The victor did not repulse the idea of a Regency so absolutely, and the faithful Minister at once hurried to Fontainebleau to persuade his master to abdicate in favour of his son.  Napoleon repulsed the offer with disdain:  rather than that, he would once more try the hazards of war.  He knew that the Old and the Young Guard, still nearly 9,000 strong in all, burned to revenge the insult to French pride; and at the close of a review held on the 3rd in the great court of the palace, they shouted, “To Paris!” and swore to bury themselves under its ruins.  It needed not the acclaim of his veterans to prompt him to the like resolve.  When, on April 1st, he received a Verbal Note from Alexander, stating that the allies would no longer treat with him, except on his private and family concerns, he exclaimed to Marmont, at the line of the Essonne, that he must fight, for it was a necessity of his position.  He also proposed to that Marshal to cross the Seine and attack the allies, forgetting that the Marne, with its bridges held by them, was in the way.  Marmont, endowed with a keen and sardonic intelligence, had already seen that his master was more and more the victim of illusions, never crediting the existence of difficulties that he did not actually witness.  And when, on the 3rd, or perhaps earlier, offers came from the royalists, the Marshal promised to help them in the way that will shortly appear.

Napoleon’s last overtures to the Czar came late on the following day.  On that morning he had a long and heated discussion with Berthier, Ney, Oudinot, and Lefebvre.  Caulaincourt and Maret were present as peacemakers.  The Marshals upbraided Napoleon with the folly of marching on Paris.  Angered by their words Napoleon at last said:  “The army will obey me.”  “No,” retorted Ney, “it will obey its commanders.”

Macdonald, who had just arrived with his weary corps, took up their case with his usual frankness.  “Our horses,” he said, “can go no further:  we have not enough ammunition for one skirmish, and no means of procuring more.  If we fail, as we probably shall, the whole of France will be destroyed.  We can still impose on the enemy:  let us retain our attitude....  We have had enough of war without kindling civil war.”  Finally the Emperor gave way, and drew up a declaration couched in these terms:  “The allied Powers having proclaimed that the Emperor Napoleon was the sole obstacle to the re-establishment of peace in Europe, the Emperor Napoleon, faithful to his oaths, declares that he is ready to descend from the throne, to leave France, and even give up his life, for the good of the fatherland, inseparable from the rights of his son, of those of the regency of the Empress and of the maintenance of the laws of the Empire."[449]

A careful reading of this document will show that it was not an act of abdication, but merely a conditional offer to abdicate, which would satisfy those undiplomatic soldiers and gain time.  Macdonald also relates that, after drawing it up, the Emperor threw himself on the sofa, struck his thigh, and said:  “Nonsense, gentlemen! let us leave all that alone and march to-morrow, we shall beat them.”  But they held him to his promise; and Caulaincourt, Ney, and Macdonald straightway proceeding to Paris, beset the Czar with many entreaties and some threats to recognize the Regency.