By a singular coincidence, while on the 2d of December 1804 Bonaparte was receiving from the head of the Church the Imperial crown of France, Louis XVIII., who was then at Colmar, prompted as it were by an inexplicable presentiment, drew up and signed a declaration to the French people, in which he declared that he then, swore never to break the sacred bond which united his destiny to theirs, never to renounce the inheritance of his ancestors, or to relinquish his rights.

CHAPTER XXX.

1805

My appointment as Minister Plenipotentiary at Hamburg—­My interview with Bonaparte at Malmaison—­Bonaparte’s designs respecting Italy—­ His wish to revisit Brienne—­Instructions for my residence in Hamburg—­Regeneration of European society—­Bonaparte’s plan of making himself the oldest sovereign in Europe—­Amedee Jaubert’s mission—­Commission from the Emperor to the Empress—­My conversation with Madame Bonaparte.

I must now mention an event which concerns myself personally, namely, my appointment as Minister Plenipotentiary, to the Dukes of Brunswick and Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and to the Hanse towns.

This appointment took place on the 22d of March 1806.  Josephine, who had kindly promised to apprise me of what the Emperor intended to do for me, as soon as she herself should know his intentions, sent a messenger to acquaint me with my appointment, and to tell me that the Emperor wished to see me.  I had not visited Josephine since her departure for Belgium.  The pomp and ceremonies of the Coronation had, I may say, dazzled me, and deterred me from presenting myself at the Imperial Palace, where I should have been annoyed by the etiquette which had been observed since the Coronation.  I cannot describe what a disagreeable impression this parade always produced on me.  I could not all at once forget the time when I used without ceremony to go into Bonaparte’s chamber and wake him at the appointed hour.  As to Bonaparte I had not seen him since he sent for me after the condemnation of Georges, when I saw that my candour relative to Moreau was not displeasing to him.  Moreau had since quitted France without Napoleon’s subjecting him to the application of the odious law which has only been repealed since the return of the Bourbons, and by virtue of which he was condemned to the confiscation of his property.  Moreau sold his estate of Gros Bois to Bertlier, and proceeded to Cadiz, whence he embarked for America.  I shall not again have occasion to speak of him until the period of the intrigues into which he was drawn by the same influence which ruined him in France.

On the evening of the day when I received the kind message from Josephine I had an official invitation to proceed the next day to Malmaison, where the Emperor then was.  I was much pleased at the idea of seeing him there rather than at the Tuileries, or even at St. Cloud.  Our former intimacy at Malmaison made me feel more at my ease respecting an interview of which my knowledge of Bonaparte’s character led me to entertain some apprehension.  Was I to be received by my old comrade of Brienne, or by His Imperial Majesty?  I was received by my old college companion.