only levied with greater rigour and harshness than
+before, but even some of these imposts had been greatly increased.
+
+Such was the fatality which influenced all the actions of the
+government, that all proceedings which in themselves were simple and
+reasonable, became venomous and corrupted when conducted by the
+ministry, and only added to the general disorder and discontent,
+instead of producing the good effects which they might have been
+justly expected to produce.
+
+The discontent of the people, the inevitable result of the injuries
+inflicted on the feelings and interests of individuals[13], was
+increased by the open infringement of the rights of the people,
+although these rights were secured to the country by a compact which
+seemed to be inviolable.
+
+                   [Footnote 13: There are times when a government may
+                   attack general principles without danger. But men
+                   and their personal interests can never be assailed
+                   with impunity. Personal interest is the prime mover
+                   of public opinion and feeling; and however
+                   degrading the truth may appear, it is not to be
+                   disputed. After a great national catastrophe this
+                   baleful egotism is particularly evident. Dignified
+                   passions become extinct for want of fuel; and the
+                   human mind, destitute of external occupation, works
+                   inward upon itself, and begets selfishness, the
+                   true pestilence of the soul. When this disease
+                   affects a nation, the government is lost if it
+                   attacks the interests of individuals.]
+
+Liberty of conscience had been promised by the charter, and this
+liberty was immediately annihilated. An ordonnance was issued by the
+police[14], which revived regulations enacted in _an age of
+intolerance_, for enforcing the strict and universal observance of the
+Lord's day, and the festivals of the church. Napoleon, anxious to
+preserve a strict neutrality between the catholics and the
+protestants, prohibited the religious processions of the former in all
+towns containing places of worship belonging to the latter communion.
+His prohibition was removed, and the catholic priesthood exulted in
+their processions, in which they marched in triumph. They ought to
+have tranquillized the apprehensions of their opponents, and to have
+edified the faithful by humility, or at least by feigning humility;
+but they disdained to conciliate the public, whom they scandalized by
+their pride and irritated by their violence[15].
+
+                   [Footnote 14: By means of ordonnances the ministers
+                   legislated according to their pleasure in matters
+                   which ought only to have been regulated by the law,
+                   so that the greater part of the bills presented to
+                   the chambers "had been already enacted and executed
+                   in the shape of ordonnances; and the legislature
+                   had no other function except that of giving a legal
+                   sanction to the arbitrary decrees of the
+                   ministers."--_Censeur._]
+
+                   [Footnote 15: Even in Paris several persons were
+                   ill treated and bayoneted, because they refused to
+                   pull off their hats and kneel, whilst the
+                   processions were passing by.]
+
+The imagination of the priests became fired by the victory which they
+supposed they had gained. They dreamt that they were in full
+possession of their ancient power; and they wished immediately to
+revive it according to their ancient fashion. An actress belonging to
+the Theatre Francais died without being absolved, and without
+suspecting that it was necessary to be absolved, from the
+excommunication which had been formerly fulminated against stage
+players; and which, as every body knows, deprived Moliere of Christian
+burial.
+
+Following the same precedents, the clergy would not allow the rites of
+sepulture to the actress in question. The populace, who followed the
+funeral out of curiosity, learnt the affront which was thus offered to
+her remains. Transported by sudden indignation, they rushed to the
+hearse, and dragged it onwards. The doors of the interdicted church
+were burst open in a moment. They called for a priest; no priest
+appeared. The tumult augmented. The church and the neighbouring
+streets resounded with the groans and threats of ten thousand persons.
+Their agitation became more violent, and there was no possibility of
+foreseeing where the effervescence of popular feeling would stop, when
+a messenger arrived from the court, who ordered, in the name of the
+King, that the funeral should proceed.
+
+The accounts of this event, and the comments to which it gave rise,
+excited the most lively interest in Paris and throughout France: nor
+did it fail to give the greatest pleasure to the enemies of religion.
+The friends of public decency and good order accused the government of
+encouraging the alarming progress of sacerdotal despotism. It was
+particularly in the smaller towns, and in the country, that the
+priests behaved with the most blamable audacity, abusing the privilege
+of speech which had been restored to them[16]. The pulpit became a
+tribunal from whence they pronounced sentence of present infamy, with
+the reversion of eternal damnation, upon all who refused to
+participate in their opinions and bigotry. Making common cause with
+the emigrants, they employed hints, inuendoes, insinuations,
+arguments, promises, and threats of every species, for the purpose of
+compelling the owners of the national property to yield up their
+lands, and of leading the wretched peasantry again beneath the tyrant
+yokes of feudality and superstition.
+
+                   [Footnote 16: Under the reign of Napoleon, if a
+                   priest had ventured to utter any opinion contrary
+                   to the system of government, he would have been
+                   immediately removed.]
+
+During the revolution, the priesthood had betrayed its real character.
+Contempt had fallen on the clergy, and it was out of the power of the
+government to invest them suddenly with the salutary influence which
+they had lost. This influence ought to be gained by wise and prudent
+conduct, by active and impartial benevolence, by the practice of
+sacerdotal virtues. It cannot be gained by ordonnances of police, by
+abuse, by violence, by mumming processions, which, in our times, are
+out of character and ridiculous.
+
+By the charter the liberty of the press had been guarantied as well as
+the liberty of public worship; yet every day innumerable publications
+were seized or suppressed contrary to the laws. M. Durbach, a deputy
+who never equivocated with his conscience or yielded to danger,
+complained on this subject in the chamber: the opinion of the house
+went along with him; and the government, pretending to yield to the
+feeling of the deputies, presented a bill to the chambers through the
+medium of M. de Montesquiou, which, instead of delivering the press
+from its slavery, gave full establishment to the censorship, and
+legalized the tyranny which had been exercised over the press by mere
+force under the former government.
+
+Benjamin Constant attacked the bill with vigour: the same side was
+taken by the public journals, and by all public writers; but there was
+no possibility of putting M. de Montesquiou out of countenance. It was
+demonstrated to him that his law would wholly destroy the liberty of
+the press. By holding the charter before his eyes, the advocates of
+public rights proved that the charter only declared that the licence
+of the press was to be restrained, and that his bill was therefore
+radically unconstitutional, because the preliminary censorship was not
+intended to restrain abuses, but to prevent their taking place.
+Montesquiou answered gravely, that the persons with whom such
+objections originated did not understand French; that the words
+"_prevenir_" and "_reprimer_" were perfectly synonymous: and that the
+bill, instead of being offensive or unconstitutional, contained a most
+complete and a most liberal development of the clause in the charter.
+
+This unparalleled endeavour of Montesquiou, who persuaded himself that
+he could convince an assembly of Frenchmen that they did not
+understand their own language, was justly considered by the chamber as
+a matchless specimen of impudence and folly. Lexicographical
+subtleties were employed with bitter mockery for the purpose of
+destroying a public right, consecrated by the constitutional compact.
+Never had insolence and bad faith been displayed so prominently:
+Raynouard, the reporter of the committee, exclaimed in the language of
+grief and indignation, "Minister of our King, confess, at least, that
+your law is contrary to the constitution, since you cannot refute the
+evidence adduced against it: your obstinacy in contesting such an
+indisputable truth would not then inspire us with such just alarms."
+
+The law was ultimately adopted by both chambers; ministerial influence
+triumphed over reason, and rased the most important bulwark of the
+rights guarantied to the nation. The result of the conflict produced
+the most lively sensation. No man who was capable of forethought and
+reasoning could remain undisturbed. Notwithstanding the patriotism of
+Dupont (of the department of the Eure), of Raynouard, of Durbach, of
+Bedoch, of Flaugergues, it was seen too clearly that the chamber of
+deputies could not oppose any effectual obstacle to the despotic and
+anti-constitutional plans of the government; and that the ministers
+would have full power, whenever they thought proper, to interpret the
+clauses of the charter according to their own way, and to rob the
+French nation of the few rights which it yet might promise to them.
+"By means of such interpretations," the people said, "the senate
+sacrificed the independence of the nation to Napoleon. But at least
+the imperial despotism assumed a character by which it was justified
+and ennobled. It tended to render our nation the greatest nation in
+the world; but the despotism which awaits us has no other
+accompaniment but bad faith, and no other end except the degradation
+and slavery of France."
+
+By such reflections, the suspicion and disgust and aversion inspired
+by the government, were excited to the utmost pitch. The public
+feeling did not stop there: the French people are naturally inconstant
+in their opinions and sentiments; and their former prejudices against
+Napoleon were changed into transports of admiration. France, under the
+royal government, was humiliated, disorganized, and degenerate; and
+they contrasted the present state of the country with the influence,
+the strength, the compactness, which it enjoyed under the reign of
+Napoleon; and He, who had lately been cursed as the root of all evil,
+now appeared to be the greatest of men, and the greatest of heroes,
+though in misfortune.
+
+The government knew that Napoleon was again admired by the people, and
+that they regretted his loss. To counteract these sentiments, coarse
+and vulgar caricatures were exposed to the eyes of the populace; and
+his person and his character became the theme of false and scandalous
+libels published under the direction of the ministry. No effect was
+produced. The mob looked at the caricatures with a smile of contempt;
+and the actions of Napoleon, which, under his reign, excited the
+greatest censure and disapprobation, now found the most zealous
+apologists and defenders.
+
+If Napoleon was accused of having overthrown the republican
+government, and enslaved the country by the revolution of the 18th
+Brumaire, they answered[17]:--"At that era, anarchy, emboldened by the
+misfortunes of the country, could only be repressed by victory. Civil
+war had been organized in twenty departments; insurrections had taken
+place in many, rapine infected them all; robbery and murder took place
+with impunity on many of the principal high roads. Two dreadful laws,
+the law of the hostages, and that of the forced loans, occasioned
+greater evils than they could cure. No nation had ever existed in
+which the finances of the state were in equal confusion; and a
+succession of partial bankruptcies prolonged the opprobrium of the
+general bankruptcy of the country. The money of the public was robbed
+whilst in transit on the high roads. Robbers even carried it off from
+the houses of the receivers, and the deficiency could not be made good
+by the most violent exactions. The jacobins were on the point of
+recommencing their reign of terror. The royalists had recourse without
+scruple to all the measures which might enable them to satiate their
+revenge; and the peaceable friends of the law were placed between the
+conflicting parties in a state of disgraceful weakness and neutrality.
+Such was the desperate situation of France when Napoleon seized the
+helm of the state. Instead of imputing the slavery of the country to
+him, he ought to have been blessed; for he delivered us from the
+spoliations, the murders, and the tyranny which were consequent upon
+the reign of anarchy and terror."
+
+                   [Footnote 17: I cannot express their thoughts more
+                   forcibly than by copying the passage, which I have
+                   quoted in my text, from the View of the Revolution
+                   by Lacretelle.]
+
+Was it maintained that Napoleon had reigned despotically? They held
+that this accusation was unjust; and they had recourse to the
+following reasoning. "Anarchy was silenced by Napoleon." It became
+necessary, that order should take the place of disorder; that the
+authority of one should be substituted for the authority of all.
+Parties were to be restrained within the bound of moderation; traitors
+were to be annihilated. It was necessary to curb the prejudices of the
+nobility, and the revolutionary habits and manners of the jacobins.
+This great work could not be accomplished, without engaging in a
+conflict against individual interests and opinions. Napoleon was
+considered as a despot; this was inevitable. Whenever the existing
+polity of a state has been totally subverted, he who first raises the
+edifice of society from its ruins, is necessarily accused of
+despotism, because apparently he has no other rule except his own
+will. Nor must we forget that Napoleon had been accustomed to command
+implicit obedience in the camp. He retained his military attitude on
+the throne. He usually addressed his courtiers, his connexions, and
+his ministers, in the tone which he had formerly adopted when speaking
+to his soldiers or their generals[18]. An appearance of despotism was
+certainly given to his way of reigning and commanding, by such
+language which is seldom heard in civil society. And in almost all
+cases, appearance is taken for reality.
+
+                   [Footnote 18: From his early youth, it may be even
+                   said from his days of boyhood, Napoleon felt an
+                   inward presentiment that he was not destined to
+                   live in mediocrity. This persuasion soon taught him
+                   to treat others with disdain, and to entertain the
+                   highest opinion of himself. Scarcely had he
+                   obtained a subaltern command in the artillery, when
+                   he considered himself as the superior of his
+                   equals, and the equal of his superiors. In his 20th
+                   year he was placed at the head of the army of
+                   Italy. Without appearing to be in the slightest
+                   degree surprised by his elevation, he passed from a
+                   secondary station to the chief command. He
+                   immediately treated the old generals of the
+                   army--they who were so proud of the laurels--with
+                   an air of dignity and authority, which placed them
+                   in a situation which was probably new to them. But
+                   they did not feel humiliated, and their inferiority
+                   seemed to result as a matter of course, for the
+                   ascendancy exercised by Napoleon was irresistible;
+                   and he was thoroughly endued; with that instinct of
+                   authority, that talent of ensuring obedience, with
+                   those faculties which are usually confined to those
+                   who are kings by birth. Napoleon could probably
+                   have attained to supreme authority in any country
+                   in the world. Nature had formed him for command,
+                   and she never creates such men for the purpose of
+                   leaving them in obscurity. It seems, according to
+                   the remark of a writer whose name I have forgotten,
+                   that she is proud of her own work, and that she
+                   wishes to offer it to admiration, by placing it at
+                   the head of human society.]
+
+At first the imperious tone adopted by Napoleon was blamed, next it
+was admired. He soon employed it in his intercourse with foreign
+ambassadors, with foreign sovereigns. The wily forms of ancient
+diplomacy were discarded. Napoleon did not negociate; he issued his
+orders. With one hand he brandished his victorious sword; in the other
+he held crowns and sceptres. He bade the sovereigns of Europe make
+their choice; he offered his friendship or his hatred, kingdoms or
+blows. The monarchs who stood before his throne were taught wisdom by
+experience. They knew that Napoleon could reward and punish; they
+crowded into the ranks of his allies; and they consoled themselves for
+their weakness, by crying out upon his tyranny[19].
+
+                   [Footnote 19: The continental system induced
+                   Napoleon to exercise a real tyranny over Europe. We
+                   do not pretend to deny the fact; but we only wish
+                   to add, that this exterior despotism always induced
+                   a belief amongst foreigners, that Napoleon, who
+                   tyrannized so violently over nations which did not
+                   belong to him, must necessarily be the tyrant of
+                   his own subjects.]
+
+When these causes were united, they aided in persuading the world
+that Napoleon was really a despot. For, as Montesquieu observes, there
+are some things which we believe at last, merely because we hear them
+continually repeated. But if the government of Napoleon is considered
+impartially, we shall feel convinced, that the despotism attributed to
+him existed rather in words and forms, than in deeds. Let the acts of
+his reign be scrutinized, and none will be found impressed with the
+character of real despotism; that is to say, of despotism founded on
+the mere arbitrary will and pleasure of the prince. On the contrary,
+they all prove that the interest and aggrandizement of France entered
+alone into the views of Napoleon, and that instead of being under a
+tyrannical government, the people never enjoyed the benefits of
+distributive justice with greater equality, and were never protected
+more completely against the oppressions of public functionaries, and
+of the higher ranks. He may, perhaps, be censured for having violated
+certain laws, for violations in which the senate and the
+representatives of the people were his accomplices. But laws are only
+binding upon sovereigns in the ordinary course of things, and the most
+rigid writers on the law of nations acknowledge this principle. When
+extraordinary and unforeseen circumstances take place, it is the duty
+of the sovereign to be above the law. In order to judge fairly of the
+actions of a monarch, we must not consider them separately. Many an
+action which, if taken singly, appears unjustifiable or hateful, loses
+that character when viewed as one of the series of events from which
+it arose, as a connecting link in the political chain of which it
+forms a part. Neither should the conduct of a sovereign be judged
+according to the principles of natural equity. In the estimation of
+those, upon whom the task of ruling nations has devolved, necessity
+and the public safety ought to know no law. Every apprehension of
+injuring private interest vanishes, and must ever vanish, before state
+considerations.
+
+"After all," continued they, "the real point at issue is, not whether
+the government of Napoleon was more or less despotic; but whether it
+was such as was required by the character of his people and of his
+times,--such as it needed to be, in order that France might become
+tranquil, happy, and powerful." Now it is impossible to deny but that,
+during the reign of Napoleon, the interior of France enjoyed an
+unruffled calm, and that the ascendancy of his genius bestowed upon
+the country a degree of power and prosperity, which it never attained
+before, and which probably it will never possess again.
+
+Was the emperor taxed with boundless ambition? Were the calamities of
+Spain and Russia laid to his charge?--his indefatigable apologists
+found a ready answer.--The Spanish war, instead of being an unjust
+aggression, was an enterprise guided by the soundest political talent.
+It had been provoked by the wavering treachery of that allied
+government, which, in spite of its engagements, was secretly
+negociating with the English; and which, yielding to their
+instigations, had endeavoured to take advantage of our difficulties
+and of the absence of our armies, in order to invade our territory,
+and to become a sharer in the plots of our enemies.
+
+The detention of Ferdinand ceased to be an odious breach of faith. It
+resulted necessarily from his duplicity, his parricidal projects, and
+his English connexions. The nomination of Joseph as King of Spain and
+the Indies, had been universally attributed to the excessive vanity of
+Napoleon, who, as it was supposed, was determined to drop a crown upon
+the head of every member of the imperial family. But now opinion
+changed. King Joseph's promotion was felt to have been caused by the
+necessity of placing Spain for ever out of the reach of English
+influence. Had not Napoleon allowed the Cortes of Spain to elect their
+monarch of their own uncontrolled authority? Had he not said to them
+in public, "Dispose of the throne. Little do I care whether the king
+of Spain is called Ferdinand, or whether he is called Joseph; let him
+only be the ally of France, and the enemy of England[20]?"
+
+                   [Footnote 20: The Emperor thus addressed the
+                   Spanish Cortes; when assembled at Bayonne.]
+
+It was still more easy to justify the Russian war. A Quixotic love of
+the marvellous was no longer supposed to be the passion which excited
+it. In making war against Russia, he was actuated by the desire of
+avenging the injuries which that power had occasioned to France, at
+the moment when the Russian government again opened its ports to the
+English, thus snatching from the nation the reward of the sacrifices
+which we had made for the establishment and consolidation of the
+continental blockade,--of that universal barrier which made England
+and her thousand vessels tremble!
+
+The invasion of Germany was no longer the effect of Napoleon's
+insatiate thirst of power and glory[21]. It was seen, that there was
+no other sure method, by which the English, the irreconcilable
+enemies of France, could be deprived of their fatal continental
+influence, by which they could be compelled to abandon the empire of
+the seas. In short, Napoleon was only inflicting a salutary and
+equitable punishment, deserved by those sovereigns of all sizes. After
+having implored or obtained the alliance of Napoleon, and after having
+ratified the bond by engagements and promises upon which he generously
+relied, they compelled him to take up arms, in order to prevent them
+from receiving the agents of England into their cabinets, and her
+merchandizes into their ports.
+
+                   [Footnote 21: Napoleon was accused of having
+                   aspired to universal monarchy. In all ages, this
+                   desire has been imputed to powerful and ambitious
+                   sovereigns. Let us confess that no monarch was ever
+                   better justified in yielding to the seductions of
+                   this brilliant phantom than Napoleon. From the
+                   summit of his throne he held the reins which guided
+                   the greater part of Europe, whose docile monarchs
+                   instantly obeyed any direction which he chose to
+                   give them. At the first word, at the slightest
+                   signal, their subjects were arrayed beneath the
+                   imperial eagle. Their continual intercourse with
+                   us, the obligation of obeying Napoleon, an
+                   obligation imposed upon them by their own princes,
+                   had accustomed them to consider the Emperor as
+                   their chieftain. But whatever ambition may have
+                   been attributed to Napoleon, his good sense
+                   restrained him from aspiring to universal monarchy.
+                   He had another plan; he intended to re-establish
+                   the eastern and western empires. It would now be
+                   useless to reveal the lofty and powerful
+                   considerations by which this grand and noble idea
+                   was suggested to Napoleon. Then, France might have
+                   been allowed to grasp again the sceptre of
+                   Charlemagne: but now, we must forget that we have
+                   been the masters of the world.]
+
+Thus the partisans of Napoleon invented arguments by which they
+palliated his faults and justified his errors. No objection, no
+reproach was left without its answer. After defending him against his
+accusers they became his advocates; and, turning to the fairer pages
+of his history, their praises knew no bounds; these eulogiums were
+certainly more just, and, perhaps, more sincere.
+
+"Napoleon," said they, "had all the great qualities of the greatest
+monarchs, whilst he was exempted from their vices. Napoleon was not
+stained by the lechery of Caesar, nor by the drunkenness of Alexander,
+nor by the cruelty of Charlemagne."
+
+At an age when others scarcely start in life, his years were
+outnumbered by his victories; and the kings of Europe, conquered by
+his sword or subjugated by his genius, cowered before the imperial
+eagle.
+
+In France, when aggrandized by the conquests of Napoleon, the empire
+of ancient Rome was re-produced before the astonished world. The
+French name, tarnished by the crimes of the revolution, regained its
+ancient honour and its mastery. The nation was feared, admired, and
+respected by the entire universe.
+
+Philosophy graced Napoleon no less than warlike prowess. After he had
+covered the nation with glory by his victories, he was willing to
+insure our welfare by his laws. He bestowed upon us that immortal code
+of jurisprudence which invested him with the title of the legislator
+of France, a title to which our former kings had aspired in vain. He
+organised that admirable system of finance and administration, which
+their subjects, groaning under misrule, implored but without effect.
+
+Still he had not accomplished enough to satisfy his noble and
+beneficent ardour. Arts, sciences, and industry were to flourish in
+our country. The munificent aids[22] which were granted by Napoleon,
+created the thousands and thousands of manufactories from whence
+proceeded those finished works of skill and labour which became the
+pride of the French, and the despair and ruin of foreign nations. The
+sons of Apollo[23], on whom he lavished his gifts and favours, seized
+the crayon, the compass, and the chisel. Paris became a second
+Athens, when adorned by the wonders of art to which his munificence
+gave birth. We then saw the venerable Louvre rise, as by enchantment,
+from its deserted ruins; the palaces of our Kings became more
+gorgeous; the temples of the arts were enriched by productions which
+rivalled the relics of antiquity; our native land brought forth those
+establishments so proudly useful to the public, and those monuments
+destined to transmit the recollections of our fame and glory to the
+most distant posterity.
+
+                   [Footnote 22: Neither the nature nor the extent of
+                   these aids has been well understood out of France.
+                   Napoleon revived our industry by the loans, which
+                   he never hesitated to grant to any enterprising
+                   manufacturer who needed capital; and this
+                   assistance was always liberal and well-timed.]
+
+                   [Footnote 23: Louis XIV., who has been so much
+                   praised for his liberality, only distributed 52,300
+                   francs per annum to the literati and artists of
+                   France, and 14,000 francs to foreigners.]
+
+At the same moment his sovereign will guided the hands which curbed
+the waves of the ocean, and caused them to roll over a new abyss. He
+directed those labours which substituted wide harbours, superb
+dock-yards, and fertilizing canals, in the place of desert shores and
+pestilential marshes, restoring commerce and existence to the
+innumerable inhabitants of the sea coast, and of the banks of the
+Scheld and the Somme. At the same moment his voice created those Roman
+highways, branching through all parts of France, and Germany, and
+Italy, equally useful and majestic, and which afforded to the
+inhabitants of those countries means equally speedy and secure of
+communicating with each other, and of exchanging the products of their
+industry: and never will the friend or even the enemy of Napoleon
+cross the summits of the Alps, or ascend their craggy sides, without
+venerating the magnanimous sovereign, who, anxious to guide the steps
+and protect the life of the traveller, has enclosed the precipice,
+chained the torrent, and linked the great mountains of the earth,
+which during so many ages have braved the might of man and time. When
+future ages shall gather up in memory the glorious and transcendent
+deeds of Napoleon; when they shall number the blessings which he
+dispensed, and the victories which he gained, never will they believe
+that one man can have worked such miracles in so short a period. They
+will rather fancy that the historian was playing with the credulity of
+posterity, that he culled out all the great deeds performed by
+successive generations of the greatest men during an infinite series
+of ages, and that he has attributed them all to his ideal hero.
+
+The soldiers who had bled beneath the banners of Napoleon would not
+listen in silence to the praises which others bestowed upon his name.
+His foreign conquests, which even they had lately considered as the
+causes of our misfortunes, became again the sources of inexhaustible
+admiration.
+
+They recollected that Napoleon had ruled as the master of Madrid, of
+Lisbon, of Munich, of Warsaw, of Hamburgh, of Berlin, of Vienna, of
+Milan, of Amsterdam, of Rome, of Moscow, of Cairo.
+
+Some recalled the memory of the day of Lodi. They saw him standing on
+the bridge re-animating his dispirited followers, defying danger and
+death whilst he waved the national flag, and drove the enemy from
+their entrenchments, and blasted their glory. Others pointed him out
+whilst crossing the perpetual snows and yawning chasms of Mount St.
+Bernard, and then victorious on the plains of Marengo, where he won
+that battle which insured the peace and glory of the country.
+
+Austerlitz had its chroniclers, who described Napoleon as he fell with
+the rapidity and violence of the thunderbolt on the battalions of the
+Austrian and the Russian, and when he afforded to those trembling
+monarchs an example of magnanimity which they knew not how to imitate
+when generosity became their duty. Nor did his enthusiastic advocates
+omit the field of Jena, where his victorious ensigns chased the flying
+troops of Frederic, who, deceived by their recollections, yet held
+themselves to be the paragons of military worth. They retraced his
+paths amidst the burning sands of Egypt, amidst the icy wastes of
+Muscovy; and in either region Napoleon supported fire and frost
+without ostentation, and taught resignation and endurance to his
+soldiers by his unshaken constancy.
+
+More recent and more painful victories contributed equally to endear
+him. They saw Napoleon in Champagne, when his veteran army scarcely
+equalled one of the numerous divisions of the enemy. At the head of
+his scanty troops he watched, and avoided, and surprised the
+Austrians, the Russians, and the Prussians: wounding them on all sides
+by his victorious weapons, and with such promptitude, that he seemed
+to have bestowed wings upon iron and death. They placed him at Arcis
+sur Aube, advancing before his squadrons, and rushing forward to meet
+the balls and bullets of the enemy; for he sought to sacrifice on the
+field of battle that life, which he foresaw he could no longer
+dedicate on the throne, to the glory and prosperity of the nation.
+
+In short, generals, officers, and soldiers, all vied with each other
+in calling to mind the marches, the sieges, the conflicts, the
+attacks, the days, which had immortalized their general[24]; and is
+there a heart amongst us which does not beat higher at these
+recollections?
+
+                   [Footnote 24: The soldiers identified the name of
+                   Napoleon with their country and their honour. When
+                   the accession of Louis XVIII. put an end to the
+                   sufferings and captivity of those who were
+                   imprisoned in England, they returned to France,
+                   cursing the cause of their liberty, and exclaiming,
+                   "Vive l'Empereur!" Even in the deserts of Russia,
+                   neither threats of ill treatment, nor promises of
+                   assistance offered to the French prisoners at the
+                   moment when they were starving, could extort a
+                   single complaint against Napoleon.]
+
+The sentiments thus awakening in favour of Napoleon were cherished by
+his friends, and by all those who, wearied of the Bourbons or
+discontented with their government, now wished for his return. His
+name, which lately we had scarcely dared to utter, was now in every
+mouth, his image in every mind. The nation began to regret the
+Emperor, then they longed for him; and every one was impressed by a
+secret presentiment that these expectations would soon be realized.
+
+Whilst this formidable revulsion of opinion was increasing and
+appearing throughout the kingdom, it was scarcely heeded by the
+ministry, the court, and the emigrants, who reposed with complacent
+security on the volcano which they had kindled, and without
+entertaining the slightest apprehension of the approaching explosion.
+
+"If they wish to go out of the kingdom," said M. de Chateaubriand,
+when alluding to the partisans of the Emperor, "if they wish to return
+again, to receive or despatch letters, to send expresses, to make
+proposals, to circulate false intelligence, and even to distribute
+bribes, to assemble in secret or in public, to menace, to disseminate
+libels, in short, to conspire against the government,--they are at
+liberty to do their worst. The royal government, which began but eight
+months ago, now rests upon so sure a basis, that, were it now to be
+obstinate in repeating folly after folly, it would hold good in spite
+of all its errors."
+
+This infatuation, however, soon diminished. Without understanding the
+full extent of the evil, the government ascertained that the army and
+the nation were agitated and discontented, and they deliberated on the
+methods which it would be proper to employ, not for the purpose of
+conciliation, but for enforcing silence.
+
+Acquainted with the uneasiness of the government, certain frantic
+Chouans gave out that it was full time to despatch the Bonapartists.
+One chieftain, celebrated in the annals of La Vendee, was even so
+audacious as to declare to general Ex..... that he only waited for the
+arrival of his faithful Vendeans, and then he would fall upon the
+Jacobins.
+
+The news of this massacre soon reached the ears of the intended
+victims. Some quitted Paris, others armed themselves, and prepared to
+sell their lives as dearly as they could. It is said that the
+government became acquainted with the bloody conspiracy of the
+Chouans, and that they relieved France and the world from the
+spectacle of another St. Bartholomew's day.
+
+This intended massacre (I have never been able to believe in it,)
+persuaded the revolutionists that they could expect neither respite
+nor mercy from the royalists, and that one of the two parties would be
+compelled to destroy the other. The soldiers of Napoleon began to
+unite, and to make themselves ready. The ministers were anxious to
+disperse these assemblages, which gave them uneasiness; orders were
+issued, by which all officers, whether of the staff or regimental,
+were prohibited from residing at Paris without permission; and all who
+were not Parisians by birth were ordered to return to their native
+provinces. This measure increased the exasperation of the military,
+and it did not diminish the danger. The reduced officers, instead of
+conforming to the order, encouraged each other in disobedience.
+According to the regulations of the war department, their contumacious
+residence at Paris would subject them to the loss of their half-pay;
+and many of them, though in poverty, preferred independence to
+submission. The ministers were irritated by this resistance, and they
+determined to make an example. It happened that a letter of
+congratulation which General Excelmans addressed to his former
+sovereign, the king of Naples, was intercepted. This opportunity was
+gladly seized by the new Minister at war[25]. He put the General on
+the half-pay list, and ordered him to retire immediately, and until
+further orders, to the distance of sixty leagues from Paris. Excelmans
+maintained that the Minister at war had no right to remove an officer,
+not being in active service, from his domicile; and he would not go:
+upon this he was immediately taken into custody. It was pretended that
+he had been guilty of a traitorous intercourse with the enemies of the
+King, and that he was also guilty of disobedience to his Majesty's
+orders. The government expected that this blow would produce the best
+possible effect; but it recoiled against them: Excelmans was known to
+all France; he was valued as one of her bravest and most estimable
+children. The spite and hatred of the ministers had loaded him with
+accusations; but his alleged treasons, far from depriving him of
+public esteem and public affection, only endeared him to his
+companions in arms, and to the nation at large.
+
+                   [Footnote 25: Marshal Soult had just succeeded
+                   General Dupont.]
+
+Excelmans was brought to trial, and the court acquitted him[26]. The
+council of war, by sanctioning the disobedience of the General,
+declared that the government did not possess that authority over
+reduced officers which they had assumed; and from this moment the
+government was ruined. The decision by which the half-pay military
+were enfranchised, and which left them at liberty to brave the
+commands of the government, was a shock which beat the royal authority
+to the ground.
+
+                   [Footnote 26: M. Comte, one of the acute and
+                   courageous editors of the Censor, was chosen by the
+                   general as his "counsel." General Fressinet was his
+                   advocate. (According to the forms of the French
+                   courts of judicature, the counsel assists by his
+                   advice, the advocate pleads.) This officer, equally
+                   distinguished by his firmness, his talents, and his
+                   bravery, was afterwards punished and exiled on
+                   account of the generous assistance which he gave on
+                   this important occasion to General Excelmans, his
+                   fellow soldier and friend.]
+
+Here I shall stop. It would be of no further use to lengthen the
+history and the investigation of the absurd tyranny of the government.
+If we trace the progress of the principles successively enounced by
+the ministry, and the actions of which they were the authors, we shall
+see that they had formed and executed the project of re-establishing
+the old monarchy, and of overturning the constitutional government
+either by artifice or by main force. The royal charter was spurned by
+them, and they trampled without scruple on the civil and political
+rights which it consecrated. Every guarantee given to the army, the
+magistracy, the public functionaries, or the nation, was forgotten,
+attacked, or violated. Our national glory was insulted; public feeling
+was wounded. The manners and customs and opinions of the new era were
+all treated with harshness: all ranks and classes of citizens
+experienced those vexations which filled them with discontent. By
+injustice and bad faith the government deprived the King of our
+confidence and love, and caused the restoration of the Emperor to
+become the hope of the nation. In spite of the obstacles experienced
+by the ministry, in spite of the affronts to which they had been
+subjected, in spite of the retrograde steps which they had been
+compelled to take, they still clung to the baneful system which they
+had fostered; and, bigoted to these plans, they continued to persevere
+in those errors which recalled Napoleon from his exile, just as
+Napoleon persevered in the errors which recalled the Bourbons back
+from theirs.
+
+But whilst the storm was gathering in France, how was Napoleon
+employed? Ambition had taken flight, and he was seen to prefer a life
+of unostentatious retirement to all his former grandeurs. Repose had
+greater charms for him than the noble turmoil of war; and his genius,
+no longer teeming with meditation, yielded to the pleasures of
+retirement. The study of botany, the cares of his household, the
+plantations which he had made, and those which he was still planning,
+beguiled his hours[27]; and, like the Roman Diocletian, he might have
+said to those who suspected that he longed in secret after the throne,
+"Come and see me in my retirement: I will show you the gardens which I
+have planted, and you will talk no more to me about the empire."
+
+                   [Footnote 27: It has been alleged, but without
+                   foundation, that he retained his taste for military
+                   exercises. Not one review took place during his
+                   residence at Porto Ferrajo; arms seemed to have no
+                   attractions for him.]
+
+Napoleon, during the early part of his retirement in Elba, felt only a
+vague desire of reigning. Grieved by the miseries of France, the
+country which he loved so truly, wearied by the vicissitudes of
+fortune, disgusted with mankind, he feared that, if he attempted to
+seize the sceptre again, he should involve France and himself in new
+troubles; and, without abandoning his expectation of re-ascending the
+throne, he resolved to allow his resolutions to be guided by futurity.
+
+The turn taken by public affairs soon roused the Emperor from this
+state of indifference and hesitation. At first he hoped, and I have
+heard him say so, that the Bourbons, instructed by adversity, would
+confer liberty and happiness upon the nation. But when he witnessed
+the power which was bestowed upon the priesthood, the emigrants, and
+the courtiers, he foresaw that the very same causes which had produced
+the first revolution, would soon occasion a second. From that period
+he watched the continent; nor did he lose sight, even for a moment, of
+the congress, or of France, or of the Bourbons. He could tell the
+talents[28], the principles, the vices, and the virtues of all those
+who had acquired the confidence of Louis XVIII, either by intrusion or
+by favour. He could measure the degrees of influence which each was
+capable of acquiring and exercising, and he calculated beforehand on
+the errors which they would inevitably induce his docile successor to
+commit.
+
+                   [Footnote 28: It is well known that there was not a
+                   single individual of note in the service, either of
+                   his allies or of his enemies, whose strong and weak
+                   points were not perfectly understood by Napoleon.]
+
+Napoleon now employed himself again in reading the public journals of
+France and of foreign countries; he read assiduously all periodical
+works of a political tendency; he studied these productions; he
+investigated them with acuteness, and he could well divine the meaning
+of a writer who was compelled to be silent, and conjecture the nature
+of intelligence which an editor was forced to suppress.
+
+Strangers of distinction, and particularly the English, were received
+by Napoleon with affability and kindness, and he used to talk freely
+with his visitors on public affairs. He knew how to draw them out, and
+to lead them to expatiate on points which he wished to penetrate; and
+he seldom failed to obtain much useful information from those
+interviews. By these simple methods Napoleon obtained a correct idea
+of the events which were taking place on the continent; he was too
+well acquainted with revolutions not to be sensible that the sway of
+events would open the gates of France, and admit him; and he was too
+wary to enter into a private correspondence with his partisans, when
+any accident might have revealed his secret wishes, and have afforded
+a pretext to his enemies for attacking his independence and his
+liberty.
+
+Napoleon thus waited in silence till the fated time of his
+re-appearance in France should arrive, when a French Officer[29],
+disguised as a sailor, disembarked at Porto Ferrajo.
+
+                   [Footnote 29: This officer is the person who is
+                   named in the declaration made on the 15th of March
+                   to the prince of Essling, then governor of the 8th
+                   military division, by Monsieur P*****, who landed
+                   with Napoleon from the Isle of Elba, and was
+                   arrested at Toulon by order of the prefect of the
+                   department of the Var.]
+
+Some few days before this Officer set out to join the army in the year
+1815, he gave over to me the manuscript narrative of his voyage to the
+Isle of Elba. "To you," added he, "I deliver my history, which is also
+that of the revolution of the 20th of March. As the Emperor, when
+regaining his throne, did not think fit to speak of me, I was
+therefore bound to be silent; but I am as eager to live in the memory
+of after-ages as he can possibly be[30]. It is my wish that posterity
+may learn, that I too shared in the glorious enterprise of subverting
+the Bourbon government, and of bringing back the Emperor. My mind
+misgives me. I have a presentiment that I shall die in this campaign.
+Keep my manuscript, and promise to publish it when the time shall
+arrive." I gave my word accordingly; and the forebodings of my friend
+were realised, for he was killed at Waterloo.
+
+                   [Footnote 30: At Malmaison the Emperor asked me
+                   what had become of M. Z***. I answered that he had
+                   been killed on Mount St. Jean: "Well," answered the
+                   Emperor, "he is happy. But pray did he tell you
+                   that he had been at Elba?"--"Yes, Sire; he even
+                   entrusted me with the narrative of his voyage, and
+                   of the conversations which he had with your
+                   Majesty."--"You must give me this narrative: I will
+                   take it with me: it will help me in the composition
+                   of my memoirs."--"Sire, it is no longer in my
+                   possession."--"What have you done with it? you must
+                   get it back, and let me have it to-morrow."--"I
+                   have deposited it with a friend, who happens to be
+                   absent from Paris."--"So the narrative will be
+                   handed about at the mercy of the world."--"No,
+                   Sire. It is inclosed in an envelope, and deposited
+                   in a box of which I keep the key; but if I should
+                   not be able to deliver it to your Majesty, before
+                   your Majesty's departure, it will yet come to your
+                   knowledge, for I intend to publish it according to
+                   the last wishes of M. Z***, unless your Majesty
+                   forbids me."--"No; I allow you to print it, only
+                   leave out whatever may tend to compromise those who
+                   have displayed their attachment towards me. If Z***
+                   has made a faithful report of all that passed, the
+                   people will know that I sacrificed myself for their
+                   good; and that it was not the love of power which
+                   brought me again into France, but that I yielded to
+                   the desire of restoring to the French those gifts
+                   which are dearest to great nations--independence
+                   and glory. Take care lest they should get hold of
+                   your manuscript--they will falsify it. Send it to
+                   England to *****; he will print it; he is devoted
+                   to me, and he may be very useful to you. M. ***
+                   will give you a letter for him: do you understand
+                   me?"--"Yes, Sire."--"But do your utmost to recover
+                   your manuscript before my departure. I see that you
+                   are anxious to keep it, and I will leave it with
+                   you. I only wish to read it." The Emperor read the
+                   manuscript, and he returned it to me, saying, "Z***
+                   has told the truth, and nothing but the truth; keep
+                   his manuscript for future generations."]
+
+I now fulfil my promise. I have not dared to make any alterations in
+the narrative: if I had, I should have felt that I was betraying the
+wishes of my friend. But I have suppressed the names of the parties
+concerned, and I have expunged some passages, in which the Bourbon
+family were treated with disrespect.
+
+
+
+
+HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION OF THE 20th OF MARCH.
+
+
+When Napoleon resigned his crown, I broke my sword. I swore that I
+never more would use it in the service of France, or of the new
+Sovereign of the nation. But the generous farewell of the Emperor
+could not fail to affect me; and, conquered by the irresistible
+influence which the love of glory and of our native land exercises
+upon a French soldier, I soon awoke to more praiseworthy and more
+tempered feelings. My recollections faded, my regrets were softened,
+and I aspired most sincerely to the honour of being again useful to my
+country, and to my country's King.
+
+At first the character which I had earned, procured for me the most
+gratifying reception. Dazzling prospects were held out to me. I
+believed that I was treated with sincerity. This error was of short
+duration. Deceived and baffled, I now understood that they were
+cheating the army and myself. They affected to honour us in the
+aggregate, because they were afraid of us; and they insulted us
+individually, in conformity to their systematic hated. My character
+was too proud to allow me to bear with the insults and the contempt
+which they wished to pour out upon me. I resigned my commission.
+France and her government sickened me; but my military enthusiasm had
+not abated. I thought that I should be recollected by the Emperor, who
+had distinguished me in the field of battle; and that he would deign
+to grant that boon which was dearest to my heart; that he would allow
+me to live and die in his service. I therefore made up my mind to
+visit the isle of Elba.
+
+Just, however, as I was on the point of departing, I was stopped by a
+sudden thought. Abandoned, betrayed, and denied, by men whom he has
+heaped with rewards and honours, will the Emperor really believe that
+I am really attached to him? Perhaps he will even suspect that I am a
+spy, and that the Bourbons have sent me to watch his words and
+actions. I was still in relation with those persons who had formerly
+enjoyed the confidence of the Emperor. Since the restoration, their
+conduct had been marked by frankness and honesty. Their feelings led
+them to be faithful to the person of Napoleon; their patriotism and
+their principles led them to be devoted to his cause; and they had not
+sought to conceal either their fidelity or their devotion. Many
+efforts had been made to gain them over to the royal party, but they
+had continued immoveable. I therefore thought, that whatever
+recommendation I could obtain from any one of the persons in question,
+would protect me from the suspicions of the Emperor; and to them I
+therefore confided my plans and the causes of my uneasiness, without
+hesitation or reserve.
+
+The first, and the second, to whom I thus applied, severally assured
+me that they took the most lively interest in the undertaking, and
+they betrayed the most tender anxiety for its result. They desired me
+to express to the Emperor the grief which his loss had occasioned to
+them, and their hopes of seeing him once more; but both were afraid to
+compromise themselves by writing to him, and I quitted them without
+having obtained my wishes. Then I proceeded to the third, whom I shall
+call Monsieur X. We had known each other in those eventful periods
+when men are put to the test, and he had kindly formed and retained a
+favourable opinion of my character and courage. I unveiled my projects
+and my fears. "Your fears," answered he, "are well founded. The
+Emperor will distrust you, and probably he will not allow you to
+continue with him. My recommendation would, without doubt, be of great
+utility to you, but I cannot give it without danger. Not that I should
+be in danger, for my affection towards the Emperor is well known to
+all the world, but we might put the Emperor himself in jeopardy; for,
+if they were to take my letter from you, they might give it over to a
+spy, nay, even to an assassin."
+
+This argument appeared conclusive to me, but I answered, "A lucky
+thought flashes across my mind. You have acted so long and so often in
+connexion with the Emperor, that surely you must be able to recollect
+some circumstances, some disclosures known only to yourselves, which,
+if I relate them to his Majesty, will prove to him that you trust me,
+and that I am worthy of his trust."--"Your idea is excellent; yet,"
+added he, "I must either give you insignificant details, and then the
+Emperor will have forgotten them, or I must reveal important secrets
+to you, and I am forbidden by my duty to do so; yet I will turn the
+matter over in my mind. Call here again to-morrow morning."
+
+I called again. "I have ransacked my memory," said M. X*** as he
+accosted me, "and here is the very thing which you want." He then
+delivered a note to me. "I had only considered your expedition to
+Elba," continued M. X***, "in relation to your own concerns; but it is
+of much greater importance than you imagine, or than I myself thought
+it would be. It may produce tremendous consequences. It is impossible
+that the Emperor can be indifferent to what is going on in France. If
+he was to put any questions to you on that head, how would you answer
+him? You must be fully aware how very dangerous it might be if you
+were to give him an erroneous idea of our political situation."--"Though
+I am a soldier by profession, yet I am not an utter novice in
+politics. I have often reflected on the present position of France. I
+really think that I understand enough of the matter to be able to
+satisfy the curiosity of Napoleon."--"I don't doubt it: but, come,
+what is your opinion of affairs?"
+
+In answer to this interrogatory, I entered into an illustrative
+analysis of the faults of government, and of the consequences ensuing
+therefrom. Our conversation became warmer, and when, after having
+discussed the time present, we began to contemplate futurity, our
+thoughts were evolved with so much rapidity; we were carried so much
+further than we intended, that we ourselves were astonished, and we
+then both continued during a short interval in a kind of reverie. I
+was the first who broke silence. "Well," said I, "suppose the Emperor,
+after having questioned me, were to ask, Do you think the time of my
+re-appearance in France is arrived, what must I answer?"--"You will
+tell his Majesty that I could not dare to decide so important a
+question; but that he may consider it as a positive and incontestible
+fact that our present government (as you have well observed) has
+wholly lost the confidence of the people and of the army; that
+discontent has increased to the highest pitch; and that it is
+impossible to believe that the government can stand much longer
+against the universal dislike. You will add, that the Emperor is the
+only object of the regret and hope of the nation. He, in his wisdom,
+will decide what he ought to do."--"If he asks me whether this opinion
+is only yours, or whether Messrs. ******* all share in it, what shall
+I answer?"--"Tell him that since his abdication those persons have
+ceased to be in communication with each other, but that my opinion is
+conformable to the general opinion."--"I am now able to answer all
+the questions which the Emperor may ask. Adieu."
+
+We embraced each other repeatedly, and we parted.
+
+As soon as I had quitted M. X*** all that had passed between us filled
+my mind again. I now contemplated at leisure the mission which I was
+called upon to fulfil. I measured its extent, and weighed its
+consequences, and I could not help feeling astonished, and in some
+measure alarmed, by the result of this self-examination. So long as I
+merely intended to go to Elba for the sole purpose of offering my
+services to the Emperor, my journey appeared to be nothing out of the
+common course of things, and I thought that I should not have
+hesitated to declare to the government that I was going to rejoin my
+former benefactor, the Sovereign of my choice; but since the object of
+my journey had become so much more important; since, to use the words
+of M. X***, it might produce tremendous consequences, it seemed that
+the government would not fail to watch me; that it would dog me in my
+path, and endeavour to spy out all my words and actions.
+
+Hence I became suspicious and uneasy. The note of M. X*** appeared an
+immense burthen. I got it by heart, and then I threw it in the fire.
+Instead of asking at once for a passport to Genoa or Leghorn, as I had
+at first intended, I asked for a passport to Milan. There was a
+General officer then residing in that city whom I knew; and I thought
+that if the Police were to question me, I might then declare that I
+was going to Milan in order to settle my accounts with my friend the
+General, he being in my debt for money which I had advanced to him.
+
+Having thus settled my plan, I went on to the "prefecture de police."
+Whilst I was stepping across the threshold of the door, my heart began
+to beat so violently that I could hardly move or breathe. If at that
+instant any body had cried out to me, "Rascal, what are you about?" I
+think I should have dropped, and that I should have let out the whole
+secret. It must not be thought that my confusion arose from cowardly
+fear; no, it was the impression which every honest man ought to feel,
+when, for the first time in his life, he commits an action which he is
+under the necessity of concealing.
+
+In a few minutes I came to myself again. In I went, and presented
+myself boldly to Monsieur Riviere, the Prefect of Police. He
+cross-questioned me at full length, but my answers were clear and
+firm. My countenance was unabashed, and appeared to preclude all
+suspicion, and he granted my passport. Yet, at all events, I thought
+it prudent to ascertain whether I was watched, and to my great
+surprise I found that during two days I was closely followed. I did
+not give any token by which my spy could ascertain that I was aware of
+his company, and, in order to mislead him, I went to the
+_messageries_, where I took and paid for a place in the Lyons
+diligence. But when night came I hired post-horses under a feigned
+name, and set off as fast as possible, and in a few days I was at
+Milan.
+
+My friend the General was absent: I wrote to him, and he hastened to
+meet me. I confessed that I intended to try to obtain employment under
+Napoleon.--"You won't get it," said he; "Napoleon has not ready money
+enough to pay his body guard. A good many of my old officers have
+joined him, and for themselves and their families they only receive
+fifty, or perhaps sixty francs a month. They are in a state of
+starvation and despair."--"No matter; I love the Emperor, and come
+what may, I will join him. Do tell me how I can soonest put to
+sea."--"The thing is not easy; there is no place from whence you can
+sail, except only from Leghorn or from Genoa; and those two points are
+under such close inspection, that you will be sure to be taken up, if
+you are known to be a Bonapartist. You might slip through with greater
+ease if you could pass for a tradesman of this town. I will try to get
+you a passport, but I am afraid it will be a difficult job."--"Besides,
+there is another difficulty, which is still greater; _ma foi_! I can't
+speak a dozen words of Italian."--"Is it possible?"--"Yes, I am in
+earnest."--"And you would venture on such a scheme! are you
+crazy?"--"Crazy or not, I will venture; but can I really embark no
+where but at Leghorn or Genoa?"--"There are very many small ports on
+the coast of Tuscany, but if you go to any of them you must stop till
+there is an opportunity of getting out; and in the mean time you would
+be under the _surveillance_ of the authorities, who are, one and all,
+exceedingly ill-disposed towards the Emperor and his people. Perhaps
+you might be able to embark immediately in the gulf of Spezzia at
+Lerici; but, in order to get there, you must go through Genoa, and
+along the shore; and then there is great reason to fear that you may
+be snapped either by the Piedmontese carabineers, or by the new consul
+at Genoa, who, according to what I hear, is quite outrageous. There is
+another road through the mountains of Spezzia, but it has not been
+used for a long time, and you would run the risk either of breaking
+your neck, or of being knocked on the head."--"No matter, if there is
+no danger in the victory there is no glory in the triumph. That road
+suits me; and to-morrow I will set out on my expedition."--"Is your
+passport all right?"--"I will go and get it marked for Lerici."--"Another
+piece of stupidity; don't you know that here you have to deal with our
+implacable enemies, the Austrians, who will raise all kinds of
+difficulties; but I know a Tedesco Colonel (in Italy an Austrian is
+called a Tedesco), who will probably be able to do the needful for us:
+we will ask him to come and dine with us. Business or quarrels can all
+be settled with these gentry when they are feeding."
+
+Our Tedesco Colonel really got my passport through the office. I left
+my "caleche" and my baggage at Milan, and the next day I started in a
+"seggiola," a kind of a little cabriolet, in which you drive along at
+an infernal rate. I travelled through cross roads till I came to the
+foot of the mountains. As it was impossible to ascend them in a
+wheeled carriage, I was compelled, though reluctantly, to separate
+myself from my "conducteur." I bought two horses, one for myself, and
+the other for my new guide; this new guide could not speak a word of
+French. I had taken care to provide myself with a pocket dictionary,
+French and Italian; but I was completely ignorant, or at least very
+nearly so, of the way either of pronouncing Italian words, or of
+arranging them; and thus our conversation was reduced on both sides to
+a few detached phrases, which were often mutually unintelligible.
+
+We set out at break of day. About noon the snow began to fall, and we
+had the greatest difficulty imaginable in reaching a hamlet, the name
+whereof I have forgotten. The next day the weather became still more
+wretched; my guide's horse foundered in the snow, and we lost two
+hours in hauling him out again. My guide was an Italian, and, like all
+Italians, he was full of superstition, and easily discouraged. He
+considered this accident as a bad omen, and he wanted to turn back; I
+could only conquer his repugnance by means of a double Napoleon d'or.
