3d, 2 P. M.
(To Prince Eugène.) My Cousin: Not later than twelve hours after the receipt of this letter you must start for Munich, travelling posthaste.

7th. (To Cardinal Fesch.) On the 13th of November the Pope wrote me a letter of the most ridiculous, most insane, character: those people think I am dead! I am a religious man, but I am not a bigoted idiot.

For the Pope I am Charlemagne, because like Charlemagne I unite the Crowns of France and of the Lombards, and my Empire touches the East. I will reduce the Pope to be the mere bishop of Rome.

9th. I had long ago decided on a marriage between my son Prince Eugène, and the Princess Augusta, daughter of the King of Bavaria. The Elector of Ratisbon will marry them on the 15th of January. Princess Augusta is one of the most lovely and accomplished persons of her sex.

14th. The betrothal and marriage of Prince Eugène took place yesterday.

19th, Stuttgardt:
I am very impatient to be back in Paris. I arrived in Stuttgardt last night at six o'clock.

27th, Paris:
I arrived in Paris yesterday at midnight and incognito.

February 4th. The English Cabinet has been completely changed since the death of Mr. Pitt. If it is true that Mr. Fox is Secretary for Foreign Affairs, we could hand over Hanover to Prussia only as part of a general arrangement.

(To Prince Eugène.) My Son: I am surprised that you have not written me one word about your journey. Your wife has been more polite than you. I must insist on your writing me enough to inform me as to where you are, where you are going, and what you are doing; - how do you get on with her, and how much do you care for her?

6th. The Emperor incloses an extract from the Bayreuth Gazette for M. Talleyrand. We are threatened with the advance of 200,000 Russians. The Prussians must really be mad. M. Talleyrand must tell M. de Haugwitz that this sort of thing must be put a stop to.

14th. (To Marshal Berthier.) Stick closely to your orders; carry out instructions promptly; have every one on his guard and at his post; I alone know what I have to do. If the Prussian Minister at Munich should call on you and speak of the occupation of Anspach, reply that it is done by my orders. Have not the Prussians occupied Hanover? For the rest give Prussia plenty of fine speeches.

28th. I have 510,000 men with the colours; I have ordered heavy expenditures for the ports and the increase of the navy; I am going to increase the army by 100,000 men, and I am going to impose additional taxation on France.

March 1st. I want to create in France a lay state. Up till now the world has only known two forms of government, the ecclesiastic and the military. Constantine was the first to establish, by means of the priests, a sort of civilian state; Clovis succeeded in founding the French monarchy only with this same support. Monks are the natural enemies of soldiers, and have more than once served to check them. The lay order will be strengthened by the creation of a teaching body, and even more strengthened by the creation of a great corporation of magistrates.

I think it is unnecessary to take into consideration a system of education for girls, they can get no better teaching than that of their mothers. A public education does not suit them, for the reason that they are not called on, to live in public; for them habit is everything, and marriage is the goal.

If we are to establish the nation, we must hasten to regulate by means of codes the principal fields of legislation. The Civil Code, though imperfect, has done much good. Every one is familiar now with the first principles of conduct, and governs his property and business accordingly.

4th. In the report on burials I see that in the average year there are 14,000 deaths in Paris; that is enough for a splendid battle.

I have declined to commit myself to issuing tickets for the service in my chapel; I think the seats should go to the first comers.

At Cairo, and in the desert, the mosques are inns as well; as many as 6000 persons may shelter and eat in them; or even use the fountains and water for bathing. Our ceremony of baptism comes from this; it could not have arisen in our climate, in which water is not precious enough, - this year we are deluged. When water fails the Egyptians baptize with sand. As for me, it is not the mystery of the Incarnation that I see in religion, but the mystery of social order. Heaven suggests an idea of equality which saves the rich from being massacred by the poor. To look at it another way, religion is a sort of inoculation or vaccine which, while satisfying our sense of the supernatural, guarantees us from the charlatans and the magicians: the priests are better than the Cagliostros, the Kants, and all the dreamers of Germany.
 

I need a special Tribunal to judge public functionaries for certain infractions of the laws. There must be some arbitrary exercise of power in such a matter, and this should not be left in the hands of the Sovereign, because he will either abuse it or neglect to use it. I complain every day of the number of arbitrary acts I am made to commit; they would come with more propriety from such a tribunal. I want the State to be governed according to law, and that the things that have to be done despite the law should be legalized by the operation of a duly constituted body.
 

Forty-eight hours after peace with England is signed, I will shut out foreign produce and manufactures, and issue a Navigation Act that will exclude all but French ships from our ports. There will be a tremendous outcry, but in six years' time we shall be in the fullest prosperity.

6th. (To Joseph.) Shoot without pity any lazzaroni who indulge in dagger play. You can keep an Italian population down only by holy fear. Impose a war contribution of 30 millions on the kingdom. Your policy is too hesitating.

8th. I shall grant the duchies of Cleves and Berg to Prince Murat.

9th. (To Prince Eugène.) Instruct your engineers to reconnoitre the roads from Zara and from Ragusa to Constantinople.

