[463] "Moreau, who had been at the dinner of the Legislative Body, and with whom Napoleon had there, for the first time, become acquainted, having learned from public report that a change was in preparation, assured Napoleon that he placed himself at his disposal, that he had no wish to be admitted into any secret, and that he required but one hour's notice to prepare himself. Macdonald, who happened then to be at Paris, had made the same tenders of service."—Gourgaud, tom. i., p. 77.
[464] Gourgaud, tom. i., p. 78. For some curious historical notes on the 18th Brumaire, furnished to Sir Walter Scott by a distinguished authority, and of which great, although unacknowledged, use has since been made by M. Bourrienne, see Appendix to this volume, [No. VIII].
[465] Afterwards Third Consul, Arch-Treasurer, and Duke of Placentia.
[466] Buonaparte afterwards made Cornet a member of the Conservative Senate and grand officer of the Legion of Honour. On the restoration of the Bourbons, he became a peer of France.—See his "Notice Historique," published in 1819.
[467] Gourgaud, tom. i., p. 78.
[468] "The messenger found the avenues filled with officers: Napoleon had the folding doors opened; and his house being too small to contain so many persons, he came forward on the steps in front of it, received the compliments of the officers, harangued them, and told them that he relied upon them all for the salvation of France. Enthusiasm was at its height: all the officers drew their swords, and promised their services and fidelity."—Gourgaud, tom. i., p. 80.
[469] Gourgaud, tom. i., p. 85.
[470] Lacretelle, tom. xiv., p. 413; Thiers, tom. x., p. 370; Montgaillard, tom. v., p. 264; Gourgaud, tom. i., p. 82.
[471] Lacretelle, tom. xiv., p. 415.
[472] "Then all at once concluding his harangue, in a calm tone he added, 'This state of things cannot last; it would lead us in three years to despotism.'"—Mad. de Staël, tom. ii., p. 224; Thiers, tom. x., p. 376; Montgaillard, tom. v., p. 265.