the torture, as well as two other conspirators, (one of
whom, named Picot, shewed his mutilated hands at the tribunal), and
that they dared not expose to the eyes of the French people one of
its old defenders subjected to the torture of slaves. I give no
credit to this conjecture; we must always, in the actions of
Bonaparte, look for the calculation which has dictated them, and we
shall find none in this latter supposition: while it is, perhaps,
true, that the appearance of Moreau and Pichegru together at the bar
of a tribunal would have inflamed public opinion to its highest
pitch. Already the crowd in the tribunes was immense; several
officers, at the head of whom was a loyal man, General Lecourbe,
exhibited the most lively and courageous interest for General
Moreau. When he repaired to the tribunal, the gendarmes who guarded
him always respectfully presented arms to him. Already it had begun
to be felt that honor was on the side of the persecuted; but
Bonaparte, by his all at once making himself be declared emperor,
in the midst of this fermentation, entirely diverted mens' minds by
this new perspective, and concealed his progress better in the midst
of the storm by which he was surrounded, than he could have done in
the calm.

General Moreau pronounced before the tribunal one of the best
speeches which history presents to us; he recalled, with perfect
modesty, the battles which he had gained since Bonaparte governed
France; he excused himself for having frequently expressed himself,
perhaps with too much freedom, and contrasted in an indirect manner
the character of a Breton with that of a Corsican; in short, he
exhibited at Once a great deal of mind, and the most perfect
presence of mind, at a moment so critical. Regnier at that time
united the ministry of police with that of justice, in the room of
Fouchc, who had been disgraced. He repaired to Saint Cloud on
leaving the tribunal. The emperor asked him what sort of speech
Moreau had made: "Contemptible," said he. "In that case," said the
emperor, "let it be printed, and distributed all over Paris." When
Bonaparte found afterwards how much his minister had been mistaken,
he returned at last to Fouche, the only man who could really second
him, from his carrying, unfortunately for the world, a sort of
skilful moderation into a system that had no limits.

An old jacobin, one of Bonaparte's condemned spirits, was employed
to speak to the judges, to induce them to co