+Scarcely had I given it to him when I felt the extent of my
+imprudence; I was exciting his avarice, and perhaps exposing myself to
+become his victim. As we advanced, the road became worse and worse; at
+every step we encountered pits and holes, or the road was stopped by
+rocks which had fallen in, and which forced us to scramble through new
+paths. So much snow had fallen in the north of Italy, and particularly
+in the district which we were then crossing, that even the muleteers
+had deserted the mountains: and my guide, unable to discern the beaten
+road, was compelled to make a survey at every step, lest we should
+either lose ourselves, or else tumble down the precipices which
+bordered our road of danger. The next day we arrived at Borcetto; the
+perils which I had escaped taught me caution: I hired two more horses,
+and another guide; and for this addition to my train, I paid out of
+all reason. I then met with a custom-house officer, who either out of
+kindness, or for the purpose of alarming me, I know not which, warned
+me to be particularly on my guard in crossing "la Size," a very lofty
+and dangerous mountain, for he told me that it swarmed with robbers. I
+put fresh priming in my pistols; I turned up my eyes toward Heaven to
+implore its protection, and I set out. When we had proceeded half
+way up the mountain, I was accosted by a soldier, who compelled me to
+enter the guard-house, and to produce my passport. This post, which
+had been lately established for the security of travellers, was
+occupied by a subaltern and by six soldiers, who had all served in the
+imperial army. They guessed by my looks that I had seen some service,
+and, after a short conversation, they asked me to come in and warm
+myself by drinking the health of the Emperor Napoleon. I refused at
+first, lest I should be entrapped, but they insisted so frankly that I
+was compelled to yield. On taking leave I gave them a twenty-franc
+piece, in order to drink the health of Napoleon, and mine too; and I
+begged them to recommend my guides to take care of me. The commandant
+called the guides, and at the same time that he fired a volley of
+oaths and curses, he declared that if any accident happened to me, he
+would shoot them both on their return. My worthy military friends also
+escorted me during a considerable distance, and we separated with
+feelings which no one but a soldier can appreciate or understand.
+
+We were to sleep at Pontremoli. Our halt retarded us, and night
+overtook us. In order to shorten the distance, my guides led me by a
+broad path which wound round the side of the mountain. The descent
+was so steep that our horses came down every moment, and we ourselves
+were obliged to slide along. I found myself at the foot of the
+mountain in a spot which was so dark and dreary, that I fancied my
+guides had conducted me thither in order to dispatch me. After having
+groped along for some time, my guides stopped. The darkness and the
+snow concealed the face of the country to such a degree, that they did
+not know where they were, nor which way they ought to turn: their fear
+became excessive; they prayed to all the Saints in heaven in their
+turn: they shook each other by the hand, and embraced each other like
+sailors on the point of being shipwrecked. My _sang froid_ did not
+desert me; I took one of the horses which looked like an old roadster;
+I dropped the bridle on his neck, and gave him a sound cut with my
+whip; he started, I followed, and a few minutes afterwards, to the
+inexpressible surprise, and also to the inexpressible satisfaction of
+my guides, we found ourselves in the right road, and within half an
+hour's ride of Pontremoli, where we arrived towards midnight.
+
+From Pontremoli to Spezzia there was yet a journey of four-and-twenty
+hours; and four-and-twenty hours on such roads as I had gone over
+are equal to four-and-twenty centuries. But how great was my delight
+on quitting Pontremoli, when, instead of the frozen rocks and deserts,
+which I had crossed the eve before, I saw nothing as I looked around,
+but valleys clothed with verdure, and enamelled with flowers; and
+hills surrounded and crowned by evergreens and olive-trees. On the day
+before, winter reigned with all his severity; the day after exhibited
+spring with all her charms. This pleasing transition beguiled my
+impatience; and the agitations which had become habitual to my soul
+were succeeded by that happy tranquillity, which is inspired by the
+contemplation of the beauties and the gifts of nature.
+
+A few leagues beyond Pontremoli the road is interrupted by a deep and
+rapid stream. There is a ford across this torrent. It had scarcely
+been indicated to me by my guides, beyond whom I had advanced, when I
+dashed into the water; but instead of guiding my horse to the right
+(as I ought to have done), I took the opposite direction. My guides,
+who saw my mistake, screamed out in Italian, "fermate, fermate!" which
+means, "stop, stop!" I thought it meant "firm, firm!" so I whipped and
+spurred my horse with all my might; he lost his footing, and I
+narrowly escaped drowning. When I reached the opposite shore my
+guides treated me with a sermon, which I dare say was very energetic,
+and in which the "Devil and the Frenchman" appeared to be the leading
+actors.
+
+I arrived on the **** at Lerici. I rejoiced when I saw the sea before
+me, when I saw the last obstacle which was interposed between the
+fulfilment of my hopes and the termination of my labours. But
+unhappily my joy was of short duration; in the course of the night I
+was attacked by an oppression on my chest, accompanied by a burning
+fever: this was the result of the cold bath which I had taken in the
+river. My mental sufferings were severe: I thought to myself, if I
+should be so unlucky as to get an inflammation on my lungs, what will
+become of me here without help, without friends, and in a strange
+land? Ah, my beloved country! ah, my dear mother! have I left you
+both, in order to perish in the arms of hirelings and of strangers!
+Have I only reached the long wished-for shores of Spezzia but to
+experience the grief of not being able to sail from them! Ah, if I
+could but have reached the Emperor, if I could but have spoken to him,
+if I could but have expired at his feet, then I should not have
+regretted life! My devoted attachment would have been known; my memory
+honoured; my name, linked to the destiny of the Emperor, would,
+perhaps, have descended with his unto posterity.... I sent for a
+doctor: by singular good fortune, the medical man who came to attend
+me was a retired army surgeon, a worthy man, and a great admirer of
+the French. When I was quite out of danger, he expressed a wish to
+know the motives which had induced me to cross the mountains to
+Lerici: and he gave me to understand that he guessed my views. A man
+who speaks is always liable to less suspicion than a man who says
+nothing; I therefore thought it right to allay the doctor's curiosity.
+After exhorting him to secrecy, and making a great mystery of the
+matter, I confessed that I was a Colonel in the French army, and that
+an officer who held a high rank in the service of Napoleon had married
+my sister. My sister, I proceeded to state, was so afflicted and
+broken down by the expatriation of her husband, that her medical
+attendants had declared her life to be in the greatest danger. My
+sister's illness, and the care of her four small children, prevented
+her from rejoining her husband; and therefore, in order to restore
+health and happiness to my poor dear sister, I had determined to go to
+Elba, for the purpose of reminding my brother-in-law of the duty which
+he owed to his wife and children, and that I hoped to be able to
+induce him to return to France, at least for a short time.
+
+I took care to diversify my romance with sighs and sentimental
+reflections, and it appeared to affect him exceedingly. He condoled
+with me, he tried to console me; he gave me the most flattering hopes,
+and he promised to serve me to the utmost of his power, and with all
+his heart and soul.
+
+As soon as I was in a state of convalescence, I became more ardent
+than before, in search of an immediate opportunity of embarking. My
+complaisant doctor introduced me to the captain of a running felucca,
+and I hired his vessel for a fortnight.
+
+The captain asked me for my passport, in order that he might receive
+his "_feuille de bord_" and his "_boletta_" from the port officer.
+This was in consequence of regulations of which I was wholly ignorant.
+The fact is, that no vessel can clear out of one port, or enter
+another, without a "_feuille de bord_," stating the complement of the
+crew, and the number of passengers; and a "_boletta_," or certificate,
+delivered by the health officers to each of the passengers and crew
+individually, stating that the bearer has not been attacked by any
+infectious disorder. These papers are only delivered on the
+production of the passports, to which they must correspond exactly. I
+did not expect this proceeding; my plans were all disorganized: my
+passport did not authorize me to embark; and I was afraid if I
+produced it, (for in such situations we are afraid of every thing),
+that difficulties might arise, and that they would refer to the Consul
+or his agents.
+
+The Captain guessed the cause of my uneasiness, and he offered to
+procure a passport and a _boletta_ under a feigned name. I refused: I
+thought it more advisable to run the risk of being punished as a
+Bonapartist than as an impostor. "Since you will not do so," said the
+captain, "there is but one course which you can pursue: you must get
+on board a boat, and pass for a common sailor. I will manage the
+business for you."--Some hours afterwards the captain came to me with
+a Gallo-Genoese sailor, who offered to take me, without any papers,
+wherever I wished to go. He added, that he had a relation who was a
+gunner on board the Inconstant, a brig belonging to Napoleon, and that
+he should be very glad to see him again. I judged that my design of
+going to Elba had got wind: I therefore determined, if possible, to
+depart that very night. It was therefore agreed that Salviti, so the
+sailor was called, should fetch me, and that we should put out to sea,
+however bad the weather might prove.
+
+Whilst these arrangements were going on my doctor paid me a visit. The
+doctor told me that the commandant of the town, whom he attended, was
+going to send a file of his carabineers to bring me before him in
+order to ascertain the reason of my arrival, and of my residence on
+the shores of the gulf. "I told him," continued the doctor, "that you
+are unwell, and that you are going to your family in Corsica, and that
+you intend to begin your voyage as soon as you are able to support the
+fatigue. I think I have made him easier, yet don't trust him: be off
+as quick as you can."--"I shall be off to-night; but as your
+commandant or his gensdarmes might take a fancy to lay hold of me
+between this and then, I therefore think it will be more prudent for
+me to go to him of my own accord, and to confirm the story which you
+have had the goodness to tell him." Accordingly I went immediately to
+the Commandant; and as the doctor had let me into the character of the
+man, I easily succeeded in pleasing and tranquillizing him. However,
+he made me promise that I would bring my passport to him to-morrow. I
+gave as many promises as he could wish. At midnight we set sail; and
+by break of day we had already lost sight of the gulf of Spezzia, and
+of the majestic scenery which surrounds it. The bark which carried me
+and all my fortunes was only a common boat with four oars and a lateen
+sail. The crew consisted of six men; Salviti could speak French, and
+he was a good-looking fellow: the countenances of the others displayed
+want and utter profligacy. They examined me with great curiosity, and
+they were constantly talking about me. Salviti interpreted their
+discourse. I gave them civil language. We even seek to please sailors
+when we are in need of their help[31]. I was sea-sick without
+intermission; and to complete my misfortunes I had omitted to furnish
+myself with provisions. I was therefore obliged to mess with my
+companions; and their food consisted of stinking salt fish, and
+chiefly of _bacalao_, or salt cod, which is eaten quite raw.
+
+                   [Footnote 31: On cherche a plaire meme a des
+                   matelots quand on a besoin d'eux.]
+
+The wind was against us, therefore we did not come in sight of the
+lighthouse of Leghorn until the morning of the second day. How can I
+express my surprise and anger when I saw that our vessel was making
+the mouth of the harbour! "Salviti, where are you taking me?"--"To
+Leghorn."--"I won't go to Leghorn," I exclaimed with a great oath. "It
+is not to Leghorn that you promised to take me."--Salviti answered,
+with confusion, that he was not the owner of the vessel, but that he
+hired it in partnership with the rest of the crew, that they were all
+smugglers, and that they were going to Leghorn for the purpose of
+arranging an expedition of consequence with other smugglers there.
+Their business would be soon settled, and then they would take me to
+Porto Ferrajo; and he declared that he gave his word of honour that he
+would do so, and that I might trust him.--"I will not agree to all
+this," I exclaimed, presenting my pistols to his breast: "Let us go
+straight on to Elba, or I will shoot you."--"Shoot away, if you like,
+but you will not do yourself much good: my companions will heave you
+into the sea, or else you will be guillotined at Leghorn." The
+coolness of the fellow completely disarmed me. "Well, then," said I,
+"swear that you will take me to-morrow to the isle of Elba."--"I have
+told you already that I am a scoundrel if I break my word." The
+sailors did not understand a word of our dialogue, nor could they
+make out what was the cause of my fury. One of them, who had deserted
+from the English navy, seized a big knife in the shape of a stiletto.
+The others seemed to wait the result, in order to throw themselves
+upon me. When this scene had finished, I endeavoured to bribe Salviti
+to turn back, but no; he had given his word of honour to go to
+Leghorn, and his word of honour was inviolable. Thus I was conducted
+against my will into the trap which I wished to avoid. I was worked up
+to the highest pitch of fury and vexation; I foamed with rage and
+despair. Thus, thought I, wringing my hands, these ruffians will
+deprive me of the reward which I was to obtain for my sufferings.
+Alas! the Emperor, the Emperor! so near him--under his eyes--at the
+moment that--"Rascal!" I cried out to Salviti, "I will follow you like
+your shadow, and sooner than allow myself to be arrested, I will blow
+out your brains!"--Salviti shrugged up his shoulders, and answered,
+"Well and good; but, in the mean time, strip, and dress yourself like
+a sailor."--"Why?"--"Why! why, because you have no passport, and they
+will lock you up."--I submitted to this new tribulation. One of the
+wretches pulled off a heavy jacket with a hood attached to it, in
+which I arrayed myself. A coloured handkerchief, all drenched with
+sweat and filthiness, was taken from the neck of another of them, and
+tied round mine. A third gave me his woollen cap; and in spite of my
+unavoidable disgust, I was compelled to draw it on my head down to my
+eyes. My beard, by good luck, did not disgrace my unshaved messmates,
+and in order that the colour of my hands might not betray me, I washed
+them in the bilge-water which stagnated beneath the flooring of our
+boat. More remained to be done: our "_feuille de bord_" stated that
+our crew consisted of six men: we were seven. It therefore, became
+necessary to hide one[32]. We chose him who was the shortest, and the
+most slender. He nestled at the end of the boat, and we covered him
+with some old mats and sailors' jackets. These preparations being
+terminated, I was told to seat myself in the place of a rower, and to
+take an oar in my hand; and at night-fall we came into the road of
+Leghorn.
+
+                   [Footnote 32: As only six were noted in the
+                   "_feuille de bord_" they took an extra sailor, in
+                   order that there might be six on board after my
+                   landing, otherwise, on landing, they would have
+                   been obliged to account for the sailor whom I
+                   represented.]
+
+Salviti presented his papers. The date was too old[33]. The officers
+raised objections: he lost his temper; and by way, both of punishment
+and precaution, we were ordered to submit to the lesser quarantine,
+that is to say, to remain prisoners in the roads during three days.
+
+                   [Footnote 33: The time required for sailing from
+                   one port to another is pretty well ascertained; if
+                   this period is exceeded, and no sufficient reason
+                   can be assigned for the delay, it is assumed that
+                   the vessel may have touched at some infected port;
+                   and, by excess of caution, they compel you to
+                   undergo the lesser quarantine. The lesser
+                   quarantine is also ordered as a punishment when the
+                   master of a vessel does not behave with due respect
+                   and submission to the health officers.]
+
+Salviti came with a sorrowful visage and announced this fresh
+misfortune; our vessel tacked about, and we reached our station of
+exile.
+
+On the morning of the third day Salviti informed me that, according to
+custom, they intended to put an "inspector of health" on board of our
+vessel, who would pass the night with us, in order to ascertain
+whether we were all well. From the person who had brought, or who,
+rather, had thrown us our provisions (for all contact is prohibited
+under pain of death), he had ascertained the name of our intended
+inspector. He was a gamester and a drunkard. Salviti procured cards
+and wine; and he assured me that he would manage the inspector in such
+a manner as to prevent his taking any notice of me.
+
+As for me, I was not as easy as Salviti. I was afraid lest the
+inspector might discover the sailor whom we had hidden, or that he
+might guess by my manner, my looks, and my awkwardness, that I was not
+really the character which I seemed to be. Besides, a single question
+would have ended the matter. I did not understand a single word of
+Italian, and I should have betrayed myself either by answering him, or
+by remaining silent. It came into my head to counterfeit deafness:
+this would excuse me from taking a part in the conversation: and to
+make believe that I had a wound in my hand: this would account for my
+inactivity, and prevent his observing how little I knew of my
+pretended occupation. I drew a few drops of blood, which I smeared
+upon some dirty rags, in which I wrapped my hand. Salviti explained my
+stratagem to my companions, and their loud peals of laughter explained
+to me that they approved of it. The inspector arrived. I kept myself
+to myself. Salviti acted his part admirably. So did I: and to my great
+delight the evening closed, and nothing disagreeable had happened.
+Until this night I had always slept separately from the rest on a
+tolerable mattress. But the inspector was now accommodated with my
+birth and my bed; and I was compelled to lie on the floor with the
+sailors; my head being placed even with the feet of my two next
+neighbours. The stench and closeness of the atmosphere of my den drove
+the blood into my head, and I thought I should have been suffocated.
+Early in the morning my companions began to eat and drink: I kept at a
+distance. "Come here, and eat," said Salviti.--"I can't."--"The
+inspector will fancy that you are ill, and that will be enough to give
+us another quarantine."--I ate. At ten o'clock the health-officers
+came near us; and as our inspector made a favourable report, we were
+allowed to enter the harbour. I remained on board with one of the
+crew, whom I kept as a hostage. The smugglers broke up their cabinet
+council about two o'clock; and at three o'clock we quitted our
+anchorage. A fair wind filled the sail, and I forgot all my sufferings
+and my dangers when I perceived the rock where I was to meet with
+Napoleon the Great.
+
+We entered the road of Porto Ferrajo[34], without any difficulty, at
+the moment when the cannon fired, announcing that the harbour was
+about to close. I heard the French drums sounding the roll: my heart
+beat high: I passed the night on the deck of the boat. Notwithstanding
+the joy which I felt at my arrival, I could not help indulging in a
+certain degree of melancholy, inspired, perhaps, by the silence of the
+night, and the aspect of the arid and gloomy mountains which
+surrounded me. Ah, how vain is human grandeur! thought I. The air of
+that sterile islet is breathed by that incomprehensible man who lately
+felt that he had not breathing room in Europe. It is in that humble
+hovel that he now dwells with his scanty train of faithful followers;
+He whom I have seen in the palace of the Caesars, receiving the homage
+and the worship of the most brilliant court in the world; He whom I
+have seen sitting covered, whilst eight Kings stood before him with
+their hats in their hands. It is over this little tribe alone, not
+exceeding the population of a village, that Napoleon the Great is now
+doomed to reign! Napoleon the Great! He who endowed the thrones of his
+allies with the leavings of his conquests--He who so long was the
+master and the terror of the universe!
+
+                   [Footnote 34: I had believed, according to the
+                   statements in the ministerial journals, that the
+                   sea was covered by French and English ships, by
+                   which all vessels and passengers, proceeding to the
+                   island, were intercepted. I did not meet with a
+                   single ship of this description. The ports were
+                   placed under a "surveillance," equally brutal and
+                   tyrannical, but the sea was free. All vessels went
+                   in and out of Porto Ferrajo without experiencing
+                   the slightest obstacle.]
+
+The sun rose, and put an end to my musings. My joy was inexpressible
+when I recognized on the ramparts those old grenadiers whom I had so
+often admired and honoured on the field of battle.
+
+I jumped on shore, and I rushed into the nearest inn for the purpose
+of putting off my sailor's dress, and then flying to the palace of
+Napoleon. But I had been watched and followed: and the functionaries
+despatched by general Cambronne, the Commandant of the town,
+immediately appeared to secure me. I tranquillized them, and they
+accompanied me to the town-house, where General Bertrand then lodged.
+I sent in my name, and the General came out. "Sir, do you come from
+France?"--"Yes, Monsieur le Marechal."--"What do you want here?"--"I
+wish to see the Emperor, and to solicit employment."--"Does the
+Emperor know you?"--"Yes, Sir, and M. X*** has also given me the
+means of proving to the Emperor that I am not unworthy of his
+goodness."--"Do you bring us any news from France?"--"I do, Monsieur
+le Marechal; and I think that the intelligence which I bring is
+good."--"Well, Heaven hears you; as for us, we are so wretched--I am
+dying with impatience to have a talk with you about France; but I must
+inform the Emperor of your arrival. Perhaps he may not be able to see
+you immediately. To-day the English corvette[35] is here, and those
+people are suspicious of every thing: is it publicly known who you
+are?"--"It is known that I am a French officer."--"So much the worse;
+hide your decorations, hold your tongue, and remain within doors and
+rest yourself at your inn. I will send for you."--Half an hour
+afterwards the Marshal desired me to proceed as quickly as possible to
+the Emperor's garden-gate: the Emperor, would come there, and speak to
+me without appearing to know me. I went accordingly: the Emperor,
+according to his custom, was walking with his hands behind his back.
+He passed several times before me without lifting up his eyes; at last
+he looked at me: he stopped, and asked me in Italian what countryman
+I was. I answered in French that I was a Parisian; that business had
+called me to Italy; and that I could not resist the desire of seeing
+my old sovereign.--"Well, Sir, talk to me about Paris and
+France;"--and as he finished these words he began to walk again. I
+accompanied him; and after he had put several indifferent questions to
+me aloud, he desired me to enter his apartments: he then ordered
+Bertrand and Drouot to retire, and forced me to sit down by his side.
+Napoleon began in a reserved and absent manner: "The grand Marshal
+tells me that you have just arrived from France."--"Yes, Sire."--"What
+do you want here?"--"Sire, I wish to offer my services to you; my
+conduct in 1814--" Napoleon interrupting me,--"Sir, I do not question
+but that you are a very good officer, however I have so many officers
+with me already, that it will be very difficult for me to assist you;
+yet we will see: it appears that you know M. X***."--"Yes,
+Sire."--"Has he sent a letter for me by you?"--"No, Sire."--Napoleon,
+interrupting me, "I see he forgets me just like the rest; since I have
+been here, I have not heard a word of him or of any body."--I
+interrupted the Emperor in my turn, "Sire, he has never ceased to
+entertain those sentiments of devotion and attachment towards your
+Majesty which are still cherished by all true Frenchmen; and--"
+Napoleon, with disdain; "What, do they still think of me in
+France?"--"Never will they forget you."--"Never! that is a strong
+expression; the French have another Sovereign, and they are commanded
+both by their duty and their tranquillity to think on him alone." This
+answer did not please me: the Emperor, thought I to myself, is out of
+humour because I have not brought him any letters; he mistrusts me: it
+was not worth while to come so far for the sake of such an ungracious
+reception.--Napoleon, continuing, "What do they think about me in
+France?"--"There, your Majesty is universally deplored and
+regretted."--"Yes, and there, also, they manufacture all sorts of lies
+concerning me. Sometimes they say that I am mad, sometimes that I am
+ill, and you may see (here the Emperor looked at his _embonpoint_), if
+I look like an ailing man. It is also given out that they intend to
+transport me either to St. Helena or to Malta. I would not advise them
+to try. I have provisions for six months, and brave followers to
+defend me: but I cannot think that Europe will be so dishonourable as
+to rise in arms against a single man, who has neither the power nor
+the inclination of hurting others. The emperor Alexander has too much
+love for posterity to lend himself to such a crime. They have
+guaranteed the sovereignty of the isle of Elba to me by a solemn
+treaty. Here I am in my own home; and as long as I do not go out to
+pick a quarrel with my neighbours, they have no right to come and
+disturb me ... have you served in the grand army?"--"Yes, Sire, I had
+the felicity of distinguishing myself under your Majesty's eyes in the
+plains of Champagne; your Majesty appeared to take such particular
+notice of me, that I had dared to hope that your Majesty would
+recollect me."--"Why, yes; I thought, somehow, that I knew your face
+when I saw you, but I have only a confused recollection of you."--Poor
+mortals! thought I to myself, go and expose your lives for the sake of
+Kings, go and sacrifice your youth, your repose, your happiness for
+their sake!--"In what affairs have you distinguished yourself?"--"Sire,
+at *****, and at ***** Marshal Ney there presented me to your majesty,
+saying, 'Sire, here is the intrepid S.... P..... of whom I have spoken
+to your Majesty.'"--"Ah! ah! I really do recollect--yes, I was very
+well pleased indeed, with your behaviour at **** and at ****; you
+showed much resolution, much strength of character. Did I not
+'decorate' you on the field of battle?"--"Yes, Sire."--Napoleon, with
+greater warmth and confidence, "_Eh bien!_ how are they all treated in
+France by the Bourbons?"--"Sire, the Bourbons have not realized the
+expectations of the French, and the number of malcontents increases
+every day."--Napoleon, sharply; "So much the worse, so much the worse:
+but how, has not X. sent me any letters?"--"No, Sire; he was afraid
+lest they might be taken from me; and as he thought that your Majesty,
+being now compelled to be vigilant, and to distrust all the world,
+might distrust me also, he has revealed several circumstances to me,
+which are only known to your Majesty and to himself; thus enabling me
+to give a proof that I am worthy of your Majesty's confidence."--"Let
+us hear them." I began my detail, but he exclaimed, without allowing
+me to finish, "that's enough; why did you not begin by telling me all
+that? there is half an hour that we have lost." This storm[36]
+disconcerted me. He perceived my confusion, and resumed his discourse
+with mildness.--"Come, make yourself easy, and repeat to me, with the
+greatest minuteness, all that has passed between you and X****." I
+then related the circumstances which had induced me to have an
+interview with Monsieur X****. I repeated our conversation word for
+word. I gave him a complete account of all the faults and excesses of
+the royal government; and I was going to draw the inferences which had
+occurred to Monsieur X**** and me. But the Emperor, who, when he was
+affected, was incapable of listening to any recital without
+interrupting it, and making his comments at every moment, stopped my
+mouth. "I thought so, too," said he, "when I abdicated, that the
+Bourbons, instructed and disciplined by adversity, would not fall
+again into the errors which ruined them in 1789. I thought that the
+King would govern you '_en bon homme_.' This was the only way by which
+he could obtain a pardon from you, for having been put upon you by
+foreigners. But since they have stepped into France, they have done
+nothing but acts of madness. Their treaty of the twenty-third of
+April," (raising his voice,) "has made me deeply indignant: with one
+stroke of the pen they have robbed France of Belgium, and of all the
+territory acquired since the revolution. They have deprived the nation
+of its docks, its arsenals, its fleets, its artillery, and the immense
+_materiel_ which I had collected in the fortresses and the ports which
+they have ceded. Talleyrand has led them into this infamous business:
+he must have been bribed. Peace is easy upon such terms. If, like
+them, I had consented to the ruin of France, they would not now be on
+my throne:" (with energy,) "I would sooner have cut off my right hand.
+I preferred renouncing my throne rather than to retain it by staining
+my glory, and the honour of the French nation.... A degraded crown is
+an intolerable burthen. My enemies have published everywhere, that I
+obstinately refused to make peace. They have represented me as a
+wretched madman, eager only for blood and carnage: this language
+answered their turn. When you wish to hang your dog, you give out
+that he is mad: _Quand on veut tuer son chien, il faut bien faire
+accroire qu'il est enrage._ But Europe shall know the truth: I will
+let the world know all that was said and done at Chatillon. I will
+unmask the Austrians, the Russians, and the English with a powerful
+hand. Europe shall judge: Europe shall say who was the rogue, and who
+was wishing to shed human blood. If I had been mad for war, I might
+have retired with my army beyond the Loire, and I might have enjoyed
+mountain warfare to my heart's content. I would not; I was tired of
+carnage ... my name, and the brave fellows who remained faithful to
+me, yet made the allies tremble, even in my capital. They offered
+Italy to me as the price of my abdication: I refused it. After once
+reigning over France, one ought not to reign anywhere else. I chose
+the isle of Elba. They were too happy to give Elba to me. This
+position suited me. I can watch France and the Bourbons. All that I
+have done has been only for France. It is for her sake and not for
+mine that I wished to render her the first nation in the universe. My
+glory is made for myself[37] *******. If I had only thought of
+myself, I would have returned to a private station, but it was my duty
+to retain the imperial title for my family and my son.... Next to
+France, my son is the dearest object in the world to me."
+
+                   [Footnote 35: The corvette commanded by Captain
+                   Campbell.]
+
+                   [Footnote 36: Napoleon usually liked to intimidate
+                   and disconcert those who approached him. Sometimes
+                   he feigned that he could not hear you, and then he
+                   would make you repeat in a very loud tone what he
+                   had heard perfectly well before. However, he was
+                   really deaf in a slight degree. At other times he
+                   would overwhelm you with such rapid and abrupt
+                   interrogatories, that you had not time to
+                   understand him, and were compelled to give your
+                   answers in confusion. He used then to laugh at your
+                   embarrassment; and when he had driven you out of
+                   your presence of mind and confidence, he amused
+                   himself at your expense.--_Note of the author of
+                   the work._]
+
+                   [Footnote 37: "Ma gloire est faite a moi. _Mon nom
+                   vivra autant que celui de Dieu!!!_"]
+
+During the whole of this discourse, the Emperor continued striding up
+and down, and appeared violently agitated. He paused a little while,
+and then he began again. "They (i.e. the emigrants) know too well that
+I am here, and they would like to assassinate me. I discover new
+plots, new snares every day. They have sent to Corsica one of the
+assassins of Georges, a wretch whom the English journals themselves
+have pointed out to Europe as a blood-thirsty assassin; but let us be
+on the alert. If he misses me, I won't miss him. I shall send my
+grenadiers after him, and he shall be shot as an example to others."
+
+After a few moments of silence, he said, "Do my generals go to court?
+they must cut a sad figure there." I waited for the end of this
+digression, in order to resume the thread of my discourse. As I was
+convinced that I could not possibly lead the conversation, I resolved
+to let the Emperor have it according to his own way, and I answered,
+"Yes, Sire, and they are furious to see themselves superseded in
+favour by emigrants who have never heard the sound of a cannon."--"The
+emigrants will never alter. As long as they were only required to
+dance attendance in my anti-chamber, I had more than enough of them.
+When it was necessary to show any heart, they slunk away like.... I
+committed a great error, when I recalled that anti-national race into
+France. If it had not been for me, they would have died of starvation
+abroad; but then I had great motives. I wanted to reconcile Europe to
+us, and to close the revolution.... What do my soldiers say about
+me?"--"The soldiers, Sire, talk constantly about your immortal
+victories. They never pronounce your name but with respect,
+admiration, and grief. When the Princes give money to the soldiers,
+they drink it out to your health, and when they are forced to cry
+_Vive le Roi!_ they add in a whisper, _de Rome_."--"And so they still
+love me?" (smiling.)--"Yes, Sire, and I may even venture to say, more
+than ever."--"What do they say about our misfortunes?"--"They consider
+them as the effect of treachery; and they constantly repeat, that they
+never would have been conquered, if they had not been sold to their
+enemies. They are particularly indignant with respect to the
+capitulation of Paris."--"They are right: had it not been for the
+infamous defection of the Duke of Ragusa, the allies would have been
+lost. I was master of their rear, and of all their resources; not a
+man would have escaped. They too would have had their twenty-ninth
+bulletin. Marmont is a wretch; he has ruined his country, and
+delivered up his sovereign. His convention with Schwartzenburg would
+alone suffice to dishonour him. If he had not known when he
+surrendered, that he compromised my person and my army, he would not
+have found it necessary to make stipulations in favour of my liberty
+and life. This piece of treachery is not the only one. He has
+intrigued with Talleyrand to take the regency from the Empress, and
+the crown from my son. Caulincourt, Macdonald, and the rest of the
+marshals, have been cheated and gulled by him in the most shameful
+manner. All his blood would not be sufficient to expiate the harm
+which he has done to France.... I will devote his name to the
+execration of posterity. I am glad to learn that my soldiers retain
+the feeling of their superiority, and that they attribute our great
+misfortunes to the right authors. I collect with great pleasure, from
+the intelligence which you have brought, that the opinion which I had
+formed respecting the situation of France, is correct. The family of
+the Bourbons is not fit to reign. Their government may be good for
+priests, nobles, and old fashioned countesses: it is good for nothing
+for the present generation. The revolution has taught the people to
+know their rank in the state. They will never consent to fall back
+into their former nullity, and to be tied up by the nobility and the
+clergy. The army can never belong to the Bourbons. Our victories and
+our misfortunes have established an indissoluble tie between the army
+and myself. It is only through me that the soldiers can earn
+vengeance, power, and glory. From the Bourbons they can get nothing
+but insults and blows. Kings can only retain their power by the love
+of their subjects or by fear. The Bourbons are neither loved nor
+feared. At last they will throw themselves off their throne; but they
+may yet retain their position for a long time. Frenchmen do not know
+how to conspire."
+
+In pronouncing these words, the Emperor continued walking hastily, and
+using many gestures. He rather appeared to be soliloquizing than
+addressing any one else; he then continued, looking at me aside, "Does
+M. X*** think that those people can stand much longer?"--"His opinion
+on this point is exactly conformable to the general opinion; that is
+to say, it is now the general impression and conviction, that the
+government is hastening to its fall. The priests and the emigrants are
+its only partisans; every man of patriotism or soul is its
+enemy."--Napoleon (with energy), "Yes, all men in whose veins any
+national blood is flowing must be its enemies; but how will all this
+end? Is it thought that there will be a new revolution?"--"Sire,
+discontent and irritation prevail to such an extent, that the
+slightest partial effervescence would inevitably cause a general
+insurrection, and nobody would be surprised if it were to take place
+to-morrow."--"But what would you do were you to expel the Bourbons:
+would you re-establish the republic?"--"The republic, Sire! nobody
+thinks about it; perhaps they would create a regency."--Napoleon (with
+vehemence and surprise), "A regency! And wherefore? am I dead?"--"But
+your absence...."--"My absence makes no difference. In a couple of
+days I would be back again in France, if the nation were to recal me.
+Do you think it would be well, if I were to return?" The Emperor
+turned away his eyes, and I could easily remark, that to this
+question he attached more importance than he cared to manifest, and
+that he expected my answer with anxiety. "Sire, I dare not personally
+attempt to answer such a question, but...."--Napoleon (abruptly),
+"That's not what I am asking you; answer yes or no."--"Why then,
+Sire,--yes."--Napoleon (with tenderness), "You really think
+so?"--"Yes, Sire, I am convinced, and so is M. X****, that the people
+and the army would receive you as their deliverer, and that your cause
+would be embraced with enthusiasm."--Napoleon (appearing agitated and
+impatient), "Then X*** advises me to return?"--"We had foreseen that
+your Majesty would make inquiries on this point, and the following is
+literally his answer. You will tell his Majesty that I would not dare
+to decide so important a question, but that he may consider it as a
+positive and incontrovertible fact, that our present government has
+wholly lost the confidence of the people and of the army; that
+discontent has increased to the highest pitch, and that it is
+impossible to believe that the government can stand much longer
+against the universal dislike. You will add, that the Emperor is the
+only object of the regret and hope of the nation. He, in his wisdom,
+will decide what he ought to do."
+
+The Emperor became silent and pensive; and, after a long meditation,
+he said, "I will reflect upon it; I will keep you with me. Come here
+to-morrow at eleven o'clock."
+
+On leaving the Emperor, I met the Grand Marshal, who said, "the
+Emperor has detained you a long time. I am in terror lest this
+interview should have been noticed. We are surrounded by English
+spies. The slightest indiscretion might cost us dear. I do not ask you
+to relate to me any thing which was reserved for the Emperor; but if,
+without violating your duty, you could give me any details relating to
+France, you would be doing me a great favour. We hear nothing of what
+is going forward, except from the journals and a few commercial
+travellers; and the intelligence which we thus obtain is so trifling
+and so contradictory, that we do not know what to make of it."--"I can
+satisfy you, Monsieur le Marechal, and without acting indiscreetly:
+what I have told to the Emperor is known to all France. Discontent is
+at its greatest height, and the royal government is on its last
+legs."--"I cannot tell what futurity promises to us; but whatever our
+fate may be, we cannot be worse off than we are at present. Our
+resources are dwindling away daily; we are becoming home-sick. If we
+were not a little upheld by hope, I really do not know what would
+become of us. Has the Emperor allowed you to remain with us?"--"Yes,
+Monsieur le Marechal."--"I give you joy, but I pity you. There is no
+happiness out of one's own country. I do not regret having followed
+the Emperor--this step was dictated to me by my duty and my gratitude;
+but I regret France, like an infant who has lost its mother; like a
+lover who has lost his mistress." The Grand Marshal's eyes were filled
+with tears; he pressed my hand affectionately, and then said, "Come
+and breakfast with us to-morrow morning. I will introduce you to my
+wife; it will be as good as a fete to her when she has an opportunity
+of receiving a Frenchman, and above all, a true Frenchman."
+
+It was soon known all over the town, that a Frenchman had arrived from
+the continent. My inn was besieged by a crowd of officers and
+grenadiers, who overwhelmed me with inquiries after their friends and
+relations. They seemed to think that I must be acquainted with every
+living creature in France. Many inquired respecting the state of
+public affairs. I evaded their interrogatories, by declaring that I
+had quitted France five months since.
+
+I waited on the Grand Marshal according to his invitation. He resided
+in one wing of the building occupied by the municipality. In his
+apartment, there was hardly any thing to be seen except the four
+walls. He took notice that I was surveying its appearance.--"You are
+contemplating our misery," said he: "Perhaps it contrasts itself with
+the opinion which you may have formed respecting our situation. It is
+supposed throughout Europe, that the Emperor carried off immense
+treasures; but his camp-plate, his camp bed, and a few broken down
+horses, are the only objects which he has preserved, or which he
+wished to preserve. Like Saladin, he could cause an outcry to be made
+at his door, whilst he exposes our tatters,--behold all that Napoleon
+the Great, the conqueror of the universe, has retained from his
+conquests!"
+
+The General was as good as his word: he introduced me to Madame la
+Marechale. I was enchanted by her manners and her amiability. Our
+conversation turned upon France and the Isle of Elba, the present and
+the future; and on quitting Madame Bertrand, I did not know what I
+ought most to admire--the lively graces of her mind, or the dignity
+and energy of her character.
+
+At eleven o'clock I attended, to present myself to the Emperor. They
+made me wait in his saloon on the ground floor. The striped silk
+hangings were half worn out and faded; the carpet was threadbare, and
+patched in several places; a few shabby arm chairs completed the
+furniture of the apartment. I thought upon the splendour of the
+imperial palaces, and I drew a deep and melancholy sigh. The Emperor
+arrived: he had assumed a degree of calmness in his manner, which was
+belied by his eyes. It was easy to see that he had been violently
+agitated. "Sir," said he, "I declared to you yesterday, that I
+retained you in my service. I repeat the same to you to-day. From this
+instant you belong to me, and I hope you will fulfil your duties
+towards me like a good and faithful subject: you swear that you
+will--is it not so?"--"Yes, Sire, I swear."--"That's right." After a
+pause, "I had foreseen the crisis to which France would come, but I
+did not think that things were so ripe. It was my intention not to
+interfere any longer in political affairs. The intelligence which you
+have brought to me has changed my resolutions. I have caused the
+misfortunes of France; therefore I must remove them: but before I
+commit myself, I wish to have a thorough knowledge of the state of
+our affairs. Sit down: repeat to me all that you told me yesterday; I
+like to hear you."
+
+Re-assured by these words, and by a look full of kindness and
+benignity, I abandoned myself without reserve to all the inspirations
+of my heart and soul. The picture which I drew of the sufferings and
+hopes of the nation, which I presented to the Emperor, was so touching
+and so animated, that he was astonished. "You are a noble young
+fellow," said he, "you have truly the soul of a Frenchman; but are you
+not carried away by your imagination?"--"No, Sire; the recital which I
+have made to your Majesty is quite faithful. I may have expressed
+myself with warmth, because I cannot express my feelings otherwise;
+but all that I have told you is exact and true. Under such important
+circumstances, I should have thought it a crime to substitute the
+inspirations of my imagination in the place of truth."--"You therefore
+think that France awaits her redemption from me; that I shall be
+received as a deliverer."--"Yes, Sire; I will even say more: the royal
+government is so exceedingly hateful and disgusting to the French, the
+government weighs so very heavily on the nation and the army, that not
+only your Majesty, but any body else who would endeavour to liberate
+the French would find them disposed to second him."--Napoleon (with
+dignity): "Repeat that to me again."--"Yes, Sire, I do repeat it. The
+French are so wearied, and degraded, and incensed, by the
+anti-national yoke of the emigrants and the priests, that they are
+ready to join any one who will promise to deliver them."--"But if I
+were to disembark in France, is there not reason to fear that the
+patriots may be massacred by the emigrants and the chouans?"--"No,
+Sire, I do not think so; we are the most numerous and the bravest
+party."--"Yes, but they may heap you in the prisons, and cut your
+throats."--"Sire, the people will not let them do that."--"I hope you
+may not be deceived; to be sure, I shall get to Paris so speedily,
+that they won't have time to consider where they are to hide their
+heads. I shall be there as soon as the news of my disembarkation....
+Yes," the Emperor continued, after taking a few steps, "I have
+resolved.... It was I who gave the Bourbons to France, and it is I who
+must rid France of them.... I will set off.... The enterprise is vast,
+it is difficult, it is dangerous, but it is not beyond me. On great
+occasions fortune has never abandoned me.... I shall set off, but not
+alone; I won't run the risk of allowing myself to be collared by the
+gensdarmes. I will depart with my sword, my Polanders, my grenadiers
+... all France is on my side. I belong to France; and for her I will
+sacrifice my repose, my blood, my life, with the greatest joy." After
+this speech, the Emperor stopped; his eyes sparkled with hope and
+genius: his attitude announced energy, confidence, victory; he was
+grand, he was beautiful, he was adorable!--he resumed his discourse,
+and said, "Do you think that they will dare to wait for me?"--"No,
+Sire."--"I don't think so, either: they will quake when they hear the
+thunder of my name; and they will know that they can only escape me by
+a speedy flight. But what will be the conduct of the national guards?
+Do you think they will fight for them?"--"I think, Sire, that the
+national guards will remain neutral."--"Even that's a great deal; as
+to their 'gardes du corps,' and their red regiments, I am not afraid
+of them: they are either old men or boys: they will be frightened by
+the mustachios of my grenadiers. I will make my grenadiers hoist the
+national flag;" lifting up his voice and his hand: "I will appeal to
+my old soldiers; I will speak to them. None of them will refuse to
+hear the voice of their old general.... It is certain that the
+soldiers cannot hesitate to choose between the white flag and the
+tricoloured flag; between me, by whom they have been covered with
+rewards and glory, and the Bourbons, who wish to dishonour them....
+And the Marshals, what will they do?"--"The Marshals, who are full of
+money and titles, have nothing to wish for but repose. They would fear
+to compromise their existence by embracing a doubtful party; and
+perhaps they will continue merely spectators of the crisis. Perhaps
+even the fear lest your Majesty may possibly punish them for their
+defection or treason in 1814 may induce them to adhere to the
+king."--"I will punish no one. Do you take me rightly? Tell M. ****
+clearly, that I will forget every thing. We have all reason to
+reproach each other."--"Sire, I will tell him so with the greatest
+joy. This assurance will completely gain all opinions over to your
+side; because even amongst your partisans there are men who dread your
+return; lest you should revenge yourself."--"Yes, I know that it is
+thought that I am revengeful, and even sanguinary; that I am
+considered as a kind of ogre, as a man-eater. They are mistaken: I
+will make every one do his duty, and I will be obeyed; and that's
+all. A weak sovereign is a calamity to his subjects. If he allows
+criminals and traitors to fancy that he does not know how to punish,
+there is no longer any security either for the state or for
+individuals. More crimes are prevented than repressed by severity. A
+sovereign must govern by his head, and not by his heart. Yet, tell
+X*** that I except Talleyrand, Augereau, and the Duke of Ragusa, out
+of the general pardon. They caused all our misfortunes. The country
+must be revenged."--"But why exclude them, Sire? Is there not reason
+to fear that this exclusion may deprive you of the fruits of your
+clemency, and may even raise doubts as to your sincerity in
+future?"--"It would be much more exposed to doubt were I to pardon
+them."--"But, Sire...."--"Don't you trouble your head about it ...
+what is the strength of the army?"--"Sire, I do not know; I only know
+that it has been much weakened by desertion and by discharges, and
+that few of the regiments consist of more than three hundred
+men."--"So much the better; those who are good for nothing have
+probably left the army; the good soldiers will have remained. Do you
+know the names of the officers who command the maritime districts, and
+the eighth division?"--"No, Sire."--Napoleon (out of temper), "Why
+did not X*** give you that information?"--"Sire, both M. X*** and
+myself were far from supposing that your Majesty would immediately
+embrace the glorious resolution of re-appearing in France; besides
+which, he might believe, according to the common report, that your
+agents did not allow you to remain in ignorance of any circumstance
+which might interest you."--"I do know that the newspapers gave out
+that I had agents.... It is an idle story. It is true that I sent some
+of my people to France, in order to learn what was going on; but they
+stole my money, and only treated me with the gabble of the canaille.
+C**** has been to see me, but he knew nothing. You are the first
+person from whom I have ascertained the situation of France and the
+Bourbons under all its extensive bearings. Had it not been for you, I
+should never have known that the hour of my return had struck. Had it
+not been for you, they would have left me here to dig in my garden. I
+have received--I do not exactly know from what quarter--the
+description of certain assassins, hired against me; and one or two
+anonymous letters besides--all from the same hand, in which I was told
+to remain quiet, that the embroideries were coming into fashion, and
+other nonsense in the same style; but that's all. It is not upon such
+data that one is induced to attempt a crash. But how do you think
+foreigners will like my return: there is the great question?"--"Foreign
+nations, Sire, have been compelled to confederate against us in order
+to protect themselves; allow me to say it...."--"Speak out, speak
+out."--"In order to protect themselves against the effects of your
+ambition, and the abuse of your strength. Now that Europe has
+recovered her independence, and that France has ceased to be
+dangerous, foreign powers will probably be unwilling to run the risk
+of a new war, which may end by restoring to us that ascendancy which
+we have lost."--"If the allied sovereigns were at home in their
+capitals they would certainly consider the matter twice before they
+would take the field again; but they are yet face to face; and it is
+to be feared that war may become an affair of vanity. Do you think it
+is true that they are on ill terms with each other?"--"Yes, Sire, it
+appears that discord reigns in the congress; that each of the great
+powers wishes to seize the largest share of the booty."--"It appears,
+also, that their subjects are discontented: is it not so?"--"Yes,
+Sire; kings and people, every thing seems to unite in our favour. The
+Saxons, the Genoese, the Belgians, the inhabitants of the banks of the
+Rhine, the Polanders, all refuse the new sovereigns to whom they are
+to be given. Italy, tired of the avarice and the grossness of the
+Austrians, pants for the moment of withdrawing from their sovereignty.
+Experience has taught the King of Naples that you are his surest
+protector, and he will assist the rising of the Italians whenever you
+wish it. The princes of the confederation of the Rhine, warned by the
+example of Saxony, will become the allies of your majesty after the
+first victory. Prussia and Russia will sit quiet, if you will only
+allow them to retain their new acquisitions. The Emperor of Austria,
+who has every thing to fear from Russia and Prussia, and nothing to
+hope for from the King of France, will easily consent, if you only
+guarantee Italy to him, to allow you to do what you think best with
+the Bourbons. In short, all the powers of Europe, England only
+excepted, are more or less interested in not declaring themselves
+against you; and before England can have corrupted, or raised the
+continent, your Majesty will be so firmly fixed on the throne, that
+your Majesty's enemies may try in vain to make you totter."
+
+Napoleon (shaking his head), "All this is very fine; ... however, I
+consider it as certain, that the Kings who have fought against me are
+no longer guided by the same unity, the same views, the same
+interests. The Emperor Alexander must esteem me: he must be able to
+estimate the difference which exists between Louis XVIII. and myself.
+If he were to understand his policy rightly, he would rather see the
+French sceptre in the hands of a powerful sovereign, the relentless
+enemy of England, than in the hands of a weak sovereign, the friend
+and vassal of the Prince Regent. I would give him Poland, and a great
+deal more, if he wished it: he knows that I have been always more
+inclined to tolerate his ambition than to restrain it. If he had
+continued my friend and my ally, I would have made him greater than he
+ever will be now. Prussia, and the petty Kings of the Rhenish
+confederation, will follow the lot cast by Russia. If I had Russia on
+my side, she would secure me all the second-rate powers. As to the
+Austrians, I do not know what they would do: they have never treated
+me candidly. I suppose I could keep Austria in order by threatening to
+deprive her of Italy. Italy is yet very grateful to me, and much
+attached to me: if I were to ask that country for an hundred thousand
+men, and an hundred millions, I should have the men and the money. If
+they were to force me to make war, I could easily revolutionize the
+Italians; I would grant them whatever they might wish, independence or
+Eugene. Mejean and some others have done him harm, but, in spite of
+that, he is warmly loved, and highly esteemed: he deserves to be so;
+he has shown that he possesses a noble mind. Murat is ours. I have had
+great reason to complain of him. Since I have been here, he has wept
+for his errors, and has done his utmost to repair the injuries which
+he has inflicted upon me. He has regained my friendship and my
+confidence: his assistance, if I were engaged in war, would be very
+useful to me. He has little brains; he has nothing but hand and heart;
+but his wife would direct him. The Neapolitans like him tolerably
+well; and I have yet some good officers amongst them who would keep
+them in the right way. As to England, we should have shaken hands from
+Dover to Calais, if Mr. Fox had lived; but as long as that country
+continues to be governed by the principles and passions of Mr. Pitt,
+we must always be as hostile as fire and water.... From England I
+expect no quarter, no truce.... England knows that the instant I place
+my foot in France, her influence will be driven back across the seas
+... as long as I live I will wage a war of extermination against her
+maritime despotism. If the continental powers had seconded me; if they
+had not been afraid of me; if they had understood my ambition, their
+flags would have floated from the mast-head throughout the universe,
+and the world would have enjoyed peace. All things considered, foreign
+powers have great reasons to declare war against me; whilst there are
+also great reasons to induce them to remain at peace with me. It is to
+be feared, as I have already said to you, that they may turn the war
+into an affair of vanity, or that they make it a point of honour. On
+the other hand, it is possible that they may renounce their coalition,
+which has now no longer any object, in order to watch their subjects;
+preserving at the same time an armed neutrality, until I shall have
+given them sufficient guarantees.
+
+"Their determinations, whatever they may be, will not influence mine.
+France speaks, and that is sufficient for me. In 1814 I had to deal
+with all the powers in Europe, but they should not have laid down the
+law to me if France had not left me to wrestle alone, against the
+entire world. Now the French know my value; and, as they have regained
+their courage and their patriotism, they will triumph over the enemies
+who may attack them, just as they triumphed in the good days of the
+revolution. Experience has shown that armies cannot always save a
+nation; but a nation defended by the people is always invincible.
+
+"I have not settled the day of my departure: by deferring it I should
+have the advantage of allowing the Congress to run out; but then, on
+the other hand, I should run the risk of being kept here as a close
+prisoner by the vessels of the Bourbons and of the English, if, as
+every thing appears to indicate, there should be a rupture amongst
+foreign powers. Murat would lend me his navy if I wanted it; but if we
+do not succeed he would be compromised. We must not be anxious about
+all these matters: we must allow some room for destiny to come into
+play.
+
+"I think we have considered all the points upon which it was important
+that I should be settled, and that we should understand each other.
+France is tired of the Bourbons; she demands her former sovereign. The
+people and the army are for us: foreign powers will be silent. If they
+speak, we shall be able to reply: this, in short, is the state of the
+present time and of the future.
+
+"Depart. Tell X*** that you have seen me, and that I have determined
+to expose myself to every danger for the purpose of yielding to the
+prayers of France, and of ridding the nation of the Bourbons.... Say
+also that I shall leave this place with my guard, on the first of
+April--perhaps sooner. I pardon every thing. I will give to France and
+to Europe all the guarantees which can be expected or demanded of me.
+I have renounced all my plans of aggrandizement, and I wish to repair
+the evils which war has caused to us, by a permanent peace.
