I mentioned at the close of the last chapter how the promptitude of M. de Champagny brought about the conclusion of the treaty known by the name of the Treaty of Schoenbrunn.  Under this the ancient edifice of the German Empire was overthrown, and Francis ii. of Germany became Francis I., Emperor of Austria.  He, however, could not say, like his namesake of France, ‘Tout est perdu fors l’honneur’; for honour was somewhat committed, even had nothing else been lost.  But the sacrifices Austria was compelled, to make were great.  The territories ceded to France were immediately united into a new general government, under the collective denomination of the Illyrian Provinces.  Napoleon thus became master of both sides of the Adriatic, by virtue of his twofold title of Emperor of France and King of Italy.  Austria, whose external commerce thus received a check, had no longer any direct communication with the sea.  The loss of Fiume, Trieste, and the sea-coast appeared so vast a sacrifice that it was impossible to look forward to the duration of a peace so dearly purchased.

The affair of Staps, perhaps, made Napoleon anxious to hurry away from Schoenbrunn, for he set off before he had ratified the preliminaries of the peace, announcing that he would ratify them at Munich.  He proceeded in great haste to Nymphenburg, where he was expected on a visit to the Court of Bavaria.  He next visited the King of Wurtemberg, whom he pronounced to be the cleverest sovereign in Europe, and at the end of October he arrived at Fontainebleau.  From thence he proceeded on horseback to Paris, and he rode so rapidly that only a single chasseur of his escort could keep up with him, and, attended by this one guard, he entered the court of the Tuileries.  While Napoleon was at Fontainebleau, before his return to Paris, Josephine for the first time heard the divorce mentioned; the idea had occurred to the Emperor’s mind while he was at Schoenbrunn.  It was also while at Fontainebleau that Napoleon appointed M. de Montalivet to be Minister of the Interior.  The letters which we received from Paris at this period brought intelligence of the brilliant state of the capital during the winter of 1809, and especially of the splendour of the Imperial Court, where the Emperor’s levees were attended by the Kings of Saxony, Bavaria, and Wurtemberg, all eager to evince their gratitude to the hero who had raised them to the sovereign rank.

I was the first person in Hamburg who received intelligence of Napoleon’s projected marriage with the Archduchess Maria Louisa.  The news was brought to me from Vienna by two estafettes.  It is impossible to describe the effect produced by the anticipation of this event throughout the north of Germany.