After the 13th of Vendemiaire M. de Bourrienne saw Bonaparte only at distant periods.  In the month of February 1796 my husband was arrested, at seven in the morning, by a party of men, armed with muskets, on the charge of being a returned emigrant.  He was torn from his wife and his child, only six months old, being barely allowed time to dress himself.  I followed him.  They conveyed him to the guard-house of the Section, and thence I know not whither; and, finally, in the evening, they placed him in the lockup-house of the prefecture of police, which, I believe, is now called the central bureau.  There he passed two nights and a day, among men of the lowest description, some of whom were even malefactors.  I and his friends ran about everywhere, trying to find somebody to rescue him, and, among the rest, Bonaparte was applied to.  It was with great difficulty he could be seen.  Accompanied by one of my husband’s friends, I waited for the commandant of Paris until midnight, but he did not come home.  Next morning I returned at an early hour, and found him.  I stated what had happened to my husband, whose life was then at stake.  He appeared to feel very little for the situation of his friend, but, however; determined to write to Merlin, the Minister of Justice.  I carried the letter according to its address, and met the Minister as he was coming downstairs, on his way to the Directory.  Being in grand costume, he wore a Henri iv. hat, surmounted with a multitude of plumes, a dress which formed a singular contrast with his person.  He opened the letter; and whether it was that he cared as little for the General as for the cause of M. do Bourrienne’s arrest, he replied that the matter was no longer in his hands, and that it was now under the cognisance of the public administrators of the laws.  The Minister then stepped into his carriage, and the writer was conducted to several offices in his hotel.  She passed through them with a broken heart, for she met with none but harsh men, who told her that the prisoner deserved death.  From them she learned that on the following day he would be brought before the judge of the peace for his Section, who would decide whether there was ground for putting him on his trial.  In fact, this proceeding took place next day.  He was conveyed to the house of the judge of the peace for the Section of Bondy, Rue Grange-sue-Belles, whose name was Lemaire.  His countenance was mild; and though his manner was cold, he had none of the harshness and ferocity common to the Government agents of that time.  His examination of the charge was long, and he several times shook his head.  The moment of decision had arrived, and everything seemed to indicate that the termination would be to place the prisoner under accusation.  At seven o’clock be desired me to be called.  I hastened to him, and beheld a most heart rending scene.  Bourrienne was suffering under a hemorrhage, which had continued since two o’clock, and had