+
+"You will also tell X*** and the rest of my friends to nourish and
+strengthen the good disposition of the people and the army by all
+possible means. Explain to X*** that if the excesses of the Bourbons
+should hasten their fall, if the French should drive them out before
+my disembarkation, then I will not allow of a regency, or any thing in
+the shape of it; but let them establish a provisional government,
+composed of ... of ... of ... of ... and of.... Go, Sir, I hope that
+we shall soon meet again."--"Sire, where shall I land?"--"You must
+proceed to Naples; here is a passport of the island, and a letter for
+****. Pretend to place great trust in him, but do not trust him with
+any thing. You will give him a loose account of the French news; and
+you may tell him that I send you there to explore the soundings, and
+settle some concerns of moment. I have directed **** to furnish you
+with a passport, in order that you may be able to return to Paris
+without meeting with any obstacle or danger."--"Your Majesty has then
+determined to send me back to France?"--"It must absolutely be
+so."--"Your Majesty knows my attachment, and that I am ready to prove
+it in any way which may be required. But, Sire, deign to consider,
+both for your interest and for that of France, that my departure has
+been remarked, and that my return will excite still more notice, and
+that it may give rise to suspicion, and perhaps induce the Bourbons to
+put themselves on their guard, and cause them to watch the coasts and
+the island of Elba."--"Bah! do you suppose that fellows of the police
+know every thing, and can foresee every thing? More is invented than
+is discovered by the police. The agents of our police were decidedly
+as good as those of the present people, and yet they frequently knew
+nothing of what was going on but at the end of a week or a fortnight;
+and then they found it out only by chance, or incaution, or treason. I
+don't fear that any disclosures will be obtained from you by any of
+these means. You are clever and decided, and, if they were to work
+upon you, you would easily get clear. Besides, when you once arrive at
+Paris, don't show yourself; creep into a corner, and nobody will think
+of ferreting you out. I could certainly confide this mission to some
+of the people who are about me; but I do not wish to make any
+additional confidant: you are trusted by X***: I trust you; and, in
+one word, you are exactly the man whom I want. Your return is
+certainly exposed to objections, but they are as nothing when compared
+to its advantages. All that we have said about the Bourbons, and about
+France, and about myself, is mere talk, and talk won't overturn a
+throne. In order that my enterprise may not be rendered abortive, it
+must be seconded, and the patriots must prepare to attack the Bourbons
+on one side, whilst I shall occupy them on the other. And, above all,
+it is necessary that they should know that they may depend upon me;
+that they may know my sentiments, my views, and the resolution which I
+have made of submitting to every sacrifice, and exposing myself to
+every danger, for the purpose of saving the country."--The Emperor
+stopped to look at me. He certainly thought that I was one of those
+men who only appear reluctant to obey, in order to enhance the price
+of their services; so he said, "Money is always wanted in travelling;
+I will order them to pay you a thousand Louis, and then you may set
+off."--"A thousand Louis!" I exclaimed with indignation, "Sire, I must
+answer your Majesty in the words with which the soldier answered his
+general, 'These actions are not performed for pay.'"--"That's very
+right; I like to see pride."--"Sire, I am not proud, but I have a
+soul; and if I thought that your Majesty could believe that I embraced
+your Majesty's cause for the sake of filthy lucre, I should request
+your Majesty to cease to rely on my services."--"If I had believed
+that to be the case, I should not have trusted you. No person ever
+received a more honourable and splendid proof of my confidence, than
+that which I am now bestowing upon you, in deciding, merely on the
+strength of your word, to quit the isle of Elba, and in directing you,
+as my precursor, to announce my speedy arrival in France. But do not
+let us talk any more on that head; and tell me if you recollect fully
+all that I have told you."--"I have not lost one of your Majesty's
+expressions. They are all engraven on my memory."--"Then I have only
+to wish you a pleasant journey. I have directed that everything should
+be got ready for your departure.
+
+"This evening, at nine o'clock, you will find a guide and horses at
+the gate of the town: you will be taken to Porto Longone. The
+commandant has been authorised to furnish you with the necessary
+quarantine documents. He knows nothing; say nothing to him. At
+midnight a felucca will leave the port, by which you will reach
+Naples. I am sorry to have hurt your feelings by offering money to
+you, but I thought you might be in want of it. Adieu, Monsieur; be
+cautious. I hope we shall soon meet again, and I shall acknowledge, in
+a manner worthy of your merits, your exertions in favour of the
+country and of myself."
+
+Hardly had I gone down to the town, when he sent for me again. "I have
+considered," said he, "that it is desirable that I should know what
+regiments are stationed in the eighth and tenth military divisions,
+and the names of the commanding officers. You will take care to
+procure this information during your journey, and transmit it to me
+without the slightest delay. Write triplicates of your letters. Send
+one by way of Genoa, the second by Leghorn, and the third by Civita
+Vecchia. You will take care to write this name legibly, (here he gave
+me a memorandum containing the name of an inhabitant of the island).
+Fold your letters in a business-like way. In order that the secret of
+your correspondence may not be discovered, should any accident happen,
+you will put your intelligence in the shape of commercial
+transactions, and you will imitate the usual style of bankers. I will
+suppose, for example, that between Chambery and Lyon, going by the way
+of Grenoble, there are five regiments. You will write to me ... in my
+way I have seen the five merchants whom you mentioned; their views
+continue the same: your credit is increasing daily. The concern will
+turn out well ... do you understand me?"--"Yes, Sire; but how am I to
+send the names of the colonels and the generals in command?"--"Transpose
+the letters of their names, and nothing will be more easy. There is
+not a single colonel or general whom I do not know, and I shall soon
+be able to recompose their names."--"But, Sire, the anagrams which I
+shall make will perhaps be so uncouth, that it will be seen at the
+post-office, that the names are disguised on purpose."--"Do you think
+then, that they amuse themselves at the post-office by opening and
+reading all the letters of business which pass through? They could not
+get through them. I have attempted to unravel the correspondence
+carried on under the disguise of banking transactions, but I could
+never succeed. The post-office is like the police, only fools are
+caught; yet think of any other method: I shall have no objection."
+
+After I had considered a little while, I said to the Emperor, "Sire,
+there is a method which perhaps will do. Your majesty has the imperial
+calendar."--"Yes, sure."--"Well, Sire, the calendar contains the lists
+of the general officers and colonels of the army. Now, I will suppose,
+for example, that the regiment quartered at Chambery is commanded by
+Colonel Paul. I look into the calendar, and I find that Paul stands
+forty-seven in the list of colonels. I will also suppose that, between
+ourselves, 'bill of exchange' means 'colonel' or 'general.' Then I
+shall write to your Majesty, I have seen your correspondent at
+Chambery; he has paid me the amount of your bill of exchange, No. 47.
+Your Majesty will turn to your Majesty's calendar, and then your
+Majesty will see, that the 47th colonel who commands the regiment of
+Chambery, is called 'Paul.' And, lastly, in order that your Majesty
+may be able to tell when I speak of a colonel, a general, or a
+marshal, I shall take care to indicate the rank of the officer by one,
+two, or three dots, placed after the 'No.' The colonel will have one
+dot, No. .; the general two, No. .., &c."--"Very good, very good. Here
+is a calendar for you. Bertrand has one which I will take."
+
+The calendar given to me by the Emperor was richly bound, and stamped
+with the imperial arms. I tore off the binding. The Emperor kept
+walking up and down, and saying, as he laughed, "It is really
+excellent; they will never be able to see through it." When I had
+finished, he said, "One thought brings on another. I have asked myself
+how you would manage to write to me, if you should have any thing of
+unexpected importance to communicate. For instance, suppose any
+extraordinary event should make you think that my disembarkation ought
+to be accelerated or retarded; if the Bourbons were to be on their
+guard; in short, I know not what." He remained silent, and then began
+again. "I only know one way to provide for it: the confidence which I
+place in you ought to be unbounded. I will give you the key to a
+cipher which was composed for my use, in order that I might employ it
+in corresponding with my family under the most important
+circumstances. I need not tell you that you must keep it with care:
+always carry it about you, lest it should be lost: and if the smallest
+danger arises, burn it or tear it at the slightest suspicion. With
+this cipher you may write any thing to me which you like. I would
+rather that you should use it, than be under the necessity of coming
+back, or of sending any messenger to me. If they intercept a letter
+written in my cipher, it will take them three months to read it;
+whilst the capture of an agent might ruin all in an instant." He then
+went and looked out his cipher; he made me employ it under his eyes,
+and delivered it to me, exhorting me not to use it unless all other
+modes of communication should become insufficient.
+
+The Emperor continued, "I do not suppose that you will have occasion
+to return here before my departure, unless the sudden overthrow of our
+projects should force you to seek an asylum here. In such a case,
+apprise me of your intended return, and I will send for you to any
+place which you may name. But we must hope that victory will declare
+for us. She loves France.... You have not spoken to me about the
+affair of Excelmans: if such a thing had happened in my time, I should
+have thought myself lost: when the authority of the master is not
+recognised, all is over. The more I think upon the matter (here he
+displayed a sudden emotion), the more I am convinced that France is
+mine, and that the patriots and the army will receive me with open
+arms."--"Yes, Sire, I swear to you, upon my soul, the people and the
+army will declare for you as soon as they hear your name, as soon as
+they see the caps of your grenadiers."--"Provided the people do seek
+to do themselves justice before my arrival, a popular revolution would
+alarm foreign powers: they would dread the contagion of example. They
+know that royalty only hangs by a thread, that it does not agree with
+the ideas of the age; they would rather see me seize the throne, than
+allow the people to give it to me. They have re-established the
+Bourbons in order to convince the people that the rights of sovereigns
+are sacred and inviolable. They have blundered. They would have done
+more for the cause of legitimacy by leaving my son there, than by
+re-establishing Louis XVIII. My dynasty had been recognised by France
+and by Europe; it had been consecrated by the Pope. They ought to have
+respected it. By abusing the rights of victory, it was in their power
+to deprive me of the throne: but it was unjust, odious, impolitic, to
+punish the son on account of the wrongs of his father, and to deprive
+him of his inheritance. I was not an usurper: they may say so as long
+as they like; nobody will believe them. The English, the Italians, the
+Germans, are now too enlightened to allow themselves to be crammed
+with old ideas, with antiquated notions. In the eyes of nations, the
+Sovereign who is chosen by the entirety of the nation, will always be
+the legitimate Sovereign.... The sovereigns who sent their ambassadors
+to me with servile solemnity; who placed in my bed a girl of their
+breed; who called me their brother, and who, after doing all this,
+have stigmatized me as an usurper, they have spit in their own faces
+by trying to spit at me. They have degraded the majesty of kings. They
+have covered majesty with mud. What is the name of an emperor? A word
+like any other. If I had no better title than that, when I shall
+present myself to future ages they would scorn me. My institutions, my
+benefactions, my victories--these are the true titles of my glory. Let
+them call me a Corsican, a corporal, an usurper.... I don't care.... I
+shall not be less the object of wonder, perhaps of veneration, in all
+future time. My name, new as it is, will live from age to age, whilst
+the names of all these kings, and their royal progeny, will be
+forgotten before the worms will have had time to consume their
+carcases." The Emperor stopped, and then continued; "I forget that
+time is precious; I will not detain you any longer. Adieu, Monsieur;
+embrace me, and depart; my thoughts and good wishes follow you."--Two
+hours afterwards I was at sea. My attention, my faculties were wholly
+absorbed by the Emperor, his words, his disclosures, his plans. I had
+neither leisure nor opportunity to think of myself. As soon as I was
+quite out at sea, my ideas were filled by the extraordinary part which
+chance had assigned to me. I contemplated it with pride, and I
+returned my thanks to destiny for having selected me as the instrument
+by which its impenetrable decrees were to be accomplished. Perhaps no
+man was ever placed in so "imposing" a situation. I was the arbiter of
+the fate of the Bourbons, and of the Emperor, of France and Europe.
+With one word I could destroy Napoleon; with one word I could save
+Louis. But Louis was nothing to me: in him I only saw a sovereign who
+had been forced upon the throne by foreign hands still imbrued with
+French blood. In Napoleon I saw the sovereign to whom France had
+freely offered the crown as the reward of twenty years of danger and
+of glory. The perspective of the evils which the attempt of Napoleon
+might bring upon France did not arise before my imagination. I was
+persuaded that all foreign powers (England excepted), would remain
+neutral; and that the French would receive Napoleon as a deliverer,
+and as a father. Still less did I consider myself as engaged in
+treason or conspiracy against the Bourbons. Since I had taken the oath
+of allegiance to Napoleon, I considered him as my legitimate
+sovereign; and I rejoiced to think that the confidence which Napoleon
+reposed in me had induced him to call upon me to concur in restoring
+to France the liberty, the power, and the glory of which the country
+had been unjustly deprived. I enjoyed, by anticipation, the public
+eulogiums, which, after his success, he would bestow upon my courage,
+my self-devotion, my patriotism. In short, I abandoned myself with
+rapture and with pride to all the thoughts, and all the generous
+resolutions which can be inspired by the love of fame and the love of
+our country.
+
+The dialogues which had taken place between me and the Emperor
+continued impressed on my memory; yet, lest I might vary them, or omit
+any part, I employed my time during the voyage in recalling his own
+expressions, and in classing his questions and my answers. I
+afterwards got the whole by heart, just as a scholar learns his
+lesson, in order that I might be able to affirm to M. X*** that I was
+making a faithful and literal report to him of all that the Emperor
+had said, and of all that he had ordered me to tell him.
+
+The weather being tolerably favourable, we soon reached Naples. I went
+immediately to M. ****: he put a great number of indiscreet questions
+to me; and I replied by an equal number of unmeaning answers. He
+probably thought that I knew no better, and therefore my caution did
+not offend him. When our preliminary conversation was exhausted, I
+desired him to give me my passport; he did so immediately: it was a
+Neapolitan passport. "This won't do for me," said I; "I must have a
+French passport."--"I have not got one."--"The Emperor told me that
+you could get one."--"That is just like the Emperor; he thinks every
+thing is possible: where does he suppose that I can procure it? I am
+doing a great deal in giving you a passport as a subject of his
+Majesty. It is already known that we are in relation with the isle of
+Elba. If they were to find out that you are attached to Napoleon, and
+that you are going back to France by his directions, and with the
+assistance of the King, all Europe would hear of it, and the King
+would be committed. Why does not the Emperor keep himself quiet? he
+will ruin himself, and ruin us all along with him."--"It is not fit
+that I should examine the conduct of his Majesty, much less that I
+should censure it. I am in his service; and my duty commands me to
+obey him. I want a French passport: can you, or can you not get me
+one?"--"I tell you again that it is impossible: it is doing too much
+if I give you one as a Neapolitan subject."--"Then I must return to
+Porto Ferrajo: but I cannot conceal from you that the Emperor is very
+desirous that I should return to France; and he will certainly be very
+much displeased, both with you and with the King."--"Then he will act
+unfairly: the King has done, and will do, every thing in his power for
+him: but the Emperor should know what the King may do under his
+present critical situation, and what he may not. But why won't you
+take the passport which I offer you?"--"Because I do not understand
+Italian, and consequently your passport would expose me to greater
+suspicion than my own."--"Then why don't you try to push on as far as
+Rome? there you will find the family of the Emperor. Louis XVIII. has
+a legation there; and perhaps money may get you a passport."--"Your
+idea is excellent: I will go. Inform the Emperor of the delay which I
+have experienced, in order that he may send another agent, if he
+thinks it advisable so to do."
+
+When the mind is in perpetual activity, and constantly assailed by new
+feelings, there is no time for reflection. I thus went to Rome, full
+of the idea that I should visit the family of the Emperor, and request
+their help to aid me out of my difficulties. But when the time came,
+and I was to present myself, it then struck me that the Emperor,
+though aware that I was to pass through Rome, had not directed me to
+see them; and I concluded that he had his reasons. I therefore
+determined to continue my route. From Naples I have proceeded to Rome
+without any obstacle; and I shall proceed, thought I to myself, from
+Rome to Milan without any greater obstacle: there I shall meet my
+friend and his Tedesco; I will get them to legalize my French passport
+for the second time, and destiny will accomplish the rest.
+
+I therefore presented myself boldly to the police at Rome, in order to
+have my Elba passport indorsed for Milan. I was introduced to his
+Eminence the Director-general, who, as I believe, had been shut up at
+Vincennes under the imperial government. He received me with great
+rudeness; and he wished to compel me to present myself to the French
+embassy. I would not consent. I answered, firmly, "The King of France
+is no longer my sovereign; I am the subject of the Emperor Napoleon:
+the allied sovereigns have proclaimed and recognized him as the
+sovereign of the isle of Elba: he therefore reigns at Porto Ferrajo
+like the Pope at Rome, George at London, and Louis XVIII. at Paris.
+The Emperor and his Holiness are on good terms with each other. The
+subjects and the vessels of the Roman states are well received in the
+isle of Elba[38], and therefore you are bound to afford aid and
+protection to the Elbese, so long as the holy father shall not become
+the enemy of Napoleon."
+
+                   [Footnote 38: I obtained this information in the
+                   course of my voyage.]
+
+This reasoning produced its effect; and his Eminence ordered, though
+he continued grumbling, that my demand was to be granted. "What are
+you going to do at Milan?" said he, and I think he muttered an oath
+between his teeth: "I am going," I answered, "relative to the
+dotations which were assigned to us upon the 'Mont Napoleon.'" He was
+satisfied with my answer, and so was I. I wrote to M. ****, the
+Neapolitan consul, transmitting my letter; and I requested him to send
+to the island an account of my new route.
+
+I continued my journey. My passport was headed by the imperial arms.
+The name of Napoleon, and his title of Emperor, were inscribed in
+large letters. I was the first Frenchman from the island who had been
+able or who had dared to traverse Italy. How many things there were
+which roused curiosity and commanded attention! I was overwhelmed with
+questions relative to Porto Ferrajo and its illustrious sovereign. I
+answered as fully as they wished. Whilst they were busying themselves
+about the Emperor, they did not think of me, and that was what I
+wanted. In order to avoid troublesome examinations, I took care to
+pass through the towns at night, and never to stop in them. At length,
+thanks to my address and good fortune, I arrived safe and sound at
+Milan; there I found my friend and his colonel, and every thing was
+settled admirably.
+
+I set off again for Turin with all possible speed. When I arrived on
+the Place of ... I perceived several numerous groups of persons, who
+appeared exceedingly animated. How great was my surprise when I found
+that they were talking of Napoleon, and his escape from the isle of
+Elba. This piece of intelligence, which had been just received, put me
+in a violent passion: I accused the Emperor of perfidiousness. I
+reproached him with having misled, deceived, and sacrificed me.
+
+When my first fit of ill humour was calmed, I considered the conduct
+of the Emperor under another aspect. I thought that unexpected
+considerations might have induced him to embark precipitately. I was
+ashamed of my suspicions and of my violence, and I only wished to fly
+to his footsteps; but already orders had been given to prevent
+communication. I passed eight days, which appeared so many ages, in
+soliciting permission to return to France; and at last I obtained it.
+I arrived at Paris on the 25th of March: on the 26th M. X*** presented
+me to the Emperor: he embraced me, and said, "I have weighty reasons
+for wishing that you and X*** may both forget whatever passed at the
+isle of Elba. I alone will not forget it. Rely on my esteem and
+protection on all occasions[39]."
+
+                   [Footnote 39: This narrative evidently shows, that
+                   the revolution of the 20th of March was not the
+                   effect of a conspiracy, but, strange to say, the
+                   work of two men, and a few words.
+
+                   The share that M. Z*** had in the return of
+                   Napoleon will, perhaps, call down upon his head the
+                   censures of those who judge events only from their
+                   results. Will this opinion be well founded? Are men
+                   responsible for the caprice of fate? Is it not to
+                   fortune, rather than to M. Z***, that we must
+                   impute the disastrous end of this revolution, begun
+                   under such happy auspices?
+
+                   More fortunate than Napoleon, M. Z*** was killed on
+                   Mount St. Jean, the moment when our troops
+                   penetrated thither amidst the plaudits of the army.
+                   He was permitted to draw his last breath on the
+                   standards, which the conquerors of Ligny had just
+                   snatched from the English; and, far from foreseeing
+                   that his visit to the island of Elba would at some
+                   future day be a reproach to his memory, he died
+                   with the persuasion, that victory had irrevocably
+                   fixed his destiny, and that his name, cherished by
+                   the French, cherished by the hero whom he had
+                   restored to them, would be for ever hallowed by the
+                   gratitude of France, become once more the great
+                   nation.
+
+                   I shall not prematurely rob his manes of this
+                   consoling illusion; I shall not inform them, that
+                   ... no! it will be time enough hereafter to disturb
+                   their repose, and I shall await the attack before I
+                   begin the defence.]
+
+Here ends the memoir of M. Z****.
+
+This officer had scarcely quitted the island of Elba, when the Emperor
+(and I had the particulars from his Majesty himself) acknowledged and
+deplored the imprudence of which he had been guilty, in sending Z***
+to the continent. The character and firmness of this faithful servant
+were sufficiently known to him, to prevent his feeling any anxiety on
+his account. He was certain (I use his own words), that he would
+suffer himself to be cut to pieces, before he would open his mouth:
+but he was afraid, that the inquiries he had directed him to make on
+the road, the letters he might address to him, or the conferences he
+might have at Paris with M. X*** and his friends, would excite the
+suspicions of the police; and that the Bourbons would station
+cruizers, so as to render an escape from the island of Elba, and a
+landing on the coast of France, altogether impossible.
+
+Thus the Emperor felt that there was but one way of preventing the
+danger, that of departing immediately.
+
+On this point he did not hesitate. From that moment every thing
+assumed a different aspect in the island of Elba.
+
+This island, but the moment before the abode of philosophy and peace,
+became in an instant the imperial head-quarters. Couriers, orders, and
+counter-orders, were incessantly going and returning from Porto
+Ferrajo to Longone, and from Longone to Porto Ferrajo. Napoleon,
+whose fiery activity had been so long enchained, gave himself up,
+with infinite delight, to all the cares, that his audacious enterprise
+demanded. But in whatever mystery he fancied he had shrouded himself,
+the unusual accounts he had caused to be delivered in, the particular
+attention he had paid to his old grenadiers, had excited their
+suspicion; and they scarcely doubted, that he had it in contemplation
+to quit the island. Every one supposed, that he would land at Naples,
+or in some other port of Italy: no one ventured even to imagine, that
+his plan was to go and expel Louis XVIII. from the throne.
+
+On the 26th of February, at one o'clock, the guard and the officers of
+his household received orders to hold themselves in readiness to
+depart. Every thing was in motion: the grenadiers with joy resumed
+their arms, that so long had lain idle, and spontaneously swore, never
+to quit them but with life. The whole population of the country,
+crowds of old men, women, and children, eagerly rushed to the shore;
+the most affecting scenes were exhibited on all sides. They thronged
+round the faithful companions of Napoleon in his exile, and contended
+with each other for the pleasure, the honour, of touching them, seeing
+them, embracing them for the last time. The younger members of the
+families of the first distinction in the island solicited as a
+favour, the danger of sharing in the perils of the Emperor. Joy,
+glory, hope, sparkled in every eye. They knew not whither they were
+going, but Napoleon was present, and with him could they doubt of
+victory?
+
+At eight in the evening a gun gave the signal for departure. A
+thousand times embraces were immediately lavished and returned. The
+French rushed into their boats; martial music struck up; and Napoleon
+and his followers sailed majestically from the shore, amid the shouts
+of "Long live the Emperor!" a thousand times repeated[40].
+
+                   [Footnote 40: The flotilla of Napoleon consisted of
+                   the brig Inconstant, carrying twenty-six guns and
+                   four hundred grenadiers, and six other light
+                   vessels, on board which were two hundred foot, two
+                   hundred Corsican chasseurs, and about a hundred
+                   Polish light horse. The feluccas and the brigs had
+                   been so fitted up, as to show no signs of the
+                   troops, and to have the appearance of mere
+                   merchantmen.]
+
+Napoleon, when he set foot on board his vessel, exclaimed with Caesar,
+"The die is cast!" His countenance was calm, his brow serene: he
+appeared to think less of the success of his enterprise, than of the
+means of promptly attaining his object. The eyes of Count Bertrand
+sparkled with hope and joy: General Drouot was pensive and serious:
+Cambronne appeared to care little about the future, and to think only
+of doing his duty well. The old grenadiers had resumed their martial
+and menacing aspect. The Emperor chatted and joked with them
+incessantly: he pulled their ears and their mustachios, reminded them
+of their dangers and their glory, and inspired their minds with that
+confidence, with which his own was animated.
+
+All were burning to know their destination: respect did not allow any
+one to ask the question: at length Napoleon broke silence.
+"Grenadiers," said he, "we are going to France, we are going to
+Paris." At these words every countenance expanded, their joy ceased to
+be mingled with anxiety, and stifled cries of "France for ever!"
+attested to the Emperor, that in the heart of a Frenchman the love of
+his country is never extinct.
+
+An English sloop of war, commanded by Captain Campbell, appeared to
+have the charge of watching the island of Elba[41]: she was
+continually sailing from Porto Ferrajo to Leghorn, and from Leghorn
+to Porto Ferrajo. At the moment of embarkation she was at Leghorn, and
+could occasion no alarm; but several vessels were descried in the
+channel, and their presence gave room for just apprehensions. It was
+hoped, however, that the night breeze would favour the progress of the
+flotilla, and that before daybreak it would be out of sight. This hope
+was frustrated. ""Scarcely had it doubled Cape St. Andrew, in the
+island of Elba, when the wind fell and the sea became calm. At
+daybreak it had advanced only six leagues, and was still between the
+islands of Elba and Capraea.
+
+                   [Footnote 41: People are pretty generally of
+                   opinion, that the escape of the Emperor from the
+                   Island of Elba was favoured by Captain Campbell. I
+                   do not think so: but every thing leads to the
+                   belief, that this officer had received orders from
+                   his government, not to prevent such a step.--(_Note
+                   by the author of the Memoirs._)]
+
+""The danger appeared imminent: several of the seamen were for
+returning to Porto Ferrajo. The Emperor ordered them to hold on their
+course, as, at the worst, he had the chance either of capturing the
+French cruiser, or of taking refuge in the island of Corsica, where he
+was assured of being well received. To facilitate their manoeuvres,
+he ordered all the luggage embarked to be thrown overboard, which was
+cheerfully executed at the instant.""
+
+About noon the wind freshened a little. At four o'clock they were off
+Leghorn. One frigate was in sight five leagues to leeward, another on
+the coast of Corsica, and a man-of-war brig, which was perceived to be
+Le Zephir, commanded by Captain Andrieux, was coming down upon the
+imperial flotilla right before the wind. It was first proposed to
+speak to him, and make him hoist the three-coloured flag. "The
+Emperor, however, gave orders to the soldiers of the guard to take off
+their caps and conceal themselves below, choosing rather to pass by
+the brig without being known, and reserving himself in case of
+necessity, for the alternative of making him change his colours. At
+six o'clock the two brigs passed alongside of each other, and their
+commanders, who were acquainted, spoke together. The captain of Le
+Zephir inquired after the Emperor, and was answered through a speaking
+trumpet by the Emperor himself, that he was extremely well.
+
+""The two brigs, steering opposite courses, were soon out of sight of
+each other, without Captain Andrieux having any suspicion of the
+valuable prize, that he had allowed to escape.
+
+""In the night of the 27th the wind continued to freshen. At day-break
+a seventy-four was descried, which appeared steering for San
+Fiorenzo or Sardinia, and it was soon perceived, that she took no
+notice of the brig[42].""
+
+                   [Footnote 42: The passages between two sets of
+                   inverted commas are copied from the official
+                   account published on the 22d of March. This account
+                   was drawn up by Napoleon, and I thought I could not
+                   do better than borrow his words.]
+
+The Emperor, before he quitted the island of Elba, had prepared with
+his own hand two proclamations, one addressed to the French people,
+the other to the army; and he was desirous of having them copied out
+fairly. His secretary and General Bertrand, being neither of them able
+to decipher them, carried them to Napoleon, who, despairing of doing
+it himself, threw them into the sea from vexation. Then, after
+meditating for a few moments, he dictated to his secretary the two
+following proclamations on the spot.
+
+
+     _Proclamation._
+
+          Gulf of Juan, March the 1st, 1815.
+
+Napoleon, by the grace of God and constitution of the empire, Emperor
+of the French, &c. &c. &c.
+
+     _To the Army._
+
+Soldiers!
+
+We have not been vanquished: two men, who issued from our ranks,
+betrayed our laurels, their country, their prince, their benefactor.
+
+Shall they, whom we have seen for five and twenty years traversing all
+Europe, to stir up enemies against us--who have spent their lives in
+fighting against us in the ranks of foreign armies, and cursing our
+lovely France--now pretend to command us, and to enchain our eagles,
+the looks of which they could never withstand? Shall we suffer them to
+inherit the fruits of our glorious toils? to seize upon our honours,
+and our property, and calumniate our fame? Should their reign
+continue, all would be lost, even the remembrance of our memorable
+victories.
+
+With what virulence do they distort them! They endeavour to poison
+what is the admiration of the world; and if any defenders of our glory
+still remain, it is among those very enemies whom we combated in the
+field.
+
+Soldiers! in my exile I heard your voice: I am arrived through every
+obstacle, through every danger.
+
+Your general, called to the throne by the voice of the people, and
+raised on your shields, is restored to you. Come and join him.
+
+Tear down those colours, which the nation has proscribed, and which
+for five and twenty years served as a signal to rally all the enemies
+of France. Mount that tricoloured cockade, which you wore in our
+great victories. We must forget, that we have been the masters of
+other nations; but we must not suffer any to interfere in our affairs.
+Who shall pretend to be our master? Who is able to be so? Resume the
+eagles you bore at Ulm, at Austerlitz, at Jena, at Eylau, at Wagram,
+at Friedland, at Tudela, at Eckmuhl, at Essling, at Smolensko, at
+Moscow, at Lutzen, at Wurtchen, at Montmirail. Think you that handful
+of Frenchmen, now so arrogant, can support their sight? They will
+return whence they came; and there, if they please, they may reign, as
+they pretend to have reigned for nineteen years.
+
+Your property, your rank, your glory--the property, the rank, the
+glory of your children--have no greater enemies than those princes,
+who have been imposed on us by foreigners. They are the enemies of our
+glory; since the recital of so many glorious actions, which have
+rendered illustrious the French people, fighting against them to
+emancipate themselves from their yoke, is their condemnation.
+
+The veterans of the armies of the Sambre and Meuse, of the Rhine, of
+Italy, of Egypt, of the west, of the grand army, are humiliated; their
+honourable scars are disgraced; their successes would be crimes, the
+valiant would be rebels, if, as the enemies of the people assert,
+legitimate sovereigns were among the foreign armies. Their honours,
+rewards, affections, are for those who have served them, against us
+and against our country.
+
+Soldiers, come and arrange yourselves under the standards of your
+chief: his existence consists only of yours; his rights are only those
+of the people and of you; his interest, his honour, his glory, are no
+other than your glory. Victory will march forward with the charge
+step: the eagle, with the national colours, will fly from steeple to
+steeple till it reaches the towers of Notre Dame. You may then display
+your scars with honour, you may then boast of what you have done: you
+will be the deliverers of your country.
+
+In your old age, surrounded and respected by your fellow citizens,
+they will listen with veneration to the recital of your noble deeds:
+you may proudly say, I too was in that grand army which twice entered
+the walls of Vienna, and those of Rome, of Berlin, of Madrid, and of
+Moscow, and which cleansed Paris from the stain inflicted on it by
+treason and the presence of the enemy. Honour to those brave soldiers,
+the glory of their country! and eternal shame to those guilty
+Frenchmen, in whatever rank it was their fortune to be born, who
+fought for five and twenty years in company with foreigners, to wound
+the bosom of their country.
+
+                                        Signed, NAPOLEON.
+
+     By the Emperor.
+
+The grand marshal, executing the functions of major-general of the
+grand army.
+
+                                        Signed, BERTRAND.
+
+
+     _Proclamation._
+
+          Gulf of Juan, March 1, 1815.
+
+Napoleon, by the grace of God and the constitution of the empire,
+Emperor of the French, &c. &c. &c.
+
+     _To the French People._
+
+Frenchmen!
+
+The defection of the Duke of Castiglione gave up Lyons without defence
+to our enemies. The army, the command of which I had entrusted to him,
+was capable, from the bravery and patriotism of the troops of which it
+was formed, of beating the Austrian army opposed to it, and taking in
+the rear the left flank of the enemy's army, that threatened Paris.
+
+The victories of Champ Aubert, of Montmirail, of Chateau Thierry, of
+Vauchamp, of Mormane, of Montereau, of Craone, of Rheims, of
+Arcy-sur-Aube, and of St. Dizier; the insurrection of the brave
+peasantry of Lorraine, of Champagne, of Alsace, of Franche Comte, and
+of Burgundy; and the position I had taken in the rear of the enemy's
+army, cutting it off from its magazines, its parks of reserve, and
+convoys, and all its waggons, had placed it in a desperate situation.
+The French were on the point of being more powerful than ever, and the
+flower of the enemy's army was lost without resource; it would have
+found its grave in those vast countries, which it had so pitilessly
+ravaged, when the treachery of the Duke of Ragusa delivered up the
+capital, and disorganized the army. The unsuspected conduct of these
+two generals, who betrayed at once their country, their prince, and
+their benefactor, changed the fate of the war: the situation of the
+enemy was such, that, after the affair that took place before Paris,
+he was without ammunition, in consequence of being separated from his
+parks of reserve[43].
+
+                   [Footnote 43: They had fled precipitately as far as
+                   Basil.]
+
+Under these new and important circumstances, my heart was torn, but my
+mind remained unshaken: I consulted only the interests of our country,
+and banished myself to a rock surrounded by the seas: my life was
+useful to you, and was destined still to be so. I would not permit
+the great number of citizens, who were desirous of accompanying me, to
+share my fate: I deemed their presence advantageous to France, and I
+took with me only the handful of brave fellows necessary for my guard.
+
+Raised to the throne by your choice, every thing that has been done
+without you is illegal. Within these five and twenty years France has
+acquired new interests, new institutions, new glory, to be guarantied
+only by a national government, and a dynasty born under these new
+circumstances. A prince who should reign over you, who should be
+seated on my throne by the power of the same armies, that have ravaged
+our territories, would seek in vain to support himself by the
+principles of feudal right; he could secure the honour and the rights
+only of a small number of individuals, enemies to the people, who have
+condemned them in all our national assemblies for five and twenty
+years. Your tranquillity at home, and estimation abroad, would be lost
+for ever.
+
+Frenchmen! in my exile I heard your complaints and wishes: you called
+for that government of your own choice, which alone is legitimate; you
+blamed my long slumber; you reproached me with sacrificing the great
+interests of the country to my own repose.
+
+I have crossed the seas amid perils of every kind: I arrive among you
+to resume my rights, which are also yours. Every thing that
+individuals have done, written, or said, since the taking of Paris, I
+shall consign to everlasting oblivion; it shall have no influence on
+the remembrance I retain of the important services they have rendered,
+for there are events of such a nature, that they are above the frame
+of man.
+
+Frenchmen! there is no nation, however small, that has not possessed
+the right of withdrawing, and that has not withdrawn itself, from the
+disgrace of obeying a prince imposed upon it by an enemy temporarily
+victorious. When Charles VII. re-entered Paris, and overturned the
+ephemeral throne of Henry VI., he acknowledged, that he held his crown
+from the valour of his brave people, and not from the Prince Regent of
+England.
+
+It is to you only, and to the brave men of the army, that I make, and
+shall always make it my glory, to owe every thing.
+
+                                        Signed, NAPOLEON.
+
+     By the Emperor.
+
+The grand marshal, executing the functions of major-general of the
+grand army.
+
+                                        Signed, BERTRAND.
+
+
+The Emperor, while he dictated these proclamations, appeared to be
+animated with the most profound indignation. He seemed to have before
+his eyes, both the generals, whom he accused of having given up
+France, and the enemies, who had subjugated it. He incessantly
+repeated the names of Marmont and Augereau, and they were always
+accompanied with threats and with epithets, suited to the idea he had
+conceived of their treachery.
+
+When the proclamations were transcribed, the Emperor directed them to
+be read aloud, and invited all those who could write a good hand to
+copy them. In an instant, benches and drums were converted into
+tables; and soldiers, sailors, and officers, set themselves gayly to
+work.
+
+After a certain time, his Majesty said to the officers around him,
+"Now, gentlemen, it is your turn, to speak to the army: you must tell
+it what France expects of it under the important circumstances in
+which we shall soon find ourselves. Come, Bertrand, take your pen."
+The grand marshal excused himself. The Emperor then resumed his
+discourse, and dictated, without stopping, an address to the generals,
+officers, and soldiers of the army, in which the imperial guard
+conjured them, in the name of honour and their country, to shake off
+the yoke of the Bourbons.
+
+"Soldiers," said they to them, "the drum beats the general, and we
+march: run to arms, come and join us, join your Emperor, and our
+eagles.
+
+"And if these men, now so arrogant, who have always fled at the sight
+of our weapons, dare wait for us, where can we find a fairer occasion
+of shedding our blood, and chanting the hymn of victory?
+
+"Soldiers of the seventh, eighth, and nineteenth military divisions,
+garrisons of Antibes, Toulon, and Marseilles, retired officers,
+veterans of our army, you are called to the honour of setting the
+first example: come with us to conquer that throne, which is the
+palladium of your rights; and let posterity some day tell,
+'Foreigners, seconded by traitors, had imposed a disgraceful yoke on
+France; the brave arose, and the enemies of the people, of the army,
+disappeared, and returned to their original nothingness.'"
+
+This address was scarcely finished, when the coast of Antibes was
+descried at a distance. Immediately on this, the Emperor and his brave
+fellows saluted the land of their country with shouts of "France for
+ever! Success to the French!" and at the same instant resumed the
+tricoloured cockade[44].
+
+                   [Footnote 44: The cockade adopted by Napoleon, as
+                   sovereign of the island of Elba, was white and
+                   amaranth powdered with bees.]
+
+On the 1st of March, at three o'clock, they entered the Gulf of Juan.
+General Drouot, and a certain number of officers and soldiers, who
+were on board the felucca Caroline, landed before the Emperor, who was
+still at a considerable distance from the shore. At this moment they
+perceived to the right a large vessel, which appeared to them (though
+they were mistaken in this) to be steering with all sails towards the
+brig. Suddenly they were seized with the greatest disquiet; they
+walked backward and forward, testifying by their gestures and their
+hurried steps, the emotion and fear with which they were agitated.
+General Drouot ordered the Caroline to be unloaded, and to hasten to
+meet the brig. In an instant cannons, carriages, chests, baggage,
+every thing was thrown out upon the sand, and already the grenadiers
+and brave sea officers of the guard were rowing away with all their
+strength, when acclamations from the brig saluted their ears and their
+affrighted eyes. It was the Emperor: whether from prudential motives
+or impatience, he had got into a simple boat. Their alarms ceased;
+and the grenadiers, stretching out their arms to him, received him
+with the most affecting demonstrations of devotedness and joy. At five
+o'clock he landed. I have heard him say, that he never felt an emotion
+so profound.
+
+""His quarters for the night were taken up in a field surrounded by
+olive-trees. This, he exclaimed, is a happy omen: may it be
+realized!""
+
+A few peasants were seen: the Emperor ordered them to be called, and
+interrogated them. One of them had formerly served under him: he knew
+his old general, and would not quit him. Napoleon, turning to the
+grand marshal, said to him, with a smile, "Well, Bertrand, you see we
+have a reinforcement already." He spent the evening chatting and
+laughing familiarly with his generals and the officers of his
+household. "I see from this spot," said he, "the fright I shall give
+the Bourbons, and the embarrassment of all those who have turned their
+backs upon me." Then, continuing to joke on the same subject, he
+defined, with his wonted sagacity, the characters of the marshals and
+great personages, who had formerly served him; and was much amused
+with the endeavours they would make ""to save appearances, and
+prudently await the moment for declaring themselves for the strongest
+party.""
+
+The success of his enterprise appeared less to employ his thoughts,
+than the dangers to which his friends and partisans, whom he no longer
+called by any other name than that of patriots, were going to be
+exposed. "What will become of the patriots before my arrival at
+Paris?" he frequently exclaimed: "I tremble lest the Vendeans and
+emigrants should massacre them. Wo betide those who touch them! I will
+have no mercy on them."
+
+Immediately after he landed, the Emperor had despatched a captain of
+the guard with five and twenty men to Antibes: their instructions
+were, to present themselves as deserters from the island of Elba; to
+sound the disposition of the garrison; and, if this appeared
+favourable, to seduce it: but, led away by their imprudent ardour,
+they entered the city, shouting, "Long live the Emperor!" and the
+commandant caused the drawbridge instantly to be raised, and detained
+them as prisoners. Napoleon, finding they did not return, sent for a
+civil officer of the guard, and said to him, ""You will immediately
+repair to the walls of Antibes: you will deliver this despatch, or
+cause it to be delivered to General Corsin: you will not enter the
+place, as you might be detained: you will draw together the soldiers,
+you will read to them my proclamations, and you will harangue them. Do
+you not know, you will say to them, that your Emperor is here? that
+the garrisons of Grenoble and Lyons have marched to join him with the
+charge step? What do you wait for? Will you leave to others the honour
+of joining him before you? the honour of marching at the head of his
+advanced guard? Come, and salute our eagles and our tricoloured flags.
+The Emperor and your country command it; then come.""
+
+This officer, on his return, said, that the gates of the town and
+harbour were closed, and that it was not possible for him to see
+General Corsin, or to speak to the soldiers. Napoleon appeared
+disappointed, though but little disturbed by the disappointment. At
+eleven in the evening he began his march, with four small pieces of
+artillery in his train. The Poles, though unable to embark their
+horses, had brought with them their accoutrements, and gayly marched
+in the advanced guard, bending beneath the weight of their enormous
+luggage. Napoleon purchased for them every horse he met with, and thus
+remounted his handful of cavalry one by one.
+
+He proceeded to Cannes, thence to Grasses, and, in the evening of the
+2d, arrived at the village of Cerenon, having marched twenty leagues
+this first day. Every where he was received with sentiments, that
+presaged the success of the enterprise.
+
+On the 3d the Emperor slept at Bareme, and on the 4th at Digne. The
+report of his landing, which preceded him from place to place, excited
+every where a mingled feeling of joy, surprise, and anxiety. The
+peasants blessed his return, and expressed their good wishes to him in
+their simple language; but when they saw his little troop, they looked
+on him with tender pity, and had no hope of his being triumphant with
+such feeble means.
+
+On the 5th Napoleon slept at Gap, and retained with him only six
+horsemen, and forty grenadiers.
+
+In this city he printed, for the first time, his proclamations: they
+were diffused with the rapidity of lightning, and inflamed every head
+and every heart with such violent and prompt devotedness, that the
+whole population of the country was desirous of rising in a body, and
+marching as his advanced guard.
+
+In these proclamations he did not borrow, as has been asserted, the
+title of general in chief, or of lieutenant general of his son.
+Before he quitted the island of Elba, he had determined to resume the
+style of Emperor of the French as soon as he landed.
+
+He was aware, that any other title would diminish his strength, and
+his ascendancy over the people and the army; would render his
+intentions doubtful; would give rise to scruples and hesitation; and
+besides, would place him in a state of hostility against France. In
+short, he was aware, that it would always be in his power to give
+legitimacy to his title of Emperor of the French, should the suffrages
+of the nation prove necessary, to restore to him in the eyes of
+Europe, and even of France, those rights, which might have been
+temporarily lost by his abdication.
+
+The superior authorities of Gap had retired at his approach: he had to
+receive the congratulations only of the mayor, the municipal council,
+and the half-pay officers. He discoursed with them on the benefits of
+the revolution, the sovereignty of the people, liberty, equality, and
+particularly of the emigrants and the Bourbons. Before he left them,
+he addressed his public thanks to the inhabitants of the Upper and
+Lower Alps, in the following words:
+
+     Citizens,
+
+I have been strongly touched by all the sentiments that you have
+testified towards me: your prayers will be heard; the cause of the
+nation will still triumph. You have reason to call me your father; I
+live only for the honour and happiness of France. My return dissipates
+your disquietudes; it guarantees the preservation of every one's
+property, the equality of all classes; and those rights, which you
+have enjoyed for twenty-five years, and for which our forefathers so
+frequently sighed, now form a part of your existence.
+
+In whatever circumstances I may be placed, I shall always remember,
+with a lively interest, what I have seen in traversing your country.
+
+
+[45]""On the 6th, at two o'clock in the afternoon, the Emperor left
+Gap, and the whole city went out to see him set off.
+
+                   [Footnote 45: The passages marked with two sets of
+                   inverted commas continue to be extracts from the
+                   official account.]
+
+""At St. Bonnel the inhabitants, seeing the small number of his
+soldiers, were full of fears, and proposed to him to sound the
+alarm-bell, in order to collect the neighbouring villagers, and
+accompany him in a body. 'No,' said the Emperor, 'your sentiments
+convince me, that I have not deceived myself; they are a sure
+guarantee of the sentiments of my soldiers; those whom I meet will
+range themselves on my side; and the more they are, the more certain
+will be my success. Remain, therefore, tranquil at home.'""
+
+The same day the Emperor came to sleep at Gorp; General Cambronne and
+forty men, forming the advanced guard, pushed on as far as Mure.
+
+Cambronne most commonly proceeded alone before his grenadiers to
+explore the road, and cause quarters and subsistence to be provided
+for them. Scarcely had he pronounced the name of the Emperor, when
+every one was eager to testify to him the most lively and tender
+solicitude. One mayor alone, the Marquis de ***, mayor of Sisteron,
+tried to raise the inhabitants of that _commune_, describing to them
+the soldiers of Napoleon as robbers and incendiaries. Confounded by
+the sudden appearance of General Cambronne alone, and with no other
+weapon than his sword, he changed his language, and pretended to have
+had no fear but that of being paid[46]. Cambronne coolly threw him his
+purse, and said, "Pay yourself!" The indignant people were eager to
+furnish more provision than was demanded; and when the battalion of
+Elba appeared, they offered it a tricoloured flag, as a sign of their
+esteem and devotedness.
+
+                   [Footnote 46: The public papers, since the second
+                   restoration, have not failed to assert, that the
+                   troops of the Emperor disgracefully pillaged the
+                   _communes_ through which they passed. This
+                   imputation, like many others, is a cowardly
+                   slander. The Emperor had recommended to his
+                   grenadiers, and it is well known that they never
+                   disobeyed him, to exact nothing from the
+                   inhabitants; and in order to prevent the least
+                   irregularity, he took care himself to arrange the
+                   means of ascertaining every thing that was
+                   furnished, and paying for it. He had given this in
+                   charge to an inspector in chief of reviews, M.
+                   Boinot, and a commissary at war, M. Ch. Vauthier,
+                   for whose zeal and integrity he had the highest
+                   esteem. Whatever was furnished was paid for on
+                   delivery by the treasurer, M. Peyruse, on an
+                   account authenticated by M. Vauthier, and at the
+                   prices fixed by the mayors themselves.]
+
+On quitting the mayor, General Cambronne and his forty grenadiers met
+a battalion sent from Grenoble to block up their passage. Cambronne
+wished to parley with them, but they would not listen to him. The
+Emperor, informed of this resistance, immediately went forward: his
+guard, exhausted by a long march through the snow and rough roads, had
+not all been able to follow him; but when it heard of the affront
+offered to Cambronne, and the dangers the Emperor might run, it forgot
+its fatigues, and hastened after him. Those soldiers, who could no
+longer support themselves on their galled or wounded feet, were
+assisted by their comrades, or carried by them on litters formed with
+their musquets: all swore, like the soldiers of Fabius, not to conquer
+or die, but to be victors. When the Emperor perceived them, he held
+out his hand to them, and said, "With you, my brave soldiers, I should
+not be afraid of ten thousand men."
+
+Meantime the troops come from Grenoble had retreated, and taken a
+position three leagues from Gorp, between the lakes, and near a
+village. The Emperor went to reconnoitre them. He found in the line
+opposed to him a battalion of the fifth regiment, a company of
+sappers, and a company of miners; in all seven or eight hundred men.
+He sent to them _chef d'escadron_ Roul: they refused to listen to him.
+On this, Napoleon, turning to Marshal Bertrand, said, "_Z. has
+deceived me; no matter, forwards_!" Immediately, alighting from his
+horse, he marched straight to the detachment, followed by his guard,
+with arms secured (_l'arme baissee_): "What, my friends!" said he to
+them, "do you not know me? I am your Emperor: if there be a soldier
+among you, who is willing to kill his general, his Emperor, he may do
+it: here I am!" and he placed his hand upon his breast....
+
+The unanimous shout of "Long live the Emperor!" was the answer.
+
+""Immediately they requested permission, to be the first to march
+against the division, that covered Grenoble. The march commenced amid
+a crowd of the inhabitants, which increased every instant. Vizille
+distinguished itself by its enthusiasm: "It is here the revolution is
+born," said these brave fellows: "we are the first who have dared to
+claim the privileges of men: it is here, too, that French liberty
+revives, and that France recovers its honour and independence."
+
+""Between Vizille and Grenoble, an adjutant-major of the seventh of
+the line came to announce, that Colonel Labedoyere, deeply wounded by
+the dishonour that affected all France, and governed by the noblest
+sentiments, had separated from the division of Grenoble, and with his
+regiment was hastening with all speed to meet the Emperor.""
+
+Soon after, numerous acclamations were heard at a distance: they were
+from Labedoyere, and the seventh. The two troops, impatient to join,
+broke their ranks: embraces, and shouts a thousand times repeated, of
+"The guard for ever! the seventh for ever! long live the Emperor!"
+became the pledge of their union, and of their sentiments.
+
+Napoleon, who saw his forces and the public enthusiasm increase at
+every step, resolved to enter Grenoble that very evening.
+
+Before he reached the city he was stopped by a young merchant, an
+officer of the national guard. "Sire," said he, "I come to offer your
+Majesty a hundred thousand francs, and my sword."--"I accept both:
+remain with us." Farther on he was joined by a party of officers, who
+confirmed to him what he had learned from Labedoyere, that General
+Marchand and the prefect had declared against him, and that neither
+the garrison, nor the national guard, had yet displayed any favourable
+disposition.
+
+""In fact, General Marchand had caused the troops to re-enter
+Grenoble, and closed the gates: the ramparts were covered by the third
+regiment of engineers, composed of two thousand sappers, all veterans,
+covered with honourable scars; by the fourth of artillery of the line,
+the very regiment in which the Emperor had been made a captain five
+and twenty years before; then the two battalions of the fifth of the
+line, and the faithful hussars of the fourth.""
+
+Never did a besieged town exhibit a similar spectacle; the besiegers,
+with arms reversed, and marching in joyful irregularity, approached
+the walls singing. No noise of arms, no warlike shouts from the
+soldiers, rose to affright the air: nothing was heard but repeated
+acclamations of "Grenoble for ever! France for ever! Napoleon for
+ever!" no cries but those of the most unrestrained gaiety, and the
+purest enthusiasm. The garrison, the national guard, the
+town's-people, spread over the ramparts, beheld at first with
+surprise, with emotion, these transports of joy and attachment. It was
+not long before they shared them; and the besiegers and besieged,
+united by the same thoughts, the same sentiments, uttered at once the
+rallying words, "Long live the Emperor!" The people and the soldiers
+repaired to the gates, which were in an instant beaten down, and
+Napoleon, surrounded, thronged by an idolizing crowd, made his
+triumphant entry into Grenoble. A few moments after, the people came
+and brought him the fragments of the gates with trumpets sounding, and
+said, "For want of the keys of the good town of Grenoble, here are
+the gates for you."
+
+The possession of this place was of the highest importance to
+Napoleon: it afforded him a point of support, ammunition, arms, and
+artillery. He could not conceal his extreme satisfaction, and said
+repeatedly to his officers, "All is now decided; we are sure of
+getting to Paris." He questioned Labedoyere at large on the state of
+Paris, and the situation of France in general. This young colonel,
+full of the noblest sentiments, expressed himself with a frankness
+that sometimes staggered Napoleon. "Sire," he said, "the French will
+do every thing for your Majesty; but then your Majesty must do every
+thing for them: _no more ambition, no more despotism: we are
+determined to be free and happy_. It is necessary, Sire, to renounce
+that system of conquest and power which occasioned the misfortunes of
+France, and of yourself."--"If I succeed," answered Napoleon, "I will
+do every thing requisite to fulfil the expectations of the nation: its
+happiness is dearer to me than my own: it is to render it free and
+happy, that I have embarked in an undertaking, which might not
+succeed, and might cost me my life; but we shall have the consolation
+of dying in our native land."--"And of dying," added Labedoyere, "for
+its honour and its liberty."
+
+The Emperor gave orders to have his proclamations printed in the
+course of the night, and despatched emissaries in every direction to
+announce his having entered Grenoble; that Austria was for him; that
+the king of Naples was following him with eighty thousand men; ...
+and, in short, to discourage, intimidate, and curb, by false alarms
+and false confidences, the partisans and agents of the regal
+government.
+
+The proclamations, posted up in abundance, produced the most lively
+sensation, as at Gap. In fact, never had the national pride,
+patriotism, and the noblest passions of the mind, been addressed with
+more fascination, strength, and eloquence. The soldiers and citizens
+were never tired of reading and admiring them. Every person was
+desirous of having them. Travellers, and the inhabitants of the
+neighbouring country, received an immense quantity, which they took
+upon themselves to spread abroad on their road, and to send to all
+parts.
