In addition to the functions with which the Emperor at first invested me, I had to discharge the duties of French Consul-General at Hamburg, and in that character I was obliged to present to the Minister for Foreign Affairs a very singular request, viz. that the judicial notifications, which as Consul-General I had to make known to the people of Hamburg, might be written in a more legible hand.  Many of these notifications had been disregarded on account of the impossibility of reading them:  With respect to one of them it was declared that it was impossible to discover whether the writing was German, French, or Chinese.

I shall not record all the acts of spoliation committed by second-rate ambitious aspirants who hoped to come in for their share in the division of the Continent:  The Emperor’s lieutenants regarded Europe as a twelfthcake, but none of them ventured to dispute the best bit with Napoleon.  Long would be the litany were I to enregister all the fraud and treachery which they committed, either to augment their fortunes or to win the favour of the chief who wished to have kings for his subjects.  The fact is, that all the Princes of Germany displayed the greatest eagerness to range themselves under the protection of Napoleon, by, joining the Confederation of the Rhine.  I received from those Princes several letters which served to prove at once the influence of Napoleon in Germany and the facility with which men bend beneath the yoke of a new power.  I must say that among the emigrants who remained faithful to their cause there were some who evinced more firmness of character than the foreign Princes.  I may mention, for example, M. Hue, the ’valet de chambre’ of Louis XVI.  I do not intend to deny the high regard I entertained for that faithful servant of the martyred King; but the attentions which I congratulate myself on having shown to an excellent man should not have subjected me to false imputations.

I have read the following statement in a publication: 

“M.  Hue retired to Hamburg, where he passed nine, months in perfect obscurity.  He afterwards went to Holland, provided with a passport from Bourrienne, who was Napoleon’s Minister, though in disgrace, and who, foreseeing what was to happen, sought to ingratiate himself in the favour of the Bourbons.”

The above passage contains a falsehood in almost every line.  M. Hue wished to reside in Hamburg, but he did not wish to conceal himself.  I invited him to visit me, and assured him that he might remain in Hamburg without apprehension, provided he acted prudently.  He wished to go to Holland, and I took upon myself to give him a passport.  I left M. Hue in the free management of his business, the nature of which I knew very well, and which was very honourable; he was deputed to pay the pensions which Louis XVIII. granted to the emigrants.  As for myself, I had tendered my resignation of private secretary to Bonaparte; and even admitting I was in disgrace