11th. In the teaching body we must imitate the classifications of military rank. I hold strongly to the idea of a corporation, because a corporation never dies. There need be no fear that I want to bring back the monks; even if I wanted to I couldn't. The vices and scandal that arose among the monks are well known; I had opportunities for forming my own opinion in that matter, having been in part educated by them.

I respect what religion holds in respect; but as a statesman I dislike the fanaticism of celibacy; it was one of the means whereby the Court of Rome attempted to rivet the chains of Europe by preventing the cleric from being a citizen. Military fanaticism is the only sort that is of any use to me; a man must have it to get himself killed. My principal object in instituting a teaching body is to have some means of directing political and moral opinion.

14th. Holland is without an executive head; she should have one; I shall give her Prince Louis. Instead of a Grand Pensionary there will be a king.

20th. I think the teaching body should include about 10,000 persons. The essential thing is that the members of the University, for that is what we will call it, should hold the exclusive privilege of teaching, and that they should be under an oath.

We must succeed in making our young men neither too bigoted nor too sceptical; they should be in harmony with the conditions of the nation and of civilization.

My usual reading after going to bed is in the old Chronicles of the 3d, 4th, 5th, and 6th centuries; I either read them or have them translated to me. Nothing is more curious, and so little known, as the transition from the ancient states to the new ones that arose on their ruins. The Governments had little to do with education in Western Europe, especially under Christianity, because the clergy were intrusted with it. The Governments of the East, however, were much concerned with the matter, especially before the advent of Christianity.

If the kings of France have neglected education, is that a reason for following their example, in view of our ambition of doing better than they did? Emerging from the fog of ignorance hand in hand with the clergy, they found the rudiments of public instruction in existence, and were obliged to leave things to the Power at their side.

I want the members of the teaching body to take, not a religious vow as was the case formerly, but to enter into a civil contract before a notary or justice of the peace. They will embrace Public Instruction as their predecessors embraced the Church, with the difference that their engagement will be less sacred, and less binding; I wish, however, that some ceremonial may be put into the matter, even if it takes another name.

27th. I am willing that the head of the Bank should be called Governor if that pleases him, because titles cost nothing. I am also willing that his salary should be as high as you want it, because it is the Bank that will pay.

April 1st, Malmaison:
(To Marshal Berthier.) I inclose you the Moniteur; you will see what I am doing for you. I make only one condition, which is that you get married, and that is a condition that goes with my friendship. Your liaison has lasted too long; it has become ridiculous; and I am entitled to hope that he whom I have named my companion in arms, whom posterity will always place at my side, will not continue to show such an extraordinary example of weakness. I insist, therefore, that you should marry; otherwise I shall refuse to receive you. You are fifty years old, but you belong to a family that reaches eighty, and it is during these next thirty years that the comforts of marriage will be of most service to you.

You know that you have no warmer friend than I am, but you also know that the first condition of my friendship is that it should be based on my esteem. Until now you have deserved it. Continue to do so by concurring in my plans, and by becoming the stem of a good and great family.

14th, Saint Cloud:
(To Prince Eugène.) My son, you are working too hard; your life is too monotonous. It is all right for you, because work should be your pleasure; but you have a young wife, who will soon be a mother. I think you ought to arrange things so as to spend the evenings with her and so as to have a small social circle. Why don't you go to the theatre once a week in the State box? You must have a little more gaiety about you; it is necessary for the happiness of your wife, and your own health. One can get through a lot of work in very little time. I lead the life you lead, but my wife is old and doesn't need me for her amusement; and yet it is quite true to say that I have more pleasures and dissipation than you. A young woman needs amusement, especially when in that condition.

18th, Paris:
The Opera costs the Government 800,000 francs a year; we must keep up an institution that flatters the national vanity.

May 31st, Saint Cloud:
(To the King of Naples.) You trust the Neapolitans too much, especially in the matter of your kitchen and your personal guards, which means that you are taking chances of being poisoned or assassinated. You have not known enough of my domestic arrangements to realize that, even in France, I have always been guarded by my most faithful and my oldest soldiers.

No one should enter your room at night except your aide-de-camp, who should sleep in the room next to your bedroom; your door should be locked on the inside, and you should not let your aide-de-camp in before having recognised his voice, and he should not knock at your door until after closing the door of his room, so as to be sure no one can follow him. These precautions are important; they are not troublesome, and they inspire confidence, quite apart from the fact that actually they may save your life. You should regulate your way of living this way once and for all. Don't be obliged to adopt it in an emergency, which would be humiliating both for you and for those about you. Trust my experience.

June 3d.
(To the King of Naples.) I have read your speech, and you must permit me to say that I find some of its sentences bad. You compare the attachment of the Neapolitans to you with that of the French to me; it sounds like an epigram! What affection do you expect from a people for whom you have done nothing, among whom you are by right of conquest, at the head of 40,000 or 50,000 foreigners? As a general rule the less you speak, directly or indirectly, of me and of France in your documents, the better.

5th. (To Joseph.) You will understand that if I have given the titles of Duke and Prince to Bernadotte, it was out of consideration for your wife; for I have generals in my army who have served me better, and in whom I place more reliance.

7th. (To Joseph.) I can send you no reinforcements. I can't coop up my whole army in Naples.

(To Talleyrand.) I have asked you for a report on the Prussian forces. I have no use for the information you have sent me. I need a complete statement as to the army of the King of Prussia.

