flattery, and sometimes, also, it might not have been without danger.
Afterwards, when the progress of events removed Bonaparte to a far
distant island in the midst of the ocean, silence was imposed on me by
other considerations,-by considerations of propriety and feeling.

After the death of Bonaparte, at St. Helena, reasons of a different
nature retarded the execution of my plan. The tranquillity of a secluded
retreat was indispensable for preparing and putting in order the abundant
materials in my possession. I found it also necessary to read a great
number of works, in order to rectify important errors to which the want
of authentic documents had induced the authors to give credit. This
much-desired retreat was found. I had the good fortune to be introduced,
through a friend, to the Duchesse de Brancas, and that lady invited me to
pass some time on one of her estates in Hainault. Received with the most
agreeable hospitality, I have there enjoyed that tranquillity which could
alone have rendered the publication of these volumes practicable.

FAUVELET DE BOURRIENNE




NOTE.

The Editor of the 1836 edition had added to the Memoirs several chapters
taken from or founded on other works of the time, so as to make a more
complete history of the period. These materials have been mostly
retained, but with the corrections which later publications have made
necessary. A chapter has now been added to give, a brief account of the
part played by the chief historical personages during the Cent Tours, and