be necessary.--"Speak plainly,"
said the Emperor to him: "it is my abdication they want, is it
not?"--"I believe so, Sire," replied M. Regnault: "painful as it is to
me, it is my duty, to open your Majesty's eyes to your true situation.
I will add, it is even possible, that, if your Majesty should not
resolve to offer your abdication of your own accord, the chamber would
venture to demand it."

Prince Lucien warmly replied: "I have already found myself placed in
circumstances of difficulty; and I have seen, that, the more important
the crisis, the greater the energy we ought to display. If the chamber
will not second the Emperor, he will dispense with its assistance. The
safety of our country ought to be the first law of the state; and
since the chamber does not appear disposed, to join the Emperor in
saving France, he must save it alone. He must declare himself
dictator, place France in a state of siege, and call to its defence
all the patriots, and all good Frenchmen."

Count Carnot declared, it appeared to him indispensable, that, during
this crisis, the Emperor should be invested with great and imposing
authority.

The Emperor then took up the discourse, and said: "The presence of the
enemy on their native land will, I hope, bring the deputies to a
sense of their duty. The nation did not send them to displace, but to
support me. I do not fear them. Let them do what they will, I shall
still be the idol of the people and of the army. Were I to say a
single word, they would be all knocked on the head. But, while I fear
nothing on my own account, I fear every thing for France. If we
quarrel, instead of preserving a good understanding with each other,
we shall experience the fate of the Lower Empire: all will be lost....
The patriotism of the nation, its hatred to the Bourbons, its
attachment to myself, offer us still immense resources: our cause is
not desperate."

He then, with admirable skill and strength of expression, passed
successively in review the means of repairing the disasters of Mont
St. Jean; and delineated with a bold pencil the innumerable
calamities, with which discord, the foreigners, and the Bourbons
threatened France. Every thing he said carried conviction to the minds
of his ministers; their opinions, hitherto divided, were tending to an
agreement; when the council was interrupted by a message from the
chamber of representatives, containing the following resolutions.

"The chamber of represen