July 4th. Up to the present the negotiations with England have made no headway. By acquiring the Cape of Good Hope England will forever insure her control of India. But if England held Malta and Sicily, she would erect an insurmountable barrier between the Adriatic and Constantinople. It would be difficult ever to accede to such a condition.

13th. (To the Princess Stéphanie of Baden.) I have received your letter. I see with pleasure that you are well. Love your husband, who deserves it for the affection he bears you.

Treat your people kindly, for sovereigns are made for the happiness of their people. Accustom yourself to the country, and think well of everything, for nothing would be more impertinent than constantly to speak of Paris and of the splendours which you know perfectly well you can't enjoy; it's a French fault, don't fall into it. Carlsruhe is an agreeable spot. You will be loved and well thought of in the same degree as you love and think well of the country in which you are placed: it is the most sensitive point men have.

19th. The English landed 5000 men in the bay of Saint Euphemia on the 3d of July. General Régnier marched on them; I don't know what resulted. It is probable that they had cause to repent.

21st. (To Joseph.) I have received your letters of the 11th and 12th of July; you then had no news of Régnier, and had made no movement from Naples. The art of war, which is so much talked about, is a difficult art; you have not one man among your ministers who has any knowledge of its elements. But, by Heaven! with 36,000 men, don't allow one of your divisions to be crushed! Since you have no news from Régnier, you may infer that communications are cut, and that an insurrection has broken out.

26th. (To Joseph.) The enemy would have to be quite mad to make any attempt against Naples. What! with 36,000 men you are placed on the defensive by 8000 English, and you give up two thirds of your kingdom to them! There are not two soldierlike ideas in your whole Council of Ministers. It would cause you useless pain if I were to tell you all I think.

26th. (To Joseph.) What is the meaning of this national guard of Naples? It is leaning on a reed, perhaps even placing a weapon in the enemy's hands. Oh! how little you know men! Come, take some vigorous decision. The whole art of war consists in a well thought out and prudent defensive, and in an offensive that is bold and rapid.

30th. (To Prince Joachim Murat.) Wesel can belong to none other than a great Power. As to the guarantee for your children, your arguments are pitiful and made me shrug my shoulders; I blush for you. I hope that you are a Frenchman; so will your children be; any other idea would be so dishonouring that I must ask you never to mention such a thing again. It would be a very extraordinary thing, if after all the benefits the French nation has showered on you, you thought of placing your children in such a way that they might injure France. Once more, never speak on that subject again, it's too ridiculous!

August 1st. (To the King of Holland.) Circumstances may make it necessary for you to form a camp of Dutch troops at Utrecht.

2d. (To Prince Joachim.) Your public utterances must be reassuring. I can hardly express the pain your letters cause me; your heedlessness is enough to drive me to despair.

Dupont's division is moving to the Inn; you must give it no orders of any sort. You don't know what I am doing. Keep quiet. With a Power like Prussia we cannot proceed too gently.

5th. The English are getting more accommodating. Lord Lauderdale and Lord Yarmouth are the negotiators. The first arrived this morning.

12th. The illness of Mr. Fox makes the negotiations with England drag.

17th, Rambouillet:
(To the King of Naples.) It would be a good thing if the Neapolitan rabble attempted a revolt. So long as you have not made an example you will not be their master. Every conquered nation should revolt at least once, and I would view an insurrection at Naples as the father of a family views measles in his children, providing the patient is not too much weakened. It marks a healthy crisis.

19th. (To Fouché.) If you know where General Dumoulin is, send for him and question him about a lady named Keilenfels, whom he married two months before abducting Mlle. d'Eckhardt. I have no power over the judges, and there must be an exemplary punishment for so detestable an offence. Does this general realize that the Criminal Court will condemn him to the galleys? How can he have been so unmindful of the laws of honour? The whole business is very humiliating for the French army.

23d. (To the King of Naples.) I have received your letter of the 13th. I regret that you anticipate never meeting your brother again, save in the Elysian Fields. It is a simple enough matter that I should not have the same sentiments for you at forty as I had at twelve!

29th, Saint Cloud:
The negotiations drag. The outcome is very doubtful.

31st. (To the Princess Augusta.) My Daughter: I have read your letter of the 10th of August with great pleasure. I thank you for all your compliments. Take great care of yourself in your present state, and try not to give us a daughter. I could give you the recipe, but you wouldn't believe me: it is to drink a little pure wine every day.

September 5th. The altered conditions in Europe make it necessary that I should seriously consider the situation of my armies.

(To Marshal Berthier.) Send engineer officers to reconnoitre carefully and in all directions the débouchés of the roads leading from Bamberg to Berlin.

8th. (To Lucchesini.) I always carry my heart in my head. I shall undertake a war against Prussia only for the honour of my country and the security of my allies. If your young officers and women at Berlin want war, they shall have it; I am preparing to satisfy them. But all my ambitions turn on Italy; there is a mistress whose favours I will divide with none.

10th. The attitude of Prussia is still provocative. They are dying to be taught a good lesson.

