The circumstances of the capture of Grenoble were not yet known when Fourier arrived at Lyons.  He brought thither the news of the rapid advance of Napoleon; that of the revolt of two companies of sappers, of a regiment of infantry, and of the regiment commanded by Labedoyere.  Moreover, he was a witness of the lively sympathy which the country people along the whole route displayed in favour of the proscribed exile of Elba.

The Count d’Artois gave a very cold reception to the Prefect and his communications.  He declared that the arrival of Napoleon at Grenoble was impossible; that no alarm need be apprehended respecting the disposition of the country people.  “As regards the facts,” said he to Fourier, “which would seem to have occurred in your presence at the very gates of the city, with respect to the tricoloured cockades substituted for the cockade of Henry IV., with respect to the eagles which you say have replaced the white flag, I do not suspect your good faith, but the uneasy state of your mind must have dazzled your eyes.  Prefect, return then without delay to Grenoble; you will answer for the city with your head.”

You see, Gentlemen, after having so long proclaimed the necessity of telling the truth to princes, moralists will act wisely by inviting princes to be good enough to listen to its language.

Fourier obeyed the order which had just been given him.  The wheels of his carriage had made only a few revolutions in the direction of Grenoble, when he was arrested by hussars, and conducted to the head-quarters at Bourgoin.  The Emperor, who was engaged in examining a large chart with a pair of compasses, said, upon seeing him enter:  “Well, Prefect, you also have declared war against me?”—­“Sire, my oath of allegiance made it my duty to do so!”—­“A duty you say? and do you not see that in Dauphiny nobody is of the same mind?  Do not imagine, however, that your plan of the campaign will frighten me much.  It only grieved me to see among my enemies an Egyptian, a man who had eaten along with me the bread of the bivouac, an old friend!”

It is painful to add that to those kind words succeeded these also:  “How, moreover, could you have forgotten, Monsieur Fourier, that I have made you what you are?”

You will regret with me, Gentlemen, that a timidity, which circumstances would otherwise easily explain, should have prevented our colleague from at once emphatically protesting against this confusion, which the powerful of the earth are constantly endeavouring to establish between the perishable bounties of which they are the dispensers, and the noble fruits of thought.  Fourier was Prefect and Baron by the favour of the Emperor; he was one of the glories of France by his own genius!

On the 9th of March, Napoleon, in a moment of anger, ordered Fourier, by a mandate, dated from Grenoble, to quit the territory of the seventh military division within five days, under pain of being arrested and treated as an enemy of the country! On the following day, our colleague departed from the Conference of Bourgoin, with the appointment of Prefect of the Rhone and the title of Count, for the Emperor after his return from Elba was again at his old practices.