Memoirs of Napoleon, vol 14 | Page 8

re-establishment of the Bourbons, or of any Prince of that family on the
throne, even in case of the extinction of the imperial dynasty. Any such
proposal was formally interdicted to the Chambers or to the citizens, as
well as any of the following measures,.viz. the re-establishment of the
former, feudal nobility, of the feudal and seignorial rights, of tithes, of
any privileged and dominant religion, as well as of the power of
making any attack on the irrevocability of the sale of the national
goods.
Shortly after the return of Napoleon from Elba, believing it to be
impossible to make the Emperor of Austria consent to his wife's
rejoining him (and Maria Louisa had no inclination to a renewal of
conjugal intercourse), Napoleon had not been many days in Paris when
he concocted a plan for carrying off from Vienna both his wife and his
son: In this project force was no less necessary than stratagem. A
number of French of both sexes much devoted to the Emperor, who,
had given them rank and fortune, had accompanied Maria Louisa in
1814 from Paris to Blois and thence to Vienna. A correspondence was
opened with these persons, who embarked heart and soul in the plot;
they forged passports, procured- relays, of horses; and altogether
arranged matters so well that but a for a single individual--one who
revealed the whole project a few days previously to that fixed upon for
carrying it into effect--there is little room to doubt that the plan would
have succeeded, and that the daughter of Austria and the titular King of
home would have given such, prestige as their presence could give at
the Tuileries and he Champs-de- Mai. No sooner had the Emperor of
Austria discovered this plot, which, had it been successful, would have
placed him in a very awkward predicament, than he dismissed all the
French people about his daughter, compelled her to lay aside the
armorial bearings and liveries of Napoleon, and even to relinquish the

title of Empress of the French: No force, no art, no police could conceal
these things from the people of Paris; who, moreover, and at nearly the
same time; were made very uneasy by the failure of Murat's attempt in
Italy, which greatly increased the power and political influence of
Austria. Murat being disposed of, the Emperor Francis was enabled to
concentrate all his forces in Italy, and to hold them in readiness for the
re-invasion of France.
"Napoleon," says Lavallette, "had undoubtedly expected that the
Empress and his son would be restored to him; he had published his
wishes as a certainty, and to prevent it was, in fact, the worst injury the
Emperor of Austria could have done, him. His hope was, however,
soon destroyed.
"One evening I was summoned to the palace. I found the Emperor in a
dimly-lighted closet, warming himself in a corner of the fireplace, and
appearing to suffer already from the complaint which never afterwards
left him. 'Here is a letter,' he said, 'which the courier from Vienna says
is meant for you--read it.' On first casting my eyes on the letter I
thought I knew the handwriting, but as it was long I read it slowly, and
came at last to the principal object. The writer said that we ought not to
reckon upon the Empress, as she did not even attempt to conceal her
dislike of the Emperor, and was disposed to approve all the measures
that could be taken against him; that her return was not to be thought of,
as she herself would raise the greatest obstacles in the way of it; in case
it should be proposed; finally, that it was not possible for him to
dissemble his indignation that the Empress, wholly enamoured of ----,
did not even take pains to hide her ridiculous partiality for him. The
handwriting of the letter was disguised, yet not so much but that I was
able to discover whose it was. I found; however, in the manner in
which the secret was expressed a warmth of zeal and a picturesque
style that did not belong to the author of the letter. While reading it, I
all of a sudden suspected it was a counterfeit, and intended to mislead
the Emperor. I communicated ms idea to him, and the danger I
perceived in this fraud. As I grew more and more animated I found
plausible reasons enough to throw the Emperor himself into some
uncertainty. 'How is it possible,' I said, 'that ----- should have been

imprudent enough to write such things to me, who am not his friend,
and who have had so little connection with him? How can one suppose
that the Empress should forget herself, in such circumstances, so far as
to manifest aversion to you,