(To Caulaincourt.) Have all my field glasses overhauled. Send off sixty horses from my stables to-morrow, including eight of my saddlehorses. Do this as secretly as possible. To-morrow have my baggage carts got ready. One of them must carry a tent and an iron bed. The tent must be stout, and not a grand opera tent. You can add a few thick carpets. You will send off with the horses to-morrow my little campaigning chaise.

Marshal Bessières and Prince Borghese will also send their horses off. When you mention the matter to these officers, you will say that they are accompanying me to the Diet at Frankfort.

12th, Saint Cloud:
(To the King of Prussia.) Monsieur mon Frère: I have received your Majesty's letter. The friendly sentiments you express are all the more agreeable to me in that everything that has occurred these last two weeks gave me ground for supposing the contrary. If I am compelled to take up arms to defend myself, it will be with the greatest regret that I shall use them against Your Majesty's troops.

(To the King of Naples.) Prussia is arming in ridiculous fashion: she will, however, soon disarm, or pay dear for it. Nothing could be more foolish and more hesitating than the conduct of the (Prussian) cabinet. The Court of Vienna makes great protestations of friendship, which its extreme weakness makes me believe in. Whatever happens, I can and will face it out. The conscription which I have just levied is coming in on all sides; I shall call up the reserves; I am thoroughly supplied, and lack nothing. I may possibly take command of the Grand Army in a few days. It numbers about 150,000 men, enough to put down Vienna, Berlin, and St. Petersburg.

The negotiations with England still continue; whether it is peace or war will be decided within a week. Fox is altogether out of it, owing to an illness that will probably carry him down to the grave. If I really have to strike once more, Europe will know that I have left Paris only by hearing of the complete destruction of my enemies. It would be as well to have your newspapers speak of me as at Paris, occupied in amusements, in hunting, and in negotiating.

17th. I have just got the news of the death of Mr. Fox. In the present state of things, it is the death of a man who is regretted by two nations.

19th. The situation is becoming more critical daily. My Guard has started by stage, to travel from Paris to Mainz in six days.

24th. (To Joachim Murat, Grand Duke of Berg.) Send your horses to Bamberg rapidly. Wait for me at Mainz, which you can leave one hour after my arrival, so that you can reach Bamberg on the 1st of October at noon.

28th, Mainz:
I arrived this morning.

29th. There is no declaration of war yet.

Midnight:
(To Marshal Augereau.) Do not unmask your movement.

30th. (To the King of Würtemberg.) I should like to see Your Majesty. I shall be at Würzburg on the 2d of October, at Bamberg on the 5th. I should much like, under existing circumstances, to have an hour's conversation. I would have been glad to await Your Majesty's visit at Mainz, if I were not the most complete slave, compelled to obey a heartless master: the calculation of events and the nature of things.

As for myself, Your Majesty must see that no man is less able than I to make precise arrangements at this moment. Not that war is declared yet; I have not heard that M. Laforest has left Berlin; I am told that a Prussian officer has been sent to me by the King of Prussia with a letter; for three days past I have been hearing about him, but I have not yet seen him.

October 1st. I start to-night at nine.

3d, Würzburg:
I reached Würzburg yesterday.

5th. The armies are in touch. We shall soon have fighting. The King of Würtemberg came here two days ago. He can't make heads or tails of what is going on. The Duke of Brunswick has written him a very pernicious letter, to the tune of the German nationalistic excitement. All my columns are marching. I start to-night for Bamberg.

(To Marshal Soult.) I am debouching in Saxony with my whole army in three columns. You lead the right; half a day's march behind you is the corps of Marshal Ney, and one day's march behind you are 10,000 Bavarians; all of which totals more than 50,000 men. Marshal Bernadotte leads the centre; behind him Marshal Davout's corps is marching, with the greater part of the Reserve Cavalry and my Guard; which totals over 70,000 men. (Bernadotte) will debouch through Kronach. The 5th corps leads my left, and is followed by the corps of Marshal Augereau. They will come through Coburg and Saalfeld, and will make upwards of 40,000 men. The day you reach Hof, the rest of the army will be in line with you. I shall hold myself in general at the centre. With so great a preponderance in numbers, and so closely concentrated, you will realize that my purpose is not to jump at chances but to attack the enemy, wherever they choose to make a stand, with double their numbers.

My information to-day seems to show that if the enemy are manœuvring, it is against my left; their principal forces appear to be at Erfurt. I cannot urge you too strongly to communicate with me very frequently, and to inform me of all you can hear from the Dresden road. You can see what a splendid manœuvre it would be to move towards that city in a battalion square of 200,000 men. All this demands some skill, however, and some happenings.

10 P.M.:
I am leaving for Bamberg. All our corps are marching. I am in excellent health, and in great hopes of soon bringing this business to a good end.

6th. Soldiers! The orders were already issued for your return to France. Triumphal festivities awaited you. But just as we were lulled by a sense of false security, new plots were brewing under the mask of friendship and of alliance. Cries of war have been raised in Berlin. These two months past we are daily more loudly challenged.

The same faction, the same vertigo, that carried Prussia to the plains of Champagne fourteen years ago, dominate their councils. They want us to evacuate Germany at the sight of their arms. Fools! Let them learn that it would be a thousand times more easy to destroy the great capital than to smirch the honour of the children of the great nation and its allies! Then their schemes were dashed to pieces; in the plains of Champagne they found only death, defeat, and shame. But the lessons of experience fade away, and with some men hatred and jealousy never die.

