said he, "that I throw away my money? I am not
inclined to suffer myself to be plundered like
Henry IV; if they be not inclined to fight, let
them put on petticoats, and go and take an
airing."]

It has been asserted, that the Duke of Bassano, who had the temporary
charge of the port-folio of the home department, had sent orders to
M. Simeon, then royal prefect at Lille, to arrest the King. The Duke
of Bassano, indignant at such an odious charge, would not quit France,
without having refuted it. He proposed, to summon M. Simeon to declare
the truth; and his declaration would have been made public through the
means of the newspapers and the press, if the police had not opposed
it.

The King quitted Lille on the 23d of March. The Duke of Orleans, who
had attended his Majesty, and whom the King on his departure had
invested with the command of that place, did not quit it till
twenty-four hours after; when he addressed the following letter to
Marshal Mortier.

"I commit entirely to your hands, my dear Marshal, the command which I
was so happy as to exercise with you in the department of the North. I
am too good a Frenchman, to sacrifice the interests of France, because
fresh misfortunes compel me to quit it. I go to bury myself in
retirement and oblivion. The King being no longer in France, I cannot
issue orders in his name: and nothing remains for me, but to absolve
you from all obedience to the orders I have already transmitted to
you; requesting you, to do whatever your own excellent judgment, and
pure patriotism, shall suggest to you as most conducive to the
interests of France, and most agreeable to the duties you have to
fulfil."

The Emperor, after having read this letter, turned to the Duke of
Bassano, and said: "See what the Duke of Orleans writes to Mortier;
this letter does him honour. _His heart was always French._"

I then informed him, that I had been assured, that the Duke of
Orleans, when he parted from his officers, said to one of them,
Colonel Athalin: "Go, sir, resume the national cockade: I take a pride
in having worn it, and I wish I could wear it still." The Emperor
appeared struck with these words, and made no reply. A few minutes
after he asked me, if I had not a letter from Madame the Duchess of
Orleans. I delivered it to him: he read it, and said: "Let his mother
_be treated with the regard h