Some days before His Majesty's departure for Erfurt, the Emperor, the Empress, and their intimates, played at prisoner's base for the last time. It was in the evening. Footmen carried lighted torches, and followed the players whenever they went beyond the reach of the light. The Emperor fell once while running after the Empress; he was made prisoner, but soon broke his ban and began to run again; and when he was tired, he took away Josephine, in spite of the complaints of the players. Thus ended the last game of prisoner's base that I ever saw the Emperor play.

It had been decided that the Emperor Alexander and the Emperor Napoleon should meet at Erfurt, September 27; and the majority of the sovereigns forming the confederation of the Rhine had been invited to be present at this interview, which was to be majestic and brilliant. Consequently, the Duc de Frioul, grand marshal of the palace, despatched M. de Canouville, quartermaster of the palace, M. de Beausset, prefect of the palace, and two assistants, in order to prepare at Erfurt the lodgings necessary for so many illustrious travellers, and to organize the service of the grand marshal.

For the quarters of the Emperor Napoleon the government palace was selected, the size of which adapted it perfectly to the Emperor's intention of holding his court there. The house of M. de Triebel, the finest in the city, was made ready for the Emperor Alexander, and that of Senator Remann for S.A.I. the Grand Duke Constantine. Other residences were likewise reserved for the princes of the confederation, as well as for the members of their suites; a detachment from all the services of the imperial household was established in each of these different lodgings.

Magnificent furniture in immense quantities had been sent from the magazines of the crown; carpets and tapestries from the Gobelins and the Savonnerie, bronzes, chandeliers, candelabras, girandoles, Sèvres porcelains; in a word, all that could contribute to the luxurious furnishing of the two palaces, and those which were to be occupied by the other sovereigns. A crowd of workmen was brought from Paris.

General Oudinot was appointed governor of Erfurt. He had under his orders the 1st regiment of hussars, the 6th of cuirassiers, and 17th of light infantry, designated by the major-general to form the garrison. Twenty picked gendarmes with a battalion selected from among the finest grenadiers of the guard, were sent to perform the service of the imperial palaces.

The Emperor, who was considering how to render this meeting at Erfurt as agreeable as possible to the sovereigns for whom he had conceived a liking at Tilsit, hit on the plan of having the masterpieces of the French theatre played for them. This was doubtless the most dignified amusement he could provide. He gave orders therefore to have the theatre embellished and repaired. M. Dazincourt was appointed theatrical director, and he left Paris with MM. Talma, Lafon, Saint-Prix, Damas, Després, Varennes, Lacave; and Mesdames Duchesnois, Raucourt, Talma, Bourgoin, Rose Dupuis, Gros, and Patrat. Everything was organized before the arrival of the sovereigns.

Napoleon could not endure Madame Talma, although she gave evidence of remarkable talent. This aversion, the motive of which I could never discover, was known; hence there was an unwillingness at first to include her in the list of players who were to go to Erfurt; but M. Talma was so urgent about it that it was finally consented to. That followed which everybody had foreseen, excepting perhaps M. Talma and his wife, namely, the Emperor having seen her play once, complained a great deal about her having been allowed to come, and had her stricken off the list.

Mademoiselle B——, young then and extremely pretty, had at first better success. It must be said also that she adopted other means than those of Madame Talma. As soon as she appeared at the theatre of Erfurt, she excited admiration and became the object of the attentions of all the illustrious spectators. This marked preference created jealousies which pleased her greatly, and which she kept up as well as she could by all sorts of means. Whenever she did not play, she came into the theatre magnificently dressed; at once all eyes would turn to her and away from the stage, which greatly displeased the actors. The Emperor one day noticed these frequent distractions, and put an end to them by forbidding Mademoiselle B—— to appear in the theatre except on the stage.