Soldiers! Not one of you would wish to regain France by any other path than that of honour; we must return only under triumphal arches. Forward, then! Let the Prussian army meet with the same fate as it did fourteen years ago.
 

It is really quite amusing that the Prussians should have handed me their ultimatum on the 8th; and that I, without knowing this, should have entered Bayreuth and begun my movements on the 7^th.

(To the King of Bavaria.) I have at last received the King of Prussia's letter. I cannot send you his actual text; it is a rhapsody copied from the English newspapers and twenty pages long. But I send you the note which M. de Knobelsdorf has this very moment handed me. My answer you will find in my proclamation to the army. It is therefore the King of Prussia who has declared war! I am truly thankful for his forethought in thus proving mine to be the right cause in the face of all Europe.

8th. The Queen of Prussia is with the army, dressed as an amazon, wearing the uniform of her dragoon regiment, writing twenty letters a day to feed the fire. Next to her is Prince Louis of Prussia, a young prince full of courage, who expects to win great glory from the incidents of war. Following the example of these two high personages all the Court clamours: War! war!

Kronach:
I have reached Kronach, which I shall leave to-night. The army is marching rapidly.

3.30 P. M.:
(To Marshal Soult.) Let me hear from you more frequently; in a combined manœuvre like this it is only by very frequent communication that we can achieve the best results. We are at the crisis of the campaign; they did not anticipate what we are attempting to do; woe betide them if they hesitate and if they lose a single day.

4 P. M.:
(To Marshal Lannes.) My Cousin: I am displeased at your having entered Coburg yesterday: your instructions were to occupy it this morning, and in force.

March as rapidly as you can on Grafenthal. Marshal Augereau will follow you at half a day's march. I myself shall reach Lobenstein at 2 A. M.

10th, Ebersdorf, 5 A. M.:
On the 9th the Prussian general Tauenzien, with 6000 Prussians and 3000 Saxons, was attacked by the advance guard of the army commanded by the Grand Duke of Berg, and was routed.

(To the Grand Duke of Berg.) General Rapp has brought me your good news of last night. Marshal Lannes will attack Saalfeld to-morrow.

Your chief task to-day is to make use of yesterday's success for picking up all the prisoners and information you can; then to reconnoitre Auma and Saalfeld, so as to learn the movements of the enemy positively.

(To Marshal Soult.) Here is what I can make out: that the Prussians intended to attack, and that their left was to debouch by Jena, Saalfeld, and Coburg. Whatever the enemy may do, I shall be delighted if they attack me; if they let me attack them, I shall not miss them; if they turn off towards Magdeburg, you will be at Dresden before them. I hope very much for a battle. After a battle I can get to Dresden or Berlin before them.

Schleiz, 5.30 P. M.:
The sound of the guns can no longer be heard.

6 P. M.:
(To Marshal Soult.) My Cousin: I believe that Marshal Lannes attacked Saalfeld to-day. There has been a brisk cannonade, but it lasted only two hours; I don't know the result. As soon as I am secure on my left things will get lively.

12th, Auma, 4 A. M.:
Order for Marshal Davout to march on Naumburg as rapidly as he can.

Marshal Lannes is marching on Jena.

(To Marshal Lannes.) I have received, with great pleasure, the news of your action on the 10th. I had heard the sound of the guns and moved a division in your direction, to support you. The death of Prince Louis of Prussia seems like a punishment of Heaven, for he is the real author of the war.

All the intercepted correspondence we get shows that the enemy have lost their heads. They are debating night and day, and don't know what decision to come to. You perceive that my army is massed, and that I am on their road to Dresden and Berlin. Our skill now will consist in attacking everything we meet, so as to beat the enemy in detail and while they are concentrating. When I say that we must attack all we meet, I mean that we must attack everything that is on the march and not in an advantageous position.

8.30 A. M.:
I am getting into the saddle en route for Gera. The Prussians have hardly a chance left. Their generals are perfect idiots. It is inconceivable how the Duke of Brunswick, who has a reputation, can direct the operations of his army in so ridiculous a fashion.

13th, Gera, 2 A. M.:
(To the Empress.) I am to-day at Gera, my dear friend; my affairs go on prosperously, and as I had hoped. With the aid of God, things will assume a terrible complexion, within a few days, for the poor King of Prussia, whom I pity personally because he is a good man. The Queen is at Erfurt with the King. If she wants to see a battle, she can indulge that cruel whim. I am wonderfully well, fatter than when I started, and yet I get over twenty or twenty-five leagues each day, on horseback, in carriages, in every sort of a way. I go to bed at eight, I am up again at midnight; sometimes it occurs to me that you have not yet gone to bed!
 

Within three or four days we shall fight a battle which I shall win. It will take me to the Elbe, perhaps to the Vistula. There I will engage a second battle, which I shall also win. Then . . . then . . . but that's enough, and we must not romance. Clarke, in one month you will be governor of Berlin, and you will be quoted as having been in one year and in two different wars, governor of, Vienna and of Berlin.

