have been an extraordinary spectacle to see Napoleon giving liberty to
Europe in revenge for not having succeeded in enslaving her.

By means of these bold manoeuvres and vast combinations Napoleon
calculated that he would have the advantage of the initiative in military
operations. Perhaps his genius was never more fully developed than in
this vast conception. According to this plan he was to extend his
operations over a line of 500 leagues, from Ostend to Vienna, by the Alps
and Italy, to provide himself with immense resources of every kind, to
prevent the Emperor of Austria from marching his troops against France,
and probably force him to terminate a war from which the hereditary
provinces would have exclusively suffered. Such was the bright prospect
which presented itself to Napoleon when he stepped on board the vessel
which was to convey him from Elba to France. But the mad precipitation
of Murat put Europe on the alert, and the brilliant illusion vanished
like a dream.

After being assured that all was tranquil, and that the Royal family was
secure against every danger, I myself set out at four o'clock on the
morning of the 20th of March, taking the road to Lille.--Nothing
extraordinary occurred until I arrived at the post-office of Fins, in
front of which were drawn up a great number of carriages, which had
arrived before mine, and the owners of which, like myself, were
impatiently waiting for horses. I soon observed that some one called the
postmaster aside in a way which did not appear entirely devoid of
mystery, and I acknowledge I felt some degree of alarm. I was in the
room in which the travellers were waiting, and my attention was attracted
by a large bill fixed against the wall. It was printed in French and
Russian, and it proved to be the order of the day which I had been
fortunate enough to obtain from the Emperor Alexander to exempt