eign
powers. They will be aware, that I return to the field, to conquer or
die: and, to get rid of me, they will grant all you ask. If, on the
contrary, you leave me to gnaw my sword here; they will laugh at you,
and you will be forced to receive Louis XVIII. _cap in hand_. We must
come to a close: if your five Emperors will not have me, to save France,
I must dispense with their consent. It will be sufficient for me, to
show myself, and Paris and the army will receive me a second time, as
their deliverer."--"I do not doubt it, Sire," answered M. de Bassano:
"but the chamber will declare against you: perhaps it will even venture,
to declare you outlawed. On the other hand, Sire, if fortune should not
prove favourable to your efforts; if the army, after performing
prodigies of valour, should be overpowered by numbers; what will become
of France? what will become of your Majesty? The enemy will be justified
in abusing their victory; and perhaps your Majesty would have to
reproach yourself with having caused the ruin of France for
ever."--"Come, I see, I must always give way." The Emperor remained some
minutes, without uttering another word. He then said: "You are right: I
ought not to take upon myself the responsibility of so great an event.
I ought to wait, till the voice of the people, of the soldiers, of the
chambers recall me. But how is it, that Paris does not call for me? Do
not the people then perceive, that the allies give you no credit for my
abdication?"--"Sire, so much uncertainty pervades their minds, that they
cannot come to an understanding with each other. If they were fully
convinced, that it is the intention of the allies, to restore Louis
XVIII., perhaps they would not hesitate to speak out; but they entertain
hopes, that the allies will keep their promises."--"That infamous Fouche
deceives you. The committee suffers itself, to be led by him. It will
have severe reproaches to make itself. There is nobody in it worth any
thing, except Caulincourt and Carnot: and they are badly fitted with
associates. What can they do with a traitor, a couple of blockheads[74],
and two chambers, that do not know what they would be at? You all
believe, like innocents, the fine promises of the foreign powers. You
believe, that they will give you a fowl in the pot, and a prince of
your own liking, do you not? You deceive yourselves. Alexander, in spite
of his magnanimous sentiments, suffers himself to be influenced by the
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