This measure taken by His Majesty, very wisely in my opinion, must have put him in Mademoiselle B——'s black books. Another incident increased the displeasure of the actress. The two sovereigns went together nearly every evening to the play. The Emperor Alexander found Mademoiselle B—— charming and did not conceal it. She knew it, and put in practice whatever she thought capable of exciting the monarch's inclinations. Finally the amorous Czar one day acquainted the Emperor with his dispositions in regard to Mademoiselle B——. "I don't advise you to make advances," said the Emperor Napoleon. "Do you think she would refuse?"— "Oh! no; but it is post day to-morrow, and in five days all Paris would know how Your Majesty is made from head to foot; besides I am interested in your health. . . . Hence I hope you may be able to resist the temptation." These words singularly dampened the ardor of the autocrat, who thanked the Emperor for his timely warning, and added: "But by the manner in which Your Majesty speaks, I am tempted to believe that you retain some personal spite against this charming actress." "No, truly," replied the Emperor, "I know nothing about her but what people say." This conversation took place in the bedchamber, during the toilet. The Emperor Alexander left His Majesty perfectly convinced, and Mademoiselle B—— made nothing by her oglings and her expectations.

His Majesty made his entry into Erfurt in the morning of September 27, 1808. The King of Saxony, who had arrived the first, followed by the Count de Haag and the Count de Boze, were awaiting the Emperor at the foot of the staircase of the government palace. Then came the members of the regency and the municipality of Erfurt, who complimented him in the usual formulas. After some minutes of repose, the Emperor mounted a horse and went out of Erfurt by the Weimar gate, after having made a call in passing on the King of Saxony. Outside of the town, he found the whole garrison drawn up in battle array. The grenadiers of the guard were commanded by M. d'Arquies; the 17th infantry by M. de Cabannes-Puymisson; the 1st regiment of hussars by M. de Juniac, and the 6th cuirassiers, the handsomest men it is possible to imagine, by Colonel d'Haugeranville. The Emperor held the review, had some positions changed, and then went on to meet the Emperor Alexander.

The latter had started from Saint Petersburg, September 14. The King and Queen of Prussia were waiting for him at Kœnigsberg, where he arrived on the 18th. The Duc de Montebello had the honor of receiving him at Bromberg to the thunder of a salvo of twenty-one cannon. Having alighted from his carriage, the Emperor Alexander mounted a horse, accompanied by marshals of the empire Soult, Duc de Dalmatia, and Lannes, Duc de Montebello, and set off at a gallop to join the Nansouty division, which was awaiting them in line of battle. He was received by another salvo of twenty-one cannon and by a thousand-fold repeated cries of Long live the Emperor Alexander! The monarch, while surveying the different corps composing this fine division, said to the officers: "I think it a great honor, gentlemen, to find myself among such brave men and such fine soldiers."

By the orders of Marshal Soult, who however was merely executing those given to him by the Emperor Napoleon, relays of post-horses had been prepared along the route which the monarch of the north was obliged to take. It was forbidden to receive anything for them. At each relay were found escorts of dragoons or of light cavalry, who paid military honors to the Czar as he passed by.

After dining with the generals and colonels of the Nansouty division, the Emperor of Russia got into his carriage again; it was an open barouche with seats for two, and he offered one of them to the Duc de Montebello, who has since related the many marks of esteem and kindness heaped upon him by the Czar during the journey; he even arranged the marshal's mantle over his shoulders while he was sleeping.

His Imperial Russian Majesty, arriving at Weimar in the evening of September 26, continued his route to Erfurt the next day, escorted by Marshal Soult, his staff and the superior officers of the Nansouty division, who had not quitted him since leaving Bromberg. A league and a half from Erfurt Alexander found Napoleon, who had come to meet him on horseback.