+
+The next day, the 8th, the clergy, the staff-officers, the imperial
+court, the tribunals, and the civil and military authorities, came to
+acknowledge Napoleon, and to offer him their congratulations. He
+conversed familiarly with the judges on the administration of justice;
+with the clergy on what was necessary to public worship; with the
+soldiery on the armies; with the municipal officers on the sufferings
+of the people, the towns, and the country places; and delighted them
+all by the variety of his knowledge, and the benevolence of his
+intentions. He then said to them: "I knew that France was unhappy; I
+heard its groans and its reproaches; I am come with the faithful
+companions of my exile, to deliver her from the yoke of the Bourbons
+... their throne is illegitimate ... my rights were conferred on me by
+the nation, by the unanimous will of the French people: they are no
+other rights than theirs.... I am come to resume them; not to reign,
+the throne is nothing to me: not to revenge myself, for I shall forget
+every thing that has been said, done, or written, since the
+capitulation of Paris; but to restore to you the rights, which the
+Bourbons have taken from you, and to emancipate you from the
+subscription to the glebe, the vassalage, and the feudal system, with
+which you are threatened by them.... I have been too fond of war; I
+will make war no more: I will leave my neighbours at rest: we must
+forget, that we have been masters of the world.... I wish to reign,
+in order to render our lovely France free, happy, and independent; and
+to place its happiness on foundations not to be shaken; _I wish to be
+less its sovereign than the first and best of its citizens._ I might
+have come to attack the Bourbons with ships and numerous fleets; but I
+would have no assistance from Murat or from Austria. I know my fellow
+citizens, and the defenders of my country, and I reckon on their
+patriotism."
+
+The audience ended, the Emperor reviewed the garrison, consisting of
+five or six thousand men. As soon as he appeared, the sky was darkened
+by the multitude of sabres, bayonets, grenadier-caps, _chacos_, &c.,
+which the people and the soldiers raised in the air, amid the most
+lively demonstrations of attachment and love.
+
+He said a few words to the people, which could not be heard, and
+repaired to the front of the fourth of artillery. "It was among you,"
+said he, "that I began my career in arms. I love you all as old
+comrades; I have observed you in the field of battle, and I have
+always been satisfied with your conduct. But I hope, that we shall
+have no occasion for your guns: France has need of moderation and
+repose. The army will enjoy, in the bosom of peace, the benefits I
+have already conferred on it, and those I shall yet bestow. In me the
+soldiers have found again their father: they may reckon upon the
+rewards they have deserved."
+
+After this review, the garrison set out on its march to Lyons.
+
+In the evening Napoleon wrote to the Empress and Prince Joseph. He
+directed him to make known at Rome, at Naples, and at Porto Ferrajo,
+that his enterprise had every appearance of being crowned with the
+most speedy and brilliant success. The couriers departed with great
+noise; and care was taken to make known, that they were carrying to
+the Empress the news of the Emperor's return, with orders to come
+immediately, with her son, and join him.
+
+On the 9th the Emperor declared the establishment of the imperial
+power by three decrees.
+
+The first directed all public acts, and the administration of justice,
+to be executed in his name from the 15th of March.
+
+The two others organized the national guards of the five departments
+of the Upper and Lower Alps, la Drome, Mont Blanc, and the Izere, and
+entrusted to the honour and patriotism of the inhabitants of the
+seventh division the fortified towns of Briancon, Grenoble, Fort
+Barreaux, Colmar, &c.
+
+The moment he set off, he addressed to the inhabitants of the
+department of the Izere the following proclamation:
+
+     Citizens,
+
+When in my exile I learned all the misfortunes, that oppressed the
+nation; that all the rights of the people were disregarded, and that I
+was reproached with the state of repose in which I lived: I lost not a
+moment: I embarked on board a slight vessel, crossed the sea in the
+midst of ships of war belonging to various nations, landed alone on
+the shores of our country, and thought of nothing but of arriving with
+the rapidity of an eagle in this good city of Grenoble, of the
+patriotism of which, and its personal attachment to me, I was well
+aware. Men of Dauphiny, you have answered my expectation.
+
+I have endured, not without a wounded heart, but without being
+dejected, the misfortunes to which for a twelvemonth I have been a
+prey. The spectacle displayed to my eyes by the people on my journey
+has inspired me with the most lively emotions. Though a few clouds
+have altered the high opinion I entertained of the French people,
+what I have seen has convinced me, that they are still worthy of the
+name of the Great People, which I gave them twenty years ago.
+
+Men of Dauphiny, about to quit your country, to repair to my good city
+of Lyons, I could not refrain from expressing to you all the esteem,
+with which your lofty sentiments have inspired me. My heart is filled
+with the emotions, that you have excited in it, and I shall never
+forget them.
+
+
+The news of the Emperor's landing did not reach Paris till the 5th of
+March, at night. It transpired on the 6th; and on the 7th a royal
+proclamation appeared in the Moniteur, convoking the chambers
+immediately; and a decree, that placed Napoleon, and all who should
+join or assist him, out of the protection of the law[47]; without any
+farther particulars.
+
+                   [Footnote 47: This mode of proceeding, worthy of
+                   the barbarous ages, was a new infraction of the law
+                   of nations, and of the constitutional laws of
+                   France, on the part of the ministry. No article of
+                   the charter conferred on the monarch the right of
+                   life and death over his subjects; and consequently
+                   he had no authority to proscribe those who
+                   accompanied and assisted Napoleon. If they were
+                   considered as robbers, it was the office of the
+                   tribunals to judge and to punish them.
+
+                   Neither was he authorized, to order Napoleon to be
+                   murdered. He had preserved the title of Emperor,
+                   legally enjoyed the prerogative of sovereignty, and
+                   might make war or peace as he pleased.
+
+                   The title of Emperor of the French, which he
+                   arrogated to himself, could not be a title to
+                   proscription. George III., previous to the treaty
+                   of Amiens, styled himself King of France and
+                   Navarre. Had he made a descent in arms on our
+                   territory, would any one have had a right, to
+                   proclaim him out of the pale of the law, and order
+                   the French people to murder him?]
+
+On the 8th the Moniteur and other newspapers announced, that Bonaparte
+had landed with eleven hundred men, most of whom had already deserted
+him; that he was wandering in the mountains, accompanied only by a few
+individuals; that he had been refused provision, was in want of every
+thing, and, pursued and on the point of being surrounded by the troops
+sent against him from Toulon, Marseilles, Valence, and Grenoble, he
+must speedily expiate his rash and criminal enterprise.
+
+This news struck all parties with astonishment, and made different
+impressions on them, according to their different sentiments and
+opinions.
+
+The discontented had no doubt of the success of the Emperor, and the
+ruin of the Bourbons.
+
+The courtiers regretted that there was not sufficient danger in this
+mad and audacious enterprise, to give at least some value to their
+attachment.
+
+The emigrants looked at it with pity, turned it into ridicule; and, if
+they had wanted nothing more than jests, abuse, and swaggering, to
+beat Napoleon, there could have been no doubt of their victory.
+
+The government itself participated in their boasting and security.
+
+Fresh despatches soon made known the progress of Napoleon.
+
+The Count d'Artois, the Duke of Orleans, and Marshal Macdonald, set
+off hastily for Lyons.
+
+The royalists were uneasy, the government removed their fears.
+
+The Count d'Artois, they said, at the head of fifteen thousand
+national guards, and ten thousand of the troops of the line, must stop
+him before Lyons.
+
+General Marchand, General Duverney, the Prince of Essling, and the
+Duke d'Angouleme, were getting into his rear, and would cut off his
+retreat.
+
+General Le Courbe was manoeuvring on his flanks.
+
+Marshal Oudinot was arriving with his faithful royal grenadiers.
+
+The national guards of Marseilles, and the whole population of the
+south, were marching from all quarters in pursuit of him; and it was
+impossible for him to escape.
+
+This was the 10th of March.
+
+The next day an officer of the King's household appeared in the
+balcony of the Tuileries, and, waving his hat, announced, that the
+King had just received an official account of the Duke of Orleans, at
+the head of twenty thousand men of the national guard of Lyons, having
+attacked Bonaparte on the side towards Bourgoing, and completely
+beaten him.
+
+The same day information was given, that Generals d'Erlon, Lefevre
+Desnouettes, and Lallemand, who had attempted to seduce the troops
+under their orders, had completely failed, and taken flight[48].
+
+                   [Footnote 48: These four generals had agreed, to
+                   repair together to Paris. The troops of Count
+                   d'Erlon, quartered at Lisle, deceived by
+                   supposititious orders, were on their march, when
+                   they were met by the Duke de Trevise, who was going
+                   to take the command of his government. He
+                   interrogated them, perceived the plot, and ordered
+                   them back.
+
+                   Count Lefevre Desnouettes, ignorant of this unlucky
+                   circumstance, put in motion his regiment, which was
+                   in garrison at Cambrai. When he reached Compiegne,
+                   he did not find the troops he expected, and showed
+                   some hesitation. The officers of his corps, and
+                   particularly Major Lyon, questioned him, and
+                   finally abandoned him.
+
+                   On the other hand, the brothers Lallemand, one of
+                   whom was general of artillery, had marched to Fere
+                   with a few squadrons, intending to seize the park
+                   of artillery. The resistance they met from General
+                   d'Aboville disconcerted them, and, after they had
+                   attempted in vain to seduce the garrison, they
+                   fled, but were shortly after arrested.
+
+                   It was supposed, that this rising in arms had been
+                   concerted with Napoleon; but I know from good
+                   authority, that it was solely the result of an
+                   evening spent at General ***'s. A few bowls of
+                   punch had heated their brains; they complained of
+                   their situation; they were indignant, that a
+                   handful of cowardly emigrants should prescribe laws
+                   to them; they were persuaded it would be easy to
+                   displace them; and, proceeding from one step to
+                   another, they concluded by agreeing to march to
+                   Paris, and compel the King to change his ministry,
+                   and banish from France all those whom the public
+                   voice denounced as enemies to the charter, and
+                   disturbers of the public tranquillity and
+                   happiness. Such was their true and only object.]
+
+The malecontents were in doubt: the royalists were intoxicated.
+
+On the 12th, the victory of the Duke of Orleans was contradicted. The
+official paper announced, that Bonaparte must have slept at Bourgoing;
+that he was expected to enter Lyons on the evening of the 10th of
+March; and that it appeared certain, that Grenoble had not yet opened
+its gates to him.
+
+The Count d'Artois soon arrived, and confirmed by his return the
+taking of Lyons, and the inutility of his efforts.
+
+The alarm was renewed.
+
+The King, whose countenance was at the same time dignified and
+affecting, invoked by eloquent proclamations the attachment of the
+French, and the courage and fidelity of the army.
+
+The army maintained silence. The judicial bodies, the civil
+authorities, the order of advocates, and a number of individual
+citizens, answered the King's appeal by addresses testifying their
+love and fidelity.
+
+The two chambers equally laid at the foot of the throne the expression
+of their sentiments: but their language differed.
+
+"Sire," said the Chamber of Peers, "hitherto paternal goodness has
+marked all the acts of your government[49]. If it be necessary that
+the laws should be rendered more severe, you would no doubt lament it;
+but the two chambers, animated with the same spirit, would be eager
+to concur in every measure that the importance of circumstances, and
+the safety of the people, may require."
+
+                   [Footnote 49: The chancellor, no doubt, had
+                   forgotten the proscription, that delivered over to
+                   death all those Frenchmen who joined or assisted
+                   Bonaparte.]
+
+"Whatever faults may have been committed," said the Chamber of
+Deputies, "the present is not the moment for inquiring into them. It
+is the duty of all of us, to unite against the common enemy, and
+afterwards endeavour, to render this crisis beneficial to the security
+of the throne and its public liberty."
+
+The King did not stop at empty proclamations. He decreed,
+
+That a new army should be assembled in front of Paris, under the
+orders of the Duke of Berri and the command of Marshal Macdonald:
+
+That all the soldiers on furlough, or conditionally discharged, should
+rejoin their corps:
+
+That all the half-pay officers should be called out:
+
+That the three millions of national guards of the kingdom should take
+up arms, in order to check the factious and disperse their meetings,
+_while the army took the field_:
+
+That the young national guards, who were desirous of forming a part of
+the acting army, should be armed and accoutred, and sent to the parts
+that were threatened.
+
+That to render useful the services of those brave Frenchmen, who on
+all sides were demanding to be led against the enemy, battalions of
+royal volunteers should be formed, and make a part of the army of the
+Duke of Berri.
+
+Marshal Ney, whose popularity and influence were well known, was
+appointed to take the command of the troops of the east.
+
+The Duke de Feltre took the place of Marshal Soult.
+
+In short, the King omitted nothing, that could concur in protecting
+his throne from the dangers, with which it was threatened.
+
+Such measures, sufficient to stop an army of three hundred thousand
+men, could only attest the success of Napoleon; and yet the ministry
+daily caused the most encouraging reports to be spread among the
+people, and confirmed by the newspapers.
+
+M. de Montesquiou, faithful to the system of deception he had adopted,
+continued to mislead the deputies, cheating them by false
+intelligence, and lulling them with hopes, which he himself no longer
+entertained. He knew the intoxication, which was excited in every
+place by the approach and passage of Napoleon. He knew, that he was
+master of Grenoble and Lyons; that the troops attempted to be opposed
+to him had joined his with enthusiasm: and nevertheless he announced
+to the chamber, "that the population of all the departments invaded by
+the adventurer of the island of Elba loudly manifested their
+indignation against this audacious robber; that they may have been
+surprised, but not subjugated; that all his summonses of places, and
+the orders he had attempted to issue to the local authorities, had
+been rejected with firmness; that the Lyonese had displayed the
+attachment, that was to be expected from their noble character; that
+the departments of Burgundy, Franche Comte, Lorraine, Champagne,
+Picardy, &c. &c. rivalled each other in their attachment and energy;
+that the good disposition of the troops was answerable to that of the
+citizens; and that all together, generals, officers, soldiers, and
+citizens, concurred in the defence of their country and of their
+King."
+
+These political juggleries were not without effect. They satisfied
+some credulous men, and inflamed the courage and imaginations of a few
+youths. The enrolments of volunteers were more numerous: a certain
+number of pupils of the schools of law and physic offered their
+services, and traversed the streets of Paris, shouting "Long live the
+King! Down with the Corsican! Down with the tyrant! &c."
+
+This effervescent movement could not be durable; and whatever pains
+were taken to deceive the metropolis, the truths announced by
+travellers and private letters opposed these ministerial falsehoods.
+
+The defection of Marshal Ney soon came to tear off the veil, and
+spread affright and consternation among the ministers and their
+partisans.
+
+The King repaired to the Chamber of Deputies, in the hope of
+confirming their attachment, and of dissipating by a solemn oath those
+doubts of his adherence to the charter, and of his intention to
+maintain it, which his ministers occasioned. Never was a more imposing
+and pathetic spectacle exhibited. What heart could steel itself
+against the sorrows of that august and aged man, against the sound of
+his mournful voice? Those prophetic words, "I fear nothing for myself,
+but I fear for France: at sixty years of age can I better close my
+career, than by dying in defence of the state?" These words of the
+King excited the most lively emotion, and tears in abundance fell from
+every eye.
+
+The oath pronounced by the King, to maintain the charter, was
+immediately repeated by the Count d'Artois, who had hitherto refrained
+from it. "We swear," said he, "on our honour, I and my family, to
+live and die faithful to our King, and to the constitutional charter,
+which assures the happiness of France." But these tardy protestations
+could not repair the mischief, that the disloyal conduct of the
+government had done to the Bourbons and their cause.
+
+In vain did the words country, liberty, and constitution, recur in
+every discourse, and in every proclamation.
+
+In vain was it solemnly promised, that France, as soon as it was
+delivered, should receive all the securities claimed by the public
+voice, and that the press should recover perfect freedom.
+
+In vain was the lustre and the prerogative, of which the legion of
+honour had been despoiled, offered to be restored to it.
+
+In vain were pompous eulogies and brilliant promises lavished on the
+army.
+
+The time was past.
+
+The minister had robbed the King of confidence, which is the prime
+agent of the ascendancy of princes over the people; and of strength,
+which can alone supply the place of confidence, and command fear and
+obedience.
+
+The approach of Napoleon;
+
+The desertion of Marshal Ney;
+
+The declaration made by those generals, who still retained their
+fidelity, that the troops would not fight against the Emperor, left
+the government no doubt of the fate that awaited it.
+
+From that moment there was no longer harmony in their designs, or
+concert in the means of executing them.
+
+Orders and counter-orders were given on the one hand, and revoked on
+the other. Schemes of every kind, all equally inconsiderate and
+impracticable, were approved and rejected, resumed and abandoned.
+
+The chambers and the government had ceased to act in unison. The
+ministers complained of the deputies; the deputies publicly demanded
+of the King the dismissal of his ministers, and that he would place
+around himself men, "who have been the constant defenders of justice
+and liberty, and whose names shall be a guarantee for the interest of
+all[50]."
+
+                   [Footnote 50: It is asserted, that on this occasion
+                   a conference took place, at which M. Laine, MM. de
+                   Broglie, la Fayette, d'Argenson, Flaugergue,
+                   Benjamin Constant, &c. were present, where it was
+                   decided, that the King should be required in the
+                   name of the public safety:
+
+                   1. To dismiss MM. de Blacas, Montesquiou, Dambray,
+                   and Ferrand:
+
+                   2. To call to the Chamber of Peers forty new
+                   members, chosen exclusively from men of the
+                   revolution:
+
+                   3. To confer on M. de la Fayette, the command of
+                   the national guard: and
+
+                   4. To despatch patriotic commissioners, to
+                   stimulate the attachment, the zeal, and the
+                   fidelity of the troops.]
+
+The same disorder, the same disunion, manifested themselves every
+where at the same time: there was only one point in which people
+agreed; that all was lost.
+
+In fact so it was.
+
+The people, whom the nobles had humbled, vexed, or terrified by
+haughty and tyrannical pretensions;
+
+They who had acquired national domains, whom they had wished to
+dispossess;
+
+The protestants, who had been sacrificed;
+
+The magistrates, who had been turned out;
+
+The persons in office, who had been reduced to want;
+
+The soldiers, officers, and generals, who had been despised and
+ill-treated;
+
+The revolutionists, who had been incessantly insulted and menaced;
+
+The friends of justice, and of liberty, who had been abused;
+
+All the French, whom the government had reduced, as it were, in spite
+of themselves, to wish for another order of things; eagerly embraced
+the cause of Napoleon, which had become the national cause through
+the faults of the government.
+
+Royalty had no defenders left but women _and their handkerchiefs_;
+priests without influence; nobles without courage; body guards without
+youth, or without experience.
+
+The legions of the national guard, on which such great reliance had
+been placed, were reviewed by their colonel-general: he harangued them
+on the charter, and the tyranny of Bonaparte; he told them, that he
+would march at their head, and said: "Let those, who love their King,
+come out from their ranks, and follow me." Scarcely two hundred obeyed
+the order.
+
+The royal volunteers, who had made so much noise, when they expected
+to be victors without incurring any peril, had gradually dispersed;
+and those, whom the approach of danger had neither intimidated nor
+cooled, were too few to have any weight in the balance.
+
+The government had one sole and last hope remaining: it was, dare I
+say it? that Napoleon would be assassinated.
+
+The same men who had preached up a civil war, _and declared, that it
+would be shameful not to have one_; soiled the walls of Paris with
+provocations to murder, and fanatic praises bestowed beforehand on
+murderers. Emissaries, mixing in the various groups of the people,
+endeavoured to put the poniard into the hands of the new Jacques
+Clements. A public act had proscribed Napoleon; a reward was publicly
+offered for his head. This call for a crime, which indignant France
+first heard from the assassins of Coligny, was repeated by men, who,
+like them, had the sacred words of morality, humanity, and religion,
+continually in their mouths, and who, like them, thirsted only after
+vengeance and blood.
+
+But while they were conspiring at Paris to assassinate Napoleon, he
+peaceably pursued his triumphant march.
+
+Quitting Grenoble on the 9th, he came that night and slept at
+Burgoing. [51]""The crowd and the enthusiasm continued to increase:
+"We have long expected you," said all these brave fellows to the
+Emperor; "at length you are come, to deliver France from the insolence
+of the nobility, the pretensions of the priests, and the disgrace of a
+foreign yoke."
+
+                   [Footnote 51: The double sets of inverted commas
+                   are still used to distinguish passages extracted
+                   from the official account.]
+
+""The Emperor, being fatigued[52], was in his calash, the horse
+walking, surrounded by a crowd of peasants, singing songs, that
+expressed the noble sentiments of these brave Dauphinese. "Ah!" said
+the Emperor, "I here find again the sentiments, which twenty years ago
+led me to hail France by the name of the great nation! Yes, you are
+still the great nation, and you shall ever be so."""
+
+                   [Footnote 52: He had travelled from Cannes to
+                   Grenoble partly on horseback, but chiefly on foot.]
+
+They approached Lyons: the Emperor had sent his emissaries before him,
+who informed him, that the Count d'Artois, the Duke of Orleans, and
+Marshal Macdonald, had determined to defend the city, and that they
+were going to break down the bridges de la Guillotiere and Moraud.
+""The Emperor laughed at these ridiculous preparations: he could not
+doubt the disposition of the Lyonese, still less those of the
+soldiers; yet he gave orders to General Bertrand, to collect boats at
+the Mirbel, intending to cross the river in the night, and cut off the
+roads to Moulins and Macon for the Prince, who wanted to prevent his
+passing the Rhone. At four o'clock a reconnoitring party of the
+fourth hussars arrived at la Guillotiere, and were received with
+shouts of "Long live the Emperor!" by the immense population of the
+suburb, that has always been distinguished for its attachment to its
+country.""
+
+The Emperor immediately countermanded the passage at Mirbel, and
+desirous of availing himself of this first enthusiastic movement, as
+at Grenoble, galloped forward to the suburb of Guillotiere.
+
+The Count d'Artois, less fortunate, could not even succeed in opposing
+to his adversary a shadow of defence.
+
+He was desirous of destroying the bridges, but the city opposed it.
+
+The troops, whose attachment he fancied he could purchase by the
+distribution of money, or the bait of rewards, had remained deaf to
+his words, his entreaties, his promises. Passing before the thirteenth
+regiment of dragoons, he said to a brave fellow, decorated with three
+chevrons and with scars: "Come, comrade, shout Long live the
+King!"--"No, Sir," answered the brave dragoon, "No soldier will fight
+against his father; I can only answer you by saying Long live the
+Emperor!" Confused and in despair, he exclaimed in a sorrowful tone,
+"All is lost!" and these words, instantly spreading from one to
+another, only strengthened the prevailing ill will or discouragement[53].
+
+                   [Footnote 53: It was a great oversight, to send the
+                   Count d'Artois to face Napoleon. It was easy to
+                   foresee, that, if this prince should fail in a city
+                   of a hundred thousand inhabitants against eight
+                   hundred men, the business would be decided.]
+
+Marshal Macdonald, however, who was well known to the troops, had
+succeeded in barricading the bridge of la Guillotiere, and led two
+battalions of infantry thither in person; when the hussars of Napoleon
+came out from the suburb, and presented themselves before the bridge,
+preceded, surrounded, and followed, by all the youth of the place.
+
+The marshal restrained the soldiers a few minutes: but moved, seduced,
+borne away, by the incitements of the people and the hussars, they
+rushed to the barricadoes, burst them, and were quickly in the arms
+and in the ranks of the soldiers of Napoleon.
+
+The Count d'Artois, foreseeing this defection, had quitted Lyons,
+unaccompanied by a single gendarme, but escorted by a detachment of
+the thirteenth dragoons, commanded by lieutenant Marchebout. It is due
+to the troops to say, that they did not cease to respect him, and that
+he ran no risk[54].
+
+                   [Footnote 54: Marshal Macdonald was not so happy.
+                   Two hussars, one of whom was drunk, pursued him,
+                   and would have arrested him, if he had not been
+                   extricated by his aide-de-camp.]
+
+At five in the evening the whole garrison rushed out to meet Napoleon.
+
+An hour after, the imperial army took possession of the city.
+
+At seven Napoleon made his solemn entry, proceeding alone before his
+troops, but preceded and followed by an immense crowd, expressing, by
+incessant acclamations, the intoxication, happiness, and pride, they
+felt at seeing him again. He alighted at the archbishop's palace, and
+quietly took his rest in the very places, which the Count d'Artois,
+yielding to despair, had just watered with his tears.
+
+Napoleon immediately entrusted the guarding of his person, and the
+interior charge of the palace, to the national guard. He would not
+accept the services of the horse-guards. "Our institutions," said he
+to them, "know nothing of national guards on horseback; besides, you
+behaved so ill with the Count d'Artois, that I will have nothing to
+say to you."
+
+In fact the Emperor, who had always respected misfortune, had made
+inquiries concerning the Count d'Artois on his arrival; and had
+learned, that the nobles, of whom the horse-guards were chiefly
+composed, after having sworn to the prince to die for him, had
+deserted him; one excepted, who remained faithfully attached to his
+escort, till the moment he thought his life and liberty out of all
+danger.
+
+The Emperor did not confine himself to commendation of the conduct of
+this generous Lyonese. "I never left a noble action," said he,
+"without reward:" and he appointed him a member of the Legion of
+Honour.
+
+I was at Lyons the moment when Napoleon arrived. He knew it, and sent
+for me that very evening. "Well!" said he to me with a smile, "you did
+not expect to see me again so soon[55]."--"No, Sire; your Majesty
+alone is capable of occasioning such surprises."--"What do they say of
+all this at Paris?"--"Why, Sire, there, as here, they are rejoiced, no
+doubt, at your Majesty's happy return."--"And public opinion, how is
+that?"--"Sire, it is greatly changed: formerly we thought of nothing
+but glory, now we think only of liberty. The struggle that has arisen
+between the Bourbons and the nation has revealed to us our rights; it
+has engendered in men's minds a number of liberal ideas, that did not
+exist in your Majesty's time; people feel, people experience, the
+necessity of being free; and the most certain means of pleasing the
+French would be to promise, and to give them, laws truly popular."--"I
+know that the discussions they[56] have suffered to take place, have
+diminished the respect for power, and enfeebled it. Liberal ideas have
+resumed all the ground I had gained for it. I shall not attempt to
+reconquer it: no one should attempt to contend with a nation; it is
+the earthen pot against the iron pot. The French shall have reason to
+be satisfied with me. I know, that there is both pleasure and glory in
+rendering a great people free and happy. I will give pledges to
+France: I did not stint it in glory, I will not stint it in liberty. I
+will retain no farther power than is necessary to enable me to govern.
+Power is not incompatible with liberty: on the contrary, liberty is
+never more entire, than when power is well established. When it is
+weak, it is captious: when it is strong, it sleeps in tranquillity,
+and leaves the reins loose on the neck of liberty. I know what is
+requisite for the French; we shall settle that point: but no
+licentiousness, no anarchy; for anarchy would lead us to the despotism
+of the republicans, the most fertile of all despotisms in tyrannic
+acts, because every body takes a share in it.... Do they suppose we
+shall come to a battle?"--"They do not think it: the government have
+never had confidence in the soldiery; it has made itself detested by
+the officers; and all the troops that may be opposed to your
+Majesty's, will be so many reinforcements sent you."--"I think so too:
+and the marshals?"--"Sire, they cannot but be apprehensive, that your
+Majesty will remember Fontainbleau; and perhaps it will be well to
+remove their fears, and to make known to them personally your
+Majesty's intention of consigning every thing to oblivion."--"No, I
+will not write to them; they would consider me as under obligations to
+them; and I will be obliged to no person. The troops are well
+disposed, the officers are good, and if the marshals wished to
+restrain them, they would be hurried along by them ... where is my
+guard?"--"I believe at Metz and at Nancy."--"Of that I am sure, do
+what they will, they will never corrupt it. What are Augereau and
+Marmont about?"--"I do not know."--"What is Ney doing? On what terms
+is he with the king?"--"Sometimes good, sometimes bad: I believe he
+has had reason to complain of the court on account of his wife."--"His
+wife is an affected creature; no doubt she has attempted to play the
+part of a great lady, and the old dowagers have ridiculed her. Has Ney
+any command?"--"I do not think he has, Sire."--"Is he one of
+us?"--"The part he took in your abdication"--"Ay, I read that at
+Porto Ferrajo: he boasted of having ill-treated me, of having laid his
+pistols on my table: it was all false. Had he dared to fail of respect
+to me, I would have ordered him to be shot. A heap of tales has been
+spread respecting my abdication. I abdicated, not in consequence of
+their advice, but because my army was out of its senses: besides, I
+would not have a civil war. It was never to my taste. It was said,
+that Augereau, when I met him, loaded me with reproaches ... it was a
+lie: no one of my generals would have dared, in my presence, to forget
+what was due to me. Had I known of the proclamation of Augereau, I
+would have forbidden him my presence[57]: cowards only insult
+misfortune. His proclamation, which I was reported to have had in my
+pocket, was unknown to me till after our interview. It was General
+Koller who showed it me; but let us quit these popular rumours. What
+has been done at the Tuileries?"--"Nothing has been altered, Sire;
+even the eagles have not yet been removed."--(Smiling) "They must have
+thought my arrangement of them admirable."--"So I presume, Sire: it
+has been said, that the Count d'Artois went through all the apartments
+immediately after his arrival, and could not cease to admire
+them."--"I can readily believe it. What have they done with my
+pictures?"--"Some have been taken away, but that of the battle of
+Austerlitz is still in the council-chamber."--"And the theatre?"--"It
+has not been touched: it is no longer used."--"What is Talma
+doing?"--"Why, Sire, he continues to deserve and obtain public
+applause."--"I shall see him again with pleasure. Have you been at
+court?"--"Yes, Sire, I have been presented."--"I am told, they all
+have the air of upstarts of yesterday; that they know not how to utter
+a word, or take a single step, with propriety: have you seen them on
+grand public days?"--"No, Sire, but I can assure your Majesty, that
+people pay as little regard to ceremony at the Tuileries, as at their
+own homes: they go thither in dirty boots, common frock-coats, and
+round hats."--"That must have a very majestic appearance. But how do
+all those old _thicksculls_ spend their money? for every thing has
+been restored to them."--"But, probably, Sire, they wish to wear out
+their old clothes."--"Poor France! into what hands hast thou thrust
+thyself! And the king, what sort of a countenance has he?"--"He has a
+tolerably fine head."--"Is his coin handsome?"--"Of this your Majesty
+may judge: here is a twenty-franc piece."--"What! they have not
+re-coined louis: I am surprised at this. (Turning the piece over) He
+does not look as if he would starve himself: but observe, they have
+taken away _Dieu protege la France_ (God protect France), to restore
+their _Domine, salvum fac regem_ (Lord, preserve the King). This is as
+they always were: every thing for themselves, nothing for France.
+Where is Maret? where is Caulincourt? where is Lavalette? where is
+Fouche?"--"They are all at Paris."--"And Mole?"--"He, too, is at
+Paris; I observed him a short time ago at the Queen's."--"Have we any
+persons hereabout, who were nearly attached to me?"--"I do not know,
+Sire."--"You must inquire, and bring them to me. I should be glad to
+be thoroughly acquainted with the spirit of the times, and know
+something of the present state of affairs. What does Hortense
+do?"--"Sire, her house is still the resort of men, who know how to
+appreciate wit and elegance: and the Queen, though without a throne,
+is not less an object of the respect and homage of all Paris."--"She
+did a very foolish thing, in exhibiting herself as a spectacle before
+the tribunals. They who advised her to it were blockheads. Why, too,
+did she go and demand the title of duchess?"--"She, Sire, did not
+demand it, it was the Emperor Alexander...."--"No matter, she ought
+not to have accepted, any more than demanded it: she should have
+called herself Madame Bonaparte: this name is full as good as any
+other. Besides, what right had she to have her son made a duke of St.
+Leu, and a peer of the Bourbons? Louis was in the right to oppose it:
+he was sensible, that the name of her son was sufficiently honourable,
+not to suffer himself to change it. If Josephine had been alive, she
+would have prevented her from engaging in such a foolish piece of
+business. Was she much regretted?"--"Yes, Sire, your Majesty knows how
+much she was beloved and honoured by the French."--"She deserved it.
+She was an excellent woman: she had a great deal of sense. I greatly
+regretted her too, and the day when I heard of her death was one of
+the most unhappy of my life. Was there a public mourning for
+her?"--"No, Sire. Indeed I think she would have been refused the
+honours due to her rank, had not the Emperor Alexander insisted on
+their being paid her."--"So I heard at the time, but I did not believe
+it. He was no way interested in it."--"The generosity of Alexander was
+not confined within any limits: he showed himself the protector of the
+Empress, the Queen, Prince Eugene, the Duke of Vicenza, and a number
+of other persons of distinction, who, but for him, would have been
+persecuted or ill treated."--"You love him, it seems."--"Sire...."--"Is
+the national guard of Paris well disposed?"--"I cannot positively
+affirm it; but of this at least I am certain, that if it do not
+declare for your Majesty, at least it will not act against us."--"I
+imagine so too. What is it supposed, that the foreigners will think of
+my return?"--"It is thought, that Austria will connect itself with
+your Majesty, and that Russia will behold the disgrace of the Bourbons
+without regret."--"Why so?"--"It is said, Sire, that Alexander was not
+pleased with the princes while at Paris. That the predilection of the
+king for England, and his attributing his crown to the Prince Regent,
+offended him."--"It is well to know that. Has he seen my son?"--"Yes,
+Sire: I have been assured, that he embraced him with a tenderness
+truly paternal, and exclaimed: He is a charming fellow: how have I
+been deceived!"--"What did he mean by that?"--"They say he had been
+informed, that the young prince was rickety and imbecile."--"Wretches!
+he is an admirable child: he gives every indication of becoming a
+distinguished character. He will be an honour to his age. Is it true,
+that so much was made of Alexander at Paris?"--"Yes, Sire, nobody else
+was attended to but he: the other sovereigns appeared as if they were
+his aides-de-camp."--"In fact, he did a great deal for Paris: but for
+him the English would have ruined it, and the Prussians would have
+set it on fire.--He acted his part well ... (with a smile) if I were
+not Napoleon, perhaps I would be Alexander."
+
+                   [Footnote 55: Those who have been about Napoleon's
+                   person know, that he recommended to his
+                   secretaries, and the officers of his household, to
+                   take notes of what he said and did on his journeys.
+                   A number of notes of this nature must have been
+                   found at the Tuileries, most of which contained
+                   particulars that were highly interesting. I
+                   preserved mine, and from them I have composed, in
+                   great measure, the present work.]
+
+                   [Footnote 56: The Bourbons.]
+
+                   [Footnote 57: The newspapers of the day asserted,
+                   that Napoleon, though he had in his pocket the
+                   proclamation of Augereau, filled with reproaches
+                   and invectives, had thrown himself into his arms,
+                   and heard the cutting reprehensions of the marshal,
+                   without saying a word.]
+
+The next day he reviewed the division of Lyons in Bellecour Square. "I
+shall see that square again with pleasure," said he, to the chiefs of
+the national guard, who stood round him: "I remember, that I raised it
+from its ruins, and laid the first stone of it fifteen years ago." He
+went out merely preceded by a few hussars. A crowd of men, old men,
+women and children, thronged the bridges, the quays, and the streets.
+They rushed under the horses' feet to hear him, to see him, to have a
+closer view of him, to touch his garments ... it was an actual
+delirium. Scarcely had he proceeded a few steps, when the crowd, that
+had already seen him, ran to another spot, to see him again. The air
+rung with uninterrupted acclamations. It was a rolling volley of "The
+nation for ever! The Emperor for ever! Down with the priests! Down
+with the royalists!" &c.
+
+The division of Brayer, as soon as reviewed, set out on its march to
+Paris.
+
+When the Emperor returned to the archiepiscopal palace, the great
+gallery was crowded with generals, colonels, magistrates, and public
+officers of all ranks and kinds. You might have thought yourselves in
+the Tuileries.
+
+The Emperor stopped a few minutes: he embraced Generals Mouton
+Duvernay, Girard, and other officers, whom Paris supposed to be in
+pursuit of him; and after having distributed on the right and left a
+few smiles and many compliments, he proceeded to his saloon, and
+admitted to be presented to him the imperial court, the municipal
+body, and the chiefs of the military corps and the national guard.
+
+He conversed a long time with them on the faults of the Bourbons, and
+the deplorable situation in which he found France. He confessed to
+them with noble frankness, that he was not altogether inculpable for
+its misfortunes. "I was hurried on," said he, "by the course of
+events, into a wrong path. But, taught by experience, I have abjured
+that love of glory, so natural to the French, which has had such fatal
+consequences to them and to me.... I was mistaken in supposing, that
+the time was arrived for rendering France the metropolis of a great
+empire: I have renounced for ever that grand enterprise; we have
+enough of glory, we want repose.
+
+"It is not ambition, that has brought me back to France: it is the
+love of the country. I could have preferred the tranquillity of the
+island of Elba to the cares of a throne, had I not known, that France
+was unhappy, and had need of me.
+
+"On setting foot on our dear France," continued he, after a few
+unimportant answers from his auditors, "I made a vow to render it free
+and happy: I bring nothing to it but benefits. I am returned to
+protect and defend those interests, to which our revolution has given
+birth: I return to concur with the representatives of the nation in a
+family compact, that shall preserve for ever the liberty and the
+rights of every Frenchman: henceforward it will be my ambition, and my
+glory, to effect the happiness of the great people from whom I hold
+every thing. I will not, like Louis XVIII., grant you a revocable
+charter; I will give you an inviolable constitution, and it shall be
+the work of the people, as well as of myself."
+
+Such were his words. He pronounced them with an air of such
+satisfaction, he appeared so confident of himself and of the future,
+that a man would have thought himself criminal to suspect the purity
+of his intentions, or to doubt the happiness he was about to secure to
+France.
+
+The language he held at Lyons we perceive was not the same, as that he
+had uttered at Gap and at Grenoble. In the last-mentioned towns he
+sought principally to excite in men's minds hatred of the Bourbons,
+and the love of liberty: he had spoken as a citizen, rather than a
+monarch. No formal declaration, not a single word, revealed his
+intentions. It might as well have been supposed, that he thought of
+restoring the republic, or the consulship, as the empire. At Lyons,
+there was no longer any thing vague, any thing uncertain: he spoke as
+a sovereign, and promised to give a national constitution. The idea of
+the Champ de Mai had recurred to him.
+
+Not one of us suspected the sincerity of the promises and resolves of
+Napoleon.
+
+Time, reflection, misfortune, the grand teacher of mankind, had
+effected the most favourable changes in the principles of Napoleon.
+
+Formerly, when unforeseen obstacles arose, suddenly to thwart his
+projects, his passions, accustomed to no restraint, to respect no
+bridle, burst forth with the fury of a raging sea: he spoke, he
+ordered, he decided, as if he had been master of the earth and of the
+elements; nothing appeared to him impossible.
+
+After his reverse of fortune, he had learned in the calm of solitude
+and meditation, to control the violence of his will, and to subject it
+to the yoke of reason and prudence. He had read attentively the
+writings, pamphlets, and even libels, published against him: and amid
+the revilings, calumnies, and absurdities, which they frequently
+contained, he had found useful truths, judicious observations, and
+profound views, of which he knew how to benefit himself.
+
+"Princes," observes the learned author of the Spirit of Laws, "have in
+their lives periods of ambition to which other passions, and even
+indolence, succeed." Napoleon's hour of indolence was not yet come:
+but to the ambition of increasing his power without limit, had
+succeeded the desire of rendering France happy, and of repairing by a
+durable peace, and a paternal government, all the evils that had been
+brought upon it by war.
+
+The Emperor spent the evening of the 11th in his closet: his first
+thought was for the Empress. He wrote her a very tender letter, which
+began with these remarkable words. "Madam and dear wife, I have
+re-ascended my throne."
+
+He informed Prince Joseph[58] also, that he had resumed his crown; and
+directed him to make known to foreign powers, through their ministers
+to the Helvetic Confederation, that he intended never more to disturb
+the tranquillity of Europe, and faithfully to maintain the treaty of
+Paris. He particularly recommended to him, strongly to impress upon
+Austria and Russia, how desirous he was of re-establishing his former
+connexions with them in the most intimate manner.
+
+                   [Footnote 58: He had retired to Switzerland.]
+
+He appeared to set a particular value on the alliance of Russia. His
+predilection was founded, no doubt, on political motives not difficult
+to guess; yet I believe he was equally induced to it by Alexander's
+generous conduct towards the French. The popularity and renown, which
+this prince had acquired in France, excited, and could not but excite,
+the jealousy of Napoleon: but this jealousy, the attribute of great
+minds, did not render him unjust; he knew how to estimate Alexander.
+
+Hitherto Napoleon has been engaged only in depriving the King of his
+army; he now thought the time was come, to take from him also the
+sceptre of civil government. "On this I have resolved," said he to me:
+"I will now annihilate the royal authority, and dismiss the chambers.
+Since I have resumed the government, no authority but mine ought to
+exist. The public must be taught from this moment, that they are to
+obey me alone." He then dictated to me in succession the following
+decrees, known by the name of the decrees of Lyons.
+
+
+                                        Lyons, 13th of March, 1815.
+
+NAPOLEON, Emperor of the French, &c. &c.
+
+Considering, that the Chamber of Peers is partly composed of persons
+who have borne arms against France, and who are interested in the
+re-establishment of feudal rights, in the destruction of the equality
+of the different classes, in the nullification of the sale of the
+national domains, and finally in depriving the people of the rights
+they have acquired by fighting for five and twenty years against the
+enemies of the national glory:
+
+Considering, that the powers of the deputies of the legislative body
+have expired, and that from that moment the Chamber of Commons has no
+longer a national character; that a part of this chamber has rendered
+itself unworthy the confidence of the nation, by assenting to the
+re-establishment of the feudal nobility, abolished by the constitution
+accepted by the people; by making France pay debts contracted with
+foreign powers for negotiating coalitions, and paying armies, against
+the French people; by giving to the Bourbons the title of legitimate
+King, which was declaring the French people and the armies rebels,
+proclaiming those emigrants, who for five and twenty years have been
+wounding the vitals of their country, the only good Frenchmen, and
+violating all the rights of the people, by sanctioning the principle,
+that the nation is made for the throne, not the throne for the nation:
+
+We have decreed, and do decree, as follows:
+
+
+        Article I.
+
+The Chamber of Peers is dissolved.
+
+
+        Article II.
+
+The Chamber of Commons is dissolved: it is ordered, that every one of
+the members convened and arrived at Paris since the 7th of March last
+shall repair to his home without delay.
+
+
+        Article III.
+
+The electoral colleges of the departments of the empire shall assemble
+at Paris in the course of the month of May next, in order to take
+proper measures for correcting and modifying our constitutions
+agreeably to the interests and will of the nation; and at the same
+time to assist at the coronation of the Empress, our dear and
+well-beloved wife, and that of our dear and well-beloved son.
+
+
+        Article IV.
+
+Our Grand Marshal, executing the functions of Major-general of the
+grand army, is appointed to take necessary measures for making public
+the present decree.
+
+
+        SECOND DECREE.
+
+NAPOLEON, &c.
+
+
+        Article I.
+
+All the emigrants, whose names have not been erased, amnestied, or
+eliminated, by us, or by the governments that have preceded us; and
+who have returned to France since the 1st of January, 1814, shall
+immediately quit the territory of the empire.
+
+
+        Article II.
+
+Those emigrants, who shall be found in the territory of the empire
+fifteen days after the promulgation of the present decree, shall be
+arrested and tried conformably to the laws decreed by our national
+assemblies: unless however it be proved, that they had no knowledge
+of the present decree; in which case, they shall merely be arrested,
+and conducted out of the territory by the gendarmerie.
+
+
+        Article III.
+
+All their property, moveable and immoveable, &c. &c. shall be placed
+in sequestration.
+
+
+        THIRD DECREE.
+
+NAPOLEON, &c.
+
+
+        Article I.
+
+The nobility is abolished, and the laws of the Constituent Assembly
+shall be put in force.
+
+
+        Article II.
+
+Feudal titles are suppressed.
+
+
+        Article III.
+
+Those individuals, who have obtained from us national titles, as
+national rewards, and whose letters patent have been verified before
+the council by the seal of state, shall continue to bear them.
+
+
+        Article IV.
+
+We reserve to ourselves the power of giving titles to the descendants
+of those men, who have rendered the French name illustrious in various
+ages, whether in the command of armies by land and sea, in the
+councils of sovereigns, in the administration of justice or of civil
+authority, or finally in the arts and sciences, commerce, &c.
+
+
+        FOURTH DECREE.
+
+NAPOLEON, &c.
+
+
+        Article I.
+
+All those generals and officers by land and sea, of whatever rank, who
+have been introduced into our armies since the 1st of April, 1814, who
+had emigrated; or who, not having emigrated, had quitted the service
+at the period of the first coalition, when the country had the
+greatest need of their services; shall immediately cease their
+functions, relinquish the marks of their rank, and repair to their
+homes, &c. &c.
+
+
+        FIFTH DECREE.
+
+NAPOLEON, &c.
+
+Considering, that by our constitutions the members of the judicial
+order are not removable, we decree:
+
+
+        Article I.
+
+All the arbitrary changes made in our inferior tribunals and courts
+are null, and to be considered as having never taken place.
+
+
+        Article II.
+
+The presidents of the court of cassation, our procureur-general
+(attorney-general), and the members who have been unjustly, and from a
+spirit of reaction, dismissed from the said court, are restored to
+their functions, &c. &c.
+
+
+By four other decrees the Emperor ordered, that the property of the
+Bourbon family should be placed in sequestration.
+
+That all the property of emigrants, which belonged to the Legion of
+Honour, hospitals, communes, the sinking fund, or the national
+domains, should be restored to these different establishments.
+
+That the King's household and the Swiss should be dismissed, and that
+no foreign corps should be admitted as a guard to the sovereign.
+
+And that the decoration of the lily, and the orders of St. Louis, the
+Holy Ghost, and St. Michael, should be abolished.
+
+These decrees, which embraced at once every part of the political,
+civil, and military administration of the state, succeeded each other
+so rapidly, that Napoleon had scarcely time to interpose a few words
+between them.
+
+By restoring to their seats those magistrates, who had been expelled
+from them, he gained with a stroke of the pen all the members of the
+judicial order; but I know not why he did not extend this beneficial
+measure to the functionaries of the administrative order, particularly
+to the prefects and sub-prefects, whom M. de Montesquiou had so
+cruelly persecuted. Among these functionaries there were
+unquestionably some, who, from the weakness or incapacity they had
+shown during the last moments of the imperial government, merited no
+confidence: but the greater part of them had remained worthy of it;
+and Napoleon, by placing them at the head of their former offices,
+would have added to the advantage of publicly repairing an act of
+royal injustice, that of entrusting the administration to experienced
+men, and who, already knowing the partisans of the revolution and
+those of the Bourbons, had only to show themselves, to intimidate the
+latter, and render effective the patriotism of the former.
+
+With this exception, every thing he did at Lyons appeared to me a
+master-piece of wisdom and address.
+
+It was necessary, to overturn the Chamber of Peers: he did it at one
+stroke. "It is composed," said he, "only of men who have borne arms
+against their country, and who are interested in restoring feudal
+rights, and annulling the national sales."
+
+The Chamber of Deputies had shown some resistance to the ministers,
+and attachment to liberal doctrines; it was difficult, therefore, to
+render it unpopular, yet the Emperor did it by a word: "It has shown
+itself unworthy of the confidence of the nation, by making the people
+pay debts contracted with foreigners for the shedding of French
+blood."
+
+It was necessary, to remove the apprehensions of France respecting the
+future: he called the electors to the Champ de Mai. It was necessary,
+to excite the belief, that he had a good understanding with Austria,
+and that Maria Louisa would be restored to him: he announced the
+approaching coronation of the Empress and her son.
+
+It was necessary, to seduce the patriots, the republicans: he
+abolished the feudal nobility; and declared, that the throne was made
+for the nation, not the nation for the throne. It was necessary, to
+tranquillize those, who had acquired national domains; he expelled the
+emigrants not erased from the lists, and resumed their property: to
+please the peasantry and the poor, he restored to the hospitals the
+property of which they had been despoiled: to flatter the guard and
+the army, he expelled from their ranks foreigners and emigrants,
+dismissed the King's household, and restored to the Legion of Honour
+its endowments and prerogatives.
+
+Men may censure his conduct at Lyons; may represent it as that of a
+madman, resolved to alter, to destroy, to overturn every thing: no
+matter ... they who judge with impartiality, I believe, will find,
+that he conducted himself with all the skill of a consummate
+politician. He knew how to inspire confidence, dissipate
+apprehensions, confirm attachments, and fill the people and the army
+with enthusiasm: what could he do more?
+
+The steps taken at Paris against him were known to him on the 12th. He
+appeared delighted, that a command was given to Marshal Ney; not that
+he held any intelligence with him; but because he knew the weakness
+and fickleness of his character. He directed the Grand Marshal to
+write to him. "You will inform him," said he, "of the delirium excited
+by my return, and of all the forces sent against me having joined my
+army in succession. You will tell him, that the troops under his
+command will infallibly follow the example of their brave comrades,
+sooner or later: and that the efforts he might make would have no
+farther effect, than at most to retard the fall of the Bourbons a few
+days. Give him to understand, that he will be responsible to France,
+and to me, for the civil war and bloodshed, of which he would be the
+cause. _Flatter him_," added the Emperor, "but do not _caress_ him too
+much; he would think me afraid of him, and require to be entreated."
+
+Letters were written also to all the commanders of corps, that were
+known to be quartered in the neighbouring departments. None of them
+were in a supplicatory style: the Emperor already spoke as a master;
+he did not entreat, he commanded.
+
+Every thing being finished, on the 13th Napoleon departed; and
+profoundly moved with the affection the Lyonese had shown him, he
+bade them adieu in the following words:
+
+     "Lyonese,
+
+"At the moment of quitting your city to repair to my capital, I feel
+it necessary, to make known to you the sentiments with which you have
+inspired me: you have always ranked with the foremost in my
+affections. On the throne or in exile, you have always displayed the
+same feelings towards me: the lofty character that distinguishes you,
+has merited my entire esteem: in a period of greater tranquillity, I
+shall return, to consider the welfare of your manufactures, and of
+your city.
+
+     "Lyonese, I love you."
+
+
+These last words were the ingenuous expression of his feelings: in
+dictating, he pronounced them with that indefinable charm, that was
+impressed on his words when they came from the heart.
+
+So much has been said of the hardness of Napoleon's heart, and the
+harshness of his language, that whatever is at variance with the
+received opinion must appear fabulous. Yet it is a truth, and they who
+have been about the Emperor's person will vouch for it, that he was
+far from being so unfeeling, as he was commonly thought. His military
+education, and the necessity of commanding fear and respect, had
+rendered him grave, severe, and inflexible; and had accustomed him, to
+check and despise the suggestions of his sensibility. But when nature
+resumed her rights, he felt a delight in yielding to the movements of
+his soul, and he then expressed the emotions or sentiments, that had
+overpowered him, in an ardent and impassioned tone, and with a
+sweetness and grace, as seducing as it was inimitable.
+
+Indeed the Lyonese merited the esteem and love, that Napoleon avowed
+for them. Though yet young, I have more than once seen popular
+displays of enthusiasm and infatuation; yet never did I see any thing
+comparable to the transports of joy and tenderness, that burst from
+the Lyonese. Not only the quays, and the places near the palace of the
+Emperor, but even the most distant streets rung with perpetual
+acclamations[59]. Workmen and their masters, the common people and
+the citizens, rambled about the city arm in arm, singing, dancing, and
+giving themselves up to the impulse of the most ardent gaiety.
+Strangers stopped one another, shook hands, embraced, and
+congratulated each other on the return of the Emperor, as if he had
+conferred on them fortune, life, and honour.
+
+                   [Footnote 59: The author of a libel entitled _Les
+                   Quinze Semaines_, "The Fifteen Weeks," asserts,
+                   that shouts were heard of "Death for ever! Guilt
+                   for ever! Down with virtue! Down with God!" Such a
+                   charge requires no refutation: I mention it here
+                   only to show, to what a point the spirit of party,
+                   and the rancorous passions, have misled writers,
+                   who call themselves royalists. It has been equally
+                   asserted, that the people plundered and destroyed a
+                   number of shops and warehouses. This, too, is
+                   false: no disorder occurred, except in Bellecour
+                   Square, where the people broke the windows and
+                   tables of the Bourbon coffee-house, known to be the
+                   place where the ultra-royalists assembled; and this
+                   disorder was quieted and suppressed immediately.]
+
+The national guard, affected by the confidence he had shown it, by
+entrusting to it the care of his person, participated with equal
+ardour the general intoxication; and the day of Napoleon's departure
+was a day of sorrow and regret to the city of Lyons, as that of his
+arrival had been a day of real festivity.
+
+We slept at Macon. The Emperor would not alight at the prefect's, but
+went to lodge at the sign of the Savage. He found it was no longer
+necessary, to wait at the gates of the towns, as at Grenoble and
+Lyons: the people and the magistrates ran out to meet him, and
+disputed the honour of being foremost, to do him homage, and express
+their good wishes.
