[7]. I have since learned that this watch, the faithful companion of his wonderful achievements during the Campaigns in Italy and Egypt, has passed into the hands of the Grand Marshal.—The Emperor complained that his watch did not go, or that it went ill; and we had in vain endeavoured to get it set to rights: when one day, looking at a watch which General Bertrand had just received from the Cape, he said: “I shall[“I shall] keep this and give you mine: it does not go now, but it struck two on the plateau of Rivoli, when I gave orders for the operations of the day.”
[8]. Time, which explains all things, has shewn the little springs which brought about one of our greatest catastrophes. I received the following particulars from one who acted a part in the events of the day:—
On hearing that Napoleon had arrived at the Elysée from Waterloo, Fouché flew to the dissatisfied and suspicious Members of the Chambers exclaiming, “To arms! He has returned desperate, and is about to dissolve the Chambers and seize the dictatorship. We cannot endure the restoration of tyranny.” He then hastened to the best friends of Napoleon. “Are you aware,” said he, “what a terrible fermentation has risen up against the Emperor among certain deputies? We can only save Napoleon by facing them boldly, by showing them the full power of our party, and how easily the Chambers may be dissolved.”
The friends of Napoleon, easily duped in this sudden crisis, failed not to follow, perhaps even to overstep, the suggestions of Fouché, who now returned to the distrustful party and said, “You[“You] see his best friends are agreed on this point: the danger is urgent: and in a few hours there will be no remedy. The Chambers will be no more, and we shall be very culpable in letting slip the only opportunity of opposing him.” Thus the permanence of the Chambers, the forced abdication of the Emperor, and the downfall of a great empire, were brought about by petty intrigue, by ante-chamber report and gossip. Ah, Fouché! how well the Emperor knew you, when he said, that your ugly foot was sure to be thrust into every body’s shoes.
[9]. Since my return to Europe, I have been assured that there exist two notes, written in pencil by the Emperor Alexander, urgently soliciting that he might be allowed to pass. If this be true, what a singular vicissitude of fortune presents itself! The magnanimous Conqueror was doomed to perish in captivity, far from Europe, and separated from his family; and this too, in the name of the conquered party, to whose prayers he had so generously listened.
[10]. On reading this reflection of Napoleon’s, an officer in the confidence of Admiral Villeneuve wrote to me that the letter of Decrès to that Admiral before the arrival of M. de Rosilly, appointed to supersede him, concluded thus;—"Sail as soon as you find a favourable opportunity: do not shun the enemy; on the contrary attack him wherever you fall in with him, since the Emperor cares little about losing ships, so he loses them with honour." This letter was the only one which the officer in question saved from the Admiral’s portfolio, before he threw it into the sea, at the moment of striking the flag.
[11]. I must however confess that my opinion is likely to be erroneous, if, as I have been informed, the statements of the registers in France, since the introduction of the equalization of punishments, when compared with those drawn up during a similar interval under the old penal laws, present a diminution in the number of criminals.
[12]. I was sorry to find, on perusing the Doctor’s work, that he has totally neglected the observations and corrections with which I furnished him; and has strangely misrepresented the particulars which I communicated.
[13]. This story is positively contradicted. It appears that a fondness for the marvellous produced this fable.
[14]. I have been assured that this circumstance is erroneous, and that relative to Prince Eugène inaccurate.