The parade was very short that day; and as soon as it was ended, Generals Dorsenne and Larrey hastened to Madame Lichtenstein, and, describing to her the scene which had just taken place, made her most humble apologies, in the name of the Imperial Guard, and at the same time entreated her to intercede for the unfortunate fellow, who deserved blame, no doubt, but who was not himself when he wrote the offensive epistle.  “He repents bitterly, Madame,” said good M. Larrey; “he weeps over his fault, and bravely awaits his punishment, esteeming it a just reparation of the insult to you.  But he is one of the best officers of the army; he is beloved and esteemed; he has saved the life of thousands, and his distinguished talents are the only fortune his family possesses.  What will become of them if he is shot?”—­“Shot!” exclaimed the princess; “shot!  Bon-Dieu! would the matter be carried as far as that?” Then General Dorsenne described to her the Emperor’s resentment as incomparably deeper than her own; and the princess, much moved, immediately wrote the Emperor a letter, in which she expressed herself as grateful, and fully satisfied with the reparation which had already been made, and entreated him to pardon M. M——­

His Majesty read the letter, but made no reply.  The princess was again visited; and she had by this time become so much alarmed that she regretted exceedingly having shown the letter of M. M——­ to the general; and, having decided at any cost to obtain the surgeon’s pardon, she addressed a petition to the Emperor, which closed with this sentence, expressing angelic forgiveness:  “Sire, I am going to fall on my knees in my oratory, and will not rise until I have obtained from Heaven your Majesty’s pardon.”  The Emperor could no longer hold out; he granted the pardon, and M. M——­ was released after a month of close confinement.  M. Larrey was charged by his Majesty to reprove him most severely, with a caution to guard more carefully the honor of the corps to which he belonged; and the remonstrances of this excellent man were made in so paternal a manner that they doubled in M. M——­’s eyes the value of the inestimable service M. Larrey had rendered him.

M. le Baron Larrey was always most disinterested in his kind services, a fact which was well known and often abused.  General d’A——­, the son of a rich senator, had his shoulder broken by a shell at Wagram; and an exceedingly delicate operation was found necessary, requiring a skilled hand, and which M. Larrey alone could perform.  This operation was a complete success; but the wounded man had a delicate constitution, which had been much impaired, and consequently required the most incessant care and attention.  M. Larrey hardly ever left his bedside, and was assisted by two medical students, who watched by turns, and assisted him in dressing the wound.  The treatment was long and painful, but a complete cure was the result; and when almost entirely recovered, the general took leave of the Emperor to return to France.  A pension and decorations canceled the debt of the head of the state to him, but the manner in which he acquitted his own towards the man who had saved his life is worthy of consideration.