+
+The next morning he received the felicitations of the national guard,
+the municipal body, &c. One of the colleagues of the mayor gave us a
+long, ridiculous harangue, which amused us much. When he had finished,
+the Emperor said to him: "You were much astonished, then, at hearing
+of our having landed?"--"Yes, faith:" answered the orator: "when I
+knew you had landed, I said to every body, the man must be mad, he
+will never be able to escape."--Napoleon could not help laughing at
+this simplicity. "I know," said he, with a sarcastic smile, "that you
+are all a little inclined to be frightened; you gave me a proof of
+this last campaign; you should have behaved as the men of Chalons did;
+you did not maintain the honour of the Burgundians."--"It was not our
+fault, Sire," said one of the party: "we were badly commanded; you had
+not given us a good mayor."--"That is very possible; we have all been
+guilty of foolish actions, and they must be forgotten: the safety and
+happiness of France are henceforward the only objects, to which we
+ought to attend." He dismissed them in a friendly manner.
+
+The prefect had taken flight. The Emperor asked me his name. It was
+one Germain, whom he had made a count, and a gentleman of the
+bedchamber, without well knowing why. "What!" said he to me, "does
+that little Germain fancy it necessary to shun me? he must be brought
+back:" and he thought no more of him.
+
+He directed me, to cause an account of the events at Grenoble and
+Lyons to be inserted in the newspaper of the department. The editor, a
+furious royalist, had hidden himself. I entrusted to the new
+subprefect the business of fulfilling the Emperor's orders; but,
+whether it were carelessness or incapacity on his part, he had
+recourse to the printer of the paper, who supplied him with an article
+far from answering our views.
+
+It began with a very just, but ill-timed eulogy of the goodness of
+Louis XVIII.; and ended with declaring in substance, that so good a
+king was not fitted to reign over the French, and that they required a
+sovereign such as Napoleon, &c.
+
+The Emperor, who would read every thing, asked me for the paper. I
+pretended I could not lay my hand upon it: but, after a thousand
+attempts to put him off from seeing it, I was at length obliged to
+bring it him. I thought he would have given me a severe reprimand, but
+he contented himself with saying: "Change that man, he is a fool; and
+desire him for the future, never to attempt a eulogy of me." I sent
+for him, scolded him, and, like me, he was let off for the fright.
+
+It was at Macon, that we first received official news of what was
+going on at Paris. It was brought us by M. ***. The unskilful manner
+in which the royalist party superintended the police of the roads, was
+truly astonishing. Not one of its emissaries escaped us, while ours
+went and came without any obstruction. Rage or fear must have turned
+the brains of all the royalists. M. *** assured the Emperor, that the
+national guard appeared determined to defend the king, and that the
+king had declared, he would not quit the Tuileries. "If he choose to
+wait for me there," said Napoleon, "I have no objection: but I doubt
+it much. He suffers himself to be lulled by the boastings of the
+emigrants; and when I get within twenty leagues of Paris, they will
+abandon him, as the nobles of Lyons abandoned the Count d'Artois. What
+indeed could he do with the old puppets that are about him? One of our
+grenadiers would knock down a hundred of them with the butt-end of
+his musket.... The national guard shouts at a distance; when I am at
+the barriers it will be silent. Its business is not to raise a civil
+war, but to maintain peace and order in the country. The majority is
+sound; there is nothing rotten in it but a few officers; and them I
+will expel. Return to Paris; tell my friends not to implicate
+themselves, and within ten days my grenadiers will mount guard at the
+Tuileries: go."
+
+We arrived at Chalons on the 14th, at an early hour. It was terrible
+weather, yet the whole population had come out of the city, to see the
+Emperor a few minutes the sooner. On approaching the walls, he
+perceived artillery and ammunition waggons, and was surprised at it.
+"They were intended," said the people, "to act against you; but we
+have stopped them on their way, and present them to you."--"That's
+right, my lads; you have always been good citizens."
+
+He was well pleased, to find himself among the Chalonese, and received
+them with much affection and regard. "I have not forgotten," said he,
+"that you resisted the enemy for forty days, and valiantly defended
+the passage of the Saone. Had all the French possessed your courage
+and patriotism, not a single foreigner would have escaped out of
+France." He expressed to them his desire of knowing the brave men, who
+had most distinguished themselves; and on their unanimous testimony,
+he granted on the spot the decoration of the Legion of Honour to the
+mayor of St. Jean Delonne. "It was for the brave men like him and
+you," said he to them, "that I instituted the Legion of Honour, and
+not for emigrants pensioned by our enemies." When the audience was
+ended, he said to me: "The mayor of Chalons is not come; yet it was I
+who appointed him: but he is related to an ancient family, and
+probably has his scruples. The inhabitants complain of him, and will
+make him suffer for it. You must go and see him. If he object to you
+his oath, tell him, that I absolve him from it; and make him sensible,
+that, if he wait till he is freed from it by Louis XVIII., he will
+wait a long time. Say to him, in short, what you please; I care little
+about his visit; it is for his own sake I wish him to come. If he do
+not come, the people will stone him to death after I am gone. Germain
+was lucky to escape[60]; let his example be a lesson to him."
+
+                   [Footnote 60: He attempted to harangue the
+                   Chalonese, but they allowed him only time to take
+                   to his heels.]
+
+I repaired immediately to the municipality, where I found the mayor,
+and a few municipal counsellors. He appeared to me a man of merit. I
+informed him, that it was my usual office, to introduce to his Majesty
+the municipal authorities; that I had observed with surprise, he had
+not been as eager as the mayors of other cities, to pay his duty to
+the Emperor; and that I was come to remove his fears, &c. He answered
+me frankly, that he had great respect and admiration for Napoleon;
+but, having sworn fealty to Louis XVIII., he thought it his duty to
+keep his oath, till he was absolved from it. I had my answer ready.
+"I, like you," said I, "consider perjury as the most degrading act, of
+which man can be guilty. But it is necessary, to make a distinction
+between a voluntary oath, and the stipulated oath, which people take
+to their government. In the eye of reason, this oath is merely an act
+of local submission; a pure and simple formality, which the monarch,
+whoever he may be, has a right to require of his subjects; but which
+cannot, as it ought not, enchain their persons and faith to
+perpetuity. France, since 1789, has sworn by turns to be faithful to
+royalty, to the convention, to the republic, to the directory, to the
+consulship, to the empire, to the charter: if those Frenchmen, who
+had taken an oath to royalty, had sought to oppose the establishment
+of a republic, by way of acquitting themselves of their oaths; if
+those, who had taken an oath to the republic, had opposed the
+establishment of the empire, &c.; into what a state of anarchy and
+disorder, into what a deluge of blood and evils, would they not have
+plunged our unhappy country? On similar occasions, the national will
+ought to be the sole guide of our conscience and our actions: the
+moment it is manifested, it is the duty of good citizens, to yield and
+obey."
+
+"These principles," replied he, "may be very good as a general rule;
+but our present case is an exception, never before known. When the
+governments, that have existed since the revolution, were overturned,
+the new government seized the authority, and it ought to be presumed,
+that the assent of the nation was on its side: but here it is a
+different affair; the royal government subsists; the Emperor abdicated
+voluntarily; and till the king has renounced the crown, I shall
+consider him as the sovereign of France."
+
+"If you wait for the king's renunciation," rejoined I, "before you
+acknowledge the Emperor, you will wait a long time. Has not the king
+pretended, that he has not ceased to reign over France these
+five-and-twenty years? And if he thought himself sovereign of France
+at a time, when the imperial government was rendered legitimate by the
+unanimous suffrages of France, and acknowledged by all Europe, do you
+think he will renounce the crown at present?
+
+"The time when kings reigned in virtue of right divine is far removed
+from us: their rights are no longer founded on any thing but the
+formal or tacit consent of nations: the moment nations reject them,
+the contract is broken; the conditional oaths taken to them are
+annulled in law and in fact, without their intervention or consent
+being necessary; for, as the proclamations of Napoleon say, kings are
+made for the people, not the people for kings.
+
+"As to the abdication of Napoleon, whether voluntary or compulsive,
+and the rights newly acquired by Louis XVIII., it would be requisite,
+in order to answer this part of your objections, to inquire, whether
+the chief of a nation have a right to relinquish the authority
+entrusted to him, without the consent of that nation; and whether a
+government imposed by foreigners, either through influence or force of
+arms, unite those characters of legitimacy, which you ascribe to it.
+I have read in our publicists, that we owe obedience to a government
+_de facto_: and since the Emperor has in fact resumed the sceptre, I
+think we cannot do better, than submit to his laws; with the proviso,"
+added I jocularly, "of leaving to posterity the task of deciding the
+question of right between Napoleon and Louis XVIII.
+
+"However," continued I, "I leave you perfectly at liberty to embrace
+which side you judge best: it is not my intention to take you by
+surprise, or to put any violence on your conscience; and I beg you to
+consider the attempts I have made to convince you, only as a proof of
+my desire to bring you over to my opinion by the force of reason."
+
+"Well, sir," said he, "I yield to your observations: be so good as to
+announce me to his Majesty."
+
+The next day he was displaced!
+
+On the 16th we slept at Avalon. Napoleon was received there as he had
+been every where; that is to say, with demonstrations of joy, that
+were actually bordering on madness. People crowded, thronged, to see,
+to hear, to speak to him; his quarters were instantly surrounded,
+besieged, by such a numerous and obstinate multitude, that it was
+impossible for us to enter or go out, without walking on the heads of
+all the population of the country. Those men who made part of the
+national guard would remain on duty from morning to night. Women of
+the greatest distinction in the place spent the day and night on the
+stairs and in the passages, to watch for his going by. Three of them,
+tired with standing the whole day for want of seats, requested
+permission to sit down by us: it was in the hall (adjoining the
+Emperor's chamber), in which some mattresses had been laid on the
+floor, in order that we might gain a few minutes' rest. It was
+pleasant enough, to see these three young and elegant Bonapartists
+timidly huddling together on a little couch in the midst of our dirty
+guardroom. We endeavoured to keep them company but our eyes closed in
+spite of us. "Go to sleep," said they to us, "we will watch over the
+Emperor." In fact, fatigue got the better of gallantry; and, to our
+shame be it spoken, we were soon asleep at their feet. When we awoke,
+we found one of these ladies keeping guard at Napoleon's door. We
+heard of it, and thanked her for her attachment, in very polite and
+pleasing terms.
+
+I think it was at Avalon[61], that an officer of the staff came and
+brought us Marshal Ney's submission, and his orders of the day[62].
+These orders of the day were printed that night; but the Emperor,
+after having read them over, directed them to be changed and
+reprinted. I know not whether his Majesty judged it proper to alter
+them, or whether the printer had made any mistake.
+
+                   [Footnote 61: I dare not positively affirm it, for
+                   in my memorandums I have confounded together
+                   Chalons, Avalon, &c.]
+
+                   [Footnote 62:
+
+                   ORDERS OF THE DAY.
+
+                   _The Marshal Prince of the Moskowa, to the troops
+                   of his Government._
+
+                   Officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers!
+
+                   The cause of the Bourbons is lost for ever. The
+                   legitimate dynasty, which the French nation has
+                   adopted, is about to re-ascend the throne: it
+                   belongs to the Emperor Napoleon alone, our
+                   sovereign, to reign over our fine country. Whether
+                   the nobility of the Bourbons take the step of
+                   expatriating itself again, or consent to live among
+                   us, is no concern of ours. The sacred cause of
+                   liberty, and of our independence, will no longer
+                   suffer from their fatal influence. They have
+                   endeavoured to debase our military glory; but they
+                   have found themselves mistaken. This glory is the
+                   fruit of labours too noble for us to lose the
+                   remembrance of it. Soldiers! those days are no
+                   more, when nations were governed by stifling their
+                   rights. Liberty is at length triumphant and
+                   Napoleon, our august Emperor, is about to confirm
+                   it for ever. Henceforth let this lovely cause be
+                   ours, and that of all Frenchmen: let all the brave
+                   fellows, whom I have the honour to command, be
+                   thoroughly imbued with this grand truth.
+
+                   Soldiers! I have often led you to victory; I am now
+                   going to conduct you to that immortal phalanx,
+                   which the Emperor Napoleon is conducting to Paris,
+                   and which will be there in a few days, and our
+                   hopes and our happiness will be for ever realized.
+                   Long live the Emperor!
+
+                         Lons le Saulnier, the 13th of March, 1815.
+                         The marshal of the empire,
+                         PRINCE OF THE MOSKOWA.]
+
+On the 17th the Emperor arrived at Auxerre, where he was received for
+the first time by a prefect. He alighted at the prefect's house. On
+the mantel-piece of the first saloon were the busts of the Empress,
+and of her son; and in the next was a whole-length portrait of
+Napoleon, in his imperial robes: it might have been supposed, that the
+reign of the Emperor had never been interrupted.
+
+Napoleon immediately received the congratulations of all the
+authorities, and of the tribunals. These congratulations began to be
+no longer a mark of attachment in our eyes, but the fulfilment of a
+duty. After having discoursed with them on the grand interests of the
+state, the Emperor, whose good humour was inexhaustible, began to
+joke about the court of Louis XVIII. "His court," said he, "has the
+air of that of King Dagobert: we see nothing in it but antiques; the
+women are old and frightfully ugly; there were no pretty women in it
+but mine, and those were so ill-treated, that they were obliged to
+desert it. All those people are made up of nothing but haughtiness and
+pride: I have been reproached with being proud; I was so to strangers;
+but never did any one see me suffer my chancellor to set one knee to
+the ground to receive my orders, or oblige my prefects and mayors to
+wait at table on my courtiers and dowagers[63]. They say, that the men
+about the court are little better than the women; and that, to
+distinguish them from my generals, whom I had covered with gold lace,
+they are dressed like beggars. My court, it is true, was superb: I was
+fond of magnificence; not for myself, a plain soldier's coat was
+sufficient for me; I was fond of it, because it encourages our
+manufactures: without magnificence there is no industry. I abolished
+at Lyons all that parchment nobility; it was never sensible of what it
+owed me: it was I that exalted it, by making counts and barons of my
+best generals. Nobility is a chimera; men are too enlightened to
+believe, that some among them are noble, others not: they all spring
+from the same stock; the only distinction is that of talents, and of
+services rendered the state: our laws know no others."
+
+                   [Footnote 63: He alluded to the installation of the
+                   council of state, where the chancellor actually
+                   dropped on one knee, to ask and receive the King's
+                   orders.
+
+                   And to the city entertainment, where the prefect,
+                   his wife, and the municipal body, waited at table
+                   on the King and his suite, consisting of forty
+                   ladies of the old court, and only four ladies of
+                   the new nobility, two of whom were the wives of the
+                   marshals on duty.]
+
+The Emperor imagined, that he should find Ney at Auxerre on his
+arrival: "I cannot conceive," said he to General Bertrand, "why Ney is
+not here: I am surprised at it, and uneasy: has he changed his
+opinions? I cannot think so; he would never have suffered Gamot[64]
+to implicate himself. Yet we must know on what we are to depend; see
+to it." A few hours after, the marshal arrived. It was about eight
+o'clock, and Count Bertrand came to inform the Emperor of it. "The
+marshal, before he comes into your Majesty's presence," said he, "is
+desirous of collecting his ideas, and justifying in writing his conduct
+both previous and subsequent to the events of Fontainbleau."--"What
+need is there of any justification to me?" answered Napoleon: "tell
+him, that I love him still, and that I will embrace him to-morrow." He
+would not receive him the same day, as a punishment for having had to
+wait for him.
+
+                   [Footnote 64: M. Gamot, prefect of Auxerre, had
+                   married the sister of Madame Ney.]
+
+The next day the Emperor, as soon as he perceived him, said: "Embrace
+me, my dear marshal; I am glad to see you. I want no explanation or
+justification: I have honoured and esteemed you as the bravest of the
+brave."--"Sire, the newspapers have told a heap of lies, which I wish
+to confute: my conduct has ever been that of a good soldier, and a
+good Frenchman."--"I know it, and accordingly never doubted your
+attachment."--"You were right, Sire. Your Majesty may always depend
+upon me, when my country is concerned.... _It is for my country I have
+shed my blood, and for it I would still spill it to the last drop. I
+love you, Sire, but my country above all! above all._"--(The Emperor
+interrupting him) "It is patriotism too, that brings me to France. I
+learned, that our country was unhappy, and I am come to deliver it
+from the emigrants and the Bourbons. I will confer upon it all that it
+expects from me."--"Your Majesty may be assured, that we will support
+you: he who acts with justice, may do what he pleases with the French.
+The Bourbons have ruined themselves, by having wished to act as they
+thought proper, and thrown aside the army."--"Princes who never saw a
+naked sword could not honour the army: its glory humbled them, and
+they were jealous of it."--"Yes, Sire, they incessantly sought to
+humiliate us. I am still enraged, when I think, that a marshal of
+France, an old warrior like me, was obliged to kneel down before
+that ... of a Duke of B..... to receive the cross of St. Louis. It
+could not last; and, if you had not come to expel them, we should have
+driven them out ourselves[65]."--"How are your troops disposed?"--"Very
+well, Sire; I thought they would have stifled me, when I announced to
+them, that they were about to march to meet your eagles."--"What
+generals are with you?"--"Le Courbe and Bourmont."--"Are you sure of
+them?"--"I will answer for Le Courbe, but I am not so sure of
+Bourmont."--"Why are they not come hither?"--"They showed some
+hesitation, and I left them."--"Are you not afraid of Bourmont's
+bestirring himself, and embarrassing you?"--"No, Sire, he will keep
+himself quiet: besides, he would find nobody to second him. I have
+expelled from the ranks all the light infantry of Louis XIV.[66], who
+had been given to us, and all the country is fired with
+enthusiasm."--"No matter, I shall not leave him any possibility of
+disturbing us: you will direct him and the royalist officers to be
+secured till we enter Paris. I shall be there without doubt by the
+20th or 25th, and sooner. If we arrive, as I hope, without any
+obstacle, do you think they will defend themselves"--"I do not think
+they will, Sire: you know what the Parisians are, more noise than
+work."--"I have received despatches from Paris this morning: the
+patriots expect me with impatience, and are on the point of rising. I
+am afraid of some quarrel taking place between them and the royalists.
+I would not for the world, that my return should be stained with a
+single drop of blood. It is easy for you, to hold communication with
+Paris: write to your friends, write to Maret, that our affairs go on
+well, that I shall arrive without firing a single musket; and let them
+all unite, to prevent the spilling of blood. Our triumph should be as
+pure, as the cause we serve." Generals Bertrand and Labedoyere, who
+were present, then mixed in the conversation; and after a few minutes
+the Emperor left them, and retired into his closet.
+
+                   [Footnote 65: It is indisputable, in fact, that a
+                   general insurrection, provoked by the oppressive
+                   and senseless conduct of the government, was ready
+                   to burst out, at the moment when Napoleon
+                   re-appeared.
+
+                   It is known, that France, wearied, disgusted, and
+                   discontented with the new order of things, wished
+                   heartily for a new revolution; and people had
+                   united and concerted measures for preparing the
+                   crisis, and causing it to turn to the advantage of
+                   the country.
+
+                   Some of the malecontents maintained, that the first
+                   step should be, to shake off the insupportable
+                   yoke, under which they were groaning, and then see
+                   what was to be done: the majority formally declared
+                   for the immediate recall of the Emperor, and were
+                   desirous, that emissaries should be deputed to him,
+                   or that vessels should be sent, to take him off
+                   from the island of Elba.
+
+                   The necessity of a change was unanimously agreed
+                   upon, and they were endeavouring to settle the
+                   rest, when the sudden arrival of Napoleon put an
+                   end to the discussion.
+
+                   After the 20th of March, the Emperor was made
+                   acquainted with these projects of insurrection; and
+                   knew that certain chiefs hesitated about having any
+                   thing to do with him. "The leaders," said he,
+                   "wished to take the business into their own hands,
+                   and labour for themselves; now they pretend, that
+                   they opened the way for me to Paris: I know better;
+                   it was the nation, the people, the soldiers, and
+                   the sub-lieutenants, who did all. It is to these,
+                   and to these only, that I owe every thing."]
+
+                   [Footnote 66: A nickname given to the emigrant
+                   officers.]
+
+He wrote to the Empress for the third time. This letter finished,
+Napoleon turned his thoughts to the means of embarking a part of his
+army, harassed by forced marches. He sent for the chief of the boat
+department, required an account of the number of boats, the means of
+preventing accidents, &c. He entered so minutely into particulars with
+him, that the man could scarcely recover from his surprise, or
+comprehend how an Emperor should know so much as a boatman. Napoleon
+persisted in the speedy departure of his troops. Several times he
+ordered me to go and hasten the embarkation: he was in the habit of
+employing those about him for every thing that came into his head. His
+genius knowing no bounds, he imagined, that we poor mortals ought
+equally to know every thing, and do every thing.
+
+The Emperor had given orders to his scouts, to bring him all the
+mails; and he had appointed me, to examine their contents. I waged
+implacable war with the correspondence of ministers; and if I
+frequently found in it threats and abuse, of which I came in for my
+share, it presented me at least with matters as important as curious.
+I particularly remarked two secret instructions, the publication of
+which, even now, would cover their authors with eternal disgrace. The
+letters _comme il faut_ were equally revolting. Most of them, dictated
+by frantic hatred, might have sanctioned the rigours of the law: but I
+considered them as the offspring of brains to be pitied for their
+diseased state, and contented myself with writing on them in large
+letters, before I returned to the post-boy, a _Seen_; which, like the
+head of Medusa, no doubt petrified more than one noble reader.
+
+The darksome conspiracies of the enemies of Napoleon were not the only
+objects, that met my indiscreet eyes. Sometimes I found myself
+unintentionally initiated into gentler mysteries and my pen, by
+mistake, traced the fatal _Seen_ at the bottom of epistles, which
+should have charmed the sight only of the happy mortals, for whom love
+had destined them.
+
+It was from the newspapers, and the private correspondence, we
+learned, that some Vendeans were set off from Paris, according to
+their own account, with the design of assassinating the Emperor. A
+paper, which it is unnecessary to name, even said, that these
+gentlemen were disguised as soldiers, and as women, and that most
+assuredly the Corsican could not escape them.
+
+Though Napoleon did not appear to be uneasy about these criminal
+plots, we were under apprehensions for him. Previously, when
+travellers were desirous of telling him news, I stepped aside to enjoy
+a few minutes' liberty: but from that time I never quitted him, and,
+with my hand on my sword, I never for a moment lost sight of the eyes,
+attitude, and gesture of the persons I admitted to his presence.
+
+Count Bertrand, General Drouot, and the officers of his household,
+equally redoubled their care and attention. But it seemed as if the
+Emperor made a point of setting his murderers at defiance. That very
+day he reviewed the 14th of the line in the public square, and
+afterwards mixed with the people and the soldiers. In vain did we
+endeavour to surround him; we were jostled with so much perseverance
+and impetuosity, that it was impossible for us to remain close to him
+for two minutes together. The way in which we were elbowed amused him
+extremely: he laughed at our efforts, and, in order to brave us,
+plunged himself still deeper amid the crowd that besieged us.
+
+Our mistrust was nearly fatal to two of the enemy's emissaries.
+
+One of them, a staff officer, came to offer us his services. Being
+questioned, he scarcely knew what answers to make. His embarrassment
+had already excited violent suspicions, when it was unfortunately
+perceived, that he had on green pantaloons. This was sufficient to
+convince every body, that he was one of the Artois guards in disguise.
+Interrogated anew, he answered still more awkwardly; and, attainted
+and convicted of being a highly suspicious person, and of wearing
+green pantaloons to boot, he was on the point of being thrown out of
+the window, when fortunately Count Bertrand happened to pass by, and
+ordered him merely to be turned out at the door.
+
+This officer of the new batch had not come to kill Napoleon; he had
+only been sent to spy what passed at his head-quarters.
+
+The same day witnessed another scene. A chef d'escadron of hussars,
+adorned with a sabre-cut in the face, came also to join us. He met an
+extraordinarily good reception, and was even invited to breakfast at
+the table of the great officers of the household. In wine there is
+truth; and the new comer, forgetting his part, explained himself so
+clearly, that it was easy to distinguish in him a false brother. He
+told us, that the national guard of Paris, and all the imperial guard,
+were for the King: that every soldier, who retained his fidelity, had
+a gift of a hundred francs, every officer a thousand, and was promoted
+a step, &c. &c; that Napoleon had been outlawed, and that if he were
+taken.... At these words Colonel ***, who sat next him, seized him by
+the collar; every body was for knocking him on the head at once; I
+alone was against it. "Gentlemen," said I, "the Emperor will not hear
+of any blood being shed; you have sworn to give no quarter to
+assassins, but this man is not one; he is no doubt a spy. We are not
+afraid of them; let them go, and report what they have seen to those
+who have sent them: let us all drink the health of our Emperor, Long
+live the Emperor!" He was spitten upon, turned out, and we saw him no
+more.
+
+Another deserter from the royal army presented himself, to reveal an
+important secret, as he said, to the Emperor. The Emperor, who knew no
+secret but strength, would not waste time in listening to him, and
+sent him to me. He was an officer of hussars, the friend and
+accomplice of Maubreuil. He did not think me worthy of his secrets,
+and I introduced him to the grand Marshal. The substance of what he
+said was, that he, as well as Maubreuil, had been commissioned by the
+provisional government, and by very great persons, to assassinate the
+Emperor, at the time of his departure for the island of Elba: that he
+held in execration such an execrable crime, and would not commit it;
+and that, after having once saved the life of Napoleon, he came to
+place himself near his person, to make a rampart for him with his body
+in case of necessity. He delivered to the grand Marshal a memorial of
+Maubreuil's, and divers papers, of which the Emperor directed me to
+give him an account. I examined them all with the greatest care. They
+proved incontestably, that mysterious rendezvous had been given to
+Maubreuil in the name of the provisional government; but they
+contained no clue, that could enable any one to penetrate the object
+and end of these secret conferences: the names of those illustrious
+personages, whom some persons have since been desirous of implicating
+in this odious plot, were not even mentioned in them. This officer
+reaped no benefit from his disclosures, real or pretended, and
+disappeared.
+
+From hearing so much of plots against his life, however, a painful
+impression was at length made on the Emperor. "I cannot conceive,"
+said he to me, "how men liable to fall into my hands can be
+incessantly urging my assassination, and setting a price upon my head.
+Had I wished to get rid of them by similar means, they would long ago
+have been mingled with the dust. Like them, I could have found
+Georges, Brularts, and Maubreuils. Twenty times, if I had wished it,
+persons would have brought them to me bound hands and feet, dead or
+alive. I had always the foolish generosity, to despise their rage: I
+despise it still; but wo betide them, wo to all their infernal gang,
+if they dare touch one of my people! My blood boils, when I think,
+that they have dared, in the face of nations, to proscribe without
+trial the thousands of Frenchmen, who are marching with us: is this
+known to the army?"--"Yes, sire, some persons have had the imprudence,
+to spread the report, that we are all proclaimed out of the protection
+of the laws, and that some of the body guards and Chouans have set out
+to assassinate you: accordingly, the troops have sworn, to give them
+no quarter, and already two spies have with difficulty escaped being
+knocked on the head before my eyes."--"So much the worse, so much the
+worse; such are not my intentions. I wish not a single drop of French
+blood to be shed, not a single gun to be fired. Girard[67] must be
+desired to restrain his soldiers; write: "General Girard, I am
+informed, that your troops, being acquainted with the decrees of
+Paris, have resolved, by way of reprisals, to kill all the Royalists
+they meet: you will meet none but Frenchmen; I forbid you to fire a
+single musket: calm your soldiers; contradict the reports by which
+they are exasperated; tell them, that I will not enter Paris at their
+head, if their weapons be stained with French blood[68].""
+
+                   [Footnote 67: He had just been appointed to the
+                   command of the advanced guard.]
+
+                   [Footnote 68: Napoleon had already given similar
+                   orders to General Cambronne. The following is his
+                   letter, which I reproach myself with not having
+                   quoted. "General Cambronne, to you I entrust my
+                   noblest campaign: all the French expect me with
+                   impatience: every where you will find none but
+                   friends: do not fire a single musket; I will not
+                   have my crown cost the French a drop of blood."]
+
+Ministers of the King, guilty authors of the parricidal ordinance of
+the 6th of March, read this and blush!
+
+The moment he was quitting Auxerre, the Emperor heard, that the
+Marseillese appeared to have an intention of annoying his rear. He
+gave orders to the general posted in echelon on the road, and set out
+without fear.
+
+In advance of Fossard, he perceived, drawn up in order of battle, the
+dragoons of the King's regiment, who had deserted their officers, to
+come and join him. He alighted, saluted them with that military
+gravity, which so well became him, and bestowed on them compliments
+and promotions. No regiment could escape us. When the officers
+demurred, the soldiers came without them. I am wrong, however: there
+was one regiment, the third of hussars, that the Emperor could not
+bring over to him. The brave Moncey, who commanded it, was a man of
+sound understanding, and his attachment to Napoleon, his ancient
+benefactor, could not be doubted: but all men do not see with the same
+eyes; some made their duty consist in running to meet Napoleon, Moncey
+thought himself obliged to avoid him.
+
+He had conjured his regiment, not to subject him to the disgrace of
+being deserted. His officers and his hussars, by whom he was adored,
+followed him, while they made the air ring with shouts of Long live
+the Emperor! thinking thus to reconcile their respect for their
+colonel with their devotion to the cause and person of Napoleon.
+
+We were informed on the road, that two thousand of the body guards
+were posted in the forest of Fontainbleau. Though this account was
+improbable, it was thought necessary, not to cross the forest without
+precaution. At our urgent solicitation, the Emperor took about two
+hundred horse to accompany him. Hitherto his only escort had been the
+carriage of General Drouot, which preceded his, and mine, which closed
+the march. Colonels Germanouski and Du Champ, Captain Raoul, and three
+or four Polanders, galloped by the side of them. Our horses, our
+postillions, our couriers, with tricoloured ribands, gave our
+peaceable party an air of festivity and happiness, that formed a
+singular contrast to the proscription suspended over our heads, and to
+the mourning and despair of the men who had proscribed us.
+
+We marched almost all night, as the Emperor was desirous of reaching
+Fontainbleau at break of day. I observed, that I thought it would be
+imprudent in him, to alight at the castle. "You are a child," answered
+he; "if any thing be to happen to me, all these precautions would be
+of no avail. Our fate is written above:" and he pointed with his
+finger to the sky[69].
+
+                   [Footnote 69: Napoleon was a fatalist, and
+                   superstitious; and made no secret of it. He
+                   believed in lucky and unlucky days. We might be
+                   astonished at this weakness, if we did not know,
+                   that it was common to the greatest men both of
+                   ancient and modern times.]
+
+I had imagined, that the sight of the palace of Fontainbleau, the
+place where he had so lately descended from the throne, and where he
+now re-appeared as conqueror and sovereign, would make some impression
+on him, and impel him to think of the fragility of human grandeur. I
+watched him attentively; but he did not appear to me, to experience
+any emotion. Immediately on his arrival, he rambled over the gardens
+and the palace with as much pleasure and curiosity, as if he came to
+take possession of them for the first time. Napoleon occupied the
+little apartments, and complaisantly made me notice their extreme
+elegance. He then led me to his library, and in going up, said with an
+air of satisfaction, "We shall be very well here."--"Yes, sire,"
+answered I, "people are always well at home." He smiled, and I believe
+was pleased with my well-timed compliment.
+
+At eleven o'clock he dictated to me the orders of the day; and these
+orders announced, that we should sleep at Essonne. It was not till
+noon, that the news of the King's departure was brought at once by a
+courier from M. de Lavalette, by a letter from Madame Hamalin, and by
+M. de Seg.... He sent for me immediately. "You will set out first," he
+said, "to get every thing ready."--"It is to Essonne, I presume, your
+Majesty orders me to repair?"--"No, to Paris. The King and the Princes
+have fled. I shall be at the Tuileries this evening." He gave me some
+secret directions, and I quitted Fontainbleau with a heart full of
+happiness and joy. I had never doubted Napoleon's triumph; but from
+hope to reality how great the distance!
+
+In fact the King had quitted Paris.
+
+The aspect of affairs had never changed since the royal session of the
+17th of March. The minister, persevering in his system of falsehood
+and dissimulation, still distorted the truth with the same impudence,
+and did not cease to predict the approaching destruction of Napoleon
+and his adherents. At length, after a thousand subterfuges, it became
+necessary to confess, that Napoleon was within a few leagues of Paris.
+The King, whom the minister had not been afraid to deceive, had
+scarcely time to think of retreating. In this painful situation, he
+displayed a strength of mind above all praise. His courage was not
+that of a warlike prince, who defends his capital inch by inch, and
+trembles with rage and despair when forced to quit it; but that of a
+good father, who separates himself with regret from his children, and
+from the roof under which they were born. The Bonapartists themselves,
+who made a great distinction between the king and his family, were not
+insensible to the tears of that august and unfortunate monarch, and
+sincerely prayed, that his flight might be exempted from danger and
+trouble.
+
+It was supposed, that Napoleon would make a triumphal entry into his
+capital. His old grenadiers, who had marched in seventeen days a
+distance that would commonly require five-and-forty, seemed, as they
+approached their object, to acquire fresh strength at every step. On
+the road you might see them in agitation, pressing upon and
+encouraging one another. They would have marched twenty leagues in an
+hour, if necessary, not to be deprived of the honour of entering Paris
+by the side of Napoleon. Their hopes were disappointed: the Emperor,
+who had witnessed their fatigues, ordered them to take a day's rest
+at Fontainbleau.
+
+At two o'clock on the 20th of March, Napoleon set out for Paris.
+Retarded by the crowd, that accumulated on his way, and by the
+felicitations of the troops and the generals, who had run to meet him,
+he could not reach it till nine in the evening. As soon as he
+alighted, the people rushed on him; a thousand arms lifted him up, and
+carried him along in triumph. Nothing could be more affecting than the
+confused assembly of the crowd of officers and generals, who had
+pressed into the apartments of the Tuileries at the heels of Napoleon.
+Happy to see themselves once more triumphant, after so many
+vicissitudes, humiliations, and disgusts, they forgot the majesty of
+the place, to give themselves up without constraint to the desire of
+expressing their happiness and joy. They ran to one another, and
+hugged each other again and again. The halls of the palace seemed
+metamorphosed into a field of battle, where friends, brothers,
+unexpectedly escaped from death, found and embraced one another after
+victory.
+
+We had been so spoiled on the road, however, that the Emperor's
+reception by the Parisians did not answer our expectations.
+Multiplied shouts of "Long live the Emperor!" saluted him on his way;
+but they wanted those characters of unanimity and frenzy, which were
+displayed by the acclamations, that had accompanied him from the gulf
+of Juan to the gates of Paris. It would be a mistake, however, to
+infer, that the Parisians did not behold the return of Napoleon with
+pleasure. We must only conclude, therefore, that the Emperor missed
+the proper time for his entrance.
+
+The people of great cities are eager for sights: to move their hearts,
+you must astonish their eyes. If Napoleon, instead of traversing Paris
+in the evening, and without being announced or expected, had put it
+off till the next day, and allowed the disquietudes inseparable from
+such a crisis time to be allayed; if he had given his entrance the
+pomp and splendour it ought to have had; if he had caused the troops
+and half-pay officers, who had hastened to his call, to march before
+him; if he had presented himself at the head of his grenadiers of the
+island of Elba, with all their decorations; if he had been surrounded
+by Generals Bertrand, Drouot, Cambronne, and the faithful companions
+of his exile; this grand and affecting train would have produced the
+most lively sensation, and the whole population of Paris would have
+applauded the return and the triumph of Napoleon. Instead of those
+unanimous transports, he received only the applauses of the populous
+part of the capital, that he had occasion to traverse; and his
+detractors did not fail, to compare this reception with that of Louis
+XVIII., and to publish, that he was obliged to enter Paris by night,
+in order to escape the maledictions and vengeance of the public.
+Napoleon, who had just travelled two hundred and fifty leagues amid
+the acclamations of two millions of Frenchmen, could not be agitated
+by any such fears; but it is well known with what confidence, what
+intoxication, he was inspired by the anniversary of a victory or happy
+event; and as the 20th of March was the birthday of his son, he
+determined at all events to enter the capital under such fortunate
+auspices.
+
+The very evening of his arrival, Napoleon had a long conversation with
+the Duke of Otranto, and the other dignitaries of the state, on the
+situation of France. They all appeared intoxicated with happiness and
+hope. The Emperor himself could not disguise his rapture: never did
+I see him so madly gay, or so prodigal of boxes on the ear.[70] His
+conversation savoured of the agitation of his heart: the same words
+incessantly recurred to his tongue; and, it must be confessed, they
+were not very flattering to the crowd of courtiers and great
+personages, who already besieged him: he was continually saying: "It
+was the disinterested persons, who brought me back to Paris; the
+sub-lieutenants and soldiers did every thing; I owe all to the people
+and the army."
+
+                   [Footnote 70: This was Napoleon's favourite
+                   compliment. The fonder he was of a person, the more
+                   he gave him, and the harder he struck.]
+
+That night and the following morning the Emperor was busied in the
+choice and nomination of his ministers.
+
+At their head Prince Cambaceres found himself placed. The system of
+defamation directed against him had not altered the high
+consideration, which he had acquired by his great wisdom, and constant
+moderation. The Emperor offered him the port-folio of the minister of
+justice, and was obliged to command him to accept it. His sagacity and
+foresight, no doubt, presaged the fatal issue of the new reign of
+Napoleon.
+
+The Prince of Eckmuhl was named minister of war. By the harshness of
+his manners, by acts of severity almost barbarous, he had formerly
+drawn upon himself universal animadversions; his fidelity to the
+Emperor, and his defence of Hamburgh, had subsequently conciliated
+public opinion. The feebleness and versatility of his character indeed
+excited some apprehensions; but it was hoped, that the Emperor would
+know how to master him, and that the army would derive happy
+advantages from his indefatigable zeal, and his strict probity.
+
+The Duke of Vicenza[71] was placed at the helm of foreign affairs.
+The rectitude of his principles, the firmness, nobleness, and
+independence of his character, had justly acquired him the esteem of
+France and of Europe; and his appointment was considered as a pledge
+of the loyal and pacific intentions of Napoleon.
+
+                   [Footnote 71: The Duke of Vicenza, convinced of the
+                   inutility of the efforts Napoleon might make, to
+                   establish any diplomatic connexion with foreign
+                   powers, refused to accept the post. The Emperor
+                   offered it to M. Mole. M. Mole objected, that he
+                   was an entire stranger to diplomacy, and requested
+                   Napoleon, to make another choice. Napoleon and his
+                   other ministers were then so pressing with the Duke
+                   of Vicenza, that he considered it his duty to
+                   yield. He would have preferred the Emperor's giving
+                   him a command in the army, where he would at least
+                   have found an opportunity of usefully serving his
+                   country and the Emperor.
+
+                   The ministry of the interior, intended at first for
+                   M. Costaz, was also offered to M. Mole, and
+                   ultimately given to M. Carnot, at the
+                   recommendation of the Duke of Bassano.
+
+                   The Emperor was not pleased with the obstinate
+                   refusals of M. Mole: he was fond of his name, and
+                   valued his talents. He had intended to appoint him
+                   governor of the Imperial Prince; and it was to this
+                   intention that M. Mole was chiefly indebted for the
+                   high rank, to which he had been so rapidly raised.
+
+                   Nevertheless M. Mole solicited and obtained the
+                   general superintendance of highways and bridges, a
+                   post which he occupied in 1813, before he was
+                   appointed minister of justice.]
+
+The Duke of Gaeta and Count Mollien became again ministers of the
+finances and the treasury. They had obtained the confidence of the
+public by the ability, prudence, and integrity of their preceding
+administration; and the choice of them met with general applause.
+
+The Duke of Otranto had the charge of the police. He had been at the
+helm of the state in circumstances of difficulty and peril; he had
+learned to form a sound judgment of the public mind, and to foresee,
+prepare, and guide events. Having belonged to all parties in
+succession, he knew their tactics, their resources, their pretensions;
+and the whole nation, convinced of his experience, talents, and
+patriotism, hoped, that he would successfully concur in the safety of
+the Emperor and the empire.
+
+The recall of the Duke of Bassano to the ministry, as secretary of
+state, displeased the court, and also those credulous people, who,
+having no opinions but what are suggested to them, adopt praise and
+blame without discernment.
+
+Few men have been so ill treated, as this minister.
+
+Every one has taken pleasure in disfiguring his character and even his
+features.
+
+The Duke of Bassano had an open countenance, an agreeable manner of
+conversation, a politeness always uniform, a dignity sometimes
+affected, but never offensive, with a natural propensity to esteem
+men, courtesy in obliging them, and perseverance in serving them. The
+favour he enjoyed was at first the reward of unexampled readiness in
+business; of indefatigable activity; of pure intentions, lofty views,
+probity, proof against all temptation, and I will even add an iron
+constitution; for physical strength also was a quality in the eyes of
+Napoleon. Subsequently it became the just return for an attachment not
+to be shaken; an attachment, which, by its force, vivacity, and
+constancy, seemed to be a compound of love and friendship.
+
+I must own, I believe, that M. de Bassano most frequently shared and
+approved without exception the opinions of the Emperor; but it was not
+from interested or base motives: the Emperor was the idol of his
+heart, the object of his admiration: with such sentiments, how was it
+possible for him, to perceive the errors and faults of Napoleon?
+Besides, having continually to express the ideas of the Emperor, and
+to imbue himself as it were with the emanations of his spirit, he had
+identified himself with his way of thinking and of viewing things, and
+saw and thought as he did with the most perfect sincerity. Not but
+that he sometimes differed from him in opinion; yet whatever efforts
+he made, he always yielded ultimately to the irresistible ascendancy,
+that the genius of Napoleon exercised over him, as it did over every
+other person.
+
+The Duke of Decres was called anew to the post of minister of the
+navy, and this unexpected choice was completely disapproved. This
+minister was not deficient in understanding, talents, or bravery; but
+from the little importance he appeared to set on acting with justice
+or injustice, his cynicism, and his brutal contempt for those under
+him, he had acquired the aversion of all who came near him; and, as
+evil spreads readily, this aversion, though unjust, had become
+general.
+
+The discontent this appointment excited was repaired by the good
+effect, which was produced by that of M. Carnot to the ministry of the
+home department. The soldiery did not forget, that he had paved the
+way to victory for many years; and the citizens remembered with what
+zeal, this courageous patriot had shown himself the defender of public
+liberty under Napoleon, both when consul and when Emperor, and under
+Louis XVIII. To be a real patriot, says one of our celebrated writers,
+it is requisite, to possess greatness of soul; to have knowledge, to
+have probity, to have virtue. In M. Carnot all these rare and valuable
+qualities were combined: and, far from acquiring any personal lustre
+from this great name of patriot, he seemed on the contrary to
+embellish the name by wearing it; so well had he preserved it in its
+primitive purity, amid the debasement into which it had been plunged
+by the excesses of the revolution, and the abuses of despotism.
+
+The choice of such a minister was considered as a pledge to the
+nation. The sovereign, who was not afraid to introduce this
+illustrious citizen into the government of the state, could not but
+entertain the generous design of securing the happiness of his
+subjects, and respecting their rights.
+
+The same day the Emperor gave the chief command of the gendarmerie to
+the Duke of Rovigo.
+
+The Duke of Rovigo, an old aide-de-camp of Napoleon, had sworn him an
+eternal attachment, both from feeling and gratitude. This attachment,
+born in a camp, had retained the character of military obedience: a
+word, a gesture, was sufficient to call it into action. But however
+great its strength, or, if you will, its fanaticism, it never affected
+the rectitude and frankness, which were the base and ornament of the
+duke's character.
+
+From no other person, except the Duke of Vicenza, did the Emperor hear
+more bold and useful truths. Twenty times did he venture to say to
+him, as his ministerial correspondence testifies, that France and
+Europe were tired of shedding blood; and that, if he did not renounce
+his system of war, he would be abandoned by the French, and
+precipitated from the throne by foreigners.
+
+The command of the gendarmerie was taken from Marshal Moncey, not from
+disgust or dissatisfaction, but because the marshal showed little
+eagerness to retain it. On this occasion he wrote to the Emperor a
+letter full of fine sentiments, in which he requested him, to continue
+to his son the kindness he had formerly conferred on himself: it was
+difficult to reconcile the gratitude he owed Napoleon with the
+fidelity he had promised the King: in this he was so happy as to
+succeed.
+
+All the marshals were not so fortunate.
+
+M. de Montalivet, formerly minister of the home department, became
+intendant of the civil list, an office that suited him better. In
+administration, as in many other things, endeavours to do better
+prevent people from doing so well; and M. de Montalivet, from a desire
+to neglect no minute particular, and seeking to carry every thing to
+perfection, lost in empty trifles that time, which he might have
+employed in promoting the general good on a large scale.
+
+The strangest metamorphosis was that of the Duke de Cadore: he was
+made a surveyor of buildings.
+
+     "Soyez plutot macon, si c'est votre metier."[72]
+
+                   [Footnote 72:
+
+                   "Make him, nor think his genius check'd,
+                   A herald, or an architect."--GAY.]
+
+This place, hitherto the modest portion of auditors or masters of
+request, who had interest at court, was astonished at the honour of
+belonging to a duke and peer, ex-ambassador, ex-minister, ex-grand
+chancellor, &c. &c. &c. But so much was his excellency then devoted to
+the sovereign of the day, that he would readily have accepted the post
+of a gentleman usher, had there been no other to offer him.
+
+The council of state was re-established on the ancient footing, and
+composed of nearly the same members.
+
+The Emperor was neither politic nor prudent in ostensibly bestowing
+his confidence on some of them, who were obnoxious to the public. The
+usurpations of the imperial power were ascribed to their servile
+counsels, and their presence near the throne could not but revive
+recollections and anxieties, which it was of importance to destroy for
+ever. If their merit and experience rendered them necessary, they
+should have been consulted in private, but not held up to public view.
+A government firmly established may sometimes brave opinion, but a
+rising government ought to respect and submit to it.
+
+All the aides-de-camp of the Emperor, with the exception, I believe,
+of General Lauriston, whom he would not employ again, were recalled.
+He could not place around him officers more worthy of his confidence
+for their noble-mindedness and superior talents. Generals Le Tort and
+Labedoyere were added to their number. The Emperor, deceived by false
+appearances[73], had taken from the former the command of the dragoons
+of the guard, and to compensate for this involuntary injustice, he
+made him his aide-de-camp. The same favour was conferred on
+Labedoyere, as a recompense for his conduct at Grenoble; but he
+answered the kindness of Napoleon by a formal refusal. "I will not
+allow it to be thought," said he proudly, "that I joined the Emperor
+for the sake of reward. I espoused his cause, simply because it was
+that of liberty, and of my country; the honour of having served it is
+enough for me: I desire nothing more; the Emperor personally owes me
+nothing."
+
+                   [Footnote 73: General Le Tort's address to the
+                   King.]
+
+This noble refusal will not surprise those, who had an opportunity of
+knowing and esteeming the patriotism and disinterestedness of that
+brave and unfortunate young man.
+
+Introduced to society at an early age, he conducted himself at first
+as those generally do, who have a handsome face, elegance of manners,
+wit, a name, wealth, and no experience. Soon brought to himself, he
+felt, that he was not born to lead a life of dissipation; and his
+conduct became as honourable, as it had been irregular. His mind,
+turned to serious occupation, engaged in political speculations: his
+soul, naturally proud and independent, matured and enlarged itself,
+and expanded to those liberal ideas and noble sentiments, that the
+love of glory and of our country inspires. Nature, in giving him a
+lofty, firm, and daring character, unquestionably destined him to act
+an important part in the world; and if death, and what a death! had
+not struck him in the flower of his years, he would assuredly have
+fulfilled his shining destiny, and done honour to France.
+
+The Emperor set several persons to speak to him, and after three days
+negotiations Labedoyere yielded. Napoleon persisted in recompensing
+him. In ordinary cases, the Emperor looked with indifference on the
+endeavours made to please him; never was he known to say, I am
+pleased; and a person conjectured he had given him satisfaction, when
+he did not show any marks of discontent. If, on the other hand, the
+services rendered him made a noise, like those of Labedoyere, he was
+lavish of his praises and rewards: and in this he had two objects; the
+one, that of appearing not only just, but generous; the other, that of
+inspiring emulation. But frequently on the very day, on which he had
+bestowed on you praises, and proofs of his satisfaction, he would
+treat you with disdain and harshness, to prevent your attaching too
+much importance to the service you might have rendered him, or
+believing, that he had contracted a debt of obligation to you.
+
+The Emperor replaced about his person most of the gentlemen of the
+bedchamber, equerries, and masters of ceremonies, who were with him in
+1814. He had retained his unfortunate predilection for the great lords
+of former times, and must have them at any price: had he not been
+surrounded by ancient nobles, he would have fancied himself in a
+republic.
+
+Most of these (for there were some who were most honourably excepted,
+as the Prince de Beauveau, Messrs. de Turenne, de Montholon, de
+Lascases, Forbin de Janson, Perregaux, &c. &c.) had meanly renounced
+him in 1814, and become the common valets of the Bourbons; but he
+would not believe a word of it. He had the weakness, common to all
+princes, of considering his most cringing courtiers as his most
+devoted subjects.
+
+He would also form an establishment for the Empress, and re-appointed
+Mesdames de Bassano, de Vicenza, de Rovigo, Duchatel, and Marmier,
+ladies of the bedchamber. The Duchess of M*** was not recalled. He
+heard from Prince Joseph, that after the events of Fontainbleau, she
+had abused the confidence of the Empress, and betrayed the secret of
+her correspondence.
+
+It was said, but falsely, that the gracefulness and beauty of the
+Duchess had formerly obtained the homage of Napoleon; and her disgrace
+did not fail to be urged as a fresh proof of the inconstancy of men;
+but I have assigned the true and only cause.
+
+The corruption of courts often sanctions a number of lying
+suppositions, against which few reputations can stand. This justice
+however must be done Napoleon; no prince was ever a man of purer
+manners, or took so much pains to avoid and even check scandal: he was
+never seen, to be followed to the army by his mistresses, like Louis
+XIV.; or disguised in the dress of a porter, or of a small-coal man,
+like Henry IV., to carry disgrace and despair into the houses of his
+most faithful servants.
+
+As a pretty remarkable contrast, Napoleon, at the moment when he
+resumed with delight his own upper servants, sent about their business
+without pity the lacqueys, who had served Louis XVIII. and the
+princes.
+
+     "De tout tems les petits ont paye pour les grands."[74]
+
+                   [Footnote 74: "In all ages the poor have suffered
+                   for the faults of the great."]
+
+These poor people were left destitute. It has been said and repeated a
+hundred times, that Napoleon ill-treated and struck all those who came
+near him, right or wrong. Nothing can be more false. He had his
+moments of impatience and warmth; and what honest citizen has not? But
+in general, the officers and even subalterns of his household were in
+easy circumstances with him, and he was more frequently in a gay than
+in a serious humour. He very easily became attached to a person; and
+when he liked any one, he could not do without him; and treated him
+with a kindness, that frequently degenerated into weakness. It is
+true, it would have been very difficult for him to find servants more
+able, or more devotedly attached to him: every one of them had made it
+his particular study, to become, not what he did wish, but what he
+might wish.
+
+Tacitus has observed, that voluntary slaves make more tyrants, than
+tyrants make slaves. When we recollect the officiousness, the
+meannesses, and the adulation, of certain nobles, who had become the
+courtiers of Napoleon, we are astonished, that it never entered his
+head to follow the example of Alexander, and cause himself to be
+adored as a god.
+
+Counts Drouot and Bertrand were retained in their posts of grand
+marshal of the palace, and major-general of the guards. It had been
+imagined, that the Emperor would have conferred on them the titles of
+Duke of Porto Ferrajo, and Duke of Porto Longone, as memorials of
+their fidelity. He did no such thing. They were fully recompensed,
+however, by the veneration, with which Frenchmen and foreigners were
+inspired for them both. Still, for what reason, I cannot conceive, a
+higher value was generally set on the devoted attachment of General
+Bertrand.
+
+When the Emperor had laid down his crown, Count Drouot did not
+hesitate an instant, to preserve that fidelity to him in adversity,
+which he had sworn in his prosperity: and this fidelity was not in
+his eyes a proof of attachment, still less a sacrifice; it appeared to
+him only the natural fulfilment of a duty imposed on him by the
+kindnesses and misfortunes of Napoleon.
+
+To follow him, he abandoned all that is most dear to a well-born mind,
+his family and his country, as well as the military career, in which
+he had acquired the most glorious renown.
+
+Transported into the midst of the seas, he frequently cast his looks
+towards the land of his birth: but no regret, no complaint, escaped
+from his heart. His conscience was satisfied, how could he be unhappy?
