he was the sole author of the attempt, and that no one else was aware of
it. Staps' enterprise made a deep impression on the Emperor. On the day
when we left Schoenbrunn we happened to be alone, and he said to me,
'I cannot get this unfortunate Staps out of my mind. The more I think on
the subject the more I am perplexed. I never can believe that a young
man of his age, a German, one who has received a good education,
a Protestant too, could have conceived and attempted such a crime.
The Italians are said to be a nation of assassins, but no Italian ever
attempted my life. This affair is beyond my comprehension. Inquire how
Staps died, and let me know.'

"I obtained from General Lauer the information which the Emperor desired.
I learned that Staps, whose attempt on the Emperor's life was made on the
23d of October; was executed at seven o'clock in the morning of the 27th,
having refused to take any sustenance since the 24th. When any food was
brought to him he rejected it, saying, 'I shall be strong enough to walk
to the scaffold.' When he was told that peace was concluded he evinced
extreme sorrow, and was seized with trembling. On reaching the place of
execution he exclaimed loudly, 'Liberty for ever! Germany for ever!
Death to the tyrant!'"

Such are the notes which I committed to paper after conversing with Rapp,
as we were walking together in the garden of the former hotel of
Montmorin, in which Rapp resided. I recollect his showing me the knife
taken from Staps, which the Emperor had given him; it was merely a common
carving-knife, such as is used in kitchens. To these details may be
added a very remarkable circumstance, which I received from another but
not less authentic source. I have been assured that the attempt of the
German Mutius Scaevola had a marked influence on the concessions which
the Emperor made, because he feared that Staps, like him who attempted