e
was absolutely essential there, not only to check those who, although
ostensibly his supporters, were in reality his deadly foes, but also
for the warlike preparations to meet the storm which was about to
burst. His secretary has asserted that the letters which reached him
at Astorga contained all this disquieting news, and there is
absolutely no proof that they did not. The probability is all on the
side of the account which was universally accepted until attacked by
the group of over-credulous French historians whose zeal for the
Revolution is such that they feel bound to deny every statement of the
equally biased school of Napoleonic advocates.

[Illustration: From the collection of W. C. Crane. Engraved by S. W.
Reynolds.

JOSEPH BONAPARTE.

Painted by J. Goubaud, January 30, 1831, Point-Breeze, U. S. A.]

Moreover, it was from Spain that the Emperor warned the princes
composing the Confederation of the Rhine to have their contingents
ready. His language is guarded--whether the cabinet of Vienna had
drunk from the waters of Lethe or from those of the Danube, he
himself would be ready. Besides, his actions could have but one
meaning. The moment he reached Paris, significant looks and conduct
warned Talleyrand to beware. "Is Joseph," the Emperor said, in an
interview with Roederer, "to talk like an Englishman or behave like
Talleyrand? I have covered this man with honors, riches, and diamonds;
he has used them all against me. At the first opportunity he had, he
has betrayed me as much as he could. He has declared during my absence
that he kneeled in supplication to prevent my enterprise in Spain; for
two years he tormented me to undertake it.... It was the same with
regard to Enghien. I did not even know him; it was Talleyrand who
brought him to my notice. I did not know where he was; it was
Talleyrand who told me the spot, and after having advised the
execution he has groaned over it with every acquaintance."

At the same time the columns of the "Moniteur" were filled with
half-true accounts of the Emperor's success in Spain, and the French
people knew everything that was favorable; but there was a complete
suppression of all the rest. As Austria desired war to secure her
subsidies from England, so France was again in need of funds which her
own resources could not provide. Because of the failure to paralyze
Spain by a single blow, Napoleon had, for the first time in his
history, returned after a "successful