f insatiable ambition. In fact,
Napoleon longed to obtain possession of the Hanse Towns. I was, however,
in the first place, merely charged to make overtures to the Senates of
each of these towns, and to point out the advantages they would derive
from the protection of Napoleon in exchange for the small sacrifice of
6,000,000 francs in his favour. I had on this subject numerous
conferences with the magistrates: they thought the sum too great,
representing, to me that the city was not so rich as formerly, because
their commerce had been much curtailed by the war; in short, the Senate
declared that, with the utmost goodwill, their circumstances would not
permit them to accept the "generous proposal" of the Emperor.

I was myself, indeed, at a loss to conceive how the absurdity of
employing me to make such a proposition was overlooked, for I had, really
no advantage to offer in return to the Hanse Towns. Against whom did
Bonaparte propose to protect them? The truth is, Napoleon then wished to
seize these towns by direct aggression, which, however, he was not able
to accomplish until four years afterwards.

During five years I witnessed the commercial importance of these cities,
and especially of Hamburg. Its geographical situation, on a great river
navigable by large vessels to the city, thirty leagues from the mouth of
the Elbe; the complete independence it enjoyed; its municipal regulations
and paternal government, were a few amongst the many causes which had
raised Hamburg to its enviable height of prosperity. What, in fact, was
the population of these remnants of the grand Hanseatic League of the
Middle Ages? The population of Hamburg when I was there amounted to
90,000, and that of its small surrounding territory to 25,000. Bremen
had 36,000 inhabitants, and 9000 in its territory; the city of Lubeck,
which is smaller and its territory a little more extensive than that of
Bremen, contained a population of 24,000 souls within and 16,000 without
the walls. Thus the total population of the Hanse Towns amounted to only
200,000 individuals; and yet this handful of men carried on an extensive
commerce, and their ships ploughed every sea, from the shores of India to
the frozen regions of Greenland.

The Emperor arrived at Paris towards the end of January 1806. Having
created kings in Germany he deemed the moment favourable for surrounding
his throne with new princes. It was at this period that he created
Murat, Grand Duke o