since that period he has behaved towards me with the utmost ingratitude
--entered into all the silly cabala against me, blamed all my measures,
and turned into ridicule the Legion of Honour. Have not some of the
intriguers put it into his head that I regard him with jealousy? You
must be aware of that. You must also know as well as I how anxious the
members of the Directory were to exalt the reputation of Moreau. Alarmed
at my success in Italy, they wished to have in the armies a general to
serve as a counterpoise to my renown. I have ascended the throne and he
is the inmate of a prison! You are aware of the incessant clamouring
raised against me by the whole family, at which I confess I was very much
displeased; coming from those whom I had treated so well! Had he
attached himself to me, I would doubtless have conferred on him the title
of First Marshal of the Empire; but what could I do? He constantly
depreciated my campaigns and my government. From discontent to revolt
there is frequently only one step, especially when a man of a weak
character becomes the tool of popular clubs; and therefore when I was
first informed that Moreau was implicated in the conspiracy of Georges I
believed him to be guilty, but hesitated to issue an order for his arrest
till I had taken the opinion of my Council. The members having
assembled, I ordered the different documents to be laid before them, with
an injunction to examine them with the utmost care, since they related to
an affair of importance, and I urged them candidly to inform me whether,
in their opinion, any of the charges against Moreau were sufficiently
strong to endanger his life. The fools! their reply was in the
affirmative; I believe they were even unanimous! Then I had no
alternative but to suffer the proceedings to take their course. It is
unnecessary to affirm to you, Bourrienne, that Moreau never should have
perished on a scaffold! Most assuredly I would have pardoned him; but
with the sentence of death hanging over his head he could no longer have
proved dangerous; and his name would have ceased to be a rallying-point