On 22d February 1802 a person of the name of Doublet, who was the commissary of the French Government at Malta when we possessed that island, called upon me at the Tuileries.  He complained bitterly that the letter which he had written from Malta to the First Consul on the 2d Ventose, year VIII. (9th February 1800), had been altered in the ‘Moniteur’.  “I congratulated him,” said M. Doublet, “on the 18th Brumaire, and informed him of the state of Malta, which was very alarming.  Quite the contrary was printed in the ‘Moniteur’, and that is what I complain of.  It placed me in a very disagreeable situation at Malta, where I was accused of having concealed the real situation of the island, in which I was discharging a public function that gave weight to my words.”  I observed to him that as I was not the editor of the ‘Moniteur’ it was of no use to apply to me; but I told him to give me a copy of the letter, and I would mention the subject to the First Consul, and communicate the answer to him.  Doublet searched his pocket for the letter, but could not find it.  He said he would send a copy, and begged me to discover how the error originated.  On the same day he sent me the copy of the letter, in which, after congratulating Bonaparte on his return, the following passage occurs:—­“Hasten to save Malta with men and provisions:  no time is to be lost.”  For this passage these words were substituted in the ‘Moniteur’:  “His name inspires the brave defenders of Malta with fresh courage; we have men and provisions.”

Ignorant of the motives of so strange a perversion, I showed this letter to the First Consul.  He shrugged up his shoulders and said, laughing, “Take no notice of him, he is a fool; give yourself no further trouble about it.”

It was clear there was nothing more to be done.  It was, however, in despite of me that M. Doublet was played this ill turn.  I represented to the First Consul the inconveniences which M. Doublet might experience from this affair.  But I very rarely saw letters or reports published as they were received.  I can easily understand how particular motives might be alleged in order to justify such falsifications; for, when the path of candour and good faith is departed from, any pretest is put forward to excuse bad conduct.  What sort of a history would he write who should consult only the pages of the ‘Moniteur’?

After the vote for adding a second ten years to the duration of Bonaparte’s Consulship he created, on the 19th of May, the order of the Legion of Honour.  This institution was soon followed by that of the new nobility.  Thus, in a short space of time, the Concordat to tranquillize consciences and re-establish harmony in the Church; the decree to recall the emigrants; the continuance of the Consular power for ten years, by way of preparation for the Consulship for life, and the possession of the Empire; and the creation, in a country which had abolished all distinctions, of an order which was to engender prodigies, followed closely on the heels of each other.  The Bourbons, in reviving the abolished orders, were wise enough to preserve along with them the Legion of Honour.