Fawkener, have informed me of the very gracious manner in which your
Imperial Majesty, and, after your example, the Archduke and Archduchess,
have condescended to accept my humble endeavors in the service of that
cause which connects the rights and duties of sovereigns with the true
interest and happiness of their people.

If, confiding in titles derived from your own goodness, I venture to
address directly to your Imperial Majesty the expressions of my
gratitude for so distinguished an honor, I hope it will not be thought a
presumptuous intrusion. I hope, too, that the willing homage I pay to
the high and ruling virtues which distinguish your Imperial Majesty, and
which form the felicity of so large a part of the world, will not be
looked upon as the language of adulation to power and greatness. In my
humble situation, I can behold majesty in its splendor without being
dazzled, and I am capable of respecting it in its fall.

It is, Madam, from my strong sense of what is due to dignity in
undeserved misfortune, that I am led to felicitate your Imperial Majesty
on the use you have lately made of your power. The princes and nobility
of France, who from honor and duty, from blood and from principle, are
attached to that unhappy crown, have experienced your favor and
countenance; and there is no doubt that they will finally enjoy the full
benefit of your protection. The generosity of your Imperial Majesty has
induced you to take an interest in their cause; and your sagacity has
made you perceive that in the case of the sovereign of France the cause
of all sovereigns is tried,--that in the case of its church, the cause
of all churches,--and that in the case of its nobility is tried the
cause of all the respectable orders of all society, and even of society
itself.

Your Imperial Majesty has sent your minister to reside where the crown
of France, in this disastrous eclipse of royalty, can alone truly and
freely be represented, that is, in its royal blood,--where alone the
nation can be represented, that is, in its natural and inherent dignity.
A throne cannot be represented by a prison. The honor of a nation cannot
be represented by an assembly which disgraces and degrades it: at
Coblentz only the king and the nation of France are to be found.

Your Imperial Majesty, who reigns and lives for glory, has nobly and
wisely disdained to associate your crown with a faction which has for
its object the subversion of all thrones.