(Bulletin.) Consternation reigns at Erfurt where the King, the Queen, and the Duke of Brunswick still are. But while they deliberate the French army is marching. Ever since the campaign opened the weather has been splendid, the country full of supplies, the soldiers healthy and strong. The men cover ten leagues in a day's march, without a straggler; the army has never been so fit.

9 A. M.:
(To Murat.) At last the veil is torn; the enemy have begun their retreat towards Magdeburg. March as rapidly as possible with Bernadotte's corps on Dornburg, a big village between Jena and Naumburg. Above all, get your dragoons and cavalry there.

All the heavy cavalry and General Klein's command are marching on Jena. I think that the enemy will either attempt to attack Lannes at Jena or else slip away. If they should attack Lannes, you can support him from Dornburg. I shall reach Jena at two in the afternoon.

10 A. M.:
We have caught the Prussian army in the act, and have turned its flank.

At night, bivouac near Jena:
(To Marshal Ney.) The enemy are between Weimar and Jena; push your corps on as far as you can get, so as to reach Jena early to-morrow.

14th, Jena:
Marshal Augereau commands the left.

At dawn Marshal Lannes will have his artillery in the intervals and in the order of battle in which he passed the night.

The Guard will be behind the plateau, in five lines.

The Emperor will give the signal; every one must be ready at dawn.

Marshal Ney will be placed at the edge of the plateau, so as to move on Marshal Lannes' right as soon as the village is carried, and we get enough space to deploy.

Marshal Soult will debouch on the right.

15th, 3 A. M.: (To Josephine.) Dear friend: I have carried out some splendid manœuvres against the Prussians. I won a great victory yesterday. They numbered 150,000 men; I made 20,000 prisoners, captured 100 guns and some flags. I was faced by the King of Prussia; I nearly captured him and the Queen as well. I have bivouacked these last two days, and am in splendid health.
 

The Duke of Brunswick, General Ruchel are killed; Prince Henry of Prussia is severely wounded; many generals and officers of rank are wounded. The losses of the French army are comparatively slight. Marshal Davout, at Naumburg, prevented the enemy from passing. He fought there all day and routed over 60,000 men. His army corps covered itself with glory. The Queen of Prussia was pursued by a squadron of hussars; she had to seek refuge in Weimar, and left only three hours before our advance reached the place.

16th, Weimar, 7 A. M.:
(To Marshal Davout.) My Cousin: I congratulate you with all my heart on your splendid conduct. I regret the brave men you have lost; but they are dead on the field of honour. Inform your corps and your generals of my satisfaction. They have forever acquired a claim on my esteem and my gratitude.
 

Erfurt has capitulated; there are 14,000 prisoners, among them the Prince of Orange and Field Marshal Moellendorf.

17th. The Emperor is quartered in the palace of Weimar, occupied but a few days previously by the Queen of Prussia. It appears that what was said of her is true: she was here to fan the flames of war. She is a pretty woman, but lacking sense, and incapable of foreseeing the consequences of what she is doing.

19th. The first object of the campaign is accomplished; Saxony, Westphalia, and all the country on the left bank of the E1be, are freed from the presence of the Prussian army. That army, defeated and relentlessly pursued for more than fifty leagues, is now without guns, without transport, without generals, reduced to less than a third of what it was a week ago; and, which is even worse, it has lost its morale and self-confidence.

20th. The Grand Duke of Berg, with Marshals Soult and Ney, has invested Magdeburg.

(To Marshal Soult.) Don't let yourself be blinded by good fortune, and keep on your guard.

21st. (To Marshal Bernadotte.) The Emperor is extremely dissatisfied at your not carrying out the order you received yesterday to march on Kalbe. His Majesty reminds you in this connection that you took no part in the battle of Jena. The Emperor has made up his mind to let you know his views on the matter, because he is not accustomed to have his manœuvres spoiled by empty disputes of etiquette.

22d, Dessau:
I am across the Elbe; all is going well.

Immediately after the battle the King of Prussia sent me an aide-de-camp with a letter. To-day he has sent me Marquis Lucchesini. I had him stopped at the outposts, and sent Duroc to find out what be wanted. I am awaiting his return. The King seems to have made up his mind to make peace. I am willing; but that will not hinder my going to Berlin, which I expect to reach in four or five days.

23d, Wittenberg:
(To Marshal Davout.) Order your march so as to enter Berlin on the 25th at noon.

(To Marshal Bernadotte.) I have your letter. It is not my habit to recriminate over the past, since it cannot be altered. Your corps was not in the battle, and that might have proved disastrous.

25th, Potsdam:
(Bulletin.) The Emperor reached Potsdam yesterday, and took up his quarters in the Palace; in the evening he visited the new palace of Sans Souci, and all the positions around Potsdam. He remained some time in the room of the great Frederick, which is still furnished and hung as it was when he died.

26th. (To the army.) We have reached Potsdam and Berlin even before the renown of your victories. We have captured 60,000 prisoners, 65 flags, including those of the Prussian Royal Guard, 6000 cannon, 3 fortresses, more than 20 generals. And yet more than half of you can complain of having had no opportunity of firing a shot.

Soldiers! The Russians boast that they are marching against us, we will move to meet them, we will spare them half the journey!
 