+As disinterested in the service of the sovereign of the island of
+Elba, as he had been in that of the Emperor of the French[75], though
+poor, he would receive no reward from Napoleon: "Give me food and
+clothing," said he, "I want nothing more." The most seducing offers
+were lavished on him, to draw him over to the Bourbons. To these he
+was insensible; and he felt no difficulty in preferring the rock of
+Napoleon to the lustre of their throne.
+
+                   [Footnote 75: He constantly refused the emoluments
+                   and allowances of considerable offices, attached to
+                   the rank of major-general of the guards. The
+                   appointments of a lieutenant-general and
+                   aide-de-camp appeared to him, to pay him more than
+                   his services deserved.]
+
+Such was General Drouot; and such also was his worthy rival, Count
+Bertrand; for there existed no difference in the generosity of their
+conduct, and none ought to exist in the admiration they deserve.
+
+The Emperor himself was not free from this injustice: he seemed to
+give the preference to Count Bertrand. This difference proceeded, I
+believe, from that degree of intimacy, which the functions of the
+grand Marshal established between the Emperor and him, and perhaps
+from the suitableness of their characters.
+
+Bertrand, amiable, witty, insinuating, united the agreeable and
+polished manners of a courtier with an air of distinction. Feeble,
+irresolute, in the ordinary conduct of life; he yielded to no one in
+courage and firmness, on occasions of difficulty and danger. A
+stranger to intrigue, inaccessible to seduction, he was in the camp,
+as in the palace, a man of honour, a man of probity.
+
+Drouot, simple in his manners, affectionate in his speech, displayed
+that rare assemblage of virtues, which compel us to love the sages of
+antiquity, and the heroes of the days of chivalry. He had the wisdom,
+the prudence of Aristides, the valour, the modesty, the loyalty of
+Bayard. The favour he enjoyed, the military power with which he was
+invested, inspired him with no pride: he was not less humble and timid
+at court, than he was terrible and daring in the field of honour.
+
+Bertrand, when he was consulted, delivered his opinion with the
+caution and skill of a courtier; Drouot, with the precision and
+frankness of a soldier: but neither was false to his conscience. Their
+language, though different in structure, was the same in substance; it
+was always that of truth and honour.
+
+The Emperor, though greatly fatigued by nocturnal marches, reviews,
+perpetual harangues, and his labours in the closet, which for the last
+thirty-six hours had occupied all his moments, would nevertheless
+review the troops, that previously composed the army of the Duke of
+Berri.
+
+He caused them to be assembled in the court of the Tuileries; and, to
+use his own words, "The whole capital was witness to the sentiments of
+enthusiasm and attachment, by which those brave troops were animated:
+they seemed to have reconquered their country, and found again in
+the national colours the remembrance of all those generous sentiments,
+which have ever distinguished the French nation."
+
+After having gone through the ranks, he made the troops form square
+battalions, and said to them:
+
+"Soldiers, I came to France with six hundred men, because I reckoned
+on the love of the people, and the remembrance of the old soldiers. I
+have not been deceived in my expectations: soldiers, I thank you. The
+glory of what we have just done belongs wholly to you and to the
+people, mine is only that of having known you, and judged you rightly.
+
+"Soldiers, the imperial throne only can guarantie the rights of the
+people, and more especially the first of our interests, that of our
+glory. Soldiers, we are going to march, to chase from our territories
+those princes, who are the auxiliaries of foreigners. The nation will
+not only second us with its good wishes, but will follow our impulse.
+The French people and myself depend upon you: we will not interfere
+with the affairs of foreign nations; and wo to the nation, that shall
+interfere with ours!"
+
+At this moment General Cambronne, and some officers of the guards of
+the battalion of the island of Elba, appeared with the ancient eagles
+of the guard: the Emperor resumed his harangue, and said[76]: "Here
+are the officers of the battalion, who accompanied me in my adversity:
+they are all my friends, they were dear to my heart! Whenever I saw
+them, they reminded me of the different regiments of the army; for
+among these six hundred brave fellows are men from every regiment.
+They recalled to my mind those great victories, the remembrance of
+which is so dear; for they are all well covered with honourable scars
+received in those memorable battles! In loving them, it was all of
+you, soldiers, of the whole French army, whom I loved. They bring back
+to you these eagles; let them serve you as a rallying point: in giving
+them to the guards, I give them to the whole army."
+
+                   [Footnote 76: I cannot avoid remarking the beauty
+                   of this passage.]
+
+"Treason and unfortunate circumstances had covered them with a
+funereal veil: but, thanks to the French people and to you, they
+appear again resplendent with all their glory. Swear, that they shall
+always be found, wherever the interests of our country call them! that
+traitors, and those who would invade our territories, shall never
+stand their appearance."
+
+"We swear it," answered all the soldiers with enthusiasm. They then
+filed off with shouts of "Long live the Emperor!" and to the sound of
+military music, playing the favourite tunes of the revolution, and the
+Marseillese march, so celebrated in the annals of our crimes and our
+victories.
+
+When the review was over, the Emperor returned to his closet, and
+applied himself immediately to business. His situation rendered it
+necessary, that he should ascertain without delay the precise state of
+the country, of the government of which he had resumed the reins. This
+was so vast an undertaking, that the faculties of any other man would
+have been overwhelmed by it. He found the writing table covered with
+mystic authors[77]; and substituted for them plans and maps. "The
+closet of a French monarch," said he, "should resemble the tent of a
+general, not an oratory." His eyes rested on the map of France. After
+having contemplated its recent limits, he exclaimed in a tone of
+profound sorrow, "_Poor France_!" He kept silence a few minutes, and
+then began to hum in a low voice one of his usual burdens of songs:
+
+          "S'il est un tems pour la folie,
+           Il en est un pour la raison[78]."
+
+                   [Footnote 77: The king departed with such
+                   suddenness, that he had not time to carry away his
+                   private papers. In his writing table was found his
+                   family port-folio. It contained a great number of
+                   letters from Madame the Duchess of Angouleme, and
+                   from some of the princes. Napoleon cast his eye
+                   over several of them, and gave me the port-folio,
+                   with orders, that it should be scrupulously
+                   preserved. Napoleon would have respect paid to
+                   royal majesty, and to every thing that pertained to
+                   the person of kings.
+
+                   The king habitually used a small table, that he had
+                   brought from Hartwell. Napoleon took pleasure in
+                   writing on it for a few hours: he afterwards
+                   ordered it to be removed, and the greatest care to
+                   be taken of it.
+
+                   The Merlin's chair used by the king, not being
+                   suited to Napoleon, whose limbs and health were in
+                   full strength and vigour, was banished to the back
+                   closet. Some person being found sitting in it, when
+                   the Emperor passed through unexpectedly, he gave
+                   him an angry look, and the chair was removed.
+
+                   One of his valets de chambre, thinking to please
+                   him, ventured to place over his mantel-piece some
+                   insulting caricatures of the Bourbons: these he
+                   disdainfully threw into the fire, and severely
+                   enjoined the valet, never in future to be guilty of
+                   such an impertinence.]
+
+                   [Footnote 78:
+
+                   "If we sometimes play the fool,
+                   Reason should resume her rule."]
+
+The Emperor entered his closet habitually before six in the morning,
+and seldom quitted it till night.
+
+Impatience and vivacity are almost always incompatible with order and
+precision. Napoleon, destined to be like no other person, added to the
+fire of genius the methodical habits of cold and little minds. For the
+most part, he took care to arrange his numerous papers himself. Each
+of them had its settled place. Here was found whatever related to the
+war department: there, the budgets, the daily statements of the
+treasury and finances: farther on, the reports of the police, his
+secret correspondence with his private agents, &c. He carefully
+returned every thing to its place, after having used it: compared with
+him the most methodical clerk would have been but a bungler.
+
+His first business was to read his correspondence, and the despatches
+that had arrived in the night. He put aside the interesting letters,
+and threw the rest on the floor: this he called his _answered_.
+
+He afterwards examined the copies of letters opened at the post
+office, and burnt them immediately. It seemed, as if he wished to
+annihilate all traces of the abuse of power, of which he had been
+guilty.
+
+He finished by casting an eye over the newspapers. Sometimes he said,
+"That's a good article; whose is it?" He must know every thing.
+
+These several readings ended, he set to work; and it may be said
+without exaggeration, that he was then as extraordinary, as
+incomparable, as at the head of his armies.
+
+As he would entrust to nobody the supreme care of the government, he
+saw every thing himself; and it is easy to conceive, on what a
+multiplicity of objects he had to fix his eyes. Independently of his
+ministers, the Duke of Bassano, the commandant of the first division
+of Paris, the prefect of the police, the inspector general of the
+gendarmerie, the major-general of guards, the grand marshal of the
+palace, the great officers of the crown, the aides-de-camp, and the
+orderly officers (_officiers d'ordonnance_) on missions, daily sent
+him circumstantial reports, which he examined, and answered
+immediately: it being a maxim with him, to put nothing off till
+to-morrow. And let it not be supposed, that he satisfied himself with
+a superficial judgment of affairs: he read every report through, and
+examined every voucher attentively. Frequently the super-human
+sagacity, with which he was gifted, enabled him to perceive errors and
+imperfections, that had escaped the scrutinizing eyes of his
+ministers; and then he corrected their labours. But still more
+frequently he fashioned them anew from beginning to end; and what was
+a fortnight's work to a whole ministry, scarcely cost the genius of
+Napoleon a few minutes.
+
+The Emperor rarely sat down, but dictated as he walked about. He did
+not like to repeat his words; and if you asked him a word not clearly
+understood, he answered impatiently, "_I said_," and went on.
+
+When he had to treat a subject worthy of himself, his style,
+habitually nervous and concise, rose to the level of his grand
+conceptions: it became majestic and sublime.
+
+If the possibility of expressing his ideas was shackled by the want of
+the proper word; or if the customary terms did not appear to him
+sufficiently strong, sufficiently animated, he brought together words,
+that were astonished to find themselves in each other's company, and
+created a language of his own, a language rich and impressive, that
+might sometimes infringe established rules, but compensated this happy
+fault, by giving more loftiness and vigour to his thoughts[79].
+
+                   [Footnote 79: I have been assured, that Napoleon in
+                   his youth composed a history of Paoli, and of the
+                   war of liberty: may he realize the design of
+                   writing the history of his own reign, for the
+                   instruction of future ages! This reign is so
+                   fertile in extraordinary events, and unforeseen
+                   catastrophes, and displays to our view such
+                   numerous examples of human vicissitudes, that its
+                   history may supply the place of all others, and
+                   become itself alone a lesson for kings and people.]
+
+Sometimes, hurried away by the impetuosity of his character, and
+eager to arrive more quickly at his object, he did not take time to
+weigh his words, his ideas, his desires. When his orders had been
+dictated to us in such a fit of hastiness, we were careful, as far as
+possible, not to present them for signing the same day. The next day,
+they were almost always modified, softened, or torn. Napoleon was
+never displeased with us, for endeavouring to guard him against the
+dangers of precipitancy. They who think, that he never corrected a
+false step, are mistaken: if under certain circumstances his
+determinations were inflexible, in a number of others he yielded to
+remonstrance, and relinquished his projects and resolves without
+difficulty.
+
+The Emperor seldom wrote with his own hand. Words of many syllables
+were tedious to him; and, not having patience to write them at length,
+he mutilated them. This habit, added to the defective formation of
+his letters, rendered his writing altogether illegible. Frequently,
+too, from carelessness, or absence of mind, he infringed the laws of
+orthography; and people have not failed thence to infer, that he was
+completely ignorant.
+
+Most assuredly the ignorance of Napoleon, were it proved, would
+detract nothing from his glory and renown. Charlemagne could scarcely
+sign his own name. Louis XIV., and I quote him by choice, though born
+on a throne, was unacquainted with _the rules of grammar_. Yet
+Charlemagne and Louis were nevertheless great kings. The imputation,
+however, is as false as it is absurd. Napoleon, educated at the school
+of Brienne, was distinguished there by that facility of comprehension,
+that disdain of pleasure, that fondness for study, that enthusiastic
+regard for models of greatness, which commonly indicate superior
+minds. Destined for the profession of arms, he would not aspire to
+become a man of letters, a man of reading, a learned man: his object,
+for he had an object in his earliest years, was to become some day a
+distinguished officer, perhaps even a great captain. It was to the
+military sciences, therefore, he bent his genius ... the universe
+knows the rest.
+
+But do I say his genius? the detractors of Napoleon also assert, that
+his mind was too subject to irregularities, for the possession of
+genius to be granted him: do they not know, or do they pretend to be
+ignorant, that such irregularities are on the contrary the proof, the
+distinguishing characteristics, of this precious gift of nature.
+
+"Genius," says one of our philosophers, "rises and stoops by turns; it
+is often imperfect, because it does not take the trouble to improve
+itself. It is great in great things, because they are adapted to
+excite its sublime instinct, and call it into action. It is negligent
+in ordinary things, because they are beneath it, and have nothing in
+them to stir it up: if, however, it do turn its attention to them, it
+fertilizes them, aggrandizes them, and gives them a new and unexpected
+appearance, that had escaped vulgar eyes."
+
+And with how vast a genius must he have been endowed! he, who,
+occupied by the torments of ambition, military calculations, political
+schemes, and the anxieties inspired by the enemies of his crown and of
+his life, still found sufficient time, sufficient calmness, sufficient
+power, to command his numerous armies; to govern twenty foreign
+nations, and forty millions of subjects; to enter solicitously into
+all the particulars of the administration of his states; to see every
+thing; to sift every thing to the bottom; to regulate every thing; in
+fine, to conceive, create, and realize those unexpected improvements,
+those bold innovations, those noble institutions, and those immortal
+codes, that raise the civil glory of France to a degree of
+superiority, which alone can match its military glory. But I know not
+why I attempt to combat such adversaries: they who are blind to the
+genius of Napoleon, have never known genius itself, and I ought to
+give them no answer, but that of Rousseau: "Silence, ye uninitiated!"
+
+The Emperor, by his decrees issued at Lyons, had in some degree
+repaired the wrongs imputed to the royal government. One grievance
+still remained for him; the slavery of the press. The decree of the
+24th of March[80], by suppressing the censors, the censorship, and
+the superintendance of the bookselling trade, completed the imperial
+restoration.
+
+                   [Footnote 80: This decree, and all those previously
+                   dated from the palace of the Tuileries, contained
+                   no title but simply that of "Emperor of the
+                   French." The "&c. &c.," noticed with anxiety in the
+                   proclamations and decrees from Lyons, were
+                   suppressed. They had been inserted without
+                   reflection, without object, and merely from custom.
+                   The Emperor, too, would not have his familiar
+                   letters continue to be concluded in the usual form:
+                   "On which I pray God, to have you in his holy
+                   keeping, &c." "All those antiquated things," said
+                   he, "must be laid aside; they are well enough for
+                   kings by the grace of God."]
+
+This last concession was unquestionably the greatest, that Napoleon
+could make to public opinion. A press in the general interest of the
+people is the surest protection of their rights. It is the most noble
+conquest liberty can gain over despotism: to honest men it gives
+dignity; it inspires them with the love of their country, and of the
+laws; in fine, according to the English definition, it is the mother
+of all liberty: but in times of trouble and of revolution, it is a
+dangerous weapon in the hands of the wicked; and the Emperor foresaw,
+that the royalists would employ it in the cause of the Bourbons; and
+the Jacobins, to calumniate his sentiments, and render his designs
+suspected. But, a declared enemy of half-measures, he resolved, since
+he had set thought at liberty, that it should circulate
+unshackled[81].
+
+                   [Footnote 81: Never, in fact, at any period of the
+                   revolution, did writers enjoy such complete liberty
+                   and impunity. The seizure of the _Censeur
+                   Europeen_, which made such noise, was the work of
+                   M. Fouche. The Emperor knew nothing of this
+                   infringement of the law, till it had been carried
+                   into effect; and he immediately ordered, that the
+                   copies seized should be returned to the editors of
+                   the _Censeur_, and that they should be at liberty
+                   to circulate them freely.]
+
+This decree, and those that preceded it, were undoubtedly sufficient
+to testify to the nation the liberal disposition of Napoleon: but no
+speech from the throne had yet declared with solemnity the positive
+intentions of the Emperor.
+
+At length he fixed on Sunday, the 26th of March, as the day, on which
+he would make his new profession of faith in the face of the
+nation[82].
+
+                   [Footnote 82: The audience was to take place at
+                   noon; and at nine o'clock his Majesty had not
+                   prepared his answers. They were dictated in haste,
+                   and we had scarcely time to copy them out fairly.]
+
+The ministers, the council of state, the court of cassation, the court
+of accounts, the imperial court, the prefect, and the municipal
+council of Paris, were admitted to the foot of the throne.
+
+The prince arch-chancellor, speaking in the name of the ministers,
+said:
+
+"Sire, Providence, that watches over our destiny, has re-opened to
+your Majesty the road to that throne, to which you had been raised by
+the free choice of the people, and the national gratitude. Our country
+raises its majestic brow, and for the second time salutes with the
+name of deliverer the prince, who destroyed anarchy, and whose
+existence alone is at present capable of consolidating our liberal
+institutions.
+
+"The most just of revolutions, that which will restore to men their
+dignity, and all their political rights, has hurled from the throne
+the dynasty of the Bourbons. After five and twenty years of war and
+troubles, all the efforts of foreigners have proved unable, to awaken
+affections that are extinct, or wholly unknown to the present
+generation. The struggle of the interests and prejudices of a few
+against the enlightened state of the age, and the interests of a great
+nation, is at length terminated.
+
+"Our destinies are accomplished: the only legitimate cause, the cause
+of the people, has triumphed. Your Majesty has yielded to the wishes
+of the French; you have seized anew the reins of the state, amid the
+benedictions of the people and of the army.
+
+"France, Sire, has as a guarantee of it her will, and her dearest
+interests; she has as a guarantee of it all that your Majesty has said
+to the population of the different parts of the country, which
+assembled in crowds on your passage. Your Majesty will keep your word,
+you will remember only the services rendered your country; you will
+prove, that in your eyes, and in your heart, whatever the different
+opinions and exasperations of parties may have been, all citizens are
+equal, as they are in the eye of the law.
+
+"Your Majesty will also forget, that we have been the masters of the
+nations around us. Generous idea! that adds another glory to the glory
+already acquired.
+
+"Already has Your Majesty traced out to your ministers the path they
+have to pursue: already have you made known to all the people by your
+proclamations the maxims, by which you would have your empire governed
+for the future. No war without, unless to repel unjust aggression; no
+re-action within, no arbitrary proceedings; security of person,
+security of property, and the free circulation of opinions, are the
+principles you have sanctioned.
+
+"Happy those, Sire, who are called to cooperate in so many sublime
+acts! Such benefits will ensure to you from posterity, when the days
+of adulation are at an end, the name of Father of your country: they
+will be guarantied to our children by the august heir, whom your
+Majesty is preparing to crown in the Champ de Mai."
+
+The Emperor answered:
+
+"The sentiments you have expressed to me are mine. 'Every thing
+agreeably to the sense of the nation, and every thing for France:'
+such is my motto.
+
+"I and my family, whom this great people has raised to the French
+throne, and maintained on it in spite of vicissitudes and political
+tempests, will not, ought not, cannot, ever claim any other title to
+it."
+
+
+The Count Defermon, father of the presidents of the council of state,
+delivered to the Emperor the following declaration, tending to prove
+the nullity of the abdication of Fontainbleau:
+
+"The council of state, in resuming its functions, thinks it necessary
+to make known the principles, by which its conduct and opinions are
+guided.
+
+"The sovereignty resides in the people, who are the only legitimate
+source of power.
+
+"In 1789 the nation recovered its rights, which had long been usurped,
+or misunderstood.
+
+"The National Assembly abolished the feudal monarchy, and established
+a constitutional monarchy, and a representative government.
+
+"The resistance of the Bourbons to the wishes of the people occasioned
+their downfal, and their banishment from the French territories.
+
+"Twice the people sanctioned by its votes the new form of government
+established by its representatives.
+
+"In the year 8th, Bonaparte, already crowned by victory, found himself
+raised to the government by the assent of the nation. A constitution
+created the consular magistracy.
+
+"The senatus consultum of the 16th of Thermidor, year 10, named
+Bonaparte consul for life.
+
+"The senatus consultum of the 28th of Floreal, year 12, conferred on
+Napoleon the imperial dignity, and made it hereditary in his family.
+
+"These three solemn acts were laid for acceptance before the people,
+who sanctioned them by nearly four millions of votes.
+
+"Accordingly, the Bourbons had ceased to reign in France for two and
+twenty years; they were forgotten there by their contemporaries;
+strangers to our laws, our institutions, our manners, our glory; and
+the present generation knew nothing of them.
+
+"In 1814 France was invaded by the armies of the enemy, and the
+capital occupied. The foreigners created a pretended provisional
+government. They assembled a minority of the senators, and compelled
+them, in opposition to their delegated powers and to their will, to
+destroy the existing establishments, to overturn the imperial throne,
+and to recall the family of the Bourbons.
+
+"The senate, which had been instituted solely to maintain the
+constitution of the empire, acknowledged itself, that it had no power
+to alter it. It decreed, that the scheme of a constitution, which it
+had prepared, should be submitted to the people for their acceptance,
+and that Louis Stanislas Xavier should be proclaimed King of the
+French, as soon as he had accepted the constitution, and sworn to
+observe it, and cause it to be observed.
+
+"The abdication of the Emperor Napoleon was solely the result of the
+unfortunate situation, to which France and the Emperor had been
+reduced by the events of the war, by treason, and by the occupation of
+the capital. The only object of the abdication was, to avoid a civil
+war, and the shedding of French blood. Unsanctioned by the will of the
+people, this act could not annul the solemn contract, that was
+established between them and the Emperor. And if Napoleon possessed
+the power of abdicating the throne in his own person, he had none to
+sacrifice the rights of his son, appointed to reign after him.
+
+
+"The Emperor, therefore, by re-ascending the throne, to which the
+people had elevated him, restored the people to their most sacred
+rights: he only called into execution the decrees of the
+Representative Assemblies, sanctioned by the nation: he returns to
+reign on the only legitimate principle, that France acknowledges and
+has acknowledged for five and twenty years, and to which all the
+authorities bound themselves by oaths, that they can be released from
+by the will of the people alone.
+
+"The Emperor is called upon, to guaranty anew, by institutions, as he
+has engaged to do in his proclamations to the nation and the army, all
+the principles of liberty: personal freedom, and equality of rights;
+the freedom of the press, and abolition of the censorship; freedom of
+religious worship; the voting of laws and contributions by the
+representatives of the nation lawfully chosen; national property, from
+whatever source arising; the independence and stability of our
+tribunals; the responsibility of ministers, and of all the agents of
+authority.
+
+"The more perfectly to sanction the rights and obligations of the
+people and the monarch, the national institutions should be revised in
+a grand assembly of the representatives already announced by the
+Emperor.
+
+"Previous to the meeting of this grand representative assembly, the
+Emperor ought to exercise, and cause to be exercised, conformably to
+the existing laws and constitution, the authority they have delegated
+to him, which could not be taken from him, which he could not abdicate
+without the consent of the nation, and which the wishes and general
+interest of the French people render it his duty to resume."
+
+
+The Emperor answered:
+
+"Princes are the first citizens of the state: their authority is more
+or less extensive according to the interests of the nations they
+govern: the sovereignty itself is hereditary only because the interest
+of the people requires it. I know nothing of a legitimacy extraneous
+to these principles.
+
+"I have renounced the idea of that grand empire, of which in the
+course of fifteen years I had merely laid the foundations:
+henceforward the happiness and consolidation of the French empire will
+be the object of all my thoughts."
+
+The court of cassation expressed the same principles and the same
+sentiments as the council of state.
+
+To this the Emperor answered:
+
+"In the earliest ages of the French monarchy, rude tribes made
+themselves masters of Gaul. The sovereignty, of course, was not
+framed for the benefit of the Gauls, who were slaves, or destitute of
+political rights; but for the benefit of the conquering tribe. It can
+never have been said with truth, therefore, in any period of history,
+in any nation, even in the east, that the people exist for kings.
+Every where it has been established, that kings exist only for the
+people. A dynasty created under circumstances, that have created so
+many new interests, being itself interested in the maintenance of the
+rights and properties of all, can alone be natural and legitimate, and
+in possession of strength and confidence, the two leading characters
+in all government."
+
+The court of accounts, and the imperial court, held the same language
+as the preceding authorities.
+
+To these the Emperor answered:
+
+"What particularly distinguishes the imperial throne is, that it has
+been raised by the nation, that it is consequently natural, and that
+it guaranties the interests of all. This is the true character of
+legitimacy. It is the interest of this throne, to consolidate all that
+at present exists, and all that has been done in France during the
+twenty-five years of revolution. It comprises all interests, and
+particularly that of the national glory, which is not the least among
+them.
+
+"Whatever has returned with the foreign armies, whatever has been done
+without consulting the nation, is null. The courts of Grenoble and
+Lyons, and all the tribunals of the judicial order, which I met with
+while the success of events was yet uncertain, have shown me, that
+these principles are engraved on the heart of every Frenchman."
+
+
+The reception of these public bodies being over, there was a grand
+audience in the apartments of the palace. The answers of the Emperor,
+repeated with embellishments, had produced the most profound
+sensation. The words national glory, liberty, country, so long unknown
+and proscribed within these walls, resounded on every side. When the
+emigrants re-appeared, and the most illustrious servants of the state
+were expelled, to make room for men, who had become strangers to our
+manners, our institutions, and our triumphs; you would have said, that
+France existed no longer, that it had passed under the dominion of
+foreigners. When Napoleon returned, our country appeared to have
+returned with him: he seemed to have brought it back from exile, and
+he might then exclaim with just pride: "I am the nation."
+
+The example set by the magistrates of Paris soon found numerous
+imitators in the departments. The public functionaries, the judicial
+and administrative authorities, which but a few days before had
+offered up prayers to Heaven and to the King for the extermination of
+the Corsican, the tyrant, and the usurper, were eager to congratulate
+_the Emperor_ on his miraculous return; and to confer on him the
+titles of hero, deliverer, and more especially of legitimate
+sovereign.
+
+Napoleon's progress had been so rapid, that many addresses to the King
+did not reach Paris before the King was gone; and all these were
+delivered at the same time with the new addresses voted to his
+successor[83]! I remarked this to the Emperor; who answered me with a
+smile of pity: "_See what men are_!"
+
+                   [Footnote 83: I am speaking here only of the
+                   addresses of bodies corporate, and of certain
+                   generals and prefects.]
+
+The favourites of Apollo did not fail to offer up their obsequious
+incense to the god of the day. We received from the Countess de G***
+some very pretty verses in honour of the violet. Another woman, still
+more celebrated, the Baroness de S***, took occasion from some
+flattering words said for her to M. B. C., to write an epistle to the
+Emperor, which would make a curious figure at the head of her last
+work.
+
+The most rigid writers and lecturers on the common law, who the
+evening before, with Cujas and Bartholi in their hands, had formally
+impleaded Napoleon, were eager to testify their admiration of him, and
+proclaim him the sovereign of sovereigns.
+
+Thus Napoleon was more honoured and lauded than ever; and it must be
+confessed, that he conducted himself so as to deserve it: on one hand
+he caressed the nation, and on the other private interests, which it
+is much more difficult to conciliate than what is called the public
+interest.
+
+The decrees of Lyons had sequestrated anew the estates restored to
+emigrants since 1814. Part of these had been sold by those who had
+recovered them; and it was necessary, to quiet the apprehensions of
+the purchasers. The Emperor declared irrevocable all the sales, that
+had been completed; and confirmed those, that had taken place
+subsequently to the decree, when it could be proved, that they were
+not collusive.
+
+On the other hand, the emigrants, who had returned, had purchased
+property, the price of which might not have been entirely paid: and in
+order to do justice both to the emigrants and to the sellers, he
+ordered, that estates recently acquired should not be subject to
+sequestration, on condition of being re-sold within a certain period.
+
+Another decree from Lyons had indiscriminately abolished all
+promotions in the legion of honour, and in the army, made since the
+royal restoration. He subjected to revision the nominations, that
+appeared to him the result of favour, intrigue, and venality; and
+confirmed all, that had been the reward of real and meritorious
+services. He would not even allow men's opinions, to constitute a line
+of demarcation and directed the minister, to pay regard to ancient
+services rendered by officers since incorporated in the King's
+household.
+
+He confirmed also the decorations granted to the national guard; and
+distributed new ones among the brave pupils of the polytechnical
+school, whose noble conduct had so much excited the admiration of
+Paris, and of foreigners, at the time of the occurrences of 1814.
+
+The daughters of the members of the legion of honour had claims to
+his remembrance, and his consolation, too sacred, not to participate
+in his favours. He went to visit them. His presence excited
+inexpressible enthusiasm among these young orphans: they threw
+themselves at his feet, embraced his knees, and watered them with
+their tears. He had taken a spoon, to taste their food: after he was
+gone, as every one wished to have it, they broke it to pieces, and
+shared it amongst them. Most of them had braided rings of hair, on
+which were traced patriotic devices, or the ingenious expression of
+their sentiments for Napoleon. The Emperor having condescended to
+accept some of these, and place them on his fingers, every one of the
+orphans was desirous of obtaining the same favour: they rushed on him,
+seized his hands, and in an instant covered them with these innocent
+pledges of love and gratitude. The Emperor, moved, enchanted,
+submitted with kind complaisance to the gentle fetters of these
+amiable infants. They ingeniously intreated him, not to give away the
+rings they had presented to him; and he promised to keep them,
+assuring them, that they would be as valuable in his eyes as the
+jewels of his crown.
+
+The working class, who had surnamed Napoleon _le grand
+entrepreneur_[84], also received its share of the imperial favours.
+The works commenced in his reign, and buried in dust under that of the
+Bourbons, were resumed with activity. The capital became, as before, a
+vast workshop: and the Parisians, who had learned from strangers to
+perceive the beauty of their edifices, saw with a mingled sentiment of
+gratitude and pride, that new marvels were still more to embellish
+their majestic city.
+
+                   [Footnote 84: We have no single word in our
+                   language answering to this: it implies one who
+                   undertakes works of different kinds, including our
+                   architect and civil engineer.--Tr.]
+
+In fine, all classes received testimonies of the solicitude and
+justice of Napoleon. Must it be said? his old companions in the island
+of Elba alone were forgotten.
+
+While Napoleon had no throne but his rock, they had shown themselves
+as disinterested as faithful: when he had recovered his crown, they
+flattered themselves, that they should be recompensed with generosity.
+
+Some, whom honour alone had attached to Napoleon, enjoyed in prospect
+the praises, titles, ribands, that would be bestowed on them: others,
+inspired with less lofty sentiments, expected benefits more solid.
+The guard and its worthy chiefs were ambitious only of the favour of
+retaining the glorious title of grenadiers of the island of Elba. Vain
+illusions! the Emperor's thoughts, entirely absorbed by other cares,
+were no longer turned to those brave fellows, who had shared his exile
+and his misfortunes. The moment of forgetfulness, however, had not
+time to degenerate into ingratitude: it was repaired: promotions,
+endowments, indemnifications, were bestowed on them; and, if they did
+not feel themselves completely satisfied with the conduct of Napoleon,
+they had at least no reason to complain.
+
+The Emperor would have wished from feeling, and perhaps too from
+ostentation, to have had it in his power, to acknowledge in a manner
+more worthy of himself their services and attachment: but he was
+deterred by the fear of being charged with imitating the Bourbons, and
+of preferring those Frenchmen, who had gone into exile with him, to
+those who had retained their fidelity in their mother country.
+
+These scruples appear to me unfounded.
+
+The emigrants had sullied their native land with blood, shed either by
+their own weapons, or in the civil wars they had fomented and
+cherished; and the indignant nation had long combated them, and
+pursued them with its maledictions, as the enemies of its happiness
+and tranquillity.
+
+The Frenchmen who returned from the island of Elba with Napoleon, on
+the contrary, had spilt their blood in the defence of their country.
+They were beloved, honoured, respected and the recompenses the Emperor
+might have bestowed upon them, instead of tending to alienate France,
+would have fulfilled her wishes. She would have enjoyed it with that
+feeling of pride and pleasure, which a mother experiences, when she
+hears the triumphs of her children proclaimed in the lists opened for
+youth, and sees their heads adorned with the rewards of their success.
+
+Policy, no less than justice, required, that Napoleon should confer,
+even with prodigality, his favours and benefits on men, who had
+sacrificed themselves for him. In his situation it would have been
+better, to have been deemed prodigal than ungrateful: but fortune
+favoured him so highly, that he might be allowed, in some degree, to
+neglect the means of securing the feeble support of men.
+
+The re-establishment of the imperial government, which appeared as if
+it would experience some obstacles, took place on all sides with a
+promptitude and facility truly extraordinary. Marshal Augereau, who
+had endeavoured in his proclamation of 1814 to disgrace the Emperor,
+was eager to make his public recantation in a fresh proclamation.
+
+The Duke of Belluno, and Count Gouvion St. Cyr, after attempting in
+vain to curb their insurgent troops, were forced to shun their
+resentment by flight.
+
+The troubles excited in La Vendee and Calvados by a few royal
+volunteers had been appeased, and the perturbators disarmed.
+
+The military household of the King had submitted to their discharge,
+and readily surrendered their horses and arms.
+
+In fine, the royal family had evacuated the imperial territory.
+
+The Emperor thought proper, to acquaint his army in person with these
+happy results. "Thanks to the French people and you," said he, on
+reviewing the troops on the 27th of March, "the imperial throne is
+re-established. It is acknowledged throughout the empire, and not a
+single drop of blood has been spilt. The Count de Lille, the Count
+d'Artois, the Duke de Berri, the Duke of Orleans, have passed our
+northern frontier, and sought an asylum among foreigners. The
+tricoloured flag waves on the towers of Calais, Dunkirk, Lille,
+Valenciennes, Conde, &c. A few bands of Chouans had attempted to form
+themselves in Poitou and La Vendee: popular opinion, and the march of
+a few battalions, were sufficient to disperse them. The Duke of
+Bourbon, who came to excite disturbances in the provinces, has
+embarked at Nantes.
+
+"How senseless were they," continued the Emperor, "and how little did
+they know of the nation, who imagined, that the French would consent
+to receive a prince from those very hands, that had ravaged our
+territory, and, aided by treason, had for a moment obscured our
+laurels!"
+
+The King, who at first took refuge at Lille, had in fact just retired
+to Ghent. His Majesty had given orders to his household and the
+princes, to join him in the former city, where it had been apparently
+his intention, to take up his residence, and convene the chambers. But
+marshal the Duke of Treviso, governor of that division, declared to
+him, that he would no longer answer for his troops, if the musketeers,
+the body guards, &c., entered the place; and advised him to repair to
+Dunkirk, which, from its geographical position, and the attachment of
+its inhabitants, afforded him an opportunity of awaiting the issue of
+events without danger. M. de Blacas and the emigrants with the King
+remonstrated with him strongly, that he would not be out of danger
+there; and that he could no longer be safe from the pursuit of
+Napoleon, except in a foreign country. The Duke of Treviso still
+insisted on the contrary: and the King, in spite of the alarm and
+entreaties of the Count de Blacas and the other courtiers, had
+resolved to follow the advice of the marshal, when some despatches
+from the Count d'Artois, received in the course of the night,
+determined him to pass the frontier.
+
+The Emperor thought at first, that the design of Louis XVIII. was to
+return to England. He was glad of this: and it was not without extreme
+vexation, that he learned the intention of this Prince, to remain on
+the Belgic frontiers, observing the course of affairs. But if this
+resolution, to which perhaps the King was indebted for the recovery of
+his throne, was displeasing to Napoleon, it never inspired him with
+the criminal desire, as some wicked writers have pretended, of making
+any attempts against the lives or liberty of the Bourbons.
+
+The orders given to General Excelmans merely were, to drive the King
+and the Princes out of France step by step. He was never commanded,
+"either to secure their persons, or to kill them in case of
+resistance."
+
+The instructions given at the same time to Marshal Ney, sent on a
+mission to the frontiers of the North and East, directed him also in
+express words, "to cause the royal family to be respected, and
+facilitate its procuring the means of quitting France freely and
+quietly[85]."
+
+                   [Footnote 85: It was this mission, that became the
+                   source of the disgrace, in which the marshal lived,
+                   till the day of his being recalled to the army. The
+                   Emperor had ordered him, to set off immediately: he
+                   answered, that he could not go, till he was paid
+                   some twenty thousand francs, which were owing to
+                   him. The Emperor, swearing, ordered them to be
+                   paid.
+
+                   The next day General Le Courbe, to whom the Emperor
+                   had just entrusted an important command, wrote to
+                   him, to demand several favours, and in addition a
+                   hundred and fifty thousand francs, as arrears of
+                   pay, in order to discharge his debts.
+
+                   Two other generals, less known, were equally
+                   desirous of being paid for their services. He was
+                   disgusted at their claims. "Do these men think,"
+                   said he, "that I throw away my money? I am not
+                   inclined to suffer myself to be plundered like
+                   Henry IV; if they be not inclined to fight, let
+                   them put on petticoats, and go and take an
+                   airing."]
+
+It has been asserted, that the Duke of Bassano, who had the temporary
+charge of the port-folio of the home department, had sent orders to
+M. Simeon, then royal prefect at Lille, to arrest the King. The Duke
+of Bassano, indignant at such an odious charge, would not quit France,
+without having refuted it. He proposed, to summon M. Simeon to declare
+the truth; and his declaration would have been made public through the
+means of the newspapers and the press, if the police had not opposed
+it.
+
+The King quitted Lille on the 23d of March. The Duke of Orleans, who
+had attended his Majesty, and whom the King on his departure had
+invested with the command of that place, did not quit it till
+twenty-four hours after; when he addressed the following letter to
+Marshal Mortier.
+
+
+"I commit entirely to your hands, my dear Marshal, the command which I
+was so happy as to exercise with you in the department of the North. I
+am too good a Frenchman, to sacrifice the interests of France, because
+fresh misfortunes compel me to quit it. I go to bury myself in
+retirement and oblivion. The King being no longer in France, I cannot
+issue orders in his name: and nothing remains for me, but to absolve
+you from all obedience to the orders I have already transmitted to
+you; requesting you, to do whatever your own excellent judgment, and
+pure patriotism, shall suggest to you as most conducive to the
+interests of France, and most agreeable to the duties you have to
+fulfil."
+
+
+The Emperor, after having read this letter, turned to the Duke of
+Bassano, and said: "See what the Duke of Orleans writes to Mortier;
+this letter does him honour. _His heart was always French._"
+
+I then informed him, that I had been assured, that the Duke of
+Orleans, when he parted from his officers, said to one of them,
+Colonel Athalin: "Go, sir, resume the national cockade: I take a pride
+in having worn it, and I wish I could wear it still." The Emperor
+appeared struck with these words, and made no reply. A few minutes
+after he asked me, if I had not a letter from Madame the Duchess of
+Orleans. I delivered it to him: he read it, and said: "Let his mother
+_be treated with the regard he merits_." And he ordered, that the
+duchess, whose property had just been sequestrated, should receive
+annually from the public treasury three hundred thousand francs as an
+indemnification. At the same time another indemnification of a
+hundred and fifty thousand francs was granted to the Duchess of
+Bourbon.
+
+The Duke of Bourbon, though the Emperor had announced his embarkation,
+did not sail however till several days afterward. His presence and his
+proclamation had produced a partial rising in the circle of Beaupreau;
+but convinced by his own eyes, and by the reports of his principal
+officers, that the great body of the Vendeans would not stir, he
+yielded to the wishes of Colonel Noirot, commandant of the
+gendarmerie, expressed in the following letter:
+
+
+     "Monseigneur,
+
+"It will not be in vain, I am persuaded, that I make an appeal to your
+magnanimity. It is in your power, with a single word, to calm an
+effervescence, the first results of which may once more stain with
+blood the fields of the too unhappy Vendee: this word your Highness
+will pronounce, and every thing will be restored to order. You will be
+aware likewise, Monseigneur, that a longer stay in the circle of
+Beaupreau, while it endangers the internal security of the country,
+will also endanger the personal safety of your Highness.
+
+"Deign then, I conjure you, Monseigneur, to yield to the wishes I
+entertain for your happiness, and for that of my country. For all the
+means of safety, which your Highness may desire, to repair to the
+place of destination you may choose, I will engage."
+
+
+This letter, which I take a pleasure in quoting, to prove what was the
+language of the men of the 20th of March, was not without effect. The
+Duke of Bourbon directed his aide-de-camp to have an interview with
+Colonel Noirot and it was determined, that his Highness should quit la
+Vendee, and embark at Nantes for England.
+
+For reasons with which I am unacquainted, the prince did not fulfil
+his engagements. In fact, he quitted Beaupreau, but still roamed about
+the coast some time with a fictitious passport, and under a borrowed
+name. General--[86] recognised him, but respected his disguise. The
+Emperor approved this deference, and gave orders, that he should
+merely be obliged to depart: the father of the Duke of Enghien was
+become sacred to him, and to France.
+
+                   [Footnote 86: I regret, that I did not learn his
+                   name.]
+
+Of all the family of the Bourbons the Duke and Duchess of Angouleme
+alone persisted in struggling against their ill-fortune.
+
+She was at Bordeaux at the time of the landing. The entrance of
+Napoleon into Paris, the flight of the King, and the general defection
+of the army, did not abate her courage. She made the national guard
+take up arms: she hastened to the barracks, to harangue the soldiers,
+and remind them of what they owed to their oaths and to their King.
+Numerous battalions of volunteers were instantly formed, and directed
+by her orders, to defend the avenues to the city, intercept all
+communication, and prevent popular commotions.
+
+General Clausel, however, appointed by the Emperor head commandant of
+the 11th division, had advanced as far as St. Andre de Cubsac, six
+leagues from Bordeaux, at the head of about five and twenty gendarmes
+collected on the road, and of a hundred and fifty men from the
+garrison of Blayes, who, informed of his arrival by his emissaries,
+had come to meet him.
+
+On his approach, a battalion of volunteers, posted at Cubsac with two
+pieces of cannon, retreated hastily to St. Vincent, and there joined
+some other volunteers, to defend with them the passage of the
+Dordogne.
+
+The soldiers of General Clausel attempted to seize the flying bridge,
+and were saluted with several discharges of artillery and small arms,
+which they received without returning. Their chief, desirous of
+avoiding a civil war, requested, that some person might be sent, to
+hold a parley with him. The Bordelese having deputed their commandant,
+M. de Martignac, for this purpose, he charged this officer, to make
+known to them, that he had no design of making any attempts against
+their persons or property; and that he conjured them, in the name of
+their country, not to spill the blood of Frenchmen to no purpose.
+
+Nevertheless some hostile appearances were continued on both sides;
+but the royal volunteers were alarmed at the sight of three boats,
+which they supposed to be filled with troops, and took flight.
+
+General Clausel, thus become master of the Dordogne, was preparing to
+cross it, when M. de Martignac returned to inform him, that Madame the
+Duchess of Angouleme consented to retire, and that the city should be
+delivered up to him in twenty-four hours.
+
+Madame, instead of fulfilling this double promise, allowed herself to
+yield to the desire and hope of prolonging the defence. She assembled
+the national guard, and made fresh attempts to bring over the troops
+of the garrison to the royal party.
+
+General Clausel perceived her at a distance reviewing the national
+guards and volunteers: he ordered M. de Martignac to be called back,
+and complained of the promises made him not being fulfilled. He urged
+in excuse, that the national guard and the garrison were no longer
+disposed to surrender the city. The general, perceiving that the
+Bordelese flattered themselves with being seconded by the troops of
+the line, assured M. de Martignac, that, on the contrary, they only
+waited for a concerted signal, to declare themselves in favour of the
+imperial cause. M. de Martignac appearing to doubt this, the general
+ordered a flag to be waved in the air, and immediately the tricoloured
+standard was hoisted on Trompette castle[87].
+
+                   [Footnote 87: The fortress in which the garrison
+                   was quartered.]
+
+The Bordelese, astonished and affrighted, requested a capitulation.
+General Clausel was eager to grant all their proposals, and the next
+day they opened the gates of the city to him.
+
+The Emperor was well pleased with the happy issue of this affair. He
+gave orders, to publish the report of General Clausel immediately:
+but as this report was a mere military statement, he added to it
+himself the supplementary particulars below, which he directed to be
+inserted in the Moniteur under the head of Bordeaux.
+
+"The firm and courageous conduct of General Clausel has prevented
+great evils: the passage of the Dordogne made a strong impression
+here. Before he reached la Bastide, the Duchess of Angouleme, feeling
+an alarm she was unable to conceal, sent him a promise, that she would
+quit Bordeaux in the morning of the 1st of April; which induced
+General Clausel, to halt at la Bastide, in front of Bordeaux, on the
+right bank of the Garonne, where he arrived on the 31st of March in
+the evening. The Duchess of Angouleme thought proper, to avail herself
+of this delay, and break her promise: she went to the barracks, caused
+the troops to be assembled, and endeavoured to persuade them, to
+oppose the entrance of General Clausel into Bordeaux. The officers of
+all ranks told her plainly, that they would pay her all the respect
+due to her unfortunate situation, and to her sex, but that, being
+Frenchmen themselves, no motive could induce them, to take up arms
+against Frenchmen. The Duchess shed abundance of tears: she requested,
+that the troops would at least remain neutral, if the national guards
+should be willing to fight for her. The officers answered, that they
+would not fire on the national guard; but they would not suffer the
+national guard, to fire on the troops of General Clausel: they would
+not allow a single drop of French blood to be spilt. The soldiers
+joined with one voice in the sentiments of their officers: the Duchess
+retired with alarm in her heart, and threats in her mouth: she was all
+trembling. When she reached the quay, where the national guard was
+under arms, she was received in profound silence. A murmur pervaded
+the ranks of "No fighting! no civil war!" The Duchess hastened to
+retire to the imperial palace, where she gave orders for her
+departure[88]. At eight o'clock she had quitted Bordeaux. The fire she
+had kindled was not extinguished in every bosom. The national guard,
+which had just conducted itself so prudently, had in company with it
+some unruly persons. These were the dregs of the people, forming the
+bulk of the companies of royal volunteers, who had been bribed to
+enlist, and reckoned upon plunder. Their hopes were already
+disappointed by the firmness of the national guard. A small number of
+the most outrageous fired on the company of M. Troplong, who was
+reputed to be of the soundest principles. The national guard returned
+the fire. The volunteers fled, but Captain Troplong had received a
+mortal wound. He has just been interred with military honours. More
+than ten thousand persons attended the funeral of this excellent
+citizen; the regret occasioned by his death suspended for a moment the
+gaiety of the people, happy in being at length freed from the evils,
+with which they were threatened."
+
+                   [Footnote 88: She set off in the evening for
+                   Pouillac; where, having bidden adieu to the
+                   volunteer cavalry, who had escorted her, she went
+                   on board an English vessel, and sailed for England
+                   on the 2d of April.]
+
+The energy and intrepidity, which the granddaughter of Maria Theresa
+displayed on this occasion, excited the praise of the Emperor, and
+drew from him the well known phrase: "She is the only man in the
+family."
+
+He no less admired the firm and respectful demeanour maintained by the
+regiments of the garrison, amid the provocations and reproaches of the
+Duchess. "Every thing that passed at Bordeaux," said he, "is truly
+extraordinary; and I know not which most demands our astonishment, the
+noble boldness of Madame d'Angouleme, or the magnanimous patience of
+my soldiers."
+
+The effervescence of the Bordelese having subsided, Provence and
+Languedoc, where the Duke of Angouleme had excited and maintained the
+flames of insurrection, still remained to be pacified.
+
+This prince, having heard at Toulouse, that the Emperor had landed in
+the gulf of Juan, repaired immediately to the principal towns in the
+South, and made the partisans of the Bourbons and of royalty take up
+arms.
+
+Three thousand two hundred Marseillese, and three thousand five
+hundred volunteers from Nismes, Avignon, and Montpelier, ranged
+themselves under his standards.
+
+The 10th, 53d, and 83d, regiments of the line, containing about nine
+hundred men each;
+
+The depots of the 9th and 87th of foot, about five hundred and fifty
+strong;
+
+Two hundred and fifty chasseurs a cheval of the 14th regiment, a
+hundred and fifty artillerymen, and three hundred soldiers of the
+royal regiment of foreigners, were drawn from their respective
+garrisons; and formed, with the royal volunteers, an army of twelve
+thousand men; which must necessarily be increased by the levies daily
+made in the provinces, that continued subject to the royal government,
+and by the succours, which the Prince had hastened to demand from the
+King of Sardinia, and from Switzerland, and which he hoped to obtain
+from them.
+
+The Duke of Angouleme divided his army into two corps.
+
+The first, commanded by General Ernouf, under whose orders were
+Major-Generals Gardanne and Loverdo, proceeded through Sisteron for
+Grenoble.
+
+The second, commanded by the Prince in person, and under his orders by
+Lieutenant-general Monnier, Baron Damas, and Viscount Descars, took
+the road of Valence.
+
+These two corps, after having reduced the country to submission, and
+rallied the royalists, were to join at Grenoble, and march together to
+Lyons.
+
+The advanced guard of the second corps, conducted by M. Descars, met
+no serious resistance, till it came to pass the Drome.
+
+General De Belle, at the head of a few hussars of the 4th, a battalion
+of the 39th, and about eight hundred national guards, had suffered
+himself to be driven from Loriol, and retired as well as he could
+behind the Drome.
+
+The volunteers of Vaucluse, covered by the royal artillery, forded the
+river, and came and took post on the left flank of the national
+guards. At the same moment the Prince directed the 10th of the line,
+to attack the bridge. This manoeuvre did not intimidate the national
+guards; they stood firm; and the 10th, notwithstanding the ardour,
+with which it was inspired by the example of the Duke of Angouleme,
+was on the point of giving way; when several of the light infantry,
+who were at their head, discovered among their antagonists some of
+their ancient comrades. They began with a mutual cessation of firing,
+and finished with embracing amid shouts of Long live the Emperor.
+
+During this conversation and embracing, the rest of the 10th regiment
+recovered ground. The imperials, supposing they were coming to join
+them, advanced without distrust: a volley undeceived them: the troops
+of General De Belle were thrown into disorder, he made no attempt to
+rally them, and the rout became complete. Part of the imperials were
+made prisoners by the royalists; others took refuge in the mountains,
+or went to carry the news of their defeat to Grenoble or Valence.
+
+The next day, the 3d of April, the Duke of Angouleme and his
+victorious army entered Valence, and proceeded without loss of time to
+Romans on the Isere.
+
+The first corps, after having occupied Sisteron, separated into two
+columns: one, with General Loverdo at its head, proceeded to Lamure;
+the other, commanded by General Gardanne, having taken Gap in its way,
+advanced as far as Travers; where the garrison of Grenoble, and the
+national guards of Vizille, Lamure, and the surrounding communes, had
+just taken up a position.
+
+Hitherto every thing had proved favourable to the wishes of the royal
+army: it marched from one success to another; and the noise of its
+victories, swelled by fear and rumour, had spread consternation and
+dismay as far as Grenoble and Lyons.
+
+The Emperor himself was uneasy. On leaving Lyons he had foreseen the
+possibility of a partial rising in the south; and, relying on the
+energy and patriotism of the Dauphinese, he had entrusted to them the
+care of defending their territory and their capital. But, if they were
+strong enough to repel the aggressions of the royalists, they were not
+in a condition to resist four thousand soldiers, who had embraced
+their cause, and fought in their ranks.
+
+General Grouchy had orders, to hasten to Lyons, and raise in mass the
+national guards of Dauphiny, the Lyonnais, and Burgundy.
+
+At the name of the Emperor and of their country all were in motion:
+the patriots of la Drome and the Isere descended from their mountains;
+the Lyonese quitted their workshops; the Burgundians spontaneously
+began their march with half-pay officers at their head.
+
+This patriotic burst was so unanimous, that the roads were instantly
+covered with national guards; and General Corbineau, whom the Emperor
+had despatched to accelerate their march, was obliged, on the
+contrary, to retard it. But all these arrangements, sad presages of a
+civil war, were happily unnecessary.
+
+The troops of General Gardanne, during their stay at Gap, became
+acquainted with the Emperor's proclamations. These had awakened their
+remembrances, electrified their minds, and the 58th mounted the
+tricoloured cockade.
+
+The defection of this regiment was soon known to the division of
+General Loverdo; and, in spite of this general's efforts, a part of
+the 14th chasseurs, and the whole of the 83d, equally embraced the
+imperial cause. On the other soldiers, though faithful in appearance,
+the generals could no longer confide: "they could not speak to a
+single inhabitant of the country, without receiving impressions
+absolutely inimical to the party of the King[89]," and they expected
+every moment, to see them go over to the enemy.
