of the Coronation on the trade of Paris—­The insignia of Napoleon and the insignia of Charlemagne—­The Pope’s mule—­Anecdote of the notary Raguideau—­ Distribution of eagles in the Champ de Mars—­Remarkable coincidence.

England was never so much deceived by Bonaparte as during the period of the encampment at Boulogne.  The English really believed that an invasion was intended, and the Government exhausted itself in efforts for raising men and money to guard against the danger of being taken by surprise.  Such, indeed, is the advantage always possessed by the assailant.  He can choose the point on which he thinks it most convenient to act, while the party which stands on the defence, and is afraid of being attacked, is compelled to be prepared in every point.  However, Napoleon, who was then in the full vigour of his genius and activity, had always his eyes fixed on objects remote from those which surrounded him, and which seemed to absorb his whole attention.  Thus, during the journey of which I have spoken, the ostensible object of which was the organisation of the departments on the Rhine, he despatched two squadrons from Rochefort and Boulogne, one commanded by Missiessy, the other by Villeneuve—­I shall not enter into any details about those squadrons; I shall merely mention with respect to them that, while the Emperor was still in Belgium, Lauriston paid me a sudden and unexpected visit.  He was on his way to Toulon to take command of the troops which were to be embarked on Villeneuve’s squadron, and he was not much pleased with the service to which he had been appointed.

Lauriston’s visit was a piece of good fortune for me.  We were always on friendly terms, and I received much information from him, particularly with respect to the manner in which the Emperor spent his time.  “You can have no idea,” said he, “how much the Emperor does, and the sort of enthusiasm which his presence excites in the army.  But his anger at the contractors is greater than ever, and he has been very severe with some of them.”  These words of Lauriaton did not at all surprise me, for I well knew Napoleon’s dislike to contractors, and all men who had mercantile transactions with the army.  I have often heard him say that they were a curse and a leprosy to nations; that whatever power he might attain, he never would grant honours to any of them, and that of all aristocracies, theirs was to him the most insupportable.  After his accession to the Empire the contractors were no longer the important persons they had been under the Directory, or even during the two first years of the Consulate.  Bonaparte sometimes acted with them as he had before done with the Beya of Egypt, when he drew from them forced contributions.