The moment that the Czar perceived the Emperor, he left his carriage and advanced toward His Majesty, who had also set foot to the ground. They embraced each other with the affection of two college friends who meet after a long absence; then they each mounted on horseback, as well as the Grand Duke Constantine, and passing at a gallop in front of the regiments, which presented arms, they entered the city, the troops and an immense throng of people from twenty leagues around meanwhile splitting the air with their acclamations. As they entered Erfurt, the Emperor of Russia wore the grand decoration of the Legion of Honor, and the Emperor of the French that of St. Andrew of Russia. The two sovereigns continued to give each other this mark of mutual deference throughout their stay. It was also noticed that in his palace the Emperor always gave the right to Alexander. The evening of the arrival of this sovereign, it was he who, at His Majesty's invitation, gave the watchword in place of the grand marshal. Afterwards it was alternatively given by the two monarchs.

They went at first to the Russian palace, where they rested for an hour. Then Alexander came to pay a visit to the Emperor, who received him at the foot of the staircase, and, when he retired, went with him as far as the entrance door of the guard-room. At six o'clock, the two sovereigns dined together at His Majesty's palace, as they did every day. At nine o'clock, the Emperor took the Emperor of Russia back to his own palace, where they had a tête-à-tête conversation which lasted more than an hour. The whole city was illuminated that evening.

On the day following his arrival, the Emperor received at his levee the officers of the Czar's household, and accorded them the grand entree for the entire time of the stay. The Emperor Alexander did the same with regard to the French officers. 1

The two sovereigns testified the most sincere mutual confidence and friendship. The Emperor Alexander came to visit His Majesty nearly every morning, entering his bedchamber, where he talked familiarly with him. One day he examined the Emperor's dressing-case, which had cost six thousand francs, and was furnished in silver-gilt, very well arranged and chased by Biennais the goldsmith, and found it to his liking. As soon as he had gone away, the Emperor ordered me to take a dressing-case resembling it, which had just been received from Paris, and carry it to the palace of the Czar.

Another time, the Emperor Alexander having remarked the elegance and solidity of His Majesty's iron bedstead, the very next day, by Napoleon's orders and my exertions, one like it, furnished with all that was necessary, was set up in the chamber of the Emperor of Russia, who was enchanted with this civility, and who, two days afterward, commissioned M. de Rémusat to present me in his name with two valuable diamond rings.

The Czar remade his toilet one day in the chamber of the Emperor, and I aided the monarch in so doing. I took a white cravat and a batiste handkerchief from the Emperor's linen and gave them to him. He thanked me much; he was an extremely gentle prince, good, amiable, and of perfect politeness.

There was an exchange of presents between the illustrious sovereigns. Alexander gave the Emperor three superb sable pelisses. One of them the Emperor gave to his sister, the Princess Pauline, and another to Madame the Princess de Ponte-Corvo. The third he had covered with green velvet and trimmed with gilt frogs. It was this pelisse that he constantly wore in Russia. The history of the one I took from him to the Princess Pauline is sufficiently curious for me to relate it here, although it has already been told elsewhere.

The Princess Pauline had expressed great joy on receiving the Emperor's present, and it pleased her to have the members of her household admire it. One day when she was showing it to a circle of ladies and calling their attention to the fineness and rarity of the fur, M. de Canouville came in, and she asked his opinion concerning it. The handsome colonel did not seem as much amazed as she expected, and she was piqued about it. "How, sir, you don't find that delicious?" "Well, no, Madame."—"Indeed! oh well, to punish you, I wish you to keep this pelisse, I give it to you, and I require you to wear it; I wish it, do you hear?" It is probable that there had recently been some quarrel between Her Imperial Highness and her protégé and that the Princess was seizing the first occasion to restore peace. However that might be, M. de Canouville allowed himself to be coaxed a little for form's sake, and then the costly fur was taken to his house.

A few days later, while the Emperor was holding a review on the Place du Carrousel, M. de Canouville made his appearance, mounted on a skittish horse which he had great ado to keep still. This caused some disorder and attracted the attention of His Majesty, who, on looking at M. de Canouville, recognized the pelisse he had offered his sister metamorphosed into a hussar's jacket. It cost the Emperor something to restrain his anger: "Monsieur de Canouville," he shouted in a voice of thunder, "your horse is young, his blood is too hot; you will go and cool him off in Russia." Three days later M. de Canouville had quitted Paris.