sculptured marble with which the glory of Turenne could so well dispense.  This was however, intended as a connecting link between the past days of France and the future to which he looked forward.  He thought that the sentiments inspired by the solemn honours rendered to the memory of Turenne would dispose the deputies of the departments to receive with greater enthusiasm the pacific communications he hoped to be able to make.

However, the negotiations did not take the favourable turn which the First Consul had expected; and, notwithstanding all the address of Lucien, the communication was not heard without much uneasiness.  But Lucien had prepared a speech quite to the taste of the First Consul.  After dilating for some time on the efforts of the Government to obtain peace he deplored the tergiversations of Austria, accused the fatal influence of England, and added in a more elevated and solemn tone, “At the very moment when, the Consuls were leaving the Palace of the Government a courier arrived bearing despatches which the First Consul has directed me to communicate to you.”  He then read a note declaring that the Austrian Government consented to surrender to France the three fortresses of Ulm, Philipsburg, and Ingolstadt.  This was considered as a security for the preliminaries of peace being speedily signed.  The news was received with enthusiasm, and that anxious day closed in a way highly gratifying to the First Consul.

Whilst victory confirmed in Italy the destinies of the First Consul, his brothers were more concerned about their own interests than the affairs of France.  They loved money as much as Bonaparte loved glory.  A letter from Lucien to his brother Joseph, which I shall subjoin, shows how ready they always were to turn to their own advantage the glory and fortune of him to whom they were indebted for all their importance.  I found this letter among my papers, but I cannot tell why and how I preserved it.  It is interesting, inasmuch as it shows, the opinion that family of future kings entertained of their own situation, and of what their fate would have been had Bonaparte, like Desaix, fallen on the field of Marengo.  It is, besides, curious to observe the, philosopher Lucien causing Te Deum, to be chanted with the view of influencing the public funds.  At all events I copy Lucien’s letter as he wrote it, giving the words marked in italics [caps] and the numerous notes of exclamation which distinguish the original.

My brother—­I send you a courier; I particularly wish that the First Consul would give me notice of his arrival twenty-four hours beforehand, and that he would inform me alone of the barrier by which he will enter.  The city wishes to prepare triumphal arches for him, and it deserves not to be disappointed.

At my request a Te Deum was chanted yesterday.  There were 60,000 persons present.

The intrigues of Auteuil continue.