aced under
his command, and of which the corps of Romana formed part. The
postmaster was ordered to keep the letters until he received orders to
forward them to their destinations. Bernadotte considered this step
indispensable, to prevent the intrigues which he feared might be set on
foot in order to shake the fidelity of the Spaniards he commanded. I saw
from his despatch that he feared the plotting of Romanillos, who,
however, was not a person to cause much apprehension. Romanillos was as
commonplace a man as could well be conceived; and his speeches, as well
as his writings, were too innocent to create any influence on public
opinion.

In addition to the functions with which the Emperor at first invested me,
I had to discharge the duties of French Consul-General at Hamburg, and in
that character I was obliged to present to the Minister for Foreign
Affairs a very singular request, viz. that the judicial notifications,
which as Consul-General I had to make known to the people of Hamburg,
might be written in a more legible hand. Many of these notifications had
been disregarded on account of the impossibility of reading them: With
respect to one of them it was declared that it was impossible to discover
whether the writing was German, French, or Chinese.

I shall not record all the acts of spoliation committed by second-rate
ambitious aspirants who hoped to come in for their share in the division
of the Continent: The Emperor's lieutenants regarded Europe as a
twelfthcake, but none of them ventured to dispute the best bit with
Napoleon. Long would be the litany were I to enregister all the fraud
and treachery which they committed, either to augment their fortunes or
to win the favour of the chief who wished to have kings for his subjects.
The fact is, that all the Princes of Germany displayed the greatest
eagerness to range themselves under the protection of Napoleon, by,
joining the Confederation of the Rhine. I received from those Princes
several letters which served to prove at once the influence of Napoleon
in Germany and the facility with which men bend beneath the yoke of a new
power. I must say that among the emigrants who remained faithful to
their cause there were some who evinced more firmness of character than
the foreign Princes. I may mention, for example, M. Hue, the 'valet de
chambre' of Louis XVI. I do not intend to deny the high regard I
entertained for that faithful servant of the martyred King; but th