+
+                   [Footnote 89: Report of General Ernouf.]
+
+General Loverdo, impatient to give battle, and imagining, that he
+could dispense with their assistance, attempted to force the defile of
+Saulces, in advance of Gap, supported only by his royal volunteers:
+but this attack, as rash as it was useless, did not succeed, and he
+was forced to fall back to Sisteron.
+
+The second corps, restrained by the presence of the Duke of Angouleme,
+had lost but a small number of soldiers. The order to advance had just
+been given, when the Prince received the most disheartening news from
+all parts at once.
+
+On one hand he was informed of the defection of the regular troops
+under General Ernouf, and his forced retreat to Sisteron.
+
+On another he heard, that General Grouchy was advancing to meet him
+with a formidable force.
+
+From a third source of intelligence he learned, that the royal party
+at Nismes, and at Toulouse, had dispersed without resistance: that M.
+Vitrolles, the head of the committee of insurrection, had been
+arrested; and that the patriots, and the troops of the 9th division,
+united under the orders of General Gilly, having marched to take him
+in the rear, had retaken the bridge of St. Esprit by assault, and
+passed the Rhone.
+
+In fine, despatches from Turin announced to him, that he must no
+longer reckon upon any assistance from the Swiss, or upon the promises
+of the King of Sardinia.
+
+The Prince in consequence ordered a retreat to be sounded, and retired
+to Valence.
+
+The Emperor, who, according to custom, took the trouble to compose
+himself the articles in the Moniteur relative to this little war, gave
+the following account of the evacuation of Valence.
+
+"_Valence, the 7th of April._ The Duke of Angouleme has made a sad
+figure here. The alarm bell sounded throughout Dauphiny, and numerous
+battalions of the national guards departed for Lyons. The Duke of
+Angouleme, informed of their arrival, set off helter skelter with the
+four thousand insurgents, who are under his orders. The troops of the
+line, informed by our citizens, that we were engaged in the cause of
+the nation against a few privileged families, of the people against
+the nobility, and in short of the revolution against the
+counter-revolution, suddenly changed sides. The army however reckons
+three traitors, who appear to have taken the part of the enemies of
+their country: they are Generals Ernouf, Monnier, and D'Aultannie." He
+forgot General Loverdo.
+
+The Emperor was equally careful, to make public the correspondence,
+that was intercepted: and as some announced _the intention of
+separating the chaff from the wheat, and throwing it into the fire_;
+others, _of hanging all the rebels, without exception, and without
+mercy_; and, in fine, others, _invited Spain, Switzerland, and the
+King of Piedmont, to come and reduce France to reason_; they
+contributed not less powerfully than the success of the imperial army,
+to detach from the cause of the Bourbons every Frenchman, who was an
+enemy to treachery, hanging, and foreigners.
+
+General Grouchy, informed of the retreat of the Duke of Angouleme,
+sent some light troops in pursuit of him. Most of the chasseurs of the
+14th, and of the artillerymen, joined the imperialists. The volunteers
+of the south, who had hitherto set no bounds to their presumptuous
+hopes, now found none to their fears. As cowardly in adversity, as
+they were arrogant in prosperity, they abandoned their general at the
+approach of danger; and all, with the exception of a few hundreds of
+brave fellows, sought safety in flight.
+
+The Duke of Angouleme, surrounded by the feeble remnants of their
+battalions, and by the 10th of the line, which still remained
+faithful, continued his retrograde march night and day; and traversed
+in silence the places, which his army had made ring with the shouts of
+victory but a few days before. The mountaineers, who had suffered so
+much from the exactions and ill treatment of the royal volunteers, now
+repeated in their turn "Wo to the vanquished!" and did not allow a
+moment's rest to the Duke of Angouleme and his followers. Pressed on
+one side by the columns of Grouchy, on the other by the troops of
+General Gilly; shut in, without hope of succour, between the Drome,
+the Rhone, the Durance, and the mountains, the Duke of Angouleme had
+only two resources: one was, to abandon his army, and get over the
+mountains to Marseilles or Piedmont; the other, to submit, with his
+companions in misfortune, to the law of the conqueror.
+
+The Prince would not separate his fate from that of his army. He
+consented to surrender. Baron de Damas and General Gilly regulated
+the conditions of the capitulation. It was agreed, that the Prince
+should disband his army, and have liberty to embark at Cette. As soon
+as this intelligence was announced by a telegraphic despatch, it was
+immediately made known to the Emperor by the Duke of Bassano, who
+prevailed on him, though opposed by several distinguished persons, to
+return an answer, by the same mode of conveyance, approving of the
+capitulation. At the same instant a second despatch announced, that
+General Grouchy refused to sign the treaty, unless he had the consent
+of the Emperor, and the Duke of Angouleme was deemed a prisoner. Upon
+this the Duke of Bassano hastened to transmit the first orders of
+Napoleon, and delayed informing him of the impediment to the
+ratification, till night rendered any new orders by telegraph
+impracticable. Being made acquainted with this noble daring of his
+minister, instead of reprimanding him, the Emperor dictated to him the
+following letter:
+
+"M. le Count Grouchy, the ordinance of the king, dated on the 6th of
+March, and the declaration signed at Vienne on the 13th by his
+ministers, would authorize me to treat the Duke of Angouleme, as that
+ordinance, and that declaration, would have had me and my family
+treated: but, persevering in that disposition, which induced me to
+ordain, that the members of the Bourbon family might have free egress
+from France, my intention is, that you give orders for the Duke of
+Angouleme to be conducted to Cette, where he shall be embarked, and
+that you watch over his safety, and prevent him from receiving any ill
+treatment. You will only take care to recover the money that has been
+taken from the public offices, and to require the Duke of Angouleme to
+engage to restore the diamonds of the crown, which are the property of
+the nation[90]. You will at the same time make known to him the
+provisions of the laws of the national assemblies, which have been
+renewed, and which apply to those members of the Bourbon family, who
+shall re-enter the French territories," &c.
+
+                   [Footnote 90: The diamonds that were sought to be
+                   obtained in exchange for the Duke of Angouleme were
+                   worth fourteen millions. The Duke of Otranto
+                   proposed to the Emperor, to throw M. de Vitrolles
+                   into the bargain, if they were restored; to which
+                   the Emperor readily consented. The Duke of Otranto
+                   opened a negotiation on this point, which had no
+                   farther result, than procuring him an opportunity
+                   of corresponding more at his ease with Ghent.]
+
+While awaiting the decision of Napoleon, the Duke of Angouleme was
+strictly watched. He supported this fresh disgrace with firmness and
+tranquillity. The Marquis de Riviere, informed of his detention,
+threatened Count Grouchy, if he did not restore him to liberty, to
+surrender Marseilles to the English, and raise up all Provence. These
+empty threats had no effect. The fate of the duke did not depend on
+Count de Grouchy: it was in opposition to his own feelings, that he
+had ventured to lay a sacrilegious hand on this prince; and he prayed
+sincerely, that the decision of the Emperor would allow him to break
+his chains.
+
+As soon as the decision reached him, the general hastened to insure
+the Duke of Angouleme the means of embarking speedily; and with
+religious zeal took the necessary measures, for his being treated on
+the passage with due respect.
+
+The prince, on his arrival at Cette, embarked immediately, and sailed
+for Cadiz.
+
+His capitulation and departure soon led to the submission of
+Marseilles: and, thanks to the prudence and firmness of the Prince of
+Essling, governor of that division, the royal standard was hauled
+down, and the tricoloured flag hoisted in its stead, without any
+disturbance or effusion of blood.
+
+The Emperor named General Grouchy marshal of the empire; not because
+he entertained any great admiration of his conduct, for he was aware,
+that he had but faintly pressed the Duke of Angouleme; but in order to
+give some splendor to the disgrace of the prince, and discourage the
+royalists in other parts of France. Resolving at the same time to
+punish the treason committed by the 10th at the passage of the Drome,
+he decreed, that this regiment should wear a piece of crape on its
+colours, till it had washed in the blood of the enemy those arms,
+which it had stained with the blood of Frenchmen[91].
+
+                   [Footnote 91: It was discovered by the Duke
+                   d'Albufera, that this supposed treason was the
+                   consequence of the mistake, which I have related
+                   above, and the decree was not carried into effect.]
+
+By the telegraph the Emperor was informed of the submission of
+Marseilles, and the entire pacification of the south, just as he was
+going to review the national guard of Paris. It was always in similar
+circumstances, that great news reached the Emperor: it seemed as if
+fortune, attentive to please him, sought to enhance her gifts by
+bestowing them _apropos_. Ever since his arrival he had been intending
+to have this review, but the successive inspections of the troops of
+the line had prevented him. Some persons did not fail to ascribe this
+delay, so easily to be accounted for, to his fear of the sentiments
+and bayonets of the legions of Paris. Meantime some grenadiers of the
+royal ex-volunteers indulged in threats and imprecations against him.
+This was enough to terrify some of the alarmists of the court; and
+they requested Napoleon to mix a few battalions of his guards in the
+review, by way of precaution. The Emperor rejected their entreaties,
+and was angry at their fears: nevertheless, they caused him to be
+attended, without his knowledge, by ten or a dozen grenadiers, who
+were directed not to lose sight of him for a moment.
+
+While the Emperor was walking his horse along the ranks, his escort
+had followed him without his paying any attention to it: but when he
+set off at a gallop, he perceived, that his grenadiers were galloping
+after him, and stopped. "What do you do there?" said he to one of
+them: "Go about your business!" The old grumbler[92], who knew that
+apprehensions were entertained for the life of his general, appeared
+disposed not to obey. The Emperor then took hold of him by his hairy
+cap, and, giving it a hearty shake, repeated with a smile his order to
+him to retire: "Go all of you away: I am surrounded by none but good
+Frenchmen; I am as safe with them as with you." The national guards,
+who heard these words, cried out spontaneously, "Yes, yes, Sire, you
+are right; we would all defend your life at the expense of our own."
+Encouraged by the familiarity which the Emperor displayed towards
+them, they quitted their ranks, and crowded round him: some pressed
+his hands, others kissed theirs to him; all expressed their
+satisfaction and attachment by continued shouts of "Long live the
+nation! Long live the Emperor!"
+
+                   [Footnote 92: A nickname given by Napoleon to his
+                   old grenadiers.]
+
+After this unexpected scene, the Emperor proceeded with his review: he
+then caused a circle of officers to be formed, alighted, and addressed
+them nearly in the following terms:
+
+"Soldiers of the national guard of Paris, I am well pleased to see
+you. Fifteen months ago I formed you for the preservation of
+tranquillity in the capital, and for its security. You have fulfilled
+my expectations. You have shed your blood in defence of Paris; and if
+hostile troops entered your walls, the blame falls not on you, but on
+treason, and above all on that fatality, which attaches itself to our
+affairs under adverse circumstances.
+
+"The royal throne was not adapted to France: it gave the people no
+security for its most valuable interests; it was imposed upon us by
+foreigners. I am arrived, equipped with all the strength of the people
+and of the army, to obliterate this stain, and restore the honour and
+glory of France to all their lustre.
+
+"Soldiers of the national guard, this very morning the telegraph of
+Lyons has informed me, that the tricoloured flag is waving at Antibes
+and at Marseilles. The discharge of a hundred cannon on our frontiers
+will proclaim to foreign nations, that our civil discords are at an
+end: _I say foreign nations, because we yet know of none that are
+enemies._ If they assemble their troops, we will assemble ours. All
+our armies are composed of brave men, who have distinguished
+themselves in various battles, and who will display to foreigners a
+barrier of iron; while numerous battalions of grenadiers and chasseurs
+of the national guards will secure our frontiers. I shall not
+interfere with the affairs of foreign nations: wo to those
+governments, that shall interfere with ours! Misfortunes have tempered
+anew the character of the French people: it has resumed that youth,
+that vigour, which astonished Europe twenty years ago.
+
+"Soldiers, you have been obliged to wear colours proscribed by the
+nation. But the national colours remained in your hearts: you now
+swear, to take them always for your rallying signal, and to defend the
+imperial throne, the only and natural guarantie of our rights; you
+swear never to suffer foreigners, in whose country we have appeared
+repeatedly as masters, to interfere with our constitution or
+government. In fine, you swear, to sacrifice every thing to the honour
+and independence of France."
+
+This oath was pronounced with enthusiasm. The national guard showed,
+that it was not afraid of being taken at its word.
+
+Apprehensions had been entertained, that the guards, who had long
+borne the Parisians a grudge for having surrendered so promptly in
+1814, would indulge in some offensive reproaches: but Napoleon had
+enjoined his grenadiers to maintain silence; and, in order to complete
+the reconciliation, he caused it to be cemented by a dinner, to which
+the imperial guards invited the national guard and the garrison of
+Paris.
+
+Fifteen thousand soldiers of every description assembled at the
+_Champ de Mars_ under the eyes of the people of Paris: the joyous
+songs of the soldiers and citizens answered each other by turns, and
+gave a truly national character to this festival.
+
+When the repast was over, a numerous crowd of soldiers, officers, and
+national guards, set off for the Tuileries, carrying the bust of
+Napoleon crowned with laurels. When they arrived before his Majesty's
+windows, they saluted him with thousands and thousands of
+acclamations; and then they repaired to la Place Vendome, where they
+devoutly deposited at the foot of the monument raised to the glory of
+our armies the image of the hero, who had led them to victory. The
+Emperor, as soon as he was informed of it, ordered me to write to the
+minister of the police, to have the bust removed in the night. "It is
+not after bacchanalian orgies," said he, proudly, "that my image
+should be placed on the column."
+
+Every body, in fact, knows, that the statue of Napoleon, by which this
+monument was formerly surmounted, had been pulled down in the early
+days of the restoration; and it was not for individual and
+unauthorized citizens to repair this affront.
+
+A few royalists, at the head of whom figured M. de Maubreuil and M.
+Sostene de la Rochefoucault, were guilty of this profanation. M. de
+Rochefoucault, whose family had shared so largely in the gifts and
+favours of Napoleon, himself put a rope about the neck of his
+benefactor, with intention to have it dragged through the mud by some
+vagabonds, whom he had hired: but the statue mocked his endeavours;
+and the only fruit he reaped from them was the reprobation of honest
+men, and the contempt of foreigners[93].
+
+                   [Footnote 93: The Emperor Alexander, in particular,
+                   expressed the most generous indignation.]
+
+The column itself was long offensive to the jealous eyes of the
+enemies of our glory. They conspired its destruction; and would have
+accomplished it, had they dared. History, which leaves nothing
+unpunished, will brand, I trust, these unworthy Frenchmen, these new
+Vandals, with eternal disgrace. It will inscribe their names, and
+their sacrilegious wishes, on the foot of the immortal column, which
+they wanted to overturn. No doubt it will also tell, that the
+federates, the half-pay officers, and all the partisans of Napoleon,
+whom some have been pleased to represent as madmen, as robbers,
+respected during the hundred days the statue of Henry IV.; though
+this statue, placed within reach of their blows, and constructed of
+frail materials, would have fallen with the slightest shock.
+
+Napoleon had said to the national guard of Paris, "We yet know of none
+that are enemies:" and these words were true. It had been remarked,
+that the foreign troops concentrated themselves on our frontiers, but
+none of their dispositions appeared hostile, and Napoleon might still
+reasonably hope, that his care to maintain peace would not be
+fruitless.
+
+On the very day of his entry into Lyons, he had hastened to commission
+Prince Joseph, to declare to the Austrian and Russian ministers at the
+Helvetic diet, that he was ready to ratify the treaty of Paris.
+
+When he arrived in the capital, he found that the foreign ministers,
+particularly Baron de Vincent, the Austrian minister, and M.
+Boudiakeen, Russian charge d'affaire, had not yet quitted it, for want
+of passports.
+
+He caused the departure of M. de Vincent and M. de Boudiakeen to be
+delayed; and directed the Duke of Vicenza to see them, and assure them
+anew of his pacific disposition.
+
+Baron de Vincent at first refused all kind of communication or
+conferences; but at length he consented to meet M. de Vicenza at the
+house of a third person. They had a conference together at Madame de
+Souza's. M. de Vincent did not conceal the resolution of the allies,
+to oppose Napoleon's retaining the throne: but he hinted, that in his
+opinion there might not be the same repugnance to his son. He engaged,
+however, to make known the sentiments of Napoleon to the Emperor of
+Austria; and consented to take charge of a letter for the Empress
+Marie Louise[94].
+
+                   [Footnote 94: M. de Vincent set out before this
+                   letter was written, and it was entrusted to his
+                   secretary. The Emperor of Austria ordered it to be
+                   delivered into his hands, and contented himself
+                   with informing the Empress Marie, that he had
+                   received news of her husband, and that he was
+                   well.]
+
+M. de Boudiakeen, after having equally refused the conference proposed
+by the Duke of Vicenza, finished also with accepting it. It was
+agreed, that they should meet at the house of Mademoiselle Cauchelet,
+lady of the bedchamber to the Princess Hortense.
+
+M. de Jaucourt had forgotten to take out of the port-folio of foreign
+affairs a secret treaty, by which England, Austria, and France, had
+mutually engaged to oppose, peaceably or by force, the dismemberment
+of Saxony, which Russia and Prussia openly conspired.
+
+The Emperor thought, that this treaty might perhaps alienate these two
+powers from the Bourbon interest, and generate distrust and discord
+between the allies. He directed the Duke of Vicenza, to show it to the
+Russian minister; and represent it to him as a fresh proof of the
+ingratitude, with which the court of the Tuileries repaid the numerous
+benefits of Alexander. The existence of this triple alliance was
+wholly unknown to M. de Boudiakeen, and appeared to cause him as much
+surprise as dissatisfaction. But he declared, that he was too well
+acquainted with the principles of his sovereign, to venture to flatter
+himself, that the circumstance of this treaty, or any other, could
+produce a favourable change in his disposition. He promised, however,
+to make a faithful report to him of the conference he had had with M.
+de Vicenza; and to express to him the desire, manifested by the
+Emperor Napoleon, of becoming again the ally and friend of Russia.
+
+The Emperor, in order to give more efficacy to his proposals, directed
+the Princess Hortense, to confirm them in person to the Emperor
+Alexander. He also caused letters to be written to Prince Eugene, and
+to the Grand Duchess Stephanie of Baden, to request them, to renew
+the same assurances to that sovereign, and to neglect no means of
+detaching him from the coalition.
+
+In fine, the Emperor directed overtures to be made to the cabinet of
+London, by means of a person pointed out by the Duke of Otranto; and
+in order to gain the suffrage of the parliament, and give the English
+ministry a pledge of his good intentions beforehand, he abolished the
+slave trade by a spontaneous decree.
+
+After having taken these indirect steps, Napoleon thought his duty as
+well as his dignity required him, to give a solemn and authentic
+character to the manifestation of his pacific intentions.
+
+Accordingly he wrote to the foreign sovereigns a letter couched in the
+following terms:
+
+
+     "Sire, my brother,
+
+"You will have heard in the course of last month of my return to the
+French coast, my entering Paris, and the departure of the Bourbon
+family. The true nature of these events must now be known to your
+Majesty: they are the work of an irresistible power, the work and the
+unanimous will of a great nation, who knows its duties and its
+rights. The dynasty, which force had bestowed on the French people,
+was not formed for them: the Bourbons would not accommodate themselves
+either to their sentiments, or to their manners. France could not but
+separate itself from them. Her voice called for a deliverer: the
+expectations, that had induced me, to make the greatest of all
+sacrifices, had been frustrated. I came, and from the spot where I
+touched the shore I was conducted by the love of my people to the
+bosom of my capital. The first wish of my heart is, to repay such
+great affection by the maintenance of an honourable tranquillity. The
+re-establishment of the imperial throne being necessary to the
+happiness of the French, nothing can be more pleasing to my thoughts,
+than to render it at the same time advantageous to the consolidation
+of the tranquillity of Europe. Sufficient glory had crowned the
+standards of the different nations by turns; the vicissitudes of fate
+have occasioned a sufficient succession of great successes and great
+defeats: a nobler career now opens itself to sovereigns, and I am the
+first to enter it. After having exhibited to the world the spectacle
+of great battles, it will be more pleasing, henceforth to know no
+rivalry but that of the advantages of peace, no strife but the sacred
+striving after the happiness of nations. France takes a pleasure in
+frankly proclaiming this noble end of all her wishes. Jealous of her
+own independence, the invariable principle of her politics will be the
+most absolute respect for the independence of other nations. If such
+be the personal sentiments of your Majesty, as I am happy to persuade
+myself, the general tranquillity is ensured for a long time to come;
+and justice, sitting on the confines of states, will be sufficient
+alone to guard their frontiers.
+
+     "Paris, the 4th of April."
+
+
+The Duke of Vicenza received orders, personally to express to the
+foreign ministers the sentiments, with which the Emperor was animated:
+but the couriers, who carried his despatches, could not reach the
+places of their destination; one was arrested at Kehl, another at
+Mayence; a third, sent off for Italy, could not get beyond Turin; the
+communications were interrupted. The arrangements of the declaration
+of the congress of Vienna of the 13th of March were acted upon
+already.
+
+This declaration, transmitted directly by the emissaries of the King
+to the prefects of the frontier cities, and distributed by the
+royalists, was in circulation at Paris. The inferior papers had
+announced its appearance, and united in asserting, that such an act
+was unworthy of the allied sovereigns, and could only be the work of
+calumny and malevolence.
+
+However, when it became impossible to question its legitimacy, it was
+necessary to come to the resolution of no longer making a mystery of
+it to the French people; and accordingly the following account was
+given of it in the Moniteur on the 13th of April.
+
+
+     "Council of Ministers.
+
+     "_Sitting of the 29th of March._
+
+"The Duke of Otranto, minister of the general police, states, that he
+is about to read to the council a declaration, dated Vienna the 13th,
+which is supposed to have been issued by the congress:
+
+"That this declaration, as it contains an incentive to the
+assassination of the Emperor, appears to him apocryphal: that, if it
+should prove genuine, it would be unexampled in the history of the
+world: that the libellous style, in which it is written, gives room to
+suppose, it ought to be classed among the papers fabricated by
+party-spirit, and by those pamphleteers, who of late years have
+foisted themselves uncommissioned into all state affairs: that it
+pretends to be signed by the English ministers; but it is impossible
+to suppose, that the ministers of a free nation, and particularly Lord
+Wellington, could have taken a step inconsistent with the legislation
+of their country, and with their own characters: that it pretends to
+be signed by the ministers of Austria; but it is impossible to
+conceive, whatever political dissensions may subsist between them,
+that a father could call for the assassination of his son: that,
+contrary to every principle of religion and morality, it is derogatory
+to the honourable character of the sovereigns, whose mandates are thus
+compromised by the libellists: that this declaration has been known
+several days, but, from the considerations abovementioned, it could
+not be considered otherwise than as deserving the profoundest
+contempt: that it was not deemed fit to engage the attention of the
+ministry, till official reports from Metz and Strasburg made known,
+that it had been brought into France by couriers from the Prince of
+Benevento; a fact confirmed by the result of the investigation that
+took place, and the interrogatories put: in fine, that it is proved,
+that this paper, which could not have been signed by the ministers of
+Austria, Russia, and England, was issued by the legation of the Count
+of Lille at Vienna; which legation had added to the crime of provoking
+assassination that of falsifying the signature of the members of the
+congress.
+
+"The pretended declaration of the congress, the reports from Metz and
+Strasburg, as well as the investigation and interrogatories conducted
+by order of the minister of the general police, which ascertain, that
+the said declaration proceeded from the plenipotentiaries of the Count
+of Lille at Vienna, will be sent to the presidents of the sections of
+the council.
+
+
+     "DECLARATION.
+
+"The powers, who signed the treaty of Paris, assembled in Congress at
+Vienna, being informed of the escape of Napoleon Bonaparte, and of his
+entering France by force of arms, owe to their own dignity, and to the
+interests of society, a solemn declaration of the sentiments, with
+which this event has inspired them.
+
+"By thus infringing the convention, which settled him in the island of
+Elba, Bonaparte has destroyed the only legal title he had to his
+situation in life (_auquel son existence se trouvait attachee_.) By
+re-appearing in France, with the design of disturbing and subverting
+it, he has deprived himself of the protection of the laws, and has
+made manifest to the universe, that there can be neither peace nor
+truce with him.
+
+"The powers declare in consequence, that Napoleon Bonaparte has thrown
+himself out of all the relations of civilized society; and that, as an
+enemy and disturber of the world, he has rendered himself obnoxious to
+public vengeance.
+
+"At the same time they declare, that, firmly resolved to maintain
+unbroken the treaty of Paris of the 30th of March, 1814, and the
+arrangements sanctioned by that treaty, as well as those they have
+decreed, or may yet decree, for completing and consolidating it; they
+will employ all their means, and unite all their efforts, to prevent
+the general peace, the object of the wishes of all Europe, the
+constant aim of their labours, from being disturbed anew; and to guard
+it from every attempt, that would threaten to replunge nations into
+the disorders and calamities of revolutions.
+
+"And though intimately persuaded, that all France, rallying round its
+legitimate sovereign, will annihilate without delay this last attempt
+of a criminal and impotent delirium, all the sovereigns of Europe,
+animated with the same sentiments, and guided by the same principles,
+declare, that if, contrary to all calculation, any real danger
+whatever should arise from this event, they will be ready to furnish
+the King of France and the French nation, or any other government that
+may be attacked, with the succours necessary to restore the public
+tranquillity, as soon as they shall be demanded, and to make common
+cause against all, who may attempt to disturb it.
+
+"The present declaration, inserted in the register of the congress
+assembled at Vienna, in the sitting of the 13th of March, 1815, shall
+be made public.
+
+"Done and certified as true by the plenipotentiaries of the eight
+powers, who signed the Treaty of Paris, at Vienna, the 13th of March,
+1815.
+
+
+Here follow the signatures in the alphabetical order of the courts.
+
+     "Austria          { The Prince de METTERNICH,
+                       { The Baron de WESSEMBERG.
+
+      Spain              P. GOMEZ LABRADOR.
+      (_Espagne_)
+
+                       { The Prince de TALLEYRAND,
+      France           { The Duke D'ALBERG,
+                       { LATOUR DUPIN,
+                       { The Count ALEXIS DE NOAILLES.
+
+                       { WELLINGTON,
+                       { CLANCARTY,
+      Great Britain    { CATHCART,
+                       { STEWART.
+
+                       { The Count PALMELA,
+      Portugal         { SALDANHA,
+                       { LOBO.
+
+                       { The Prince de HARDENBERG,
+      Prussia          { The Baron de HUMBOLDT.
+
+                       { The Count de RASOUMOWSKI,
+      Russia           { The Count de STAKELBERG,
+                       { The Count de NESSELRODE.
+
+      Sweden             LOWENHIELM."
+
+This declaration, which no doubt will hereafter excite the
+astonishment of posterity, was commented upon and victoriously refuted
+by the Emperor himself. Count Boulay, to whom the following report is
+ascribed, had no farther share in it, than condensing it a little, and
+softening some of its expressions.
+
+Report of the committee of presidents of the council of state.
+
+
+"In consequence of the reference made to it, the committee, composed
+of the presidents of the sections of the council of state, has
+examined the declaration of the 13th of March, the report of the
+minister of the general police, and the papers added to them.
+
+"The declaration is in an unusual form, composed in such strange
+terms, and expresses such anti-social ideas, that the committee was
+led to consider it as one of those supposititious productions, by
+means of which despicable men endeavour to impose upon people's minds,
+and mislead the public opinion.
+
+"But the verification of the examinations taken at Metz, and of the
+interrogatories of the couriers, admit no doubt, that the declaration
+was sent by members of the French legation at Vienna; and consequently
+it must be considered as adopted and signed by them.
+
+"It is under this last point of view, that the committee imagines it
+ought first to examine this production, which has no precedent in the
+annals of diplomacy, and in which Frenchmen, men invested with the
+most respectable of public characters, begin with a sort of outlawry,
+with a provocation to assassinate the Emperor Napoleon.
+
+"We say with the minister of the police, that this declaration is the
+work of the French plenipotentiaries: because those of Austria,
+Prussia, Russia, and England, could not have been capable of signing a
+paper, which the sovereigns and people, to whom they belong, will be
+eager to disavow.
+
+"And in the first place these plenipotentiaries, most of them
+coadjutors in the treaty of Paris, know, that Napoleon was there
+acknowledged as retaining the title of Emperor, and as sovereign of
+the island of Elba: they would have mentioned him by these titles, and
+would not have deviated, either in matter or in manner, from the
+respect they impose.
+
+"They would have felt, that, agreeably to the laws of nations, a
+prince, however trifling the extent or population of his state,
+enjoys, as far as regards his political and civil character, the
+rights belonging to every sovereign prince in respect to the most
+powerful monarch; and Napoleon, acknowledged under the title of
+Emperor, and in quality of a sovereign prince, by all the powers, was
+no more amenable to the congress of Vienna than any of them.
+
+"The forgetfulness of these principles, impossible to be supposed in
+plenipotentiaries, who weigh the rights of nations maturely with
+wisdom and consideration, has nothing astonishing in it when
+manifested by French ministers, whose conscience reproaches them with
+more than one act of treason, in whom fear has engendered rage, and
+whose remorse leads their reason astray.
+
+"Such men as these may have risked the fabrication and the
+publication of a piece like the pretended declaration of the 13th of
+March, in the hope of stopping the progress of Napoleon, and
+misleading the French people with regard to the real sentiments of
+foreign powers.
+
+"But they cannot judge like these powers of the merits of a nation,
+which they have misunderstood, betrayed, and delivered up to the arms
+of foreigners.
+
+"This nation, brave and generous, revolts against every thing that
+bears the marks of cowardice and oppression: its affections are
+heightened, when the object of them is threatened or affected by a
+great injustice; and assassination, which the commencement of the
+declaration of the 13th of March is intended to excite, will find not
+a single hand to execute it, either among the twenty-five millions of
+Frenchmen, the majority of whom attended, guarded, and protected
+Napoleon from the Mediterranean to the capital; nor among the eighteen
+millions of Italians, the six millions of Belgians or inhabitants of
+the banks of the Rhine, and the numerous nations of Germany, who, on
+this solemn occasion, have not pronounced his name without respectful
+remembrance; nor a single individual of the indignant English nation,
+whose honourable sentiments disavow the language, that those men have
+dared to attribute to the sovereigns.
+
+"The people of Europe are enlightened; they judge the rights of
+Napoleon, the rights of the allied princes, and those of the Bourbons.
+
+"They know, that the convention of Fontainbleau was a treaty between
+sovereigns. Its violation, the entrance of Napoleon into the French
+territory, like any other infraction of a diplomatic act, like any
+hostile invasion, could only bring on an ordinary war; the result of
+which can only be, to the person, that of being conqueror or
+conquered, free or a prisoner of war; to possessions, that of being
+lost or preserved, diminished or increased; and that every thought,
+every threat, every attempt, against the life of a prince at war with
+another, is a thing unheard of in the history of nations, and of the
+cabinets of Europe.
+
+"In the violence, the rage, the forgetfulness of principle, that
+characterize the declaration of the 13th of March, we recognize the
+envoys of the same prince, the organs of the same councils, who, by
+the ordinance of the 6th of March, also put Napoleon out of the pale
+of the law, also invoked for him the daggers of assassins, and also
+promised a reward to whoever would bring his head.
+
+"Yet what has Napoleon done? By his confidence he has honoured the men
+of all nations, who were insulted by the infamous office to which they
+were invited: he has shown himself temperate, generous, a protector,
+even toward those who had devoted his head to destruction.
+
+"When he spoke to General Excelmans, marching toward the column that
+closely pressed Louis Stanislas Xavier; to General Count Erlon, who
+was to receive him at Lille; to General Clausel, who was going to
+Bourdeaux, where the Duchess of Angouleme was; to General Grouchy, who
+marched to put a stop to the civil disturbances excited by the Duke of
+Angouleme; every where, in short, orders were given by the Emperor,
+that their persons should be respected, and sheltered from all attack,
+from all danger, from all violence, during their progress on the
+French territories, and to the moment of their quitting them.
+
+"Contemporary nations and posterity will judge, on which side respect
+has been paid in this grand conjuncture to the rights of nations and
+of sovereigns, to the laws of war, the principles of civilization, and
+the maxims of law civil and religious: they will pronounce between
+Napoleon and the house of Bourbon.
+
+"If, after having examined the pretended declaration of the congress
+in this first point of view, we discuss it in its relations to
+diplomatic conventions, to the treaty of Fontainbleau of the 11th of
+April, ratified by the French government, we shall find, that their
+violation is imputable only to those very persons who charge it on
+Napoleon.
+
+"The treaty of Fontainbleau has been violated by the allied powers,
+and by the house of Bourbon, in what regards the Emperor Napoleon and
+his family, in what affects the rights and interests of the French
+nation:
+
+"1st. The Empress Marie Louise and her son were to obtain passports
+and an escort, to enable them to repair to the Emperor: but, far from
+performing this promise, the wife was separated by force from her
+husband, the son from his father, and this under painful
+circumstances, when the strongest mind finds it necessary to seek
+consolation and support in the bosom of its family and domestic
+affections.
+
+"2d. The safety of Napoleon, of the imperial family, and of their
+suite, was guarantied (Art. 14 of the treaty) by all the powers: yet
+bands of assassins were organized in France under the eyes of the
+French government, and even by its orders, as the solemn proceedings
+against the Sieur de Maubreuil will shortly prove, to attack both the
+Emperor, his brothers, and their wives: this first branch of the plot
+failing of the expected success, a tumult was planned at Orgon, on the
+road taken by the Emperor, in order to make an attempt against his
+life by the hands of some brigands: one of the cut-throats of Georges,
+the Sieur Brulart, raised for the purpose to the rank of
+major-general, known in Brittany, in Anjou, in Normandy, in la Vendee,
+throughout all England, by the blood he has shed, was sent to Corsica
+as governor, in order to prepare and insure the crime; and, in fact,
+several solitary assassins attempted, in the island of Elba, to gain,
+by the murder of Napoleon, the culpable and disgraceful salary which
+was promised them.
+
+"3d. The duchies of Parma and Placentia were given in full propriety
+to Marie Louise, for herself, her son, and his descendants: yet, after
+long refusal to put them into possession, the injustice was
+consummated by an absolute spoliation, under the illusory pretext of
+an exchange without valuation, without proportion, without
+sovereignty, without consent; and the documents existing in the office
+of foreign affairs, of which we have had an account presented to us,
+prove, that it was at the instance and through the intrigues of the
+Prince of Benevento, that Marie Louise and her son were despoiled.
+
+"4th. A suitable establishment, out of France, had been given to
+Prince Eugene, the adopted son of Napoleon, who has done honour to
+France, where he was born, and gained the affection of Italy, where he
+was naturalized; yet he has obtained nothing.
+
+"5th. The Emperor had stipulated (Art. 3 of the treaty) in favour of
+his brave soldiers the preservation of their salaries from the
+Napoleon fund (_sur le mont Napoleon_); he had reserved out of the
+extraordinary domain, and the funds remaining of the civil list, the
+means of recompensing his servants, and of paying the soldiers, that
+attached themselves to his fate. The whole was taken away and kept
+back by the ministers of the Bourbons. An agent of the French soldiers
+went in vain to Vienna, to claim for them the most sacred of all
+property, the price of their valour and their blood.
+
+"6th. The preservation of the property, movable and immovable, of the
+Emperor's family, is stipulated by the same treaty (Art. 6); yet it
+has been despoiled of both: in France, with force of arms, by
+commissioned brigands; in Italy, by the violence of military
+commanders; in both countries by seizures and sequestrations solemnly
+appointed.
+
+"7th. The Emperor Napoleon was to receive two millions of francs a
+year, and his family two millions and a half, agreeably to the
+distribution fixed by Art. 6 of the treaty: but the French government
+has constantly refused to fulfil these engagements, and Napoleon would
+have soon seen himself reduced to the necessity of dismissing his
+faithful guard, for want of the means of ensuring its pay, if he had
+not found in the grateful remembrances of the bankers and merchants of
+Genoa and Italy the honourable resource of a loan of twelve millions,
+which was offered him.
+
+"8th. In fine, it was not without a motive, that certain persons were
+desirous of separating from Napoleon, by any means, the companions of
+his glory, models of attachment and constancy, unshaken guaranties of
+his life and safety. The island of Elba was secured to him in full
+property (Art. 3 of the treaty): yet the resolution to deprive him of
+it, desired by the Bourbons, and solicited by their agents, had been
+taken at the Congress.
+
+"And if Providence in its justice had not interposed, Europe would
+have seen attempts made against the person, the liberty of Napoleon,
+banished for ever at the mercy of his enemies, far from his family,
+separated from his servants, either to St. Lucie, or to St. Helena,
+which was assigned him as a prison.
+
+"And when the allied powers, yielding to the imprudent wishes, or
+cruel instigations, of the agents of the house of Bourbon, have
+stooped to violate a solemn contract, on the faith of which Napoleon
+had absolved the French nation from its oaths; when himself, and all
+the members of his family, saw themselves menaced and attacked in
+their persons, in their property, in their affections, in all the
+rights stipulated in their favour as princes, and even in those
+secured by the laws to simple citizens; how ought Napoleon to act?
+
+"Ought he, after having endured so many insults, and suffered so many
+acts of injustice, to consent to the complete violation of the
+engagements entered into with him; and, resigning himself to the fate
+prepared for him, abandon also to their fearful destiny, his wife, his
+son, his relations, and his faithful servants?
+
+"Such a resolution seems to require more than human strength of mind:
+yet Napoleon was capable of taking it, if the peace and happiness of
+France could have been purchased by this new sacrifice. He would again
+have devoted himself for the French people, from whom, as he wishes
+to declare in the face of all Europe, he makes it his glory to hold
+every thing, to whom he refers every thing, and to whom alone he will
+hold himself responsible for his actions and devote his life.
+
+"It was for France alone, and to save her from the calamities of an
+intestine war, that he abdicated the crown in 1814. He restored to the
+French people the rights he held from them; he left them free to
+choose a new master, and to found their liberty and happiness on
+institutions, that would protect both.
+
+"He hoped, that the nation would preserve all it had acquired by five
+and twenty years of glorious fighting; and the exercise of its
+sovereignty in the choice of a dynasty, and in stipulating the
+conditions, on which it should be called to the throne.
+
+"He expected from the new government respect for the glory of the
+armies, and for the rights of the brave; the guaranty of all the new
+interests, interests generated and maintained during a quarter of a
+century, resulting from all the civil and political laws, observed and
+revered during that time, because they are identified with the
+manners, habits, and wants of the nation.
+
+"Far from all this, every idea of the sovereignty of the people has
+been discarded.
+
+"The principle, on which all public and civil legislation has been
+founded since the revolution, has been equally discarded.
+
+"France has been treated as a revolted country, reconquered by the
+armies of its ancient masters, and subjugated anew to a feudal
+domination.
+
+"A constitutional law has been imposed on France, as easy to be eluded
+as revoked; and in the form of royal ordinances simply, without
+consulting the nation, without even hearing those bodies, become
+illegal, the phantoms of national representation.
+
+"The violation of this charter has been checked only by the timidity
+of the government; the extent of the abuses of its authority has been
+limited only by its weakness.
+
+"The disjointing of the army, the dispersion of its officers, the
+exile of several, the debasement of the soldiers, the suppression of
+their endowments, the privation of their pay or pensions; the
+reduction of the pay of the legionaries, the despoiling them of their
+honours, the pre-eminence given to the decorations of the feudal
+monarchy, the contempt of the citizens, designated anew under the name
+of _tiers-etat_ (third estate); the spoliation of the purchasers of
+national property, prepared and already begun, the actual diminution
+of value of such as was obliged to be sold; the return of the feudal
+system in its titles, privileges, and useful rights, the
+re-establishment of tramontane principles, the abolition of the
+liberties of the Gallican church, the annihilation of the Concordat,
+the re-establishment of tithes, the reviving intolerance of an
+exclusive form of worship; the domination of a handful of nobles over
+a people accustomed to equality: are what the ministers of the
+Bourbons have done, or wished to do, for the people of France.
+
+"It was under such circumstances, that the Emperor Napoleon quitted
+the island of Elba: such were the motives of the resolution he took,
+and not the consideration of his own personal interests, so trivial in
+his opinion compared with the interests of the nation, to which he has
+devoted his existence.
+
+"He has not brought war into the bosom of France: on the contrary, he
+has extinguished the war, which the possessors of national property,
+constituting four fifths of the landholders throughout France, would
+have been compelled to make upon their despoilers; the war, which the
+citizens, oppressed, degraded, humiliated by the nobles, would have
+been forced to declare against their oppressors; the war, which the
+Protestants, the Jews, and the people of different sects, would have
+been obliged to maintain against their persecutors.
+
+"He came to deliver France; and as a deliverer he has been received.
+
+"He arrived almost alone; he travelled two hundred and twenty leagues,
+without meeting any obstacle, without a battle; and has resumed
+without resistance, in the midst of the capital, and of the
+acclamations of an immense majority of the citizens, the throne
+relinquished by the Bourbons; who, from among the army, their own
+household, the national guards, or the people, could not raise a
+single person in arms, to endeavour to maintain them in it.
+
+"Yet, replaced at the head of the nation, which had already chosen him
+three times, and has just elected him a fourth time by the reception
+it gave him on his march, and his triumphant arrival; of that nation,
+by which, and for the interest of which, he wishes to reign;
+
+"What is the desire of Napoleon? What the French people desire, the
+independence of France, peace within, peace with all nations, the
+execution of the treaty of Paris, of the 30th of May, 1814.
+
+"What is there, then, changed in the future state of Europe, and in
+the hope of repose promised it? What voice is raised, to demand those
+succours, which, according to the declaration, are to be granted only
+when claimed?
+
+"There is nothing changed, if the allied powers recur, as we have a
+right to expect from them, to just and temperate sentiments; if they
+acknowledge, that the existence of France in a respectable and
+independent state, as far from conquering as from being conquered,
+from domineering as from being held in subjection, is necessary to the
+balance of great realms, as well as to the guaranty of smaller states.
+
+"There is nothing changed, if, not attempting to compel France to
+resume with a dynasty, which she can no longer desire, the feudal
+chains she has broken, and to submit to the seigneurial or
+ecclesiastical pretensions, from which it has emancipated itself,
+those powers do not attempt to impose on her laws, to interfere in her
+internal concerns, to assign her a particular form of government, to
+give her masters suited to the interests and passions of her
+neighbours.
+
+"There is nothing changed, if, while France is occupied in preparing
+the new social compact, that shall guaranty the liberty of her
+citizens, and the triumph of those generous ideas, that prevail in
+Europe, and can no longer be stifled; she be not compelled, to call
+off her attention from these pacific ideas, and from the means of
+domestic prosperity, to which the people and their chief are desirous
+of devoting themselves in happy concord, in order to prepare for
+battle.
+
+"There is nothing changed, if, while the French nation demands
+nothing, but to remain at peace with all Europe, an unjust coalition
+do not oblige her to defend, as it did in 1792, her will, and her
+rights, and her independence, and the sovereign of her choice."
+
+
+This eloquent refutation, full of irrefragable facts, and reasonings
+not to be refuted, was no longer necessary. French honour had judged
+and condemned the Congress of Vienna and its Declaration.
+
+When this declaration appeared, France grew pale: she was astonished,
+affrighted at the calamities, which the future boded; and groaned at
+the idea of being exposed to a war for the sake of one single man.
+
+This first impression over, her pride, her virtue, felt indignant,
+that the allies should dare to conceive the thought, that she would
+yield to their menaces, and cowardly consent, to give Napoleon up to
+them.
+
+Had Napoleon been no more than a simple citizen, the attempt to
+violate by authority the rights of men and nations in his person would
+have been sufficient, to induce the French, or at least all worthy of
+the name, to think themselves obliged to protect and defend him.
+
+But Napoleon was not merely a simple citizen, he was the head of the
+French nation: it was for having aggrandized it by his conquests, and
+ennobled it by his victories, that he was proscribed by foreigners;
+and the most timid as well as the most generous made it their sacred
+duty to place him under the safeguard of the nation, and of French
+honour.
+
+Thus the declaration of the Congress, instead of intimidating France,
+heightened its courage; instead of separating Napoleon from the
+French, drew still more close the bands that united them; instead of
+calling down on his head the public vengeance, rendered him more
+estimable and more dear in the eyes of the people.
+
+If Napoleon, availing himself of these generous sentiments, had said
+to the French: "You have restored to me the crown, foreigners are
+desirous of tearing it from me; I am ready, either to defend it, or to
+lay it down; say which I shall do:" the whole nation would have
+understood Napoleon, and would have risen in a body, to cause the
+sovereign of its heart and its choice to be respected.
+
+But Napoleon had other ideas: he considered the declaration of the
+Congress merely as a paper adapted to the circumstances of the day,
+the object of which was, at the time when it was subscribed by the
+allies, to support the courage of the royalists, and to restore to the
+Bourbons the confidence and moral strength they had lost.
+
+He thought, that his entrance into Paris, and the entire pacification
+of the South, would have completely changed the state of things; and
+he hoped, that foreign nations would ultimately acknowledge him, when
+they were convinced, that he had been re-established on the throne by
+the unanimous consent of the French, and that his ideas of conquest
+and dominion had given place to the real desire of respecting the
+tranquillity and independence of his neighbours, and of living in
+harmony with them.
+
+In fine, he considered, that prudence would induce the allies, as it
+was their interest, not to engage in a war, the results of which could
+not be favourable to them: "They will feel, that they will not this
+time have to do with the France of 1814; and that their successes, if
+they gain any, will be no longer decisive, but will merely serve to
+render the war more obstinate and bloody; while, if victory favour me,
+I may become as formidable as ever. I have for me Belgium and the
+Rhenish provinces, and with a tricoloured flag and a proclamation I
+could revolutionize them in four-and-twenty hours."
+
+The treaty of the 25th of March, by which the great powers, renewing
+the arrangements of the treaty of Chaumont, engaged themselves anew
+not to lay down their arms, as long as Napoleon should be on the
+throne, appeared to him merely the natural consequence of the act of
+the 13th of March, and of the erroneous opinions the allies had formed
+of France. He thought, that it would not alter the state of the
+question; and resolved, notwithstanding this treaty, and the
+affronting manner in which his first overtures were received, to
+endeavour repeatedly to make the voice of truth, of reason, and of
+peace, heard at Vienna.
+
+Baron de Stassart, late auditor to the council of state and prefect,
+had been made chamberlain of Austria, or of Bavaria, since the
+restoration. He was at Paris. The Emperor, hoping he might be able to
+reach Vienna under favour of his quality of chamberlain, charged him
+with a mission for the Empress Marie Louise, and fresh despatches for
+the Emperor of Austria. Napoleon at the same time had recourse to
+other means: he was aware of the intimacy and connexions of MM. D. de
+St. L** and de Mont** with Prince Talleyrand; and persuaded, that M.
+de Talleyrand would procure for them authority to repair to Vienna, he
+resolved, to send them thither. He did not deceive himself with the
+idea, that they would accept their mission for any other purpose than
+that of more easily serving the royal cause; but he paid little regard
+to their intrigues with the King, provided they delivered and brought
+back with exactness the despatches, that should be entrusted to
+them[95].
+
+                   [Footnote 95: It was a laughable singularity, that,
+                   of all the double-faced men employed by the
+                   Emperor, there was no one, in whom he had more
+                   confidence, than he had in M. de Mont**. He had
+                   formerly ill-treated, persecuted, and banished him:
+                   he knew, that he detested him, and was the most
+                   intimate, the most devoted friend of M. de
+                   Talleyrand: but he knew also the bent of M. de
+                   Mont**'s mind; and he thought, that he would feel
+                   an infinite pleasure, in executing his mission
+                   well, and _humming_ [_rouer_] M. de Talleyrand, who
+                   flattered himself, that he had never been hummed by
+                   any person. I know not whether M. de Mont** found
+                   it pleasant, or not, to take in M. de Talleyrand;
+                   what I know is, that he justified the expectations
+                   of Napoleon, and brought back to him intact the
+                   letters, that were delivered to him by M. de
+                   Mont**.]
+
+About the King, however, and what passed at Ghent, he took little
+concern: his anxious eyes were turned to Vienna; and convinced of the
+influence, that M. de Talleyrand might exert there, he particularly
+directed M. ****, to offer him his favour, and money also, if he would
+abandon the Bourbons, and employ his talents and experience for the
+benefit of the imperial cause.
+
+The Emperor, who did not cease to hope, that his exertions, time, and
+reflection, might effect some changes in the resolutions of the
+allies, heard with extreme displeasure, that the King of Naples had
+commenced hostilities.
+
+This prince had long been dissatisfied with the complaisance, with
+which the allied sovereigns listened to the protests of France, Savoy,
+and Spain: and, though his crown had been guarantied to him by a
+solemn compact with Austria, and by the formal declarations of Russia
+and England, he foresaw, that the doctrine of legitimacy would carry
+the point against the faith of treaties, and that Austria, though
+interested in not allowing another crown to be transferred to the
+house of Bourbon, would be obliged to submit to the unanimous will of
+the other powers.
+
+Thus the fear of being driven from the throne, and the resolution to
+maintain himself in it, possessed Joachim, when the news of the
+successful landing of Napoleon reached Naples.
+
+The horror with which the Austrian sway inspired the Italians, the
+attachment they retained to Napoleon, and the joy they displayed on
+hearing of his departure from the island of Elba, persuaded the King,
+that he should find no difficulty in raising Italy; and he flattered
+himself with bringing the allies, either by force of arms, or by way
+of negotiation, to guaranty to him irrevocably the possession of his
+kingdom.
+
+Desirous on the other hand of securing the protection of Napoleon, in
+case of failure of success, he secretly despatched an emissary to
+congratulate him; and announce, that, with a view of seconding his
+operations, he was about to attack the Austrians, and, if his wishes
+were answered by victory, he would soon join him with a formidable
+army: "in fine," he wrote, "the moment of atoning for the wrong I have
+done your Majesty, and of proving my attachment, is now arrived; I
+will not let it escape."
+
+This letter, which I deciphered, reached the Emperor at Auxerre; and
+he immediately enjoined the King, to continue his preparations, but
+wait for his giving him the signal, before he commenced hostilities.
+The natural impetuosity and impatience of this Prince did not allow
+him, to wait for the answer of Napoleon, and when his despatches
+arrived, the gauntlet had been thrown down.
+
+The better to disguise his intentions, Joachim had summoned the
+ambassadors of Austria and England, immediately on hearing of the
+landing of Napoleon, and had assured them, that he would remain
+faithful to his engagements. When he had assembled his army (put in
+motion under pretence of reinforcing his troops in the March of
+Ancona), he fell unexpectedly on the Austrians; and announced to the
+Italians, by a proclamation dated at Rimini the 31st of March, that he
+had taken up arms to liberate Italy from a foreign yoke, and restore
+its ancient freedom and independence.
+
+"Italians," said he to them, "the moment is arrived, when the great
+decrees of destiny are to be fulfilled. Providence at length calls
+you, to become an independent people: one cry resounds from the Alps
+to the straits of Scylla, the independence of Italy. By what right
+would foreigners rob you of your independence, the first right, and
+the first good, of all nations?
+
+
+"Formerly masters of the world, you have expiated this fatal glory by
+an oppression of twenty centuries. Let your glory now be, to have no
+more masters.
+
+
+"Fourscore thousand Italians hasten to you under the command of their
+king. They swear not to rest, till Italy is free. Italians of all
+countries, second their magnanimous efforts ... let those, who have
+borne arms, resume them, let the unpractised youth exercise themselves
+in the use of them, let all the friends of their country raise up one
+generous voice for liberty.
+
+
+"Can England refuse you her suffrages, she whose noblest claim to
+glory is to spend her blood and treasure for the independence and
+freedom of nations?
+
+
+"I call on all the brave, to come and fight with me; I call on all men
+of enlightened understandings, to prepare, while the passions are
+silent, the constitution and laws, that ought henceforward to govern
+happy and independent Italy."
+
+
+This proclamation, to the great astonishment of Italy and France, did
+not once mention the name of Napoleon. It kept the most profound
+silence respecting his return, his intercourse with Joachim, and the
+hopes their combined efforts must inspire.
