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be any mass at that ceremony was a long time agitated before and by the Emperor. Many thought it would give an air of ridicule to introduce it; but the Emperor decided in the affirmative, in order, as he said, to put an end to the cries of à bas la Calotte, à bas les prêtres, and to shew the nation that he did not approve such a spirit.

8. In page 36 of the second volume, the name of Count Flahaut, by a mistake, originating in the Moniteur, is put for that of Count Drouot.

9. The account of Malmaison being neglected when Napoleon accepted the crown, must only apply to his first reign, for during his last he frequently visited that country house, and took great delight in looking at those trees which he had himself planted. I must here mention, that although the relation given of the last days at Malmaison was communicated to me by a person who had just quitted the spot, yet I have received from another eye-witness a different story. He told me, that in his last visit there were no chamberlain, no courtiers attendant upon Napoleon, and only Count Labedoyere and another aide-de-camp, were habitual visitants. The number of impatient creditors was diminished, by the same authority, to two generals. And he informed me, that the Princess Hortense quitted the place half an hour before Napoleon got into

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his carriage; adding that the Emperor was exceedingly affected when he took leave of the aide-de-camp above alluded to, and embraced him four times on stepping into his carriage. may belong to this note to state, that perhaps I have not given the exact spirit of the words made use of by Napoleon, when he declared he would not destroy himself: the expression was this; " Quelque chose qui arrive, je n'avancerai pas la destinée d'une heure."

I take also this occasion of stating my firm opinion, founded on the best authority, that after his abdication he had no intention of recovering his power, and that whatever plot existed (if any did exist) to replace him, was concerted independently of him.

10. The name of General Bourmont is men

tioned in page 208. To what is said of his evidence against Ney, I beg to add the following anecdote. General Bourmont having quitted Marshal Ney at Lons le Saulnier, came to Paris and asked for employment: the answer given him by Marshal Davoust, then minister at war, was, "General, you must perform quarantine." Bourmont left the marshal, not much pleased with his reception; but went to Count Labedoyere, who took him to the Tuileries, answered for him to the Emperor, and obtained for him an audience, from which he departed with a

thousand protestations of his unshaken fidelity to the imperial cause.

In page 180, and the following pages, I have recorded what was my notion of Fouché's conduct, and have mentioned also the diversity of opinion on that subject. I regret that I have left it to this place to record a singular fact respecting that minister.-A personal friend and general of Napoleon's was, one day, a little before the departure of the Emperor for the army, talking to him in private, and undertook the defence of Fouché. Napoleon replied, "that he was a traitor, and that he would deprive him. of his place, and arrest him." His defender took up the cause warmly on every ground, both as to the difficulty of finding a successor, (for Savary would terrify even the aidede-camps) and as far as respected the outcries of the partisans of that minister, who would exclaim against Napoleon for dismissing a man who would not sign his ambitious decrees. "If you are victorious," said the general, "Fouché will serve you well-if you are beaten, you must not expect that any minister of police will be of any service to your cause. Napoleon desisted from his project of dismissing Fouché-but his adviser has since changed his opinion, and one day said to me, "I am now convinced that Fouché was a traitor, from the

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moment he found the war inevitable. His conduct in every event subsequent upon the abdication was always double. I know not whether it was possible to save the national cause, but of this I am sure, that Fouché and Davoust thought only of saving Fouché and Davoust."

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