This is all I recollect of my, conversations with Fouche at Pont-Carre.  I returned to Paris to make preparations for my journey to Hamburg.

CHAPTER XXXII.

1805.

Capitulation of Sublingen—­Preparations for war—­Utility of commercial information—­My instructions—­Inspection of the emigrants and the journals—­A pamphlet by Kotzebue—­Offers from the Emperor of Russia to Moreau—­Portrait of Gustavus Adolphus by one of his ministers—­Fouche’s denunciations—­Duels at Hamburg—­M. de Gimel —­The Hamburg Correspondent—­Letter from Bernadotte.

I left Paris on the 20th of May 1805.  On the 5th of June following I delivered my credentials to the Senate of Hamburg, which was represented by the Syndic Doormann and the Senator Schutte.  M. Reinhart, my predecessor, left Hamburg on the 12th of June.

The reigning Dukes of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Brunswick, to whom I had announced my arrival as accredited Minister to them, wrote me letters recognising me in that character.  General Walmoden had just signed the capitulation of Sublingen with Marshal Mortier, who had the command in Hanover.  The English Government refused to ratify this, because it stipulated that the troops should be prisoners of war.  Bonaparte had two motives for relaxing this hard condition.  He wished to keep Hanover as a compensation for Malta, and to assure the means of embarrassing and attacking Prussia, which he now began to distrust.  By advancing upon Prussia he would secure his left, so that when convenient he might march northward.  Mortier, therefore, received orders to reduce the conditions of the capitulation to the surrender of the arms, baggage, artillery, and horses.  England, which was making great efforts to resist the invasion with which she thought herself threatened, expended considerable sums for the transport of the troops from Hanover to England.  Her precipitation was indescribable, and she paid the most exorbitant charges for the hire of ships.  Several houses in Hamburg made fortunes on this occasion.  Experience has long since proved that it is not at their source that secret transactions are most readily known.  The intelligence of an event frequently resounds at a distance, while the event itself is almost entirely unknown in the place of its occurrence.  The direct influence of political events on commercial speculations renders merchants exceedingly attentive to what is going on.  All who are engaged in commercial pursuits form a corporation united by the strongest of all bonds, common interest; and commercial correspondence frequently presents a fertile field for observation, and affords much valuable information, which often escapes the inquiries of Government agents.