+
+Joachim however was not ignorant of the ascendancy, which the name of
+Napoleon had on the spirit and courage of the Italians. But he knew
+also, that this name was odious to the English, and dared not invoke
+it, for fear of displeasing them. He thought he was sufficiently
+powerful of himself, to act independently of the Emperor; and that it
+would be enough, if he showed himself in arms to the Italian nation,
+and offered it independence, to raise it at his pleasure. He deceived
+himself: all his strength was borrowed from Napoleon: personally he
+enjoyed no weight, no influence, in Italy. The Italians could not
+forgive him for having betrayed his brother-in-law and benefactor in
+1814, or for having revealed to Austria the patriotic conspiracy of
+Milan in 1815[96].
+
+                   [Footnote 96: I know not whether the fact be true:
+                   but, true or false, it had the same effect on the
+                   minds of the Italians.]
+
+Thus prejudiced, they durst not confide in him; his intentions
+appeared doubtful, his promises vague, his resources uncertain; and
+they remained quiet spectators of the combat.
+
+It is not, in fact, by concealments, that people are reduced or
+hurried away: to subjugate them, it is necessary, to convince their
+hearts and their understandings; and the heart and the understanding
+comprehend no language but the straight forward voice of truth.
+Unhappily this language was no longer known to Murat. Since his
+accession to the throne, he had adopted the system of dissimulation
+and duplicity, which pretty generally characterise Italian politics.
+These narrow politics, which support themselves by cunning and
+temporizing, were incompatible with the French blood, that circulated
+in his veins; and the continual conflicts, that arose between his
+novel inclinations and his natural petulance, were incessantly
+rendering his words and actions at variance, and leading him into
+devious paths, where he could not fail, to go astray and meet his
+ruin.
+
+Nevertheless, such is the magic power of the sacred words of liberty
+and our country, that Murat did not utter them in vain. Bologna and a
+few cities declared for him; and a number of young Italians ran to
+enlist under his standards. Victory favoured their first steps; but
+Napoleon did not deceive himself: the moment had been ill-chosen, he
+foresaw the defection or ruin of Murat, and what passed beyond the
+Alps no longer inspired him with any thing but disgust. From that time
+he turned his attention with more ardor than ever to the means of
+struggling alone against his adversaries, whose proceedings began to
+assume a threatening appearance.
+
+The royal government, partly through fear, partly from economy, had
+disorganized the army, reduced the regiments one half, changed their
+denominations, and dispersed the soldiers among new battalions.
+
+Napoleon re-established the regiments on their ancient footing;
+restored to them their glorious surnames of Invincible, Incomparable,
+Terrible, One to Ten, &c. &c., which they had acquired and merited in
+the field of battle. He recalled to their standards the brave men who
+had been banished from them; and the army, which was scarcely
+fourscore thousand strong, soon reckoned on its lists near two hundred
+thousand fighting men.
+
+The marines[97] and guards of the coasts, who so brilliantly
+signalized their courage in the plains of Lutzen and Bautzen, were
+united under the command of their officers, and formed a body of
+fifteen or eighteen thousand men, who were appointed to protect our
+maritime establishments, or, in case of necessity, reinforce the
+active army.
+
+                   [Footnote 97: _Les marins._ Properly, perhaps, the
+                   seamen, whom Napoleon took from the ships of war,
+                   and converted into soldiers.--_Tr._]
+
+The cavalry of the imperial guard and the old grenadiers opened their
+ranks to ten thousand soldiers selected from the flank companies; the
+light artillery was re-organized; and the young guard received an
+addition of several regiments.
+
+But it was not sufficient to restore to the army the forces, of which
+it had been deprived; it was equally necessary, to repair its
+destitution: the foot wanted arms and clothing, the cavalry had
+neither saddles nor horses.
+
+The Emperor looked to all these things.
+
+Levies and purchases of horses were made at once in all the
+departments.
+
+The gendarmerie, by giving up the ten thousand horses belonging to it,
+which it replaced immediately, supplied the heavy cavalry with so many
+horses already trained, which in ten days rendered its numerous
+squadrons complete.
+
+Spacious manufactories of clothing, arms, and equipage, were opened at
+once in all parts.
+
+The Emperor caused an account of the number of workmen, and the
+produce of their labour, to be delivered to him every morning. He knew
+how long it took a tailor to finish a soldier's dress, a wheelwright
+to construct a carriage, or an armourer to fit up a musket. He knew
+the quantity of arms, in a good or bad state, contained in the
+arsenals. "You will find," he wrote to the minister at war, "in such
+an arsenal, so many old muskets, and so many broken up. Set a hundred
+men at work there, and arm me five hundred men a week." Such was the
+extent and variety of Napoleon's genius, that he soared without effort
+to the loftiest abstractions of the art of governing, and descended
+with the same facility to the minutest details of management.
+
+Extraordinary commissioners were employed at the same time to direct
+the repairing and fortifying of the frontier towns. They employed
+themselves day and night on this important business. But the slightest
+delay appeared to the Emperor an age of expectation, and frequently he
+put his hand to the work himself. He was perfectly acquainted with the
+nature of the fortifications of every place, the number of men it
+ought to contain, and the approaches necessary to be defended; and in
+a few hours he settled what the most experienced engineer would have
+found it difficult to conceive and determine in several days. And let
+it not be supposed, that the works he thus ordered bore any marks of
+precipitancy. At the head of his topographical cabinet he had one of
+the first engineer officers in France, General Bernard; and this
+general, too brave, too loyal, to be a flatterer, could never enough
+admire the profound knowledge the Emperor possessed of the art of
+fortification, and his happy and prompt application of it.
+
+The zeal and joint efforts of these committees, and of the Emperor,
+produced, in a short time, effects truly miraculous. All France seemed
+an intrenched camp. Napoleon, in the articles he wrote[98],
+frequently gave an account of the progress of his armament, of the
+fortified places, and of the works of defence. I will transcribe here
+one of these articles, which, exclusive of the merit of depicting the
+aspect of France at that period, in a better manner than I could,
+appears to me well adapted to convey an idea of the fervid activity of
+Napoleon, and the immensity of the objects his eye embraced.
+
+                   [Footnote 98: For the Moniteur, I presume.--_Tr._]
+
+"All the strong places on the northern frontier, from Dunkirk to
+Charlemont, are furnished with ordnance, provision, and stores: the
+sluices are put into order, and the country will be inundated at the
+first hostile movement: field-works have been laid out in the forest
+of Mormale: measures are taken for throwing up intrenchments in the
+different passes of the forest of Aregonne: all the strong places of
+Lorraine are prepared: intrenchments are formed at the five passes of
+the Vosges: the fortresses of Alsace are equipped: orders are given
+for the defence of the pass of Jura, and all the frontiers of the
+Alps. The passes of the Somme, which are in the third line, are
+putting into order. In the interior, Guise, la Ferte, Vitry,
+Soissons, Chateau Thierry, and Langres, are equipping and fortifying.
+Orders have been issued even for constructing works on the heights of
+Montmartre and Menilmontant, and furnishing them with three hundred
+pieces of ordnance: they will be formed at first of earth, and the
+solidity of permanent fortifications will be given them in succession.
+
+"His Majesty has ordered, that Lyons should be put into a state of
+defence: a _tete-de-pont_ will be established at Broteaux. The
+drawbridge at La Guillotiere is replacing. The space between the Saone
+and the Rhone will be fortified: some redoubts are preparing to be
+constructed in advance of this space. A redoubt will be constructed on
+the height of Pierre en Size, to support a work, that closes the city
+on the right bank. The heights, that command the quarter of St. Jean,
+on the right bank of the Saone, will be defended by several redoubts:
+a train of eighty pieces of cannon, with the necessary stores, is sent
+off for Lyons. Sisteron and the bridge of St. Esprit will be placed in
+a state of defence. Eight armies or corps of observation are formed:
+namely
+
+"The army of the North;
+
+"The army of the Moselle;
+
+"The army of the Rhine;
+
+"The corps of observation of the Jura, which is assembling at Befort;
+
+"The army of the Alps, which is assembling at Chambery;
+
+"The corps of observation of the Pyrenees, which is assembling at
+Perpignan and at Bordeaux;
+
+"And the army of reserve, which is assembling at Paris and at Laon.
+
+"The old soldiers are every where on the march, animated with the
+greatest enthusiasm, and come to complete our hundred and twenty
+regiments of infantry. The purchases made for remounting the cavalry
+have been going on rapidly for this month, and will soon render our
+seventy regiments of cavalry fully complete. Regiments of volunteer
+cavalry are forming in many parts: Alsace has already furnished two
+regiments of lancers, of a thousand men each. We have reason to think,
+that this example will be followed in Brittany, Normandy, and
+Limousin, the province in which the greatest number of horses are
+bred.
+
+"Parks of artillery, forming more than a hundred and fifty batteries,
+are already harnessed, and on the march for the different armies. The
+corps of artillery for the defence of Lyons is composed of two
+companies formed in the school of Alfort. The corps for serving the
+three hundred pieces of ordnance, that will be placed on the heights
+of Paris, will consist of twelve companies of marine artillery, two
+companies of invalids, two companies of the school of Alfort, two
+companies of the polytechnic school, two companies of the school of
+St. Cyr, and six companies of foot artillery.
+
+"Corps of partisans and free corps are forming in a great number of
+departments. An adjutant-general, stationed with each general
+commanding in chief, will conduct the correspondence with these corps;
+which, if the enemy be rash enough to penetrate into our territories,
+will fall upon his communications in the mountains and forests, and
+find support in the fortified towns.
+
+"The organization of the levy in mass of Alsace, Lorraine, the county
+of Messin, Franche Comte, Burgundy, Dauphiny, and Picardy, is
+prepared.
+
+"All the cities will arm in defence of their vicinity: they will
+follow the example of Chalons sur Saone, Tournus, and St. Jean de
+Losne. Every unfortified town even would betray the national honour,
+if it surrendered to light troops, and did not make the best defence
+its means will allow, till the arrival of infantry and artillery in
+such force, that its resistance would cease to be prescribed by the
+laws of war.
+
+"Every thing is in motion in all parts of France. If the coalition
+persist in the designs they have announced of making war on us, if
+they violate our frontiers, it is easy to foresee, what fruits they
+will reap from their attempt on the rights of the French nation: all
+the departments will emulate in zeal those of Alsace, the Vosges,
+Franche Comte, Burgundy, and the Lyonese; every where the people are
+animated with a patriotic spirit, and ready to make any sacrifice, to
+maintain the independence of the nation, and the honour of the
+throne."
+
+In fine, to complete his means of resistance and attack, the Emperor
+remodelled the national guard, and divided it into three thousand one
+hundred and thirty battalions, forming a body of two millions two
+hundred and fifty thousand men. All the national guards from twenty
+years old to forty were classed in active companies of light infantry
+and grenadiers, and fifteen hundred of these companies, or a hundred
+and eighty thousand men, were immediately placed at the disposal of
+the minister at war, to form the garrisons of the frontier places,
+and reinforce the armies of reserve.
+
+The general officers sent to the frontier departments, to accelerate
+the raising and departure of this national militia, had need only to
+show themselves, to accomplish their mission. Every citizen aspired
+beforehand to the honour of making a part of it; and in the provinces
+of the east, the north, and the centre, it was found necessary to form
+supernumerary companies[99]. The father would have renounced his son,
+the wife her husband, the girl her betrothed lover, if they had been
+deaf to the voice of honour and their country. The mothers themselves,
+who at other times had so bitterly deplored the departure of their
+children, encouraged them, like the Spartans, to march against the
+enemy, and fall, if it must be so, in the sacred cause of their
+country. This picture is not an exaggeration, it is faithful, it is
+true. Never was a more beautiful spectacle exhibited to the eyes of
+any man, to whom the glory and independence of his country were dear,
+than that of the enthusiasm and martial joy, with which the warlike
+inhabitants of Alsace, Lorraine, Burgundy, Champagne, and the Vosges,
+were animated. The roads were covered with waggons loaded with young
+warriors, who hastened, gaily singing, to the post of honour assigned
+them by Napoleon: the population of the towns and villages received
+them on their way with applauses, which inflamed their minds with
+fresh ardor, and made them enjoy by anticipation the praises and
+acclamations, that their friends, parents, and fellow-citizens would
+lavish on them at their return.
+
+                   [Footnote 99: I cannot avoid here making a
+                   comparison. On the 15th of March, the Count
+                   d'Artois wished to form a legion from the light
+                   infantry and grenadiers of the national guard of
+                   Paris. He reviewed the twelve legions, harangued
+                   them, and announced, that he would march at the
+                   head of the volunteer national guards: a hundred
+                   and fifty turned out.
+
+                   Napoleon from his closet called the national guard
+                   to the defence of the imperial cause: 150,000 men
+                   took up arms, and hastened to battle.
+
+                   What must we conclude from this coldness on the one
+                   hand, and this enthusiasm on the other? I leave the
+                   question to be answered by those, who pretend, that
+                   the revolution of the 20th of March obtained the
+                   assent only of a handful of factious persons.]
+
+France seemed to call aloud, to see her eclipsed greatness restored.
+She had recovered all her energy: an evident proof, that the strength
+of a nation is always the work of the prince, by whom it is governed.
+It is he, who enervates the public spirit, and bastardizes his
+subjects, by the effeminacy of his government: or it is he, who
+inspires them with the love of their country, with priding themselves
+in it, and leads them to undertake, whatever can augment its glory and
+its power.
+
+To draw still more closely the bonds of union between the French
+people, and impart greater intensity to their patriotism, Napoleon
+authorized the re-establishment of popular clubs, and the formation of
+civic confederations. This time his expectations were not answered by
+success. The major part of the clubs were filled with men, who
+formerly composed the revolutionary tribunals and societies; and their
+imprecations against kings, and their liberticide motions, made the
+Emperor fear, that he had revived the spirit of anarchy.
+
+The sentiments manifested by the federates equally disquieted him. He
+perceived, that he did not occupy the first place in their thoughts
+and affections; that the primary wish of their hearts was liberty;
+and, as this liberty was in his eyes synonimous with republicanism, he
+exerted all his endeavours to moderate, restrain, and repress, the
+development of these patriotic associations. Perhaps there were men
+among the federates, whose principles might be dangerous, and their
+intentions criminal: but in general they consisted of pure patriots,
+who had taken up arms to defend the imperial government, and not to
+overturn it.
+
+Napoleon had never been able to surmount the aversion, which he felt
+for the veterans of the revolution. He dreaded their constancy, and
+their daring spirit; and he would have thought himself in danger, if
+not lost, had they become consolidated, and resumed their ascendancy.
+This panic fear was the cause, that he did not reap from the
+confederations the advantages he promised himself; and which they
+would unquestionably have afforded him, if he had not clogged their
+wings. It was also the cause of his committing a perhaps still greater
+fault, that of putting a stop to the popular movements, that had shown
+themselves in most of the departments. In the critical state in which
+he found himself, and into which he had drawn France, he should not
+have disregarded any means of security; and the most efficacious, the
+most analogous to his situation, was indisputably that of engaging the
+people most intimately in his fate, and in his defence. It was
+necessary, therefore, while preventing them from spilling a single
+drop of blood, to let them compromise themselves with some of those
+incorrigible ultras, who had harassed, ill-treated, and insulted
+them, since the restoration. The people would then have been more
+sensible, that it was no longer the personal cause of Napoleon alone,
+that they had to defend; and the dread of chastisement, and of the
+yoke, would have restored to them that ancient enthusiasm, which had
+proved so fatal to the first coalition.
+
+The moderation adopted by Napoleon on this occasion was honourable,
+but not politic. He conducted himself, as he might have done at a
+time, when all parties, confounded together and reconciled,
+acknowledged him for their sole and only sovereign. But things had
+changed: he had no longer the whole of France in his favour; and hence
+it was necessary, that he should conduct himself rather as the head of
+a party, than as a sovereign; and that he should display as it were
+all the vigour and energy of the leader of a faction. Energy unites
+men, by taking from them all uncertainty, and hurrying them with
+violence toward their object. Moderation, on the contrary, divides and
+enervates them, because it leaves them to their own irresolution, and
+allows them leisure, to listen to their interests, their scruples, and
+their fears.
+
+The attention paid by the Emperor to his military preparations did not
+prevent his continuing to occupy himself on the welfare of the state,
+and endeavour more and more to conciliate the confidence and affection
+of the public.
+
+Already, in other days, he had drawn out from its ruins the ancient
+University. A new basis, more broad, more extensive, more majestic,
+had raised this noble institution to a level with the age, and with
+France. But the first stage of education did not answer the efforts
+made to improve it, and to diffuse it among the younger classes of
+society.
+
+M. Carnot, in a report that combined the most pleasing philanthropy
+with the most sage and lofty views, taught the Emperor the advantages
+of the methods of Bell and Lancaster, and the monarch and the minister
+made a present to France, to morality, to humanity, of the system of
+mutual instruction.
+
+The Emperor, on removing his eyes from this interesting youth, the
+hope of the country, turned them to those old soldiers, who had
+formerly been its pride and support.
+
+A royal ordinance had expelled from their asylum a considerable number
+of invalids, and had taken from them a portion of their endowments: a
+decree restored them to their rights; and a visit, which the Emperor
+paid these veterans in glory, added a kindness to the benefit.
+
+He also repaired to the Polytechnic school. It was the first time of
+his showing himself to its pupils. Their love of perfect liberty,
+their inclination for republican institutions, had long alienated from
+them the affections of the Emperor: but the striking bravery they had
+displayed under the walls of Paris had restored to them his esteem and
+friendship; and it was satisfactory to him (these are his own words),
+to have such a fine occasion of reconciling himself with them.
+
+The suburb of St. Antoine, that cradle of the revolution, was not
+forgotten. The Emperor traversed it from one end to the other. He had
+the doors of all the workshops opened to him, and examined them very
+minutely. The numerous workmen of the manufactory of M. Lenoir, who
+retained a grateful remembrance of what the Emperor had done for their
+master and for themselves, loaded him with expressions of their
+attachment. The commissary of police of the quarter had followed
+Napoleon into this manufactory; and, willing to set the example,
+opened his mouth to its utmost extent, to holla as loud as he could
+bawl "Long live the Emperor!" but, by a terrible slip of the tongue, a
+very distinct "Long live the King!" on the contrary issued from it.
+This caused great confusion: but the Emperor, turning to him, said in
+a rallying tone: "So, Mr. Commissary, you are determined then not to
+get rid of your bad habits." This sally was the signal for a general
+laugh: and the commissary, plucking up his spirits, convinced Napoleon
+by many a vigorous "Long live the Emperor!" that we never lose any
+thing by a little patience.
+
+The Emperor was accompanied only by three officers of his household.
+It was impossible for them to defend him from the approaches and
+caresses of the people: the women kissed his hands; the men squeezed
+them, till they made him cry out; both expressed to him in a thousand
+ways, which I cannot transcribe, the difference they made between him
+and his predecessor. At all times he had been much beloved by the
+class of workmen and artisans. He had enriched it: and interest is the
+prime mover of regard among the people, as well as among the
+great[100].
+
+                   [Footnote 100: The reverses of Napoleon's fortune
+                   had been so rapid, that the possessors of great
+                   places, and of great preferment, had not had time
+                   to retrench their way of living. When the Bourbons
+                   were recalled, they were obliged to come to a
+                   reckoning with their means, and all these
+                   extravagant expenses ceased at once.
+
+                   On the other hand, the new court, in order to
+                   distinguish itself from the imperial court,
+                   substituted the most offensive simplicity for the
+                   useful pomp of Napoleon. The richest emigrants
+                   imitated this pernicious example; and, as Napoleon
+                   remarked, the luxury of the table was almost the
+                   only kind, on which encouragement was not spared.
+                   The result of this economical system was, that the
+                   produce of our manufactories remained unemployed,
+                   and industry was suddenly paralyzed.
+
+                   Thus commerce, which had loudly called for peace,
+                   was almost totally annihilated by it: and the
+                   manufacturers, the mechanics, the merchants (those
+                   of the sea-ports excepted), greatly regretted those
+                   _happy_ times, when we were at war.
+
+                   In fact, it must be admitted, that our industry was
+                   indebted to the war, and to our conquests, for its
+                   progress, and its prodigious increase. The war, by
+                   depriving us of the products of the English
+                   manufactories, had taught us, to manufacture for
+                   ourselves. The continual prohibition of these
+                   articles protected our rising manufactures from the
+                   danger of competition; and allowed them to engage
+                   with safety in the trials and expenses necessary
+                   for equalling or surpassing in perfection foreign
+                   manufactures. In all parts of the empire were seen
+                   manufactories for spinning and weaving cotton; and
+                   this branch of trade, almost unknown before,
+                   employed three hundred thousand work people, and
+                   produced goods to the value of more than two
+                   hundred and fifty millions.
+
+                   The other products of our industry equally received
+                   improvements and extension; and France, in spite of
+                   the conscription, reckoned in its numerous
+                   workshops nearly twelve hundred thousand
+                   workpeople.
+
+                   If this flourishing state of our continental trade
+                   were the effect of the enlargement of our
+                   territory, and the scope the war had given to our
+                   industry, we must say, that it was also the result
+                   of the succour, encouragement, and honorary
+                   distinctions, which Napoleon knew how to bestow
+                   appropriately on our manufacturers; and the return
+                   for those enormous sacrifices he made, to create,
+                   repair, and keep in order, those superb roads, and
+                   those numerous canals, which rendered the
+                   communications between France, and the countries
+                   subjected to its empire, equally easy, safe, and
+                   pleasant.]
+
+The Emperor received a great number of petitions during his
+excursions. Unable to read them all, he ordered me, to examine them
+carefully, and give him an account of them. He loved to repay the
+confidence that the people reposed in him; and frequently granted to
+the request of an obscure and unknown citizen, what he would perhaps
+have refused to the entreaties of a marshal or a minister. The utility
+of these familiar communications between the nation and the sovereign
+was not confined, in his eyes, to the solitary interests of the
+petitioner. He considered them as efficacious means of coming at the
+knowledge of abuses and acts of injustice, and of keeping the
+depositaries of authority within the limits of their duty. He was
+fond of encouraging them, that the phrase, If the Emperor knew it, or
+The Emperor shall know it, might solace the heart of the oppressed,
+and make the oppressor tremble.
+
+In former days he had appointed a special commission, to receive
+petitions, and give them suitable effect. This benefit not appearing
+to him sufficiently complete, he would have them subjected to a
+preliminary examination, under his own eye. He decided himself the
+method to be followed: and directed me, to make known to him every
+day, without disguise, the complaints, wants, and wishes, of the
+French people. I made it a point of duty, of honour, to execute this
+task in a proper manner, and to become the zealous protector of those
+who had none. Every morning I laid before the Emperor an analytical
+report of the requests capable of demanding his attention: he examined
+them with care, made marginal notes on them with his own hand, and
+sent them to his ministers with a favourable decision, or an order to
+verify them, and give him an account of the result.
+
+In fine, to fulfil, as much as in him lay, the public expectation, the
+Emperor made numerous changes in the laws relating to the
+consolidated taxes (_droits reunis_), which, while they diminished the
+impost, freed it from its abuses and tyrannical forms, and rendered it
+less odious, and more supportable. These beneficial meliorations,
+though incomplete, were received with gratitude; and the Emperor was
+thanked for his endeavours to reconcile the interests of individuals
+with the wants of the public treasury.
+
+But the satisfaction Napoleon derived from the happy effects of his
+solicitude was frequently disturbed by the disquietude and perplexity,
+which the cabals and manoeuvres of the royalists occasioned him.
+"The priests and the nobles," said he one day in a fit of ill-humour,
+"are playing a deep game. If I were to let loose the people upon them,
+they would all be devoured in the twinkling of an eye[101]."
+
+                   [Footnote 101: These words, and several others that
+                   I have quoted, prove Napoleon not to have been
+                   ignorant of the use he might make of the people. If
+                   he did not have recourse to them, no doubt it was
+                   because he feared, that the remedy might prove
+                   worse than the disease.]
+
+By a decree of the 25th of March, he had already ordered the ministers
+of the King, and the civil and military officers of his household, as
+well as of those of the princes, as also the chiefs of the Chouans, of
+the Vendeans, and of the royal volunteers, to remove to a distance of
+thirty leagues from Paris. This prudent precaution was but imperfectly
+executed. M. Fouche, to secure himself a refuge in the King's party,
+had sent for the principal of the proscribed persons to his house;
+expressed to them how much he felt interested for their situation, and
+the efforts he had made, to prevent their banishment; and finally
+authorised them pretty generally, to remain at Paris.
+
+The Emperor, not aware that their audacity was owing to the protection
+of his minister, watched for an opportunity of intimidating them by an
+act of severity. While things were in this state, a M. de Lascours, a
+colonel, was arrested at Dunkirk, where he had introduced himself as
+an emissary from the King. Napoleon, deceived by the similarity of the
+name, supposed this officer to be the person, who pretended, in 1814,
+to have received orders, to blow up the powder magazine at Grenelle,
+and refused to execute them. "I should be sorry," said he, "to
+sacrifice by way of example a worthy man; but an impostor like this
+deserves no pity. Write to the minister at war, to have him taken
+before a military commission, and tried as an instigator to civil war,
+and to the overturning of the established government."
+
+The Emperor, turning towards me, added: "How is it, that the absurd
+fable of this man has not been contradicted?"--"Sire," I answered,
+"Gourgaud has often assured me, that all your officers had publicly
+avowed their sentiments on it; and that it had been the intention of
+several generals, and particularly of general Tirlet, to unmask this
+odious lie to the King; but...." "Enough," said the Emperor, "I make
+no account of intentions: send the order, and let me hear no more of
+him."
+
+I lost sight of this business: but I have since learned, that M. de
+Lascours was acquitted.
+
+If M. de Lascours had been so unfortunate, as to fall a victim to his
+zeal, the Emperor would have been accused of barbarity; yet he was
+neither cruel nor sanguinary, for cruelty must not be confounded with
+severity. I know but one single act, the result of the most fatal
+counsels, for which, alas! he may be reproached by posterity[102].
+Who besides have been the victims of his pretended ferocity? Will the
+death of Georges, and his obscure accomplices, be considered as a
+judicial murder? Are the infernal machine and its terrible ravages
+forgotten? Georges, at the head of the Chouans, was a misled
+Frenchman, to be pitied, and to be spared. Georges, at the head of a
+band of assassins, was undeserving of pity, and the cause of
+morality, as well as of humanity, demanded his punishment.
+
+                   [Footnote 102: Napoleon, during the hundred days,
+                   entertained for a moment the design of issuing a
+                   demi-official note on the arrest and death of the
+                   Duke of Enghien.
+
+                   The following memorandums are taken from papers,
+                   from which the note was to have been compiled.
+
+                   Reports from the police had informed Napoleon, that
+                   there were conspiracies of the royalists beyond the
+                   Rhine, and that they were conducted and supported,
+
+                   1st, by Messrs. Drake and Spencer Smith, the
+                   English ministers at Stutgard, and at Munich;
+
+                   2dly, by the Duke d'Enghien and General Dumourier:
+
+                   The central point of the former was at Offenbourg;
+                   where were some emigrants, some English agents, and
+                   the Baroness de Reich, so noted for her political
+                   intrigues:
+
+                   The central point of the latter was given out to be
+                   at the castle of Ettenheim, where the Duke
+                   d'Enghien, Dumourier, an English colonel, and
+                   several agents of the Bourbons, resided.
+
+                   The hundred and twenty thousand francs given by the
+                   minister Drake to the Sieur Rosey, chef de
+                   bataillon, to excite an insurrection,
+
+                   The declarations of Mehee;
+
+                   And the reports of M. Sh***, prefect of Strasbourg,
+                   and brother-in-law of the Duke de Fel....; leave no
+                   doubt of the existence of the intrigues at
+                   Offenbourg and Ettenheim, to which M. Sh***
+                   ascribes in particular the agitation, and symptoms
+                   of discontent, that prevail at Weissembourg, and in
+                   several parts of Alsace.
+
+                   On the other hand, the conspiracy of the 3d of
+                   Nivose had just broken out. The discoveries made by
+                   the servant of Georges, and by other individuals,
+                   led to the belief, that the Duke d'Enghien had been
+                   sent by England to the borders of the Rhine, in
+                   order to place himself at the head of the
+                   insurrection, as soon as Napoleon was made away
+                   with.
+
+                   The necessity of putting an end to these plots, and
+                   strike terror into their instigators by a grand act
+                   of reprisal, squared in an incredible degree with
+                   the political considerations, that led Napoleon to
+                   attempt a bold stroke, in order to give the
+                   revolution, and the revolutionists, those
+                   guaranties, which circumstances demanded:
+
+                   Napoleon, named consul for life (I borrow here the
+                   language of the Manuscript from St. Helena), felt
+                   the weakness of his situation, the ridiculousness
+                   of his consulship. It was necessary to establish
+                   something solid, to serve as a support to the
+                   revolution. The republicans were alarmed at the
+                   height, on which circumstances had placed him: they
+                   were suspicious of the use he might make of his
+                   power: they dreaded his renewing an antiquated
+                   royalty by the help of his army. The royalists
+                   fomented this rumour, and took a delight in
+                   representing him as an ape of the ancient monarchs:
+                   other royalists, more adroit, whispered about, that
+                   he was enamoured of the part of Monk, and that he
+                   would take the pains to restore the power, only to
+                   make a present of it to the Bourbons, when it
+                   should be in a proper state to be offered them.
+
+                   Ordinary minds, unacquainted with his powers,
+                   credited these reports; they sanctioned the tales
+                   of the royalist party, and decried him to the
+                   people, and to the army; for they began to suspect
+                   him, and his attachment to their cause. He could
+                   not allow such an opinion to pass current, because
+                   it tended to unhinge every thing. It was necessary,
+                   at all events, to undeceive France, the royalists,
+                   and Europe at large, in order that they might know,
+                   what they had to reckon upon in him. A persecution
+                   of reports in detail never produces any thing but a
+                   bad effect, for it does not attack the root of the
+                   evil.
+
+                   The death of the Duke d'Enghien would decide the
+                   question, that agitated France; it would decide the
+                   character of Napoleon beyond return; in fine, it
+                   might intimidate and punish the authors of the
+                   plots incessantly contriving against his life, and
+                   against the state: accordingly he determined on it.
+
+                   He sent for Marshal Berthier, and this minister
+                   directed General Ord**, by an order which the
+                   Emperor dictated, and which I have _seen_, to set
+                   off post for Strasbourg; to cause General Lev** to
+                   place under his orders fifteen boatmen, three
+                   hundred dragoons from the garrison of Schelstadt,
+                   and thirty gendarmes; to pass the Rhine at Rheinan,
+                   to proceed to Ettenheim, to surround the town, and
+                   _to carry off the Duke d'Enghien, Dumourier, an
+                   English colonel, and all the persons in their
+                   suite_.
+
+                   The Duke d'Enghien,
+                   General Thumery,
+                   Colonel de Grunstein,
+                   Lieutenant Schmidt,
+                   Abbe Weinburn, and five other inferior persons,
+                   were arrested by a chef d'escadron of the
+                   gendarmerie, named Ch**, who was charged with this
+                   part of the expedition.
+
+                   Then, and then only, it became certain, that
+                   Dumourier was not at Ettenheim. General Thumery had
+                   been mistaken for him. This mistake, occasioned by
+                   the similarity of their rank, and some likeness of
+                   sound between their names, which the Germans
+                   pronounced nearly alike, had heightened the
+                   importance and criminality of the pretended plots
+                   at Ettenheim in the mind of Napoleon, and had the
+                   most fatal influence on his determination.
+
+                   The Duke d'Enghien was brought from Strasbourg to
+                   Paris, and carried before a military commission.
+
+                   The Empress Josephine, the Princess Hortense, fell
+                   at Napoleon's feet in tears, and conjured him to
+                   spare the life of the Duke d'Enghien. Prince
+                   Cambaceres and the Prince of Neufchatel strongly
+                   remonstrated to him on the horrible inutility of
+                   the blow he was about to strike. He appeared to
+                   hesitate, when the information was brought him,
+                   that the prince was no more.
+
+                   Napoleon had not expected so speedy a catastrophe.
+                   He had even given orders to M. Real, to repair to
+                   Vincennes, to interrogate the Duke d'Enghien: but
+                   his trial and execution had been hastened by Murat;
+                   who, urged by some regicides, at the head of whom
+                   was M. Fou***, thought he should render a service
+                   to Napoleon, to his family, and to France, by
+                   insuring the death of a Bourbon.
+
+                   The Prince de T***, whom the Emperor often publicly
+                   reproached with having advised the seizure and
+                   death of the Duke d'Enghien, was directed to pacify
+                   the court of Baden, and to justify the violation of
+                   its territory in the eyes of Europe. M. de
+                   Caulincourt being at Strasbourg, the Emperor
+                   thought him more proper than any other person, to
+                   follow up a negotiation, if the turn of affairs
+                   should require it; and he was directed to send to
+                   the minister of Baden the despatch of the Prince de
+                   T***. But there was no need of having recourse to
+                   negotiations: the court, far from complaining of
+                   the violation of its territory, expressed itself
+                   well contented, that the step taken had saved it
+                   the disgrace of consenting, or the embarrassment of
+                   a refusal.
+
+                   This is an exact and true recital of the
+                   circumstances, that preceded, followed, and
+                   accompanied, the carrying off and death of the last
+                   of the house of Conde.
+
+                   The seizure of the Duke d'Enghien was long imputed
+                   to M. de Caulincourt, and is still imputed to him
+                   by persons uninformed of the truth.
+
+                   Some assert, that he arrested him with his own
+                   hands:
+
+                   Others, that he gave orders for the seizure of his
+                   person: both these imputations are equally false.
+
+                   He did not arrest the Duke d'Enghien, for his
+                   seizure was executed and consummated by chef
+                   d'escadron Ch***.
+
+                   Neither directly, nor indirectly, did he give
+                   orders for seizing the prince: for the particular
+                   mission, to carry him off, was confided to General
+                   Ord**, and this general had no orders to receive
+                   from M. de Caulincourt his equal, perhaps even his
+                   inferior.
+
+                   What made it be supposed, at a time when it was not
+                   possible to explain the facts, that M. de
+                   Caulincourt had been employed to seize the Duke
+                   d'Enghien, or cause him to be seized, was, that M.
+                   de Caulincourt received, at the same moment as
+                   General Ord**, orders to repair to Strasbourg, to
+                   cause the emigrants and English agents, who had
+                   fixed the seat of their intrigues at Offenbourg, to
+                   be carried off. But this mission, for which it
+                   would be requisite to take measures in concert with
+                   General Ord**, and perhaps even to assist him in
+                   case of need; for a simultaneous proceeding was
+                   necessary, that one expedition might not cause the
+                   failure of the other; this mission, I say, though
+                   analogous to that of General Ord**, had no real
+                   connexion with it.
+
+                   Their objects were different:
+
+                   That of one was to carry off the Duke d'Enghien
+                   from Ettenheim;
+
+                   That of the other, to seize the conspirators at
+                   Offenbourg, which was eight or ten leagues distant.
+
+                   Perhaps it will be objected, that M. de Caulincourt
+                   was not ignorant of General Ord**'s being directed,
+                   to seize the Duke d'Enghien. Be it so: I cannot
+                   perceive the consequence, attempted to be drawn
+                   from this. But what I have _seen_ in the cabinet,
+                   and what I attest, is, that the order given to M.
+                   de Caulincourt said nothing of Ettenheim, and that
+                   the name of the Duke d'Enghien was not even
+                   mentioned in it: it related solely, in the first
+                   place, to the construction of a flotilla, that was
+                   preparing on the Rhine; and, secondly, to the
+                   expedition of Offenbourg; an expedition that
+                   terminated, as no doubt is still remembered, in the
+                   laughable flight of the minister Drake and his
+                   agents.
+
+                   I have thought it my duty as a Frenchman and an
+                   historian, to enter into these details, and destroy
+                   for ever an error, which malevolence and the spirit
+                   of party have laid hold of, in order to tarnish the
+                   political life of one of the men, who do the
+                   greatest honour to the imperial government and to
+                   France.
+
+                   M. de Caulincourt would not have been less
+                   irreproachable, had he committed the fatal seizure
+                   ascribed to him: he would have done his duty, as
+                   General Ord** did his. A soldier is not the judge
+                   of the orders he is to execute. The great Conde,
+                   covered with the laurels of Rocroy, Fribourg,
+                   Norlinguen, and Lenz, was arrested, in spite of the
+                   faith pledged to him, in the apartments of the
+                   King; yet neither his contemporaries, nor
+                   posterity, have charged Marshal d'Albret with this
+                   arrest as a crime.]
+
+Will it be said, that Pichegru was strangled by his orders? The
+designs of Pichegru were so clearly substantiated, and the laws so
+clear, that he could not escape the scaffold: why, then, should he
+cause him to be murdered? The greatest criminals themselves do not
+commit useless crimes. Were apprehensions entertained of the
+disclosures he might make?... What could he disclose to the French
+people? That Napoleon aspired to the throne? Of this no one was
+ignorant.
+
+A man, that Napoleon had reason to dread, was Moreau: was his life
+attempted? Yet it was less dangerous, to assassinate him, than to send
+to a tribunal, where guilt presided, a warrior at that time so dear to
+France and to the army.
+
+No, Napoleon was not cruel, he was not sanguinary. If he were
+sometimes inexorable, it was because there are circumstances, in which
+the monarch must shut his heart to compassion, and leave the law free
+to act: but, if he knew how to punish, he was also capable of
+pardoning; and, at the moment when he gave up Georges[103] to the
+sword of justice, he spared the lives of Messrs. de Polignac and the
+Marquis de Riviere, whose courage and zeal he respected.
+
+                   [Footnote 103: I have been assured, that Georges
+                   was three times offered his pardon by Napoleon, if
+                   he would promise, not to engage in any conspiracy
+                   again; and that it was not till after his third
+                   refusal, that his sentence was ordered to be
+                   carried into execution.]
+
+The Emperor did not stop at the rigorous trial, to which he had
+delivered over the person of M. de Lascours: by a decree, dated the
+18th of March, and published the 9th of April, he ordered the
+condemnation, and the sequestration of the property of
+
+     The Prince of Benevento,
+     The Duke of Ragusa,
+     The Duke of Alberg,
+     The Abbe de Montesquiou,
+     The Count de Jaucourt,
+     The Count de Bournonville, and
+     The Sieurs Lynch,
+                Vitrolles,
+                Alexis de Noailles,
+                Bourienne,
+                Bellard,
+                La Roche-Jaquelin, and
+                Sostene de la Rochefoucault[104];
+
+                   [Footnote 104: Marshal Augereau, Duke de
+                   Castiglione, was also in this list. His name was
+                   struck out at the request of the duchess, and in
+                   consideration of the proclamation, which he
+                   published on the 23d of March.]
+
+All of whom, as members of the provisional government, or agents of
+the royal party, had concurred in the subversion of the imperial
+government, previous to the abdication of Napoleon.
+
+This decree, though supposed to have originated at Lyons, first saw
+the light at Paris; and was, as I have just said, the result of the
+ill humour, into which the plots of the royalists had thrown Napoleon.
+The terms, in which it was originally couched, too clearly attested
+its source: the first article said; "are declared traitors to their
+country, and shall be punished as such, &c."
+
+It was I, who wrote this decree, from the dictation of the Emperor.
+When I had finished it, he ordered me, to go and get it signed by
+Count Bertrand, who had countersigned the decrees of Lyons. I went to
+the marshal. He read the decree, and returned it to me, saying: "I
+will never sign it: this is not what the Emperor promised us; they who
+advise him, to take such measures, are his bitterest enemies; I will
+speak to him about it." I related this firm and courageous answer to
+Napoleon word for word. He ordered me, to return to the grand Marshal,
+to endeavour to overcome his repugnance, and, if he still persisted,
+to bring him to him. Count Bertrand instantly followed me, with head
+erect, into the Emperor's closet. "I am astonished," said Napoleon to
+him in a dry tone, "that you make such difficulties about it to me.
+The severity I wish to display is necessary for the good of the
+state."--"I do not think so, Sire."--"I do, I tell you: and it is my
+business alone to judge of it. I did not ask your advice, but your
+signature, which is only a matter of form, and cannot in any way
+compromise you."--"Sire, a minister, who countersigns the act of a
+sovereign, is morally responsible for that act; and I should think
+myself wanting in my duty to your Majesty, and perhaps to myself, if I
+were weak enough to set my hand to such measures. If your Majesty
+choose to reign by the laws, you have no right, arbitrarily to
+pronounce, by a simple decree, sentence of death, and forfeiture of
+property, against your subjects. If you choose to act as a dictator,
+and to have no law but your own will, you have no need of the addition
+of my signature. Your Majesty has declared, by your proclamations,
+that you would grant a general amnesty. I countersigned them most
+cordially; and I will not countersign the decree, that revokes
+them."--"But you well know, I always told you, that I never would
+pardon Marmont, Talleyrand, and Augereau; and that I promised only to
+overlook, what had passed since my abdication. I know better than you,
+what I ought to do, to keep my promises, and ensure the tranquillity
+of the state. I begun with being indulgent, even to weakness and the
+royalists, instead of appreciating my moderation, have abused it: they
+bestir themselves, they conspire, and I ought and will bring them to
+their senses. I would rather have my blows fall on traitors, than on
+men who are misled. Besides, all those who are on the list, Augereau
+excepted, are out of France, or in concealment. I shall not seek for
+them: my intention is to terrify them more than harm them. You see,
+therefore," continued the Emperor, softening his voice, "you have not
+rightly considered the business: sign this for me, my dear Bertrand:
+you must."--"I cannot, Sire. I request your Majesty's permission, to
+submit my observations to you in writing."--"All that, my dear sir,
+will make us lose time: you are startled, I assure you, without any
+reason; sign, I tell you; I request you, you will do me
+pleasure."--"Permit me, Sire, to wait, till your Majesty has seen my
+observations." The marshal went away. This noble resistance did not
+offend the Emperor: the language of truth and honour never displeased
+him, when it issued from a pure heart.
+
+General Bertrand delivered to Napoleon a statement of his reasons. It
+did not alter his resolution; it only determined him, to give it a
+legal form.
+
+The Emperor, persuaded that General Bertrand would equally retain his
+opinion, would not have this new decree presented to him, and it
+appeared without being countersigned.
+
+The effect it produced justified the apprehensions of the grand
+Marshal. It was considered as an act of despotism and vengeance; as
+the first infraction of the promises made to the nation. The murmurs
+of the public were echoed even within the walls of the imperial
+palace. Labedoyere, at a moment when Napoleon was passing by, said
+loud enough to be heard, "If the system of proscriptions and
+sequestrations begin again, all will soon be over."
+
+The Emperor, according to his custom on such occasions, affected to be
+perfectly satisfied with himself, and appeared no way apprehensive of
+the storm. Being at table with several personages and ladies of
+distinction belonging to the court, he asked the Countess Duchatel, if
+her husband, who was director-general of the domains, had executed the
+order for sequestrating the estates of Talleyrand and company. "There
+is no hurry for that," answered she drily. He made no reply, and
+changed the conversation.
+
+The persons about him are incessantly reproached, with having basely
+crouched to his will and opinions: this anecdote, and many others that
+I might relate, prove, that all of them at least did not deserve this
+reproach. But, supposing it to be just with regard to some, is it as
+easy, as is commonly thought, to overcome the will of a sovereign?
+
+From pride, and perhaps from a conviction of superiority, Napoleon did
+not readily endure counsel.
+
+In affairs of state, he imposed upon himself the law of consulting his
+counsellors, and his ministers. Endowed by nature with the faculty of
+knowing every thing, or of divining every thing, he almost always took
+an active part in the discussion: and I must say, to the honour of the
+Emperor, his ministers, and his counsellors, in common, an
+inexpressible degree of confidence, frankness, and independence,
+prevailed in these discussions, highly animated as for the most part
+they were. The Emperor, far from being shocked when any one
+contradicted him, endured, nay provoked contradiction and adopted
+without resistance the advice of his opponents, when he thought it
+preferable to his own opinion.
+
+When the question concerned those grand decisions, that influence the
+fate of empires, the case was different. He listened for a certain
+time to the objections of his ministers: but, when his attention had
+reached its bounds, he interrupted them, and supported his own opinion
+with so much fire, force, and perseverance, that he reduced them to
+silence.
+
+This silence was less the effect of their passive obedience to the
+intentions of the monarch, than the result of the lessons taught by
+experience. They had seen, that the most rash, the most
+incomprehensible, I had almost said the most senseless, enterprises of
+Napoleon were invariably crowned with success; and they were
+convinced, that reason could not contend against the inspirations of
+genius, and the favours of fortune.
+
+In fine, Napoleon often consulted only his own will; and his ministers
+then knew nothing of his resolves, till they received orders, to carry
+them into execution.
+
+Such was, and such always will be the situation of ministers, in a
+monarchy, where the Prince governs for himself; and more especially
+when this Prince, like Napoleon, owes his throne merely to the
+ascendancy of his genius and his sword.
+
+Besides, the time of flatterers and flattery was past with Napoleon.
+Every one was interested in telling him the truth, and no one was
+sparing of it to him.
+
+The security inspired by this rare and valuable veracity was
+strengthened by the arrival of Prince Joseph and Prince Lucien. The
+moderation of the one, and the patriotism of the other, were well
+known; and the care of maintaining the liberal and pacific intentions
+of the Emperor was laid on them both.
+
+Prince Lucien had been deeply afflicted in 1814 at the misfortunes of
+his brother, and was eager to offer him his fortune and his services.
+This, generous offer did not entirely efface from the heart of
+Napoleon the remembrance, of their ancient differences, but it
+softened the asperity of them; and it might be foreseen, that their
+enmity would not be eternal.
+
+As soon as Prince Lucien heard of the entry of Napoleon into Paris, he
+wrote him a letter of congratulation. "Your return," said he, "fills
+up the measure of your military glory. But there is another glory
+still greater, and above all more desirable, civil glory. The
+sentiments and intentions, which you have solemnly promulgated,
+promise France, that you know how to acquire it," &c.
+
+Prince Lucien, however, notwithstanding his desire of revisiting that
+country, the cause of which he pleaded, did not venture to approach
+it. But the invasion of the King of Naples having rendered his
+services necessary to the Sovereign Pontiff, the gratitude he owed to
+the Holy Father triumphed over his apprehensions. He departed under
+the title of secretary to the Pope's nuncio, and crossed the Alps
+without any obstacle. Arrived in the French territory, he wrote to
+Napoleon, to inform him of his mission, and to ask if his coming to
+Paris would be agreeable to him. Napoleon's first feeling was that of
+hesitating to receive him: his second, that of opening to him his
+arms. The intention of the Prince was to return quickly to Home,
+whither he was called by the concerns entrusted to him: but the
+interruption of the communications did not allow this. Obliged to
+return to Paris, he laid aside his incognito. His return was then
+publicly announced, and made an advantageous and agreeable impression
+on every mind.
+
+A few days before, the Emperor had made the acquisition of another
+personage; less illustrious, it is true, but equally renowned for his
+patriotism and intelligence: I mean M. Benjamin Constant.
+
+Napoleon, knowing the experience and reputation of this learned
+civilian, sent for him, to converse with him "on liberty and the
+constitution." Their conversation continued more than two hours. The
+Emperor, willing to attach M. Constant to his party, employed all his
+means of seduction; and I leave it to those Frenchmen, and those
+foreigners, who have had access to him, to say, whether it were
+possible to resist him.
+
+When he wished to fix any one in his train, he studied and penetrated
+with extreme sagacity his way of thinking, his principles, his
+character, his ruling passions; and then with that familiar grace,
+that affability, that force and vivacity of expression, which gave so
+much value and such a charm to his conversations[105], he insinuated
+himself imperceptibly into your heart, made himself master of your
+passions, gently excited them, and artfully flattered them: then,
+displaying at once the magic resources of his genius, he plunged you
+into intoxication, into admiration, and subdued you so rapidly, so
+completely, that it seemed the effect of enchantment.
+
+                   [Footnote 105: These conversations with persons,
+                   whose merit and opinion Napoleon esteemed, were
+                   always pleasing, instructive, interesting, always
+                   marked with strong thoughts, and bold, ingenious,
+                   or sublime expressions. With persons indifferent to
+                   him, or whose nullity he discerned, his phrases,
+                   scarcely begun, were never finished: his ideas
+                   turned only on insignificant, common-place matters,
+                   which, by way of amusing himself, he was apt to
+                   season with biting sarcasm, or jokes more whimsical
+                   than witty.
+
+                   This explains the contradictions between the
+                   different opinions given of Napoleon's
+                   understanding by foreigners introduced at his
+                   court.]
+
+Thus M. Benjamin Constant was subjugated: he arrived at the Tuileries
+with repugnance, he quitted the palace an enthusiast.
+
+The next day he was named counsellor of state: and this favour he owed
+to no base submissions, as his enemies have pretended, but to his
+learning, and to the desire the Emperor had of giving to public
+opinion, and to M. B. Constant himself, a pledge of his having
+forgotten the past; a pledge so much the more meritorious, as the
+Emperor, independently of the Philippic launched against him by this
+writer on the 19th of March, had besides before his eyes a letter in
+his own hand to M. de Blacas, the subject and expressions of which
+were of a nature, to inspire Napoleon with something more than
+aversion for its author.
+
+M. de Blacas had left in his boxes a great number of papers. The
+Emperor directed the Duke of Otranto to examine them. Of this he
+immediately repented, and sent for them again. Part fell to our share:
+the rest were delivered to the Duke of Vicenza. Their examination
+afforded nothing interesting. The Emperor, disappointed, accused M.
+Fouche of having removed the important papers. Those we inspected
+consisted only of private reports, and confidential and anonymous
+notes. The hatred of the revolution pervaded every line, every word.
+The writers did not dare to propose plainly the revocation of the
+Charter, and the abolition of the new institutions; but they declared
+without any circumlocution, that the dynasty of the Bourbons would
+never be secure with the existing laws; and that it was necessary, to
+distrust and get rid of the men of the revolution. More effectually to
+know and persecute these, M. de Blacas had caused to be disinterred
+from the archives of the cabinet, and of the ministers, the documents
+that might serve to make known their conduct ever since 1789, and he
+had directed biographical notices of each to be composed, which might
+easily have been taken for indictments drawn up by M. Bellart[106].
+
+                   [Footnote 106: Attorney-general to the king,
+                   employed on certain occasions, to prosecute
+                   political crimes and misdemeanors.]
+
+We found also a number of minutes of laws and ordinances, written by
+the hand of this minister, and attesting by their laborious
+corrections, how destitute he was of readiness and of imagination.
+Frequently he made three or four foul copies, before he could give any
+consistency or connection to his ideas. His familiar style was dry and
+turgid: if the style exhibit the man, how I pity M. de Blacas! He took
+extreme pains to vary, himself, the form of his appointments
+(_rendez-vous_): and the trouble he gave himself, to say the same
+thing in several different ways, wonderfully reminded us of the
+billet-doux of the Bourgeois Gentilhomme: "_Belle Marquise, vos beaux
+yeux me font mourir d'amour; d'amour mourir me font, belle Marquise,
+vos beaux yeux[107]._"
+
+                   [Footnote 107: "Beautiful Marchioness, your
+                   beautiful eyes make me die of love; of love make me
+                   die, beautiful Marchioness, your beautiful eyes."]
+
+In fine, we collected from the cabinet of this minister an ample
+collection of royal denunciations, petitions, justifications, and
+confessions, of those men, who, like Lockard, are always "the most
+humble servants of circumstances."
+
+These humble servants, when the Emperor returned from the island of
+Elba, did not fail to prostrate themselves before him anew. They
+assured him, after the example of a certain Marquis well known, that
+they had denied, insulted, calumniated him, only that they might
+remain faithful to him, without being suspected by the royal
+government: they conjured him, to grant them the happiness and glory
+of serving him; but he disdained their supplications, as he had
+disdained their insults: they gained nothing but his contempt. Always
+as devoid of shame as of faith, they were eager, immediately after the
+fall of Napoleon, to turn round anew, and carry back to the King their
+faded homage. Some, as M. the Count de M***, whose hands are still
+reeking with the blood of his assistants (_administres_), contrived,
+with the help of their lying fidelity, to surprise his easy
+confidence. Others, as M. F***, became in their writings the virulent
+persecutors of men, whose lot they had envied, and whose support they
+had begged. All arrogated to themselves exclusively the title of pure
+royalists: the title of honest men.... I know them ... the mask, with
+which they cover themselves, the honours, the dignities, with which
+they are invested, cannot disguise them to my eyes.... Shall I name
+them? And the Emperor is accused of despising mankind! ah, where is
+the sovereign, that can esteem them?
+
+
+END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Memoirs of the Private Life, Return,
+and Reign of Napoleon in 1815, Vol. I, by Pierre Antoine Edouard Fleury de Chaboulon
+
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