surprised how he came to be implicated in this conspiracy, since nothing
has appeared against him which has the most remote connexion with the
affair."--" I know your opinion on this subject; Duroc related to me the
conversation you held with him at the Tuileries; experience has shown
that you were correct; but how could I act otherwise? You know that
Bouvet de Lozier hanged himself in prison, and was only saved by
accident. Real hurried to the Temple in order to interrogate him, and in
his first confessions he criminated Moreau, affirming that he had held
repeated conferences with Pichegru. Real immediately reported to me this
fact, and proposed that Moreau should be arrested, since the rumours
against him seemed to be well founded; he had previously made the same
proposition. I at first refused my sanction to this measure; but after
the charge made against him by Bouvet de Lozier, how could I act
otherwise than I did? Could I suffer such open conspiracies against the
Government? Could I doubt the truth of Bouvet de Lozier's declaration,
under the circumstances in which it was made? Could I foresee that he
would deny his first declaration when brought before the Court? There
was a chain of circumstances which human sagacity could not penetrate,
and I consented to the arrest of Moreau when it was proved that he was in
league with Pichegru. Has not England sent assassins?"--"Sire," said I,
"permit me to call to your recollection the conversation you had in my
presence with Mr. Fox, after which you said to me, 'Bourrienne, I am very
happy at having heard from the mouth of a man of honour that the British
Government is incapable of seeking my life; I always wish to esteem my
enemies."--"Bah! you are a fool! Parbleu! I did not say that the
English Minister sent over an assassin, and that he said to him, 'Here is
gold and a poniard; go and kill the First Consul.' No, I did not believe
that; but it cannot be denied that all those foreign conspirators against
my Government were serving England, and receiving pay from that power.
Have I agents in London to disturb the Government of Great Britain?