ssia. Fouche, like Talleyrand, had long been
suspected of playing not for Napoleon's, but for his own interest. A
certain independence of conduct and language which he had displayed in
raising the national guards to repel the Walcheren expedition had
awakened further suspicion in the Emperor's mind, and there had been
plain speaking between them. The minister of police, according to one
account, now declared that there were only two parties in
Europe--those who had gained and those who had lost by the Revolution;
that Russia belonged to the former, and was the true ally for the
French empire. It was believed that this argument was an endeavor to
regain the Emperor's favor, for the words have a Napoleonic ring. The
majority of the council, however, was under Maret's leadership, and
after a long, vague harangue from Talleyrand, in which he seemed to
concur with Maret, expressed itself in favor of Austria. From
immemorial times she had been the pivot of every Continental coalition
against France. She was now irritated, and must be soothed.

Napoleon's friends assert that he himself really favored the Russian
alliance, but looked on the request for delay as a covert refusal, and
considered himself the victim of circumstances. This is not probable,
for Maret was still his confidential man; at any rate, the Emperor
accepted the decision of the majority. Accordingly, a family council
was next called, and the matter was laid before them. There was no
doubt as to the conclusion: they declared for the Austrian marriage.
The formalities of arrangement were speedily concluded. Berthier, the
Prince of Neuchatel, was named ambassador extraordinary to marry the
Archduchess by proxy at Vienna, and the date was fixed for March
eleventh, 1810. The news was received at the Austrian capital with
jubilation. The populace had already lost much of its bitterness
against the French, for they had convinced themselves that in the last
war their own cabinet had been the aggressor. Stadion's resignation
was probably to many minds a confession of the fact, though in reality
it merely marked a change of policy. The French wounded were nursed by
the Viennese with tender care, and even under the lash many turned to
regard the strong hand which wielded it as probably the only power
able to restore peace and bring back its blessings. In judicious minds
the French alliance, even if not a high-spirited course, was popular
because it guaranteed Austria on