The Emperor has visited the tomb of Frederick the Great. He has presented to the Invalides at Paris, Frederick's sword, his ribbon of the Black Eagle, his General's sash, and the standards carried by his Guard in the Seven Years' War.

29th, Berlin:
Prince Hohenlohe has surrendered with 16,000 infantry, 4000 cavalry, 45 colours, 84 guns; Prince Augustus of Prussia, the Prince of Schwerin are prisoners, with other Prussian generals and the Royal Guard.

30th. Up to the present we have 150 flags, among them those embroidered by the hands of the lovely Queen, a beauty as fatal to the Prussians as Helen was to the Trojans.

31st. (To the Grand Duke of Berg.) My Brother: I congratulate you on the capture of Stettin; if your light horse can capture fortresses in this fashion, I shall have to disband my engineers and melt down my siege guns. But you have done nothing yet. You still have General Blücher and the Duke of Weimar to capture; they have over 25,000 men.

November 1st. (To Lannes.) Do you suppose that I don't know that your corps has made forced marches, and that you have commanded it with the greatest skill? You are big babies, all of you. At the right time and place I will give you and your corps the proofs of my satisfaction with your conduct.

2d. Küstrin surrendered yesterday. We captured 80 guns and 4000 prisoners.

3d. (To Fouché.) Send for Koseziusko; tell him to start posthaste to join me, but secretly and under an assumed name. Give him what money he needs. Send me all the Poles you can.

Our outposts have reached the Polish border. I therefore need troops; but unless reinforcements reach me quickly they will be too late. The Russians are still far away, but an encounter is possible.

6th, 9 P. M.: (To the Empress.) I have received the letter in which you appear vexed about what I say of women. It is true that I hate intriguing women above all things. I am accustomed to kind, soft, amiable women; they are those I am fond of. If they have spoiled me it is not my fault but yours. But you will see that I have been kind to one who has shown herself good and kind-hearted, Mme. de Hatzfeld. When I showed her her husband's letter, she sobbed and, with the greatest emotion and naïveté, said: "Yes, that is his writing." To hear her reading it was pitiful. It was most painful, and I said to her: "Well, Madam, throw the letter in the fire; then it will no longer be in my power to harm your husband." She burned the letter and seemed very happy. Her husband has not been troubled since; two hours later it would have been all up with him. So you see that I do like women who are good, kind, and naïve; but then they are the only ones who are like you.

9th. (To the Empress.) Good news! Magdeburg has surrendered; and at Lübeck, on the 7th, 20,000 men, who for a week had escaped, were taken prisoners. So the whole army is captured; Prussia has not 20,000 men left beyond the Vistula.
 

Lübeck was stormed by the Grand Duke of Berg, the Prince of Ponte Corvo, and Marshal Soult. The slaughter was awful. On the following day what was left of Blücher's corps, 18,000 men, surrendered.

11th. (To Sultan Selim.) Most High, Most Excellent, Most Powerful, Most Magnanimous and Invincible Prince, great Emperor of the Mussulmans, Sultan Selim, my very dear and perfect friend, may God increase your glory and power!

On the very day when our enemies summoned you to give up Moldavia and Wallachia, on the plea of my disasters, I was gaining a memorable victory at Jena, and marching to further triumphs. The troops of Prussia are either destroyed or captured. The whole country is mine. With 300,000 men I am pursuing my successes and I will not make peace until you are once more in possession of the Principalities. Take courage. Fate has declared that your Empire is to stand; it is my mission to save it; and I divide with you the fruits of my victories. The moment has come when the Sublime Porte must recover its energy and send forth its armies. I know that the Russians are withdrawing their forces; they are marching on me; I will seek them out forthwith.

Given in our Imperial Palace of Berlin, this 11th day of November, 1806.

21st. The British Isles are declared in a state of blockade. All commerce and correspondence with the British isles are hereby forbidden.
 

(To Champagny.) I have read some extremely bad stanzas that are being sung at the Opera. Is there a deliberate intention, then, in France, to degrade literature? Convey my displeasure to M. de Lucay, and forbid anything being sung at the Opera that is unworthy of that great theatre. An obvious thing to have done was to have ordered a fine cantata to celebrate the 2d of December. As literature belongs to your department, I think you had better look after it, for really what they are singing at the Opera only degrades it.

23d. The Emperor spent the day in reviewing the infantry of the 4th Corps. He made promotions and distributed rewards in all the regiments.

I assembled the officers and men; I asked them who had done well; and I promoted those who could read and write.

25th, Küstrin:
I hope to get news from the outposts to-day.

27th, Miseritz, 2 A. M.:
(To Josephine.) I am entering Poland; this is its first city; to-night I shall be at Posen. After that I will send to have you come to Berlin, so that you may reach there the very day I return. My health is good; the weather is rather bad, we have had rain for three days.
 

Yesterday the Grand Duke of Berg was following hard on the Russians, and was one day's march from Warsaw.

29th, Posen:
The Poles are exceedingly well disposed. They are forming corps of horse and foot with great activity. They show eagerness to recover their independence: the nobility, clergy and peasants are all of the same mind.

December 1st. To-morrow I go to a ball given me by the nobility. All the ladies have been presented to me; it is the first time since the destruction of Poland that they have attended an official function. All the educated people speak French, and the peasants love France.

