"I have no army left," he said; "I have nothing but fugitives. The majority of the Chamber of Deputies are good; I have only La Fayette, Lanjuinais and a few others against me. If the nation rises, the enemy will be crushed; if, instead of rising, they quarrel, all will be lost. The nation has not sent deputies to overthrow me, but to support me. I am not afraid of them, whatever they may do; I shall always be the idol of the people and the army: if I were to say a word, they would be beaten to death. But if we quarrel, instead of acting in concert, we shall meet with the fate of the Lower Empire."
His second abdication.
A deputation from the Chamber of Representatives having come to congratulate him on his new abdication, he replied:
"I thank you: I wish that my abdication may bring happiness to France; but I am not hopeful."
He repented soon after, when he heard that the Chamber of Representatives had appointed a Commission of Government composed of five members. He said to the ministers:
"I have not abdicated in favour of a new Directory; I have abdicated in favour of my son: if they do not proclaim him, my abdication is null and void. It is not by appearing before the Allies with hang-dog looks and bent knee that the Chambers will force them to recognise the national independence."
He complained that La Fayette, Sébastian[336], Pontécoulant[337], Benjamin Constant had conspired against him, that, besides, the Chambers had not enough energy. He said that he alone could repair all, but that the leaders would never consent, that they would rather be swallowed up in the abyss than unite with him, Napoleon, to close it.
On the 27th of June, at the Malmaison, he wrote this sublime letter:
"In abdicating the power, I did not renounce the citizen's noblest right, the right of defending my country. In these grave circumstances, I offer my services as a general, regarding myself still as the first soldier of the mother-land."
The Duc de Bassano having represented to him that the Chambers would not be for him: