surely it was a departure from ecclesiastical propriety to speak of sacred bonds and holy alliance when every one knew that those bonds and that alliance existed only by a civil contract.  Perhaps M. de Roquelaure merely had recourse to what casuists call a pious fraud in order to engage the married couple to do that which he congratulated them on having already done.  Be this as it may, it is certain that this honeyed language gained M. de Roquelaure the Consul’s favour, and in a short time after he was appointed to the second class of the Institute.

CHAPTER XXI.

1804.

The Temple—­The intrigues of Europe—­Prelude to the Continental system—­Bombardment of Granville—­My conversation with the First Consul on the projected invasion of England—­Fauche Borel—­Moreau and Pichegru—­Fouche’s manoeuvres—­The Abbe David and Lajolais—­ Fouche’s visit to St. Cloud—­Regnier outwitted by Fouche—­ My interview with the First Consul—­His indignation at the reports respecting Hortense—­Contradiction of these calumnies—­The brothers Faucher—­Their execution—­The First Consul’s levee—­My conversation with Duroc—­Conspiracy of Georges, Moreau, and Pichegru—­Moreau averse to the restoration of the Bourbons—­Bouvet de Lozier’s attempted suicide—­Arrest of Moreau—­Declaration of mm. de Polignac and de Riviere—­Connivance of the police—­Arrest of M. Carbonnet and his nephew.

The time was passed when Bonaparte, just raised to the Consulate, only proceeded to the Temple to release the victims of the “Loi des suspects” by his sole and immediate authority.  This state prison was now to be filled by the orders of his police.  All the intrigues of Europe were in motion.  Emissaries came daily from England, who, if they could not penetrate into the interior of France, remained in the towns near the frontiers, where they established correspondence, and published pamphlets, which they sent to Paris by post, in the form of letters.

The First Consul, on the other hand, gave way, without reserve, to the natural irritation which that power had excited by her declaration of war.  He knew that the most effective war he could carry on against England would be a war against her trade.

As a prelude to that piece of madness, known by the name of the Continental system, the First Consul adopted every possible preventive measure against the introduction of English merchandise.  Bonaparte’s irritation against the English was not without a cause.  The intelligence which reached Paris from the north of France was not very consolatory.  The English fleets not only blockaded the French ports, but were acting on the offensive, and had bombarded Granville.  The mayor of the town did his duty, but his colleagues, more prudent, acted differently.  In the height of his displeasure Bonaparte issued a decree, by which he bestowed a scarf of honour on Letourneur, the mayor, and dismissed his colleagues from office as cowards unworthy of trust.  The terms of this decree were rather severe, but they were certainly justified by the conduct of those who had abandoned their posts at a critical moment.