The Grand Duke of Berg holds Warsaw with 100,000 men.

2d. (To the Grand. Duke of Berg.) The Poles who show so much prudence, who ask for so many conditions before declaring themselves, are egotists who cannot be kindled to enthusiasm for love of their country. I am old in my knowledge of men. My greatness does not depend on the help of a few thousand Poles. It is for them to take advantage of the present circumstances with enthusiasm; it is not for me to take the first step.

I know Poniatowski better than you do, because I have followed Polish affairs these last ten years. He is even more flighty than the average Pole, which is saying a good deal. He is not much trusted at Warsaw. All the same he is a man with whom to keep on good terms. As for what he has said about making Czartorivski king, that is merely to give himself importance. Russia, let me assure you, has never dreamed of giving up Poland.

For the rest I approve your measures. Put patriots in office, men who are willing to act, and do not dwell on the mathematical calculation of the reëstablishment of Poland. Have it clearly understood that I have not come to beg for a throne for one of my own people; I have plenty of thrones to distribute among my family.

(Decree.) Every year on the anniversaries of the battle of Austerlitz and of Jena there shall be held a concert, preceded by a speech on the qualities necessary to a soldier, and by a eulogy of those who died. A competition shall be held to determine the best ode and the best and most fitting composition. In the speeches and in the ode it is expressly forbidden to mention the Emperor.

(To Josephine.) This is the anniversary of Austerlitz. I have been to a ball; it is raining; I am well. I love you and want you. The weather has not yet turned cold. All these Polish women are French. There is only one woman in the world for me; do you know her by any chance? I could draw her portrait; but I should have to flatter too much before you would recognise her; however, truth be told, my heart could only find nice things to say to you. These solitary nights are very long.

5th. (To the King of Naples.) Send me all the Polish officers you have. Poland is in full insurrection. Troops are being raised on all sides.

9th. (To the Grand Duke of Berg.) Have proclamations printed urging the soldiers of Prussian and Russian Poland to desert and to range themselves under their own national flag, and have them distributed everywhere by our outposts.

10th. Boots! Boots! Give your most prompt attention to the matter.

(To Josephine.) I am pretty well. The weather is very changeable. I love you, and want you badly. Good-bye, dear friend; I shall write to you tocome with at least as much pleasure as you will come.

12th. (To Champagny.) Literature needs encouragement. You are its official head. Propose some means of shaking up the various branches of literature that have so long distinguished our country.

7 P. M.: Paër, the famous musician, is here with his wife and Brizzi; they perform a little music for me every evening.

14th. (To the Grand Duke of Berg.) With such a large force of cavalry you should be able to cut the road from Pultusk to Koenigsberg, and inflict some damage on the enemy's rearguard. Your cavalry should crush them, and throw them into utter confusion, and give them the idea that you have 100,000 mounted men, which is what you had better say openly. Always speak of the cavalry as 100,000 men, and of the infantry as 500,000. If the enemy retire, my infantry will be useless; we can only get at them with cavalry,and that is your business.

15th. (To Cambacérès.) My Cousin: I have received your letter of the 4th of December. I have also the pamphlet on Poland, which appears to be fairly good. See if M. d'Hauterive couldn't write a little book under the title: The three partitions of Poland? You need not give away 700 copies; that is unnecessary; better sell them.

(To Louis, King of Holland.) Send me all English reports that are circulating in your trading centres. The blockade will ruin many commercial cities, Lyons, Amsterdam, Rotterdam; but we must get past this stage of uncertainty; we must be done with the thing. Keep your warships fully equipped, as that keeps the English at work. All my efforts are on land; it is with my armies that I expect to reconquer the Cape and Surinam. Come, show energy! Energy! It is only by defying the opinions of the weak and the ignorant that one can achieve the happiness of a nation.

19th, Warsaw:
I arrived at Warsaw at midnight.

23d, near Okunin:
Order for Marshal Lannes' light cavalry to cross the bridge over the Narew to-night.

29th, Golymin:
(To Josephine.) Only one line, dear friend; I am in a wretched barn. I have defeated the Russians; I have captured their baggage, 30 guns, and 6000 prisoners. But the weather is awful; it is raining and the mud is up to our knees. In a couple of days I shall be (back) at Warsaw and will write.

(To Cambacérès.) You will see from the bulletins the brilliant successes we have obtained over the Russian army. Had it not been for inclement weather they would have been even greater. I think the campaign is over. The enemy have retired behind swamps and deserts. I am going into winter quarters.

31st, Pultusk:
(To Josephine.) I laughed heartily over your last letter. You exaggerate the attractions of the beauties of Poland.

(To Fouché.) Raynouard might easily produce good work if only he could get well into the spirit of the tragedy of the Ancients: Fate pursued the family of the Atridæ, and the heroes were guilty yet not criminal; they shared the crimes of the gods. In Modern narrative this idea could not be employed., but only the force of circumstances in its stead; a policy may lead to a catastrophe without any real crime being committed.

If Chénier indulges in the least sally I shall order him sent to the island of Sainte Marguerite. The time for joking has passed. Let him behave; that's the only privilege he's got.

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