g to Wilna, where the emperor
Alexander then was. M. de Stackelberg, who behaved to me with that
noble delicacy which is so prominent a trait in his character, wrote
by this courier for my passport, and assured me that within three
weeks I might reckon on having an answer. It then became a question
where I was to pass these three weeks; my Austrian friends, who had
given me the most amiable reception, assured me that I might remain
at Vienna without the least fear. The court was then at Dresden, at
the great meeting of all the German princes, who came to present
their homage to the emperor of France. Napoleon had stopped at
Dresden under the pretext of still negociating there to avoid the
war with Russia, in other words, to obtain by his policy the same
result as he could by his arms. He would not at first admit the king
of Prussia to his banquet at Dresden; he knew too well what
repugnance the heart of that unfortunate monarch must have to what
he conceives himself obliged to do. It is said that M. de Metternich
obtained this humiliating favor for him. M. de Hardenberg, who
accompanied him, made the remark to the emperor Napoleon, that
Prussia had paid one third more than the promised contributions. The
emperor turning his back to him, replied: "An apothecary's bill,"--
for he has a secret pleasure in making use of vulgar expressions,
the more to humble those who are the objects of it. He assumed a
sufficient degree of coquetry in his way of living with the emperor
and empress of Austria as it was of importance to him that the
Austrian government should take an active part in his war with
Russia. In a conversation with M. de Metternich, I have been assured
that he said, "You see very well that I can never have the least
interest in diminishing the power of Austria, as it now exists; for,
first of all, it suits me that my father-in-law should be a prince
of great consideration: besides, I have more confidence in the old
than in the new dynasties. Has not General Bernadotte already taken
the side of making peace with England?" And in fact, the Prince
Royal of Sweden, as will be seen in the sequel, had courageously
declared himself for the interests of the country which he governed.

The emperor of France having left Dresden to review his armies, the
empress went to spend some time at Prague with her own family.
Napoleon himself, at his departure, regulated the etiquette that was
to subsist between the father and the dau