Transcriber's note: Obvious printer's errors have been corrected, allother inconsistencies are as in the original. The author's spellinghas been maintained.
Words are missing at the end of page 265 / start of page 266.
Ingrata patria, ne ossa quidem habes. Scipio.
Ex-Secretary of the Emperor Napoleon and of his Cabinets, Master of Requests to the Council of State, Baron, Officer of the Legion of Honour, and Knight of the Order of Reunion.
VOL. II.
LONDON:
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET.
1820.
At the same period (May the 1st) the Emperor received a fresh proof ofthe little confidence, that men deserve, and of the horrible facility,with which they sacrifice their duties and their sentiments, to thesuggestions of their covetousness or their ambition.
Of all the ministers of Napoleon there was not one, who, at the timeof his return, lavished on him so many protestations of fidelity anddevotion to his service, as the Duke of Otranto. "And this fidelity,if he could have doubted it, would have been guarantied by themandate, under which he (M. Fouché) groaned, at the moment when thereturn of Napoleon restored him to liberty, and perhaps to life[1]."
(p. 002) Yet what was the astonishment of the Emperor, when the Dukeof Vicenza came to inform him, that a secret agent of M. de Metternichhad arrived at Paris from Vienna, and appeared to have had amysterious interview with M. Fouché! The Emperor immediately orderedM. Réal, prefect of the police, to make search after this emissary. Hewas arrested, and declared:
That, being employed by a banking-house at Vienna, to settle accountsof interest with several bankers at Paris, he had been sent for by M.de Metternich; and that this prince had entrusted him with a letterfor the French minister of police:
That he was ignorant of the contents of this letter; but knew it wasinterlined with sympathetic ink: and the prince had delivered to him apowder for making the hidden characters appear:
That Baron de Werner, diplomatic agent, was to be at Bâle on the 1stof May, to receive the answer of the Duke of Otranto:
That a fictitious statement of an account had been given him, whichwas to serve as a sign, to make known to M. Werner the agent sent bythe French minister:
In fine, that he had delivered the letter and (p. 003) the account tothe Duke of Otranto, who had told him, to attend quickly to hisbusiness, and return to Vienna as soon as possible.
The Emperor immediately sent for M. Fouché, under pretence ofconversing with him on affairs of state.
M. Fouché preserved the most profound silence on what had passed withthe envoy of M. de Metternich, and displayed no marks of embarrassmentor uneasiness.
The first thought of Napoleon was, to seize the papers of histreacherous minister: but persuaded, that he was too adroit, and tooprudent, to retain any traces of his treason, he deemed it preferable,in order to come at the truth, to send some one to Bâle, who shouldintroduce himself to M. Werner as from the Duke. Napoleon attachedgreat importance to