I suppress what relates to myself.

The hour of the grand levee arrived just as the singular interview which I have described terminated.  I remained a short time to look at this phantasmagoria.  Duroc was there.  As soon as he saw me he came up, and taking me into the recess of a window told me that Moreau’s guilt was evident, and that he was about to be put on his trial.  I made some observations on the subject, and in particular asked whether there were sufficient proofs of his guilt to justify his condemnation?  “They should be cautious,” said I; “it is no joke to accuse the conqueror of Hohenlinden.”  Duroc’s answer satisfied me that he at least had no doubt on the subject.  “Besides,” added he, “when such a general as Moreau has been between two gendarmes he is lost, and is good for nothing more.  He will only inspire pity.”  In vain I tried to refute this assertion so entirely contrary to facts, and to convince Duroc that Moreau would never be damaged by calling him “brigand,” as was the phrase then, without proofs.  Duroc persisted in his opinion.  As if a political crime ever sullied the honour of any one!  The result has proved that I judged rightly.

No person possessing the least degree of intelligence will be convinced that the conspiracy of Moreau, Georges, Pichegru, and the other persons accused would ever have occurred but for the secret connivance of Fouche’s police.

Moreau never for a moment desired the restoration of the Bourbons.  I was too well acquainted with M. Carbonnet, his most intimate friend, to be ignorant of his private sentiments.  It was therefore quite impossible that he could entertain the same views as Georges, the Polignacs, Riviera, and others; and they had no intention of committing any overt acts.  These latter persons had come to the Continent solely to investigate the actual state of affairs, in order to inform the Princes of the House of Bourbon with certainty how far they might depend on the foolish hopes constantly held out to them by paltry agents, who were always ready to advance their own interests at the expense of truth.  These agents did indeed conspire, but it was against the Treasury of London, to which they looked for pay.

Without entering into all the details of that great trial I will relate some facts which may assist in eliciting the truth from a chaos of intrigue and falsehood.

Most of the conspirators had been lodged either in the Temple or La Force, and one of them, Bouvet de Lozier, who was confined in the Temple, attempted to hang himself.  He made use of his cravat to effect his purpose, and had nearly succeeded, when a turnkey by chance entered and found him at the point of death.  When he was recovered he acknowledged that though he had the courage to meet death, he was unable to endure the interrogatories of his trial, and that he had determined to kill himself, lest he might be induced to make a confession.  He did in fact confess, and it was on the day after this occurred that Moreau was arrested, while on his way from his country-seat of Grosbois to Paris.