Abolition of the Republican calendar--Warlike preparations in
Austria--Plan for re-organizing the National Guard--Napoleon in
Strasburg--General Mack--Proclamation--Captain Bernard's
reconnoitering mission--The Emperor's pretended anger and real
satisfaction--Information respecting Ragusa communicated by Bernard
--Rapid and deserved promotion--General Bernard's
retirement to the United States of America.

I had been three months at Hamburg when I learned that the Emperor had at
last resolved to abolish the only remaining memorial of the Republic,
namely, the revolutionary calendar. That calendar was indeed an absurd
innovation, for the new denominations of the months were not applicable
in all places, even in France; the corn of Provence did not wait to be
opened by the sun of the month of Messidor. On the 9th of September a
'Senates-consulte' decreed that on the 1st of January following the
months and days should resume their own names. I read with much interest
Laplace's report to the Senate, and must confess I was very glad to see
the Gregorian calendar again acknowledged by law, as it had already been
acknowledged in fact. Frenchmen in foreign countries experienced
particular inconvenience from the adoption of a system different from all
the rest of the world.

A few days after the revival of the old calendar the Emperor departed for
the army. When at Hamburg it may well be supposed that I was anxious to
obtain news, and I received plenty from the interior of Germany and from
some friends in Paris. This correspondence enables me to present to my
readers a comprehensive and accurate picture of the state of public
affairs up to the time when Napoleon took the field. I have already
mentioned how artfully he always made it appear that he was anxious for